|
More adventures in big projects. Weather hasn't been cooperative, so work isn't going to start today on our deck/porch. Dumpster got dropped off, so at least I got that going for me. Also I just noticed that water/sewer didn't get marked when I called 811. Looked in to it and those are considered private lines since the city uses curbside meters around here, so that's where their responsibility ends... and I know at least the sewer goes out near where work is happening. No idea where water comes in, but I have to assume the same area. Been scrambling this morning to find a private line locating service and the only one to actually answer the phone so far isn't available until next Monday, and they want $150/hour with a 2 hour minimum. Got a call a few minutes ago from another that can get out here Thursday and pricing is identical, so I guess that's the going rate. So now I've got: 1) 2 pallets of lumber sitting in the back yard 2) A dumpster sitting in the driveway 3) Some fading paint lines from 811 and more coming soon 4) No real idea when work will actually start, coupled with a slightly unfavorable weather forecast
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2021 16:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 09:17 |
|
|
So last night around 11:00, my partner and I both heard odd noises that sounded kind of like stuff was being moved or maybe distant thunder. Seemed to be coming from the attic. My first thought was raccoons because of the time of day I heard them and time of year, but when I went up into the attic to look around today, I saw nothing out of the ordinary or anywhere a raccoon could’ve entered from. (I am untrained though!) Now I’m wondering maybe some critter was just stomping around on my roof? My current plan is to just wait and see if we hear it again before calling anyone. Hopefully it was nothing and not an issue I gotta spend a gently caress load of money on!!
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2021 16:41
|
|
|
Sublimer posted:So last night around 11:00, my partner and I both heard odd noises that sounded kind of like stuff was being moved or maybe distant thunder. Seemed to be coming from the attic. My first thought was raccoons because of the time of day I heard them and time of year, but when I went up into the attic to look around today, I saw nothing out of the ordinary or anywhere a raccoon could’ve entered from. (I am untrained though!) Now I’m wondering maybe some critter was just stomping around on my roof? rodents or bats: either inside, on the roof, or in the gutters
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2021 16:44
|
|
|
Squirrels can sound like a sasquatch on your roof when they want to
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2021 17:07
|
|
|
Sublimer posted:So last night around 11:00, my partner and I both heard odd noises that sounded kind of like stuff was being moved or maybe distant thunder. Seemed to be coming from the attic. My first thought was raccoons because of the time of day I heard them and time of year, but when I went up into the attic to look around today, I saw nothing out of the ordinary or anywhere a raccoon could’ve entered from. (I am untrained though!) Now I’m wondering maybe some critter was just stomping around on my roof? When I was a new homeowner and every noise was stress-inducing I also thought for sure there was mice in my attic because of the noises I'd hear directly above me when in bed/random times of day. Searched the attic and found no evidence of anything wrong. Eventually I happened to hear the noise one day with my blinds open and noticed a bunch of birds on the gutter right outside the window jumping all over the gutters... I'll take that over mice any day though. I've since also been woken up bright an early by what I assume is a woodpecker slamming into my gutter just to troll me.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2021 17:15
|
|
|
Cool. Probably something of that nature. I should’ve mentioned that my cat naps up there occasionally and we’ve never heard him fight or scamper around.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2021 17:22
|
|
|
Verman posted:These things. Thanks for posting these. I was kind of expecting the coolness of the gray to clash with the warmth of the wood, but it goes together nicely. I'm with you, it bugs me when people paint wood or masonry (unless it's some builder-grade bullshit or otherwise really ugly); a beautiful piece of wood needs a protective stain and little else. I don't not-like the white beams, but I bet they looked really nice just stained. I'm a big fan of "decorators white," I think, I like my art to pop, but I am not opposed to a well-done, more colorful wall. I was on a call yesterday and a participant was sitting in a denim-blue room with white trim and white built-in shelving and it looked really nice.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2021 17:33
|
|
|
The Rev posted:I've since also been woken up bright an early by what I assume is a woodpecker slamming into my gutter just to troll me. Woodpeckers are douchebags. They love to peck on things during mating season. Not in a "digging in to wood and destroying poo poo to get a bug" way, but a "ima make a machine gun sound lol" way. Really annoying.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2021 17:50
|
|
