homebuying fun (caution: stupidly wide .jpg)

[flyboyx]

hoo-rah Simon!

[MR E30 325is]

Nice!

[2mAn]

homebuying fun (caution: stupidly wide .jpg)

Getting one step closer to finishing the garage

The glory hole I drilled in the floor lead wiring down into the garage just above the door. We mounted the box here, and he bent the piping easily



It comes around and goes into a 4 outlet box that will be used for the garage door opener and my overhead lamps.



From there another bent pipe to a 4 outlet box right by the old desk that will be the “work bench “







Fired up the power on the box and no smoke, no fires, just a happy face. I have some awesome posters waiting to go up but that will be one of the last things

[TimeMachinE30]

A man has to know not only his limits but his value. At times, it is better to be at work so someone else can do the job for you.

[mbonder]

Given the time crunch I'd probably just say screw it, pay the extra and be happy that it's done when I'm back from work. It always pains me to do things like that when I know I can personally put my sweat equity in and do it cheaper, but you've got to go with the most financially sound way, which from what you've described is having someone else install it.

Hardwood is still miles nicer than any of the other finishes IMO (unless we're talking tile in certain areas where that makes more sense). I think in the long run your investment will appreciate with hardwood where the rest of it really won't add any value and in some cases could be a detractor if people feel they'd need to rip it out and start over.

[mrsleeve]

Well yes you are correct, and I have installed plenty of hardwood floors in the past as side jobs. That said I am only going to be home for maybe 2 more weeks. Then its back out on the road for work. The extra week I take off for a DIY project will cost me about double the installation cost in lost wages for the week, for having my buddies guys come out and put it down for us. So yeah it comes down my time from a monetary stand point is worth more out on a job making money vs saving some labor charges for home improvement projects.

Plus I have to get the vapor barrier / basement people out and seal up my crawlspace and get a radon fan going under that before I can get the floor materials in the house an and acclimatizing

[mbonder]

Installing prefinished hardwood is actually fairly simple, why not just DIY? Should bring the cost in line with the vinyl stuff. Flooring nailer is a couple hundred bucks, plus a box of nails and some roofing paper as a vapor barrier underlayment, all in for under $500 depending upon the area you're doing.

[mrsleeve]

Flyboy, Yes we have considered that at length, as we put throughout my moms house after her passing to make it tenant proof more or less, and at the same time put in throughout my brothers house. But we live in great white north, and those homes are in Tuscon Az. so with out radiant in floor heating tile flooring is just so so cold on the foots from Oct to May, So we have ruled that out, as this house is not worth the cost to try to retro fit in floor heating into we would never recoupe it if we se. That said we like the look so we will likely go with a premium Vinyl Plank that looks like a slate tile for the mudroom and baths and quarter sawn white oak or hickory for the rest of the house. At least this is where we are leaning right now.

thanks for the thoughts though, just looking at 7-10 bucks a sq/ft just hits me as a little high, but thats paying someone to do it for a prefinished product. And the stupid top end vinyl stuff is coming in 4.50 to 6+ for materials and me putting it down. I just dont see the value of the going Vinyl stuff for the lions share of the house when there is NO real value added to the home for the investment, when compared to a few more bucks for a REAL hardwood floor

[flyboyx]

sleeve, have you looked into the porcelain tile that looks like wood planks? my wife and I have used it in a few projects. mostly bathrooms, but we really like it. if you look around, you can find it for less than 2.00sq/ft. Hardie backer is about 70 cents a square foot if you need to lay tile over wood subfloor. just sayin'.....

[rturbo 930]

Seems like that faux wood-look vinyl has overtaken hardwood (or "hardwood") as the flooring material of choice. I hate it. Every cheap, tacky, flipper reno has it all over.

[mrsleeve]

welp we went out looking for flooring today, and the quotes for materials are a bit high as its seems good Solid 3/4 hardwood is getting a bit higher than it seems it should be. and every one keeps pushing this vinyl shit, that costs about 65 to 75% of what hard wood does but with out the value adding benefits. Or the ability of being able to sand and stain when things get beat up Vs total redo. I know this new Vinyl shit looks great and is nearly indestructible but I just dont see the value of it, other than if you have a flood or if you want to swap flooring fairly frequently .

That and have been buying lots of new lighting to replace all the cheap crap that was in the place when we bought it. Its been an expensive couple days......

[TeXJ]

I had my roof replaced about a couple of years ago due to hail damage...no money out of pocket and the guys had it done in one day.

[MR E30 325is]

Excellent stuff!

We did half of our roof this past summer and we saved an immense amount by doing it all ourselves.

[roguetoaster]

I do have the right equipment to make the job go well. Essential hand tools include a hammer, flat bar, trim bar, caulk gun (Albion if possible), chalk line, tape measure, two utility knives (one with hook and one with standard blades), metal snips (large and detail), roofing shovel (or a flat shovel with notches cut out), a bar magnet, a blower, and a nail gun (Hitachi if possible).

Roofing with laminate shingles on a straightforward roof is nothing to be afraid of, but I don't know if I would suggest that a noobie tackle a project like mine with plenty of weird interfaces and important intersections. Also, I worked at a roofing company for a few years, but as a manager, not as an installer. But to be fair, I am having a crew do the non walkable front sections, mostly in the interest of time savings, as it would take me an eon to do that by myself.


The main front section, that I am not doing.


Half of the back pictured, but I'm doing all of it. Note the very goofy roof line transition where roof lines pitch above then below each other.


Another angle, and the near section next to the dormer repeats on the non visible side.


How it looked this afternoon.


The horrible transition that came out perfectly with a bit of careful layout!

No more pics of the nearly finished sections since it was dark when I got off of the roof, and it was generally slow going today with the large amount of detail work to be done. Hoping the rain holds off until afternoon as forecast so I can get those areas wrapped up instead of just covered.

FYI, a cost breakdown:

-$5300 Materials for ~4000 sqft of actual roof (got a $1500 discount from the Owens Corning rep)
-$390 Tools that I bought just for this project
-$1900 Labor for the sections I am not doing
TBD Waste disposal (expecting $900-1100)

~$21,000 All inclusive cost to have a professional company do it, even at a very friendly price
~$12,000 Savings as a partly DIY project

[Schnitzer318is]

+1 one for the roofing nail gun. Makes it go so much faster plus less wear on your joints.

+2. Roofing is not fun. We did our house shortly after purchase when we were young and dumb. Definitely not the most professional job but with quotes at ~$12000 with only a couple of ply sheets replaced. We did it ourselves for ~$7000 and replaced all of the ply. The work sucked but we were young so... the money saved was well worth the sweat/aching back.

We had our first leak this last year ~12 years after doing it. Went back in and corrected the problem. Fortunately it was near the bottom at a valley so found it quickly. Cost ~$300 to fix for wood, shingles, etc, etc. Not too bad, but I definitely wish we had known a little more when we did it the first time. It is what it is right... it's kept us dry. ;D

GL rouge, keep on trucking.