So we were told an offer is coming in tomorrow on our home. Excited that we might be able to start building.
I am in the middle of installing hardwood in about 650 square feet. My quote from Lumber Liquidators was about $6,200 for materials and installation. My flooring was $4.29 / sq ft, the underlayment was $1.00 (I think the cheapest was $0.60), installation was $2.00. Right there you are looking at $7.29 / sq ft plus moldings and transitions. You may be able to go cheaper on the hardwood. My small advice is to check out everywhere for a full quote because I ended up going with the most well known flooring place in my city using $9 floors (retail, I got them for cheaper) because after installation it was only about $500 more expensive because they weren't using an independent contractor to install and I pushed them on price by continually asking them why I should pay for their floors when Lumber Liquidators was half that cost. It will be cheapest to go somewhere like Lumber Liquidators and use your own contractor because you will be able to reduce that $2 / sq ft installation cost.
Radiant heat just makes so much sense. Easy to install, heating cost isn't much different and it's just so luxurious. No unsightly baseboard heating, no forced air heating, etc
What needs to be demo'd out now? Just priced and had installed 1000sqft of hardwoods and that cost was $11k. Like Connor said, $7k should be enough of plus cost of demo. I'd check the depth of the actual wood in the boards, not all are created equal.
Carpet, so demo is essentially a non-issue. I've removed carpet and prepped previously carpeted slabs before, so I'm probably going to do that myself regardless of whether I do a professional install of the new flooring. I'm also going to take a shot at saving the existing baseboards (if I don't just end up keeping them in place and slapping on shoe moulding), they are only 7 or 8 years old. As for the quality of the actual veneer strip, that's going to be probably my single-biggest selection criteria.
I've posted our hardwood we settled on in here before but you should really check out a sample if you get a chance, Andalusia Bronceado: Its 10 times better in person, I love it. I've found it for $5/sqft. If you find a place that has samples of it see what you think. I've seen it in a house and it steals the show from rest of the decor. It is manufactured in TX I believe so you should be able to find it easily if you are interested. With regards to where to get the floors done I would go with a smaller unique place as opposed to a big national chain. Definitely DO NOT use lumber liquidators http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lumber-liquidators-pulls-chinese-made-laminate-flooring/ unless you are trying to cash in a life insurance policy on one of your family members. If you are a brave man and are going to install the floors yourself more than one person has recommended http://hursthardwoods.com/ which has fantastic prices. Good luck, let us know what you decide.
Since its in the basement, the months you will need AC the floor heat would obviously be off, the concrete will put enough cold air into the area you'll likely never have to have your vents open. It is a great benefit if you are in a position to have it installed(new construction).
Does anybody have any ideas about how to hide wires around doors and openings? I got wires that are in the front entrance and trying to get away from ceiling
I think there are several different setup options for cooling. I can simply share the setup at the place I'm living at this winter. This house is a large 2-story home, but has no basement. It has in-floor radiant heating throughout the downstairs but also has a forced air furnace and central air unit with all the ducts in place. Thus, they have a central air system in place for cooling. The owners said they've only ran the forced air furnace on a few occasions when they had sustained sub-zero weather for over a week or more. This morning it is -3 outside with a -24 windchill...the downstairs is sitting at a comfortable 70 and upstairs the thermostat says 62. The upstairs normally warms to the mid 60s by late evening. I guess if we needed more comfort upstairs, we could switch on the furnace, however, this is the second winter we've stayed in this place and even through some nasty cold snaps, we've never run the furnace. I can also see the advantage of having the furnace system in place as a back-up, especially since this home is in a rural setting in central MN. If I was doing new construction in MN, I would strongly consider putting in radiant heating.
Mine is only in the basement too. I'm not sure if you can run it through other materials but typically it is pipes embedded in cement that carry liquid, that is heated by a boiler, that heats the surrounding cement. We still have (forced air) AC for the whole house but it is primarily for humidity control in the basement. In the summer months the basement stays at 70 or below. We are doing this as a remodel but that is very atypical. They are taking the cement out down to the footings and fixing some things with drainage tiles. It will also give us an extra 6 inches of ceiling height. It wasn't totally necessary but it will make the space more functional. They were going to be digging in to the cement to move drains as we are moving laundry, adding bathroom & kitchenette so this was an extra $30k on top of what that would have been.
