Al B's House rework

[rox]

Alan,
It will be real interesting to see what a difference all your remediations will make, especially now witht he dehumidifier. Did you rip out all the drywall int he whole hosue?

 

[AlanB]

No, we have removed very little drywall actually. Some in the bathroom, a little in the living room where the pocket door was that we removed to make that a larger opening and that is it.

The kitchen / dining room was all paneling, we pulled all it.

The bedrooms are all being pretty much left alone. Patching the drywall in where the electric ceiling heat was is about the extent of it.

There was no mold anywhere but on the block (lower part of the block at that) in the basement. None on the joists or studs etc.

I only had one 6" section of 2X4 in the bathroom that was water damaged and we had to replace.

I am contemplating putting a sump pump outside the garage door. Dig a well area there to collect the water, then pump it too the front of the house and get it to drain there.

Anyone with experience or insight into doing that or working with sump pumps?

 

[AlanB]

So, the porta john guy showed up on schedule and cleaned house
The apparently very apologetic diesel fuel delivery guy showed up with my drum of fuel.
Hanna is picking up the tub / shower unit now.
The business taxes are done for the year, we only owe an additional couple hundred bucks
I got a 15% off HF cupon today, that concrete chop saw may just become mine. Still debating that, but I bet it would be handy for some of these jobs.

The county road guy did come out yesterday, very nice guy, Airborne all the way. We discussed and looked at my ditch etc. at length, and the bad news for me is that they will not do anything with it, or give me additional culvert etc. That said, they do not care what I do in that area, so long as I keep the drainage going, I can grade, move, do culverts whatever, but they do not have any money to change anything, they will just come along and dip out the leaves if needed. Soooo,,, another backhoe job in the making, time to move a culvert, remove a big stump, and change the shape and location of my ditch.

Maybe I better not buy the saw and put the money towards a hoe

 

[CurlyDave]

It is one of those things that will eat me up that I spent an extra $100 to get this one then the one in Lowes...

When I built my house I tried to get everything just right and at the lowest possible price.

Then I realized that in any project that big, there will be screwups and places where small mistakes just happen.

When I build something myself, I feel really good if I can keep the screwup cost down to about 5% of the total project cost.

10% is a more realistic number.

When I have a contractor do something, if I am on-stite and watching everything like a hawk, there will be about 10-15% extra costs over the best possible. If I am not there 20% over would be very, very good, and some contractors will be 50% or more over best possible.

If you worry about it, you will paralyze yourself. Remember the mortgage meter is ticking all the time and it is far better to get something done fast than to spend more on excess mortgage payments and get the lowest possible price on everything.

 

[AlanB]

Dave you are right, at some point, it is just my personality though.

Yesterday afternoon just dropped to crap.

Hanna went to pick up the tub and shower unit, stuck it in the trailer top towards the front for whatever logic she had, and then drove off without bothering to tie it down. Flew out on the highway, we are just dang lucky that she did not hurt someone or cause an accident. Ruined a $300 tub enclosure.

Then I found out she went ahead and laid the tile in the bathroom after I told her not too if she wanted the window changed.

Bout fed up with it, part of being tired and pushing hard. Not sure how to handle it, and as in most things, much of it is out of my control.

 

[CurlyDave]

Bout fed up with it, part of being tired and pushing hard. Not sure how to handle it, and as in most things, much of it is out of my control.

Step back, take a deep breath, and think about what is important in your life.

Hanna is your best asset. Remodeling is very, very stressful. You can always get a new tub, and the window issue is minor -- either learn to live with it, or take out a row of tile.

When I am working on a project like this, I have a rule that as soon as I make a mistake I re-evaluate what I am doing. A mistake is a sign that I am working too hard, too fast and need to stand down for a while -- an hour, a day, whatever. Not quit the project, but take a rest.

If I decide to go ahead, the second mistake in the same day is a sure sign I need to stop for a rest.

If either one of you two gets hurt you will be further behind than if you take a break and rest.

Beside, every time I have made myself rest, I have thought about what I am doing and found a smarter way to accomplish my goal.

I have been an amateur remodeler for 20 years. Roofs, foundations, slabs, siding, electrical, plumbing, you name it. I know the excitement of buying a property and starting in. But, you need stamina to finish off. A sprint at the beginning is natural and won't kill you, but no one can sprint for 100 miles.

Dave

 

[AlanB]

Thanks Dave, that is actually what I am trying to do right now,

Kind of sit back and think about where my energies will best be spent and get the most bang for my buck.

I need to do the outside work here today, as rain is coming in tomorrow, then I will finish my basement painting etc.

Found a home for our damaged tub with a buddy that has a bunch of rental units, Hanna is dropping it off with him. His rentals will not care if it has patches and such in it. I don't want to see the patch every time I take a shower, it would piss me off.

Trying to figure out what to hire out, and what to do myself is the biggest challenge.

Some things I can hire out cheaper, but their work would not be up to my standard, would I really be saving anything?

As with so many decisions, there is not a "right" and a "wrong", and when things go "wrong" with the decision chosen, it is always easy to think that everything would have went fine had you gone the other way.

