Summer Remodeling!

[Sky]

So, I've given up on the search feature for our home improvement thread and I'll just tack on to here.

Background: last September, second invasion of the ants into my kitchen, I rip out the paneling and seal the wall, insulate and drywall.

This summer I painted it and I've been slowly working on replacing the trim and jambs. The jambs are where things have been a bitch, you might remember me talking about getting a Bosch table saw a few months ago. I decided against it, because I just don't have the dough. I do, however, have a bunch of planes. So I decided to work it with hand tools. But I don't have much in the way of a workbench, let along a woodworking bench to plane on.

So the first version of the stool I rabbeted clamped to a couple sawhorses. Unstable, lots of racking. Between that and the knotty stick of pine, I had a couple splits (minor) and a knot pop/break (major). So I bought a stick of clear lumber (actually a planed/jointed old 12' long stair cut down to 8'). I figure I'll slap together a little woodworking bench and go about learning about such things, bury my head in a couple books and poked around the shop that I buy lumber from. Turns out the corner I have available in the garage won't work - though I did briefly consider opening the window when I wanted to extend the tail vice, it would've been against a wall on the right end. (And sadly, that corner of the garage has sunk about 3/4", so the window won't even open...)

I have a couple old benches that came with the house, angle iron with some cheap tops. I figure I'll see if those will at least serve temporarily. I go down and try to rack them (planing pressure) and one racks pretty good, the other moves a little. Turns out the years before I move in (when the house was neglected), the minor flooding in the basement was enough to rust out the feet on both. Well, the one that doesn't rack much, maybe it will work for this ONE DAMN PROJECT, so I figure out a clamping system and head back down there. Turns out it's top is hardboard on plywood on particle board, all cut to different sizes, so I can't clamp against it (right now looking at joining the edge of a board with a plane, so a vertical clamping setup). I go back to the drawing board and figure a way to clamp some scrap to the legs that would be high and proud enough to clamp the work piece to...except the rounded bolts knock the scraps out of true...

So thinking maybe use shims, maybe carve a couple notches for the bolt head.

This kind of bullshit has been going on all summer. All for the lack of a good goddamned workbench! And even if I get a good one, the basement still floods enough I am wary of putting it down there. Too bad I have such a cool little house on such an amazing lot, it's so tempting to trade up with rates where they are right now :)

At least the actual trim has gone easily. Putting in crown and 6" historical baseboard and wrapping the corners. Windows waiting on the above so I can get the jambs installed to put the trim on.

[Sand]

Does anyone have good advice on interviewing and hiring a remodeler/subcontractor? I watch that HGTV show Holmes on Homes, where he goes in and fixes other contractors or inspectors fuck ups, and it scares the shit out of me.
But I have a baby coming and need to remodel the upstairs bathroom before it happens. Yes I could do a lot of it myself to save money but I don't have the time. Also need to do a few touch ups in dining room.

So any good advice, tips, or tricks?

[K9]

I'm pretty sure this is the de-facto home improvement thread

Sand, I don't have a lot of experience, but most of our hires have come through word of mouth recommendations, either from people we trust who have had work done, or from other people we have hired who have done good work. I don't know about the US< but certainly here in the UK there are a range of accreditation schemes that are generally good starting points for people with specific roles (e.g. Boiler Engineers).

[Merusk]

Word of mouth or Angie's List.
http://www.angieslist.com

You could try calling around to a few Residential Architects (check with the local AIA chapter) or the biggest local home builders, but chances are the guys they recommend won't do your job because it's too small.   Or if they do agree to take it you'll be shoved off the schedule more than you care for because you're a one-off and the other guys are steady work.


ed: Sky, just build yourself a damn table already.  A few sheets of plywood, a joiner and a few weekends and you'll be happier than trying to puzzle this all out!

[Sky]

So any good advice, tips, or tricks?

Pray. Don't be a perfectionist, understand there are going to be some areas where it's just not going to be perfect unless you really unload top dollar.

I've got a guy for bigger projects/speed/pita stuff. He's very reasonable, but it drives me nuts because his company is too small, his help sucks and he doesn't have great attention to detail. But he puts up with me being over his shoulder, he takes time to discuss and explain things, and he's cheap and quick. And cheap.

I'd go more for the general contractors than the guys the home builders use, since they tend to know the program they install all day long rather than being generalists specializing in remodels.

Angie's is good if you're in a bigger city, it's useless around here. BBB is also pretty sketchy these days. Word of mouth, but beware that most people don't know what constitutes a good (or bad) contractor. Sometimes people just think a nice lipstick job is amazing, sometimes a solid job with minor problems gets slammed as awful. It's a giant, barely regulated morass of ignorance. If you find an honest and competent contractor, treat him well!

