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Flooring first is what made retiling our broken kitchen floor so awful. I WISH he'd tiled after putting in the cabinets.
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Nov 28, 2017 21:08
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kzersatz posted:I'm currently caught between a rock and an expensive bill. I think others have covered it, but you're probably better off putting in cabinets first, although there's the obvious pros/cons to both. Why are your remodeling the kitchen though if you're selling right away? Do you think you'll get that value immediately back at sale time? It's not really a guarantee that will happen, unless you're trying to sell faster, which a new kitchen probably will help with that.
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Nov 28, 2017 21:51
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Bird in a Blender posted:I think others have covered it, but you're probably better off putting in cabinets first, although there's the obvious pros/cons to both. Why are your remodeling the kitchen though if you're selling right away? Do you think you'll get that value immediately back at sale time? It's not really a guarantee that will happen, unless you're trying to sell faster, which a new kitchen probably will help with that. Number of reasons, began before we decided to sell this aggressively, it was an early 90's remodel that was VERY dated and falling apart. It mostly began with a bathroom rebuild last year that destroyed the Pergo in the hallway, I uncovered Oak Hardwood under the pergo... after sanding and staining that entirely, the kitchen needed new floors as the pergo stretched in that direction as well... long annoying story later, here we are.
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Nov 29, 2017 03:25
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Why is it that Aga and Smeg (yes!) Ovens are literally 4-5x as expensive as the rest of the kitchen gear? They look nice but I find it hard to believe they can be THAT much better?
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Nov 29, 2017 07:21
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Aga are that much better (the proper ranges), smeg aren't.
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Nov 29, 2017 08:23
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So the kitchen I'm moving into is less than five years old, but looks quite dated (pictures later today, I'm getting the keys in a few hours!) - panelled woodgrain doors, cream tiling and yellow wall paint. The oven there is old as heck, and one of my wife's huge complaints about our current one is that it simply doesn't work properly. I do the majority of the cooking on the hob or broiler. It's currently a freestanding oven of typical british width (60cm), though we are planning a major kitchen remodel in the next 3-4 years (as budget allows). I guess in this context I should look for something to fit the current space that is a highly regarded budget cooker and revisit in the future?
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Nov 29, 2017 09:39
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You could buy a decent freestanding cooker/hob if you plan to design the replacement kitchen around it, do you have gas or electric supply or both to that location? Which would you prefer? (I'd recommend gas hob/electric ovens but induction hob is also good, just not cheap)
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Nov 29, 2017 10:00
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I've always used gas hob with electric oven. I don't like induction hobs very much at all to be honest (although my wife is excited, I do almost all the cooking so I don't feel bad at all about muscling over this one). The location is both gas and electric plumbed. I guess to clarify, you said the proper <aga> ranges and I was highlighting that I don't have space for one unless I start demolishing the kitchen right now. While I do do the majority of the cooking I'm not sure that I would use a big range; the only time I even remotely get close to capacity is when I'm trying to put together a big roast dinner which is only once in a blue moon. One thing I'm aware of is that the kitchen is the least well insulated area of the house (if you can remember my previous posts in this thread, it was around the extension to the kitchen having polycarbonate as opposed to a tiled roof), so suddenly I'm really excited about this loving Aga now, despite it being 10x the price of the next best https://www.cookercentre.com/aga-60-cooker/aga-60-gas-hob-pearl-ashes , primarily due to this highly efficient (apparently) heating it constantly puts out. Southern Heel fucked around with this message at 11:07 on Nov 29, 2017 |
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Nov 29, 2017 11:04
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kzersatz posted:Number of reasons, began before we decided to sell this aggressively, it was an early 90's remodel that was VERY dated and falling apart. Ahh the classic home improvement dilemma. You fix one thing and leads to having to fix four other things.
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Nov 29, 2017 14:17
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Oh I forgot that was you, I'm sorry for your (heat) loss  Okay so, I assume the single? oven is under the hob currently, you can buy a new single oven and slot it in, then plan to reuse it in whichever location later. Or you could make a hole and buy a 60cm unit. Personally I'd plan for 2 single ovens but that's me. You'll be frustrated using that aga if you've not grown up using one or use it all day every day, they're... Different...fantastic but different. Spend that money on insulation etc. Personally I wouldn't be troubled if I had to buy a couple of temporary b&q units to fit ovens into, but I understand some people would be upset seeing that. I say this because I'll never again have an under counter oven, chest height is immeasurably better.
