Home Improvement II
 

Since I cannot find the original anymore, I'm restarting my home improvement thread here. This is basically a thread devoted to the documentation and criticism of my attempts to improve my quarters.

The History:

The back room was the worst of the rooms in the house. It was overrun with mold and shoddy workmanship as well as substandard building materials. There was, as in the rest of the house, a severe lack of electrical outlets, the cable TV and telephone wires were run through holes drilled through the floor, the drywall joints were done with MASKING TAPE and spackling. The electrical wires were cotton-jacketed, aluminum, two-wire cables. You remember, the kind that were outlawed because of their distressing tendancy to burst into flame, smother you with toxic smoke before reducing your home to ashes.

I have set out to right these (and other) wrongs. There are no pictures of the "Before" due to a lack of a digital camera. Therefore I shall commence the narrative from the point of "Demolition Complete".

Demolition Begins:

I began by removing the old pressed paper floor covering. It just was sitting on the floor and came up easily. Into lots of little pieces. Lots and lots of them. I burned them in the backyard because of their weight and the fact that I have lazy trashmen. Note to self: backyard firepit explodes when hot.

Next came the removal of many screws and nails in the walls and floor (?) as well as strangely-shaped shelves and such. Then down came the walls. This exposed the interior of the walls for inspection. First thing I noted was that there was NO INSULATION in the walls. This explains the chilly temperatures in winter as well as the 125-150 gallon/month fuel oil bill. Someone got ripped off back a few years. I also noted that the outside walls were not plywood or OSB as is customary but rather were made of long planks of B grade spruce and/or pine. There were up to 1/2" gaps between the planks covered only with builders felt (tar paper) under the siding. The window had been insulated only with newpaper dated March 12-14, 1943. Unfortunately, none of it was readable as it had been torn into strips first before being stuffed into the cracks. I discovered a button and a kind of wartime baseball card depicting a hand-drawn tank. Value: $0.01. For the metal button. The card had no value, not even to collectors.

After disposing of the walls, I attacked the ceiling. This entailed sawing along the joists and removing long, narrow strips of drywall. And up to six inches of blown cellulose insulation above. I was showered with the stuff and the dust floated throughout my house despite my having hung plastic and wool blankets up to seal off the room. I laid down a plastic tarp to catch the insulation for easier cleanup (read: dump in the woods out back). After the first strip, I added goggles and breathing mask to the list of things to wear the next time.

Eventually, I got all the insulation and drywall down and cleaned out. I tore out the wiring and replaced the outlets with modern three-prong grounded outlets. PLenty of them as I intend for this room to become a computer room holding at least three networked computers plus peripherals.

Then I removed the old doors and opened the cutout so that I could go through without stooping way down to avoid banging my head. The decision was to replace two of the three doors with sliding pocket doors (the kind that slide into the wall, out of sight). This necessitated my removing a few studs as well as reshaping the doorways. When I came to do the basement door, I noted that it was barely 24 inches wide. Far too narrow for me so I was forced to relocate a wall a few inches to accomodate the new doorframe. This will be a standard 32 inch door. Here is a picture of the new, relocated wall.

continued
 

As you can see, the old location is the lighter colored strip just along the basement stairwell opening. Oh, did I mention that the opening was too small and forced me to lay on the stairs to get past the floor at the bottom of the stairs? Yep. That was cut out real quick, but cut down on the space for the room's closet. Oh well, that much less cedar to buy later. More on that as I get to the closet during reconstruction.

So, my basement is now TOO accessible. No door or wall. So I laid one of the old doors over the opening to keep my dog out of the basement and safe from eating who-knows-what down there. Not to mention tracking the water up and down the stairs every time it rains. That will soon be remedied, too. I hope.

Anyway, up to date: The room wiring is complete. I now have six outlet boxes installed in convenient locations around the room. Plenty of amperage available to accomodate the computer setup I envision. Sconce lighting in the wall above the futon (to be placed later) and overhead track lighting above the location of the desk. Cable and telephone wires have been installed in jackboxes where they belong. Next step: fill the holes in the floor where holes have been drilled, nails and screws removed, knotholes that have loosened over the years and fallen out, gaps in the floorboards where low-quality lumber was used etc. Then I will sand the entire floor, remove the dust and refinish the floor in a nice light oak finish with varnish topcoat.

Then, according to my plans, I will install the new doors, install the wall insulation and then close up the walls. Next, I will re-insulate the ceiling/attic and install the ceiling. Properly tape and mud the joints and I should be all set to put on two coats of Kilz drywall primer and start thinking about paint and trim. No furniture will go in just yet, however. I will need the space to store all the bedroom furniture so that I may restart the process in the bedroom. I hope to finish the back rooms before winter sets in again. At least then I might see a LITTLE savings in oil. Next summer I will take on the front rooms. Once they are insulated, then I should see a BIG improvement in my heating bills during the winter of 2006-2007. I hope.

