Home Improvement

You think that's hot? I climbed to the top of a Mayan ruin in Belize and the top was above the ceiling of the rain forest. Must've been 3000 degrees or more.

I once spent the day on the sun. You fuckers don't know hot.

Seriously though, it's goddamn ridiculous hot on the roof. I just have memories of getting down off of the roof and even standing in the yard in 90 degree heat it felt more refreshing than jumping into a pool on an average hot day. Fuck roofs. I've only done it once and I plan on keeping it that way. I basically slept the entire next day I was so goddamned tired, and this was when I was in 19 and in pretty good shape(only a year removed from HS football) Felt like I had just run a marathon or something.

Pro tip - run a sprinkler over the roof before tear off. Cool off the shingles.

And who cares if it makes them slippery. Think of it like "hard mode" roof ripping. You get more points that way and special achievements.

Good boots, rip from the bottom up...not so slippery. Unless you're on a 12/12 or something.

I ripped and shingled a very old roof in Philly that had a 12/18 pitch. It was the steepest thing I've ever dealt with. When standing all the way at the top, you were a good 35-40 feet from the ground. Though it felt a LOT higher. Probably because it was on a hill.

I just found a google street view of the house. Damn, it brings back memories.

Erronius_sl said:

Roofing was one of the few things I refused to do back in the day. I had a roofer on a house I was wiring once offer me considerably more to come work for him and I turned that right the fuck down. That was before the truck would drop the shit off ON the roof, and there was no fucking way my knees could handle carrying 2 squares up a ladder at a time. He offered to almost double my pay (I'm assuming because he saw me busting my hump wiring the houses he roofed) and to me it honestly wasn't worth it.

A lot of the time on a resi rough it probably gets 120+ inside the house in the summer, easy, and I'd go through 1-2 gallons of water a day. It's shitty work, and miserable, and I still wouldn't want to do roofing. I'd even take working in the desert in Iraq over doing roofing.


The other job I turned down offers for was concrete work, especially curbwork and flatwork. Want a surefire way to end up crippled by 50? Do 30 years of that shit. I can't count how many times I've seen some guy in his 50s doing concrete that walks like he's 90.

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Ya the 2 bundles at a time thing was when I was 16-22 years of age. Which was 20+ years ago now. I've done 12 roofs in the past 10 years and none in the past 3. I doubt I'll ever do another to be honest.
The heat never bothered me too much except a few times I got sick/heat exhaustion. I was blessed that I worked with my brother( who died in 2007 doh ) and we would start very early, go hang out at a park or fish during the heat of the day and go back in the afternoon on the hottest days. I was never slave/employee drove, in fact except when I worked at Paul Davis Systems for 6 years, I have been my own boss since I was a teen.

That makes a huge difference in how much you enjoy something.
Fuck concrete. I never learned the trade until about 9 years ago when I did the stack and rubble concrete rock imitation on a house for a guy. Next year I poured his porch/garage( well a truck did but I screeded/brushed it ) and it damn near killed me. I did a roadside brick mailbox pillar last year and nearly went apeshit. Not my thing.

Edit a fuckton of pics. Custom built cabinets, vanities and tile work this year and last.
I've been doing a lot more electrical/plumbing lately even though I am not a electrician or plumber, but over the years I picked up on it enough that I am seriously considering getting in with a electrical business.
The bad thing about being a contractor is we really have no retirement plans unless I had been smart and saved/charged and planned better. TLDR I'm getting to old for this shit even at 42. As much as I love being my own boss, I need to make a move by 48 to get 20 years in someplace assuming I live that damn long.

Did all the wiring and plumbing in this bathroom myself. It had 1 plug and 2 lights previously. I put in 3 led cans, a light/fan combo( looked like a light ) 6 plugs, 4 wall sconces and another hall light, wired 3 way and led timer on the fan all myself. Took my way to long but saved 6000 off the plumber/electrician, probably spent 2 weeks just on that but only had around $1200 materials in all.

And the shower kinda, I wish I had a picture of the awesome recesses I built into the wall with tempered glass shelves.
My father came by to check it out when I got done, I think he was proud, or crazy.

How hard is wiring in lights when remodeling? I've got to get a quite from the guy doing all the rest of the work, but I'm a little worried about what it might cost.

In a perfect world I need a recessed light over the shower, and maybe 10 or so in the new basement room.

If you have a basic understanding of electricity, it's easy as shit. Typically 3 wires to connect. The biggest thing is if you have to bundle groups of wires together, ALWAYS do it in a box. That's code. Your shit needs to be code.

Also, no lose wires down an open wall, like a basement. Have to secure them.

I'd like to jump in on bitching about roofing bandwagon. I'm a roofer but more sales/management at this point, so no more working on the roof. When I got into roofing it was actually a upgrade in working conditions. Before that I did HVAC work, mainly installing attic air handlers in existing houses. I will take roofing any day of the week over working in a smoldering hot attic with no air movement and lots of insulation all over the fucking place. Worst job ever.

You could always be like Anthony Cumia. He went from doing attic HVAC work into a multi-million dollar radio career. He was at a casino this weekend and took a picture of his winnings.

Damn.

Xarpolis_sl said:

If you have a basic understanding of electricity, it's easy as shit. Typically 3 wires to connect. The biggest thing is if you have to bundle groups of wires together, ALWAYS do it in a box. That's code. Your shit needs to be code.

Also, no lose wires down an open wall, like a basement. Have to secure them.

