Home Improvement: DIY Kitchen Remodel - My first remodel/home improvement project ever |
- DIY Kitchen Remodel - My first remodel/home improvement project ever
- What are the landscaping basics that every suburban homeowner should know?
- My (soon to be) new neighbor wants to break down a part of my front yard
- I have never seen a house as plain as mine. Need major exterior/"curb appeal" advice.
- Please help me convert my standing shower to a tub without getting a divorce
- Do smart glass French Doors exist?
- Building a garage
- Will my home lose significant value by converting the third bedroom into a master bathroom?
- Contractor caused water leak and ruined our new flooring, not sure what to do
- New Gas Stove Installation
- What features would you include in a new sprinkler irrigation system?
- Is it worth upgrading our home?
- Paid a plumber $800 to fix a leak in the ceiling, a week later the leak is still there
- Bubbles in paint after spraying with airless - what did I do wrong?
- Skimming walls left small holes from airbubbles. How do I proceed?
- Cracking Popcorn Ceiling in Apartment
- Entering attic without a mask to route camera cables
- Best way to remove a small concrete and stone fixture from my yard?
- Cleaning up metal shelves in medicine cabinet
- Contractor installed incorrect flooring, now wants to charge me to reinstall. Can I fire him for cause?
- Toilet sounds like a car cannot start. Should I be worried? Video included.
- Fence lines and surveys
- Adding shelving to new build finished basement.
| DIY Kitchen Remodel - My first remodel/home improvement project ever Posted: 12 May 2020 05:28 PM PDT Imgur link at bottom! General Overview: We bought this house...its a 1960s ranch with a basement. We felt it had good bones but definitely needed to be updated and refreshed…especially the kitchen. My girlfriend and I were fortunate that we didn't need to move out of our prior living situation immediately (we were renting from family), so we had time to do the major remodel work and not be living in the construction mess/without a kitchen. We did the majority of the work ourselves, with the exception of: electrical, tile floor, and granite install. A family friend is an architect and was able to provide us with stamped plans for the wall removal. This was my first DIY home remodel project...ever. I have no experience or expertise in this. My girlfriend has remodeled her previous place, the kitchen & bathrooms, but she contracted out 95% of the work. Cost: Total cost was a little over $20,000. And a TON of time. I dont want to try to add up how many hours spent working plus the time spent planning, researching, etc. Lots of late nights spent on this project. There were definitely times i felt WAY in over my head, especially near the beginning right after the demo! I was worried Id have to call in a pro to take over. Not only would that have been costly monetarily, but my pride. Ooof that would have hurt my pride. The electrical work which was our largest single cost(about 1/3 cost of total project). The electrician needed to replace the panel (old one was not UL listed) and get a new service drop to the house, in addition to new wiring for entire kitchen. Enjoy! [link] [comments] |
| What are the landscaping basics that every suburban homeowner should know? Posted: 12 May 2020 05:25 AM PDT The yards in my neighborhood all look pretty nice. Ours looked OK when we bought 2 years ago and it's getting worse. I figured we could just maintain and be ok but we're starting to look like the crap yard. I'm a bit overwhelmed on what I'm supposed to be doing though and don't want to waste my money on stuff that'll do nothing or die in one season. Grass seed? When and how much? Fertilizer? What kind? We have grass (that's mostly moss and weeds) and a few garden beds that the previous owner kept up at one point but were looking pretty sad when we bought. Some of the scraggly bushes probably should be replaced. Or should they? I'm so lost. How can an inexperienced yard owner get a nice yard without spending gobs of money? Edit: location is Virginia, USA [link] [comments] |
| My (soon to be) new neighbor wants to break down a part of my front yard Posted: 12 May 2020 11:04 AM PDT The owner of the house next door evicted his tenants as he plans to give the house to his son. He has been renovating it more 2 mths now with on and off construction due to COVID. Today, he rang my doorbell and explained that my front yard pillars (construction I had done YEARS ago, and yes w/ a permit) apparently reaches into HIS front yard. If it does legally, then I'm more okay with him, tearing the part that does, down and doing what he wants. But he was being a little adamant about it without any proof that it actually does. He seems like the type to want to go forth with his proposal without any valid documentation. This sounds wrong and unfair? Is there something I can do to try and prove that I'm not breaching into his area? EDIT: I don't want to be THAT neighbor and go ahead and snitch on him for the permit (that happened to me and I didn't like it). Idc about the permit, but I care more about him accusing me of infiltrating his property. I will not be snitching on him for the permit at all lol [link] [comments] |