|
Verman posted:.........Wash it beforehand to get manufacturing fibers out of it. Two things I've never thought of. I'm going to stop throwing my entire roller tray in a garbage bag when taking a break now. DaveSauce posted:Woodpeckers are douchebags. Yep, one decided that one of my metal chimney caps was the perfect place to play king of the mountain this year. It was echoing through the whole drat house.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2021 18:03
|
|
|
Maggie Fletcher posted:
Painted masonry you say? Let me show you the fireplace.  I'm torn on it. Part of me thinks we should just lean into the painted brick and paint it darker charcoal gray. I hate white fireplaces and I'm not a huge fan of really contrasting painted brick and grout lines unless it's the actual color of brick and grout. Really long term pipe dream is maybe restoring the fireplace to normal brick again, as well as stripping the beams. The paint on both came off very easily in small test sections but that will be a mountain of messy work that I'm not quite sure even I feel like doing with other priorities in the list. I think we have 16 beams total and they're ~ 14' long. About a foot tall, 6-8" thick. That would be a lot of labor intensive work (sanding/stripping). In one closet you can see the original bare beam and it's beautiful. Verman fucked around with this message at 19:18 on Jun 8, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2021 19:14
|
|
|
You reminded me when I moved in, my wife and I made a list of the things we wanted to do and prioritized them, and I did some cost estimates to plan for it. We rated the priorities from one to five, and color coded for what year we wanted to do them by. It didn't all happen but the things that did happen were good! It helped me break it down into manageable chunks. It helped me make the decision of wider driveway vs shower remodel.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2021 19:50
|
|
|
java posted:I have owned a home for about a week now and already have a full and complete appreciation of the thread title. Imagine actually getting anybody to bother with a small job, these days. I had someone look at my fascia which needs some serious work, he comes well recommended but he doesn't have his own crews, he subcontracts out, so he told me he's not sure he'd even be able to find anybody that would be interested in my half day job.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2021 21:23
|
|
|
One of the contractors I reached out to for a quote on a new deck said he would only take the job if I also agreed to replace all my siding on my house. He'd be leaving money on the table for any job that took less than 2 solid weeks of work.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2021 21:26
|
|
|
Verman posted:Painted masonry you say? Let me show you the fireplace. I unironically love that weird closet that doesn't go up to the ceiling. An apartment I rented had kitchen walls like that, normal height, but the rest of the ceilings were vaulted, and my cat would climb up there and chill in the gap, judging us all. I'm with you, I'd change it. How antsy are you to get it back to livable? Because, honestly, you are still gonna have to do the floors anyway, right? I'd be tempted to just go for it, buuuuut I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew. Owning a townhome has been a really good way of keeping my wannabe DIY aspirations in check.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 00:42
|
|
|
Verman posted:These things.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 00:57
|
|
|
gvibes posted:I kind of want to steal your ceilings. Ask yourself where the isulation is. I saw a house like this too and realized nothing in it had insulating properties. It's beautiful but that must be expensive to heat/cool.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 01:33
|
|
|
Blindeye posted:Ask yourself where the isulation is. I saw a house like this too and realized nothing in it had insulating properties. It's beautiful but that must be expensive to heat/cool. Insulation isn't a problem when these types of ceilings are properly constructed. You aren't looking at roof decking.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 01:43
|
|
|
Motronic posted:Insulation isn't a problem when these types of ceilings are properly constructed. You aren't looking at roof decking. Most I saw were 1960s houses, that wood is the underlayment for the plywood and shingles in my town.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 02:18
|
|
|
Blindeye posted:Most I saw were 1960s houses, that wood is the underlayment for the plywood and shingles in my town. Right, so....for that climate that is an improperly constructed ceiling. Even for the 60s. Insulation was understood to be an important thing even then and was readily available. You just have what sounds like a single incorrectly built example that you mention. So if somebody's shopping in that particular area it's a good call out. But it's not the indictment of that style ceiling as you seem to think it is. Nobody can tell from that picture whether it's done properly or not.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 02:30
|
|
|
