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a child could do it what could possibly go wrong?
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Feb 16, 2019 00:51
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| # ? Sep 29, 2023 14:01 |
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I am soooooo loving tired of nothing being level, square, plumb, true, or parallel. It's like trying to do carpentry while looking at everything with a funhouse mirror. Currently finishing the furring strips in the second floor hallway so I can put up the vapor barrier. Hoping to have it and the closets done by tomorrow so maybe I can rent the insulation machine and get this place a little less painful to heat. 600 dollar gas bill last month... Still beats 900 for the same month last year, and 1500+ to rent a house this size in this town while fixing this one.
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Feb 17, 2019 00:52
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I can't wait for the terror that is you being given a blank slate to overbuild from the ground up. Everything will be done right.
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Feb 17, 2019 09:41
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kastein posted:600 dollar gas bill last month... I thought you didn't have any missing walls anymore? 
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Feb 17, 2019 10:20
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Liquid Communism posted:I can't wait for the terror that is you being given a blank slate to overbuild from the ground up. This is gonna turn out like some medieval town building a church...generations after generations working towards perfection
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Feb 17, 2019 15:22
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Pershing posted:This is gonna turn out like some medieval town building a church...generations after generations working towards perfection But with perfection being the enemy of the good and all, it could make for a fun build thread for sure as he deals with subcontractors who are less exacting.
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Feb 17, 2019 17:03
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No missing walls, but the second floor ceiling is extremely leaky even with poly mostly covering it and the roof peak vents basically let all the heat out. Even a couple days of having the plastic partially pulled down to work on ducting or wiring can put a big bump in the gas bill.Liquid Communism posted:I can't wait for the terror that is you being given a blank slate to overbuild from the ground up. When you build from scratch you get to just make everything square and level in the first place and pretty much just slap drywall on it and run. The new walls I built in the second floor were like this, I think it took me all of a day to frame them out. Anyways, I got some poo poo done. Not as much as I wanted but... Some poo poo.   Not much left in the hallway before I can put the final poly sheet up and seal it up well, then just need to finish the same thing in the closets (way easier since they're utility space and a little more slop is acceptable) and I'm ready to insulate the rest of the second floor and sheetrock it.
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Feb 17, 2019 17:07
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kastein posted:When you build from scratch you get to just make everything square and level in the first place and pretty much just slap drywall on it and run. The new walls I built in the second floor were like this, I think it took me all of a day to frame them out. That's the part I'm looking forward to, the moment you walk onto the build site while some subcontractor's doing something and just tell them from a glance exactly what way they are making your poo poo harder by being wrong.
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Feb 19, 2019 10:44
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... subcontractor? I don't intend to have anything contracted out except the foundation, septic, and well, because the cost of failure on those and the cost of equipment are both high enough that it's cheaper to have it done than gently caress up even once. Most stuff beyond that, I can do it, learn from my mistake, rip it down, and do it again and still come out ahead. Really looking forward to being able to build effectively 11 months a year instead of like 4, too. Here it's so nasty and swampy in the summer I don't want to move, and so cold in the winter I don't want to go outside and can't use caulking or paint outdoors, which limits what I can do a lot. I didn't get much done this weekend aside from general cleanup, some ducting, and furring strips and vapor barrier in the upstairs hall. Vapor barrier is boring so here is the ducting. I've been worrying about this one for a while since I wasn't sure of working space and hadn't used these fittings before.   This is the dining room AC return register. It didn't take long at all and was way easier than I thought it would be.
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Feb 19, 2019 23:24
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I dont know what your blackberries are like, but here in Aus the black berries beat EVERYTHING. I've got places at work where 6' thick tree trunks laying on the ground have dissapeared under ANOTHER 6 feet of blackberry.
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Feb 20, 2019 12:59
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I'm 6'5" and they were well over my head in places. They die out after the trees get tall enough to shade them though.
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Feb 21, 2019 14:12
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I've now finished the furring strips in two of three closets and hung the vapor barrier plastic. It looks like this in the other closet and the hallway too I assure you. This week I got the call from Home Depot indicating that my latest window order had arrived. With snow looming in the forecast for tonight and my 2wd open-diff truck very unimpressed with things like hills and snow, we decided to take my wife's Roadmaster wagon to pick them up. It's really nice having a station wagon big enough to put a 60x40 and a 69x40 window in the back and still be able to close the hatch. The weather was good enough (above 40, not raining) to install them so I did. One of these went in the new living room wall that I framed out for this window in late 2015 and just sheathed over till we had the money, the other replaced a very broken and extremely drafty original window.   That will likely be all for today except maybe some conduit in the attic. I'm beat from dragging those windows around and whatnot.