| I have never seen a house as plain as mine. Need major exterior/"curb appeal" advice. Posted: 12 May 2020 04:03 PM PDT Alright so for some background, I live in the middle of nowhere in Indiana. My house was built in 1916 and has only ever been owned by my family- great grandparents sold it to my dad. I've lived here since I was born (24 years) and will be inheriting it, likely very soon. I definitely will not be selling it, and have always daydreamed of how I would redesign it and make it my own. It's gonna be a lot of work (so I'm sure I'll be visiting here often in the next couple of years lol), but I've been excited for it my whole life. Anyway, onto the reason for the post. The outside of my house is beyond plain. Picture the most plain midwestern house you've ever seen. Now look at mine.. It looks like someone built a house on The Sims for the first time ever. I've looked at so much inspiration and ideas online for such a long time and I cannot figure out what exactly needs done. It's overwhelming and there are so many styles that I like. I don't wanna overdo it and make it tacky or lose the "charm" of the house, but I for sure cannot leave it looking like this. I think I have just about every resource available to me so I can't imagine much would be off-limits (I'd rather not add on or anything just yet lol) So reddit, I basically have a blank slate- hit me with your best shot :) [link] [comments] |
| Please help me convert my standing shower to a tub without getting a divorce Posted: 12 May 2020 02:31 PM PDT I love my wife so much. She's romance, I'm logistics. I liked the standing shower, but I spontaneously demo'd it today after spotting some mold- she always hated it anyway. She wants a bathtub, but not just any bathtub. A standalone bathtub. But also don't spend too much money. Okay. There are a few logistical concerns I have with this, which my wife does not want to hear about. I'd like to keep the shower, which means we'd have to get some sort of bathtub-shaped overhead circular monstrosity of a shower curtain rod. Okay. Does that even exist? whatever. Then there's the fact that I don't really know how to plumb in from the wall. Generally tub drop-ins are really narrow on one end so that it can butt right up to the faucet, but she doesn't want a nice cheap easy drop-in tub. All the standalone tubs I see have standing spigots- is there any way to do this without extensive plumbing? As you can see, it's a small bathroom and the angled ceiling doesn't make matters any easier. Ignore the weird leprechaun mad hatter statue, it was a gift. I'll probably end up calling a plumber at some point anyway, considering there are no tub-height fixtures, but please help me understand a graceful way to make my wife happy so I can be enthusiastic about her idea. Also my shower is demo'd so we have to fix it. Alternatively, we talked about framing in a tub and tiling it, an idea that she also liked. Any tips for that route? Seems a lot more work, but I could finally have a tub I would fit in... thank you [link] [comments] |
| Do smart glass French Doors exist? Posted: 12 May 2020 06:33 PM PDT We have glass panel French doors leading to the deck that need replacing for a number of reasons. I love the clear glass panels during the day when I want a view to the back yard, but at night I end up feeling a bit exposed (I know from walking the neighborhood at night that my neighbors can see right into my kitchen and living room if the lights are on inside). I'd love the option of both clear glass for day and opaque glass for night. Smart glass provides both with the flip of a switch adding some electric current. I've been searching for a product that combines classic French Door look with smart glass, but I see mostly commercial installations or custom orders for high end luxury homes. Anyone know of a simple residential product line? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 12 May 2020 10:15 PM PDT It's time. It's been time. I have to much stuff and I need a garage. I'm going big. 24x44 big. And 3 stories. And black jack and hookers too. And I'm gonna do it all by myself with the help of a buddy. When I first started: https://i.imgur.com/7rd4tLG.jpg Got a 24" bucket for my backhoe and dug 3' down. Big footers. https://i.imgur.com/bFK9uTG.jpg Jammed a bunch of rebar in there, had to concrete trucks come in and pour 20 yards of concrete. Then it was time for block. 12" below grade, 8" above grade. A lot cheaper than concrete. https://i.imgur.com/ul1Q5mM.jpg Couple days later I'm almost ready to pour the pad. 6" thick, rebar at 3", wire at 3.5", pex radiant in floor heat at 4". A 10x10' door and an 8x10' door. 2 man doors on the side. Made a scraper off some square tube I had laying around to pull the stone level. https://i.imgur.com/p919PDI.jpg If you decide to do something like this yourself there are 3 must have's. A dump truck, a backhoe, and a bobcat. Fortunately I have a backhoe, a friend lent me his dump truck, and I bought a bobcat for this project. Some of it's intimidating, but it's a blast, and I have nothing but time stuck in quarantine. Learning a lot, too. Couple more shots: [link] [comments] |
