What home improvement work did you do today?

There wasn't a lot of sheathing (I don't think there was any to remove). Looking at the pictures they sent me, I think the only place they had any kind of sheathing was in the center part of the house:




I had told them that I was pretty sure the house had none and redo the entire thing - the big part (front) had the original shake, then a ton of shingles, then metal. The middle part had shingles and then metal, the end part was just metal with no sheathing underneath.

Total price for OSB Material and labor was $11,900.

 

Now that's a steal for sure!
Up here in the NE that's a 30K all day!

 

Fun coat hook building project from scrap wood. Needed one for guest coats and stuff.

First cuts/design:

Main pieces glued and screwed:

Stain and polyurethane:


Mounted:

Hooks and duck picture of course:

 

more insulation, and a lot of clean up. At this point I am more excited to see the bags slowly disappear. Have about 2-300 sqft left, but some of it needs to wait until half the drywall is up so I have something to push against and it won't stick out over any of the studs and crack the drywall. R-23 in the bathrooms, Poop in Peace. Some of the nasty stuff I am showing is what I cut months ago to stuff in the soffit area to keep the wind and weather out during the colder winter months. Figured I'll re-use as much as I can as it isn't cheap. Happy with how little waste I have with this. Every scrap is useable pretty much.

 

Freaking amazing, that brick insulation is da bomb!
Almost ashame to cover it up with rock

 

That was just for the sheathing - the whole roof was $50k.

 

I found a MyQ for $20 adaptable to any garage which was cheaper than the remote I ran over. Good app and has come in handy to close and open remotely several times. Good to know a liftmaster is a better unit which is my next upgrade.

 

So we need gutters. The roofing company couldn't install them for the agreed upon price because of the angle of the fascia and the crown moulding on it. I don't want them strapped on and connected to the roof because they'll just sag like the last gutters we had.

LeafGuard came out and gave us a quote. Just under $32,000. But with some kind of free labor discount it was only $28k I told him that was way over my budget and I'm not borrowing any more money. He started out with "It's only $750 a month." He did the whole "call his manager" thing and they got it down to: I put a yard sign in my yard, they can call me for referrals, and $115 a month." I laughed and said "For how many months?" and his answer was "Until it's paid off."

Yeah, no. That's ridiculous.

 

Holy shit! Gutters for my house was $4500

 

I hate that shit. When we got our windows replaced one of the companies we called for a quote we were warned against, we called them anyway. $50K for 11 windows, but if we got them right now only $38K. And they didn't have woodgrain interior finish. We ended up with a different local franchise of Window World. $5500 with interior woodgrain.

 

I think they pull up, they see the house and the truck in the driveway and start thinking we have money. They don't realize all my damn money is in the house and truck they see in the driveway.

 

Damn. We need windows too. One is really bad and I need to replace before the frame completely rots out. I was hoping the roofers would break it.

 

For some reason window quote ranges seem to be the most crazy. I’ve replaced windows in two houses and got 6ish quotes each time. I knew exactly what window brand and models I wanted, so only difference is labor/skill.

Each time the high quotes were triple the low quotes, which was just shocking. Often the high quotes were from the owner in a fancy car that clearly didn’t do hands on work anymore.

 

Thats who I got mine from and a buddy and I installed a few every weekend

 

10 hours drive. Thanks for the tip though

 

We just did windows for the new project. All Pella and rated for new england climate. Black exterior, wood grain interior. 23 windows for 25/26k, 5 were completely custom sized. Install we pay the guys hourly, so 60 or so an hour but it only takes an hour per window or less, and their new system takes 1 guy. Let's say 2k in labor, so 28-29k total. Not sure if you guys are included all the installation fee's in your pricing.

In the past I used Window World, they were like $200 a window installed, but this was in NC and maybe 11 years ago, a lot of has changed. The window world windows were great though, even with the heat, and the installer was a nice local guy. 10/10 would have used them again if I didn't move.

 

I’m impressed you’ve got no hub cast iron waste pipe there. Don’t see that much in residential

 

I think it’s a New England thing?

 

We install miles of it in commercial buildings, but the only people I know who have it in their houses are old school plumbers that probably pilfered the materials from a job site.

 

You are correct! Copper and cast. This is a small commercial building. But, it's my building, on the property that I live on and I am doing as much as I can myself. So I might be cheating being in here, but I thought it was close enough. Things like stuffing insulation, cleaning up, holding things, moving things and a lot of trim painting. Basically the site gopher, but I find doing that and paying the bills within 10 days is going to save me a relatively substantial amount on this job.

 

I use these in my AC condensate pan. It just lies in the pan and releases cleaner as it collects and releases condensate. Replace yearly.

 

It’s that time of year again



Drain and flush the water heater

 

Havent used either of those products. Once every 3 months I pour a cup full of bleach and then a cup full of simple green every other 3 months. No issues. These things slime up fast and are the #1 reason AC guys get called out last I was told

 

Just had 2 Anderson windows put in to replace the cheap builder grade windows, was about $7,000. Pretty awesome windows though. Killer warranty as well. Seems like you get what you pay for with windows.

 

got the land mulched after HELLene... don't have many trees left in the yard

 

That's why we use pella, the sales guy will come fix anything, and even on the doors, the seals and any lock issues etc... He is right out and fixed asap.


@oddhours that looks great!

 

thanks its been a struggle - who knew a hurricane would bout wipe us out

 

Looks good! We are trying to do our mapping without taking out any more trees. We have two that make us nervous and love the rest. Then we drive by our neighbors who has their lot cleared and it looks so pretty.... crazy how much it makes a difference.

 

takes a little getting used to, but looks nice when done. the machinery used was awesome to watch!