The New, Improved Home Improvement Thread

[Wyldnwoody44]

I can't wait to work a little on the new place, the cash profit from the sale of my home should allow me the ability to really make some nice upgrades. Just waiting until around July to close and get my house closed on as well. 

[RochesterExpat]

On 5/8/2023 at 7:36 PM, Ogre said:

I found some badass hand hammered copper sinks that she liked a lot. We had a serendipitous meeting with the counter people and I finally got the one rep that is very smart and knowledgeable. Older guy that’s done this forever.

His daughter had the same sink and it was the dirtiest, worst thing ever. Scrub it for two hours and tomorrow it’s all F’ed up again. He shows us some samples of granite sinks. Looks good. Feels nice.

Did some research and these things are badass and come in a wide range of colors.

We have a granite sink in the kitchen that’s all black. It’s a breeze to keep clean and both looks and feels nice. Every couple months, the wife wipes it down with vegetable oil so the color returns to normal as it gets a bit faded from the harder water we have. Looks brand new again after a few minutes.

I feel like I owe you a beer though about the copper sink. We’ve been planning a bathroom remodel and the current leading sink is a copper sink with the dimples from hammering. Going to be changing that ranking now.

Edited May 10, 2023 by RochesterExpat

[Doohicksie]

Got most of Phase I of the kitchen done except for the backsplash tile.  I decided to switch over to the other end of the room and start Phase II.  As I mentioned upthread,

On 5/4/2023 at 11:44 PM, Doohickie said:

I think I'm gonna wait on the backsplash until I get the cabinets done at the other end of the room... that way we can put most of our stuff away in their permanent locations.  We're going to replace the corner pantry cabinet and the bookshelf with more IKEA cabinets.

We're replacing the clunky corner cabinet.  I started on that yesterday:

I started peeling the wallpaper on the area that will be exposed (they painted over the wallpaper but you can still see seams up close).  Then I will piece in the plank flooring where it's missing, cut some of the drywall away to make it easier to move the light switch closer to the room entry and move the plug up on the wall; also it will make it easier to locate the studs because there actually used to be a doorway behind that cabinet; who knows how they framed it in.  Then close up the wall, prime/paint it, and hang the cabinets.  Although this is far less involved than the other end of the room, there's still a lot of demolition/reconstruction to be done before I actually hang the cabinets.

Replacing the old cabinet with the new ones which will run along the short wall will give us another foot and a half of space for the kitchen table, which has always been cramped.

[Doohicksie]

This is what my plan is for the new cabinets

[Wyldnwoody44]

Waiting on the appraisal for my current home, if that comes in as hoped then I should be moving to my new place in early July. Have to fix a few things here per the inspection report. 

5 acres, no HOA, great view, privacy 6800 sq ft, heated floors throughout, big garage I can work in, etc etc. 

It's quite the big change in area and also moving out of my first home. But will make things more convenient in life. I can take the profits from this sale and really do a lot of work on the inside to make it exactly how I want it. 

[shrader]

I had a fence put in back in March.  It was the typical deal where I paid half up front and they would take the rest upon completion.  They initially put in some temporary gates until the proper ones could be delivered.  They put the regular ones in maybe 2 weeks later, but it turned out that they weren't the right ones.  Their head design guy came out maybe a week later to remeasure and make sure everything was ok.  This guy didn't seem to be all that interested in the job, but told me he'd order the stuff and they'd let me know when it is in.  The company said I could pay the balance if I wanted to, but were fine if I waited for the gates.

So fast-forward 2 months and I haven't heard a single word from them since.  I'm convinced that guy didn't actually order anything as it was clear he didn't care one bit.  It was not so little things like the company telling me that guy was on the way to my house but then he never showed up until 3 days later.  But anyway, I have completely functional gates, it's just a minor cosmetic issue.  But meanwhile, no one has ever asked me for that remaining balance.  Am I crazy to just sit back and wait until I hear from them?  I have all the paperwork and communications from them showing that the job is not yet done.