| Will my home lose significant value by converting the third bedroom into a master bathroom? Posted: 12 May 2020 12:49 PM PDT My home is 1,300sqft 3 bedroom 1 bath. To get to the bathroom you have to walk through the kitchen and living room. The bedroom beside the master bedroom is quite small and is currently used as an office. We are considering turning it into a master bathroom and walk in closet because it will serve us much better that way. My question is - will changing it to a 2br/2b severely lower the market price of the home? We intend to only live here for the next 4 years or so. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Contractor caused water leak and ruined our new flooring, not sure what to do Posted: 12 May 2020 07:42 AM PDT Backstory: My father passed away in the middle of our kitchen renovation. I'm responsible for taking care of the rest of the kitchen renovation with our contractor now. Our flooring was installed 2 weeks ago, but we ran into an issue. Our laundry room is in the front entrance area right before the kitchen. The contractors employee did not screw in the laundry machine properly tight to the water thing (sorry I don't know the terminology) so a bunch of water leaked under the new flooring and they have to replace it now. The flooring company said we have to pay $150 or $300/hr and it will take around 4 hours, wait for the flooring to dry a few days before they can put it back in, and potentially order all new flooring, so the cost will be about what we initially paid x2. I'm speaking with our contractor about it later today, but not sure if he would cover this since this issue was caused by his employee? I appreciate any advice. He's a nice guy but haven't had an issue like this before so not sure if he'll make us pay for it or if there's some sort of insurance he has that would cover this? Update: Talked to the contractor, he said he will take care of it 100%. He will pull out the boards and replace it himself instead of going through the flooring company. Will also pay for all the new planks we need. Thanks for the advice! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 12 May 2020 07:27 PM PDT i recently moved into a new rental house and bought a stove. i installed the gas lines correctly to the best of my knowledge; i used gas rated teflon thread tape, everything is snug, and i checked for leaks with soapy water. the burner lit successfully when i tried it the first time in the morning when i installed it. fast forward to the evening when i decided to take it for a test run and bake some flatbread pizzas. the oven made a strange humming noise, which i googled and deduced it probably was just a fan, because it stopped after a minute. my main issue is that it started to smell strongly of gas, which is also apparently a normal thing for an oven to do when it's first lit, according to google. i turned off the oven quickly and waited for the gas smell to dissipate. i tried a stovetop burner after a few moments and now it makes a humming noise as i turn the knob and stops when the knob is turned off. my gas line is turned off now; am i being paranoid or is everything this oven doing normal? [link] [comments] |
| What features would you include in a new sprinkler irrigation system? Posted: 12 May 2020 06:19 PM PDT We are having a company do all the trenching for us next week. I'm planning to do the pipes and wiring. I'm aware of the normal stuff, such as backflow preventer. But since it's going to be brand new, I'm curious what features people wish they had included, or are glad they did include. A few things I'm planning:
What other things do you like or wish your system had? [link] [comments] |
| Is it worth upgrading our home? Posted: 12 May 2020 07:15 PM PDT I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with this. So my husband and I bought our home about 3 years ago. It's a 4 bedroom ranch style home built in 1999 but taken care of well. Very much a "starter" home. It was 150k. Our house has gone up about 25-35k in value. We are thinking now would be the best time (if ever) to move into a nicer home. However, we love the location of our home as there is nothing in the area for anywhere near the same price as we got ours for. Any house our size that is newer than ours cost about 50k+ more than we bought our house for. The closest new construction homes near us (which are in an undesired area and are poor quality) start art 212k. We are wondering if it would be worth taking out a loan (or refinancing) to do some updates on our house. We love our house, there are just things we would like to do to make it feel more modern. My only fear is that because our house is already one of the more expensive houses in our neighborhood (by like 5k), that any updates would be a waste in money if we ever chose to sell our house. TLDR: Should we update our home for 20-40k more or buy a newer home for 50k+ more? [link] [comments] |
