Home Improvement

Vinen said:

Who told you that? I've had wood floors in all my Kitchens for the past 15 years... never had an issue.

First estimate in
~80K USD for gutting 3 bedrooms to the stud and installing 14 windows. (NOTE: Windows are 1K USD each). Waiting for 2 more to come in before I make my choice. This is the estimate from the guy that I plan on going unless the other two come back drastically different.

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Holy crap. I'll come and do the work for 80K. That's outrageous!

a c i d.f l y said:

Planning to redo my floors in my living room, kitchen, stairs, and master bedroom (leaving carpet upstairs alone). Was going to run laminate wood planks throughout the living room and kitchen, but was informed it's a bad idea to run wood, laminate or natural, in the kitchen. Moisture gonna fuck it up.

Now I'm looking at ceramic wood planks. They're cheaper (the ones I'm looking at). But then you've got grout to deal with. Which probably isn't actually a big deal, compared to scratches and water vulnerability. Biggest issue is just good luck selling my wife on "cold tile". Hermmm.

Bedroom will be some fluffy carpet.

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a c i d.f l y said:

Do you have pets that spill water, or ever had your dish washer flood/leak?

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Don't leave the food and water for the pets on whatever floor you go with. The second scenario is rare and you're gonna have bigger problems to worry about.

Do you have paper towels that you can wipe liquids up with?

lurkingdirk said:

Holy crap. I'll come and do the work for 80K. That's outrageous!

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Seems pretty much on spot for the area I live in. -Labor is much more expensive-

Also keep in mind that this is a renovation of a house built int he 19th century. Lead is a real risk so extra precautions are taken (EPA mandated). Additionally, all the Doors (sans the exterior door being replaced) are getting taken offsite, stripped of paint and having their hardware replaced. This is not included in the cost yet.

The only area where I question the price is Painting and Trim. Both of those seem higher than I'd expect.

Here is a quick breakdown of the more pricey irtems
- Lead Safety Procedures - 1600
- Demolition - 8000
- Framing - 3000
- Sound Insulation - 2300
- Foam Insulation (External Wall) - 3000
- Plastering - 6800
- Radiators (Removal, Refinishing and Reinstallation) - 2500
- Trim - 5000
- Windows - 13700 (Each window is ~975.)
- Painting - 5500
- New Second Floor Exterior Door - 2900

- Third Room (not itemized yet) - 20,000

BrutulTM said:

Also, my brother and sister in law have tile throughout the house and their 10 month old is always smacking his head into it. The stuff is just damn hard.

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This sounds like my son. Doesn't get what he wants and we have to rush to protect his head. He just face-plants as hard as he can and starts his tantrum.

I had one of my renters call and tell me that the ceiling in one of the basement bedrooms was dripping water. He tells me that it gets worse anytime the dishwasher runs and maybe the sink to.

So, I am immediately thinking faulty drain pipe coming down from the floor in the kitchen. I get over to the house and there is a steady drip coming from 2 different spots in the slat-wall ceiling. I pull one of the tongue/groove ceiling panels down and the insulation is completely saturated with nasty as fuck rotten water. Sure enough, I find the main drain pipe coming down from the kitchen.

As I start to expose more of the pipe, I can see really bad rust and general aging. It looks to be galvanized steel and about 60-70 years old now. The base of it was so rusted that holes had started to form and leak. I countered 3 to 4 of them of varying sizes over the course of 6 feet. I fixed it today by cutting off both ends of the pipe and replacing it with PVC. My plumber wants to do a more permanent fix, so I will probably let him.

I swear, water is the most destructive force on earth.

BrutulTM said:

Good old vinyl flooring is underrated in the kitchen. 6 years later I am glad I didn't get what I wanted. The vinyl is softer and warmer, easier to clean, and when you drop a dish there's a chance it won't break.