Anyway, specific to what you're saying: bathrooms are a great place to evaluate a contractor and their subs. You'll see their work every day and there's not a lot of fudge room. For the dining room, you might want to tackle it yourself. I can recommend a few books I like if you want to expand on the scope of that project. And since you watch Mike Holmes (who is a goddamned Saint imo), you know some basic stuff about protecting yourself from scammy/incompetent contractors:

http://makeitright.ca/Mike_Holmes_Online/view_resource.php?cat=13&article_id=118
http://makeitright.ca/Mike_Holmes_Online/view_resource.php?cat=13&article_id=120

edit Merusk  iknorite I can be a perfectionist to the point of retardation, literally.

[Sand]

Word of mouth or Angie's List.
http://www.angieslist.com

You could try calling around to a few Residential Architects (check with the local AIA chapter) or the biggest local home builders, but chances are the guys they recommend won't do your job because it's too small.   Or if they do agree to take it you'll be shoved off the schedule more than you care for because you're a one-off and the other guys are steady work.


ed: Sky, just build yourself a damn table already.  A few sheets of plywood, a joiner and a few weekends and you'll be happier than trying to puzzle this all out!

FUCK Angie in her tiny little twisted ass.
We signed up for that service a couple years ago. It took multiple attempts, threats of lawsuits, and multiple reversed charges with our bank to get them to cancel our subscription and stop charging us.

[Yegolev]

So, I've given up on the search feature for our home improvement thread and I'll just tack on to here.

http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=20416.0

[Furiously]

So, I've given up on the search feature for our home improvement thread and I'll just tack on to here.

Background: last September, second invasion of the ants into my kitchen, I rip out the paneling and seal the wall, insulate and drywall.

This summer I painted it and I've been slowly working on replacing the trim and jambs. The jambs are where things have been a bitch, you might remember me talking about getting a Bosch table saw a few months ago. I decided against it, because I just don't have the dough. I do, however, have a bunch of planes. So I decided to work it with hand tools. But I don't have much in the way of a workbench, let along a woodworking bench to plane on.

So the first version of the stool I rabbeted clamped to a couple sawhorses. Unstable, lots of racking. Between that and the knotty stick of pine, I had a couple splits (minor) and a knot pop/break (major). So I bought a stick of clear lumber (actually a planed/jointed old 12' long stair cut down to 8'). I figure I'll slap together a little woodworking bench and go about learning about such things, bury my head in a couple books and poked around the shop that I buy lumber from. Turns out the corner I have available in the garage won't work - though I did briefly consider opening the window when I wanted to extend the tail vice, it would've been against a wall on the right end. (And sadly, that corner of the garage has sunk about 3/4", so the window won't even open...)

I have a couple old benches that came with the house, angle iron with some cheap tops. I figure I'll see if those will at least serve temporarily. I go down and try to rack them (planing pressure) and one racks pretty good, the other moves a little. Turns out the years before I move in (when the house was neglected), the minor flooding in the basement was enough to rust out the feet on both. Well, the one that doesn't rack much, maybe it will work for this ONE DAMN PROJECT, so I figure out a clamping system and head back down there. Turns out it's top is hardboard on plywood on particle board, all cut to different sizes, so I can't clamp against it (right now looking at joining the edge of a board with a plane, so a vertical clamping setup). I go back to the drawing board and figure a way to clamp some scrap to the legs that would be high and proud enough to clamp the work piece to...except the rounded bolts knock the scraps out of true...

So thinking maybe use shims, maybe carve a couple notches for the bolt head.

This kind of bullshit has been going on all summer. All for the lack of a good goddamned workbench! And even if I get a good one, the basement still floods enough I am wary of putting it down there. Too bad I have such a cool little house on such an amazing lot, it's so tempting to trade up with rates where they are right now :)

At least the actual trim has gone easily. Putting in crown and 6" historical baseboard and wrapping the corners. Windows waiting on the above so I can get the jambs installed to put the trim on.

cut a hole in the basement floor, put in a sump pump.

[Sky]

I'm what might be considered an over-engineerer. Like Sand, I blame Mike Holmes (actually he just cemented the tendency). So I want a full-on solution, though short of excavating the exterior, because I can't afford it. I want the full-wall dimpled membrane over the channel leading to the pump hole.

I called the local company that does the most work in the area when I first got the house and they nagged me to be sure all other options were explored before they'd even look at it. I've done almost all the changes to minimize the water...but I still can't afford the basement guys. It'll be at least three years before I can call them.

I could probably put in a rudimentary system myself, with a little research into the proper materials...maybe I'll make that next summer's project...

Re:Angie's: I was signed up before it was a paid service and they still nag me to "renew" my membership. I don't currently use them (also useless for my area).

[Yegolev]

For people living west of Atlanta, I found an old man who is an incredible builder.  He has put second stories on houses, and his work is of great quality.