| Paid a plumber $800 to fix a leak in the ceiling, a week later the leak is still there Posted: 12 May 2020 09:47 PM PDT What should I do? I bought a house with my GF and when we moved in we noticed a leak in the downstairs bathroom ceiling. We had a plumber come out and charge us $800 to fix the problem, which he claimed was needing a new overflow gasket and new pipes. He did the job, we patched the ceiling and thought all was well. Today, about a week later, the leak is back and is stronger than before. The GF and I stopped water from the upstairs guest bathroom (the room above the downstairs bathroom) and the leak is still there. I am convinced the plumber did not diagnose the correct problem and charged me $800 for something that was not the solution to my initial request. I am calling the company tomorrow morning as it is already 10pm here. What can I do? I can not afford another $800 payment. [link] [comments] |
| Bubbles in paint after spraying with airless - what did I do wrong? Posted: 12 May 2020 06:51 PM PDT Photos of bubbles here. Note that the bubbles are just that - bubbles - they're hollow and collapse if I press them down. I'm painting a couple of doug fir doors. I'm using a Graco X5 with a 221515 tip. I put a couple of coats of primer on first and sanded it down with 220 grit. I then put a coat of Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel on the door. I came back 4 hours later and found these bubbles on it. This is the second door I've done like this - and the first one did not have any bubbles whatsoever. I also painted the other side of this door first and had no issues with bubbles there. So, a couple of theories:
Thoughts? Thank you!! [link] [comments] |
| Skimming walls left small holes from airbubbles. How do I proceed? Posted: 12 May 2020 05:58 PM PDT I got some contractors to come out and get rid of some orange peel texture I had on my walls. They worked quick and efficiently but I noticed afterwards a ton of little holes on the wall caused by airbubbles. When i initially tried to do it myself I noticed the air bubbles occurred when i added a bit too much water. However the contractors said it was because of the type of paint on the wall under the skimming. Well the walls are completely skimmed but I'm noticing these little holes everywhere and idk how to proceed. These are some pictures What should I do about this? Will priming and painting be enough to cover these up? Do I need more skimming ? I would hate for all the time and money spend to get rid of the texture to end up leaving me with white walls full of holes. Thanks in advance. [link] [comments] |
| Cracking Popcorn Ceiling in Apartment Posted: 12 May 2020 10:45 PM PDT Okay, I don't know if this is the right subreddit for this question, but it's got a home improvement nugget to it, and I've seen similar here, so: I'm really worried--possibly irrationally so--about some damage to the popcorn ceiling in my apartment and the possibility of this putting me at risk for asbestos exposure, and I need someone to either tell me I'm crazy for worrying or give me a kick in the ass to do something about it. I'm a tenant in an apartment building in the Twin Cities, MN. The building was constructed in the 1920s, so my popcorn ceiling may very well have been installed when asbestos was a legal and trendy building material. It's been painted over, but the paint isn't totally intact; there are several areas of cracking/chipping/bulging, including one spot in which the "popcorns" are revealed, leaving them unencapsulated. There's also what appears to be some minor water damage near the window. Pics (they're not great, sorry--my ceiling is really high, and I don't have a stepladder): https://i.gyazo.com/4bba6876db97cc6e5113e0318844a799.jpg There are a couple of other areas of minor cracking/chipping, but they're in places I couldn't really photograph due to lack of proper lighting. As far as I can tell, no large chips have fallen since I moved in 9 months ago; I am not sure whether there are any new areas of damage. So, should I be worried? Here's the actual home improvement question: would it be stupid for me to try to paint over these areas? Would I be nuts for contacting my landlord about it? There was a fire in the building pretty recently, and they're still trying to sort out repairs and remediation, so I don't think they'd get to my maintenance request for some time. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Entering attic without a mask to route camera cables Posted: 12 May 2020 06:48 PM PDT Installing outdoor security cameras and routing cables through the unfinished attic. I need to access those cables but concerned about going in attic without mask. Obviously, N95 masks are nowhere to be found. Thoughts? [link] [comments] |