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Nov 29, 2017 14:44
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Bird in a Blender posted:Ahh the classic home improvement dilemma. You fix one thing and leads to having to fix four other things. Almost true. You find something that needs to be fixed, but it requires four other things to be fixed first. And then it leads to another four things that need to be fixed.
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Nov 29, 2017 14:53
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Smeg.
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Nov 29, 2017 18:03
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Selling my house and the buyers inspector noted that the furnace/AC in the attic is sitting in the drip pan and told the buyers it should be raised so any potential water build up in the pan doesn't affect the unit. Is this a requirement? I don't see anything that says it can't be sitting directly in the drip pan and of course that is the 1 thing the buyers are requesting we fix. We just had the entire HVAC replaced a year ago and installation passed city inspections etc. I am not certain, but I think the bottom of the unit is just covered around the base and there is nothing mechanical or functional in contact with the pan itself, it just appears that way looking at it. The pan itself is rusty, but that is from the previous unit that was ~18 years old, they just didn't replace the pan for some reason.
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Nov 29, 2017 20:23
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cakesmith handyman posted:Oh I forgot that was you, I'm sorry for your (heat) loss So I got in there today (and like an idiot forgot to take pictures of the kitchen that we're talking about) but the roof is triple walled polycarbonate and all three walls are double thickness - for some reason I thought they were single, but evidently not. I'm not going to say it's perfect, but it certainly wasn't noticeably cooler than the rest of the house. There is a poo poo LOAD to do however, as per my post in the wiring thread - I need to establish if the foundation is sound before I add a bunch of sockets, after which I can fix the floor which is alot more worn than I thought. This is the worst of it (and I have intentionally EQ'ed the bottom right picture-in-picture to show more). I think I'm going to pay someone to re-do the floors and the woodwork, but if I did how much more would it cost to do after we've moved in (assuming we can put up with the disruption):  I also found a second fireplace. The owners advised it had 'been removed' but clearly it hasn't. Picture below shows a view of the fireplace from ... the other fireplace, and then the room above:  Removing that wooden panel shows what looks like plaster or concrete. I'm not sure I'd open it up unless I rebuilt the wall that's been knocked through to allow this shot, I don't think two fireplaces in one room would work. Here's a view standing on that fireplace looking at where I took the first shot from: 
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Nov 29, 2017 22:58
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I think... it would be better to do floor stuff before you move in, at least the LDK areas and one bedroom.
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Nov 29, 2017 23:29
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Thinking out loud, do you reckon I'm better off getting a contractor to do the lot, or hiring the sanders to do that myself and having a contractor varnish/finish, or doing the whole thing myself? I've got potentially 3 weekends and a few evenings before we move in that I can dedicate to it.
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Nov 29, 2017 23:48
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The other house threads have a steady chorus of "noooo don't diy floor sanding." Have a pro do it during the weekdays when you're not there, and save your weekends for furniture sperging, curtains and yardwork.
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Nov 30, 2017 00:00
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TBH you're probably right - I'm just wincing at the idea of dodging a 3.5k wiring bullet only to spend that on sanding and revarnishing.
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Nov 30, 2017 00:20
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Southern Heel posted:TBH you're probably right - I'm just wincing at the idea of dodging a 3.5k wiring bullet only to spend that on sanding and revarnishing. If you sand the floors while you have things in the house, everything will be covered in sawdust. No matter how much you tape and seal rooms, the sawdust gets everywhere.
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Nov 30, 2017 00:37
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xsf421 posted:If you sand the floors while you have things in the house, everything will be covered in sawdust. No matter how much you tape and seal rooms, the sawdust gets everywhere. I will attest to this through personal experience.
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Nov 30, 2017 01:06
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xsf421 posted:If you sand the floors while you have things in the house, everything will be covered in sawdust. No matter how much you tape and seal rooms, the sawdust gets everywhere. This and it's way harder than it looks to get a good, flat surface. If you pause even just a bit too long in one spot (like when turning around, for example), you'll create a noticeable divot in the floor. Finishing the floor yourself, whether it's with varnish or something else, is totally doable, though. So you could just have a pro do the sanding and then do the finish yourself and save some money that way.
