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Anyone good at remodeling?

M

mhortsch

Where am I?
Joined
Jan 9, 2005
Messages
901
Location
Minneapolis
Nothing drastic. Just going to rip out the carpet, rip off the wood paneled walls, remove the suspended ceiling, install new windows, new fireplace, new carpet, sheetrock, set of french doors, pergo in the office, new lights, furniture and a tv.

Wondering if anyone out there has a nack for stuff like this. It's a basic rectangle room, but Im looking for ideas on how/where to lay stuff out...any additional extras to construct like shelving and what not.

Let me know.
 
is it lath and plaster or studs and drywall? as long as you take it step by step it shouldnt be too hard. if you have any questions drop me a pm, im not an expert but ive done some of this stuff before and would be glad to help.

K&P
 
Studs thank god!!! The rest of the house is plaster, hanging a small picture frame is a pain in the a$$.

I should be good to do most of it myself, the windows might be tough. I just want to make sure I do it right...out the right lights in the right place!!!
 
Do you have adequate heating/ac down there and in the rest of the house? Now would be a good time to deal with that.
 
I've finished two basements, laid tile 5 times, installed pergo, hung drywall, built a wine cellar, and did all the electric, framing, and plumbing myself. I may know a little about that stuff!

The first two things that come to mind are:

1. How big of a floor area? I personally like the engineered hardwood floors, which are only a couple dollars more per square foot than Pergo, and I think they look much nicer. But some folks really like the look and feel of Pergo, not to mention the ease of installation and cleaning.

2. How old is the electrical in the house? Are we talking cloth wires? And do you have room in the ceiling for can lighting? That's another thing I really like, is putting a half dozen can lights recessed into the ceiling, then setting them up with a dimmer switch. Then also having another switch activated light/outlet in the room is nice as well. Or a ceiling fan with light, depending on the ceiling height.

Let me know any other questions you've got!
 
No one has ever regretted pulling wires for stereo, CAT5 for home networking, phone, alarms, cable TV, etc. while you've got the walls torn up. It's a very small expense now and can make things very nice as these are added down the road.

Good luck with the project - !!

Regards - B.B.S.
 
No one has ever regretted pulling wires for stereo, CAT5 for home networking, phone, alarms, cable TV, etc. while you've got the walls torn up. It's a very small expense now and can make things very nice as these are added down the road.
Click to expand...

Yes, yes, yes ..... I would definately agree with this, wire is cheap, run it. It's also nice to have additional electrical outlets in busy areas of a room.

Probably the most important thing I've learned after doing countless remodeling projects is my limitations. Oh sure I can do wall texturing, lay carpet, pour concrete. But I'm not that good at it and it always looks like a DIY job. For example, when doing walls in my current house I'll do the framing, wiring, insulation and maybe hang rock but then I'll sub out a rock guy to do tape, mud and nice skip trowel finish. After he's done I'll take over and do trim, paint and finish. Mind you, this has taken me years to learn and countless sub quality looking projects :whistling:

:cool:
 
That is one thing I have going for me!

My uncle can help install the gas stove and any wiring needs. My dad is in the drywall business so he'll be able to handle all taping needs. All I really need is to contract someone to lay the carpet, and maybe install the windows.

Anyone good at the design aspects? If I gave dimensions and size of the elements to be in the room, can someone help layout the room?
 
Here is my basement as is, and my proposed plan. Im afraid it will just look like another basement when Im done...

If anyone has any ideas on where to put stuff...stove, tv, lights let me know. I hope all this doesnt cost an arm and a leg either!!! Plan on doing it all myself!

 
haha thanks god for studs. anways, as is the regulation for homes is an outlet for every 6 feet of wall, I did every 5 feet and got an extra 2 outlets out of the deal. also I just saw this on tv, there flat wires that come on rolls like tape, simply stick them on cielings, walls, around corners and paint over them. really cool stuff, check it out and let me know how they look. In my house I just installed those engineered hardwood floors and ther not that hard and look great. oh yeah, try to insulate the hell out of the laundry room, that way it wont interrupt game night etc. thats all for now cheif, if I think of anything else ill let yah know.

K&P

Edit: dont forget that basements can have water problems, just something to think about.
 
