How to know when NOT to hire a house painter

1. "What color are you wanting to paint it?" Should not be the first question he asks. The color should be the most irrelevant question this man ever has to ask. I'll have it painted neon yellow if I want, all In need to know is CAN he apply the paint in a manner consistent with the "inside the lines" genre of house painting.

2. When you tell him that the West wall is to remain unpainted brick, and that you only want the front, the East side and the back painted, and you want it painted in three colors, if he looks at you, cocks his head and says, "You want me to paint each side a different color?"please, for all that is good in the world, do not hire him.

Putting up a fence and a gate

Now that we have the tree down, we've started planning for the new gate.

The old chain link fence is godawful and partially down due to the tree coming down anyway, so now's a good a time as ever.

We're looking at stock fencing from Home Depot, and it looks like we're going to need about 20 sections and a gate for the off street parking area.

The gate is what we've mainly been contemplating.... how to open and close it. My idea is a set of 2 rollers on the back side of the moving gate, and runners on the stable side upon which the rollers will glide. (see image) Hubby's idea is building a tall gate
overhang over the top of the gate opening from which the gate would hang, like a barn door.

I thought that could be a problem if taller delivery trucks wanted access, but we'll see. It may just come down to ease of building and cost.

Basement Access

Our old basement door, the original left to us when we bought the house, had been apparently ripped apart so many times from those lovely independent copper entrepreneurs, that we really couldn't say we had any security whatsoever.

In fact, when our work lights were stolen (see previous post) we believe the basement was the access point for the little dirty b@stages. Well, no more.


First of all I want to say that we bought a Gordon Basement Door from Home Depot. We thought of getting a Bilko basement door, but they didn't have our awkward opening size, and their doors would have taken up more space in the walkway than we could afford. Our plan is to have a minimum of 36" clearance to move furniture past the door with a dolly.

We picked up the basement door from Home Depot after waiting 2 weeks for its arrival (had to place the order in advance and it cost $350) and were so excited to get it that we zipped it over to the house, unpacked it and found it horribly dented. This was more troubling than it sounds because the damn thing was VERY heavy and we had already lifted it over the fence... and bruised some toes in the process.

So we took it back to Home Depot.
We ordered another one. We waited 2 1/2 weeks.
When it arrived, we weren't taking any chances. We opened it on the spot.

It was damaged as well. Bent and crushed. I have to say that the Home Depot manager (Ron Peery) was very helpful. He came up with the idea of trying to piece together one working basement door out of 2 dented shipments, but to no avail. Nice thinking, though.

So we ordered another one. The third one.
We waited 2 weeks, got the call that the order was in from Home Depot and tiredly dragged our butts down to the Florence Home Depot to pick up what we had hoped would be the last basement door pickup.

Guess what?

Yeah, it was dented. The good news was that we were able to piece together one working door from three scratch and dent deliveries. We took FrankenDoor home, re-primed the scratched pieces, and set it in the basement hoping someone would steal it. Apparently the word is out on Gordon; no one wanted it.

Of course, the weather in January was relatively warm when we first placed our order for the door. We could have had the whole thing set up back in January if we hadn't had to wait another month for a working set of pieces. By the time we got the FrankenDoor home, it was too cold to have concrete set up properly. We had to wait months.

The moral of the story: Gordon basement doors suck. Buy a Bilko Door if you can, or seal the whole up with a ton of concrete, but avoid the Gordon Doors like the plague. If I even *meet* someone named Gordon, he'd better duck.

Ok, so FrankenDoor is sitting in the basement and we're waiting for good weather to build a base for the door. Hubby wanted a large 3-sided concrete slab to set it on and I most definately did not. (Say, when's the last time someone came across a mound of cement and said, 'Oooooh, that's Niiiiiice'?)

Then I saw a neighbor's basement door set on some old river stones. Some attractive river stones. I showed the setup to the Hubby, and we agreed it would work great. So We went to a Cincinnati Stone Center (in the rain) and picked up $60 worth of stone and a bag of cement and headed to the site.

$60 worth of rocks weighs quite a bit, you know?

