Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

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Originally Posted by glademaster

I hope that the project goes smoothly for you all around, and I didn't mean to come across as pissing all over the idea, but I just wanted to give you a bit of perspective on the sorts of issues that arise during the review process for projects of this general nature where I work. However, we have stymieing Land Use codes, strict restrictions on allowable Floor Area and a more thorough structural review than most places.

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No you didn't come off that way (this time ;) ). I appreciate hearing about what is going on in other places because it gives me the perspective necessary to 'future proof' something like this so that if those things happening elsewhere become reality here it won't bite me in the ass. Thankfully land use, seismic this and that, water restrictions etc. aren't a significant thing here and I had never heard of allowable floor space relating to projects like this so it gave me something to look into. I am having a hard time getting a GC that will even come look at the project though to give us a direction to start in.

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Originally Posted by gravitylover

Looks like we need to turn the attic into a master bedroom pretty quickly, FIL shouldn't be on his own anymore. The house is a stout old bugger built in the late 1940's so not concerned about the structure but the attic is uninsulated and doesn't even have a real floor at the moment. We'll obviously need to add at least a few dormers and put in some stairs and probably at the very least a half bath. Is this something I need to get an architect or structural engineer or just go with a good contractors suggestions? We're also debating whether or not to go through the motions with the town or just deal with getting the CO after the fact.

Thoughts...

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It will cost but I would use an architect. You might think you know what you want to do but an architect will think of stuff you never thought of. You'll need engineering in any case. We did almost exactly what you want to do with our 30's house when our second son was born. We had a huge attic and we were able to fit 3 bedrooms and a full bath in without taking off the roof. We did add 3 dormers. We were able to fit a U shaped staircase into two back to back closets so the construction could be closed off and we had full use of the downstairs. I I framed it and did the finish carpentry, including the oak stairs. My wife did the tile and painted. Took us about a year. I wouldn't try to frame it now--earthquake and energy rules are much too complicated for me now.

The structural issues weren't bad. We had to put a few posts and girders in the basement/crawl space to turn some of the first floor walls into bearing walls. In the attic some big beams were laid on top of the bearing walls and then a new joist system, independent of the original celing joists, was hung from the beams. We had to have one piece of steel made to allow a beam to be supported on the top plate and clear a chamfered ceiling. The separate floor joist system, with insulation below, really reduced noise from the kids running around upstairs. We were able to run plumbing up the wall between our bedroom closet and the bathroom.

I don't know what permitting and the availability of contractors is like where you live--both are a huge issue here--but be prepared for it to take a lot longer than you think. I've seen slap-dash unpermitted attic rooms that were obviously done quickly but if you go that route you will be seriously reducing the value of your house even if you don't seriously damage it.

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Originally Posted by fastfred

hopefully you can save up some money and get a new back door to match your bad ass kitchen................

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Thanks mang. And yeah, replacing the doors was part of the original plan, but we ran out of money.

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Originally Posted by Danno

Thanks mang. And yeah, replacing the doors was part of the original plan, but we ran out of money.

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Didn't mean to dig on you. Sweet kitchen just funny to see the old door. You should see my half finished bathroom it's only been 1 1/2 years

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk

Looking good Danno. Amazing what taking a wall down can do. Looks like a tri-level - South Boulder somewhere? And what material for the fireplace surround? Looks awesome - not tile right?

Fastfred, didn't take it as a dig, it's just a fact. Money was running out and hard decisions had to be made. You should see how bad the lower level looks, lol.

Ski-wpk, yep, good eye, southeast, Park East neighborhood. The fireplace is quartz. We planned on tile, but our stone guy had a remnant that was just the right size/color, and he liked us and gave us a smoking price that was actually lower than the cost of cheap tile plus what the GC was going to charge for install.

Just bought a new house, so I read this thread a couple of times over. Really good info all around. We've already ripped out all of the doors and trim in the whole house and replaced it all with new. There is going to be a new kitchen and new master bath in the near future, too. I'm a DIY JONG, but I am pretty handy overall.

Couple of questions:

1) It looks like the exhaust vent on our furnace is actually a dryer vent flexible pipe and is secured with tape, not the double walled solid pipe that the water heater has. It's hot to the touch when the furnace runs. Is this safe/up to code? The inspector didn't flag it in his report, but it seems pretty shady to me.

2) The house needs gutters. I was going to put up some PVC/vinyl gutters you can get from Home Depot just to get through the winter and look into seamless down the road. It seems really straightforward, but is there anything I need to be aware of? Is it just a waste of money to get the plastic ones?

3) The shower in our master is a drop in liner of some sort, and the pan in the bottom is nasty. No amount of scrubbing is getting it clean. Can you recoat something like that? Put a new one in on top? Eventually it will be tiled out when we do the full bathroom update.

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Originally Posted by fastfred

I don't get why kitchens were put in a "room" for so long, they are now the center of the house. Such a big open place now

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Best to keep the help and/or wife you hated (and hated you) out of sight.

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Originally Posted by Supermoon

Couple of questions:

1) It looks like the exhaust vent on our furnace is actually a dryer vent flexible pipe and is secured with tape, not the double walled solid pipe that the water heater has. It's hot to the touch when the furnace runs. Is this safe/up to code? The inspector didn't flag it in his report, but it seems pretty shady to me. That sounds like crap to me and I would contact the inspector and question him on this

2) The house needs gutters. I was going to put up some PVC/vinyl gutters you can get from Home Depot just to get through the winter and look into seamless down the road. It seems really straightforward, but is there anything I need to be aware of? Is it just a waste of money to get the plastic ones? We just did the Home Depot gutters on my daughters new (to her) home. They look pretty good. Just be sure you run the water way away from the house, not into the flower bed by it.