Went through our pre-drywall inspection/walk through today and we came up with the bright idea to turn a storage area above our garage into a bedroom. The boards above the garage and below this room are 2x10 which as was explained to me by a know-it-all co-worker, can support anything. We posited this modification to the builder and they cited vague excuses like structural engineering and specific reasons like efficiency of the HVAC and the load of the circuits for electricity. I really just got the feeling it would be a lot of work and they weren't interested in that at this point. I don't mind doing it after the fact because the increased sq. footage won't be accounted for on taxes if we do it after close. I realize this is impossible to answer over the internet without seeing drawings and of course I will run this by a contractor but does anyone see any big problems with changing this storage area into a bedroom? What constitutes a bedroom? Does it need a closet and/or a window? Spoiler Looking from the entrance of the room towards the back. This is off to the left of the first pic. You can see the 2x10's and through them the garage. We were thinking about turning this space above the garage into a closet/storage space off the bedroom. Back of the room looking toward the one front entrance. My ignorant counter to their excuses for why it can't be done...from a structural standpoint if they were planning for us to use that as storage area it should be able to support a small bed and a night stand right? Plus the 2x10's are solid enough support for a bedroom correct? With regards to the electrical, I know jack about this but I can't imagine placing a small outlet and one ceiling light would overload the electrical system. Again something I need to look into. Finally the HVAC, I'm sure they are right, stealing from what is already designed will mess with the efficiency of the overall system but again the main line is right off that room and at 12' x 16' its not a big space so I imagine it will only require a small duct. Again admittedly I'm talking out of my ass with regards to all of this. Just trying to anticipate big pitfalls or see if its even feasible before I look into hiring a contractor.
It may require a larger electric panel and it'd be easier to run HVAC now rather than later. A room must have a closet and a door to be considered a bedroom
That area how it looks in the pictures is how it will look at close. Nothing else is getting closed in or walled off with the exception of the ceiling of the garage (floor of the upstairs room) and we are having them put insulation in between now. But the HVAC you see in the picture is exactly how its going to look at close.
lechnerd so the floor may or may not be designed for a bedroom. There are 3 different attic loadings. UnInhabitable which would only be designed for 10psf, Uninhabitbale with storage which would be 20psf and Habitable or attic served with fixed stairs which is 30psf. A sleeping area (bedroom) needs to be 30psf. Also slight side note, 2x10s appear to be the old school go to for houses. Wood isn't as good as it used to be so a size doesn't really tell you anything as it all depends on the span.
Good to know about the psf. I'm guessing the room in question is 20psf. Why can a room support a bunch of storage but not a small bed and night stand? Depends on what you are storing of course, but I could easily see the weights being equivalent. Can you tell anything about the psf from my floor plans? Apologies for the small pic but this is the first floor layout. The attic/storage/hopefully-soon-to-be-bedroom is above the garage area where it says "GDOOR" top center. Spoiler
Anyone know anything about grass/sod? My backyard doesn't drain that well and doesn't get a ton of sun. My yard right now is basically a mud pit and all of my grass is gone. I'm trying to come up with solutions. I read the draining problem may be from layers of dead grass/roots, so I'm going to till the whole yard to try to break all of that up. What kind of sod can I buy that will survive little sun? Also debating on just going artificial with the whole yard, but not sure about the cost-to-benefit. What are some other options?
I doubt the drainage is from dead grass/roots if it is that difficult to grow grass in that location. If you take a small shovel and dig down 6" or so, you would be able to identify if there is a any sort of root/grass build-up layer. I'm guessing your soil texture is the issue, but you'll have to take a small peak and see what you have to be sure. Just an FYI on the artificial stuff, if you live in a warm climate and that surface gets sun during the day, your yard will become a heat island and cause your home cooling costs to increase in the summer. Natural turf/vegetation has a cooling effect in the summer.