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I'm not sure I'm prepared to tackle it myself. The basement ceiling is already covered up, so it would be cutting new holes and running the wires. I'm already having some ceiling work done to match the two rooms I'm merging (one has a spackled ceiling, the other is a smooth coat), so I'm hoping I can talk to the contractor about doing it all at once. If the piece rate is reasonable I can afford it.

All told, this is what I'm having to have done:

Required:
1. Replace sheetrock along walls that was removed due to water damage.
2. Replace pretty much the entire bathroom except the shower, which we cleaned. We're tiling the floors, and will buy a new vanity/sink. Might replace the toilet, I haven't made up my mind if it is necessary. The flange and ring, for sure.
3. Refloor the entire finished side of the basement. All of the carpet was torn up since the sewage seeped into both rooms and destroyed the carpet padding. We'll probably recarpet, though I'm starting to like the idea of laminate or hardwoods if the cost is relatively similar.
4. The carpet also came off the steps, so we're going to just leave those bare, sand and paint them. The carpet was always hard to clean anyway.

Optional remodels we're aiming for:
1. Remove the wall between the "bedroom" and den, making one large entertainment room. We'll need to flip the TV bracket and probably have some additional outlets installed.
2. Sheetrock over the old 70s style brick fireplace, and put in a new mantle and maybe some tile or other decoration. Should dramatically update the room.
3. The ceilings don't match, so have those resurfaced so they're similar.
4. If we can, install some better lighting. At a minimum the fans will need replaced with identical models, but I'd like to put in some can lights or track lighting to help brighten up the room since there are no windows.

Given that I've hit our insurance cap, I'm looking at a budget of ~7500 to do everything. I'm hoping by finding local contractors I can keep within budget.

Heylel_sl said:

How hard is wiring in lights when remodeling? I've got to get a quite from the guy doing all the rest of the work, but I'm a little worried about what it might cost.

In a perfect world I need a recessed light over the shower, and maybe 10 or so in the new basement room.

Click to expand...

It's easy enough that I can do it. And I'm basically an idiot when it comes to anything electrical. I've honestly almost electrocuted myself a few times. I'm not kidding, I'm fucking dumb when it comes to electricity.

And that shed hasn't burnt the fuck down.

Heylel_sl said:

I'm not sure I'm prepared to tackle it myself. The basement ceiling is already covered up, so it would be cutting new holes and running the wires. I'm already having some ceiling work done to match the two rooms I'm merging (one has a spackled ceiling, the other is a smooth coat), so I'm hoping I can talk to the contractor about doing it all at once. If the piece rate is reasonable I can afford it.

All told, this is what I'm having to have done:

Required:
1. Replace sheetrock along walls that was removed due to water damage.
2. Replace pretty much the entire bathroom except the shower, which we cleaned. We're tiling the floors, and will buy a new vanity/sink. Might replace the toilet, I haven't made up my mind if it is necessary. The flange and ring, for sure.
3. Refloor the entire finished side of the basement. All of the carpet was torn up since the sewage seeped into both rooms and destroyed the carpet padding. We'll probably recarpet, though I'm starting to like the idea of laminate or hardwoods if the cost is relatively similar.
4. The carpet also came off the steps, so we're going to just leave those bare, sand and paint them. The carpet was always hard to clean anyway.

Optional remodels we're aiming for:
1. Remove the wall between the "bedroom" and den, making one large entertainment room. We'll need to flip the TV bracket and probably have some additional outlets installed.
2. Sheetrock over the old 70s style brick fireplace, and put in a new mantle and maybe some tile or other decoration. Should dramatically update the room.
3. The ceilings don't match, so have those resurfaced so they're similar.
4. If we can, install some better lighting. At a minimum the fans will need replaced with identical models, but I'd like to put in some can lights or track lighting to help brighten up the room since there are no windows.

Given that I've hit our insurance cap, I'm looking at a budget of ~7500 to do everything. I'm hoping by finding local contractors I can keep within budget.

Click to expand...

As far as outlets go pretty easy. Especially if you can locate the final outlet in the chain. Most newer houses have the line coming in at the switch of the room then off to outlets, or to a outlet then daisy chained beyond. Adding new ones is simply picking up where last one ends and running a new wire to next box and so forth. Older houses have the line coming in at the light in the ceiling which makes everything a bit more of a bitch imo.
If it is demo'd anyways most good GC's will do like I did and just buy a halo recessed can, a led conversion kit( $35 for both ) and wire up as many as you need. With the LED you don't have to worry about load because you are only talking 7 watts a unit.
If none of you have seen the new LED conversions for recessed cans, it is basically a LED 7 watt light with a light bulb adapter. You cannot tell it is LED and puts out AWESOME light. IT also is a sealed unit, saving you money from air loss to attic AND does not get hot like a normal recessed does. Well worth the $25-30 per uinit it costs. The ones I put had a 25 year longevity stamp.

Iannis_sl said:

It's easy enough that I can do it. And I'm basically an idiot when it comes to anything electrical. I've honestly almost electrocuted myself a few times. I'm not kidding, I'm fucking dumb when it comes to electricity.

And that shed hasn't burnt the fuck down.

Click to expand...

Always disconnect ground last, that'll save ya about half the shock. Most people get shocked switching out plugs, they grab a hold of it touching contact on other side while undoing a neutral or hot. Always hold a live plug at the top and bottom and leave that ground to last. 120 can kill you, but most of the time it just scares the shit out of you and pisses you off. When in doubt throw the breaker.

I've learned to always throw the breaker.