Home Improvement/Remodel Thread

[theJ]

1 hour ago, JTagg7754 said:

They're in fine shape but the design is just super dated and this is trying to bring in new life and not try to spend tens of thousands on new cabinets b/c we can't afford that at this time.

I get it.  I like the look of wood, but you have to have the furniture, paint, trim and flooring to match, otherwise it just looks old no matter what kind of shape they're in.

We have similar cabinets in the house we're moving into, but it looks great and not dated at all because the flooring is real oak, and the base/window trim is also oak.  Add in the lighter paint colors, and all of it really comes together nicely.

[BobbyPhil1781]

5 hours ago, theJ said:

I get it.  I like the look of wood, but you have to have the furniture, paint, trim and flooring to match, otherwise it just looks old no matter what kind of shape they're in.

We have similar cabinets in the house we're moving into, but it looks great and not dated at all because the flooring is real oak, and the base/window trim is also oak.  Add in the lighter paint colors, and all of it really comes together nicely.

Yeah, see, we have a nice mixture of white trim, brown doors, brown cabinets, white counters, it's just not consistent at all. Wife wants white and I don't blame her. Our kitchen is one of the smallest rooms in the house so making it brighter is absolutely more than ideal.  If I were in your situation, I feel I could've convinced her to maybe just restain instead of paint but we do differ there. Cheap ol vinyl flooring is there for now but that will change. Where we do have our "pop" is our island is actually wood so that will draw contrast.

[kgarrett12486]

Had a catch basin and french drain installed to run width of my yard. Had all 4 of my downspouts in back of my house connected to it as well.

I had a low spot in my yard ever since my neighbors house was built last fall. Water just collected there from his and my yard. Was killing my grass in that area and was just a muddy mess. When it rained, standing water would sit there for 2 days after.

The best $900 I've spent. Since I've had it done (back in early March) we've had torrential rains here on/off all spring. I've had no issues with water since. My neighbor has even commented that his yard is not as wet either now. My dogs finally come back inside not covered in mud and soaking wet.

 

[BobbyPhil1781]

19 hours ago, kgarrett12486 said:

Had a catch basin and french drain installed to run width of my yard. Had all 4 of my downspouts in back of my house connected to it as well.

I had a low spot in my yard ever since my neighbors house was built last fall. Water just collected there from his and my yard. Was killing my grass in that area and was just a muddy mess. When it rained, standing water would sit there for 2 days after.

The best $900 I've spent. Since I've had it done (back in early March) we've had torrential rains here on/off all spring. I've had no issues with water since. My neighbor has even commented that his yard is not as wet either now. My dogs finally come back inside not covered in mud and soaking wet.

 

I've recently determined I need a French Drain system installed. Getting mold in my basement from water not being moved from the side of the house. Only happens in areas w/ no gutters. Did you just use a local contractor or was it a "chain company" of some sort? I have a problem of not really knowing who to contact lol. Also, if you're OK w/ divulging the info, how many square feet did you install? Your process seems like it's a little more involved than mine (but not sure if I need a catch basin though) so the $900 is super appealing when I was thinking it would be twice as much

[theJ]

3 hours ago, JTagg7754 said:

I've recently determined I need a French Drain system installed. Getting mold in my basement from water not being moved from the side of the house. Only happens in areas w/ no gutters. Did you just use a local contractor or was it a "chain company" of some sort? I have a problem of not really knowing who to contact lol. Also, if you're OK w/ divulging the info, how many square feet did you install? Your process seems like it's a little more involved than mine (but not sure if I need a catch basin though) so the $900 is super appealing when I was thinking it would be twice as much

I've had pretty decent luck lately using Angie's list to get a list of contractors to contact.  

[Forge]

So we had to have our Master Shower evaluated because we had started to get a leak in the downstairs ceiling. The bathroom had been remodeled by the previous owners before we bought it, and of course we had a home inspection done when we bought the home, but they don't look inside the walls and ceiling and whatnot when doing this. Turns out, whomever they had contracted to do this was really, really bad. They pulled out some of the dry wall, some of the flooring...turns out they hadn't even put red gard down under the shower, no padding or whatever goes underneath, or anything like that. It was very much rotting out the floor / ceiling and slowly sinking in. So now we have to have the master shower torn out and redone properly. And of course homeowners insurance won't cover it

[BobbyPhil1781]

2 hours ago, theJ said:

I've had pretty decent luck lately using Angie's list to get a list of contractors to contact.  

I'm always leery of mainstream sites like this and have honestly never visited. I trust your judgment though so maybe it's best to check out

Thanks!

[theJ]

1 minute ago, JTagg7754 said:

I'm always leery of mainstream sites like this and have honestly never visited. I trust your judgment though so maybe it's best to check out

Thanks!

I mean there's definitely some possibility of preferential treatment and w/e just because of the way those companies get listed on the sites.  But what i've found is that the contractors they recommend typically have hundreds of ratings (with writeups), so there's some confidence in their ability.