[Furiously]

I'm what might be considered an over-engineerer. Like Sand, I blame Mike Holmes (actually he just cemented the tendency). So I want a full-on solution, though short of excavating the exterior, because I can't afford it. I want the full-wall dimpled membrane over the channel leading to the pump hole.

I called the local company that does the most work in the area when I first got the house and they nagged me to be sure all other options were explored before they'd even look at it. I've done almost all the changes to minimize the water...but I still can't afford the basement guys. It'll be at least three years before I can call them.

I could probably put in a rudimentary system myself, with a little research into the proper materials...maybe I'll make that next summer's project...

Re:Angie's: I was signed up before it was a paid service and they still nag me to "renew" my membership. I don't currently use them (also useless for my area).

Well.... you just need to remind yourself water is the only enemy of a house.  I'm not seeing the membrane working that well in an older house... are there no cracks in the basement floor? Does the water perk through the concrete floor itself from hydrostatic pressure?

[Tannhauser]

I have repaired my sunroom that was heavily damaged by the tornado.  The drywall is now up and today I got a guy coming by to fix my hot tub.  This weekend I'm staining my deck around my pool, that will be a big project.  Got to get this stuff done before winter!

Still not sure what color to paint my sunroom wall or what color of carpet to lay down. 

Contractor quoted me 12k on building a garage, the cinderblock walls are already up though, so I'm not sure if that's a good deal for around here (east TN).  Any thoughts?

[Sky]

Well.... you just need to remind yourself water is the only enemy of a house.  I'm not seeing the membrane working that well in an older house... are there no cracks in the basement floor? Does the water perk through the concrete floor itself from hydrostatic pressure?

There's not really a lot of problems left. Two gutters are getting bypassed in heavy rains, so I've put in diverters (and now that I'm thinking about it I need to install one more... There's one low spot that I need to excavate and re-blacktop, that's where the majority of intrusion is right now.

The seepage I'm seeing is from the walls, though there is one bolthole that was filled with hydraulic cement I'm keeping my eye on. I'd wager it's just the overflow when the gutters can't handle heavy rains and the years of faulty/no gutters have created channels against the walls. Excavation would obviously be the best thing, but I don't have that kind of money. Since we're talking at worst something like a few gallons here and there, I think membrane/channel/pump would be able to handle it.

But yeah...that's why I want to start getting expert opinions and bids.

[Yegolev]

Contractor quoted me 12k on building a garage, the cinderblock walls are already up though, so I'm not sure if that's a good deal for around here (east TN).  Any thoughts?

My wife works in commercial construction (N GA), and I might wager that you could get a better price if you can find someone more desperate.  Then again, you get what you pay for.

[Sky]

Neighbor just gave me a 9" craftsman table saw.

I vow to not bitch about their planting on the property line until at least next spring :)

[Furiously]

Neighbor just gave me a 9" craftsman table saw.

I vow to not bitch about their planting on the property line until at least next spring :)

Grats! Don't saw your fingers off.

[CmdrSlack]

This thread makes me glad that I rent.

[01101010]

This thread makes me glad that I rent.

In terms of cost, I agree... but now that I am back renting, I miss the home projects. Thankfully my mother is ~3hours away and has a house I can do all sorts of stuff with... esp since it shall be mine someday. 

[Polysorbate80]

Neighbor just gave me a 9" craftsman table saw.

I vow to not bitch about their planting on the property line until at least next spring :)

Grats! Don't saw your fingers off.

Watch the kickback too; I tore up a couple of fingertips once when I got a piece of wood bound up on the blade.  They can throw 'em pretty hard.

My contractor's got his minions out now unloading the trusses for my shop/barn in the rain; I feel sorry for them but I just didn't have the money to get it done any sooner.  I'd invite them in to hang out at my basement bar but they haven't built that yet either 

[Tannhauser]

Good luck Poly.  Personally I am recuperating from two days of deck staining; two coats rolled, one brushed.  I'm gettin' too old for this shit.

Deck looks great though!

[CmdrSlack]

This thread makes me glad that I rent.

In terms of cost, I agree... but now that I am back renting, I miss the home projects. Thankfully my mother is ~3hours away and has a house I can do all sorts of stuff with... esp since it shall be mine someday. 

The beauty of renting is obtaining the fun stuff before you buy. I just killed off my HD DVR and went full streaming on my main TV. I use the Xbox for all of my streaming with PlayOn on the networked PC. This allows me to use Hulu Plus without the stupid "PC only" garbage. Also, extensions for PlayOn make it pretty awesome.

As far as home projects go, I can build shelving, etc. for the spaces that need it. I also like decorating for the space that I have, which is much more challenging than with a full-on house.

We also have access to an indoor lap pool, and outdoor pool, racquetball courts , and a workout room. If shit breaks, someone comes to fix it.