Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[nickwm21]

Yall just don’t have the car and toys crammed into the same single stall garage so it’s not ideal for either… thought that was the solution….


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[Stuntmonkey]

That's one thing I wish my house had. My garage is a kind of small two car with a mud room.
I'd like a shower/dog wash and a stackable washer/dryer for muddy bike clothes. Kitchen right off the garage to shorten the grocery schlep.

We have a set of stackable commercial maytags that are going in the garage for exactly that. Shower as a dog wash is 1000000% happening. We don't use the garage at home for cars either lol. Gym, skis, woodworking.

[XXX-er]

I have kenmore stackables in a stairwell that no longer goes downstairs, the tennant has the real units but thats how the space worked out

[fastfred]

count the heads and multiply the dollars
I'm pissing away about 5k a day right now on labor
anyone can have anything they want you just gotta pay
70k to install 50 windows cmon man it's such a small part of the budget less than 4% relax it's ok
if people don't got two sets of washer and dryers in the house they seem unhappy
naw man it's easy were going roll a 40 foot steel beam into the house punch some holes in the roof get a biggly huge ass crane drop some straps into the house and pull the thing up into place all while keeping the roof from falling down only 50k seems kind of cheap to me
Sick to my stomach today

[XXX-er]

if i didnt have 2 sets of laundry appliances i would have to instal a stream with some flat rocks in the backyard

[SoVT Joey]

$450 a sqft is really good. I’d definitely be happy with that if I was finishing everything myself. 750-1200 a sqft is pretty standard here especially after the owners and designers have a battle about eccentric bullshit no one even likes.


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[Dantheman]

So, $1 million for a 1k ft2 2/1? Ouch.

[dan_pdx]

I had the same thought. Makes hiring someone to finish our basement seem like a screaming deal. Also makes me think that housing is not overvalued at all. Seems like it costs substantially more to build new than to buy existing structures.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Again, it depends on how you count. And the numbers don't really scale down well. $1000/sq. ft. houses tend to be at least 3k sq. ft. And at $1,000 a sq. ft. you are getting things like a butlers party, media room, atelier, guy $100,000 in cabinets, every bedroom is an ensuite.

It becomes an exersize in spending money are people are really good at it.

[Stuntmonkey]

I had the same thought. Makes hiring someone to finish our basement seem like a screaming deal. Also makes me think that housing is not overvalued at all. Seems like it costs substantially more to build new than to buy existing structures.

We are building incredibly high efficiency. R58 walls and R62 ceiling amongst the other features that will qualify as a passive house (I'm not going to run through the dick swinging contest that certification is), ski in ski out is to me...........an affordable luxury. But all said and done I'll be coming in roughly 50% LESS than what a 50 year old home in the neighborhood is going for right now.

If I was to build a random tract house with 2x4 walls, leaks everywhere and a trash finishing that passes for DR Horton..............80% less.

[anotherVTskibum]

I had the same thought. Makes hiring someone to finish our basement seem like a screaming deal. Also makes me think that housing is not overvalued at all. Seems like it costs substantially more to build new than to buy existing structures.

A quality build to modern specs should cost more than an older house, IMO, as there is more value (especially if you don't like the ambient temps wherever you live). If you compared the cost of buying an existing home and updating insulation, electrical and HVAC to new spec (again, taking quality builds, not looks good from my house stuff), I'm guessing that substantial cost gap is a lot smaller.

[Garbowski]

But all said and done I'll be coming in roughly 50% LESS than what a 50 year old home in the neighborhood is going for right now.

Including the cost of the land?

[nickwm21]

$1000/sf - WTaF. Wild.


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[dan_pdx]

We are building incredibly high efficiency. R58 walls and R62 ceiling amongst the other features that will qualify as a passive house (I'm not going to run through the dick swinging contest that certification is), ski in ski out is to me...........an affordable luxury. But all said and done I'll be coming in roughly 50% LESS than what a 50 year old home in the neighborhood is going for right now.

If I was to build a random tract house with 2x4 walls, leaks everywhere and a trash finishing that passes for DR Horton..............80% less.

I wasn't throwing shade at all, it costs what it costs, and it's cool AF that it's going to be a passive house. Just thinking that I'm not going to be building a pimpy new house anytime soon unless we get our act together and hit the mega jillions

[::: :::]

$1k/sf isn’t that exotic. Yes, it’s higher than conventional, but it sounds like he’s doing passive equivalent, and that’s well above energy code. So it’s gonna be more to address those energy performance criteria.

[byates1]

Notice paint bubbling on wall the other day, 20 yr old mini split deciding to leak condensation lines in the wall. Probably a leak at the unit? I'm shutting off unit ripped a hole it the wall, will let the area dry out and deal w it next year when I visit mom again. This is a separate unit from hers.

Had to make sure what it was, bunch of pex in there I blow out when not using my space, sits waterless and unheated for yrs.

[zion zig zag]

$1k/sf isn’t that exotic. Yes, it’s higher than conventional, but it sounds like he’s doing passive equivalent, and that’s well above energy code. So it’s gonna be more to address those energy performance criteria.

I assume that going passive eq/well above energy code isn't about saving money on utilities, right? It has to be from a desire to consume less and be more environmentally friendly? Because it seems like the expense would never pencil from a cost per month standpoint.

And hearing someone say that $1k a square foot isn't that exotic is both mind-blowing and indicative of what housing costs have become I guess. Back in 2018ish wife and I were looking to build on land we owned in a semi expensive market, next to a very expensive market, and bids were coming back 400-500 a square and we said fuck it and bought an existing home.

