Home Improvement II

[BrianR]

Since I cannot find the original anymore, I'm restarting my home improvement thread here. This is basically a thread devoted to the documentation and criticism of my attempts to improve my quarters.

The History:

The back room was the worst of the rooms in the house. It was overrun with mold and shoddy workmanship as well as substandard building materials. There was, as in the rest of the house, a severe lack of electrical outlets, the cable TV and telephone wires were run through holes drilled through the floor, the drywall joints were done with MASKING TAPE and spackling. The electrical wires were cotton-jacketed, aluminum, two-wire cables. You remember, the kind that were outlawed because of their distressing tendancy to burst into flame, smother you with toxic smoke before reducing your home to ashes.

I have set out to right these (and other) wrongs. There are no pictures of the "Before" due to a lack of a digital camera. Therefore I shall commence the narrative from the point of "Demolition Complete".

Demolition Begins:

I began by removing the old pressed paper floor covering. It just was sitting on the floor and came up easily. Into lots of little pieces. Lots and lots of them. I burned them in the backyard because of their weight and the fact that I have lazy trashmen. Note to self: backyard firepit explodes when hot.

Next came the removal of many screws and nails in the walls and floor (?) as well as strangely-shaped shelves and such. Then down came the walls. This exposed the interior of the walls for inspection. First thing I noted was that there was NO INSULATION in the walls. This explains the chilly temperatures in winter as well as the 125-150 gallon/month fuel oil bill. Someone got ripped off back a few years. I also noted that the outside walls were not plywood or OSB as is customary but rather were made of long planks of B grade spruce and/or pine. There were up to 1/2" gaps between the planks covered only with builders felt (tar paper) under the siding. The window had been insulated only with newpaper dated March 12-14, 1943. Unfortunately, none of it was readable as it had been torn into strips first before being stuffed into the cracks. I discovered a button and a kind of wartime baseball card depicting a hand-drawn tank. Value: $0.01. For the metal button. The card had no value, not even to collectors.

After disposing of the walls, I attacked the ceiling. This entailed sawing along the joists and removing long, narrow strips of drywall. And up to six inches of blown cellulose insulation above. I was showered with the stuff and the dust floated throughout my house despite my having hung plastic and wool blankets up to seal off the room. I laid down a plastic tarp to catch the insulation for easier cleanup (read: dump in the woods out back). After the first strip, I added goggles and breathing mask to the list of things to wear the next time.

Eventually, I got all the insulation and drywall down and cleaned out. I tore out the wiring and replaced the outlets with modern three-prong grounded outlets. PLenty of them as I intend for this room to become a computer room holding at least three networked computers plus peripherals.

Then I removed the old doors and opened the cutout so that I could go through without stooping way down to avoid banging my head. The decision was to replace two of the three doors with sliding pocket doors (the kind that slide into the wall, out of sight). This necessitated my removing a few studs as well as reshaping the doorways. When I came to do the basement door, I noted that it was barely 24 inches wide. Far too narrow for me so I was forced to relocate a wall a few inches to accomodate the new doorframe. This will be a standard 32 inch door. Here is a picture of the new, relocated wall.

[BrianR]

As you can see, the old location is the lighter colored strip just along the basement stairwell opening. Oh, did I mention that the opening was too small and forced me to lay on the stairs to get past the floor at the bottom of the stairs? Yep. That was cut out real quick, but cut down on the space for the room's closet. Oh well, that much less cedar to buy later. More on that as I get to the closet during reconstruction.

So, my basement is now TOO accessible. No door or wall. So I laid one of the old doors over the opening to keep my dog out of the basement and safe from eating who-knows-what down there. Not to mention tracking the water up and down the stairs every time it rains. That will soon be remedied, too. I hope.

Anyway, up to date: The room wiring is complete. I now have six outlet boxes installed in convenient locations around the room. Plenty of amperage available to accomodate the computer setup I envision. Sconce lighting in the wall above the futon (to be placed later) and overhead track lighting above the location of the desk. Cable and telephone wires have been installed in jackboxes where they belong. Next step: fill the holes in the floor where holes have been drilled, nails and screws removed, knotholes that have loosened over the years and fallen out, gaps in the floorboards where low-quality lumber was used etc. Then I will sand the entire floor, remove the dust and refinish the floor in a nice light oak finish with varnish topcoat.

