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About ready to move into a 50s rambler where we'll totally gut the kitchen and build a modern one that will be on the higher end. Style wise we've got a pretty good idea where we're going, but I'm looking for recommendations for modern amenities and functional design. There are a few things that we know we'll do like pull out shelves in bottom cabinets to get at pots and pans easier and a kitchen drawer charging station. Any other recommendations along those lines of things that y'all have seen and loved or things in your kitchen that you can't live without? Along the same lines, what brand appliances should we go with? We're looking for a separate gas range and oven and probably want to go with the quietest dish washer on the market as our one right now is a loud nightmare. I don't want to go cheap but probably not 10k total for everything either. A bundle deal with a range, oven, dish washer, microwave, and refrigerator might be what we're looking for. Any recommendations?
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May 8, 2016 23:05
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I feel like a wallpaper accent wall can look cool but on the other hand I'd rather just stencil the design in with paint and be able to paint over it when my wife inevitably changes her mind.
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Jun 1, 2016 15:25
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That's one area where I'll farm out the work. It's pretty nice to have a company come in and spread whatever needs to be spread at strategic points throughout the year. Just find the "greenest" company you can so you avoid destroying your area's groundwater as much as possible. The organic stuff doesn't work quite as well as the toxic stuff but at least you can sleep a little easier knowing that you aren't tracking poison into your house, esp if you have pets and/or children. I did it myself one year and it was a huge hassle. $30/application 6 times per summer is well worth it IMO. Plus the guys I have are lawn whisperers and are mixing in various amounts of nitrogen, potash, etc. depending on conditions.
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Jun 3, 2016 19:25
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toplitzin posted:Organic is actually higher in environmental toxicity due to its lower efficacy leading to both more applications and more product used compared to the "toxic stuff." I've not seen them apply before but they apply 6 times per summer (I'm in MN). Is that more frequent than normal?
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Jun 14, 2016 18:56
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Bibendum posted:A bit late for this, but glad to hear you covered it all. Tile and thinset aren't a vapor barrier or even really waterproof when new and leak more as the grout ages and cracks. traditionally tar paper behind the thinset would act as the waterproofing layer. What was your problem with the Kerdi? I'm about to do a shower with it.
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Jan 6, 2017 05:03
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It's pretty typical for a landlord to have legal right of entry upon reasonable notice (usually 2 or 3 days) during reasonable hours, in most states. It's their property, they have a right to enter to make repairs, upgrades, inspections etc. This is regardless of whether they have a key to the property so that part is kind of superfluous, but I'm guessing that if they give notice and you aren't there at the time they've designated and the locks have been changed without providing them a key they have every right to drill the lock.
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Aug 29, 2017 18:27
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Bosch 500 series is the best dishwasher I've used. Only downside is there's not really a good place to put wine glasses securely.
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Sep 4, 2017 13:52
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devicenull posted:Keep in mind that for an interior door... the weak point is going to be the drywall next to it. The low rating doesn't really matter when a couple kicks will get you through the wall. Also typically interior doors are pretty easy to kick in. If someone is motivated enough to break in they'll be motivated enough to give your interior doors a few good kicks each.
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Oct 11, 2017 02:21
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Twerk from Home posted:Who needs insulation when you can have a roof made entirely of bird nests and bird corpses! What’s the R value of birds nests? Might want to leave it up there. Winter is coming quicker than you think.
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Nov 14, 2017 19:37
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Update: I had this happen in my house growing up. Fiberglass insert with no mortar bed or anything supporting it underneath+a couple thousand showers=broken pvc collar that separates and pours water into the downstairs ceiling when someone was in the shower but was relatively sealed up when nobody was standing in it. The biggest hassle was finding a drywall dude willing to come out to mud and sand a 3x3 hole in the downstairs ceiling used to access the drain to fix it.
