Home Improvement: Update: Newly built house flooded 3 days before closing. Could use all of the advice. |
- Update: Newly built house flooded 3 days before closing. Could use all of the advice.
- Make My Big Brown Blob Beautiful
- Talking to general contractors has been extremely discouraging, would love some advice.
- Quarantined Home Bathroom Renovation
- City Planted Tree Over Gas Line
- Quarantine Master Bathroom remodel
- Bought a new oven and cannot connect the gas....
- What can i do to make this spot behind my house look better?
- Installing a door where a window currently is on a mobile
- I'm painting my cabinets with oil paint. What's the longest I can wait between coats? Like, can I paint a second coat 4 days after a first coat? A week later? If not, what do I have to do? If I waited too long, do I need to scuff/sand the first coat or prime again to accept the new coat?
- Removing 100 sq feet of Tile mortar?
- Friendly reminder: Always know where your main water shut off valve is in your house, at your sprinkler box and at the street
- Light up your attic or crawlspace with cafe style string lights.
- Asphalt driveway apron repair
- What is 'THAT' piece that brings a room together?
- Dropped drywall anchors down into my pantry door
- Advice needed for old arched door way and how to handle.
- I want to remodel my bathroom to a style that I saw in China where the entire bathroom is tiled and has a squat toilet. Any advice?
- Dilapidated porch
- Fixing Fascia boards
- What to do with this weird patio?
- Is there a light I can install to attract less bugs?
- Dumping TONS and TONS of sand down my hill?
- Mortar dust on stone wall from grinding
| Update: Newly built house flooded 3 days before closing. Could use all of the advice. Posted: 24 Jun 2020 06:03 AM PDT Original Post [link] [comments] |
| Make My Big Brown Blob Beautiful Posted: 24 Jun 2020 05:37 PM PDT Attention hivemind of reddit, we need your help! We just closed on this lake house Siding color? Brown. Trim? Brown. Gutters? Brown! "Just paint it all brown!" - The previous owners, probably. Seriously though, this is our first home and we couldn't be more excited! The home needs a lot of work on the exterior, but we feel like we got a good deal on it and have the budget to fix it up. The good and the bad news is that most of the exterior features will need replaced within the next few years. The deck and deck railing are due to be replaced now. The siding is mostly in good condition, but needs some panels replaced and painted. The gutters have seen better days. The roof is 25 years old. Basically, we have the opportunity to make the exterior exactly how we want it over the next few months/years without replacing it "just because." The home sits right on a lake, and we already have some ideas for landscaping to take advantage of the location. However, we are looking for ways to make the outside of the home itself have more curb appeal. If you ever wanted to change an entire home on this subreddit, now is your chance! Metal roof? Let's see what it'd look like! Stainless steel door fixtures? I think I'd like this. Hot pink vinyl siding? No. But feel free to suggest it! I really would like to hear the serious ideas though. We plan to replace or at least repaint the exterior within the next few years. All of the exterior door fixtures will also be replaced. And the front door will be replaced as well. I am looking for any ideas/suggestions on how to increase curb appeal for the home itself. Ideally, we would like contemporary/modern design ideas to fit the structure of the home. TL;DR: I bought a big brown blob. Please make it beautiful! Anything goes, but ignore the landscaping for now and focus on the house! [link] [comments] |
| Talking to general contractors has been extremely discouraging, would love some advice. Posted: 24 Jun 2020 06:42 PM PDT Currently about to close on a place and have about 25k leftover after down payment and closing costs for renovations. The place needs new flooring badly, bathroom renovations and kitchen remodel. I budgeted about 15k for the kitchen remodel for new countertops, recessed lighting, and a non load bearing wall removal. I've had 5 general contractors come in with quotes ranging from "I don't want to be associated with such a hodge podge job" to 30k + minimum in price after they've pushed the fact that I need to get new cabinets and redesign the entire kitchen. As much as I would love to drop that kind of money on the kitchen, it's just not in the budget right now. I understand they are a business and are trying to make money but it's getting a bit frustrating when there seems to be no interest in them wanting to do the minor remodeling upgrades I'm asking for. Should I not look for a general contractor and move to more of a handy man service for this kind of job? Or should I just wait it out until have the proper funds to pay for it all? [link] [comments] |
