Home Improvement

Dandai

<WoW Guild Officer>
<Gold Donor>
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That stick on the top right corner is wreaking havoc
It's funny you say that because after I bought the house my crazy best friend climbed up a ladder with a dull chain saw and trimmed a branch that was rubbing the roof from that tree. We had a guy up there to inspect it a week or two later, and fortunately the damage from the rubbing was superficial.
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
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You will want to think about a new roof pretty soon.

As someone who photographs a LOT of roofs(I'm an insurance agent, have to take pics of every house I write), I've found out over the years that digital cameras do a LOT of wonky things to roof pictures taken from a distance like this. All of those horizontal lines lead to some weird artifacts in the picture, and sometimes brand new roofs look uneven or the edges warped/curled when the picture is taken from far away. On the flip side, I've also seen roofs in person that are 30 years old and basically disentigrating, and the pictures from a distance look pretty good.

You'd really need a pic from up close enough that it just shows 1 or two shingles, to really tell the condition. A pic this far away tells almost nothing about a roof.
 

Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Changing the shutters to black and the door to red black or yellow would be +300k on that crib dan
 

Soygen

The Dirty Dozen For the Price of One
<Nazi Janitors>
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So I'm on about week 3 now of getting permits for the kitchen job. I have a new appreciation for project managers/general contractors. I have electrician and plumber lined up. Bamboo flooring is stacked and acclimating in my dining room, cabinets from Ikea are delivering tomorrow(I have no clue where I'm going to fit all this shit), tools, paint, etc all ready to go. I'm planning on demo for labor day weekend.

This project has consumed my life...
 

Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Damn dawg are you trying to complete this project in less than 6 months? Could be disastrous.
 

Soygen

The Dirty Dozen For the Price of One
<Nazi Janitors>
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I don't see how it will take more than a month once permits are in-hand, barring any really fucked up unforeseen issues. I have water damage under some of the cabinets(which is what initially started this entire project). Once demo is done, we'll see exactly what is going on there but I should be able to knock everything out in a month, once that issue is taken care of. Waiting on the counter top to get made will likely be the 'longest' piece.
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
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How does a person go a month without a functional kitchen while it's being remodeled?

We've had one of our three bathrooms torn up for going on 3 weeks now, and that sucks just because I have to walk all the way to the bedroom to take a piss. I can't imagine going without a kitchen for a long period of time. It's not like you have 2nd and 3rd kitchens in the house(like a bathroom)
 

Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Put your fridge in your living room and eat out and grill a lot. For me it was hardly an inconvenience.
 

Eomer

Trakanon Raider
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You'll be surprised how long it takes, because of the sequencing of trades. Every time one guy finishes his job, it'll be damn near a week till the next guys shows up to do his.
 

Soygen

The Dirty Dozen For the Price of One
<Nazi Janitors>
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Yeah, true that. I understand as much. My timeline is ideal and assumes the plumber and electrician do not need to come back. It's minor work for both of them. The rest I'm doing myself.
 

Soygen

The Dirty Dozen For the Price of One
<Nazi Janitors>
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Put your fridge in your living room and eat out and grill a lot. For me it was hardly an inconvenience.
Yup, that's definitely the plan. The main problem with grilling is mosquitoes, zika and a pregnant woman in the house.
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
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My contractor is flaking out on me. He's spent the last 5 days doing drywall taping, mudding, & sanding...in a 4x10 bathroom. Shows up, piddles around for an hour or two, then leaves for the day.

Urge to kill...rising.

I guess he doesn't want the last $2000 we have yet to pay him
 

Zapatta

Krugman's Fax Machine
<Gold Donor>
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For and steel fabricators out there:

I have a 110 arc welder that's like 100 bucks. I'm interested in making some parts for furniture. Do you think I can pick up welding well enough to do this with my shit welder? I'd say there won't be anything thicker than a quarter. How long would it take fucking around in a basement with no mentoring to do a decent job? I like taking on new shit but don't want to completely waste my time.

@Borzak

I am guessing you have a $100 'Buzz Box" ? Stick welding is challenging when you are learning. It is much easier to weld thicker gauge metal than thin. Learn using 1/8 th inch flat stock. Controlling the 'puddle' and not having it burn thru is the biggest trick. Having the correct rods for the metal type and thickness makes a HUGE difference (ask a pro at a welding supply house), store your rods in a warm dry place . Use mild steel to build with, stay away from anything galvanized. Galvie is VERY hard to weld properly without experience, it wants to burn thru and crawl away from the puddle. And welding it fucks up the galvanic protection, causing rust. You can spray on cold galvanize after the fact to fake it, but its meh. Do not try and weld any Cast metal for similar reasons.

Do not weld in a confined space like a basement, the vapors are nasty, and chance of fire is pretty high with sparks, drips, splatter and hot slag. They always fall and bounce several feet. finding old dirty corners in a shop to start smoldering in. Spend $100 on a auto-darkening hood, learning the skill of the 'head nod' to drop an old school hood over your eyes takes a lot of practice to not be frustrating. Be VERY serious about protecting your eyes from arc flash, anyone who has burned their retina welding will tell you how insanely painful it is to wake up in the middle of the night with that sandpaper in your eye lids feeling. DO NOT let your kids stare into the arc flash, they always want to and damage can be permanent. Keep a pail of water and a fire extinguisher handy at all times. Buy real welder gloves or you will burn the shit out of yourself. Wear long sleeves, the arc flash will sunburn the shit out of your skin in seconds. Do not carry a butane lighter on your person , welders have died from stray sparks bursting them open in their pockets, (welders carry zippos). Wear good leather boots, hot shit will be falling on your feet constantly.

All that said welding is fun once you get the hang of it, if you do, drop $400 for a name brand 110v wire feed machine and the difficulty drops and can start welding things as thin as sheetmetal and as thick as road plates.

Also make sure your Extension cord is rated to carry the amperage of your machine. If it is too light duty, the cord will burn from the draw, short and possibly start a fire.
 

Zapatta

Krugman's Fax Machine
<Gold Donor>
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My contractor is flaking out on me. He's spent the last 5 days doing drywall taping, mudding, & sanding...in a 4x10 bathroom. Shows up, piddles around for an hour or two, then leaves for the day.

Urge to kill...rising.

I guess he doesn't want the last $2000 we have yet to pay him

Drywall is like that, you put 1 coat per day and it takes 3 coats to fill, let dry and then sand and touch up. Your contractor is a faggot for not knowing to mix in hot mud to get his first 2 coats on in an afternoon. He better be using Green board in your bathroom, or fire his ass. (No greenboard on lid is normal)

Also sheetrocking Bathrooms, Kitchens and Closets suck.
 

Soygen

The Dirty Dozen For the Price of One
<Nazi Janitors>
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What's this hot mud business? I'm going to need to do some drywall repairs and I'd like to get it done in as short a time as possible.

Got final approval on the permits today, so kitchen project is a go. Demo planned for 9/3. Wish me luck.