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Mar 4, 2019 01:20
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Question:. Are you planning to scale back some of your enhancements because you are going to move as soon as you finish?
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Mar 4, 2019 20:58
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I'm not finishing the built in air compressor setup (using what pipes I've already bought for it and hooking it up but that's it, it won't go all the way around the basement as originally planned) and I'm not going to put in the networking system I was going to. Basically everything else is already bought, needs to be done regardless, or is done. I'm not building the big brick fireplace I was going to (we might install the wood stove I already bought though, or just sell it) or the outside BBQ pit I was going to build, and we may or may not get around to building the pergola I was going to put over the back porch after rebuilding it. I'm probably not putting the 200A main panel I was going to in either, most people will be fine with 100 in a house this size with gas heat. I was going to have a 200A panel with all my machine tools on it plus a 100A breaker running to the generator ATS input with the 100A panel with all important loads on it, but that's overkill and most people wouldn't see a reason for it. So it'll just be the 100A ATS feeding the standard 100A main panel. We probably won't do much landscaping other than making the lawn look nice either. That's something the next owner will likely want to do to their own tastes anyways. kastein fucked around with this message at 23:45 on Mar 4, 2019 |
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Mar 4, 2019 23:43
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Hey Ken this guy on youtube is kind of the post frame building whisperer, I figured you'd appreciate his level of obsession getting things perfect and he more or less shows every step of the build. If you plan on building your pole building it would be excellent homework for you.
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Mar 7, 2019 16:54
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Cool! I'll have to take a look. We haven't decided on wood or metal framed yet. I haven't gotten much done except I finished the wiring for the central AC and smoke tested it. No smoke! All the parts came in to finish hooking up the refrigerant lines as well so doing that and vacuuming it down to check for leaks are probably on this weekend's list.
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Mar 14, 2019 04:48
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Are you designing the new house (on the land you bought) yourself, as well as building it? If so, how are you going about the design? I'm curious about your process here, including deciding how big the place should be, what if any outbuildings you want. Basically anything you want to share about that process.
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Mar 14, 2019 05:11
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It's still very much up in the air. We are definitely building a 40x60 pole barn or metal barn for all the cars, tools, and electronics shop. House? Well, I was assuming I'd be building a regular 2-3 bedroom 2 floor house with a basement and stuff. However, my wife thinks that's silly and wants to build a tiny house. I don't particularly care as long as I've got somewhere to crap, shower, cook, and sleep, so I'm certainly not going to argue very hard if that's what she's set on. Tiny houses are cheaper and faster just because they take less materials. I'd vote for a bachelor style garagehouse but I think they look kinda silly unless you make substantial compromises security and storage wise by putting in some house style windows so I'm ok with the tiny house and big barn idea. If we decide to have kids I feel like a tiny house will get too small very quickly. We'll see. We can't build more than one residential structure due to zoning but I guess we could do an addition.
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Mar 14, 2019 06:11
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kastein posted:It's still very much up in the air. If you design it from the start to be expanded, you could even manage to have your addition not eat into your life too much at a time where you're not going to want much in the way of inconvenience. (Bonus points if you keep the the blueprints in a box emblazoned with Break Glass In Case Of Paternity.)
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Mar 14, 2019 14:05
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tetrapyloctomy posted:If you design it from the start to be expanded, you could even manage to have your addition not eat into your life too much at a time where you're not going to want much in the way of inconvenience. (Bonus points if you keep the the blueprints in a box emblazoned with Break Glass In Case Of Paternity.) Holy poo poo your dad joke game is on point. (Yes that was intentional) Yeah, I've got some ideas but I haven't really put anything on paper yet.
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Mar 14, 2019 14:26
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kastein posted:House? Well, I was assuming I'd be building a regular 2-3 bedroom 2 floor house with a basement and stuff. However, my wife thinks that's silly and wants to build a tiny house. If this is the house you hope to grow old in you might want to consider the accessibility of the place. A tiny house (  ) is going to wind up pretty incompatible with aging, and in 20 years you guys might want some house space that isn't right next to each other. Not saying 2 story w/ basement is the only other option but like ~1400sqft single story is a decent amount of house for 2 people long term.