On we go forward I guess Put the smile on, take another small bite of the elephant, chew slowly, and think of the next step

 

[EddieWalker]

Mornin Alan,

I like Daves advice. But I've found that Dave is one of thsoe posters that I always agree with!!!!

What is your timetable for moving into the house? You seem to be working like crazy on certain areas, but not on anything that will affect you living there. Are you living there? Kitchen, bathroom, bedroom are the basics. If they are good, then I understand the other improvements, but none of them should affect your moving in. If those things are fine, then you are under no rush to get them done right away. Sometimes there is no option, and you have to kill yourself to get it done. But other times, it's OK to take a day off, go fishing or watch a movie and have a nice meal. Just walk away from the house and let it sit for a day.

When I built my current home, I had four months to make it livable and move in. In that four months, I took four days off. Each time, I felt totally rejuvinated and exited to start again. Sometimes it's not so much the physical part, but the mental build up and overload.

Take Hanna out for a treat and enjoy a day off. It won't change anything on the home and you'll feel allot better with a day off.

Eddie

 

[AlanB]

There is no firm timetable, my personal desire is too be in, in a month, but I am sure that will slip too closer too two.

Trying to get the work done inside, prior to moving in, as it will not get done if I move in and start using in.

We reset a bit yesterday, I got back to working outside for a break, and because we are supposed to have weather coming in today.

I feel like we are concentrating on the livable aspects, but a lot of that is perspective. So far we have

Replaced the bathroom floor.
Replaced a dated and unsafe electrical panel, removing unsafe (at least to me) electric ceiling heat.
Removed the mold from the basement, and sealed the walls to hopefully slow it's re-occurence.
Worked on the back side dirtwork of the garage so that we can gain access with trucks.
Worked on the drive so we can get the mulch trucks in (they need to come in next week) (the mulch is for our business)

We did have a bonfire last night and sat around and relaxed a while, then went out to Olive Garden, although I am not sure how much company I was, I was pretty beat. Good thing I did not have any beer at the house yet, or I would have passed out there I think

So yesterdays project was to get the driveway wider coming off the road.
This has to happen to get the mulch delivery trucks in off the road. Hanna needs to start working again, and this is a key part of our business at this time of year.

So, you start by using a poor man's backhoe, and digging where I want the culvert.
And you move the mail box and paper box.
And your wife comes out to help, and decides she want's to go ahead and dig the pond out front "NOW" to get the drainage out front better. So we go around about this for a bit, in a good way, and we are on the cusp of buying a backhoe, I figured Eddie would give me 12, $1000 payments, but he wants cash, so we are going to rethink a bit. So we get back to expanding a driveway.

So, first we remove the mucky soil beside the drive.

Then a $315 tri-ax load of rip rap gets dropped, of course right in the drive,,,, as he was not getting into the muck, so me and Babe get to move 23 tons of rip rap into the proper place. Would have been a better place for Bob the bobcat, but he is still at the other place.

So then a $315 Tri-ax load of 2/3 stone come's in to top the rip rap, Babe likes moving 2/3 a lot more then he likes moving Rip Rap. Little box blade action and it is starting to look more like a drive.

We brought out a trailer load (4 tons) of Crusher run, so I dropped that up near where my culvert is going, hopefully today I can pick it up and get it put in place.

So today, I need to go to the dentist, now that is a break I do not need, hopefully pick up the drain pipe / culvert, which Rural King manager said they did not carry, so I asked if I could just take all of them out of his parking lot as they must not be his

I have to make a decision on the bathroom drain pipe.

My cast iron pipe that the closet flange attaches too is 1" proud of the floor surface now. I could build a spacer, but I see problems in the making doing that. I can cut it out and go to PVC which is where I am leaning, then future additions will be much easier as well. Thoughts? I have another thread on that already I need to review.

I am also considering putting in a sump and a sump pump just outside my garage door. Are those a disaster or pretty dependable?

How deep a pond can I dig with an "average" Say a Case 580K standard hoe?

Added in, I also did get the gutters cleaned out last night, I went to start taking them down, and realized they were screwed in and would need to be cleaned before doing much with them, so went ahead and pulled the covers, scooped out most the dirt, and washed them clean (inside) then added some extension hoses to the bottom to get the water shedding away from the basement some with the rain coming in today.

Hanne (this is a freind of our's that works with us, and is helping on the house) got busy in the basement with the UGL drylock as well yesterday, she has everything painted and I think got the second coat on most. It is nice to have freinds, of course again, my dozer guy did not show...... Tree guy is coming out on Sunday he said.

My propane did not get filled either, have to check out what the deal is there.

 

[WayneB]

Alan, what you two are doing is absolutely great! Just think when you are finished and sitting back looking at the accomplishments, remember how lucky you are to be able to do it in the first place.

Not too many people will jump into a project like the one you are doing! You and Hanna are special people. Keep a cool head and don't base everything on cost and time.

My wife and I have made it through two complete rebuilds and still happily married..........wow.

First house is our home and darn we are still working on it after 26 years, so don’t think you will be finished in two months. Our first shower was located in the chicken barn so in the morning we would head out of the house to the barn and take a shower. Work that way for about 9 months while I was putting in a temporary bathroom. During the first remodels I constructed three temporary kitchens for us to cook in.