We unloaded the rocks and set about the task of organizing them to fit under Frankie. The first thing I did was to create a frame of sorts out of 4- 2x4's cut to fit the base of the basement door frame and laid it out over the basement opening. Then, with a level, I determined the slope of the ground and determined the difference between the ground level at the house and the level at the end of the basement door to be 6". Since I needed the base under the door at the house to be strong enough to hold a swinging open door, we set the base height at approx. 4"at the house level. That meant the base at the farthest point from the house would be about 10" high, just about the height of the rest of the steps.

After I pulled out the rotten wood from the original base, I noticed a lot of bricks from the basement opening were loose. This of course, meant I pulled out the first 4 layers of brick on the wiggly side to reinforce it with concrete and restack them. That added another day to the project while that cement cured.

Then the arduous task of organizing the rocks. This took the most time of all. I'm glad we had as many rocks to choose from as we did. It wasn't easy finding the right heights, shapes and sizes to fit evenly. If you're planning on doing something like this get a brick hammer. Trust me on this.

Once we had the layout set and the 2x4 frame was level left and right as well as front and back, we realized that we had to take it all down in order to affix the concrete and actually build it. Ugh.

I took off the top layer of rock off of the preformed layout and set each one upside down on the side it came from, the top layer of rocks the farthest out. Then the second layer, upside down, but a little closer to the opening. This way I could try to reproduce the original layout with the concrete added, in reverse, starting with the first layer closest, just flipping them upside down and back into place.

It wasn't that easy to replicate, but the layout process definitely helped. Just keep that 3' level nearby. You'll need it.

I wore rubber gloves and just used my hands to sculpt the concrete mix into the stones, pushing the mix into any holes which would become the weakest parts of the structure. By the end of the second day, I had one side in place, set to cure overnight.


This is what it looked like from within the basement opening. I put the larger, squarer (is that a word?) stones on the corners, as that's where the holes to attach the door will be set.

I figured it would add to the heft of the structure.

You can also see more of the bricks I set into concrete to firm up the inside walls.

Once we had the base pretty much level, which included pulling up stones and adding concrete mix underneath some of the stones in order to get the stones to a level height, we let the concrete sit for about 45 minutes, then lightly washed off some of the loose concrete mix off of the stones until we could see mostly stone, less concrete.

Over the past few days, I'd been painting the FrankenDoor assembly a pale almond color, and letting it dry inside overnight. So when the base had cured overnight, we were finally ready to setup the door in place and check for plumb and final fit. We set on the frame, sans doors in place, and marked on the wall where the sidewalls should stand. Everything looked good.

We mixed the final bucket of concrete mix for the top setting, layered about 1" of mix along the top of the base for a good seal and set the frame where the lines indicated. We checked the diagonal measurements to make sure they matched for a good square fit, and pressed down on the assembly to squish out the excess cement. Scooping that up and smoothing out the rest took no time at all.

Then we put the doors on the hinges... well, ok we TRIED to. FrankenDoor's revenge: the sequel. On the left door there was a metal burr that stuck out, preventing me from putting the screw through the assembly and the door. We had to sand that off. On the right door, the frame of the door near the hinge was badly bent (gee, how'd we miss that?) and it wouldn't fit. We had to take it off and hammer it out. So much for the paint job.

Anyway, it fits now, it's in place and it works. I'll show a pic of the final after I get back from the site today. It was a pain in the arse, mostly due to Gorden Co. and the FrankenDoor fiasco, but I think it looks great.

The Backyard Catalpa Haiku

Tall Catalpa sways
As if life still inhabits
One chainsaw later....
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ah yes, the tree. The tree that has kept the grass from growing, the occupants from mowing, the gardener from hoeing. Alas, fair maiden, it is perished.

Or at least we're trying. The first picture is from when we first saw the house. The tree was rather imposing and about twice the height of the house at the peak. And those little sword like shells it dropped were about 3" thick on the ground. Nothing was growing in the yard. Deadsville, man. Plus, it was heaving up the patio.

We knew then that if we bought the house, the tree had to go.
Well, we bought the house so.... TIMBER!!!!!

Oddly enough, our go-to-guy, Zach, actually found a litter of kittens in a hollow part of the tree when he was taking it down. Yes, mewling fuzzy weeks-old kittens. I didn't see them , or I would have been tempted to keep them, but that's one whacked out mama cat, you know? They must've been freaked by the chainsaw too. They're being taken care of one of Zach's tenants who is a vet, I'm told.