[Weave]

18 minutes ago, shrader said:

I had a fence put in back in March.  It was the typical deal where I paid half up front and they would take the rest upon completion.  They initially put in some temporary gates until the proper ones could be delivered.  They put the regular ones in maybe 2 weeks later, but it turned out that they weren't the right ones.  Their head design guy came out maybe a week later to remeasure and make sure everything was ok.  This guy didn't seem to be all that interested in the job, but told me he'd order the stuff and they'd let me know when it is in.  The company said I could pay the balance if I wanted to, but were fine if I waited for the gates.

So fast-forward 2 months and I haven't heard a single word from them since.  I'm convinced that guy didn't actually order anything as it was clear he didn't care one bit.  It was not so little things like the company telling me that guy was on the way to my house but then he never showed up until 3 days later.  But anyway, I have completely functional gates, it's just a minor cosmetic issue.  But meanwhile, no one has ever asked me for that remaining balance.  Am I crazy to just sit back and wait until I hear from them?  I have all the paperwork and communications from them showing that the job is not yet done.

I’d be inclined to wait it out.

We had a fence done last year. Took 4.5 months for the material to arrive.  I wouldn’t be surprised if your material was ordered but not in.

[shrader]

20 hours ago, Weave said:

I’d be inclined to wait it out.

We had a fence done last year. Took 4.5 months for the material to arrive.  I wouldn’t be surprised if your material was ordered but not in.

I'm going to wait it out, but I'm willing to bet that the guy who measured it never did a thing after that.  It couldn't have been any more obvious how little he cared.

[Weave]

35 minutes ago, shrader said:

I'm going to wait it out, but I'm willing to bet that the guy who measured it never did a thing after that.  It couldn't have been any more obvious how little he cared.

“Wait it out” being relative.  I did email the contractor about every 3-4 weeks asking, are we there yet?

[shrader]

On 5/17/2023 at 2:52 PM, Weave said:

“Wait it out” being relative.  I did email the contractor about every 3-4 weeks asking, are we there yet?

They finally called me yesterday.  It turns out that they've had the gate on site for a while now.  So my thought about the guy just not caring was probably correct.  The other day I was trying to find my invoice and I clicked on one of their online notices.  I'm guessing that triggered something on their end and it's the only reason they called.

[Doohicksie]

On 5/13/2023 at 6:14 PM, Doohickie said:

We're replacing the clunky corner cabinet.  I started on that yesterday:

Extended the floor into the corner this weekend. Also "extended" the drywall. When the house was built the drywall didn't... quite... make it to the bottom plate which made the baseboard trim problematic... the bottom kept slipping under the end of the drywall. So I cut off the original drywall at the trim line and replaced it with drywall that goes all the way to the floor. At the seam between the old and new I put wood backers and screwed both pieces of drywall to them so lots of beef to attach the molding to.

[Brawndo]

On 5/14/2023 at 8:49 AM, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Waiting on the appraisal for my current home, if that comes in as hoped then I should be moving to my new place in early July. Have to fix a few things here per the inspection report. 

5 acres, no HOA, great view, privacy 6800 sq ft, heated floors throughout, big garage I can work in, etc etc. 

It's quite the big change in area and also moving out of my first home. But will make things more convenient in life. I can take the profits from this sale and really do a lot of work on the inside to make it exactly how I want it. 

Damn, I chose the wrong specialty 

[SwampD]

On 5/14/2023 at 8:49 AM, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Waiting on the appraisal for my current home, if that comes in as hoped then I should be moving to my new place in early July. Have to fix a few things here per the inspection report. 

5 acres, no HOA, great view, privacy 6800 sq ft, heated floors throughout, big garage I can work in, etc etc. 

It's quite the big change in area and also moving out of my first home. But will make things more convenient in life. I can take the profits from this sale and really do a lot of work on the inside to make it exactly how I want it. 

Not for nothin, and I'm not judging, but WTF does a single dude need with 6800 sf?!

[shrader]

2 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Not for nothin, and I'm not judging, but WTF does a single dude need with 6800 sf?!

Using a different bathroom each day of the week?

Seriously though, does anything short of a family of ~10 need that much space?

[Wyldnwoody44]

2 hours ago, SwampD said:

Not for nothin, and I'm not judging, but WTF does a single dude need with 6800 sf?!

Wellllll

You're right, it's bigger than I need. But the basement is a full separate apartment with 4 bedrooms, kitchen and bathrooms, the traveling nurses are paying between 2-4k a month for a place to stay, it has a separate entrance and everything. So it'll be a solid game room when not in use, and will help pay the mortgage when there are some hospital staff staying there. 

It's much newer and the price was solid, my home, while nice and looks nice is outdated and needs more work than I want to invest. The market is crap for buyers right now so this was a steal all things considered. 

The land and escaping the HOA were big perks, also I'm going to be pocketing wayyyy more than I ever expected by selling now. I'm almost in shock with how much people offered for my house. Timing is huge I guess. 

2 hours ago, shrader said:

Using a different bathroom each day of the week?

Seriously though, does anything short of a family of ~10 need that much space?

I need to install 4 GFIs and purchase 4 bidets 😂😂😂 they will all have heated seats, I will settle for no less! 😁

[Broken Ankles]

1 hour ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Wellllll

You're right, it's bigger than I need. But the basement is a full separate apartment with 4 bedrooms, kitchen and bathrooms, the traveling nurses are paying between 2-4k a month for a place to stay, it has a separate entrance and everything. So it'll be a solid game room when not in use, and will help pay the mortgage when there are some hospital staff staying there. 

It's much newer and the price was solid, my home, while nice and looks nice is outdated and needs more work than I want to invest. The market is crap for buyers right now so this was a steal all things considered. 

The land and escaping the HOA were big perks, also I'm going to be pocketing wayyyy more than I ever expected by selling now. I'm almost in shock with how much people offered for my house. Timing is huge I guess.  

These are all financially sound reasons, and boring AF.  For those of us leading a married hum drum life, why not lie to us a little?   How about you need seven bedrooms b/c the swingers club in south county is exploding and the current membership cannot host parties larger than 8.  Or you are leaving the field of medicine and starting your own Branch Davidian  cult where you are the new prophet.  Polygamy and all.  Salamanca is the new Waco.  

[Wyldnwoody44]

1 hour ago, Broken Ankles said:

These are all financially sound reasons, and boring AF.  For those of us leading a married hum drum life, why not lie to us a little?   How about you need seven bedrooms b/c the swingers club in south county is exploding and the current membership cannot host parties larger than 8.  Or you are leaving the field of medicine and starting your own Branch Davidian  cult where you are the new prophet.  Polygamy and all.  Salamanca is the new Waco.  

I'll be honest 

 

Were using the house to film the next season of letterkenny. 

Also, concubines galore. 

[French Collection]

8 hours ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Were using the house to film the next season of letterkenny. 

I just spent a few days on the set of Shoresy S2. It was a neat experience.

[Scottysabres]

Material is getting pricey out there, although lumber is coming down a little.

[shrader]

13 hours ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

I need to install 4 GFIs and purchase 4 bidets 😂😂😂 they will all have heated seats, I will settle for no less! 😁

That still leaves you with 3 days left to cover the weekly rotation.

[Wyldnwoody44]

8 hours ago, shrader said:

That still leaves you with 3 days left to cover the weekly rotation.

Holes in the yard 

[shrader]

16 hours ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Holes in the yard 

Given your choices in plumbing, I hope they're geysers.

[Doohicksie]

Pro tip: Don't put that spray can of expanding foam in the bottom of your tool tote.

[Doohicksie]

Before I went on vacation I put the rails on the wall to hang the last batch of cabinets. While I was gone my son put the cabinet frames together and hung them, but had issues because the rails were just a bit too close together. So today I adjusted the rails and the cabinets are up, and the small countertop is on. Now they just need shelves, doors and drawers.

Edited June 28, 2023 by Doohickie

[Doohicksie]

Currently this is the backsplash tile my wife and I have picked out (the cabinets are white; the lighting was weird)

Before we pull the trigger I decided to look at the tile website and see what else they have. I like this one too:

 

I think it makes the room look a little lighter/airier. My wife said either one is fine but we both have a concern about having to match if we switch kitchen colors. Currently our walls are painted thusly