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Jan 24, 2018 02:59
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A vapor barrier can keep moisture from emanating from the soil and is probably a good idea to do (especially if you live in a radon area) but that doesn’t seem like it would solve your immediate problem. I have a sealed dirt crawl space under part of my house and the soil under the vapor barrier is definitely damp, but not as damp as what you’ve got there from the looks of it. I’d focus on that pipe and figure out where it leads. If it’s dripping you’ve got a problem of some sort somewhere imo. As for general moisture maintenance not related to that pipe, I think you want to focus on the outside of your house first. Do you have downspout extensions on? How long are they? Can you divert water from the high side of your lot around the house and down the rest of the hill? If you’re thinking about a French drain I’d think about installing one outside of your foundation. Allowing any kind of moisture in the crawl space is bad times, even if a French drain carries it out of there.
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Jun 22, 2018 04:40
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While we’re on the issue of sealants, does anyone have a recommendation for a paver/concrete sealant? I had a paver patio installed recently with dark gray brick but heavy efflorescence has left it looking light gray with whitish splotches. I’m looking to give it a “wet” kind of look without looking glossy. Any thoughts?
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Jul 20, 2018 21:15
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I kinda like that kitchen look but not in that layout and not in that house.
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Aug 23, 2018 19:28
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A little , but while Flowtrol works okay but for a relatively limited area I’d just bite the bullet and get a can of Ben Moore Aura. It goes on amazingly well and is pretty bulletproof assuming your prep is good. A gun is good but there is a learning curve. You can be off the races with a high quality brush and high end paint.
stupid puma fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Dec 8, 2018 |
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Dec 8, 2018 20:01
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Edit: double post, whoops
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Dec 8, 2018 20:04
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This might be regional but around here (MN) I’d be extremely surprised if such a thing were flagged by an appraiser unless it was clearly dangerous for some reason. Maybe my past appraisers have pulled permits and just not told me but the entire basement in my last house was unpermitted so they must have kept it to themselves if so. If your appraiser gives you a hard time about it I’d make it the responsibility of the current owners to demolish it to expose the electrical and plumbing or whatever the appraiser/city finds acceptable.
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Feb 12, 2019 03:53
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The Dave posted:They're reassessing all the properties in my county and from what I've read on Facebook/Nextdoor basically everyone has something to correct. For me it's the listing that our attic space is fully finished (it's partially finished), but others have been reporting everything from wrong sq ft. to new bathrooms showing up. Are you required by law to let assessors into your house where you live? I’ve always denied them access for this reason and force them to guess on what my house is “worth.”
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Feb 12, 2019 21:55
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His Divine Shadow posted:Personally I am not sure what to recommend re: the windows. Are they wooden framed windows? If so I would keep them and fit an interior window in the old fashioned scandinavian style and turn them into double glaze windows. But it's hard to say without knowing what the current windows look like. Yeah I think read in an article linked somewhere here on the forums (this thread?) that it usually takes like 40 years to get a return on investment from new windows assuming you already have a single pane double hung window with a storm window. I think you usually get more bang for your buck with sealing and insulating your attic typically. I could be totally making this up but I don’t think I am?
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Apr 3, 2019 03:01
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A project like that is the perfect opportunity to learn how to mud and tape if you’re at all handy. Watch a couple videos and buy a couple of taping knives (I’d go with like a 6” and a like a 12”), some tape and some light mud and some sandpaper and go to town. It’ll take you a while to figure it out but if you take your time (and don’t try to make it perfect on the first or even second application) you’ll do fine.
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Apr 26, 2019 15:11
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ntan1 posted:Probably not since the market is likely steady at the moment (so this year the remodels are not as crazy as the past two years), but the prices will be on the high side for remodeling. That's why 50k seems like a decent baseline. To add, I had a full kitchen remodel of similar scope (wall removed, but it was not load bearing) in my 50s house 2 years ago and the custom cabinets alone were like $25k. It was another $50kish for the work and materials (not including appliances). We had 1” t&g maple floor installed to match to the rest of the house so that was like $10k of that cost, though. Renovation costs are very dependent on specs and geographic location. I’d get at least 3 quotes. If they’re all too expensive just wait until you can save more, as needed.