Anyway, we've had an ad on craigslist for free firewood for about a week now, and most of it's gone already.

We've got three big hollowed out stump rounds reserved for a Covington City Park down the block from us (They want to use them as planters, which I thought was a very neat idea) and the rest are waiting for a good home.

In the meantime, we have the original hollowed out stump still sticking out of the ground which has made for an excellent barbeque pit fueled by scrap lumber and fresh wood.



Anyone looking for a cool clear table base?

It's pretty bad when you have to re-read your own blog to find out where you are.

Slacker. Yeah, that's me. Blog slacker.

OK, back to it. It's been a few weeks and it's time to play catch up again. I know, you missed me. ;-)

Here's where things stand now: Starting at the top (literally) the 3rd floor bathroom is mostly framed in, at least enough for the plumber to run the stack and water lines for installation.

Instead of using a framing square to square up the walls, we've moved to using nearby hardibacker board or OSB as you can see in the picture. It makes for a decent square, and it harder to move once it's on the floor than a framing square. And we're always misplacing the square and since the OSB is EVERYWHERE, so, wth.

We have also finished reinforcing the master bath tub walls on the second floor. (framing the 10' ceilings can take a bit of adjusting, but in the end, they're rather sturdy.

We've been noticing that the floor under the bathroom on this floor is still a bit more flexible than we'd like and since we'll be tiling the floors, it looks like we're definitely going to have to firm up the floor joists with blocking before we tile. Good thing that can be done a little further down the road.

Also on the 2nd floor, the office floor has been laid out and covered with OSB, and the stairs to the 3rd floor still need to be finished up and the knee wall framed in soon.

The OSB nest to the stairs in the picture is to represent where the knee wall is supposed to go. We quickly noticed how dark the stairs from the 1st to the 2nd floor were going to be, so it is our intention to cut and frame small windows in 12"x12" cuts and to wire them for lighting and place them all on a 2-way dimmer switch. It should be very cool. The other idea is to fill the cutouts with a resin epoxy, embedding the 'concealment shoes' (see previous post) in it epoxy and placing them in the cutout windows.
Also, we've discovered that we're going to need to pull down all of the plaster on the west wall (the wall underneath the stairs-- all the way from the front of the hallway down to the first floor. We've come to the conclusion that it just doesn't make any sense to spray closed cell spray foam to insulate the house, but leave an entire brick wall exposed to the elements. We already live in a similar old brick home a mile away, and I'll tell you that in the Winter, if you were to stick your tongue out and lick the wall, it would freeze to it.

So we're going to insulate the wall. But we also don't want to give up any space in the stairway or hallway, so to compensate, we'll tear down the 1" plaster, place 1" furring strips on the wall and spray the foam to a 1"height. This way, we won't lose any space, but will gain an R value of approx. 7. Beats the hell out of frozen.

We've also finished framing the vent wall for the WC on the first floor under the stairs (no picture yet)... which means our rough-rough plumbing is just about done. That's good news.

On to the HVAC!! We're supposed to be visited by our HVAC assistant this week to plot out the cuts we'll need to make in the basement ceiling joists to accommodate the venting and the returns. I'm really not so thrilled with needing to cut two joists so near to the basement wall, but I'm told 'it's done all the time'. We're waiting to be told exactly where we'll need to cut, then we're on to the HVAC installation!! Then we can get in there and start pulling wire for the electric, lighting, communications, and sound.

Things are coming along a lot faster now.

A Public Thank You

As one might guess, our days get pretty long. We take care of work/business early, then we work on the rehab until 6-8, then we go back and work some more to prepare for the next day. 14 hour days are pretty common.

So, yesterday, I had an interview to prepare for and the Missus managed to get a bathroom wall framed in on her own before I joined her--some pretty heavy work to do on your own. Anyway, we were at the site until nearly 8:00, and by the time we finished up our paying work it was after 9:00. Even as late as it was and as tired as she had to have been, my wife made us fresh fettuccine to go with a quick Bolognese I had whipped up. It made the meal and was a wonderful comfort after a hard day.

I consider myself a lucky man. A VERY lucky man.

