|
You need to invest in a tungsten carbide chain for that saw- Stihl rates theirs at "Cuts through sheet steel roller doors and bitumen roofs" and my experience at work is that you can stick the drat thing into a nail and it doesnt give a gently caress, touch dirt and it doesnt flinch and stick the bar into a burning tree to bring it down to put it out and even if you pull it out and the tip of the bar is glowing red, it still doesnt give a gently caress! You can buy 4x normal chains for the price of one carbide tho
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2015 13:40
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 16, 2024 11:25 |
|
|
Those are the chains we have on our rescue saws and I can confirm they don't give a gently caress about nails or light sheet metal. Or fire for that matter too.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2015 16:24
|
|
|
Ferremit posted:You need to invest in a tungsten carbide chain for that saw- Stihl rates theirs at "Cuts through sheet steel roller doors and bitumen roofs" and my experience at work is that you can stick the drat thing into a nail and it doesnt give a gently caress, touch dirt and it doesnt flinch and stick the bar into a burning tree to bring it down to put it out and even if you pull it out and the tip of the bar is glowing red, it still doesnt give a gently caress! I've actually considered it, but the price is insane and I rarely have to do stuff like that so I just have a beater chain that's drat near the end of its life that I occasionally throw on, half assedly sharpen, and then cut things with. You may note it did NOT want to cut very well and I ended up breaking that stud off instead of cutting through it a couple minutes in. I think I'm gonna clean up the remainder of the garbage I have to pull out of there tonight and then start rebuilding the wall. Haven't decided yet. e: Laminator, yeah pretty much 
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2015 18:19
|
|
|
I enjoyed your lumberjack demolition, Ken. Livin' the dream.
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2015 21:14
|
|
|
Ferremit posted:You need to invest in a tungsten carbide chain for that saw-You can buy 4x normal chains for the price of one carbide tho
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2015 21:49
|
|
|
RE: Gutter Chat You should put up gutters everywhere, not just above doors. It will do wonders for getting the water away from your foundation and prevent problems down the road. I have had to yell at so many people lately when they want me to come look at some falling in garage/barn/addition and it was entirely preventable if they'd just had some loving gutters (mostly rotten sills like you had) 
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2015 21:56
|
|
|
Fire Storm posted:Do they last much longer than a regular one? And can they be sharpened? It's meant to cut open a roof/stud wall and not give much of a gently caress about nails, but the cutters are brittle, the chains are hilariously dull compared to what a normal steel chain can do when it's set up right and it takes a lot more saw because it's dull. Demoing a house it would just be expensive and disappointing. Cutting frozen/burnt logs it's helpful. Dirt and nails will still dull the chain, just won't destroy the edge as fast. They can be sharpened, just need diamond wheels. We use them on our prescribed burn crew to cut down snags and open up smoldering dead wood. But really though they're still loving awesome.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2015 03:40
|
|
|
apatite posted:RE: Gutter Chat Preach! The #1 reason I had to replace nearly the entire back wall of my garage was because there were no gutters and a shitton of rain just ran right down into the wall space. Also I had a blocked up gutter cause about 8 inches of water in my basement not long ago.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2015 19:50
|
|
|
Dragyn posted:Preach! I mean... you can accomplish similar with generous roof overhangs and properly designed and constructed drainage, but unless you feel like adding roof overhang and trenching next to your foundation on an existing building, add some gutters  Do you pay for water from the municipality? if so harvest that sweet sweet rain water and flush your toilets with it
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2015 19:54
|
|
|
I already did all my plumbing or I'd definitely consider that. I pay for water. Good points on the gutters. My eaves overhang ~15-18" or so, but not all of them did when I got the place. In fact the bathroom eaves were maybe 1-2" and unsurprisingly, the siding is covered with algae as a result. It's all dead now though because I made the eaves overhang a lot more (matched to the rest of the house) when I redid the bathroom roof, since it cost me a whopping 50 bucks in materials to do it right at that point instead of bodging it on after. I have serious drainage issues on 5 walls. May have to put gutters up sooner rather than later now that I think about it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2015 20:52
