Building a life in the country.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Building a life in the country.

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Your house looks awesome! I must say, I'm disappointed, though. For someone as DIY as you with such clear skills for this stuff... you go and... hire contractors? For shame!

Which half of your garage will be the auto shop, and which will be the wood shop?

# ¿ Feb 19, 2010 22:31

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 20:33

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Dane posted:

Possibly a stupid question, but why were the kitchen cabinets / counters installed fully before the floor was laid in? Isn't that rear end-backwards?

No, that's normal. Why would you lay down finished flooring that's just going to get covered up by the cabinets?

# ¿ Mar 4, 2010 11:51

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Will your walls go the entire way from the floor to the ceiling? Make sure your builder doesn't forget!

# ¿ Mar 5, 2010 00:32

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Yeah, they do the same thing here. You'd only need a small gen, though, and they're not that bad on gas. Guess it all depends on how much the utility charges for a temp pole.

Desi posted:

3. Cabinets, here, go in after tile. The tract-builders do it the other way around, but all three kitchen designers I talked to before settling on one looked at me like I was crazy for thinking that they go in before. Must be a regional thing.

This sounds more like a kitchen designer thing. Makes it easier for them if they can change things all around without having to worry about the floor. But it's the wrong way to do it, and costs you way more money in the long run.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2010 19:41

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Slung Blade posted:

My garage now has a set of stairs to get to the door. I might have this changed to be a straight in staircase later.

Builders too often fail to consider things like "how will I carry furniture up this staircase?"

# ¿ Apr 4, 2010 04:09

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Splizwarf posted:

My dream house includes a pivoting boom and double door on the side of the house at the far end of the upstairs hallway for exactly this reason. If it was possible to get 200 years of cowshit out of the foundation and rafters (it isn't) I'd daily drive the poo poo out of an early 1800s cowbarn.

Naw, you don't have to go to those extremes. It's just a matter of laying things out smartly, and considering things like this when revising the floorplan. I can't tell you how many drafts and what-ifs and floor plans I went through when my wife and I put a 2000sqft addition onto our house, but I can tell you I saved over 60 CAD files as the design progressed and we had every detail about the kitchen and stairs planned out before we even broke ground. (Lot easier to route electrical to a kitchen island *before* the concrete slab is poured, things like that...) The end result was perfect, though- I wouldn't change the thing.

Just carried a bed up into the "worst" upstairs bedroom two days ago and it was trivial. Little things like wide stairs and halls, and door placement that allows good angles coming in from the hallway. And not doing things like Slung Blade's garage steps. How's anyone supposed to get a refrigerator up that? The architect should have known better, it shouldn't take a client to notice things like that.

grover fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Apr 4, 2010

# ¿ Apr 4, 2010 15:46

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Slung Blade posted:

True, but it will build up in the soil over time.

Brawndo's got what plants crave: electrolytes! :pseudo:

# ¿ Apr 5, 2010 21:52

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

El Bano posted:

We had one of those vacuum dealies and frankly, after about 2 years of hauling around a hose, we just swapped to using a regular vacuum. It just wasn't as convienent as it sounds like.

My in-laws did the same thing. It's easier to deal with a 30' cord and a 4' vacuum than a 30' vacuum hose. I must admit- their central vac had some powerful suction! Was nice and quiet in the house, too. Loud as gently caress in their garage when it turned on, though. Especially when you're not expecting it

# ¿ Apr 12, 2010 22:42

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Slung Blade posted:

Hmm, might be possible. The plumber did re-crimp the band around the pipe a couple of times though, and that didn't fix it.

Also, thanks.

If a PEX crimp fails, you'll often have to cut it off and start over. There are special tools for cutting the band without hurting the fitting; otherwise, you snip all 3 and use a new T.

# ¿ May 21, 2010 22:07

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Wandering Knitter posted:

I can't believe you can only access the pipes by cutting a hole in the ceiling. Was it designed that way?

?? Pipes and wires are ALWAYS buried in home construction. Valves and cleanouts are the only components required to be accessible.