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Mar 14, 2019 16:12
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kastein posted:It's still very much up in the air. Tiny house seems like the polar opposite of the impression I’ve gotten of you from reading this thread. Just think of family visiting and needing to stay over.
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Mar 14, 2019 16:35
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Oh it definitely is. But then I spent some time thinking about it and: The spare bedroom is a place to store car and electronics parts and tools as far as I'm concerned The office is for electronics and whatever electrical car stuff I'm working on I don't really use the living room, except currently it's where the house repair tools and materials live because the basement is dirt floor and not repointed yet so it wrecks stuff with humidity Kitchen is for eating and cooking Dining room is half demolished and no one uses it Given that we both agree we are building a Garage Mahal barn for the electronics and cars and tools I'm not really sure why I need a house for anything but what I mentioned, crapping, showering, cooking, eating, and sleeping. If she's happy with it I'm fine with that. It also means it'll cost a fraction as much to build and probably take me a lot less time too. If we have to make it bigger in the future so be it.
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Mar 14, 2019 16:55
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kastein posted:However, my wife thinks that's silly and wants to build a tiny house. You want your house to appeal to  , right?
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Mar 14, 2019 17:15
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I seem to recall that a semi-common pattern for people who build their own homes is to start with a small structure that's basically just kitchen/bathroom/bedroom, i.e. enough to give you a usable shelter. You get that up quickly, then are able to add whatever expansions you feel are appropriate at a more leisurely pace. Eventually you can convert the bedroom into a dining room or office or other miscellaneous room. I'll second the recommendation to keep accessibility in mind, not just for when you get old but also if you suffer an injury that prevents you from climbing stairs. You don't necessarily have to keep everything on a single floor, but the upstairs stuff should all be nonessential. That means having a full bathroom downstairs and at least one room that can serve as a bedroom.
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Mar 14, 2019 17:45
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:I'll second the recommendation to keep accessibility in mind, not just for when you get old but also if you suffer an injury that prevents you from climbing stairs. You don't necessarily have to keep everything on a single floor, but the upstairs stuff should all be nonessential. That means having a full bathroom downstairs and at least one room that can serve as a bedroom. Thirding the accessibility angle but for resale. Yes, you're aiming for a forever home, but plans and families change. Keeping the next owners in mind is never a bad idea. The house we sold a few months ago had a full bath on the first floor and on the second. Because of the first floor full bath, the house got multiple offers and we got a very competitive offer in 3 days of being listed. People say kitchens sell houses but tubs and showers where people need them sell houses!
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Mar 14, 2019 19:15
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I say sink the house into the ground and go full-on concrete survivalist bunker. Solar panels, water purifiers, perimeter defence emplacements. It goes with the vehicle aesthetic. Plus there’s more excuses to build more cranes and carpenter ants can’t eat concrete.
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Mar 16, 2019 15:32
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Seat Safety Switch posted:I say sink the house into the ground and go full-on concrete survivalist bunker. Solar panels, water purifiers, perimeter defence emplacements. If I were considering expandable new construction, this is one of the approaches I'd take anyway (other than "perimeter defence emplacements," anyway). If you start by basically building a walk-out basement, you can add floors above without any intrusion into your regular home life other than construction noise and the process of adding stairs from your now-basement to your new first floor. And man, is having a finished walk-out basement great. When my parents visit they basically have a little apartment, and when I'm old that's basically how I'll use the space as well.
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Mar 16, 2019 16:19
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what homeowner doesnt consider what perimeter defense emplacements you could get away with?
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Mar 16, 2019 16:25
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sneakyfrog posted:what homeowner doesnt consider what perimeter defense emplacements you could get away with? Perimeter defense consideration, sure. Once you start actually placing pillboxes, you're getting a bit weird.
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Mar 16, 2019 16:58
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tetrapyloctomy posted:Perimeter defense consideration, sure. Once you start actually placing pillboxes, you're getting a bit weird. Not if you tastefully design them as part of your landscape.
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Mar 16, 2019 17:08
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Motronic posted:Not if you tastefully design them as part of your landscape. In its own way that's even weirder. "Gotta have some tastefully hidden perimeter defenses for my home which is unlikely ever to be under assault."