|
|
|
kastein posted:I have serious drainage issues on 5 walls. I"m just going to tell myself you have a four-sided house, because the idea of you having drainage issues on five of your four available walls seems entirely fitting, somehow.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2015 11:05
|
|
|
Yeah, that would be rather fitting it is a 1.5-story rectangle with a 1-story square bathroom addition on one short side and a 1.5-story addition on one long side, all 3 of the 1.5 story addition's sills rotted along with the ones adjacent to it on the long side of the main structure. I just finished cutting the ant nest filled top plate out in preparation for putting up the new wall structure. None of the rafters have insect damage going into them nor does the top plate on the wall that joins the rotten one, even though the water damage was worst there. When I hit the top plate (two stacked 2x4s) not only did it fall apart after two strikes, it was about 75% dead ants, 25% rotten wood dust, and 0% wood 
|
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2015 02:37
|
|
|
Jeherrin posted:I"m just going to tell myself you have a four-sided house, because the idea of you having drainage issues on five of your four available walls seems entirely fitting, somehow. I like to think that it's because he actually found the House of Leaves If you find a door that wasn't there previously, don't open it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2015 02:40
|
|
|
so I am measuring to cut the studs for the new wall and was really confused why things ended up like an inch off. Checked the (roughsawn, supposedly true dimensional) studs in the adjacent living room wall end. Moving away from where I am working: 3 5/8" 3 3/4" 3 7/8"  no wonder poo poo was all retarded and hosed up, this wall isn't even the same thickness over a 4 foot span nevermind being anything resembling vertical.Old houses are crazy to work on unless you pretend your level and square don't exist. Oh well... moving on. Where's my saw?
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2015 20:51
|
|
|
Sup motherfuckers I built a wall Armor the pressure treated 6x6 sill beam with copper/polyethylene laminated flashing, seal all seams and staples with sikaflex special purpose silicone, drop it on a strip of closed cell polyethylene sill gasket  Nail the top half of the top plate to the underside of the rafters, use two 16d framing nails and one 60d twist nail just because a 16d through true dim 2x4 feels like not enough grip in the rafter  Cut new studs and cornerposts to length, 1/4" too long to allow for rough surface compression and the sill gasket while still loading this wall, since it is supposed to be weight bearing. Nail bottom half of top plate to studs/posts, using 3x 60d into the top of the posts. one had to be wedged in after due to geometry/framing tetris so it got toenailed instead, oh well.  Use 12 ton jack and old scrap lumber to lift whole mess into place, align top plates and nail together with 60d twist nails, jack more until cornerpost goes over top of sill beam! we are in the home stretch now.  All studs and both cornerposts are in and nailed down, and bearing weight. House is more structurally sound than it has been in 50 years, appearance notwithstanding.  First sheet of sheathing is up. Wrestling that into place alone sucked.  I only got beaned by flying lumber and a 12 ton jack once due to it popping out sideways under load, and didn't put any nails through my feet. And the wall is almost "done" (as in weathertight-ish.) A successful day.
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2015 02:54
|
|
|
kastein posted:First sheet of sheathing is up. Wrestling that into place alone sucked. I hear that. How thick is your sheathing? Congrats on finishing the wall and getting that corner properly supported.
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2015 03:00
|
|
|
I use 3/4 CDX or PT CDX for basically everything, including subflooring and sheathing. I used 3/4 PT CDX there because I am not sure how long it will be before I finish and get housewrap or siding on it.
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2015 03:03
|
|
|
kastein posted:I use 3/4 CDX or PT CDX for basically everything, including subflooring and sheathing. I used 3/4 PT CDX there because I am not sure how long it will be before I finish and get housewrap or siding on it. Okay, then the same stuff I'm using for my workshop, and yeah, it's a bitch to maneuver. If you have to put any more up on walls, you might consider doing it widthwise (or for small areas like this one, just cutting the sheet in half). That way when you put the lower sheet up you can clamp it to the studs (and then the upper sheet is typically not difficult). It's still really awkward, but it's better than trying to get an 8'-tall sheet up with nothing to temporarily secure it against.
