Home Improvement Thread II (2018)

[Geeesammy]

Just bought my first house today, I'll update more tomorrow. I got all the carpet ripped out down to the original hardware and prepping to restain it.

 

[Geeesammy]

So got a carpet allowance, I had a strong hunch the whole house still had the original hardwood underneath, asked for the allowance to be deducted from price, seller obliged.

 

3 hours worth of work ripping out the old carpet, running it to the dump for $4, and tearing up the old staples for the padding and the tack strips i've got original hardwood in pretty solid shape. Going to restain the floors to a more modern color.

 

BTW that carpet and pad STUNK

 

Before, pissy/stained carpet

 

Pad/carpet out, screw those stupid staples used on the pad

 

 

Tack strips out, staples gone. Baseboards come off next

 

 

[2 Sweet]

^ Score! That hardwood definitely looks like it's in good shape

[Geeesammy]

^ Score! That hardwood definitely looks like it's in good shape

 

Oh yeah, no deep scratches or anything. The entire time I was tearing off the pad I was just bracing myself for the absolute worst, I'm still in disbelief it was in this good of shape.

[Zx2guy19]

Awesome score man.

 

I have a guy that redoes floors for $2.25 a square foot. Might be worth it to have him do it- they'll turn out perfect.

[TimTaylor751647545500]

Those look very similar to the floors I just refinished in my place.

[Red Beard]

That hardwood looks amazing considering the condition of the carpet before. Gotta love a little sweat equity saving you some money!

[zeitgeist57]

Congratulations, Grant! those floors look awesome.

 

Get a few bukkets of cheap asphalt sealer and a rubber push blade...resurfacing that driveway will do wonders for the appearance for less than $150.

[Geeesammy]

Congratulations, Grant! those floors look awesome.

 

Get a few bukkets of cheap asphalt sealer and a rubber push blade...resurfacing that driveway will do wonders for the appearance for less than $150.

 

Thanks man!

 

Yea that's high on the list, I actually need to put some rock or something down on the side as the driveway tapers down as it nears the house as well after I seal it. It honestly needs repaved but If I can milk another 5-7 years out of it i'll be happy, after that its going to be a rental or sold.

 

Never sealed a driveway, better get over here and supervise, payment made in craft beer of choice, cigar is added bonus for performance.

[Zx2guy19]

I've got a guy that will seal that driveway for $100.

[TimTaylor751647545500]

Here’s a before and after of my lower level.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited April 21, 2018 by TimTaylor75

[Red Beard]

Damn Tim those turned out great! Love the color.

[TimTaylor751647545500]

Damn Tim those turned out great! Love the color.

 

 

 

Thanks! No stain applied, just some Minwax floor polyurethane.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cstmg8]

Floors look great, love the natural look.

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[Geeesammy]

Gawdamn now you got me rethinking life

[Geeesammy]

Well I spent 6 hours trying to fix the sellers wiring job. Half my lighting worked, half didn't. He replaced 2 outlets in the kitchen with GFCI's and wires those correctly, I had 3 rooms with inoperable wall switches which control the fans, 2 of which had a single duplex receptacle with a reversed power neutral, and another random duplex receptacle that had a reversed power ground. Before today I had literally zero knowledge of home wiring and AC electric systems, but ive got a pretty solid grasp of DC from working on cars. I ended up taking each power control or supply receptacle with an issue out of the wall, inspected and corrected wiring, then chased the cause of the inoperable lights and outlets to this guy.

 

This gfci was replaced previous to sale and was located in the bathroom, it was always needing reset when I got there to work, I always thought maybe the gfci itself was junk. Nope.

 

The power wires were all loose all the neutrals leading into the gfci were as well, and one neutral had power. I don't really know what he did, but I just tore it all apart, figured out which wire went upstream and which went downstream and just referenced a diagram to see how to wire it. I was sketched out about doing it but I likely saved myself at least a few hundred if not near a grand to have someone come out and diagnose/fix it. The neutral sticking out had 110 coming to it, I think he fed the switch power before the GFCI? Not too sure and honestly don't remember what I did but it tests fine, and all lights work as intended and the house hasn't burnt down yet (to my knowledge).

 

AC was rough to get a grasp on, I'm used to just powers and grounds and the occasional signal terms. Having the neutral basically act as a ground and the ground just be there for whateverwas weird.

 

 

[Trouble Maker]

Whatever you do make sure you make sure you stain your floors!!!!

We only did poly, and it looks great; we got luck and didn't have any urine spots.

Another set of friends only did poly, and had issues due to urine on the wood. The company that did our floors also warned us about this. The poly reacts with the urea and makes 'stain' spots in the floor, but the stain seals them in and it doesn't happen. It sounds like there would be quite a bit in your floors.

[TimTaylor751647545500]

My floors are 120 years old. Whether I stained them or not, you would see those spots. I chose not to in order to see the full character of the pine.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited April 23, 2018 by TimTaylor75

[gillbot]

unfucking a previous homeowners mcsteaks is always a chore.

[gillbot]

What image host is everyone using now that photobucket is an asshole?

[zeitgeist57]

What image host is everyone using now that photobucket is an asshole?

 

Imgur

[Geeesammy]

Fixed all my wiring issues, found 7 duplex receptles that need replacing, most I assume are original to the house ('67)

 

All have at least one socket that doesn't have a solid connection to the tested when I plug it in, or they are cracked, or have something odd about them. Cheap fix and pretty simple for DIY and peace of mind.

 

Double checked all my receptacles, all were fine save for 1 having a power neutral switched which was an easy fix.

 

Also spent time cutting all the overhang, I didn't realize how much was overhanging until I actually got on the roof and it was pretty obvious 1/3 of my roof had good sized branches over it. Where I am standing wasn't able to be walked on before due to the amount of overhang. Thankfully I had free access to a pole saw which made quick and easy work of all that nastiness.

 

(Yes, that is a broom on the roof. I had leaves and pine needles basically stuck to my shingles)

 

I also realized one of my 12x10 sheds not only has workbenches, it has electric ran to it with exterior lighting and a water supply behind it! Score! Now I can keep my mower on a tender all winter and setup a grinder and other small workshop stuff inside it, plus have a nice radio setup out there for the bonfire pit behind it, maybe even a mini fridge inside the shed for beer. The grinder from WW2 inside now doesn't work, I tried, smelled smoke from it and promptly unplugged it.

 

Edited April 23, 2018 by Geeesammy

[10phone2]

Man that is great. On a plus, you now have a great please to hide kidnapped people.

[Geeesammy]

Tim or anyone else who has redone their own floors, how long did it take you to sand it? Big pain or not bad? I keeo seeing everyone saying thst it takes forever with an orbital sander plus it STINKS.

 

Debating going to vinyl plank for numerous reasons, those included.

[Otis Nice]

Our entire cabin was real wood floors, walls, and ceilings. We sanded and refinished 100% of it. It wasn't bad IMO but we rented a nice floor sander. It was worth it.