| Quarantined Home Bathroom Renovation Posted: 24 Jun 2020 12:41 PM PDT Pics: https://imgur.com/gallery/xicveN5 Wife has always wanted a nice tall bathtub to relax in, plus our old shower and tile was not well kept by the previous owners and we grew tired of looking at how gross it was. Now that I've had a few bathroom jobs under my belt at our rental properties I felt confident enough to tackle our own. The tub was purchased from Wayfair, along with the mosaic tile which I thought was an awesome find that matched our floor tile really well, and had some nice grays in it that matched the rest of the house. We ended up choosing a new paint color that was very similar to the old one but just one shade darker. Didn't get many pictures of the new toilet, ultimately decided on that last minute just because it's easy and why not. Love the slow close feature! It's the little things. Whole thing took 10 days from start to finish, balancing working from home made it pretty easy and I could usually put in a 6-7 hour day most of the time. Thanks for looking! [link] [comments] |
| City Planted Tree Over Gas Line Posted: 24 Jun 2020 07:23 PM PDT I recently purchased a house in a major US city and the closing date was May 1. Sometime in March, the City planted a new 1-2 year old Ginko tree between the sidewalk and the road. The tree started leaning one way quite a bit and so I installed an anchor and some steel wire to hold it up at 90 degrees. Well, prior to installing the anchor I called the "call before you dig" equivalent for my state and someone came out and marked underground utilities around the area of the anchor. It turns out, the gas main running into my house runs right underneath the new tree the city planted. See imgur link below: The gas still works at my house so there is no evidence they hit the line, but is this something I should be worried about in the future? Do I need to do anything at this time? Not sure where else I should post this, but just looking for insight. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Quarantine Master Bathroom remodel Posted: 24 Jun 2020 10:28 AM PDT http://imgur.com/gallery/WdJalKC Sorry this is my first post so forgive me if I missed anythinf Forgot to take pictures of the tiles before but, this project started because there was a crack in the tile right beneath where the toilet was sitting. So I decided I wanted to replace the tiles and one thing led to another and I decided to redo everything lol. I live Northern California btw. I took off all the tiles with a crow bar and some flat heads/hammer. Noticed there was a big dry rot and termites to my surprise. Called up my buddy who works for a pest control company to come take of the problem. After it was safe to resume the project my brother and I tore down the whole shower which was a pain because this is the second story and yeah.... (Always wear eye protection and a respirator or a n95 mask while tearing down the tiles or sanding) Took out the vanity then used a saw to cut out the sub floor and removed the old pipes. Went to home Depot and Lowe's like 30 times during this entire remodel. Got new pipes, waterproof vinyl flooring, shower walls and pan, sheet rock, plywood. Installed pipes first, then shower pan and shower walls( didn't go with tiles because that was out of my budget), followed by the sheet rocks and then I mudded the wall, wait till the next day to sand and clean all the dust. Sealed the shower and toilet. Painted and installed new lights, toilet, vanity/sink, shower head/handle, towel rack and then the mirror. Cost break down after tax from homedepot and Lowe's Shower pan/3 walls from lowes = 760$ Shower head and handle = 60$ Toilet = 175$ Vanity/sink = 190$ LifeProof vinyl flooring = 130$ (55$/box) used 1 and a half box All piping = 80$ Paint/primer/roller and brushes = 100$ Light fixtures = 55$ Led light bulbs = 12$ Fan/light = 50$ A/c and heater vent = 9$ Mirror = 35$ Shower curtains and bar = 60$ Towel rack = 35$ Plywood, 2x4, sheetrock, and mud = 100$ Floor baseboard = 20$ Total is around 1,871$, I lost a few receipts so just guestimated what I remember it cost. Next time I'm just gonna hire a contractor lol [link] [comments] |
| Bought a new oven and cannot connect the gas.... Posted: 24 Jun 2020 09:25 PM PDT Old oven and the wall have a 1/2" ID connection. The new oven has a 3/8" ID connection. I cannot seem to find a fitting for this. Any help? [link] [comments] |
| What can i do to make this spot behind my house look better? Posted: 24 Jun 2020 07:18 PM PDT |
| Installing a door where a window currently is on a mobile Posted: 24 Jun 2020 05:04 PM PDT Hi all, I'm new to home renovation so sorry if this is a stupid question. I'd like to turn a window that looks out into my backyard to a door. I've tried googling and searching YouTube, but I couldn't find anyone else that had done this. I would guess that you could basically remove the window, cut the metal siding outside, remove wall paneling inside, and then open up the window framing to install a door that is the same width as the window. Am I correct? Would the existing window framing need extra reinforcement? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jun 2020 08:42 PM PDT |
| Removing 100 sq feet of Tile mortar? Posted: 24 Jun 2020 05:28 PM PDT Pulling up a 9x11 area of cheap tile to lay down LVP across the area and into the surrounding spaces which are all on the same slab. I used a hammer and reciprocating saw with a Spyder 2" Reciprocating Saw Scraper. After pounding the tile to bits, it's coming up ok but it's not making much of a dent in the mortar bed. In my google fu I've found floor conditioners, diamond cups or masonry grinding wheels on angle grinders, and hammer and chisel. Thinking my plan so far is to remove all tile, use hammer and chisel to get as much as I can off in larger chunks and then using the angle grinder for the last little bit. I know they kick up a ton of really fine dust so shopvac with fine dust bag will be used in addition to all PPE. Edit: this is on a concrete slab. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jun 2020 09:55 PM PDT Having this information likely saved thousands in water damage and repairs. While I was working in the house, my wife came in and said we had a geyser in the front yard. Went out and sure enough water was spewing out of the main sprinkler valve box, right where the secondary shutoff valve is located & rendering it unusable. After saying a few choice words, I gathered my thoughts, located the shutoff valve at the street and isolated the leak until a permanent fix can be established. Always remember to locate these before you start doing any work or just move into a house. [link] [comments] |