Looks like a pretty good project you're undertaking. I know plenty of guys who've done projects like this and it ended up costing them a back as they spent a few days laid up in bed. If it were me, I would definitely close off the room with the laundry and furnace. Add a door and put some R13 or R11 batt insulation in the walls. The time to do wiring is now, you won't regret preparing for future changes. If you have any specific questions, let me know and I'll see what I can do to help. I build more commercial/industrial buildings, but these have finishes too...
 
OK, check it out. You should build a humidor into the wall of the office, so that the space it takes up is under the stairs. Then turn that small closet into a small wine cellar. Being in the basement, and hopefully having walls surrounded by earth, keeping it cool should be no problem. Just get a good exterior grade door, and insulate the hell out of the wall to the main room and the ceiling. Then tile the floor for good effect.

And will/does the office window have enough clearance to be a legal egress window, so you can turn it into a bedroom when you sell the house?

And if you can, put a utility sink by the laundry, as well as a nice work area to fold clothing and do ironing and to hang stuff up.

And be careful of codes regarding placement of the light switches, such as top and bottom of the stairs (has to be a 3-way switch) or when entering a room/hallway from a bedroom. And check if the underside of the stairs needs to be rocked with fire-retardant gypsum.

And if you go with Pergo, or any other floating laminate, be sure not to skimp on the vapor barrier and most of all the sound proofing underlayment. Pergo is loud! Especially if you've got a decent pair of shoes or heels on. (If you're into that kind of thing!)
 
Humidor under the stairs, not that bad of an idea! The only issue, is that in the "storage room", there are homemade shelves running allong every wall, including under the stairs (which aren't rocked mind you), but those can be removed! How would I go about mainting the temp of that?

The laundry room has a utility sink, it's that detailed square that sits in the middle of the two bigger squares!! :)

The window in the office is not even close to egress, it's a small basement window. I thought about the egress, and if I need a bedroom down here, it will be the storage room. Only problem, that exterior wall faces the "front" so to speak (actually the side of our house, but it's the main access,) so there is a sidewalk leading up to our side door, about 2.5 feet from the house. So adding an egress to either the storage or the office would mean I would have to reroute the sidewalk (which leads from the side door past the patio to the unattached garage). I can't put an egress on the other side, becuase that's the liviing room, and there's going to be a fireplace next to it, meaning no one in their right mind would ever turn it into a bedroom, at least I don't think. (what's it cost to put in an egress)

That's very interesting about the light switches, there is only a one way switch at the top (nothing at the bottom), does that mean when I remodel that I'll have to change that?

You know, when I sit back and look at this, the fireplace really only seems like the major project/investment (TV is going on the Best Buy card!!!). Do you guys think, with a gas stove running a grand, that I could get all this done for around $2500? All I really need is cost of materials. My dad gets a deal on rock cuz he's a foreman for a drywall company. My uncle can install the stove. And we have a friend who works at a carpet store. Otherwise, i remodel, and the stove comes next year (as long as I have somewhere to watch the Vikes in HD.

Thanks for everyone's help, this is a lot of fun and I haven't even started!
 
Just your luck.

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows_dhtw/e...7_36342,00.html

Caught the 2nd episode last night. Set your VCR or TiVo. I think they're set to rebroadcast later in the week at off hours.

If your ripping stuff out it would be pretty easy to set one of these up. If nothing else wire it for surround sound and add components as you scrape up the coin. One guy on the show said he knew someone who done a room up for only 2K.

Russell
 
I do QC (after several years of other various jobs) at a Modular Homes manufacturing plant, maybe I can help on the windows. If you're looking for the most insulating power, get an "allweld". They're pretty expensive, so that may not be what you're looking for. Anyway, the most important thing, of course, is to get a good seal. Just make sure your opening isnt more than 3/4" (of an inch) bigger than your window. When you actually put the window into the opening, apply a liberal ammount of silicon sealer all the way around. For the outside, use a flashing (vinyl) and a house wrap (tyvek) or something similer to seal water/air. As for the inside, use a foam insulator around the outside of the window but DONT use too much; it will cause the window to bow, or if it's a wooden jamb, break. then stick your trim on.

hope that helps. if you need anything, feel free to pm or whatever, I'll try to help any way I can.
 
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