Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[::: :::]

correct geometry

i have been surprised by the number or tilesetters i've met who think nothing of dishing a shower pan, but never considered four flat facets (shallow upside down pyramid) all tipping point-to-point to the drain. I have always thought dishing flat materials seemed harder to do

outside wall of the house

seems sketch i hope that is a thick wall

[Foggy_Goggles]

Thats the beauty of the cnc foam pans I linked above. Even with a center drain, that can pitch the pan to your tile layout.

[jackattack]

[emoji638]][emoji640][emoji639]][emoji638][emoji638][emoji637][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji639]][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]]][emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]]]Thats the beauty of the cnc foam pans I linked above. Even with a center drain, that can pitch the pan to your tile layout.

That’s cool. I wonder if this type of service exists outside Denver

[Vt-Freeheel]

Ya wanna tile your bathroom? Figure out what is possible and how to do it?

Watch this blokes channel for all the tips you'll need...


https://www.youtube.com/@thebespokebloke

[Foggy_Goggles]

No idea. But I'm pretty sure they ship. There are many non-custom products what work similarly. But so many homes around here are slab on grade with radiant heat in gyp. So, in the basement/walkout you gotta set the shower drain before the foundation wall is poured. Yeah, you can box it out and fill it in later but its still really difficult to bullseye that.

I got one coming up. I'll take some pictures...maybe it will work.

[El Chupacabra]

Q for the contractors here: about a year and a half ago, we had two bathrooms remodeled at our house. Last night, a water leak developed on the ceiling below the remodeled upstairs bathroom. Today, a plumber came out to inspect, opened the drywall in the ceiling where the leak was, and - - long story short-- the plumber determined the leak was coming from an incorrectly installed gasket on the bathtub drain vent/ stopper.

I called the contractor who did the remodels, sent him some photos, and he is going to come look at it tomorrow. My question is: is it reasonable to ask the contractor to cover the repairs and/or do the repairs himself, since it appears the damage is from an incorrectly installed part?

It has been a while since the remodel work, but we just don't use that bathtub much, or I guess we would have seen the leak earlier.

[XXX-er]

i hope that is a thick wall

This house was built in the 70's the walls are 2x6 nothing has frozen but the last house i owned had a kick-out in the kitchen that would freeze at -40

[nickwm21]

Yes - I would try to lean on them for the repair.

Look up the what the warranty period was in your contract. (Likely 1 year… so timed out…)

Look up “construction defect” laws for your local.


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[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Give him a chance to fix it, any good contractor would be wanting to make something like that right.

[Foggy_Goggles]

The ol' didn't install the gasket on the overflow/diverter. Plumbers can be such hacks. So yeah, hopefully your guy is all "Ooops, sorry, I'm on it". But for future reference, a couple of things. 1. Call the installing contractor first to avoid the whole "how do I not know that the service plumber didn't fabricate this" and what you want from your GC is a "Certificate of Insurance" which specifically names you and your property as insured because if needed (not for this I don't think) you want to be able to initiate the claim

[californiagrown]

^^^ can you expand on that? Call the plumber before the GC? and when do you ask the GC for the certificate of insurance? At project completion? We are going to be remodeling our kitchen and a couple bathrooms in the next year or two and this is good knowledge to have. Thanks Foggy.

[Vt-Freeheel]

^^^ can you expand on that? Call the plumber before the GC? and when do you ask the GC for the certificate of insurance? At project completion? We are going to be remodeling our kitchen and a couple bathrooms in the next year or two and this is good knowledge to have. Thanks Foggy.


Call the GC first, Projects I do that have any issues with the client calls me instead of either the sub associated with the problem or in the above case, a different plumber. I then make sure everything is fixed to their satisfaction. A plumbing leak like this one would be fixed by my plumbers and even though it is over the one year warranty I would patch the ceiling as I want the customer to be happy. And of course recommend my services to their friends.

Insurance certificate comes before, my provider has an online portal that I use that after input of their e-mail that sends a copy to them for their records. My drywall contractor was out last week measuring a job for me and had an interesting story to tell while we chatted about employee hassles. He asked his subs for proof of insurance after he got audited last year. One guy sent him a picture of a certificate that was blurry. It was from the same broker he uses so he called to ask if it was legit. Not surprisingly he had used whiteout and added his name to a friends certificate, Bye Bye.