| Light up your attic or crawlspace with cafe style string lights. Posted: 24 Jun 2020 12:08 PM PDT I'm a handyman building my fixer upper so I spend a lot of time in the crawlspace or attic for various reasons, so after a few too many projects in the near dark I wanted to show you all what I did with extra cafe lights I had left over from another project. Now you can see all your hidden flaws with the flick of a switch! Falling insulation or failing duct tape? Let there be light! Open wire splices or water leaks? Ain't hiding from me. Ten year old wrapping paper left behind from the previous owner? MERRY CHRISTMAS. I keep them plugged into a switched outlet but there are bulb socket to outlet adapters that install as easily as changing a lightbulb. It's really nice to be able to have light in 100% of your utility areas. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jun 2020 08:54 PM PDT With holes starting to form where our driveway apron meets our garage, we've been getting quotes for repair. Some companies suggest replacement, which is the traditional method of cutting out 3 feet from the garage, reestablishing a crushed rock base, and then creating an all new apron. The other option is to use infrared to heat the apron until it sinks into any empty spaces, then rebuild from there. The former leaves a gap between the new and old areas of the driveway, and will always look different. The latter blends in perfectly with no gap, but seems to me to be less thorough. It is slightly cheaper to do, and comes with a 2 year warranty. But I can't find anything that really critiques or compares these options. Have you had any experience with infrared asphalt repair? Is it appropriate for aprons? [link] [comments] |
| What is 'THAT' piece that brings a room together? Posted: 24 Jun 2020 04:58 PM PDT What kind of décor and furniture really just seems to make a room perfect and tie it all together? Like, you've got all your usual furniture, but just need another extra thing or two to make it perfect. A corner table? Some art? A plant? [link] [comments] |
| Dropped drywall anchors down into my pantry door Posted: 24 Jun 2020 04:43 PM PDT I'm currently prepping my pantry doors to paint them next week. The previous owners of my house drilled several drywall anchors into the wooden door in order to support some shelving. As I was removing them, a few dropped down into the door cavity. Now I can hear it rattle when I open / close the door :( Can I drill a hole at the bottom of the door and fish them out? Man this is annoying! [link] [comments] |
| Advice needed for old arched door way and how to handle. Posted: 24 Jun 2020 06:10 PM PDT I'm wanting to hang a door in an arched doorway in a house built in the early 1900's in Louisville, KY without removing the arch. Link to picture below. For background: this is my grandmothers house and I am trying to help her out. She is taking care of some family members and would like to add some privacy to this room with a door. It used to be a dining room and is now being used as a bedroom. The entrance is through the kitchen so you have no privacy in the bedroom. My grandmother wants to keep the archway because it matches the one that leads into her living room. I have a lot of basic woodworking skills and the tools to do it but don't have the experience. I'm looking for advice on how others would go about this. I have debated just hanging a sliding barn door style on the inside of the door way but am worried this wouldn't offer much sound protection at night when others are in the kitchen. I would love to cut a door to fit the arch but am not sure if this is possible. I could mark the arch on something and then use it as a tracer to cut the top of a door to size. But then I am not sure how I would hang the door because it would I would need to create a door jamb that's curved. Also with hollow core slab doors I'm not sure how to go about this. Please ask anything that I left out that would help! I am in the process of patching everything in the kitchen and prepping for paint and wanting to go ahead and get this done for her while I'm at it. The size of the doorway is 31 inches x 77.5 to the top of the arch. Link to picture - https://imgur.com/a/mVdugEw [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jun 2020 04:28 PM PDT Does anyone have any experience with this style of bathroom and if so, how difficult is it to find a contractor in the US to do this? Basically everything is tiled - the floors, walls and ceiling. There is a squat toilet (which I prefer due to the negative health issues related to western toilets) and from what I remember the toilet sort of acts like a drain for the entire bathroom. I believe there was also a normal drain on the floor as well (I guess there has to be, but I feel like most of the water just ran to the toilet). There is no tub, and the shower simply sprays onto the bathroom floor and everything runs into the drain and the toilet. I really liked this style because it was easy to stay clean (just mop every time after I shower) and I never had to worry about water damage or mildew smells. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jun 2020 02:13 PM PDT Hello home improvers. Husband and I are renovating our home to sell and have one last major project. We've spoken with contractors but it's the same old- they'll get back to us with a quote and we never hear anything (just say you won't take on the project!!!). Anyway he's done with that and planning to do the work himself and we need some advice... -second floor porch -row home -all wood -floor and soffit are rotted and there are squirrels doing things in there -NE US, east facing, so exposed to sun, rain, snow How do we get the damn squirrels out?? That's the real question. These beasts are not adverse to human contact and stand their ground. Thanks in advance for any suggestions! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jun 2020 08:08 PM PDT My garage and the back of my home has some Fascia board and soffit that are in rough shape. I think this was from an old roof which had a lot of leaks. I did get a quote to fix it from a roofing company, but I really want to do as much as I can myself just so I have those skills going forward This shows the damage I am dealing with - https://imgur.com/a/chYoa4K There is some harder bits on the house (Around curved windows), but I want to try and fix the detached garage one first as I have full access to the inside and out. Being all the way on the back, I can make all my mistakes here so I don't make them on the house! The thing that gets me here is that I just don't understand the general construction and how everything goes together, and the sized of lumber. The rest of the projects I have done have been all things I can easily stop, go to home depot 18 times and finish the next day. This seems like I need to finish it pretty darn quick, or ill have a massive hole Is this pretty standard stuff? Will I wreck the drip edge on the roof trying this? My thinking is this
Is that the general gist? Is the Fascia board a standard measurement, or will I have to end up ripping down some lumber? [link] [comments] |
| What to do with this weird patio? Posted: 24 Jun 2020 02:53 PM PDT I need help figuring out what to do with an old patio slab + side yard concrete chunks + weird concrete "deck". Photos and explanations here: https://imgur.com/a/FHxYXf5 So, my house has a big concrete patio slab. It about 10 feet by 20 feet and 3-4 inches thick, poured in 3 big sections. The concrete is not in terrible shape, except one of the sections has cracked. But it has settled/slumped about 3 inches and rain now runs toward the house instead of away from it. The side yard has a patchwork of poured concrete and big concrete pavers (to make a pathway for the trash can). These have also sunk and let water flow towards the house. The real head-scratcher is the weird concrete "deck" poured up on a mostly hollow (I think) platform of cement blocks, with a brick facade. It is not fully enclosed and I worry about rodents and pests getting in there. I would like to build a mini wooden deck-like thing to cover the unsightly A/C unit and the spot where it sits, and was thinking if I put hardware cloth to close that side up, at least nothing could get back there to get under the concrete deck? I have looked up patio repair and tried to come up with an idea that would work, but I'm really at a loss (and can't afford the several thousand dollars I was quoted when I called around to local companies). I live in Ohio. Any advice or ideas would be much appreciated! [link] [comments] |
| Is there a light I can install to attract less bugs? Posted: 24 Jun 2020 07:50 PM PDT I have a light above my apartment front door that seems to attract a decent amount of bugs in the summer. Is there a certain light I can install that will attract less bugs? or maybe a light that is motion censored? Thanks for any help at all. [link] [comments] |
| Dumping TONS and TONS of sand down my hill? Posted: 24 Jun 2020 05:33 PM PDT I have a 35 x 55 ft area in my backyard full of somewhere around 9-12 inches of sand. I want to get rid of the sand, and put some fake grass over only part of it. If the sand is 12 inches deep it will be 100 tons of sand. I live on a hillside, and my property slopes down behind the area where the sand is located. Rather than paying people to move all of the sand off my property, I was thinking of maybe paying people to dig it out and dump most, or all of it on the bottom of my hillside.
Thanks. [link] [comments] |
| Mortar dust on stone wall from grinding Posted: 24 Jun 2020 05:32 PM PDT I had a few joints tuckpointed on my stone wall exterior a couple weeks back, and there is a coating of old, grey, mortar dust from grinding the old stuff out. Tried hosing and scrubbing with a dish brush, and it helped, but it's still visible. The stone wall has a similar texture as pavers. Any tips on removing that don't involve acids or a power washer? [link] [comments] |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Hivemind Improving Homes. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment