Remodeling my home...advice?

[alkemyst]

That depends on how many times he has to do it to get it right...or before he finally just calls a contractor...

QFT...plus even the best guys will need 2-3x the time pros take to just get it done.

I don't sell my services anymore, but in the past friends and friends of friends would call me to fix their DIY mistakes.

Some of the most expensive were trying to cut their own granite or better slabs.

 

[Greenman]

QFT...plus even the best guys will need 2-3x the time pros take to just get it done.

I don't sell my services anymore, but in the past friends and friends of friends would call me to fix their DIY mistakes.

Some of the most expensive were trying to cut their own granite or better slabs.

Who tries DYI granite, and whats better?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Attic insulation

This can make a huge difference if the existing insulation is low R value. Aim for R60 or so. Ventilation is another big one and even more important than insulation. Improper ventilation leads to ice dams which leads to roof leaks. Especially with climate change where the winters lately have been so sporadic. One day snow is melting next day it's 30 below, repeat that 40 times throughout the year and it builds up a pretty thick layer of ice.

 

[alkemyst]

Who tries DYI granite, and whats better?

Idiots try to cut their own slabs thinking it's simple since they have tools.

Better than granite is subjective.

 

[gotsmack]

vestibule, it will cut down on energy costs when people go in and out of the house. If I ever buy a place this is a top 5 issue for me.

Also consider putting in a fiberglass wall insert in the bathroom tub/shower area, it will save you from having to regrout every 10 years or so.

 

[wirednuts]

in wall wiring and attic insulation are very good ideas.

and if youre not sure what you want in the walls, just pull cat5 to every possible spot, and bring them all back to a central location in the basement. that way, if you dont need it for data you can use it for other things like low voltage switching and surround speakers.

and while hiring contractors may seem expensive, its usually worth every penny. and i was a construction worker for a decade. i would still call a company to do many major projects, just because they can do it so much faster AND so much better.

 

[AUMM]

in wall wiring and attic insulation are very good ideas.

and if youre not sure what you want in the walls, just pull cat5 to every possible spot, and bring them all back to a central location in the basement. that way, if you dont need it for data you can use it for other things like low voltage switching and surround speakers.

and while hiring contractors may seem expensive, its usually worth every penny. and i was a construction worker for a decade. i would still call a company to do many major projects, just because they can do it so much faster AND so much better.

I am a contractor so costs will be budgeted accordingly, just not very familiar with doing remodeling work.....

maybe i will try to run cat5 to a central location in all the rooms i'm opening the walls in...

 

[EliteRetard]

Make sure you install speaker wire for your surround speakers after you plan where your entertainment center goes. I forgot to do that in my remodel and now I'm gonna have to figure out an alternative to running wires along the floor and walls.

Many brands of flat wires that can be stuck right on the wall and painted over if you didn't have the chance to do in wall.

 

[EagleKeeper]

w/ respect to attic insulation; if there is a gable vent; consider installing an attic fan; temp controlled or manual switch)

Great for sucking the heat out of the attic right before it gets to the point of using A/C.

 

[rsutoratosu]

While I have some walls open i would like to put tv/internet wiring behind the walls, should i place actual cables or lay conduits?

anyone used a Nest thermostat?
http://www.amazon.com/Nest-Learning-...est+thermostat

Depend on code, if you are doing it yourself, you can just hang the wires, if you file for permit, they might need to be in conduits depending on where you are.

If your tv is heavy, I would reinforce the studs. When I did mine, at the time, the plasma were like 110pounds. I double up the studs, added another 2x4 to the existing, glue and screw together.

I love the nest, didn't get one but now nest 2 is out, smaller and has more features

 

[Kaido]

Buying a 1970's home (currently in escrow), needs some work especially cosmetically but I would like to make the home energy efficient and try to add some cool features without spending TOOOOO much $$

I plan on redoing all flooring, replace windows with dual pane, paint/wallpaper all walls, scrape popcorn ceilings, redoing all bathrooms, new insulation where possible, and will be doing a little room extension.

While I have some walls open i would like to put tv/internet wiring behind the walls, should i place actual cables or lay conduits?

Any suggestions for items to consider, or recommendations for good home technology?

anyone used a Nest thermostat?
http://www.amazon.com/Nest-Learning-...est+thermostat

Depends on how much money you want to put into it. Browse through my personal notes blog here for some ideas, I update it from time to time:

http://smarterhouse.tumblr.com/

Here's some stuff to start you out with:


Ductless HVAC:

One of the coolest things I've seen lately are the mini-split ductless HVAC systems like the Mitsubishi Mr. Slim. If you're not familiar with them, basically it's like a swamp cooler that (1) doesn't sit on the window, and (2) does both heating & cooling. Each room gets their own individual control - the system is made up of the outdoor unit (heat exchange type of thing), the indoor unit (blows the air), and a remote control. You can do between 1 and 8 rooms depending on the unit you get. A basic system looks like this:

http://www.younits.com/images/msz-fe_med.jpg

They are very energy-efficient, and you only have to pay for what you actually heat or cool. My buddy retrofitted his whole house with these bad boys last year and saved approximately a grand a month in oil costs. Worked out really well! The new ones can pull heat from -13F and I saw an iPhone app for it too:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mezo/id385943152?mt=8


Tankless Electric Point-of-Use Water Heaters:

Water is getting pretty easy to do. For starters, you can get tankless water heaters, but rather than getting one for the whole house, you just get one for each location - showers, faucets, dishwasher, washing machine, etc. More energy-efficient (not heating dozen of feet of piping, for one thing), instant-on hot water, and endless hot water. Most stuff is less than 4 or 5 gallons-per-minute (including showers & dishwashers), and that small of point-of-use tankless electric water heater usually runs under $250: (they start getting way more expensive when you hit 6+ GPM)

http://www.amazon.com/Rheem-RTE-13-E...dp/B003UHUSGQ/

Then add PEX plastic piping for the water lines:

http://www.pexinfo.com/

Sharkbite for the connections:

http://www.sharkbite.com/usa/how-it-works

And a Moen ioDigital shower valve system: (my buddy just picked this up, it's amazing!)

http://www.moen.com/iodigital

If you're doing any wet-area stuff, in particular bathrooms and showers, definitely check out the Kerdi system. There's a really good book on tiling if you want to DIY here:

http://www.tileyourworld.com/catalog/


Electrical:

If you're doing any electrical, go with a structured wiring system. They have some panels here:

http://www.smarthome.com/_/Cable_Structured_Wiring/Structured_Panels_Accessories/_/v/1P3/nav.aspx

And then use Monoprice for all your wiring needs: (they have a lot of in-wall stuff too)

http://www.monoprice.com/

If you're adding new receptacles, they sell combo 3-prong & integrated USB charging outlets here: (15 amps, 10w USB

http://www.newertech.com/products/power2u.php


Miscellaneous:

If you need some more budget-oriented ideas, here's some stuff:

AirStone is pretty neat, it's sort of a cheap recycled stone-look material that you can get at Lowes:

http://airstone.com/

There's also a variety of ceiling tiles, some that are made from inexpensive styrofoam, which can easily replace popcorn ceilings:

http://www.decorativeceilingtiles.net/categories/Foam-Ceiling-Tiles/

There is a seller on eBay that sells refurbished Graco HV2900 house paint-spraying guns for $39 with free shipping:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GRACO-HV290...0?pt=Paint_Paint_Supplies&hash=item35bc374d66

If you have a little more of a budget, Eldorado Stone makes the best stone/brick veneer I've ever seen: (starts at probably $9/sq foot to DIY up to $25/sq foot installed, for ballpark pricing)

http://www.eldoradostone.com/

Combine that with Laticrete for waterproofing:

http://www.laticrete.com/mvis/

If you're looking for low-maintenance windows, Pella makes an in-swing French casement window, as well as tilt-windows, so you can clean from the inside: (scroll down on this webpage)

http://www.pella.com/windows/explore-window-styles/specialty-windows.aspx

 

[alkemyst]

The ductless HVAC systems are very popular overseas esp Japan. They do need some plumbing (it's not all self contained in that wall unit as many think), but it's not bad.

They are pretty quiet too.

 

[Kaido]

Are you interested in doing any audio or home theater stuff? Remodeling is a great time to run in-wall cable & put in the jacks for speakers, televisions, etc. as well as put in in-wall & in-ceiling speakers & subwoofers. In addition to Monoprice, Parts Express has a lot of good stuff for that:

http://www.parts-express.com

You can get an LED projector with a 10+ year bulb life for under $600 these days:

http://www.amazon.com/Optomas-ML500-...dp/B00556F9I2/

Also have you considered LED lighting? GE/Philips just came out with a 100-watt equivalent LED bulb:

http://ledsmagazine.com/news/9/5/4

You can buy permanent outdoor LED lighting for holiday lights:

http://www.channelbrite.com/

And everyone's going LED for outdoor lighting these days:

http://www.night-scenes.com/

And you can do some cool accent lighting with those cheap LED strip lights:

http://blog.makezine.com/2011/08/01/rgb-accent-lighting-with-remote-control/

I got one off eBay for my home theater room - it's a 5 meter LED strip light with multiple colors and a remote control, pretty spiffy. You can also use them for under-furniture lighting for both accent & nightlighting: (my home theater couch is Tron blue with Fast & Furious-style LED under-lighting, haha)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuySXrB0Wxk

 

[Kaido]

The ductless HVAC systems are very popular overseas esp Japan. They do need some plumbing (it's not all self contained in that wall unit as many think), but it's not bad.

They are pretty quiet too.

Yeah they are super quiet, I was amazed at just how quiet they operate indoors. I think you need to run a 3" copper tube through the wall for the hookup to the outside unit, so it's usually not too bad to install. My buddy bought the tools and did the whole install himself without too many problems (I think the tools required ran about $1,000 - but it was a big savings over having a contractor install it for him, so it was worth it from a DIY perspective).

I like the remote a lot, too - the faceplate slides down for more functions, but the basic functions are up for warmer and down for cooler...nice when you just want to tweak the temperature a little without giving it a specific number :thumbsup:

 

[momeNt]

Shag carpetting, wood panelling, built-in microwave oven, avacado green appliances and ceramics, bean bag chairs, lava lamps...

It's coming back, once the hipsters start becoming homeowners. The irony.

 

[Vdubchaos]

That's a WHOLE lot of stuff that you "want".

What's your budget?

Also I really hope you have an Emergency Fund (6-9 months of living expenses) and savings.

 

[rsutoratosu]

I have the mrslim on my whole house too, total at 68000 btu split between 6 rooms.

This thing is truely awesome. I used to run 1 window unit between 11pm - 6am and electricial cost was 250/month

No i'm able to run miltiple rooms from 6pm - 6am and monthly range from 183-224 from june to august. So multiple room at longer interval for cheaper price and this year electical cost was 11% higher than last year too.

The only thing I dont like is the lack of IOS/android support. You need to get mezo app and all these extra weird hook ups to control it remotely. city multi or m-net and they look pricy.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I have the mrslim on my whole house too, total at 68000 btu split between 6 rooms.

This thing is truely awesome. I used to run 1 window unit between 11pm - 6am and electricial cost was 250/month

no way. I run 6 window units in the summer for LOT longer than 11-6am and my bill goes from $130 a month to about $290.

My neighbor did Central AC and it cost him arm and a leg. Did some calculations with him and it would take me over 30 years to save money by going Central AC.



Just keep in mind I'm not in Florida or something (Northeast)

 

[Kaido]

Also another budget-oriented project is faux Granite film. You can order a sample pack from the EZ Faux Decor website for $10:

http://ezfauxdecor.com/Granite-Films.html

A couple of the colors look surprisingly good. If you want to make it really durable, you can pour on a countertop epoxy. The best stuff I've come across is Liquid Glass (not cheap - $100 for 1/2 gallon or $200 for 2 gallons - 30 sq feet to 100 sq feet of coverage), which is both a clearcoat and heat shield up to 500F:

http://betterpaths.com/SBC-Materials-Supplies-Training-Kits.html

Also despite the goofy website, Better Paths has some pretty cool DIY concrete kits for countertops, stone-look walls, sinks, etc.

http://betterpaths.com/

Faux painting is also pretty cool. Woodgraining is really easy to do - you can basically paint anything to look like wood. I've had surprisingly good results with it. The tool is less than $10:

http://www.amazon.com/Plaid-30114-Wo...dp/B000VKQ6L6/

The results can be really really cool. I use a woodgraining tool with stain, then hit it with a soft paintbrush to the fine lines like wood has. The nice thing is you can use cheap MDF or plywood, put a seal coat on it (like Zissner B-I-N shellac, at Home Depot), and make something look totally awesome. My friend just did her entertainment center in a dark/black faux woodgrain and I couldn't tell it apart from real wood until I eyeballed it up close. Here's a video with an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzoEjlV-l0U

The vinyls today are getting really good - not only are they printed in high-resolution, but the really good ones also have woodgrain embossing for depth. Just use a heat gun or a hairdryer to activate the glue & press it on after cutting it to size, real easy! I primarily use Orbi vinyls, sold on eBay from China:

http://stores.ebay.com/ORBI-Vinyl-Supplies

Some come clearcoated, others are matte. You can add a glossy clearcoat easy with Envirotex Lite epoxy (adds about 1/8" of clearcoat, they typically use it for super shiny bar countertops - although this isn't heat-proof like the Liquid Glass stuff, and it's for indoor use only because it will turn yellow outside in the sun):

http://eti-usa.com/envirotex-lite/

Sample project with Envirotex Lite:

http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/2011/06/lazy-susan-with-design.html

So there's paint, there's concrete, there's faux woodgrain (and faux marbling if you've got some artistic skill), there's high-end wood-look vinyls, clearcoats, concrete floors/countertops/sinks/siding, all kinds of stuff to play with. Most of it isn't too hard to work with either, and you can get some pretty spectacular results without much effort or investment.

 

[Kaido]

no way. I run 6 window units in the summer for LOT longer than 11-6am and my bill goes from $130 a month to about $290

Were your window units those swamp cooler type of things that stick out of the window? Mr. Slims are ductless systems - waaaay more efficient, totally different animal.

 

[EliteRetard]

Also have you considered LED lighting? GE/Philips just came out with a 100-watt equivalent LED bulb:

http://ledsmagazine.com/news/9/5/4

That "100w" LED is terrible...over twice the power usage of a cheap CFL. It may have some advantages but not at the insane price I'm sure they'll ask for it. Even "60w" LEDS cost 15 times that of a CFL and aren't any more efficient. That "100w" unit would have to be like $8-9 to be competitive.

Some day maybe...but they have a long way to go and for now I would never get LED lighting, at least not for the mains. They can make decent alternative lighting or string lights for festivities and such.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Buying a 1970's home (currently in escrow), needs some work especially cosmetically but I would like to make the home energy efficient and try to add some cool features without spending TOOOOO much $$

I plan on redoing all flooring, replace windows with dual pane, paint/wallpaper all walls, scrape popcorn ceilings, redoing all bathrooms, new insulation where possible, and will be doing a little room extension.

While I have some walls open i would like to put tv/internet wiring behind the walls, should i place actual cables or lay conduits?

Any suggestions for items to consider, or recommendations for good home technology?

anyone used a Nest thermostat?
http://www.amazon.com/Nest-Learning-...est+thermostat

Unless you are opening the walls anyway, routing ethernet cable through the walls may not be necessary. Consider a livewire network (network over powerline), such as http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digita...over+powerline

Ask a local realtor to provide you with a list of "cost efficient" upgrades, i.e., upgrades for which you can expect the largest return on investment. Typically they include:

1. Kitchen remodel
2. Bath remodel
3. Paint
4. Garage door replacement
5. Flooring replacement (HW is in), etc.
6. New windows
7. Blown in insulation
8. Cellulose insulation in attic.

Lighting is another way to cost effectively improve your home. Good bang for the buck.

 

[Zargon]

shag carpet is awesome.

I've spent the last 3 years renovating my 1969 built house

it has been the most god awful, frustrating, expensive thing I have ever done

and its been very rewarding. and I hate it.


popcorn can die, most of mine is staying up b/c its a PITA to scape and resmooth if it doesnt just want to cleanly fall off



be careful with bamboo, alot of the cheap stuff isnt very tough and small pets can tear it up

see if you have a local lumber liquidators

 

[Kaido]

That "100w" LED is terrible...over twice the power usage of a cheap CFL. It may have some advantages but not at the insane price I'm sure they'll ask for it. Even "60w" LEDS cost 15 times that of a CFL and aren't any more efficient. That "100w" unit would have to be like $8-9 to be competitive.

Some day maybe...but they have a long way to go and for now I would never get LED lighting, at least not for the mains. They can make decent alternative lighting or string lights for festivities and such.

Yeah...and I've read that the 100w-equivalent LED actually has an active cooling system, which seems kinda crazy. I personally haven't come across any LED light bulbs for the mains that I really like, but I really like them for accent lighting, like in LED strips.

I would like to see them made cheap and made better, especially for dimming. I would really like an all-LED house one day, but for today's off-the-shelf technology, I wouldn't do it for the mains quite yet. We installed a square panel at work in our warehouse to try it out (I think it had a grid of 1-watt LEDs) and it was kinda weird - first off, if you look up at it, you'll burn your retinas out. Second, the light falloff was sort of weird looking and not as bright as the florescent lights next to it. Oh, and I did see some LED T8 lights available - I'm interested to check those out (but they're like $80 EACH).

 

[amdskip]

I installed bamboo in my dining room from lumber liquidators. It's pretty hard stuff and overall I'm happy with it. Haven't had it long enough to know how it holds up.