Having a partner like her makes this project much more pleasant.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled DIY blog postings.

Rehabbing an Old House Step 3: Estimating

Rehabbing an Old House Step 3: Estimating

This installment follows Step 2: Selecting

http://www.rehabordie.com/2008/02/rehabbing-old-house-step-2-selecting.html

and Rehabbing Manual Step 1

So, you've found a place that you like and that's in decent shape. Time to make an offer, right? Not so fast! You've got more work to do.

You can't make a responsible offer until you know how much money it's going to cost you to make it livable or the way you want it. Also, if you're getting a rehab loan, you're going to have to have good estimates for the bank too, even for things you intend to do yourself.

There's more to it than you'd think. You don't want to under-estimate, either, as you'll end up with a place that you're paying a mortgage on but that hasn't been painted or carpeted or which ends up looking crummy because you had to cheap-out on your finish.

First off, you're going to have some demo expense. If it's a major gut job, don't do this yourself. It's hard, it's nasty, and it's dangerous, and you don't save all that much money. Typically, demolition will run $1.50-$2.50 per sq. ft. You may have to add in dumpster expense ($250-$700) and any materials.

You're also going to have some soft costs like permits, closing costs, and architect (though if you aren't changing things much, you may not need a pro).

You'll need to secure the building from the elements and from miscreants. That means get several roof estimates, as well as estimates for windows and doors. New windows should be ordered a bit later in the process if you want to avoid potential damage, but it's nice to have a warm, safe place. Windows can be expensive, though if you have more time than money, repairing them is not a huge deal. There are many books on this. Doors are easy to find on Craigs list, and don't forget any basement access door that might need to be replaced.

If the electrical system is old knob and tube you're going to want to replace it. It's dangerous. Get several estimates from credible electricians. You can probably do a good bit of wiring yourself but you're going to want to bring in a pro to hook things up to the breaker box and to consult with you. Do your homework and remember that electricity is dangerous.

If the plumbing is iffy (and you'll want to have a plumber check it out if you don't intend to replace it), you can do much of the PVC work yourself, but a good plumber can move mighty quickly. Also, you pay a plumber for what he knows more than what he does.

If the HVAC system is old, you'll probably want to replace this, too. Get a couple estimates. You can find cheap furnaces sometimes, but most of the time, your HVAC guy can get this stuff more cheaply than you can.

Study the foundation from the outside and look for any potential drainage issues. You'll want to address those quickly and some might require a pro so don't forget to estimate for that, if necessary.

What about insulation? You'll probably want to add insulation. Much you can do yourself but not all. Will you be using spray foam? Some you can do yourself, but others require professional help.

If you're going to have the walls opened up, you might want to consider a central vac system. They aren't too expensive, and you can do it yourself, but they still need to be budgeted for.

You'll want to visualize the place as if it were done and list things you'll need to price out. Drywall and all that goes with it (mud, tape, screws, etc.). Trim (doors, windows, baseboards). Window treatments. Primer and Paint (remember, don't skimp on the paint--labor is the expensive part--you don't want to paint any sooner than you have to). Stains. Electrical fixtures.

Will you be sanding the floors or covering them over? Get a bid on sanding, unless you've had experience or have an option to practice somewhere. Don't forget carpet or any laminate flooring too.

Don't forget appliances. You may need new washer and dryer, oven, stove, fridge, range hood, and the like. Maybe you already have these, but if not, you'll need to add this into your estimate.

Cabinetry for bathrooms and kitchen? That can get expensive, but it can also be done reasonably affordably. Don't forget drawer pulls and handles too. Ikea has some great planning tools, if you want a starting place. Just don't forget to get estimates.

You're going to want to spend some time and money on landscaping too, in all likelihood. If it's more than a few pansies, you'll want to include a budget for that too. While you're outside, make sure that you don't need to paint.

You'll need some tools, too. A rehab should NOT be an excuse to go on a buying spree at Home Depot. Some tools you'll need and you should buy them new. Other tools you may not need, or you may not need to use much. Those are tools that you might want to borrow or rent. Other tools you might want to snag off Ebay, Craig's List, and even pawn shops. Don't forget yard sales. You can blow $2000 in a heart beat buying new tools and you don't have to. Plan early, be creative, and accumulate the tools that you'll need. There are books on this, including the one recommended in Step 1, so we won't belabor the issue, but rather offer the things we KNOW you'll want to have.