Also, if you're really ready to go and have your information in hand, the minute you type in your information and submit, the contractors will call you trying to win your business.  I like to ask them a bunch of questions at that time and get a feel for them before i move forward.

[BobbyPhil1781]

5 minutes ago, theJ said:

I mean there's definitely some possibility of preferential treatment and w/e just because of the way those companies get listed on the sites.  But what i've found is that the contractors they recommend typically have hundreds of ratings (with writeups), so there's some confidence in their ability.

Also, if you're really ready to go and have your information in hand, the minute you type in your information and submit, the contractors will call you trying to win your business.  I like to ask them a bunch of questions at that time and get a feel for them before i move forward.

Yeah I almost finished submitting my request but realized I would probably get bombarded w/ calls so I stopped the process lol. It doesn't seem like it's that daunting of a task to install this type of system but hell if I know. I play on a computer for a living so this stuff isn't up my alley. I've found a couple other sites that have mentioned local companies so I'm going to keep sifting through them. Once we get to the point we're ready to do this, I'll probably give AngiesList another shot and actually move forward. Appreciate the info!

[Shanedorf]

1 hour ago, Forge said:

And of course homeowners insurance won't cover it

Nope they won't. IF the shower exploded and took out half the house, they'll pay. Slow leaks, yer on yer own
But that remodel clearly wasn't done to code and so you may have some recourse with the previous owners, depending on contract language etc
If the remodel was done without a permit, you might have the ability to reach back to the previous owners. And based on the shoddy work, little chance there was a permit - because that red guard waterproofing would be something an inspector would look for prior to allowing them to proceed during the remodel.

Might be worth a call to your realtor to see if you have a case. 

[Forge]

1 minute ago, Shanedorf said:

Nope they won't. IF the shower exploded and took out half the house, they'll pay. Slow leaks, yer on yer own
But that remodel clearly wasn't done to code and so you may have some recourse with the previous owners, depending on contract language etc
If the remodel was done without a permit, you might have the ability to reach back to the previous owners. And based on the shoddy work, little chance there was a permit - because that red guard waterproofing would be something an inspector would look for prior to allowing them to proceed during the remodel.

Might be worth a call to your realtor to see if you have a case. 

Surprisingly, they were willing to cover the repairs to other portions of the home caused by the shoddy remodeling. They were willing to pay for ceiling / flooring that was damaged by it, walls, etc. Just wouldn't pay for the actual shower fix. Unfortunately, the cost to fix the ceiling / floor / etc was only nominally higher than my deductible through the HOI, so it didn't make any sense to go through them for that. 

Thinking about going back through the courts for recourse. My out of pocket expense is reasonable enough that I can keep it in small claims court, which helps out. Would have to do more research on everything though. I performed all my due diligence at the time of purchase, and I'm reasonably sure that there was nothing in the purchase contract regarding terrible workmanship on things that had been updated LOL. 

[Shanedorf]

2 hours ago, Forge said:

Just wouldn't pay for the actual shower fix.

I'd look into the  no permit / not up to code stuff - that might help your efforts to recover more on the shower, which was the original source
Good luck, hope Judge Judy comes down on your side.

Edited to add that when our contractors effed up, it was their insurance that had to pay up to fix it. IF that contractor has insurance, that's another avenue to investigate

Edited May 15, 2019 by Shanedorf

[kgarrett12486]

9 hours ago, JTagg7754 said:

I've recently determined I need a French Drain system installed. Getting mold in my basement from water not being moved from the side of the house. Only happens in areas w/ no gutters. Did you just use a local contractor or was it a "chain company" of some sort? I have a problem of not really knowing who to contact lol. Also, if you're OK w/ divulging the info, how many square feet did you install? Your process seems like it's a little more involved than mine (but not sure if I need a catch basin though) so the $900 is super appealing when I was thinking it would be twice as much

It was 97 sq. feet.

I used a guy that was local. He's done a lot of yard work for my parents house and their neighbors, so I knew quality he did.

[vikesfan89]

How does one know when new shingles are needed? 

I had a company call me up asking if I had any exterior work that needed to get. I mentioned that my garage might need new shingles. Against my better judgement I let them come out and give an estimate. It went ok but they needed an answer right then to get that special price. I wasn't going for that

Is there a ball park estimate of what it should cost for a 39 by 24 garage?

[Forge]

20 minutes ago, vikesfan89 said:

How does one know when new shingles are needed? 

I had a company call me up asking if I had any exterior work that needed to get. I mentioned that my garage might need new shingles. Against my better judgement I let them come out and give an estimate. It went ok but they needed an answer right then to get that special price. I wasn't going for that

Is there a ball park estimate of what it should cost for a 39 by 24 garage?

Anyone who had a "special price" that must be agreed to right then and there is probably not someone I'm doing business with period, tbh