I now open the floor for your comments.

Brian

Well that is a awesome history of home development thanks for sharing this...



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Great. I love these. I think Big V and a few others have done these posts. Always something to be learned on the Cellar.:thumb:

I built a home theater downstairs a few years ago (~15'x20'). I built a double 2x4 partition wall with metal studs and insulation, and installed a metal door, for sound isolation. I wish I would have taken some pictures before, and during, the construction.

It has a projector shining on a 10 wide x 5.5 high screen.

After almost 3 years of being not quite finished, I'm painting the walls this weekend.

I still need to finish the floor and put up some curtains.

Take some pic HLJ, I would love to see them, even if it is a nearly finished project.

But have you been watching movies in it, or has it just sat there for 3 years?

I've watched 1,074 hours of movies in it.

That sounds like a lot.

I also use it as a work-out room when my wife is sleeping, and sometimes as a reading room.

Most of my home improvement projects are like this.

I just discussed this with my wife. I started designing the room (including 3D CAD modeling) in January 2005, and started construction in February, so it's actually been 4 years. Once the room got to the stage where we could comfortably use it, all progress stopped.

And I have a few other projects that have followed a similar path.

Back to BrianR's original post, was there any progress on your project after June 2005?

That should have said, "10 foot wide x 5.5 foot high screen."

HLJ, the project ended incomplete at that time due to my moving away. The final tally was all the old drywall removed, new insulation installed, new electric and lights, new walls around the stairs, new doors installed but not trimmed and new drywall in the ceiling and basement surround. Walls were not done nor was the floor. And one electrical short in the lights that I just didn't have time to chase down.

My former friend and landlord moved back in a month later, and was unhappy that the project wasn't finished but oh well. He got all the materials to finish it for free and a deep freezer, microwave, dishes and furniture into the bargain. He'll live and have something to keep him busy to boot!

Ours, too! The only bad part for me is, neither my husband nor I are carpenters, so we could never dream of taking on a project as big as the OP's on our own, and as a result, we've been cheated and screwed over by one contractor after another. We finally found a reliable one (who else here has ever gotten a final bill that was less than the original bid?!), so my "curb appeal" project is now almost -- almost -- finished.

I won't bore you with the work in progress, but here are the before and current shots. Since it's impossible to tell behind all the overgrowth in the 'before' shot, all of the stonework is new, as is the garage door, driveway, lighting, garden beds (though I still plan to pull out some of the shrubs and put in flowers) and arbor. We even put in a little pond (that we did on our own!). I can't wait for the plum tree to fill back in with its gorgeous red foliage.

Sorry you never got to finish your room, BrianR.

Our master bathroom is completely gutted at the moment.

Hubby is great at doing these home improvement projects, but unfortunately does not seem terribly motivated to move forward with this. A few years ago, he'd be at it the moment he got home from work and maybe even up past midnight. Now, he can spend a whole day off work pretending it isn't there. :( I guess there's no big hurry, we do have another full bathroom to use down the hall.

Next project after that will be replacing the kitchen flooring, and then replacing the entire 1st floor carpet with (I hope) Pergo. Then we're thinking about adding a room in back of the house to use for laundry/utility, closing in the solarium to use for my office, remodeling the basement bathroom and maybe putting a 3rd bath/shower in there once the washer/dryer is out of it.

That's inside. Outside we're building a deck around the pool, busting up some concrete beside the house and fixing some grading/drainage issues, which will probably involve replacing the air conditioning unit 'cause it's sitting on that concrete and it's old anyway.

:::deep breaths::: I keep telling myself, when it's done, we'll have a heckuva place! :right:

Why would he be in a hurry to finish it when you've got a whole list of shit waiting? :haha:

My wife and I have an impressive list of fix-it-up projects for our house.
New windows, floors, electric, install A/C, new chimney (wait'll you see what passes now), new garage door and roof, extensive yard work and more. So far, it's just a list and I like it that way.

Just think of all the trouble you would have saved if you had just bought a house you liked in the first place.

We've got plans to redo the bathrooms and the kitchen in our house. We've already done a kitchen before, so we know what we're up against. There won't be any change to the floorplan, just new and updated materials, so it's not that bad.

The master bathroom -- I want to bump out the shower area into the eaves over the garage. There's a huge amount of space back there, and with a little finish-work, it could significantly expand the storage capacity of the master closet as well.

Oh, and re-carpeting the upstairs and the den.

These will be on a reasonably tight schedule. We will be getting professionals for all these projects. ;)

Who can afford one of those?