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2015 04:43
|
|
|
I would definitely do that but I want to minimize the cuts and for that matter any kind of openings or seams in the sheathing to improve the insulation a bit. Worth the temporary pain. That wall ended up being pretty much exactly 48 inches wide so I was able to use the sheet whole with absolutely no trimming or additional strips of any kind. How often does that happen? It stayed pretty well once I got it up because there was a 3/4" slot for it to go into at the left side, between the sheathing off the abutting wall and the newly installed cornerpost. In fact it held it up for me perfectly with only one scrap of wood thrown against the foundation to keep it from sliding down which was a pleasant surprise. Picking the drat thing up was the only painful part, mostly due to wrestling 16 and 14 foot true dim spruce 4x6s all day.
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2015 05:06
|
|
|
kastein posted:That wall ended up being pretty much exactly 48 inches wide so I was able to use the sheet whole with absolutely no trimming or additional strips of any kind. How often does that happen? On a place like yours? Never. On anything I build (now): almost always. The most useful/time saving tip I've ever been given by a carpenter is to plan your poo poo for the size of the sheet stock if at all possible. kastein posted:Picking the drat thing up was the only painful part, Another useful thing I tried out of frustration one day when sheathing a wall on my own was to use scraps of 2x4 screwed to it as "handles". When you're wrestling it up on your own and tired of getting your fingers pinches between the sheets, etc and just can't get a drat grip on it AND get a screw or nail started just some extra hand holds can be useful.
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2015 06:18
|
|
|
Yeah, I forgot all about that trick, thanks. Used it on the second sheet this morning... protip: use screws like you said, the nails I used without thinking about it drat near pulled out while I was halfway up the ladder. That would have sucked. All done with the structure now*, aside from some rot around the front door frame. This corner rotting is why the door never hung right and had a half inch gap at the top at one side and none at the other. Not too surprised about that.  * on this area anyways. Still have 16 feet of sill beam, two corner posts, and a few studs to do in the only wall of the living room which I haven't touched yet  
kastein fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Jul 5, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2015 18:00
|
|
|
kastein posted:I would definitely do that but I want to minimize the cuts and for that matter any kind of openings or seams in the sheathing to improve the insulation a bit. Worth the temporary pain. You can buy fancy serious business european air sealing tape to have your cake and eat it too.
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2015 18:37
|
|
|
That is some really nifty stuff and I might have to get some. No real pictures but I have decided it is about time I get my rear end in gear. The debris piles from demolition and haphazard piles of tools and spare materials from every evening when I stop working on the place have built up to the point that I can't really get anything done, so I spent last night and today clearing the disaster. Tools to one side, materials to another, debris out the window onto the back porch. I also cut open, emptied, and removed the old fuel oil tank from the basement and will be scrapping it, along with the rest of the scrapmetal that has collected in the corner of the yard from demolishing the place and fixing my vehicles. I've got the last two bagsters I had bought already filled and ready for pickup and those useless fuckers are saying there is an error and I have to call to arrange pickup instead of using their site. So instead I need to shop around and find the best rate on a 15 or 20 yard dumpster and fill it up over the course of a few evenings, then use the crane truck to put the bagsters in there too. gently caress bagster. I then need to open the last living room wall and (naturally) find that as I expect, its sill beam is completely rotten. Can't wait - but on a more positive note, that is the last secotion of sill beam anywhere near contacting soil, so the rest should theoretically be fine.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2015 01:18
|
|
|