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Nov 30, 2017 01:29
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Understood. A friend of mine has suggested that a brand new floor laid ontop of this subfloor would probably be equivalent in cost and be brand new, with higher insulating properties, etc. for roughly the same price. so it looks like: 1. Get electricians in to review the wiring (https://i.imgur.com/wJWClas.jpg) to establish whether or not they can safely add more sockets, move the existing ones to common positions and chase in all the cables. 2. If not, get a full rewire 3. Get contractors in to sand and refinish the floor OR lay the planks myself (I've done laminate flooring a bunch of times, but not real wood) It looks like it's old PVC-sheathed rather than rubber or lead, but I can see that around half of the sockets that are there are already spurs off the ring-main, so my hope of no fundamental under-floor work being required is starting to dim. I figure if I'm going to get that work done, I may as well get the whole thing rewired with all the sockets moved to correct height, all wires chased in, etc. etc.
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Nov 30, 2017 10:09
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Southern Heel posted:Understood. A friend of mine has suggested that a brand new floor laid ontop of this subfloor would probably be equivalent in cost and be brand new, with higher insulating properties, etc. for roughly the same price. When I moved in to my house, I had my living room and dining room wood floors redone. I was planning to resurface, but the previous owner had nailed the floor down, and not just with finish nails, these were like 6d nails or something. Had a couple guys look at it and both said they wouldn't refinish it because they were worried the nails would ruin their machines. Ended up just running new flooring diagonal over the old wood floor. I believe it was $6,000 for the new floor, and would have been around $4,000 if they could have refinished it (going from memory, but these numbers are pretty close). Keep in mind, if you lay new floor down, you'll need to rework some of your trim because the floor is going to be higher.
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Nov 30, 2017 13:52
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thebushcommander posted:Selling my house and the buyers inspector noted that the furnace/AC in the attic is sitting in the drip pan and told the buyers it should be raised so any potential water build up in the pan doesn't affect the unit. Is this a requirement? I don't see anything that says it can't be sitting directly in the drip pan and of course that is the 1 thing the buyers are requesting we fix. We just had the entire HVAC replaced a year ago and installation passed city inspections etc. I am not certain, but I think the bottom of the unit is just covered around the base and there is nothing mechanical or functional in contact with the pan itself, it just appears that way looking at it. The pan itself is rusty, but that is from the previous unit that was ~18 years old, they just didn't replace the pan for some reason. Assuming you mean an overflow pan... I don't think code requires that the air handler be out of the pan, but in good practice it should be hung above it or on blocking. Depending on the setup it could cause more or less trouble by sitting in water, but you'd want to avoid rusting out the metal no matter what. If you already have a secondary drain from the condensate pan or a float switch in the primary drain then the drip pan isn't required anyway if that helps.
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Nov 30, 2017 16:37
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Bird in a Blender posted:Keep in mind, if you lay new floor down, you'll need to rework some of your trim because the floor is going to be higher. But those floors look great. 2nding everyone that recommends having them refinished while the house is empty. Outlets can always be added with minimal mess compared to dust every involved with sanding. And if you lay real floors over top the existing floors--you're still going to need to sand... (And that wood looks too good to throw something like laminate or engineered on top of.)
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Nov 30, 2017 21:41
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Well, had the first sparky says the electric is fine, ~£800 all in for six new points, chasing everything into the wall and moving all existing sockets to the correct height, recessing and certs. I was worried because old rubber-sheathed cabling really has to be replaced as a fire hazard; and that if there was something so horrific that would require a full rewire I'd need to get that done posthaste, but it looks like that barring any such outrageous discoveries it should be relatively par for course. I've had two meaningful quotes for the floors: one guy said £2300 but barely spoke english properly and arrived on a motorcycle and had 'his guys', the other said £2800 but appeared (appeared! I know, I know) to be a lot more professional and frank. Both would use compound (rather than wedges) to fill the gaps, and both would give it two coats. They both wanted £500 to stain the floor before varnishing, which I think is almost required. This shows new boards that were used to replace the hearth in the bedroom and I've been advised would be roughly similar to the tone of the re-sanded floor:  I'm thinking that bringing it more towards an amber nut-brown rather than red-orange might be really nice (not my pics):  I've got two more guys coming to quote me on the floor tomorrow too - but it seems that mid 2k mark is about right, plus stain.
