Home Improvement

Ya it was common and in some houses still works well. Last entire house I was flipping in Nashville had it all over the kitchen/dining. I took a skillsaw and cut it at 36" up, installed drywall on the top part, and chair rail between the two. I left it at the bottom because the cabinets was made of the same wood and matched it lol.

Outside of your expense? It shouldn't be more than $500 + materials for what I am suggesting, and that would be gravy money. It would take less than 2 man days of labor and you only need some tile, bullnose and the $80 mantel I talked about.

Unless it is popcorn ceiling, it is hard to strip it down. I couldn't tell very well in the picture but it looked like a stomp swirl which is the most common texture. If it has been painted ( sure it has ) it is even harder to remove.
I used to have a 7000 rpm disc sander that was on a 6 ft pole that would have done it , but outside of that $800 piece of equipment someone is going to be scraping then mudding a damn week and I bet it won't be flush.
Popcorn, especially if sprayed on a unprimed ceiling, will literally fall off looking at it with a scraper.

I see no reason why everything you list cannot be done for 6-7k. Unless the region you are in is just so much more costly than where I live.

I really doubt it. I'm in a suburb of Atlanta. Cobb county is fairly wealthy, but overall we still have an extremely low cost of living relative to the rest of the country. We're a tad high for the south, but that's just because compared to everyone else we're the city.

And yeah, it is the "stomp swirl" texture. I just really hate it because it is so dated. I suspect redoing it would mean just tearing out the existing ceiling and replacing it with new drywall.

I really appreciate the tips. It is nice to hear from someone with no financial incentive to inflate the price.

I realize the bitching about roofing has mostly died out, but imagine doing a hot tar roof in the middle of a heat wave on a roof surrounded by 6-8 foot walls. It's quite literally like being inside an oven.

Gavinrad_sl said:

I realize the bitching about roofing has mostly died out, but imagine doing a hot tar roof in the middle of a heat wave on a roof surrounded by 6-8 foot walls. It's quite literally like being inside an oven.

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I have done 1, just 1 hot tar roof. We were sub contractors for it, my brother had done quite a few. I walked off the job. Only have done that 3 times in all these years.
I have done quite a few torch on bitumen roofs. I don't do those either anymore( due to EPDM being better in my opinion and the fire risk of torch on ) but those were not near as bad as the hot tar, and the bitumen roof I used 50,000 btu torches for fucks sake.


As for you Heylel, no problem. I am always here for people when it comes to remodeling. I truly love what I do, and I am told I do very quality work, from both the homeowners and inspectors alike.
I am a nut for saving myself and people money though. I placed 5 orders today for store pickup of tile. I was getting $10 off $50 so I bought 5 orders @ 50 each , got charged $42 after taxes. Saved $50 lol.

Homeowners always ask things like I want to change hinges on my doors from brass to oil rubbed or something, how much does that cost?

My thing is sometimes I go weeks before I wander into this section of the boards, but I am on site daily. If I miss something , PM me.

My reply will be well new hinges are about $8 a door, but for a $5 can of rustoleum we can paint all of them and have the same result as well as the door knobs, and those ugly brass light fixtures, and that ugly ass ceiling fan too!

My favorite is when the homeowner tries to get ahead of me and says well you have x budgeted for trim materials, and I do break my estimates down to materials and labor. It simplifies it for everyone and gives THEM the budget to go get what they like, anyways had one earlier this year say ok you had $600 figured for baseboard so I found this shit at lowes. Was like 4 1/4 crap baseboard, whole house.
I said really. You really want that? He asked well can I trust you to pick out something for $600 without screwing me. I said your call.

He trusted me, I went to Cox Interiors( wholesale trim here ) and bought all new 5 1/5 colonial crowned base, new chair rail AND new casing, he had that old cheap ass ugly teardrop casing. I got 2 1/4 but colonial. I got everything at .70 a foot and literally pulled in next day with a tree hanging out my van. He thought I was going to only replace base, I ended up re-trimming his whole house just cause I could. Paid $478 in materials, offered to give him $122 back, he refused. A week after I finished the job, I got a check in the mail for $250 more after job was closed. He said his wife cried when she got back from family and saw I had done the casing and chair rail as well.

I had ripped out the whole house of carpet and was putting down snap-lock engineered flooring( not the cheap plastic but real wood, I wouldn't suggest it but I will say this. I had some on the table saw sit outside for weeks in the rain and it barely warped)

I should write a book on how to save money when remodeling.

Damn dude. How far outside of Kentucky do ya work.

Not far lol. I did go to Atlanta once to install a fence for a friend with a baby coming due and they had dogs. Never again. Show up first day , any hills like 3 feet high in yard. Freak out, wash them away. Wake up next morning, all back. Every time I dug into ground with post hole diggers , I had to knock hundreds of ants off the shaft.

That is one fucked up area.

Edit know=knock

Seriously though Heylel, DO get another bid and if you didn't like either person estimating, not the bid but the person, get another bid until you feel confident you have 2 solid bids.
Do not be shy telling them AFTER you get bid this is what I had to work with.

I constantly take jobs at a discount if I am hungry and the past 6 years, I been hungry a few months, usually in the winter though.
A good contractor will work with you if you work with them and you want the ones on the same page as you, with suggestions that are cost effective, yet get close to what you want done.

Yeah, I have a second guy coming to the house tomorrow morning. Hopefully his drywall work will come in a little lower. If I can get what I need done for $7500, I'll consider it money well spent, but I need the carpet to factor into the estimate. That's largely a matter of finding a manufacturer a couple hours a way and buying it direct, then a couple hundred bucks to install.