Debris cleanup, tool organization, and general reorg continues. Just carried the woodstove to what will be its final resting place because gently caress that heavy rear end bastard it is staying there since I am lazy and refuse to ever carry it upstairs again. I need to remember to call the dumpster company at lunch tomorrow, I keep forgetting.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2015 05:50
|
|
|
kastein posted:
Everyone I've ever heard talk about bagster has said that they're an amazing company and they highly recommend them, until one day their poo poo just stops working and they stop doing pickups and become less than worthless. I think bagster is only useful for 1-2 dumpsters worth total, and their company doesn't care about you beyond that. Either way, eagerly awaiting more pictures. I enjoy this thread.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2015 22:54
|
|
|
Yeah I dunno why, I would have been perfectly happy shoveling more money at them. But apparently they don't like customers giving them money. 20 yard dumpster arrives sometime in the next few days.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2015 00:04
|
|
|
loving dumpster company still has not called me back. Guess I have to twist their arm into taking my money on monday too.  In the meantime I have been busy cleaning and demoing walls. Tore down these two walls since I got all the tools and materials leaned again st them organized on shelves.  This ceiling came down too.  Mortise and tenon joints halfway up the joist ends.  Proof that this beam once hung on a ledger board in what was a weight bearing wall here. I am now 100% sure that the living room and master bedroom wing of the house was an addition, likely done by a homeowner sometime in the pre WW2 era. Whoever did it was an idiot and I hope a building collapsed on them at some point. Anyways this seems to be sagging badly so it will be RSS screwed to the last 2x12 joist and braced to the next one over, possibly after a date with the 12 ton bottle jack.  Lots of flying dust and the gutted entryway end of the living room. I got to use the ceiling lamp here as a pinata with a crowbar.  The worst remaining rot in this corner. Should be easily fixable.  Finished the night off with shoveling up half a dozen 250lb bags of debris. Gonna go finish shoveling that up now... 1.5 rooms left to gut and shovel, then I can de-dust the whole place with a shopvac and it will be all construction from here on out aside from redoing the exterior!
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2015 15:25
|
|
|
I still think you're loving nuts for this whole thing but I guess in a weird way it's gotta be pretty cathartic to be able to legitimately take a crowbar and sledgehammer to the object of your frustration and have it count as "productive."
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2015 15:44
|
|
|
Oh, I make no claims as to my sanity. However here are the financials: - paid 38k cash. 38k outlay - have been living rent free for 4 years with zero roommates as a result. Around here, that means about 1k/mo. 48k saved, we are now 10k ahead. - taxes are about 2k/year. 8k outlay, now about 2k ahead. - total spent on tools, materials, etc I currently estimate at around 25-30k. Let's call it 30k for sake of argument. Now about 28k outlay. - my labor, blood, sweat, and tears. Can't really put a number on this one.* The town says it is worth about 98k as of last assessment. So I am 70k up if I sold it tomorrow. If I sell for ~150 to 160 near the next market peak like I hope to, I will be in good shape. * bear in mind that when I bought this place, I really wanted to build from scratch but couldn't afford the upfront costs and didn't want a mortgage. So basically I am destroying the old house one piece at a time and building a new house one piece at a time. That's fine with me. The only thing I would change is that I would do the sills and frame stuff first so I had less to work around, and I hosed up doing the framing in a non weight bearing wall on the kitchen due to being inexperienced. Fortunately it is the wall I will be tearing out again to bring my bridgeport mill inside so the losses involved are... maybe 100 bucks and a days work. Shoveled all the remaining debris up in the living room, it is now ready for dumpster arrival. Time to swamp out the kitchen and finish gutting it too.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2015 18:45
|
|
|
Dang, so when it's all said and done, you're gonna sell it off?
