LGP DIY House edition

[meow]

The idiot that owned our house previously painted ALL the trim work and we have slowly spend two years tearing it down and replacing it with stained and polyed wood trim. I Brad nailed the last piece last night and my wife and I had a mini celebration. That may not seem like a big undertaking, but it was a huge pain.

[joopen]

We just built new construction. No projects other than getting a deck built.

This city has such great vintage housing stock. So many of my friends have built new homes in the last year too and it seems so surprising to me.

Another friend bought in Bloomfield for $50,000ish and then put [at least] double that into it before he ever moved in. Mechanically its a brand new house but it has so much more character and classic touches than any Ryan/Heartland deal.

Vintage and classic (old) doesn't fit everyone. Also having kids plays into the decision a lot as well. You couldn't give me a house in the city an expect me to move into it. Also building new does nothing but raise your home's value as more homes are sold. The prices of the new stuff never drops. It keeps going up making what you paid for your home now more expensive. It is also a way to know when you move in that you have no projects to do. We built Ryan (who just bought Heartland this year btw). We have 2 kids and are now living in a community with hundreds of other children within 3 years of age of each other in a fantastic school district. Oh and our house appraised from a 3rd party for $50k over what we paid. Not too shabby.

[joopen]

We just built new construction. No projects other than getting a deck built.

What is it with new construction and no decks? Cheaper to build after the fact than adding it into the builders price?

I pass a few plans on my way home each day of new construction, and not one of the houses has a deck on them.

It's not offered by Ryan due to liability and cost.

[pittsoccer33]

Are the City of Pittsburgh schools really that bad? I'm not having children so for me the only quality of the school concern is "is it terrible?" A lot of beautiful houses are advertised as being in Regent Square or Edgewood, but they're actually in the Wilkinsburg school district. So thats 100% out for me. But in the city your kids get a free ride to college via the Pittsburgh Promise. Plus you have these great areas like Squirrel Hill, Highland Park, and Point Breeze that are safe and have large yards and gorgeous parks in walking distance.

I guess I'm a pretty big tightwad. Spending $30,000 on a kitchen adds what, like $50,000 to your resale value? Why not save $20,000 buying an ugly kitchen and making it look the way you want?

[eddysnake]

Next year I think we are planning on ripping the entire back of our house off and putting on a 2 story addition, that will be a call up dad, uncles, brothers, etc and get a lot of beer kind of time.

are you just remodeling the back into a 2 story addition? otherwise, wouldn't you need to dig a foundation or something? either way, i can't imagine doing that myself.

yes, we are laying a new foundation and everything. We're pretty manly, these trivial things do not bother us.

[meow]

Anyone have a good idea on how to waterproof a basement from the inside only? I don't want to dig around the foundation and do things the right way. I'd rather just throw some waterproofing agent on the floor and walls and have it do a good enough job.

[eddysnake]

Anyone have a good idea on how to waterproof a basement from the inside only? I don't want to dig around the foundation and do things the right way. I'd rather just throw some waterproofing agent on the floor and walls and have it do a good enough job.

you are in luck, just did this over the winter. I cut out the drywall a few feet from the floor where the carpet was previously damp, ripped out all the carpet as well. Cleaned the floor and walls then put on a few coats of water sealer. Bought some vinyl floor planks from Lowes so I didn't have to worry about wet carpet/mold/etc. put some mold resistant cement board up where drywall was. You aren't going to completely get rid of the problem, water will find a way unless fixed correctly. I also left a little room from floor to wall for air to get back there and breath. My problem wasn't constant water, but the walls would appear damp after a good rain. I haven't had a problem since. It's basically a temp fix until you can do it the right way...

I have old terracotta pipes running to the road and I think roots got in and broke these up causing my water problem. I cut down the rhododendrons last week, not looking forward to digging up roots next...

[AlexPKeaton]

if you're thinking of remodeling, this is fun stuff:

http://www.sweethome3d.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

it was crazy to be able to build a 3d model of my house in like an hour. we want to do a mega addition in a few years (or move). using this to work with potential floor plans has been awesome.

...of course since i know jack squat about load bearing walls and when you need to add headers and pillars for support, i could build my own xanadu and then an architect could squash my dreams in half a second.

Thank you for this. This is hours and hours of uninterrupted video game time for me as my wife plays with this!

[pittsoccer33]

Anyone have a good idea on how to waterproof a basement from the inside only? I don't want to dig around the foundation and do things the right way. I'd rather just throw some waterproofing agent on the floor and walls and have it do a good enough job.

I've read a lot about this given the areas I'm looking in (all ridiculously old). I think you really need to know what the cause of your water is before you can figure out what sort of waterproofing will work for you. Also making sure your ground slopes away and that drains and downspouts are clear are big helps that won't cost as much.

[meow]

Anyone have a good idea on how to waterproof a basement from the inside only? I don't want to dig around the foundation and do things the right way. I'd rather just throw some waterproofing agent on the floor and walls and have it do a good enough job.

you are in luck, just did this over the winter. I cut out the drywall a few feet from the floor where the carpet was previously damp, ripped out all the carpet as well. Cleaned the floor and walls then put on a few coats of water sealer. Bought some vinyl floor planks from Lowes so I didn't have to worry about wet carpet/mold/etc. put some mold resistant cement board up where drywall was. You aren't going to completely get rid of the problem, water will find a way. I also left a little room from floor to wall for air to get back there and breath. My problem wasn't constant water, but the walls would appear damp after a good rain. I haven't had a problem since. It's basically a temp fix until you can do it the right way...