[anotherVTskibum]

The round duct going upwards here is not currently used, to the extent possible--the register it feeds is directly below the thermostat for the other heating system.

Is it possible to just buy and install a cap on the first segment coming off the rectangular duct? Or would I actually need someone who can properly do duct work?

[SorryBro]

The round duct going upwards here is not currently used, to the extent possible--the register it feeds is directly below the thermostat for the other heating system.

Is it possible to just buy and install a cap on the first segment coming off the rectangular duct? Or would I actually need someone who can properly do duct work?

Yes, you can cap it off. Make sure to seal the junction with either paste or ducting tape (NOT duck tape). Not sure how capping will affect the airflow of the system other than more volume of air going through other ducts. Good luck.

[::: :::]

Because it seems like the expense would never pencil from a cost per month standpoint.

I guess it depends on how long you expect a house to last

Passive is all about long term durability and comfort before it’s about energy use

Durability
Health
Comfort
Resilience
Energy

Priorities in that order

We need to reconsider what a value proposition is. Just making something cheap doesn’t mean it has value

And $1k/sf isn’t the new normal for passive. That is still an expensive number. But we don’t know what we don’t know about what’s really in that number. So it’s somewhat worthless to linger on it exclusive of knowing the project.

[Stuntmonkey]

Not sure how we got from $450 sq/ft to $1000 sq/ft? With the land included in the cost (we got it 5 years ago for cheap) it comes in around $575 sq/ft. Canadian. Which is $422 USD sq/ft in todays exchange rate.

I assume that going passive eq/well above energy code isn't about saving money on utilities, right? It has to be from a desire to consume less and be more environmentally friendly? Because it seems like the expense would never pencil from a cost per month standpoint.

It's not the driver but it is a factor. Utility costs in Canada are really, really bad. During winter we pay around about $800 a month for electric and gas for a 2200 sq/ft house built in 1973. Our primary reason for going well above code is that the province has what's called a energy step code, where every few years new buildings must become x% efficient. I wanted to hit well above and beyond the final step code because this is a property I plan on keeping in the family, and I want it to be comfortable, efficient, long lasting and have a relatively low OPEX to maintain.

Also - the path to completing is designed specifically so I don't have to pay interest to a fucking bank! With the added bonus of being able to enter my 4th decade on this phenomenal sphere and live out the dreams of a ski bum without the bum accommodations. Selfish? You're goddamn right.

[BCMtnHound]

The round duct going upwards here is not currently used, to the extent possible--the register it feeds is directly below the thermostat for the other heating system.

Is it possible to just buy and install a cap on the first segment coming off the rectangular duct? Or would I actually need someone who can properly do duct work?

Not sure why you would keep the duct at all if you are not using it. Capping it at the elbow or beyond would still introduce drag inefficiencies.
I would remove it entirely and take a piece of sheet (unroll the duct and cut a piece off if you don’t have any other tin) and secure it over the hole with proper duct tape (the good Al stuff like mentioned above).

[BCMtnHound]

Not sure how we got from $450 sq/ft to $1000 sq/ft? With the land included in the cost (we got it 5 years ago for cheap) it comes in around $575 sq/ft. Canadian. Which is $422 USD sq/ft in todays exchange rate.
It's not the driver but it is a factor. Utility costs in Canada are really, really bad. During winter we pay around about $800 a month for electric and gas for a 2200 sq/ft house built in 1973.

Same house here (electric, no gas, built in ‘70). Hydro for the Dec/Jan bill is now about $1400CAD (was $800 back in 2008, but current rates are definitely reflecting the investment loss of site C).
But at least the Aug/Sept bill is only about $150/mo. Life north of 51.

[anotherVTskibum]

Not sure why you would keep the duct at all if you are not using it. Capping it at the elbow or beyond would still introduce drag inefficiencies.
I would remove it entirely and take a piece of sheet (unroll the duct and cut a piece off if you don’t have any other tin) and secure it over the hole with proper duct tape (the good Al stuff like mentioned above).

Getting into tlr territory but...I was thinking that if I left the elbow and capped it, I could disassemble the rest and still be able to put it back if that became desirable in the future, without needing to involve an actual tin work guy.

I'm also assuming that it would be easier to take apart from beyond the elbow versus removing the elbow, but I've never tried either. If removing the elbow entirely isn't any harder, so much the better.

I realize that the flow dynamics would be affected, but it should still be better than what we've got going on now...right?

The non-hvac benefit of sealing the vent is that the dog has decided that the area rug is a reasonable substitute for the grass if he can't get outside. Not a big deal in general as it's a machine washable rug, but when it drips through into the floor register, no bueno. I was thinking I'd pull the floor register and put a piece of wood in its place (it'll look fine as long as the carpet is in place) to solve that issue, but blocking the heat closer to the source seemed like a good idea.

If it's relevant, we only use the forced hot air to supplement the primary system, which is a pellet boiler that can't quite keep up when it gets really cold.

Of course, thinking about actually removing the duct came about because I was in the basement trying to figure out how much of an ass pain it was going to be to run a dedicated circuit for the microwave so that we can actually run the microwave, toaster and electric tea kettle at the same time. That's now on tomorrow's agenda, because I've convinced myself the answer is "less of a pain versus continuing to remember not to run two devices on the same side of the kitchen."

[BCMtnHound]

Nuances I guess. Standard round ducting is pretty easy to work with, even if you have to snip a bit here and there. So putting it back in is easy enough to justify removal IMO. But if the near future has you putting it back in, not enough of an HVAC enginerd to say just capping at the elbow is good or bad.