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The stuff from Lowest and Home Depot is all I put in my rental kitchens and bathrooms these days. Super cheap, so many styles to choose from and looks great, and I can do the install myself over the course of an afternoon. I have found it to hold up very well. It can be punctured with sharp objects or melted... but those are pretty rare scenarios.

solved

Fight said:

The stuff from Lowest and Home Depot is all I put in my rental kitchens and bathrooms these days. Super cheap, so many styles to choose from and looks great, and I can do the install myself over the course of an afternoon. I have found it to hold up very well. It can be punctured with sharp objects or melted... but those are pretty rare scenarios.

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I still push people to step it up to the LVP/LVT which is luxury vinyl plank and tile. Yes it is about 200% the cost of vinyl but still half the price of prefinished hardwood and much less prep/install cost and a fraction of ceramic tile.
The reason is that you can repair a spot in it and it is thicker and more durable than sheet vinyl. It's basically over a 1/4 inch of pure rubber that is fully waterproof and you keep leftovers or buy a extra box and you can fix a damaged spot in under a hour without a big affair.
Using the discount coupons it costs ~$3 a sq foot for pad/material and a entire kitchen can be laid easily in a few hours shoe and all.

Thank god the engineered planks are going away mostly as are cheap plastic backed shit. One looks, feels and reacts cheap and the other didn't wear good long term as stated and couldn't handle water or weight well at all.

Yeah, I have also used that stuff before and it is awesome. It does require a bit more time & effort though, which is why I usually end up with sheet vinyl for the rentals.

Okay all you sexy people.

I am getting ready to revamp a room - it was a covered porch that they (previous owner) put a "real" flat roof on, not just an aluminum top like many "Florida rooms" - so I am converting it to a craft room for my wife- there are two double wide sliding glass doors that lead to it, one in the kitchen the other in the dining room.

The plan to start is to build a walk in pantry that is "one door" off the kitchen, and the other door will be the entrance to the craft room - haven't decided what to do with the dining room yet, I may make it a cabinet nook or something that's pretty and can hold the china.

So framing seems straight forward... but here is something I never seem to get... a damn working stud finder!

I was given a cheap - included little crappy stud finder that came with a TV mount from china- it worked and was accurate better than 5-35$ stud finders I have gotten over the years. Well I lost the damn little thing - and I need to find the ceiling studs for the framing of the pantry. seeking advice on a good stud finder i can get, relatively cheaply but actually works!

Also- its an at-grade slab - the outer walls are wood framed with windows all around - I am going to remove a center set and frame it out and then stucco the external, as that is what is it now...so that will be fun.

Anywho - there is some seeping of water in one spot if there is heavy rain and sitting water out back - I have sealed it many times externally with flex seal etc. and it reduced the water seeping by about 95% and have not had an issue. I have a feeling the slab was not sealed, as it was meant for a patio - so I have sealant I am going to do once I rip everything out.

I was planning on doing tile, it should be least effected by any remaining seeping water- unless you guys have any better suggestions.

Xadion said:

Okay all you sexy people.

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I am getting ready to revamp a room - it was a covered porch that they (previous owner) put a "real" flat roof on, not just an aluminum top like many "Florida rooms" - so I am converting it to a craft room for my wife- there are two double wide sliding glass doors that lead to it, one in the kitchen the other in the dining room.

The plan to start is to build a walk in pantry that is "one door" off the kitchen, and the other door will be the entrance to the craft room - haven't decided what to do with the dining room yet, I may make it a cabinet nook or something that's pretty and can hold the china.

So framing seems straight forward... but here is something I never seem to get... a damn working stud finder!

I was given a cheap - included little crappy stud finder that came with a TV mount from china- it worked and was accurate better than 5-35$ stud finders I have gotten over the years. Well I lost the damn little thing - and I need to find the ceiling studs for the framing of the pantry. seeking advice on a good stud finder i can get, relatively cheaply but actually works!

Also- its an at-grade slab - the outer walls are wood framed with windows all around - I am going to remove a center set and frame it out and then stucco the external, as that is what is it now...so that will be fun.

Anywho - there is some seeping of water in one spot if there is heavy rain and sitting water out back - I have sealed it many times externally with flex seal etc. and it reduced the water seeping by about 95% and have not had an issue. I have a feeling the slab was not sealed, as it was meant for a patio - so I have sealant I am going to do once I rip everything out.

