Why you trolling like that?
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Why you trolling like that?
pretty sure Danno is the only one here qualified to answer this properlyQuote:
Originally Posted by Nobody Famous
I've got a concrete porch/steps that's about 9' x 12' and is in rough shape. It's stained, discolored, generally hideous and has a giant crack in (shoddily patched by the prior owner) that word-has-it appeared in the 2001 earthquake here. We redoing the railing and stuff there in preparation for painting the house and can't help but think that I should do something about this thing. Am I wasting my time doing anything but replacing it or should I consider resurfacing or painting it? Despite the crack, I've seen no signs of it worsening in the 3 years we've had the place. It's poured on top of / attached to the driveway/walkway that is also cracked/old ugly but I'm far from replacing all that at this point, thus the interest in fixing up the existing porch.
As anyone reading this thread knows, I have no answer for you. But posting a picture might help people give you meaningful advice.
Pic would definitely be helpful, is it a raised concrete wall attached to the house, filled in with dirt and a pad poured on top, with a couple of steps going up to it? In my head it sounds more like a patio than a porch. Resurfacing or staining are the cheaper options. If it was originally poured without expansion joints it'll continue to crack though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dromond
Anyone in the front range have recommendations for a hardwood floors company? Need to get some quotes for either lacing in flooring after the asbestos tile is pulled up or in the alternative, putting new flooring in over everything.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dromond
location of cracks will also tell about the likelihood of further problems (or lack thereof)Quote:
Originally Posted by Mofro261
We had a similar situation when we bought our house but it was only 6x8 porch with steps. Used bluestone on the top and cultured stone for the vertical faces. Been over 15 years and it still looks decent even though it was one of our first DIY projects.
First make sure it's structurally sound.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dromond
Pics, of course. I would say avert your eyes but that would defeat the purpose.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7226/...808c5e35_b.jpg
Why someone would add a partial brick veneer to a house I will never understand.
looking at that, my concern is that your 2nd lvl lands on the top of that massQuote:
Originally Posted by Dromond
the crack isn't immediately obvious as a line of structural failure...might be just stress relief in the mass of concrete.
(not ruling it out either, just saying it doesn't fit the classic shear lines one might expect from a structural failure)
how does the crack extend on the top surface?
is there obvious floor slope in the room on the 2nd flr?
any wall finishes cracked upstairs?
is there basement under the porch? or a notch cut out of the basement at this location?
Looking a little more closely, it becomes apparent that the platform area of the porch was poured in the 1950s over the joists and subfloor that supported the original 1914 wooden porch.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/...0d04f0c8_o.jpg
About 2 feet before petering out.Quote:
Originally Posted by acinpdx
There likely is although it's difficult to measure as that area is just a storage area consisting of joists with plywood over the top. The living room immediately to the left in the photo slopes noticeably and has definitely settled over the years. It's hard to tell if the settlement took place pre 1950s, post 1950s, or both.Quote:
Originally Posted by acinpdx
Difficult to verify but likely. There was plenty of cracked, ancient plaster covered in wallpaper and a zillion layers of paint throughout the house. TGR's best drywaller skim coated over all of that 3 years ago and no cracks have reoccurred in that area since.Quote:
Originally Posted by acinpdx
The basement runs under it with the joists running continuously across the width.Quote:
Originally Posted by acinpdx
Thanks for the advice!
Oh the crack is in the wall, not so much in the porch surface.
What's the plan to replace/refinish the railing?
I'd go cosmetic update, ie either a paint or stain over the concrete after grinding the crack line a bit, or a more expensive - resurface with stone/tile options. Your steps and porch look in decent shape to me, though could probably use a good pressure wash. I wouldn't replace unless you have money burning a hole in your pocket and really want to go back to a different wood/decking option.
The crack may just be that a brittle material was placed over a soft material (wood) and eventually the brittle material was stressed too much with no designed relief locations to propagate a crack; so it just did it on its own where it felt like it.