(Pretty Much) Imperative tool list:

Circular Saw
Cordless Drill
Bits: Spade, Masonry, etc.
3' Level
Framing Square
Pull Saw
Wood Chisels
Wide, 25' Tape Measure
Utility Knives
Work Gloves
Hammer
3' Sledge
Pry Bar(s)
Safety Glasses
Steel Toe Work Boots
N100 or P100 Respirator
Miter Box/Saw

Don't gloss over all the nails and screws and fasteners and glue that you may need. This, too, adds up.

Once you've got your budget, you're going to want to add 10%-15% contingency. Plan on discovering things that you have to do or things that you'll really want to do. Plan on time delays. You may want to have two sets of estimates, one for the bank and one for your own use, especially if you're going to be doing a lot of work yourself or bartering with tradespeople. In any case, once you have your estimates, then it's time to make your final determination and make an offer. Even then, you may want to arrange financing first.

Had to move the wall.

OK, playing catch up here.

We met with our HVAC guru, (www.PeakHVAC.com) and we'd been trying to figure out the best way to heat and cool the house. We at first thought we'd head a vent and return on each side of the dining room fireplace, but it turns out we'd need a lot more space for a second vent to carry air to the 3rd floor and it would make the dining room all.... wonky. Also, it would mean branching out in the basement and taking half of the vent-age (my word, not Chuck Phaeler's from Peak HVAC, heh heh) to the north side of the house and half to the rear, and we'd be talking uber-soffets like an encompassing, but warm, octopus.

So we determined we could fit the HVAC main ductwork up from the basement, up through the northeast corner of the kitchen (practically unused space), into the northeast corner of the bath/laundry room, and then into the 3rd floor. This way, the ductwork stays in a central location, and only branches out from the 'trunk' at the level it is needed.

There was one problem though with the return that was planned for the kitchen wetwall.

Yeah.

Well, we planned the location of the kitchen wetwall ever so carefully, making sure that the wetwalls on the second and third floor would all like up and even distribute some weight. I'm, not kidding, we spent HOURS trying to determine the exact location for premium placement and ease of use. But did we go into the basement and check out the ceiling to make sure that the joists that ran throughout the house also matched up in the basement? Nooooo, that would have been way too smart. Way.

Yeah.

So we built the kitchen wetwall not only right on top of a joist, but to make it all the more painful, it was a double joist.

The plumbing that we so carefully planned for had to come up through the wetwall on the west, then back across over the kitchen to the east, then back up through the floor to meet the bathroom on the second floor. OK, plumbing disaster averted... but the HVAC? Not so easy.

A few days after we made the plumbing work-around, Chuck (the HVAC boss) made the call that we'd have to either move the wall, or we'd have to have an angled return in the dining room that stuck out about 3" on the floor and sloped back to the wall to get around the joist screw up.

We moved the wall.

Now I'm halfway tempted to tell the plumbers that we can now run the PVC up the wetwall the way it was supposed to go in the first place-- just to see the looks on their faces.

Today's agenda: Replace last two rotted floor joists on the first floor with 2x12" PTL (Pressure treated lumber), and start pulling up the rest of the old tongue and groove 1" flooring (wearing a mask this time so as not to kill myself by inhaling the mold on the underside THIS time.) Then overlay with two full sheets of 1/2" OSB ( laid out so as to overlap and not have the edges on the second layer line up with the edge of the sheets underneath, aka staggered layout) and finish sistering 2x6's to the rotted joists on the 2nd floor for floor supports, fix the holes with OSB, then laying single sheets of OSB for the final subfloor prep.

Unless I have to move another wall.

Copy Cat?

If what we're doing sounds like fun, you might find a project for yourself in our very happening area. You can follow our lead.

Here's one great resource Covington Properties.

Of course, just driving around Covington can give you some options too.

There may be financing incentives and low interest loans for owner-occupied properties. I suspect that prices are negotiable in the current environment, too. In fact, I'm confident that many properties can be purchased for less than one could build them.

If you need a contact person, just ask.

