Home Improvement

If there aren't any windows, it can't be listed as a bedroom when you sell the house, as all living space below grade has to have egress windows as a secondary exit. So, for selling value, I'm willing to bet that more people will pay extra for a big, awesome space in the basement over a small space with a small bedroom.

But that may just be me.

It has its entry and exit through the garage. When I bought the house, it was listed as a 4th bedroom, but that might not have been legit.

Personally, I want the big awesome basement. Neither room is small (in fact the bedroom downstairs is about as large as the master), but I feel like we could do more with it. My fiancee is worried about the fireplace being off-center in the new room, but I think we could easily work around that.

The rebuild quote I received from a contractor yesterday was much more reasonable than the cleaners. For less money, he'll also be able to redo the basement steps (refinishing where I took up the old carpet), update the fireplace and hearth, take out the center wall and reskim the ceiling (the rooms were finished at different times, and one is smooth while the other is plaster). I am very tempted to just tell him to have at it, but I need to know what insurance is paying out first.

So in the mean time, your house just smells like shit (sewage)? Neat.

Xarpolis_sl said:

So in the mean time, your house just smells like shit (sewage)? Neat.

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Nah, I had a cleaning crew here for the last week who demolished anything that was affected and left dehumidifiers to dry everything out once the the concrete and framing was sanitized. That bill alone is over 3 grand. They tore up the sheetrock about a foot on the entire level, and the flooring down to the concrete.

Heylel_sl said:

My fiancee is worried about the fireplace being off-center in the new room, but I think we could easily work around that.

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That shouldn't really be an issue, depending on how you lay the overall room out. My finished basement is a long, rectangular shape, like 18x40 or something like that, and the entry into the basement is right in the center of one of the long walls, and the fireplace is to the right of that, so basically my fireplace is 3/4 of the way down the one 40' continuous wall. We just kinda separated the huge room into 2 different areas, to the right of the door(area with the fireplace) is the family room, bigscreen TV, couch, recliners, etc. The fireplace is basically centered if you just consider that 1/2 of the basement it's own space. Then the lefthand space is my office(multi-monitor gaming PC + desk, bookshelves, bathroom, etc). So even though it's 1 massive space with no walls dividing it(other than the bathroom), it feels like 2 separate rooms since they are arranged separately.

Its basically layed out like this:

So, its pretty easy to create separate usage areas even if you just have 1 big open space. I really like it like that, I can be jacking around on the PC while my wife watches TV, and I can still see the TV too and we can easily converse and interact, we aren't in separate rooms but theres also enough space that we aren't crowded together bugging each other if we want to be doing different things.

Eyashusa_sl said:

Draegan what paint did you use?

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I think it's either this color: MANHATTAN MIST 760E-2 or GENTLE RAIN 790E-2 from BEHR.Paint Colors | ColorSmart by Behr | Behr Paint

I honestly don't remember, and I have both in my garage.

Spent an entire day at home from the office waiting on the plumber, who never arrived or bothered to call me back. Finally just got a text about a family emergency and no phone available or something.

Very annoyed, and not sure I believe it. This is the third day in a row that "something has come up".

Give the job to someone else.

Fuck this guy. If he's doing this when you're a guaranteed pay customer, I can't imagine him doing a good job. You're going to end up having to bring him back over to your house a few times to get it right.

The fireplace might be off center?

How OCD is this woman!?!?! Who cares! Offcenter is fine, you can decorate around that. Makes the walls more interesting anyway. It's not 1882. You're not relying on it to heat the house!

Okay.

Garage door goes up and down as smooth as your mom on any random guy. Use the wired switch in the garage, no issue EVER with the door. Try to do it with the remote from outside? Door bounces back up after coming down about 8 inches the first time, maybe 10 inches the second time, then the remote is ignored for about 2 minutes. Same thing happens if using the remote 2 inches from the receiver.

I think the unit is just fracked. Opener still pushes the door up and down perfectly. Guess I'll have to get a new remote thang.

frickity frick. Not a big deal, just stupid.

