Random Thoughts [Home Improvement/Decorating Edition]

Snazzy.
 
Looks great guys! I can't make the better half make one damned decision on this place.
 
Measuring our house, planning for the new roof we'll need sooner-than-later. It's a bit hillarious. A wallway widens by 3/4 of an inch as you walk down it. Then, the two walls at the end are nearly 2" off. Then, we discovered some of the walls are 3 3/4 studs, some are 4, and one of the walls is 8" thick!

Tamara is drawing out the house in CAD, and it's been quite funny. Measurements of walls on one side of the house screw up the measurements we took on the other side!
 
My thoughts:
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I'm late to the game but what about adding some shutters to the window? And a different garage door with some panels on it?
 
To hell with shutters. Get a CTS-V to go in that driveway. :D :p


I am redoing the bathroom. Why in the fuck is a shower so damn expensive???
 
Tell me about it. I'm considering painting the tile in the bathroom with that special paint...there's just way too much damn blue in there. It's in perfect shape, just butt fugly.
 
Doors are done! From this:
door1.jpg

To this:
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The variance in the colour of the wood is due to the camera flash, it isn't noticeable IRL. Just need a week to allow the chemicals to dry out from the woodwork (you can see the white stuff coming out at the top of the bottom right panel) and then they'll be treated with something clear to stop them drying out/being damaged.


And the entrance hall is now finished off with a 1930s light fitting. :) A tad' better than the single bulb with a blue lampshade that was there before, although the amount of electricity it consumes is obscene! :lol:
P9094356_450x600-1.jpg
 
Use halogens instead of incadesent lights.
 
If screw-in halogens are anything like MR-16s, just make sure they have built-in UV filtering...
 
We are having our first meetings with contractors this weekend to get bids on the following:

Section 1: Baseline

Engineer-build

Roof
? Option #1 - Roof Repair
o Seamless gutters
o Re-use skylight (confirm adequate framing at roof opening)
o 30-year warranty materials
o Remove & replace ceiling insulation
? Option #2 - Complete re-roof with approx 4-5/12 pitch
o Seamless gutters
o Re-use skylight
o 30-year warranty materials
o Remove & replace ceiling insulation

Bathroom add-on
? Mid Grade Finishes
o Porcelain floor & all tile
o Wood veneer millwork vanity w/under-mount sink
? Flush overlay-style doors/drawer fronts
o Solid surface (eg Ceasarstone) countertop
? Frameless glass shower
? Lighting
o Recessed ceiling
o Sconces
? Mid to Mid-high-end fixtures
? Install fire-rated attic access w/ladder in garage
? Add (2) exterior lights at new walls
? Add (1) exterior duplex
? Radiant-heat floor

Section 2: While you,re here...
Kitchen
? Repair ceiling, including fascia at skylight opening
? Install recessed lighting
? Add second switch for existing light
? Raise outlet in kitchen to above-counter-height
? Kitchen under-cabinet lighting

Electrical Miscellany
? Recessed lighting for living room
? Replace exposed knob-and-tube electrical in attic and update to current standards
? General "clean up" of electrical in attic
? Garage - add (2) duplexes
? Garage - Ceiling Lighting
? Exterior Garage lighting (front and side)
? Replace (6) receptacles/j-boxes throught house
? Garbage disposal

Exterior
? Repair rim joist dryrot at crawlspace access
? Rebuild access entrance frame and replace door
? Prep exterior for painting
? Repaint exterior
? Replace Kitchen Window

Water Softener - install new

Water Heater - replace

Central Heat
? Remove existing wall furnace
? Install new ducted forced-air central heat

Stone veneer on front of house

Landscaping
? Re-grade backyard

Sewer lateral repair

THe final goal is to make these changes to the outside. We have to replace the roof, either way, so...balls out! And, we've come to the conclusion that we can't afford adding the 2nd story...

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Obviously, the plan includes leveling the neighbor houses on all 3 sides, and destroying all clouds.
 
If you have to replace the roof then definitely re-pitch it to get a room up there. Won't be huge but it'll be a new room. :) Overall looks very nice and clean; but I'd extent the 'bricks' round the rest o the house at least on the door side :p
 
The bricks around the side would be too much cost, and would narrow the already tight real estate next to the house. :)

We're also moving from a stick-built rafter roof to trusses. We're actually not gaining much attic space, but the load of the roof will be entirely transfered to the exterior walls, allowing us to do some other changes later on without worrying about load-bearing walls inside the house.

The bathroom is being added on the back corner. Similar to how the front corner has a "step", there is a bathroom-sized "step" in the back that will allow is to add a bathroom right to the master bedroom.

My girlfriend is a commercial interior architectual designer, so she knows CAD really well, and drew our whole house. :) Saves us ONE step. We can just hand them the CAD file. :)
 
Just a question, because I have no idea how the real estate market/house prices/builder's costs are over there, but have you considered moving somewhere else where you'd have more space? Because to be honest your house looks like it's only slightly larger than a shoebox. :p
 
Our house is a 2br, 1ba at just shy of 800sqft. :) It is a shoebox, with a kitchen.

Actually, if we moved anywhere else to where my commute would be no longer, I would fear for my life or have half the space for thrice the price.

This was as far away from San Francisco as we are willing to commute, and as much house as we can afford, sadly. Since then, we've both been promoted (twice) so we could sell and rebuy, but we just bought it 2 years ago, and it would seem silly to just throw away all of the fees from the recent transaction, while we've barely paid off any of the loan without an appreciable rise in houseing prices.
 
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Just a question, because I have no idea how the real estate market/house prices/builder's costs are over there, but have you considered moving somewhere else where you'd have more space? Because to be honest your house looks like it's only slightly larger than a shoebox. :p


You'd be surprised at what you can fit into a tiny looking house:

Myhouse.jpg


It looks tiny, but with a full basement I have a big kitchen, 4 bedrooms and 2 full baths, plus the Man Cave in the basement.
 
You were not supposed to know about the Man Cave! :p
 
^ As long as she doesn't know what's down there then it's OK. :lol:

And your place looks at least twice the size of Joe's. Then again you don't want to see the 4 bedroom ?800k average place of round me. :p
 
^ As long as she doesn't know what's down there then it's OK. :lol:

And your place looks at least twice the size of Joe's. Then again you don't want to see the 4 bedroom ?800k average place of round me. :p

Prices in the South are ridiculous though ?800k would get you 6-8 bedrooms around here. :p You could probably buy a whole street in a grubby area of Manchester. :lol:
 
First meeting with the first contractor yesterday. The number he gave us, because of all of the goofy conditions, that just doing the roof and bathroom parts of our scope will use up our home budget. On the positive side, I didn't get a bad vibe from the guy (who would be our PM). He also said it would take 3 months!!!

Poo...

Two more meetings on Monday.
 
Prices in the South are ridiculous though ?800k would get you 6-8 bedrooms around here. :p You could probably buy a whole street in a grubby area of Manchester. :lol:

Yeah just a bit. ?700-800k is the average for my town. The 6-8 bed places are ?1.5/2m :) Not that long ago a house near me was bought and replaced by 2 7 bed places; sold for ?2.5m each. :p If we were to sell our place I can 95% guarantee it would be demolished and replaced by a 5/6 bed similar to those around it. As is its worth 5-600; replacement worth 900-1m. :lol:

I'll be honest though; much rather have something here than a street in Manchester :p
 
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