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Dec 1, 2017 19:07
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Those sound like not-unreasonable numbers, personally I'd do the electrics myself but it depends on how many there are and how far to move them, vs how much free time you've got.
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Dec 1, 2017 19:13
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A dozen in total, all of them being either new, or moved, all cut into the plaster and into recessed boxes. If the cables had lots of slack I would be inclined (i did the wiring where I am living now) but these are all lovely, hidden in tight corners and wedged against the floor. Unfortunately all electrical work needs to be certified too, so I'd have to pay £200 or so for someone to come and sign it off after I've done the work regardless!
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Dec 1, 2017 21:09
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Southern Heel posted:I've always used gas hob with electric oven. I don't like induction hobs very much at all to be honest (although my wife is excited, I do almost all the cooking so I don't feel bad at all about muscling over this one). The location is both gas and electric plumbed. I guess to clarify, you said the proper <aga> ranges and I was highlighting that I don't have space for one unless I start demolishing the kitchen right now. Do any of your friends or relatives have an AGA you can try cooking a couple of meals on? I have a serious fetish for AGAs, but if you don't cook at least twice a day, and live south of, let's say, Birmingham, the continuous heating aspect may not be as efficient as reputation says. Particularly in a narrow kitchen where you'll always be standing somewhat close to it while prepping/washing up, but sit and eat relatively far away. On the other hand, even if you didn't notice a chill in the current extension, that may be more apparent once you are moved in. Were you looking at Smegs just because of the styling? I've always thought Stoves and Leisure make some cute cookers that might be easier on the budget.
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Dec 2, 2017 23:07
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Nope, nobody does at all - I've just heard of it and I was looking for something that might approximate a piece of period-style furniture that I could hold onto for a while, as opposed to some disposable aluminium tat. My old man doesn't cook at all but has a massive range cooker, but I don't think that's an Aga. Honestly I've double checked and the oven I've inherited from the previous owners is a rather mucky Belling, so not the bottom of the barrel. Mostly I was just curious, but wife has said it'll do for now (her name is Agatha and some people call her Aga for short, so I thought I might be in there  )I have come across a slightly related kitchen issue - the space for utilities opposite the oven has a 50cm and a 70cm unit. These housed a 40cm dishwasher and 60cm washing machine. Unfortunately, both my appliances are 60cm wide. My thought was to simply remove the middle of both units, would that work? Or am I going to have to finangle more support? I have a little bit of breathing room, there is a final 50cm cupboard to the left of the photo below, but given the choice I'd rather not cut into it: 
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Dec 3, 2017 00:37
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If they're built-ins you'll need to do a little butchery, if they're free standing you'll need to completely remove both units. E: if you're worried about the worktop needing support I installed a 2.6m length of worktop at the end of my last kitchen supported only at the back and ends and it never bowed
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Dec 3, 2017 01:28
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It's certainly possible to reuse the materials your cabinets are made of to restructure them, but if it is Ikea or similar quality, then the MDF or particle board can be troublesome to rework (particularly if humidity from either appliance wasn't well vented.) You'd also have to buy new doors if you aren't planning to have the utilities out in the open. If I were in your shoes and looking at a reno in a few years anyway I might just opt to store my current dishwasher in the shed, and buy a cheapie 40cm model to use in the meantime.
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Dec 3, 2017 01:38
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Southern Heel posted:I'd have to pay £200 or so for someone to come and sign it off after I've done the work regardless! I've always been kind of curious about this kind of thing. I know that codes exist and to a certain extent help keep things safe and uniform, but what's the motivation to have somebody come sign off on your work on your own home if you are confident that you've done the job well? I guess for large projects the inspectors will be in and out occasionally so they might notice something other than the work they're there for having been done, but that seems kind of unlikely for smaller jobs. We recently had our fence redone and while I appreciated the contractor doing things properly to avoid trouble with the city I found myself wondering wtf we even care about the city for? They don't come out and do inspections. I have a hard time believing that some random official would happen by our culdesac and say, "Hmmm.... that fence doesn't look 30 years old, let's investigate further." I guess what I'm really wondering is if any of you have ever found yourselves in surprise trouble from the city about any of your DIY projects?