How could I correct the soil texture? Is that even possible? The artificial is really a last resort if I can't figure something else out.
Is your lawn in a lower area of the surrounding topography? Soil texture is extremely hard to correct. If you find out that the texture is the issue (you can send a few samples in to your local land-grant university for a soil test and they'll tell you what the texture is as well as some basic nutrient info such as N, P, K concentration) you can try to take some corrective measures. If it is poorly drained, you may want to add some compost (cheap is fine) and work it into the soil a bit in the areas you want to establish the grass. Basically, you want to get some organic materials worked into the soil to open up some more pore space to enhance infiltration, drainage, and aeration. Is it pretty compacted too?
Yeah, I'm in a lower area and probably get a lot of run off from the property behind me. It's seems pretty compacted. Water just stands on it.
The topography may be something you won't be able to overcome. If most of the local water drains to your backyard, you are going to run into problems frequently if you try to keep a lawn there. Have you considered turning some of the area into a garden? You might be able to create a garden in the lowest area with some water-loving plants and plants well-adapted to poor drainage conditions. A related idea may be to install a raingarden in the lowest area and that would hopefully promote greater drainage from the surrounding landscape and give you the ability to have a bit more lawn area. Some municipalities/conservation groups even have cost-sharing $$ for folks who want to install a raingarden. Just a few ideas- poor drainage soil in a low topography will be really challenging to keep as a healthy turf lawn.
Sounds like you may have a clay or some other type of substrate issue. Dead grass, or thatch, won't cause a drain issue. It can definitely cause lots of issues, but standing water isn't really one of them. If completely overhauling your soil is out of the question, I'd say look into some type of cool season grass such as fescue. I'd highly consider at least aerating the yard with the 1" wide deep plug aerators. Maybe hit it twice and then sand the yard. Do that two years in a row and it will really help your substrate loosen up, thus allowing better drainage as well as root development for your grass.
Yeah, I've thought about a garden, but my dogs would probably tear it all up. Also thought about just putting grass in the areas with good sunlight and draining and just do like a rock garden in the rest. I need to figure something out because it's a real eyesore to me.
Yeah I think there is definitely clay. Can I till it up, remove a couple of inches of it and put down new soil/compost and then sod it? Will that work? I hate paying people to do something I know I can do myself, but would it be better to get a landscape expert out here to look at it?
Thoughts on what do now for weeds? Half my front yard is dandelions and clover, other half is dead grass. Backyard is great.
I'd like to do the rock/gravel garden around my back deck. From my backgate to the backyard has turned into a mud run for the dog. Might as well provide proper drainage and make it look good.
Absolutely. I'd till it as deep as possible. Adding in sand and peat will really help loosen it up. Till in a good slow release fertilizer as well. You can always take a soil sample to the nearest co-op or just test the pH yourself if you have the means.
Spray that front! Use spectracide weed stop for lawns or any one of the other brand's version of it. I always mix it about 50% stronger than the directions and spot spray the weeds. Go ahead and get a weed pre emergent and apply it liberally in early February to stop germination of spring weeds.
This is a yard that had similar problems. Really poor soil and water ran down and pooled in front of his porch. High Cotton has seen these I think, but it might help the rest with ideas. This guy was dead set on keeping his trees that blocked out most of the sunlight, so I took out most underneath growth and grass. We put in a French drain in front of the porch and it drains to the side of the house.
Aside from the considerations regarding no closet, AC (not just installing new duct work, but ensuring your AC unit is properly sized--doubt adding a new bedroom to your home will change how big of a compressor you need, but it may), and load of the floor, there are other general permitting/code issues that may exist depending on what your county requires for habitable spaces. For instance, ceiling heights and slopes, dimensions of the beams used to frame the space, and etc. If you could have an inspector come out (even informally) and give you an idea of what you'd need to do (if anything) besides hanging sheetrock, laying down flooring, and running electrical lines and AC ducting, that would probably be a wise move so there are no surprises when you go to pull the permits later.