[fastfred]

Give him a chance to fix it, any good contractor would be wanting to make something like that right.

this

I flood a house on average every two years 90% of the time it's what I call pretty minor usually the customer doesn't think so

one time a year or two after the job I destroyed half of the lower level of a home that was a big one only time I made a claim
not gonna get into the hows and whys each one has a pretty story
dealing with one right now a bunch of bullshit that all lined up to fuck me in the ass

as soon as the root of the problem is found like this current one I got I step up and say we will take care of all of this if I can pass the buck I do but thats rare

[Foggy_Goggles]

Yep, VT covered it. Most good GCs tend towards the "Control Freak" side of things. Let them run the show indefinitely.

Re: COIs You email me a fresh one with the first invoice of the my insurance year (June 1st). Or no check. My audit requires that the Cert pre dates payment. It makes sense, from an exposure perspective the underwriter wants you to be sure the sub has insurance before the work commences

Subs: Many homos/customers don't treat my subs how I treat my subs. So no sub list referrals any more. The last straw was this winter "Yeah, call David, he's a great painter and keeps my customers happy" "Hey Foggy did you ever hear back from that lady up 125" "No, why what's up" "Well I went and looked at the job, an emailed her a bit, I followed up on the phone twice but never heard back" "Well that's Fucked, let me figure it out"...next site vist "Hey customer lady, I talked to David, he said he emailed you a bid, called you twice and you ghosted him" "Oh yeah...up...we got somebody from Denver for cheaper" "Great. But you have to call him back. You are compromising my relationship with my subs. Why don't you call him right now?"


So from now on I manage everything and markup everything. You want your house painted, I talk to my homies, get a price, step on on "It will cost $XXX take it or leave it"

[El Chupacabra]

The remodeling contractor came over yesterday, looked around a lot, ended up cutting access through drywall to get to the back side of the tub/shower valve and plumbing (adjacent room, wall behind the tub/shower).

While the tub stopper /overflow plate does leak if you pour a lot of water on it, that didn't explain the leak, since that tub rarely gets used. So he kept looking. And with an inspection camera, found a leak in the hot side line in the remodel work - - so then cut access to the plumbing. (Cutting drywall easier to repair than ripping out the tiled wall in the bathroom).

The leak is at a pex fitting installed by the contractor, where it attaches to existing brass plumbing. Weirdly, our house has brass in a lot of the plumbing. The pex isn't leaking at the clamp (the clamp you use when installing), but in the fitting itself - - looks like a defective fitting.

He's coming back today to repair the plumbing, and we're letting everything dry out in wall. Then next week he'll come back and repair the drywall. I'm in northern Nevada, it's very dry here, and 80* temps every day now. Stuff will dry fast.

Pics are of the cut in the wall behind the tub/shower, and a close up of the fitting that leaked.

[::: :::]

N=[emoji637] industry gossip on pex: I have heard of one house in our area that recently flooded because the plumber used what is now known to be a defective batch of pex
So, GC’s out there might want to confirm their plumbers are using reliable materials…

[XXX-er]

"" The remodeling contractor came over yesterday, looked around a lot, ended up cutting access through drywall to get to the back side of the tub/shower valve and plumbing (adjacent room, wall behind the tub/shower). While the tub stopper /overflow plate does leak if you pour a lot of water on it, that didn't explain the leak, since that tub rarely gets used. So he kept looking. And with an inspection camera, found a leak in the hot side line in the remodel work - - so then cut access to the plumbing. (Cutting drywall easier to repair than ripping out the tiled wall in the bathroom). ""


yeah thats ^^exactly what I was talking about in an above post where i said I would just delete the old controls & come thru the opposite shower wall with new controls instead of digging out tile work eve tho the drain would be at the other end of the tub

that is the plastic pipe that was popular in the 90s ? juniors new old town house in Calgary had the PB pipe and I believe it was going to be a problem getting house insurance so I figure why wait till I am dead I sent him 10 K to get all the pipe replaced

Last year I sent him a picture of my new Tundra with the caption no free money this year

[Vt-Freeheel]

El Chup, that leak is on the plumber for not performing a successful leak test. Nothing like seeing the system held 120psi over the weekend after the drywall crew finished.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Maybe. But there are limitation. Its a remodel so water is constantly being used. Also, I've seen systems hold pressure, until they don't. Right before the project is done seems about common. And where I live, somewhere around zero plumbers are making special trips to double check there work a day or two after. How much are you willing to pay for that service? In my opinion, that is the GC/PMs job and they should have that priced into there business model.

The only think stopping your house from flooding at any given moment is a collect of $.50 Chinese parts concealed behind your interior finish. Sioux Chief and Brasscraft and regarded as premium products sold at the plumbing supply house. On my house, I've seen the washer box leak from a microscopic crack in the casting. It passed the airtest and held pressure for months during construction. It only started leaking after regular household use. And I've seen a angle stop leak after move in and do millions in damage (second home, nobody around). In both instances, the plumber removed the fitting and sent in the the manufacturer for testing. Mine was NBD because it was a small exposed drip. On the big house, insurance was involved and Brasscraft paid.