Oh, and note well, many of the properties are in better shape than ours was.

If you're looking for step-by step guidance, you might want to start with our Rehab Manual entries.

Fixed the downspout.

No, it wasn't clogged with a soda bottle or a glove. There was a "strainer" installed in the downspout near the top of the pipe, with six small holes the size of a pencil eraser cut in it. It rained and small debris from the roof immediately filled the little holes, hence the clog and the overflow.

We had to have the whole thing cut out.

I'd call that a poor choice in strainers considering the amount of water the boxgutter is designed to move, but at least now (crossing fingers) we can keep the rain off of the house, not in the second floor, not in the basement and away from the house and into the storm drains.

I hope.

We'll see. It's supposed to rain for the next three days.

Box gutter or wading pool? -- You Decide.

This is the view from our third floor facing North. You can Cincinnati in the background through the wispy clouds and rain. It's a great view at night when the visibility is better.

By the way, the house at the end of the alley behind us with the red tin roof has been for sale for a while now. It's a great looking place but as far as I'm concerned, needs new electric (still has knob and tube setup.) I think they're asking $189K.
If you're interested, you may want to check it out.

Anyway, what you CAN see a lot clearer from this vantage point is our brand new boxgutter, the one that was leaking for so long that we had to have the 'water feature' underneath because it was pouring water into the house when Benchmark Roofing came and started the box gutter, but didn't get back to finish it for a few weeks.

Here it is in all of its glory, still unpainted, and hey-- wait--- Isn't a box gutter supposed to move the water into the downspout and out to the storm drain?

Sure, that's what they're SUPPOSED to do, but what the heck is happening here?

Oh, yeah, it's flooding and pouring over the side.

Again, while working on the wetwall for the upstairs bath/laundry room, we thought we MUST be hearing the next door neighbor's gutter. It couldn't possibly be the gutter or the downspout. No way.

Way.

My guess is that something the roofers left on the roof... a glove, a bottle, a cup, SOMETHING is clogging the downspout. There is no water going through it, just over the side. We just spent a bundle unclogging and replacing the cast iron pipe at the foot of the downspout, so we know it's not that, and it's not like there are any leaves on the trees...

Damn damn damn. When we will ever get (and keep) the water out of the house??? I'm wet, I'm dusty, and I need a shower. And I'm very disappointed right now.

Wetwalls going up

First, as mentioned before, we blocked in the walls and the ceiling joists in between the furring strips and the ceiling joists where the wet wall was to be located. (We're planning on having the wet wall continue above onto the second floor for the second floor bath as well, to make things easier.)

These blocking areas are to help support the freestanding wall that we are putting in. The blocking will act as nailers and the sucker shouldn't move a millimeter once it's up.

I measured the length of the wall from our floorplans, double checking that we'll have enough room for the kitchen counter tops, double sink, dishwasher, etc... then cut the 2 lengths of 2x6's for the top and the bottom.

I measured each distance from the ceiling joist to the floor, then subtracted 3" for the boards at the top and the bottom of the frame, then I subtracted another quarter of an inch for maneuverability when raising the wall from horizontal to vertical. (You will need that extra 1/4" for room to set it up, otherwise, it won't fit.)

Then I cut each length and marked each board with its position and the measurement for layout on the floor.

Since the length of the wall was not a multiple of 16" but we needed to have the 16"OC measurements for the drywallers, we just started the measurements from the open end of the wall (the right side in these pictures) and measured in 16" towards the attached wall, then marked both the header board and the footer. Then I lined up each board on the floor and nailed it into place at the top and bottom, according to the 16" mark.

There's an extra 7" space away from the attaching wall where we had leftover space from the last 16" measurement. No problem.

Then we raised the wall up, maneuvered it into placed with a little jostling and kicking, then secured it to a ceiling joist with a single screw.

Since this wall is going to be attached to a full 2x4 framing wall in the kitchen and we're going to hang kitchen cabinets on both of these walls, it is imperative that these two walls be square with each other in order to avoid shimming and a lot of cursing down the road.

We're already building the framing wall in the kitchen, but I don't have any pictures yet. Maybe it has something to do with that bottle of wine in the last picture... heh heh. Okay, so we toasted our first built wall. It was a long day.