Home Improvements

Spock Senior Member
5,271 posts 9 reps Joined Jul 2013
Sun, Dec 31, 2017 2:14 PM
posted by justincredible

No clue on that, we just know the type of flooring we are going to use. Most seem to be in the $2-3 per square foot range at home depot.

I have used the Sam's club flooring.  It is unreal good for under $2 a sqft.  

justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Tue, Jan 2, 2018 10:52 AM

Our contractor sent us a link to his preferred flooring, which is Armstrong. We're probably going to go with something like this:

https://www.armstrongflooring.com/residential/en-us/vinyl-flooring/luxury-vinyl/traditional-luxury-vinyl-tile/luxe-plank-with-fastak-install/item/A6723.html

We also think we're leaning towards painting the ceiling a flat gray instead of flat black.

Anyone have any experience with Ikea cabinets? We will be putting in a small bar area (I'll be doing this work once he's done) and like the look of these cabinets:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/ikea_kitchens/23607/

The end goal is something similar to this, without the wall cabinets (our basement isn't tall enough).

Apple Prost!
2,624 posts 12 reps Joined Nov 2009
Thu, Jan 4, 2018 1:16 PM

We're going to be DIY renovating at least one, probably two, bathrooms this year.  Both are total gut jobs with updated plumbing, electric, fixtures, drywall et al.  Good chance we'll be renovating a hallway at same time.  After that I think she wants me to put in the laundry/storage area downstairs.

 

kizer permanente Senior Member
1,309 posts 18 reps Joined Aug 2017
Thu, Jan 4, 2018 7:50 PM

Just bought some Bamboo flooring to put downstairs. Also am buying new trim and painting it white and replacing the undersized honey oak trim in the house. Gonna try to get this house out of the 90’s. 

kizer permanente Senior Member
1,309 posts 18 reps Joined Aug 2017
Thu, Jan 4, 2018 8:01 PM

Speaking of that... does anyone have experience painting stained wood?  I have a built in book case that is all honey oak that id like to paint white. What’s the best way of painting over stained wood ?

justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Thu, Jan 4, 2018 8:19 PM
posted by kizer permanente

Speaking of that... does anyone have experience painting stained wood?  I have a built in book case that is all honey oak that id like to paint white. What’s the best way of painting over stained wood ?

I'd probably just give it a quick sand and a coat of primer before painting. 

justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Fri, Jan 5, 2018 3:24 PM

Had a lot of demo work done on our basement today. Found out that the load bearing beam that was put in after previous homeowners removed a load bearing wall in the basement (doh) isn't quite adequate. Pretty pissed off at the inspector for saying it was fine as is, but glad we decided to go ahead on this project so we found it. Our contractor isn't concerned that our house is going to collapse or anything, but now that the drop ceiling has been removed it definitely doesn't look good as is.

justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Fri, Jan 5, 2018 4:09 PM

Before demo:

Current state:

justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Fri, Jan 5, 2018 4:30 PM

Anyone ever install an industrial pipe shelving unit? I'm thinking of doing something like this in our office for the desk:

kizer permanente Senior Member
1,309 posts 18 reps Joined Aug 2017
Fri, Jan 5, 2018 6:16 PM

It could double as a fire sprinkler. 

kizer permanente Senior Member
1,309 posts 18 reps Joined Aug 2017
Fri, Jan 5, 2018 6:18 PM
posted by justincredible

Before demo:

Current state:

As an electrician, whoever wired that house should be fired lol. 

justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Fri, Jan 5, 2018 6:36 PM
posted by kizer permanente

As an electrician, whoever wired that house should be fired lol. 

Oh yeah, it was a mess under the drop ceiling. An electrician is coming in on Monday to clean it up and wire it for can lights.

justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Jan 10, 2018 11:57 AM

So this is fun. After removing the drop ceiling we found out that our house is completely unsupported where the red line is drawn. The floor joists in that section are held together by lag bolts. 

Automatik Senior Member
15,737 posts 98 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Jan 10, 2018 12:30 PM
posted by justincredible

Anyone ever install an industrial pipe shelving unit? I'm thinking of doing something like this in our office for the desk:

My friend has a similar setup filling and entire wall of his bedroom. It's badass, but not cheap. He paid much more than I would have guessed for the piping. Then splurged more on reclaimed wood planks. He has an all in one desktop/monitor standing desk setup.

justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Jan 10, 2018 1:42 PM
posted by Automatik

My friend has a similar setup filling and entire wall of his bedroom. It's badass, but not cheap. He paid much more than I would have guessed for the piping. Then splurged more on reclaimed wood planks. He has an all in one desktop/monitor standing desk setup.

Yeah, I'm sure buying all of the piping in short pieces is going to add up. If I can get my hands on a pipe threader I can probably save a ton of money buying longer pieces and cutting them to suit my needs. I've got 3 large teak boards I could use for the desk top, so hopefully I won't incure any additional expense there.

justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Tue, Jan 30, 2018 11:34 AM

Pretty excited, the ceiling in our basement is being sprayed today. They are making pretty good progress on the remodel, especially with the unexpected beam issue that popped up.

justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Mon, Feb 26, 2018 12:25 PM

Bumping this back up, we've had a ton of progress made in our basement so far.

No more wood paneled back wall.

I like the way he decided to enclose the two beams at the base of the stairs.

justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Mon, Feb 26, 2018 12:28 PM

From our contractors facebook page, this is how sloped our basement floor still is after 5-6" of floor leveler in the middle of the basement. He ended up making the best of a bad situation with the trim, you can see the final result in the last two pictures above. There was a similar issue on the wall along the steps that you can kinda see in the 3rd picture above.

https://www.facebook.com/dennisconstructionllc/photos/rpp.498955783771292/589972191336317/?type=3&theater

24,621 posts 244 reps Joined May 2010
Mon, Feb 26, 2018 1:01 PM

Wow, how did the floor end up so sloped?

justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Mon, Feb 26, 2018 1:04 PM

Who knows. It's old, so the basement wasn't poured with living space in mind. 

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