Also, helped a neighbour do his roof today. If you take your time with shingles, and prepare the roof right, that shit is nothing but physical labour. Anyone can do a roof. Do you folks do your own?

lurkingdirk_sl said:

Okay.

Garage door goes up and down as smooth as your mom on any random guy. Use the wired switch in the garage, no issue EVER with the door. Try to do it with the remote from outside? Door bounces back up after coming down about 8 inches the first time, maybe 10 inches the second time, then the remote is ignored for about 2 minutes. Same thing happens if using the remote 2 inches from the receiver.

I think the unit is just fracked. Opener still pushes the door up and down perfectly. Guess I'll have to get a new remote thang.

frickity frick. Not a big deal, just stupid.

Also, helped a neighbour do his roof today. If you take your time with shingles, and prepare the roof right, that shit is nothing but physical labour. Anyone can do a roof. Do you folks do your own?

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I started off with roofing about 10 years before moving on to doing virtually everything in a remodel/restoration over the years.
Back when I was young roofing was the shit. Stayed in excellent shape, always a good view and no one around to bother you. It was mindless, freedom work that paid pretty well.
Took a toll on my knees and ankles though and some back.

Added: Dimensional shingles are 10x easier to install than 3 tab. Even though they cost more, roofers charge you that markup but it is really faster and saves time. No square up and down lines to mark out, can get by with a line every 5 shingles easy.

Olebass_sl said:

Stayed in excellent shape

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You're not kidding.

Ow, my all of me. But I feel manly. I guess that's something.

Funny this comes up, we are replacing our (3 layer!) roof this summer. We initially had thought we'd hire someone to do it, but being a cheap ass mofo, I've been watching youtube videos on how to do it, and it doesn't seem too hard, just a bit of work. Any favorite "how to" videos or guides any other noobs have come across that they really like?

Most Home Improvement stuff is not hard to do, but it just requires a ton of labor and the right tools.

I got our final quotes for the fences. Home Depot wanted $5000 to do the chain-link, and some local company gave me a quote so high I found it offensive. I told the Home Depot guy I was good and didn't need any more info. Lowes quoted me $3100 for the chain-link so we're going with them.

It might have been skewed because my cousin set it up for us and he's a manager at this particular Lowe's. I'm absolutely fine paying a couple thousand in labor. We did the mailbox post and that was enough for me, plus we have several boulders in my yard.. lowe's can deal with that.

I feel like a pussy but at the same time I don't care.

Going 4' galvanized steel as opposed to black.

I'll post pics of before and after when it gets done (July )

Roofing in mid-summer is brutal. Take the outdoor temperature, and add 10-20 degrees since you're up there with no shade on insanely hot asphalt shingles. The heat that radiates off of those things on a hot day is brutal. We replaced my grandfathers roof when I was a teenager, and I honestly thought I was going to die. It was about 90 degrees out, and it had to be at least 110 on his roof. It felt like standing in an oven, with no way to cool down(no shade, in direct sun the whole time)

Yeah, no way I'd do my own roof. If nothing else, I want a warranty on something that important to the home. It's also the reason I'm going with a single vendor to repair my basement. A general contractor costs money, but it pays dividends in having the project managed appropriately.

Plumber finally arrived this morning to dig up the yard. Also, State Farm is finishing up my claims processing so I should hopefully have a check in hand for the damages by mid-week. We hit our coverage limit, so they're just sending me a check for the maximum. Should be enough to repair everything and do a little remodeling on top of that.

Noodleface_sl said:

I got our final quotes for the fences. Home Depot wanted $5000 to do the chain-link, and some local company gave me a quote so high I found it offensive. I told the Home Depot guy I was good and didn't need any more info. Lowes quoted me $3100 for the chain-link so we're going with them.

It might have been skewed because my cousin set it up for us and he's a manager at this particular Lowe's. I'm absolutely fine paying a couple thousand in labor. We did the mailbox post and that was enough for me, plus we have several boulders in my yard.. lowe's can deal with that.

I feel like a pussy but at the same time I don't care.

Going 4' galvanized steel as opposed to black.

I'll post pics of before and after when it gets done (July

)

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Why chain link and not privacy? cost? Or why not something like white vinyl?