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Mar 17, 2019 00:26
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Motronic posted:Not if you tastefully design them as part of your landscape. "Did someone build a replica of the Maginot line in Oregon?"
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Mar 17, 2019 00:55
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I'm pretty sure I recall a thread on Garage Journal where some dude that owned a concrete company went for broke on a reinforced concrete house and garage/shop and ended up exactly that... broke.
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Mar 17, 2019 05:23
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Nah, dude got busy for a while and didn't post, but it's basically done now. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145073
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Mar 17, 2019 13:58
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Motronic posted:Not if you tastefully design them as part of your landscape. Tom Sharpe's Riotous Assembly posted:So, for want of anything better to do, Els had explored the area round the gateway and had closed and bolted the great wrought-iron gates. In the course of his explorations, he made the exciting discovery that what he had at first sight taken to be a well-clipped square privet hedge concealed in fact a concrete blockhouse. It was clearly very old and just as clearly very impregnable.
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Mar 17, 2019 16:22
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Well. In house related news, my chinesium vacuum pump is perfectly capable of pulling a 200 micron vacuum but I can't get the system below 4220 microns no matter how many hours I pump for. Pretty sure that means I hosed up a flare somewhere, so I've got a higher pressure inert gas regulator coming from Amazon Tuesday (my welding one wouldn't go all that high) and I'll stuff a couple hundred psi of argon in the lines and listen for hissing. Why argon? Because I've got a tank of it for backpurging Tig welds and don't have a tank of nitrogen. I checked the vapor pressure tables for water at the temps we saw today and I don't think my 4220 micron reading indicates water in the lines. I was very careful to not get any water or dust in them and would be surprised if there was any water but I needed to check the numbers anyways for sanity sake.
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Mar 18, 2019 05:32
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Are you going to get refrigerant certs so you can do this whole thing yourself? My HVAC is on the fritz at the moment, and I suspect low refrigerant, which means a leak somewheres. I've wondered but not really investigated into how difficult it would be to refill my own system once I get the leak sorted.
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Mar 21, 2019 04:03
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Yeah, I pass the EPA 608 type 2 practice tests every time at this point, I'm just gonna get certified. I'll probably do type 1 as well and 609 since I work on my own auto AC systems and really should have the cert even though no one's ever bothered me about it. I could likely get away without the cert since I don't technically need to add any refrigerant (it comes precharged for 25ft of lineset and I used 24'8") but I would like to tweak it to get optimal performance so I'm probably going to have to buy some. I've had 300psi of argon in the system for the last hour and a half and it's holding fine now that I retightened the stupid flare that was leaking. I think I'm gonna leave it till morning and see where it's at since it's too late to be running a vacuum pump outside the bedroom window and neighbors house anyways.
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Mar 21, 2019 05:58
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| # ? Sep 29, 2023 14:01 |
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Sorry, been slacking on posting updates. Finished the office AC return duct. I'm getting semi ok at this. Just in time to be done with it.    Finished the upstairs part of the thermostat wiring conduit runs. You can now replace any thermostat wiring without opening any walls.  Installed the attic ladder.  Worked on the plumbing for the upstairs high efficiency ventless washer dryer my wife really wants. I was on the fence originally but it does sound like it'll be nice and it'll free up a lot of basement space while making use of a useless hall alcove and reducing the distance laundry has to be carried so... I guess we'll give it a shot.  To finish the drain piping for it I need to replace a (pretty rotten) support post in the basement so I started digging for the footing. It didn't go that well. That's bedrock. I needed to dig at least 12 inches to get the basement floor height I wanted, and this is going to make burying the pipe... Difficult. Good thing I own a rotary hammer.  Finished the drain all the way to the basement. Doubles as a roller coaster for sewer rats.  Installed the vent stack. Nothing more nerve wracking than cutting a hole in a new roof 2 hours before a thunderstorm. Getting the roof stack boot up under the already installed shingles was a pain in the rear end, but apparently I did ok because it didn't leak even though we got a thunderstorm, hail, and nearby tornado warnings.    That's all for now. I hosed up my back Friday night so the plumbing was about all I could handle this weekend. Oh, no pics but I finished gutting the dining room and started tearing up the flooring. There's a plywood sized hole in the floor right now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d0q4zmsVcg I can't recall if I said anything stupid in this video or if music was playing so you may or may not want to mute it, or YouTube copyright bots might do it for me 
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Apr 15, 2019 17:57
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