I was planning on doing tile, it should be least effected by any remaining seeping water- unless you guys have any better suggestions.

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You might also consider water proof vinyl flooring. There are a lot of options that are pretty good looking.

I don't have much concern of top->down water - its the bottom up water resiliency for anything that seeps up through the slab - even after sealing.

I also do not really "care" about the water in the one corner seeping - it wont be a cabinet there or anything, it will be a corner with nothing on the floor. I just do not want mold or rot happening because water gets stuck- so with tile, it could seep through the grout if absolutely needed and its not a fully "sealed up" solution- that would trap the water between the "floor" and the slab and cause issues. - and I know what if the water seeped up through the slab, it should be able to then seep back down.

again, since I sealed up the outside this has been essentially a non-issue and only some damp spots in the corner - as opposed to before where there could be some standing 1/2 mm of water and the industrial carpet that was there was soaked.

Damn dude, nice house. Seems like TV and shelving over the countertop area in the 2nd pic would be pretty simple. You get the roof/awning cover from the elements in that area and it looks like you have power sources as well. I know Samsung's have a 1-cord system, that extends to a connections box that you can hide. That way way you don't have a mess of power, cable, wifi, apple tv, etc cords hanging down from the wall.

aychamo_aycono said:

Hi all,

Help me pimp my back yard. I want to put in some type of bar. In the first photo you see a large wall, with an Evo grill on the right. That large wall is (on the other side) a 9 foot wide, 6 foot deep storage area. The second photo just shows some empty walls for the outside kitchen.

I was thinking that in the first photo, I could (get someone to) cut out that brick wall, then that would have an inside area of 6'x9'. The whole back part of the storage area could be built into a bar with a TV, and then have like a "sitting bar" (like it would be separate from the back wall, so you could stand between the back wall and the sitting area, like you're a bartender) right at the area where the brick wall is now. I think it could look nice, but my worries is having a sheetrock area open to the elements. I would get a copper awning over the opening and extend it almost to the pool to try to shield as much area as possible. However, rain is a motherfucker. You can see the copper awning over the Evo grill, I thought that would keep all that shit dry but it still gets soaked during a rainfall.

Alternatively, I could just put some shelves on the wall in the 2nd pic, and a TV maybe in there too. Maybe like a set of shelves, then a TV, then another set of shelves. All over the large area of the outdoor kitchen where the egg grill is. This could be nice, but it wouldn't be the same as a sit down bar as the first option. But definitely much cheaper and I wouldn't lose the storage area.

I was curious if anyone here has any input or ideas, or completely different ideas? Or if my ideas or retarded. Just curious. Thank you.

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I think you need more smokers and/or grills. I mean you could easily fit another smoker in that 6 feet between the two smokers you have.

JK. That's a great setup. I would second on a wall mounted TV over the fridge. Make it big enough so you can watch TV from across the pool or from the pool. I'm not sure what that door is closest to the door, but if it's just storage, you could probably install a kegerator with a tower tap or dual tap on the counter. Make a small shelf about about 12 inches high on the wall to stack liquor bottles under and on top. Maybe a side shelving system for glasses, mugs, and other bar equipment.

Or you could move your smoker on the far right and make a bar setup over there. That might be better since the sink is there too. But regardless, an under-mount kegerator with enough room for either a full keg, or 2 poney slims would be a great start. Not sure if you brew your own beer, but a full kegerator can also hold 2 corny kegs.

Picasso3 said:

vinyl plank. you can lay down plastic and see how long it takes for condensation to build up underneath to determine moisture present, concrete is permeable and I doubt flexseal has solved that.

also, put in a drain to stop your house from flooding.

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I have a french drain in the back - the flex seal was to prevent water coming in between the concrete that's at grade and the wood framing - through the stucco (also permeable) - and it has reduced it greatly- the water coming up is not much to do when there is heavy rain - and of course cleaning my french drain so the amount of standing water is lessened as best we can.