I liked the first guy just fine, but I get the sense that maybe he works on houses a little beyond my price range. This is my first home, and we're limited mainly to the insurance settlement since I just spent nearly 2k out of pocket fixing the plumbing in the yard so a backup doesn't happen again.

If I'm still unhappy, I can wait 6 weeks for a guy one of my closest friends knows really well. Right now he's booked up for summer, but it could be tempting.

You redo bathrooms? Got one the girlfriend wants to remodel and quite frankly I don't want to fuck with it.

Jx3_sl said:

You redo bathrooms? Got one the girlfriend wants to remodel and quite frankly I don't want to fuck with it.

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Of course, go back a few pages to see the one I extended, built a 5x5 shower in and custom built vanities, makeup center, all new everything and heck some more pictures of another one here.
Only if you are within 20 miles of Bowling Green, KY however.
First 2, demoing a improper tile job, tiles coming loose. Final one, after I tiled, painted, and finished.

Hey real quick about the fireplace pic I posted on the last page. Is it normal for older fireplaces like that to have no metal insert or curtain? It is a functional fireplace, so I don't need a full insert or anything. I'm just wondering if it is possible to buy a set of doors or something like that.

Heylel_sl said:

Hey real quick about the fireplace pic I posted on the last page. Is it normal for older fireplaces like that to have no metal insert or curtain? It is a functional fireplace, so I don't need a full insert or anything. I'm just wondering if it is possible to buy a set of doors or something like that.

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Yes it is normal and yes it is advised to have a set of doors or at least a screen, and by that I mean a mounted one that doesn't have a gap for ash to float out of.
That is just the old fireplace style and it is big, plain and ugly as fuck, but back then it was class a stuff, and kept that house warm. Good sealing glass ones will assist in keeping drafts at bay and be easier on the eyes.
If you do decide to install doors on it, make sure you do so before you tile, especially the bull nose around it. It will look like it was always planned that way as the doors have a frame and lip.

Second contractor seemed friendly enough. It was him and his brother, both of em Duck Dynasty lookin dudes. From the way he spoke it sounded like they do the work themselves rather than acting as a project manager. I gave him the rundown of everything we wanted to see about doing and he's going to get me an estimate by tomorrow.

Anyone ever used a website like BuildZoom to get an estimate before? I'm debating whether I should try getting one or two more bids.

Wainscotting and Door trim is getting close!

Wainscotting Pattern:Hamptons, NY I - transitional - entry - new york - by ALICE BLACK INTERIORSOnly difference there will be two foot spaces between vertical pieces.

Door Trim style:Modern Dining Room - contemporary - dining room - san francisco - by Jeff King & CompanyThe only difference in this picture is the vertical casing will be solid pine without any trim/molding design to them.



Got a local lumberyard here that has some pretty decent prices here are some of my materials (all common, un-primed pine).

All prices are per foot

1x6 .84 - Floor Trim
1x4 .56 - Kitchen Door Casing
1/2 x 4 .58 wainscotting vert/horiz pieces
DoorTop Nose - .88
DoorTop Solid Crown - .62
Window Sill or Stool - 2.17
Quarter Round - 3/4" - .38
3/4" Cove - 13.23 per 16 feet (PVC)
Wainscotting Cap - 2.12
Door Casing Base - 2.71 (Only need 5.5 inches per side of door)

If you are doing trim work, these are the prices you should be shooting for.

I'm estimating this to cost me around $400-$450 to put together in the large Living Room/Dining Room/Kitchen wall.

Well, the expected resolution to my insurance claim has yet to materialize. My agent called and said the adjuster was preparing a check for a bit less than $8k, and the cleaners still needed paid out of that. With such a laughably small settlement (way less than their OWN estimate for repairs) I don't know what I'll be able to afford.

Another adjuster has been telling me since Friday not to sweat it and that he'd take care of everything, but I haven't gotten the call back that I was told to expect today. My agent hasn't spoken to him, just the assigned adjuster who has been useless and borderline rude the entire time.

Who is your insurance? I used to deal with virtually everyone years back when I was in fire/water/storm restoration.

You will have to fight to get your cap by calling and keeping at them. Also depends on replacement or depreciation policies and so forth. Also deductible.

If anyone is ever tiling a shower, I suggest these which are about $40. I usually build my own recesses but this thing is waterproof, pre sloped and ready to tile. Took me about 10 minutes while hanging the Durock to install instead of the usually hours cutting, boarding and building one myself.

Olebass_sl said:

Who is your insurance? I used to deal with virtually everyone years back when I was in fire/water/storm restoration.

You will have to fight to get your cap by calling and keeping at them. Also depends on replacement or depreciation policies and so forth. Also deductible.

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State Farm. The cap is only 10k, and they're refusing to cover room contents. As annoying as that is, we could get by with a 10k settlement (minus 3.5k for the cleaners), but 7.8k is just insulting. I've had the same insurance since I was 15 goddamn years old.

Olebass_sl said:

If anyone is ever tiling a shower, I suggest these which are about $40. I usually build my own recesses but this thing is waterproof, pre sloped and ready to tile. Took me about 10 minutes while hanging the Durock to install instead of the usually hours cutting, boarding and building one myself.

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Also, we didn't have a ledge to rest your foot on so I put a little like 8"X6" indentation in the shower about 18" from the ground on the back of the shower. It was awesome for my wife so rest her foot on while she shaved her legs and was also nice to rest your foot on even just to wash your legs.