We're painting our dining room and kitchen. Plaster/lath walls, c.1950 post-war inner-ring suburb housing boom cookie cutter colonial.

When we pulled off the wallpaper in the kitchen, there was another layer of wallpaper underneath. This was NOT pullable. So we forged ahead with scraping it off. Actually, in some places, we succeeded in pulling it off a few inches at a time--and the paint under came with it. But only in places.

So now we have this wall that has half a coat of paint on it. Where do we go from here? Sand, prime, and paint? Try to strip the rest of it off? Other suggestions?

If it's a thick layer of paint, priming won't hide the torn edges, and sanding won't smooth it. Get some spackle (or go for the big container of "mudding" compound if you need a whole lot) and smear it over the edges so it's a smooth transition from one to the other. Then prime and paint.

Depending upon the condition of the walls.... skimcoat the whole thing and lightly sand to a smooth "as new" finish and paint - it'll certainly take two coats.

How "lightly"? Would 220 be good?

the grade of the sandpaper is an issue, but not as much as how much pressure you use. 100 grit should be fine. The "lightly" is so you do not sand it off in some spots and have to recoat again. Basically you are putting a new layer of wall on so that its all even and you can paint it.
DO not use a palm sander or other power tool. It will come out much better if done by hand.

Dust will be an issue - wear a mask and have proper ventilation/air flow while sanding and be prepared for some serious dust. (just so you aren't surprised)

Its a PITA to put the spackle on at first, but once you get the hang of it, it goes rather quickly. Use a large blade - 12" minimum.

Oh, and DO NOT USE the lightweight stuff - it will not work. Get the big bucket with the blue lid.

I had to do this in a couple small rooms in my house - one which had a crappy faux paint job.

Before/after pics required. Good luck.

Many people are crazy about creating lofts at home so they have extra storage space but that isn’t always a wise decision. To think of it logically it’s not the most feasible option. This is because you don’t want to crawl into the loft each day trying to put back things or take out things. As a result your loft and extra storage spaces built in your home actually reduce room area making rooms look smaller because you have dedicated space to the creation of a loft. :eek:

not if it is for seldom used things ie: storage space.

Greetings Alvaro and :welcome:

I am toying with the idea of vacuuming the rug in the living room soon. By my standards, that counts as home improvement. Should I take pictures, and post progress reports?

Is there any advice you can offer me, as a first-time vacuumer? Will there be dust or electrical hazards? Should I get a proffessional in?

How much air does a loft use, actually?

Howdy Alvaro! :)

Crazy home improvement weekend here. We got all new carpet installed upstairs. It looks great. But of course as soon as it was in, we realized how horrible the walls are. So we've been painting the hallway all weekend. At least all the furniture was already out, but it's still a ton of work. Not even close to being done.

Then yesterday I found a puddle in the basement under the first floor toilet. This damn toilet springs a leak every 2 years or so, and I replace the wax ring. I've tried everything, even tearing up the old slanted floor and putting in a level one. It always leaks where the ring contacts the toilet. This time I bought a new toilet, and I'm really hopeful. For the first time, when I put the wax ring on, I could feel it really seating well over the horn. But we'll see in a couple years. I think it will work this time.

Of course, nothing is ever easy. Even though the new toilet was the same rough-in size as the old, it has a bigger footprint, and I needed to hack away at the quarter round molding to make it fit. It's a nice toilet though. Much better quality than the old one.

How do you get rid of the old toilet?

Put it in the front yard and plant flowers in it. Maybe the township or neighbors will be annoyed enough to take it.

Get a Pump , Make a Fountain !!!!
Carol wouldn't let me do that with the last Toilet I changed , but i think it would Look FAAAAAAbulas in Yer Yard !!!

I'm going to try putting it out with the trash tonight. If they don't take it, I know that once a month, you can drop off inert trash, which is stuff like old concrete, broken bricks, ceramic tiles, and things like that, for free at a county facility. That would require me stripping the guts out of it first. They use it for some kind of fill or pavement ingredient.

Or worst case scenario, I smash it to pieces and put a little bit in the trash each week for a month or so. That might be kind of fun. Get the kids involved. Give them some safety glasses and gloves and a hammer each and let them go to town.

Just be careful glatt - That porcelain shatters and is sharp as all get out.

Donate it to a charity shop hidden in a bag full of clothes :)

We have the Re-use center where you can take old toilets and things like that.

http://www.recycleannarbor.org/?modu...D=reuse-center

and a Habitat for Humanity ReStore:

http://www.h4h.org/restore/

We are lucky in our little hippie enclave.

Around here, if it's not broken, you just put it by the curb on trash night. The trash pickers will take it.