# ¿ May 22, 2010 00:14

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Messadiah posted:

I can't believe your garage ceiling is textured, that's just silly. Most garages in new construction here either get a layer of primer, or just a half-assed layer of mud.

Textured ceilings are actually cheaper than smooth. It's just the way plaster is- textured surfaces hide defects well and are thus go on very quickly and still look good. Nearly everything in my house is sand finish (swirl), even the garage.

# ¿ May 22, 2010 15:39

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

I know it was there before... but, what's with the exposed PVC pipe and wire taped to it?

# ¿ May 30, 2010 21:53

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Slung Blade posted:

Ah, that makes sense, thanks.

If he didn't patch with 5/8" Type-X, he probably just violated your local fire codes, which mandate special fire resistance for attached garages. (I don't know your local codes, but otherwise, they would have used cheaper drywall.) IIRC, 5/8" Type-X is rated for 1-hour and standard 1/2" for 30 minutes. Drywall is actually really good fireblock due to the chemistry in the gypsum core resisting temperature rise and slowing heat transfer to the structure, and Type-X is specially formulated for increased resistance; mud/plaster isn't nearly as effective of a fireblock. There are other restrictions in what holes you can make, how close receptacles can be, etc.

grover fucked around with this message at 23:40 on May 30, 2010

# ¿ May 30, 2010 23:36

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Slung Blade posted:

The 1/8th of mud isn't flammable is it?

Naw, it just doesn't have as much thermal resistance as 1/8" Type-X gypsum would have. That patch would only last about 30 minutes vice 60 minutes. Although, given your water lines run through there and are plastic, the problem *might* solve itself. I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

# ¿ May 30, 2010 23:43

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Slung Blade posted:

How about people who spend 90 minutes using a hand saw to cut through an 18" diameter log because they're too cheap to buy a chainsaw?

I did that last night and now I'm kinda sore. Gotta get back to smithing asap.

When a truck took out our cable line, Cox refused to rehang it at the same height, and refused to hang it higher until we cut down a whole bunch of branches. Faced with extended loss of TV and internet, I immediately bought a small electric chainsaw mounted on a 10' extending pole. I'd somehow gotten along just fine as a homeowner for 8 years, and this was about as small and cheap as chainsaw as they make, but It's amazing how many uses you'll find for a chainsaw once you have one. One of those "right tool for the job" things; sure, something else MAY work, but there are sawzall jobs, there are handsaw jobs, and then there are CHAINSAW jobs. Go on craigslist and find yourself a nice one

# ¿ Jun 7, 2010 01:02

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Did your contractor not bother tamping?

# ¿ Jul 3, 2010 15:47

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

You need to do this:

Are you allowed to kill birds for "crop damage" in Canada? I know a lot of the farmers in Pennsylvania who used the crop damage exemption it as an excuse to deer hunt out-of-season and without a license.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2010 14:42

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Have you looked into peat or other compact septic systems? I had the same problems with a high water table at my house, except in my case, people didn't give a poo poo 50 years ago and put in a septic field anyhow. Thankfully, a developer ran city sewer past my house and I've closed the field- it sure is nice to be able to flush my toilets 12 months out of the year now! Prior to that, though, I was getting pretty desperate to get a septic system that worked. There ARE systems out there that will work; they still require a drain field, but the discharge from the peat system is clean water so it's less of an issue than with a traditional septic field (that doesn't work when the ground is saturated) and the field can be very small.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2011 15:28

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Alternately, you could get a Japanese-style robot bidet toilet seat which actually is awesome.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2011 14:25

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

nummy posted:

Maybe.. I thought that an actual drain field came off of your septic tank.

Maybe if Slung is enough of a Ninja, he could pull it off?

Til the field, plant drain line, cover, and water! He can call it an irrigation system if his neighbors ask any questions

# ¿ Jan 3, 2011 12:37

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 20:33

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

drat, dude, looks great. Did you hew the stone and blow the glass jar, too?

# ¿ Jan 6, 2013 03:10

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