It's a good thing that you haven't seen further cracking, cracks growing, or movement since you've been in the house. That is a significant positive. And you haven't mentioned a wet basement below this condition so it seems to be doing its job so far.
That said, i'm not sure I can give you any real confidence that the condition is reliably stable. So, i hate to say it, but you may be in the best position to assess the risk of investing more work in this area. Unfortunately, these things are not definitive, even if I were visiting in person.
A solution that could eliminate worry is going to be more extensive than just replacing the post and adding a nicer guardrail. You'd want to remove the slab and land a new post on stable structure below (it could be the floor framing or the foundation wall proper). At that level of invasive work, you may as well address the brick and consider the porch holistically with this elevation of the house to make it right moving forward.
Tankless Electric Water Heaters.
Any comments other that the upfront costs are greater, ... serviceability, does the hot water really come out instantly, are the max temps not as high as conventional tank models?
Tankless are nice for vacation homes where usage varies a lot.
It also freed up enough space in a small condo, that I could add a stackable washer/drier.
Mines not instant and it did take a little while to get it dialed in.
Some info here:Quote:
Originally Posted by Nobody Famous
Get Excited - Home Boiler Talk
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...d.php?t=302261
Thanks so much for the tips, guys. I'm leaning towards minimal cosmetic treatment of the concrete as mofro suggests, understanding that It's not guaranteed to remain stable for eternity. The thought process there is that it's directly over the driveway/walkway which as you can see is hardly perfect either. I could envision a time relatively far in the future (decades?) where that has decayed enough to need replacement and it might make sense to rip it all out at once - and may feel ok about gambling/deferring on that one.
+1Quote:
Originally Posted by flowing alpy
A definite Do: Sweeping Compound and the correct broom make a huge difference when doing clean up.
- I never would have thought they make different brooms for different jobs.
- Sweeping compound, buy it by the 25 or 50 lb box
I totally agree with you
With some trepidation, I am bumping this thread for countertop advice, as our kitchen project is about to start.
My wife got a quote from Moros that was insanely high. I used a quote estimator on HD's site, and with $67/sqft granite came out with a price of about $4337. Moros was ~$3k higher, holy shit (but don't know the stone my wife picked).Quote:
Originally Posted by ski-wpk
So, question: how does the countertop business work? Do you hire someone and then go shop for stone where they tell you? Do you shop at stone warehouses, and then have them install? I guess I am not sure what the best way to go about this is. We do care about price, but also about the actual stone that we use.
And if you have specific places in Denver metro we should go check out, post em up!
Typically, the stone warehouses do not give pricing to homeowners. You work with a fab shop, and they provide pricing, even on remnants. Sometimes the fab shop has their own remnants that they can sell you.
I'm sure CO folks will chime in with sources to work with.
When I got bids for my kitchen counters about 5 or 6 years ago I went to 3 different places in the Santa Fe and I-25 area. 2 had their own slabs and 1 sent me to a yard where they buy their material from. All 3 bids were very close together (for similar stone). Like within 5%. So we ended up going with Al at Bellagio Stone http://www.bellagiostone.com/ . Al was easy to do biz with and the crew was clean, polite, and totally on-schedule.
How big is the counter ? In Portland we have quite a few Chinese granite places where they sell prefab pieces CHEAP. I don't know the scope or type of kitchen you are doing but if you're budget conscious try looking around for the asian offshore products. It won't be Italian marble but it'll be as good as many chain store products if the configuration works.
http://mgstonellc.com/
http://www.bouldergranite.com/
We have two big pieces
105 x 24
110 x 51
Danno, call the guy I emailed you earlier this year. He is solid. IIRC you can go to the warehouse with him and pick out the slabs you want.Quote:
Originally Posted by Danno
He's on my list! I googled his name and came up with a shop, which oddly enough I think I biked past the other day (it's on Jason St, and the South Platte River Trail detours off the path and onto Jason St for a while).
There are a lot of stone places down that way (Cruiser's guy is nearby too). So I was planning on heading there sometime, just trying to understand the business first.