Then, according to my plans, I will install the new doors, install the wall insulation and then close up the walls. Next, I will re-insulate the ceiling/attic and install the ceiling. Properly tape and mud the joints and I should be all set to put on two coats of Kilz drywall primer and start thinking about paint and trim. No furniture will go in just yet, however. I will need the space to store all the bedroom furniture so that I may restart the process in the bedroom. I hope to finish the back rooms before winter sets in again. At least then I might see a LITTLE savings in oil. Next summer I will take on the front rooms. Once they are insulated, then I should see a BIG improvement in my heating bills during the winter of 2006-2007. I hope.

I now open the floor for your comments.

Brian

[shadow.0000]

Well that is a awesome history of home development thanks for sharing this...



_____________________

[TheMercenary]

Great. I love these. I think Big V and a few others have done these posts. Always something to be learned on the Cellar.

[HungLikeJesus]

I built a home theater downstairs a few years ago (~15'x20'). I built a double 2x4 partition wall with metal studs and insulation, and installed a metal door, for sound isolation. I wish I would have taken some pictures before, and during, the construction.

It has a projector shining on a 10 wide x 5.5 high screen.

After almost 3 years of being not quite finished, I'm painting the walls this weekend.

I still need to finish the floor and put up some curtains.

[TheMercenary]

Take some pic HLJ, I would love to see them, even if it is a nearly finished project.

[Clodfobble]

But have you been watching movies in it, or has it just sat there for 3 years?

[HungLikeJesus]

I've watched 1,074 hours of movies in it.

That sounds like a lot.

I also use it as a work-out room when my wife is sleeping, and sometimes as a reading room.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by HungLikeJesus

After almost 3 years of being not quite finished

Most of my home improvement projects are like this.

[HungLikeJesus]

I just discussed this with my wife. I started designing the room (including 3D CAD modeling) in January 2005, and started construction in February, so it's actually been 4 years. Once the room got to the stage where we could comfortably use it, all progress stopped.

And I have a few other projects that have followed a similar path.

Back to BrianR's original post, was there any progress on your project after June 2005?

[HungLikeJesus]

Originally Posted by HungLikeJesus

It has a projector shining on a 10 wide x 5.5 high screen.

That should have said, "10 foot wide x 5.5 foot high screen."

[BrianR]

HLJ, the project ended incomplete at that time due to my moving away. The final tally was all the old drywall removed, new insulation installed, new electric and lights, new walls around the stairs, new doors installed but not trimmed and new drywall in the ceiling and basement surround. Walls were not done nor was the floor. And one electrical short in the lights that I just didn't have time to chase down.

My former friend and landlord moved back in a month later, and was unhappy that the project wasn't finished but oh well. He got all the materials to finish it for free and a deep freezer, microwave, dishes and furniture into the bargain. He'll live and have something to keep him busy to boot!

[Jill]

Originally Posted by HungLikeJesus

After almost 3 years of being not quite finished. . .

Originally Posted by glatt

Most of my home improvement projects are like this.

Ours, too! The only bad part for me is, neither my husband nor I are carpenters, so we could never dream of taking on a project as big as the OP's on our own, and as a result, we've been cheated and screwed over by one contractor after another. We finally found a reliable one (who else here has ever gotten a final bill that was less than the original bid?!), so my "curb appeal" project is now almost -- almost -- finished.

I won't bore you with the work in progress, but here are the before and current shots. Since it's impossible to tell behind all the overgrowth in the 'before' shot, all of the stonework is new, as is the garage door, driveway, lighting, garden beds (though I still plan to pull out some of the shrubs and put in flowers) and arbor. We even put in a little pond (that we did on our own!). I can't wait for the plum tree to fill back in with its gorgeous red foliage.

Sorry you never got to finish your room, BrianR.

[Juniper]

Our master bathroom is completely gutted at the moment.

Hubby is great at doing these home improvement projects, but unfortunately does not seem terribly motivated to move forward with this. A few years ago, he'd be at it the moment he got home from work and maybe even up past midnight. Now, he can spend a whole day off work pretending it isn't there. I guess there's no big hurry, we do have another full bathroom to use down the hall.

Next project after that will be replacing the kitchen flooring, and then replacing the entire 1st floor carpet with (I hope) Pergo. Then we're thinking about adding a room in back of the house to use for laundry/utility, closing in the solarium to use for my office, remodeling the basement bathroom and maybe putting a 3rd bath/shower in there once the washer/dryer is out of it.

That's inside. Outside we're building a deck around the pool, busting up some concrete beside the house and fixing some grading/drainage issues, which will probably involve replacing the air conditioning unit 'cause it's sitting on that concrete and it's old anyway.

:::deep breaths::: I keep telling myself, when it's done, we'll have a heckuva place!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Why would he be in a hurry to finish it when you've got a whole list of shit waiting?