When we got rid of our old kitchen sink years ago, I called habitat for humanity, and they didn't want it. They only wanted new fixtures, because they thought it was too much trouble to deal with old stuff that might be broken or need special set ups, or whatever. I can't imagine anyone wanting a used toilet.

You'd be surprised. Think slum landlord. Tenant trashes the one in your rental, you're not going to fork out for a new one when you can get a used one for a fiver, are you?

Bumping this thread instead of starting a new one.

I've always wanted a slide out trash can cabinet in my kitchen to fill a hole where there was once a trash compactor. I'm not willing to pay upwards of $200 for what looks like a cheap setup. Getting an old one also afforded me the opportunity to work on a project with my son, something we used to do quite often. 2 weeks ago an ex- neighbor's home which was foreclosed upon was being renovated. They removed all the cabinetry from the kitchen. It was the same style as mine - (solid oak face) I needed a 15", but there were none. So I asked if I could have one of the others and got an 18" cabinet in very good shape. I didn't want to purchase a new one for three reasons; no match readily available, the cost and it wouldn't look right having only one brand new.

So ... to do this right I needed to accomplish/acquire a few things.
1) Purchase new door front to match.
2) Fabricate internal drawer setup for trashcan.
3) Dissemble WITHOUT DAMAGING cabinet
4) Cut existing 18" cabinet down to 15"
5) Reassemble
6) Install drawer system
7) Sand and finish cabinet face
8) Install new cabinet
I used the hardware from the old cabinet and reinstalled it at the bottom to use as the drawer slider system.

We've been working on this together for the last couple weekends and we have now gotten to the critical point of installing the refurbished cabinet ...
Thats the plan for today.

The issues we've run into so far:
1) The company that made the door-fronts I have is apparently out of business.
2) I cannot find 2 trashcans to fit (1 for trash and the other for recycling).
3) The handles that I bought 6 years ago when I redid the rest of the kitchen are no longer available.
4) There is a 2x4 mounted behind where the cabinet needs to go.
Because there was no cabinet there the original installers mounted it to hold up the counter top.

So today we are going to cut out a notch in the back of our cabinet to go around the 2x4 and get this thing installed.
For the rest - - - Internet, here I come!

Sounds like a worthwhile project!

I had forgotten about this thread or I would have been posting my projects. Let's see, there's the privacy fence I installed using used fence panels and new posts and hardware. Turns out that my Weim figured out how to escape and has been doing so regularly. And has been endangering my neighbor's chicken flock in so doing. Since I cannot afford to replace the fence with new wood (much stronger) or chain link, I have been settling for spot repairs and installing an electric fence. Let's see how long it takes him to suss out THAT!

I have also put a new window in my bedroom. It was quite dark in there and the house has poor ventilation due to lack of windows and poor placement of those I do have. I found a perfect window at the Habitat reuse store for fifty bucks. I called a handyman for help (couldn't do it alone) and we now have a nice window above our bed that opens and admits a nice breeze that cools and airs out the entire house. For privacy, I put stained glass vinyl appliques on it.

Other projects include installing two ceiling fans, new cabinets above the washer/dryer for more storage and soon a new, larger front porch. The interior stuff is pretty much complete at this point, at least until it's renovation time so I will soon be turning my attention to the yard and landscaping.

I have soil similar to Big Sarge's. I want a lawn, flower beds, ornamental shrubs and a driveway. I *will* have these things. But, I know nothing about gardening. So I'm taking F3's advice and taking a gardening course in the area geared to beginners and which will teach me all I need to know to get started.

So I will be laying out the beds, building the raised parts and generally preparing. Other outdoor projects are an ongoing fence replacement as money permits, installing more fencing, a panel at a time as money permits, a covered patio in back, a large enough doghouse to allow all my big boys to fit comfortably, tree removal and stump grinding, yard clearing and lot grading.

I get one break...the county is digging up everyone's easement to install a drainage ditch and I got the dump truck driver who hauls away the dirt to agree to dump a load in my front yard so I can fill in the low spots plus fill in the holes the dogs have dug in the back.

I may have to resort to sodding the back yard as the animal traffic will kill new grass before it gets established. Time will tell.

I really need to remember to get out the camera for these things!

Got the cabinet installed. Perrrrrfect fit!

Ordered the hardware online this am from a closeout site. Yes Big V, I ordered a couple spares of both sizes this time as insurance.

Now I need to find bins that fit - I am having zero luck with this. Ideally, I would like two that are about 26''H x 11"W x 10"D or one that is 26"x 11 x 20"

Oh, and a door front manufacturer. The original is, in fact, out of business. bummer.
Using a local custom guy/company is gonna throw the cost outta whack, I'm afraid.