Motronic posted:Right, so....for that climate that is an improperly constructed ceiling. Even for the 60s. Insulation was understood to be an important thing even then and was readily available. You just have what sounds like a single incorrectly built example that you mention. Fair; our developments are in an area with pretty harsh weather but surprisingly stingy use of insulation on most designs from the mid-50s to the mid 70s. I'm curious what details they had then to generate R-20+ insulation.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 03:22
|
|
|
Blindeye posted:Fair; our developments are in an area with pretty harsh weather but surprisingly stingy use of insulation on most designs from the mid-50s to the mid 70s. I'm curious what details they had then to generate R-20+ insulation. Fiberglass insulation nearly identical to what we use today was available in the 60s. They could have done a false ceiling or oversized rafters and exposed only a part of them with insulation above. You can get R22C into a x6 bay, but I'm not sure when that came out. Standard R22 will fit in a x8 bay. So throw up x12s and scab 1x or whatever as a nailing surface 6 3/4" inches from the top, install fiberglass kraft face and then put up the ceiling finish. It's not hard. It's not some crazy plan nobody wouldn't have thought of. It's just not done because of lovely, cheap construction practices. For the most part people have no loving idea what they are buying when they buy a house. Motronic fucked around with this message at 03:30 on Jun 9, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 03:27
|
|
|
Motronic posted:For the most part people have no loving idea what they are buying when they buy a house. Be like me, pay thousands of dollars to find out *exactly* what you are buying. (And then don't let any of that information affect your ultimate purchasing decision one bit)
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 03:34
|
|
|
Motronic posted:For the most part people have no loving idea what they are buying when they buy a house. *slams buzzer* What is "a miserable pile of secrets"?!
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 05:23
|
|
|
Blindeye posted:Ask yourself where the isulation is. I saw a house like this too and realized nothing in it had insulating properties. It's beautiful but that must be expensive to heat/cool. I'm in Seattle so not the harshest of climates Our lowest winter temps are usually in the 40s but we get the occasional snow and freeze so it's not as important as it might be for someone in the northern Midwest or east coast. The house was built in 1955 so it rings true to the mid century modern aesthetic. Part of mid century designs and why they're so prevalent in California/warm climate areas is that they're not always great when it comes to energy efficiency with the open spaces, large windows, vaulted ceilings, flat roofs etc. Thankfully it has nice dual pane windows. I'll have to get a good photo of where the previous owners installed a dryer vent through the ceiling. It shows the layers. The tongue & groove boards are 2 inches thick. On top of that is 2 inches of rigid foam insulation and another 4 inches of rigid foam insulation. I believe there's a layer of plywood and likely some kind of membrane (paper/something else) layers intermixed in there. The final external layer is epdm rubber roofing common on industrial low angle or flat roofs. I think the 2 inch layer of foam covers the entire roof corner to corner. There's a taller section covering the center 80% (basically everything but the eaves) which is where I believe the additional 4" of foam lives.  Here's the baby seal black office. I was nervous about such a dark color but I really like how it turned out. You really notice the ceilings and the greenery outside the second you walk in. It actually draws your eyes outside and makes the window clearer with fewer reflections.   As for the floors, they've been redone somewhat recently before we bought it but they chose dark brown which doesn't match the ceilings very well but that's a low level priority for way down the road when we eventually remodel the bathrooms and/or kitchen
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 08:01
|
|
|
Verman I like it! As long as you get a lot of light in the house I think the slate color contrasts the wood nicely.Motronic posted:Fiberglass insulation nearly identical to what we use today was available in the 60s. They could have done a false ceiling or oversized rafters and exposed only a part of them with insulation above. You can get R22C into a x6 bay, but I'm not sure when that came out. Standard R22 will fit in a x8 bay. So throw up x12s and scab 1x or whatever as a nailing surface 6 3/4" inches from the top, install fiberglass kraft face and then put up the ceiling finish. That's the right way but when I did inspections I only saw that in recent/expensive homes. As you said, I am used to lovely, cheap practices. But then he’s in Seattle so moisture is his true enemy.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 14:56
|
|
|
Verman posted:Here's the baby seal black office. I was nervous about such a dark color but I really like how it turned out. You really notice the ceilings and the greenery outside the second you walk in. It actually draws your eyes outside and makes the window clearer with fewer reflections. Nice! What is your plan for light in that room? Are you going to put in some bright full spectrum lamps or?