That's basically my problem as well. Nice little trick to see if the moisture on your walls is from the inside or the outside is to tape a piece of aluminum foil to the wall for a few days. When you take it down, look at what side is wet and you can see if the moisture is seeping in from the outside or is condensation from the inside. I don't have standing water, but the walls looks a bit damp. Since it has been raining here for the past 8 days, it has motivated me to get this done. Some genius painted the cement walls, can this water sealer go on top of the existing paint?

[joopen]

Are the City of Pittsburgh schools really that bad? I'm not having children so for me the only quality of the school concern is "is it terrible?" A lot of beautiful houses are advertised as being in Regent Square or Edgewood, but they're actually in the Wilkinsburg school district. So thats 100% out for me. But in the city your kids get a free ride to college via the Pittsburgh Promise. Plus you have these great areas like Squirrel Hill, Highland Park, and Point Breeze that are safe and have large yards and gorgeous parks in walking distance.

I guess I'm a pretty big tightwad. Spending $30,000 on a kitchen adds what, like $50,000 to your resale value? Why not save $20,000 buying an ugly kitchen and making it look the way you want?

Yes the city schools are that bad. All those kids growing up in the big houses in Shady Side and whatnot are going to private school.

[Juice]

The idiot that owned our house previously painted ALL the trim work and we have slowly spend two years tearing it down and replacing it with stained and polyed wood trim. I Brad nailed the last piece last night and my wife and I had a mini celebration. That may not seem like a big undertaking, but it was a huge pain.

I want to paint all of the wood trimwork in my house. I think it looks like crap.

[shmenguin]

wait...you're not supposed to paint your trim? that's news to me.

[AlexPKeaton]

I always paint trim. It looks terrible unpainted haha.

Anyway, anyone have an estimate how much it would cost to put a french drain around the outside of your house? We are going to finish our basement in our new house eventually, but getting some water in. I want to guarantee zero water before we finish it. I probably need some yard sloping done as well, but I was going to do this myself. Not sure if I should do it before or after the french drain is put in, or if it is not that expensive to higher someone to do it.

Who should I call to do something like this? A landscaper or one of these basement waterproofing companies? Anyone have any recommendations for the south hills?

[Juice]

Well, mine is unfinished... maybe if i stained it and polyed it i'd be happier

[shmenguin]

natural wood-colored trim looks horrible. it should always bee white or off-white.

[Juice]

MEOW LIKES NATURAL WOOD TRIM... GET HIM GUYS

[canaan]

natural wood-colored trim looks horrible. it should always bee white or off-white.

it irks me to no end that they put wood-colored trim on new constructions....it looks dated to me.

[shmenguin]

we hired a guy last summer to paint every door, window frame and piece of trim in our house. not cheap. we didn't want it to be bright white, so we overcompensated and went a little too off-white. there's nothing quite like paying a bunch of money for something and going, "ehhhhhhh" afterwards. still looks much better than it did, of course.

[Juice]

we hired a guy last summer to paint every door, window frame and piece of trim in our house. not cheap. we didn't want it to be bright white, so we overcompensated and went a little too off-white. there's nothing quite like paying a bunch of money for something and going, "ehhhhhhh" afterwards. still looks much better than it did, of course.

I'm going to yank all of mine off and spray it i think.

[meow]

Wood trim is the coolest. Get some nice pine trim, then stain and polyurethane it. Can't beat that, even with a stick

[60sixx]

Anyone have any experience in refinishing hardwood floors?

[meow]

Anyone have any experience in refinishing hardwood floors?

I'd hire someone. A floor sander can be a beastly machine that needs an expert touch. If your movements are constant and even, you can end up taking divots out of the floor. I've only ever hired two people to work on my house: one guy to cut down trees and one guy to refinish hardwood floors.

[60sixx]

Anyone have any experience in refinishing hardwood floors?

I'd hire someone. A floor sander can be a beastly machine that needs an expert touch. If your movements are constant and even, you can end up taking divots out of the floor. I've only ever hired two people to work on my house: one guy to cut down trees and one guy to refinish hardwood floors.

Thanks--I figured that would be the case. Mine are somewhat old....wondering if it would just be easier to yank them up and put that pergo (or whatever fake stuff that locks together) stuff down.

[shmenguin]

Anyone have any experience in refinishing hardwood floors?

I'd hire someone. A floor sander can be a beastly machine that needs an expert touch. If your movements are constant and even, you can end up taking divots out of the floor. I've only ever hired two people to work on my house: one guy to cut down trees and one guy to refinish hardwood floors.

Thanks--I figured that would be the case. Mine are somewhat old....wondering if it would just be easier to yank them up and put that pergo (or whatever fake stuff that locks together) stuff down.

GAH!!! don't do that. old shmold. if they're thick enough (and i'd bet they are), they can be re-finished beautifully. i think 3 bucks per square foot is a reasonable estimate for how much you'll pay someone to do it.