Home Improvement

  • Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!



    Go here and give us your nominations!
    Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!

Hateyou

Not Great, Not Terrible
<Bronze Donator>
16,640
43,295
ok, i don't want to sound like a huge pussy, but holy shit standing on a roof is scary. basically spider-man'd my way up the ridge to put on perma anchor.

Nope. You sound like a huge pussy.
 

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
46,611
214,468
tenor.gif
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Dandai

<WoW Guild Officer>
<Gold Donor>
5,918
4,503
ok, i don't want to sound like a huge pussy, but holy shit standing on a roof is scary. basically spider-man'd my way up the ridge to put on perma anchor.
I tied a rope to my deck and threw it over my roof to the other side. If I was moving I would’ve put a permanent anchor too.
 

iannis

Musty Nester
31,351
17,656
The part I always hate is getting up there. The transition between the top of the ladder and the roof is the worst part. Once you're up on the roof it's golden.
 
  • 2Solidarity
Reactions: 1 users

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
14,671
2,529
The part I always hate is getting up there. The transition between the top of the ladder and the roof is the worst part. Once you're up on the roof it's golden.

Yeah, it's not too bad once you get away from the edge. At least if you have an asphalt shingle roof you have excellent traction. If it's a steel roof not so much.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
46,611
214,468
I typically do everything with regards to repair/maintenance on my house. My last house had a 12/12 slant roof, and I paid someone to do it. I could have, and I have done roofs that steep before, and even higher. But I'm not as young and spry as I once was, and I fucking hate roofing. My current roof is huge, but has no valleys and has a shallow slant, so I'll do it myself when it's time, but it is super easy, low slant, and not terribly high. There's no shame in having reservations about climbing off a ladder onto a roof at the best of times.
 

GuardianX

Perpetually Pessimistic
<Bronze Donator>
7,164
18,153
Thinking about other projects, wanted to do a concrete countertop for the kitchen and watched this guys video:



I thought it was an interesting take on "Concrete countertops", using Mortar mix for a countertop. Would there really be any downside to doing something like this?

My thoughts:

Can I do a rounded edge with Mortar?

Can I reinforce Mortar with Glass Fibers?

Can I add concrete coloring to the mix?

Main goals would be simplicity and strength but also important would be the ability to color it.
 

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
46,611
214,468
I've done a bunch of concrete countertops for other people, and am going to do some for myself when the weather gets better. You need to find the concrete countertop mix of cement. It's not hard to find, Menards carries it here. I make the forms out of melamine board, and I caulk the edges to give it a slight beveled corner. It's not hard, just a lot of work.

I've always used steel to reinforce it. No idea if glass fibers would work. The worry with the reinforcing material is that you could get shadows of it on the surface.

You can absolutely add colour to the mix. I get all my materials from these guys. Concrete Countertop Products | Concrete Countertop Solutions

You aren't going to get a perfect, consistent colour with concrete. Plan on some splodging. You can enhance that with concrete dye so it looks like it was planned. Also plan on spending time putting finishing coats on.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
14,671
2,529
I would think the glass fiber would be a bad idea just because it would come out while you were polishing.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Crone

Bronze Baronet of the Realm
9,714
3,211
Work started Monday on my under house Lake. Guy left a sump pump under there to keep it mostly dry for the last couple weeks before work started. It looks like there will be 4 large holes around my house, as there's no easy way to run all the gutters to a single big drain hole. I kinda don't like that, but it is what it is? As long as they are done right and don't just keep sinking, I'll be happy.
 

Dandai

<WoW Guild Officer>
<Gold Donor>
5,918
4,503
Work started Monday on my under house Lake. Guy left a sump pump under there to keep it mostly dry for the last couple weeks before work started. It looks like there will be 4 large holes around my house, as there's no easy way to run all the gutters to a single big drain hole. I kinda don't like that, but it is what it is? As long as they are done right and don't just keep sinking, I'll be happy.
I imagine they’re not just going to be large open holes though, are they?
 

Dandai

<WoW Guild Officer>
<Gold Donor>
5,918
4,503
I would think the glass fiber would be a bad idea just because it would come out while you were polishing.
I haven’t built a concrete countertop myself, but I watched a guy make one several months ago using glass fibers. When he polished the top it looked pristine. I’ll see if I can find the video again.

Edit: it was from This Old House. They did it in two batches - first batch was just the cream and sprinkled aggregate for the surface; second batch had the glass fiber in it.

 
Last edited:
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

GuardianX

Perpetually Pessimistic
<Bronze Donator>
7,164
18,153
I would think the glass fiber would be a bad idea just because it would come out while you were polishing.
I haven’t built a concrete countertop myself, but I watched a guy make one several months ago using glass fibers. When he polished the top it looked pristine. I’ll see if I can find the video again.

There are ways around the fibers appearing, one of which I THINK...is to spray on a layer before you add your bulk reinforced mix to your form. It has the effect of making the top fairly smooth too since you don't have bubbles or anything popping everywhere.

I don't know how this works on the final product, does concrete adhere to concrete at a molecular / chemical level?
 

Vinen

God is dead
2,790
495
Home Renovation has ballooned. We will be moving back in mid.

Kitchen Renovation went from small to full ~70KUSD budget. We will be ripping up the radiant flooring as we are rearranging the entire kitchen when we take down a load bearing wall. mmmm steel.

Rest of the house will be usable within the next month.

Can't wait to see what the potential design choices our designer / architect will provide us with are... should get in the next few days.
 

GuardianX

Perpetually Pessimistic
<Bronze Donator>
7,164
18,153
Home Renovation has ballooned. We will be moving back in mid.

Kitchen Renovation went from small to full ~70KUSD budget. We will be ripping up the radiant flooring as we are rearranging the entire kitchen when we take down a load bearing wall. mmmm steel.

Rest of the house will be usable within the next month.

Can't wait to see what the potential design choices our designer / architect will provide us with are... should get in the next few days.

I always wonder where the money for things like this go.

I mean I can see appliances costing something like 30k or something total with full on custom everything but 40k for the rest I just don't understand.

If you don't mind could you detail the breakdown? I would love to see what gets spent where in a project like this.
 

Vinen

God is dead
2,790
495
I always wonder where the money for things like this go.

I mean I can see appliances costing something like 30k or something total with full on custom everything but 40k for the rest I just don't understand.

If you don't mind could you detail the breakdown? I would love to see what gets spent where in a project like this.

I'll break it down once we get an actual proper estimate. It may be lower (40-50K). This is just what I've mentally prepared for.
 
Last edited:

Noodleface

A Mod Real Quick
38,272
15,096
Yeah 70k is too much for me. I can't imagine spending that on a kitchen. At least, I don't think my home value would increase that much. Of course, my house was a remodel anyways.
 

GuardianX

Perpetually Pessimistic
<Bronze Donator>
7,164
18,153
Yeah 70k is too much for me. I can't imagine spending that on a kitchen. At least, I don't think my home value would increase that much. Of course, my house was a remodel anyways.

Well Vinen Vinen stated a while back that his home is in the millionish range, I think?

So 50-70k wouldn't be outlandish in terms of overall cost at that price-point. I just wanna know what goes into a 50-70k single location renovation.

I know I got quoted 12-15k for a "To the studs" renovation of my bathroom, which included only "Basic" plumbing and nothing to do with re-routing waste-lines or anything. Covered tiling a surround, laying vinyl floor, vanity, mirror, and tub...as well as getting the room back to a room from a stud base.