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 15:34
|
|
|
I'm about to lose my poo poo. We have a fence with two gates around our backyard. We failed our safety inspection for our pool because they didn't fully self-close. So we had the company come out and fix them, in one case adding a third spring hinge to ensure it closed. Inspector comes back today, passes us but says we will fail the final inspection because one of the gates doesn't truly close, possibly because it's too low. So the wife and I go out there, open the gate as wide as it can and one of the hinge pins flies out and now the gate won't even latch closed. We go to the other gate, which worked perfectly, and the one of the hinge 'pins' (actually a screw) snaps in half, leaving part of it inside the tension spring. '
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 15:51
|
|
|
Verman posted:Here's the baby seal black office. I was nervous about such a dark color but I really like how it turned out. You really notice the ceilings and the greenery outside the second you walk in. It actually draws your eyes outside and makes the window clearer with fewer reflections. I had my bedroom painted black when I was on 3rd shift, so when a breeze ruffled the curtains it wouldn't light up the entire room. I kinda liked the look of that room; it really made the trim and doors pop. Sadly, I painted it a neutral gray to sell the place.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 17:13
|
|
|
I wish I could see the pre-staging pictures of my house. Now most rooms are light khaki, but here and there I see the colors that got painted over and they are wild. Orange, yellow, bright turquoise, and in particular the kitchen/dining room were dark maroon with the adjacent living room a deep forest green. Add that to the heavy curtains and blinds and you get an entirely different house than the one the realtor put up for sale.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 17:41
|
|
|
Had a carpenter out to take down an old wood stove and chimney. Ended up costing 1300 USD for an hour of work. I didn't realize I could've probably done it myself.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 18:17
|
|
|
H110Hawk posted:Nice! What is your plan for light in that room? Are you going to put in some bright full spectrum lamps or? That's still up in the air, same goes for our bedrooms. All of the bedroom light fixtures are wall mounted 80s spotlights (6 in a fixture). They really didn't put off much light and they were ugly as sin. The current power source is in the wall so easiest solution is to find a wall mounted fixture for the time being but I'm not a huge fan of what I'm finding. Getting a light fixture hanging from the ceiling will be tricky as I'll likely have to run some kind of conduit along the wood planks which will look less than ideal but a hanging drum or something would be my first choice. I'll probably use lamps mostly as I would prefer moody lighting over a bright overhead light anyway. I'm a graphic designer so when I'm working I actually prefer a slightly darker room. My goal is to have this be my work space and where my guitars live. A wood desk, guitars displayed on the wall, some artwork and plants etc, and I might build a book case/shelving unit to house vinyls/books etc. I'm not sure if I have room for a small loveseat or chair but that would be nice. These are loosely what I've based my inspiration off of.     Alright, I feel like I've been clogging this thread, the next few days we'll be moving and unpacking.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 18:52
|
|
|
Verman posted:That's still up in the air, same goes for our bedrooms. All of the bedroom light fixtures are wall mounted 80s spotlights (6 in a fixture). They really didn't put off much light and they were ugly as sin. The current power source is in the wall so easiest solution is to find a wall mounted fixture for the time being but I'm not a huge fan of what I'm finding. Getting a light fixture hanging from the ceiling will be tricky as I'll likely have to run some kind of conduit along the wood planks which will look less than ideal but a hanging drum or something would be my first choice. I'll probably use lamps mostly as I would prefer moody lighting over a bright overhead light anyway. I'm a graphic designer so when I'm working I actually prefer a slightly darker room. My goal is to have this be my work space and where my guitars live. A wood desk, guitars displayed on the wall, some artwork and plants etc, and I might build a book case/shelving unit to house vinyls/books etc. I'm not sure if I have room for a small loveseat or chair but that would be nice. Looks good! Want to come do all this to my house too? Because  we're so bad at actually pulling the trigger on stuff.quote:Alright, I feel like I've been clogging this thread, the next few days we'll be moving and unpacking. It's a tough just, but someone has to do it.  Edit: Something seems to have changed with multi-quotes of the same post.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 18:56