Well I will be watching this thread, as we are in the same boat. Need new counter tops after I refinished all the cabinets. Found a bunch of Granite we like but I have read Quartz is more durable / less maintenance issues. So which way is the best to go???
Quartz is great too, no caveats for that material as long as you're ok with it looking a little more uniform or synthetic. Some really nice looks. I'd advise staying away from the fake stone look pieces if you have a lot of square footage because you may end up with a repeat piece. The mfr's are getting better but they aren't perfect yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by liv2ski
For another natural stone, look at quartzite. Same type of durability and suitability for kitchen use as granite. Lots of nice colors/patterns.
Quartz is a fake stone, manufactured from ground composite. Quartzite is a natural stone like granite - id go with the quartzite.Quote:
Originally Posted by acinpdx
FYI, if ypu get an insanely high quote, it usually means they're too busy to do your job, unless you really make it worth their while. This goes for most trade jobs.
Danno, I'll let you now too shop for shop in the Front Range later. Got to go to work. Can somebody search? I swear I already answered this question before.
Compare porosity of each stone in case you haven't considered that, per acinpdx.
my favorite thread!
just been staring at the computer and paper work for three plus hours do not know how anyone can sit at a desk all day long, I feel for you, I'm about to rip my eyes out and freak out
my take on solid surface counter tops
slabs start at 1100 - 1400 for level one material they skyrocket from there
fabrication labor is around $65.00 a sq ft for a quality shop
undermount sink cuts run at least $200.00
backsplash is extra
based on the dimensions you provided you can get that all on one slab with a good cutter, but the slab has to be the largest you can find, if not you'll be buying 2 slabs or 1.5 depending on how nice the fabricator is to you and what you pick that he can resell
So I'd ballpark your counter top at $5,300.00 throw your old lady in the slab yard and she'll get all excited and want the pretty piece of material and you just added 2k to the project
anyone who will cut and install for 45 sq ft is scary
I'm in the middle of a large interior remodel right now. Kitchen, entry way, and living room. My first advise is to find an interior designer that has some expertise in the look you are going for. Modern, contemporary, etc. I had some ideas, but the average person will never pull it all together in a professional way. After a little back and forth with her, sharing pictures of what I like, she came back with some concepts. 80% done now and the transformation is incredible. Love what I have going so far. Well worth the fees to get a professional interior designer working with you.
hrm. maybe it's a regional thing but here in the Northeast you can certainly get prices for slabs, I've been though this process several times, most recently within the past year.Quote:
Originally Posted by acinpdx
You priced/bought a raw slab? And then got it fabbed somewhere else? And priced that independently?Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
Or you got prices through a business that provided the complete countertop?
Me too, most useful thread on here.Quote:
Originally Posted by fastfred
Mostly agree. With the clarification a good architect can do more in the overall scheme than any interior designer can, IMO.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sluff
Bought the stone from a stone company and got it fabbed by stone fabricator who went to the stone company to pick up the slabs we had tagged. There was a GC in the mix so there was a markup but we got the quotes and saw the invoices.Quote:
Originally Posted by acinpdx
the two warehouses we visited today both made it clear that they wouldn't be giving us prices, even though we told them we didn't have a fabricator (we could pick our stuff but had to buy it through a fabricator). as an aside, holy shit was it cool to walk through the warehouses. Some crazy looking stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
Foggy, I did do a quick search before posting, but I'll look again.
And fastfred, fucking a. The Bellagio place that Cruiser recommended priced us at almost exactly that. Home Depot's online estimator came in a little lower. Nice work.
We are facing the slab issue. The largest slabs seem to be just an inch or two too short, and now we're wondering if we should change our cabinet design (if that's even possible, may not be) to shorten the width by 3 inches. Hmmm. Of course, if we just get under the wire for one slab, that means no stone backsplash, which my wife wants. Hmmm again.
Sluff, we've done most of it on our own. But my wife has a designer in her back pocket that gives us info and my wife will hire on an hourly consulting basis for an hour or two, to help with certain color and design choices. I think we do well on our own, but the designed has helped in some places and it's good to get confirmation on many of our decisions.