3) The shower in our master is a drop in liner of some sort, and the pan in the bottom is nasty. No amount of scrubbing is getting it clean. Can you recoat something like that? Put a new one in on top? Eventually it will be tiled out when we do the full bathroom update.

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Perhaps you can have it epoxy coated. Call a company that does that. Like a few hundred to have done. Heck for that price just redo it???

Re the furnace--is it a high efficiency condensing furnace? If so a single wall vent is fine; around here they use plastic. I would definitely get the inspector or an HVAC contractor to comment.

The furnace is 10-12 years old so I doubt it’s HE, but that may be why he didn’t flag it.

Thanks for the input L2S and OG!

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Originally Posted by Dantheman

Best to keep the help and/or wife you hated (and hated you) out of sight.

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unfortunately I don't have any help or a wife or well someone to pick up after me, I'm kinda screwed, but I am looking

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Originally Posted by Supermoon

Just bought a new house, so I read this thread a couple of times over. Really good info all around. We've already ripped out all of the doors and trim in the whole house and replaced it all with new. There is going to be a new kitchen and new master bath in the near future, too. I'm a DIY JONG, but I am pretty handy overall.

Couple of questions:

1) It looks like the exhaust vent on our furnace is actually a dryer vent flexible pipe and is secured with tape, not the double walled solid pipe that the water heater has. It's hot to the touch when the furnace runs. Is this safe/up to code? The inspector didn't flag it in his report, but it seems pretty shady to me.

2) The house needs gutters. I was going to put up some PVC/vinyl gutters you can get from Home Depot just to get through the winter and look into seamless down the road. It seems really straightforward, but is there anything I need to be aware of? Is it just a waste of money to get the plastic ones?

3) The shower in our master is a drop in liner of some sort, and the pan in the bottom is nasty. No amount of scrubbing is getting it clean. Can you recoat something like that? Put a new one in on top? Eventually it will be tiled out when we do the full bathroom update.

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1) The exahust vent is sketch if it's venting carbon monoxide from your furnance, make sure you have a CO2 detector installed nearby, it could be legit per the mfg, some let you use a type of flexible, especially if it's a retro fit, but most of the flex vents are for relining existing duct or chimney work, you just need to make sure it was installed properly, as far as a home inspector catching that, most home inspectors suck the fat one and don't know shit, you can always call a hvac tech to take a look

2) Gutters suck and are worthless if you live in a high snow area, I don't know anything about gutters other than the south facing 4 ft section on my shed works kinda nice

3) try an epoxy garage floor paint on your shower floor, mix in some sand with it to give it a grip or your going to go for a ride when your banging your wife in there and you slip, also depends on what the base is, concrete or fiberglass or tile, nothing will last that long though, might get 6 mos to year before it starts to come off, as a quick homeowner fix i'd go for it send a photo

Wondering why the house "needs" gutters. Is something getting wet in the house?

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Originally Posted by iceman

Wondering why the house "needs" gutters. Is something getting wet in the house?

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No gutters at all presently, and as the roof melts (south facing) it puts water onto the back patio which becomes a skating rink. There are also seems to be some spots that aren't getting good drainage in the yard that I'd like to divert water away from.

Take a hard look at it from a landscaping perspective before putting gutters on. Changing grades, adding fill, etc. is easy and only has to be done once. I really dislike gutters and try to stay away from them if at all possible.

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Originally Posted by iceman

Take a hard look at it from a landscaping perspective before putting gutters on. Changing grades, adding fill, etc. is easy and only has to be done once. I really dislike gutters and try to stay away from them if at all possible.

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Yeah, good call. This is mostly a solution to get through the winter, and let us rethink it all once it's warmer. We have to do some fencing and other landscape stuff, so grading would have to come before that.

In that case I don't see much of a downside to tacking some cheap plastic ones up there for now. Don't spend much money until you have a solid plan.

“Don’t spend much money” has been my motto so far.

I will never again tile a shower- the grout gets nasty and the floor eventually falls apart. If you want something nicer than an insert go with Corian-type walls and floor- we just did that and have been real pleased- https://www.houzz.com/corian-shower-walls

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Originally Posted by Supermoon

The furnace is 10-12 years old so I doubt it’s HE, but that may be why he didn’t flag it.

Thanks for the input L2S and OG!

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What's the label/branding on the furnace? If it says anything about 80 or 90, it's a condensing furnace (high efficiency - 80 or 90% efficient, supposedly).

I replaced one of our furnaces last year when it finally died. Was installed when the house was built, in 1994. It was a 80% condensing furnace, with a concentric PVC intake/exhaust pipe.

Lennox G40DF (X). Sticker says it was installed in 2007. The Googles don't give much info about it.

Edit: here’s a pic of the exhaust

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8a40f4f4a.heic

Maybe you already said but is it a forced air or forced water system? (Ducts vs. radiators)

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Originally Posted by iceman

Maybe you already said but is it a forced air or forced water system? (Ducts vs. radiators)

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Forced air.

yeah I see the pic now thanks. Was just trying to look up that boiler.

edit: here's the manual: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/79...page=10#manual I'd say it appears fine the way it is.