Which goes back to calling the GC first. Often, the scene is spoiled and the insurance companies laugh at you. The hypothetical is that the service plumber you called cuts out the defective part, replaces it and throws in the garbage. The GC, installing plumber and and their liability insurer ain't gonna pay for shit. I've lived it. I was accused on sending a 16ga 2" thought a pex plumbing line during base install. But there were no photos and "it had already been fixed" by the time I got the phone call. I called and talked to my agent and they told everyone to pound sand. I knew the PM for the restoration company. Yes, the was a flood job and flooded, happens all the time. Turns out the shit bag plumber ran a pex line though the bottom corner of the bottom plate with no nail plate. You can't do that. So they were just trying to flex on anyone and everyone without taking blame.

So yeah, shit happens.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Maybe. But there are limitation. Its a remodel so water is constantly being used. Also, I've seen systems hold pressure, until they don't. Right before the project is done seems about common. And where I live, somewhere around zero plumbers are making special trips to double check there work a day or two after. How much are you willing to pay for that service? In my opinion, that is the GC/PMs job and they should have that priced into there business model.

The only think stopping your house from flooding at any given moment is a collect of $.50 Chinese parts concealed behind your interior finish. Sioux Chief and Brasscraft and regarded as premium products sold at the plumbing supply house. On my house, I've seen the washer box leak from a microscopic crack in the casting. It passed the airtest and held pressure for months during construction. It only started leaking after regular household use. And I've seen a angle stop leak after move in and do millions in damage (second home, nobody around). In both instances, the plumber removed the fitting and sent in the the manufacturer for testing. Mine was NBD because it was a small exposed drip. On the big house, insurance was involved and Brasscraft paid.

Which goes back to calling the GC first. Often, the scene is spoiled and the insurance companies laugh at you. The hypothetical is that the service plumber you called cuts out the defective part, replaces it and throws in the garbage. The GC, installing plumber and and their liability insurer ain't gonna pay for shit. I've lived it. I was accused on sending a 16ga 2" thought a pex plumbing line during base install. But there were no photos and "it had already been fixed" by the time I got the phone call. I called and talked to my agent and they told everyone to pound sand. I knew the PM for the restoration company. Yes, the was a flood job and flooded, happens all the time. Turns out the shit bag plumber ran a pex line though the bottom corner of the bottom plate with no nail plate. You can't do that. So they were just trying to flex on anyone and everyone without taking blame.

So yeah, shit happens.

[bagtagley]

I’m considering replacing my deck. Current deck is free standing supposedly because of the protruding brick trim between the siding upper and brick lower. It’s 14x18 on buried posts, roughly 7’ off the ground. Way underbuilt.

I’m reasonably capable but work at a snail’s pace and don’t want to be without a deck forever. Anything wrong with free standing? If I stick with free standing, do the posts need to be buried? Is it possible to pull the posts one by one and replace, then replace the joists and decking when that’s done? How does a DIY dork remove existing posts and concrete footers? What other shit should I be considering?

[Just Looking]

Maybe super unrelated to your situation, and no help to your construction request, but if you are around flood zones and your deck is attached to your house, the deck being even 1" into that flood zone would pull the house in by default. If its a freestanding deck, your house would not be included, saving $ on insurance and such.

[nickwm21]

I’m considering replacing my deck. Current deck is free standing supposedly because of the protruding brick trim between the siding upper and brick lower. It’s 14x18 on buried posts, roughly 7’ off the ground. Way underbuilt.

I’m reasonably capable but work at a snail’s pace and don’t want to be without a deck forever. Anything wrong with free standing? If I stick with free standing, do the posts need to be buried? Is it possible to pull the posts one by one and replace, then replace the joists and decking when that’s done? How does a DIY dork remove existing posts and concrete footers? What other shit should I be considering?

You could go post by post or row by row with some temp shoring. Either post shores or scaffold style shoring frames. Concrete supply houses or scaffold companies rent/sell that stuff. Make sure that shoring is super stable; dig down to solid earth, oversize sill plates, kick/brace it. Sounds fun.


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[liv2ski]

Thinking about adding an adu over the house. Approximately 800 square feet, one bedroom, one bath, kitchen etc. Reached out to a couple of contractors and they thought they could do it for about $400/$500 a square foot. I think they're smoking crack. What do you guys think?

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[nickwm21]

If “over” the house means what I think it means and your in a non-LCOL area - seems about right.


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