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2015 22:04
|
|
|
I am going to live there for a year or two, think long and hard, and put a pricetag on it that would make me happy to walk away. Then I will wait till it either sells or I find something else I want. I really want a lot more land further from civilization with a huge shop and a house built mostly below ground with much better insulation on the aboveground part though, so eventually I will be leaving here to build that. Just a matter of when.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2015 23:43
|
|
|
Love the thread. So much goddamn work, I'm not even close to man enough to tackle all of this poo poo.  You're getting a ton of experience in construction though at least which can't hurt for future (insane) projects.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2015 02:45
|
|
|
I am considered, amongst my friends, to be pretty hands-on and adept at DIY. While they worry about the best way to paint a wall, renovating my place has taught me plumbing, wiring, construction, and plastering, as well as beefing up my carpentry, general drywalling, tiling, and so forth. Kastein, I think we're the same age, or very close—28, right? I'm loving in awe of your skills. You're insane and brilliant and this thread is glorious.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2015 12:37
|
|
|
I'm 29... and jesus christ 30 is coming up fast. How did that happen? As for skills, well, I just take it one step at a time and do what I have to do. I had no idea how to do most of this stuff aside from basic plumbing, electrical, a summer as a roofer, and plaster/drywall repair when I started. I am also still not smart enough to wear a goddamn welding jacket even after being crisped a couple times by my snapon YA212, the latest incident being yesterday. Forearms are hurting, I need to put a label on the gun that says THIS ONE WILL ACTUALLY BURN YOU RETARD because my little 100 amp fluxcore just plain never does this even on the highest setting. Ow. Melanoma here I come... gently caress. Also ran out of 75/25 and learned that 100% Ar (all I had a spare tank of) is poo poo for MIG welding. Got the job done on the second to last ledger bracket, but not doing the last one till I pick up a new tank of 75/25 at lunch today. Need to call those slackers with the dumpster back today... and a few other companies just in case they decide they don't want my money.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2015 15:00
|
|
|
Got some more jeep parts out of the yard and living room, some more debris cleaned up, and another ledger bracket hung last night. Not much progress, but getting the jeep parts out involved reviving two separate dead vehicles since the one with the crane attached to it was parked in by the other one, so it took longer than expected. Time to go home and either clean more or weld another ledger bracket up, depending on how it feels when I try to put my welding jacket on over two day old arc flash burns.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2015 00:57
|
|
|
kastein posted:Got some more jeep parts out of the yard and living room, some more debris cleaned up, and another ledger bracket hung last night. Not much progress, but getting the jeep parts out involved reviving two separate dead vehicles since the one with the crane attached to it was parked in by the other one, so it took longer than expected. This is a dumb question, are those permanent or just to assist attaching joists? If they're permanent, are you going to have to frame out around them to be able to hang fasten drywall in the corners?
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2015 20:19
|
|
|
They are permanent. I've inset them into routed slots in the studs to make the RSS heads clear the back of the drywall, and set them about 1/2" to 3/4" higher than the bottom of the joists so they get notched to height and clear as well. That would have really really sucked if I hadn't had the same thought as you. e: I forgot how long it'd been since I did the first half of the brackets and joists. Here's a view that shows it, first picture: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3478212&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=14#post434921347 kastein fucked around with this message at 20:55 on Sep 3, 2015 |
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2015 20:50
|
|
|
Ok cool, that's actually really slick. Even though you know doubt have a fair amount of time in making the bracket, at least you only have to then level that and all your joists will be good to go. Probably makes working on it solo infinitely easier than leveling a 150lb piece of wood while trying to attach it to the wall.
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2015 21:07
|
|
|
Yeah, basically that was my plan. I still end up leveling each joist but it isn't so bad, especially since a 16 footer only weighs about 64lbs, not 150 Cleanup continues, dumpster companies still being useless. Hopefully welding the last ledger bracket tonight...
|
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2015 18:11
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 16, 2024 11:25 |
|
|
kastein posted:Got some more jeep parts out of the yard and living room, some more debris cleaned up, and another ledger bracket hung last night. Not much progress, but getting the jeep parts out involved reviving two separate dead vehicles since the one with the crane attached to it was parked in by the other one, so it took longer than expected. those brackets are cool, how does it work with code in your area? I'd imagine they aren't a 'normal' element found in such houses, Do they need to send out a special inspector to check your welds, etc?
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2015 17:45
|
|