normal yard should look like this i have a layer of clay about 10 inches down, causes the water to sit under the grass but on the clay, makes it almost like a squishy waterbed when we get heavy rains.
the clover gonna die tonight. low of 20 in the SE. but the fucking bulbs "will" come back in a few weeks
Sorry. Didn't explain myself. I have internet wires that I have taped along the wall and go across a door opening. The modem is near the kitchen and I have my computer on other side of the house. I am asking if anybody has any ideas on hiding/product to hide the wires? Do not want to have to pay somebody to install the wires thru the ceiling. Grassy ass
The way I did it was by dropping jacks near the modem and other device and running wire through my attic. Really not that hard if you have good access. Other than that you can probably look into some of those wire hider things like so: http://m.homedepot.com/p/Wiremold-5-ft-CordMate-II-Channel-White-C50/202264865
Unless you're just absolutely opposed to it- it's really pretty easy to run the wires in the wall yourself. There are also powerline adapters which seem to work well from reviews online, but I don't have first hand experince with them. That would remove the wires completely. Outside of that, something like what @GFA posted would work well
Thanks man. I have seen these but don't think the misses would approve. Sounds like I will be doing the wall project soon. Will report back
10-4. I have a couple things that I need to work on first but plan to tackle this project soon. I am not sure how many feet of wire or how I'm going to do just yet. Time to load a bowl and think the shit out of this. Thanks man
Buy a lot of this http://www.amazon.com/Importer520-C...&qid=1452803369&sr=8-1&keywords=ethernet+wire A bunch of these http://www.amazon.com/Intellinet-Fe...0&sr=8-4&keywords=ethernet+wire+double+female And one of these http://www.amazon.com/Arlington-LV1..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=0SX5R5ECQR00Z75XYAFV and these http://www.amazon.com/Legrand-WP340..._UL160_SR148,160_&refRID=0SX5R5ECQR00Z75XYAFV For everywhere you want to drop a line, get a drill, a wire coat hanger and a flash light- and you're good to go.
I just cut out the hole in the wall, put the low voltage old work box in, hopped up in my attic, drilled a hole in the 2x4 on the top of the wall, dropped the wire down, grabbed it through the hole, wired up the jack and then ran it across my house and repeated the same steps in the other spot I wanted. mine was a little different in that my other jack is actually ceiling mounted because it runs to a wireless access point that I hid on the top shelf of the closet, but the same principle applies. took me maybe an hour or an hour and a half and most of that was just figuring out where I was on the wall from the attic and how to wire the stupid things.
Anyone have experience with or recommendations on DIY Security Systems? IRIS, Canary, SmartCam, etc... My dog died a couple of weeks ago, he was attentive and loud enough to scare off most potential thieves, but with him gone and a nearly 2 year old my wife is insistent that we get an alarm system. I don't really won't to get a monitored system and be stuck in a contract for 3 years and having some perv watching my wife and son sleeping. I've seen several systems online and in-stores but the reviews seem to vary widely. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Update: Offer came in a little less than listing plus 3% seller assist. Countered at full price and still giving 3% sa. She countered back asking for our living room sectional. I fuckin love that couch but we are under contract. Shit just got real.
I sold and installed home security for my parents company for a long time. My rec would get a professional install. You should be able to find a good local company that will do an install and monitoring without a contract. Or no monitoring at all. You'll pay more for an install without a contract or without monitoring at all but it's your choice. Also most insurance companies want to see the certificate of install to give you the discount. Cameras don't have to be monitored by anyone but you. In fact I never sold monitored cameras. Just have a company price you a camera set up that you can monitor yourself online (they all can so that these days). Unless you're comfortable with that kind of work I'd have a pro do it (if you're looking for a decent sized system, if you just want like 1-2 cameras those are pretty easy). The security system I'd definitely have a pro do. You don't want that to fail cause you missed a wire or something. Me personal preference was monitored security and smoke, no contract.
Guys I have 10 more days until my bathroom remodel is done and fully remember why I hate doing this again. As if 8 weeks this summer getting new floors and a fireplace weren't enough.