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Jul 24, 2019 16:54
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devicenull posted:In comparison, we spent $5k (including shipping!) for solid wood cabinets from cabinets.com. They're not custom, but I can't really see that being worth 20k more I don’t disagree that $25k is an insane amount to spend on cabinets. I mean, they’ll last forever I guess (aka until the next owner decides they’re ugly).
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Jul 25, 2019 03:13
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I have Gutter Helmets and while I think they’re the best way to keep debris out what I’ve found in MN is that they can cause ice dams since the water has to run over the metal cover to get off the roof at which point it often refreezes depending on temperature. So, I’d prob recommend against going down the Gutter Helmet road if you have significant snowfall.
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Jan 12, 2020 17:23
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I’d find a GC who is also good at full design (not a “well I can make whatever you want” kind of guy) or hire a designer then a GC once you have a design you like. If you have the plans you could theoretically contract out all the stuff yourself but like was already mentioned you might have a hell of a time coordinating that from a timing perspective. Whatever you do, in this day and age I wouldn’t have the work started until your appliances and cabinets are received somewhere and ready to pick up or already sitting in your garage.
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Dec 8, 2022 02:06
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Toebone posted:We're planning on repainting the bathroom walls and a wooden vanity. My wife has some Benjamin Moore colors picked out; has anyone used their Aura Bath & Spa interior paint? I don’t have experience with that particular paint but I’d recommend Benjamin Moore Advanced for the vanity.
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Dec 13, 2022 19:46
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These things might be an option if a frost free sillcock isn’t. No idea if they work but kind of interesting. https://a.co/d/7EG6jaR
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Dec 25, 2022 18:05
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I installed the same GE water softener in my old house. Always struck me as strange that the tank wasn’t secured in the salt receptacle as well. While Home Depot may say that their return policy is 30 days, they will accept returns for store credit wayyyy later than that. I’ve definitely returned unopened items after a year or maybe even more.
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Feb 25, 2023 14:16
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SkunkDuster posted:Interesting that you had the same experience with the tank not being secured. Due to the water coming out of the valve assembly when I was installing, I had assumed that it was a return sold as new and whoever returned it did not put what I assume would be foam blocks back to secure the tank. Since I was out of options and didn't see any obvious damage, I went ahead and installed it. I recently used some water hardness test strips and it seems to be working well, so things worked out in the end. I'm just pissed about GE customer support shifting the blame on Home Depot and Fed-Ex and refusing to send me an exchange. We had some back and forth then they closed the ticket as resolved. I’m in the Minneapolis metro. I don’t know much about this stuff but fwiw I had to crank that water softener pretty far over whatever the recommended setting was for my municipality hardness before I started to see fewer water spots on dishes and the water actually felt soft. I set it on pretty much the highest setting then slowly backed it down over time to dial it in. I want to say I had it set on 24 maybe? It’s been a few years.
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Feb 25, 2023 19:40
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Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior is really nice. Expensive but pretty great. I painted my entire house gray over beige with basically 1 coat which was awesome (the white over beige was two coats though).
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Feb 28, 2023 21:09
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Why didn’t you consider Sub Zero? They may be priced to the moon these days idk. My parents’ Sub Zero finally died recently after 34 years. Yeah, Sub Zeros have gone up in price like crazy and the lead time is like 6 months+ for most models. I just got a counter depth Liebherr to replace an ancient power hog Sub Zero and so far it’s been good. The ice maker is a little finicky but I’ve never had a fridge where that wasn’t the case so idk if that matters a whole lot.
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Jul 21, 2023 06:00
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Verman posted:I have an electric Ryobi unit that supposedly goes up to 1800 psi and it's been great. It was barely over $100, packs up the size of a small tool box and has everything I needed. I bought some extra tips of different sizes. I also have this one. I wouldn’t use it to strip a deck but to knock loose paint off a fence/clean a garage floor, etc. it works well. I haven’t needed anything stronger yet.
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Aug 7, 2023 03:04
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