| Best way to remove a small concrete and stone fixture from my yard? Posted: 12 May 2020 05:33 PM PDT Pics: https://imgur.com/a/czTTuSC I have this thing in the yard to my new home. No clue what it is for. But its in the way of where I'd like to put a fire pit so I want to destroy it and get rid of it. Never had to tear up something like this before, I was thinking about going and renting a jackhammer but not sure if that's the best way. Some of the stones on the top are loose enough to knock loose with a hammer, but there are two steel rods in there that tie it to a concrete base. I'm a new homeowner so I don't have many tools but willing to buy/rent stuff. [link] [comments] |
| Cleaning up metal shelves in medicine cabinet Posted: 12 May 2020 05:10 PM PDT Hi! Previous owners installed a medicine cabinet in-wall, and used two metal shelves (~4"x12") inside. They don't look bad, but they're getting pretty dirty and maybe rusting a bit. Feels like stainless steel. Should I coat them with anything before putting them back? What should long-term care look like? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 12 May 2020 10:04 PM PDT Some background, this is my first remodel. I was so excited to take the project on, I probably should have done a little more homework and put a better contract in place. I have had a really hard time with my contractor throughout the process. He has a bad attitude and keeps charging me for "extras" that weren't explicitly in the contract, though implied and clearly verbally stated prior to kicking off with the contract. I've managed the best I can and given those "extra" jobs to others or done myself. It's been pretty frustrating. Current issue - materials supplier delivered a few boxes of incorrect flooring (wrong color) along with the good flooring. I ordered the materials but did not verify that everything that was delivered was correct and take out the bad boxes. I just assumed the pallet that was delivered was all the same, and what I ordered. Duh? Contractor went ahead and installed all of the flooring, including the glaringly wrong color. It's F ing obvious. No he is not color blind. Now he wants to charge me to reinstall, saying that it is my fault for not taking out the wrong product. Can I fire him for cause at this point? I am just sick of his attitude and all of the up charging for things that should be included or for rework that is fairly obvious is his mistake/oversight. Our contract is not a very tight one. And there is not a lot of money left on it (<$5K). It says he is supposed to be the one "helping" with materials (I have been the one doing all of the materials ordering and bringing it to the site, and if there is an issue (quality, etc), he's pointed it out and I've resolved it. It is not his fault that some incorrect material was there, but would think that it IS is fault for going ahead and installing it when it's the wrong color. I just want to make sure that I don't get sued for the remaining balance, even though he did something incorrectly and refuses to fix it without up charging me. We don't have a termination clause. I just want out, and not sure what recourse I have without termination. Should I report him (or threaten to)? Thanks guys. Any resources you can suggest would be appreciated. [link] [comments] |
| Toilet sounds like a car cannot start. Should I be worried? Video included. Posted: 12 May 2020 07:23 PM PDT At least once a week the toilet will make strange noises. It will only stop if I wait at least 15 minutes or if I flush the toilet. Is this something I should be worried about? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 12 May 2020 07:16 PM PDT Just purchased a place that came with a survey about a year old. We are planning to put up a new fence. So I have a couple questions. 1. Will old survey suffice for putting in the new fence? (Provided I can find the markers?) 2. If any of the neighbor's fence is on my property line, what are my options? This house was an uncared for rental for years and the neighbors seem to come over the line with their fences, etc. Thank you for the insight, guys. [link] [comments] |
| Adding shelving to new build finished basement. Posted: 12 May 2020 06:54 PM PDT Howdy all. Wife 2 kids and I moved into a new build (Pennsylvania) with a basement. The finished and the walls have what I thought was no studs as the stud finder always errored out. Come to find there is a foam board insulation on top of the studs behind the drywall. (See pic below) My question is it is even possible to hang shelving on these exterior walls? [link] [comments] |
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