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Dec 3, 2017 08:54
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I haven't personally and didn't bother in the place I was renting, but the law is the law and especially when selling you need to pony up the paperwork or can expect to be haggled. It also may affect claims on your home insurance i imagine, if it were discovered?
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Dec 3, 2017 09:19
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Definitely insurance claims, also if you plan on renting you need it recertifying every couple of years.
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Dec 3, 2017 14:18
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Some areas are stricter than others, and most are going to look much more closely at a homeowner than a contractor they know well. That said places where it's been a big problem (e.g. Arcadia, CA) they have become 100% compliance strict. They will make you tear down an addition to the framing or foundation if they find it wasn't properly permitted. I know people who have gone through it. Inspections and permits are there for your safety and land value. Make friends with your inspector and it will go a long way towards easy inspections.
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Dec 3, 2017 19:14
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H110Hawk posted:Inspections and permits are there for your safety and land value. Make friends with your inspector and it will go a long way towards easy inspections. Many of you know I used to be code enforcement. H110Hawk's advice is absolutely, positively spot on no matter where you live. Start out with getting the right permits. Do good work. Call for inspections at the right times. You'll find that very soon you only get a cursory lookover if anything at all for most of the inspections if you consistently demonstrate up to code quality work on your own home. (You've got an open permit on commercial and/or life safety/fire protection stuff and you'll be getting inspected closely no matter what - but you'd be surprised how happy an inspector will be to just drop by if you have a question/want a pre-inspection before the official one to make things easier)
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Dec 3, 2017 21:25
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That all makes sense, and to clarify I would never try and do a major job without the appropriate permits and inspections. I was more just thinking about things like moving a power outlet or other minor things like that. Obviously there are codes that must be adhered to, but do you actually need inspections for that kind of project? I guess there are probably guidelines for what projects require permits and which ones don't and I assume that anything that requires a permit will need to be inspected.
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Dec 3, 2017 22:18
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Inspector 34 posted:I was more just thinking about things like moving a power outlet or other minor things like that Depends on jurisdiction. And if we're being honest.....even if yours requires a permit will anyone know? Probably not. Inspector 34 posted:I guess there are probably guidelines for what projects require permits and which ones don't and I assume that anything that requires a permit will need to be inspected. Of course there are. Go (in person) to your local municipality and talk to someone in general terms about what you want to do. They should be able to give you a good idea abotu what is permitted and what doesn't need to be. (if you can't see it happening from the outside and it doesn't materially change the dwelling nobody can do poo poo.......so don't ask your buddy who does electrical/construction/plumbing to help you if he's gonna park his marked van in your driveway that's visible from the street while it's happening)
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Dec 3, 2017 23:12
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Inspector 34 posted:That all makes sense, and to clarify I would never try and do a major job without the appropriate permits and inspections. I was more just thinking about things like moving a power outlet or other minor things like that. Obviously there are codes that must be adhered to, but do you actually need inspections for that kind of project? I guess there are probably guidelines for what projects require permits and which ones don't and I assume that anything that requires a permit will need to be inspected. As a homeowner in roughly the same boat, I will say that I think one thing worth stating is that it's not always obvious to the DIYer what is/isn't a "major" job. I suspect some of the most egregious cases that get floated around the internet are situations where the homeowner said "just connect the copper to each end, done!" without understanding all the secondary things (appropriate wire gauge, appropriate wire protection/securing, box size, clamping, etc.). If you are a DIYer who's willing to read the code (or a very good Cliff's Notes version that I personally recommend) you will probably know 99% of what you need to do the job right, but also you will know enough to recognize when you're a bit out of your depth. Case in point: there were a few open grounds in various outlets in the house I bought. This was curious, since many of the outlets were recently added, and the older ones WERE grounded properly. The first one I opened up, the ground wires for the incoming and two outgoing wires were all just hanging out unbonded in the plastic box (bend back presumably so they wouldn't "get in the way")  The previous owner knew enough to cut a hole in his wall, slip the New Work box in, and then connect the wires to the right screws (though this turned out to just be a happy accident since I found some others wired backwards later on) but he had no clue what that weird bare copper was for so he just ignored it. I guess I'm lucky he didn't just clip it off at the base (for "cleanliness").
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Dec 5, 2017 16:31
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