|
|
|
DaveSauce posted:
Following up on this, he sent me his company's insurance and license information. Everything looks to be in order, other than they expire later this month. I can push for the updated copies before he starts in July, but for now I really don't have reason for concern other than general nervousness about it (and the fact that I can only find a single review for their work, despite them having been in business for twenty years, and it has one star) CornHolio fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Jun 9, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 19:06
|
|
|
CornHolio posted:Following up on this, he sent me his company's insurance and license information. Everything looks to be in order, other than they expire later this month. I can push for the updated copies before he starts in July, but for now I really don't have reason for concern other than general nervousness about it (and the fact that I can only find a single review for their work, despite them having been in business for twenty years, and it has one star) Tell them in writing they will not be allowed to start work without updated licensing and insurance information. Should help force the issue one way or the other, and if they balk offer to sign the release in your contract in exchange for your full deposit refunded. Exchange one for the other. (Make a copy of that release, if they've put a mechanics lien on your house it will help you release it.)
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 19:10
|
|
|
New homeowner: Where the hell do I go to buy new, non-MDF furniture relatively quickly? Local furniture stores? National retailers (i.e. pottery barn/crate and barrel)? Costco? We tossed our decaying dressers when moving, but are now realizing that might have been a mistake, given the 4-5 month timeline on furniture we've seen with the few retailers we've browsed.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 21:50
|
|
|
I have no idea if you have one near you, but we have an Anthropologie outlet in the Pittsburgh area and recently bought a chair there- they didn't deliver, but did allow delivery by third party services if you arranged for it yourself. It cost us 100 bucks (plus tip) to have someone drive it out here a few days later. But yeah, local furniture stores that have stock in-store definitely work if you can arrange a delivery. You'll have to wait a few days to get your stuff instead of weeks. As far as which ones are good, I couldn't say. That Anthropologie outlet was pretty great, but it isn't cheap (even though it's an outlet).
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 22:10
|
|
|
We got our Article bed in about 10 days, I think. But yeah I'd go with local furniture stores if you could. My wife bought some pieces from a local place a few years ago and we still love them.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 23:14
|
|
|
Check out estate sales by you, they can have amazing deals on really nice furniture. I wish the one we went to last week occurred after we close and had measurements, there was some great furniture there I would've bought up immediately.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2021 23:31
|
|
|
Work finally started on the deck  Here today:  Gone tomorrow:  Mostly happy to see all that garbage overgrown shrubbery gone that had no business being there, but also the rotting deck. also lmao the posts were just stuck in the ground. At least current code requires concrete footings... no idea if it did in 1999, but I literally watched one of the workers just pull them out of the ground.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2021 00:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 09:17 |
|
|
DaveSauce posted:Work finally started on the deck They did.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2021 01:28
|
|