The Home Ownership Thread

[Piobaire]

Pad is poured and curing. They should start framing end of this week or beginning of next.

 

[RedLantern]

I am in brainstorm mode for our (hopefully Q1 2018) upcoming bathroom remodel. Have a date with my wife set for friday night to go over various possibilities. Excited to hopefully zoom in on a design and get to shopping!

 

[brokencycle]

I think I've asked this before, but does anyone have a zoned HVAC system? When we finish our upstairs (which should hopefully start any day), we were thinking about zoning the upstairs into two zones (~600 sq ft + ~1000 sq ft). Reading more, it seems like a lot of people have complaints about their zoned systems not working right or not actually saving them much on heating and cooling.

Do you need a dual-stage AC to do it? We'll have a variable speed blower, but you have to go to a 17 seer AC to get the dual-stage which is a huge step up in price, and per multiple calculators never pays for itself in energy savings.

 

[ellsbebc]

Contractor is 90% complete with the smooth ceilings in every room with the exception of kitchen and a few repair items I noted. Met with the electrician this morning to discuss how many recessed lights, location, type (LED?) and size (4" vs. 6"). Want the pendant light moved so it is centered over kitchen island also. Waiting to receive a price before committing to the work. Once complete, the kitchen ceilings will be smoothed and painted.

The prior owners were jackasses and painted cream latex paint on all of the original white oil trim and doors. That will be a joy to strip and sand in order to repaint. Want to salvagethe doors because they are solid wood.

EDIT: anyone have recommended websites or Youtube content on recommended drywall prep before painting? This link seems helpful but will search Youtube for step-by-step instructions: https://www.familyhandyman.com/dryw...prepare-interior-walls-for-painting/view-all/

 

[Piobaire]

Framing is moving right along. I might even post a pic at some point.

 

[jcman311]

Has anyone looked into the Tesla roofing options? Kind of a big hit (money) at first but seems to make a lot of sense in the long term. Looks like starting costs are about 3 times a normal asphalt roof, but basically could go completely off grid.

 

[RedLantern]

Contractor is 90% complete with the smooth ceilings in every room with the exception of kitchen and a few repair items I noted. Met with the electrician this morning to discuss how many recessed lights, location, type (LED?) and size (4" vs. 6"). Want the pendant light moved so it is centered over kitchen island also. Waiting to receive a price before committing to the work. Once complete, the kitchen ceilings will be smoothed and painted.

The prior owners were jackasses and painted cream latex paint on all of the original white oil trim and doors. That will be a joy to strip and sand in order to repaint. Want to salvagethe doors because they are solid wood.

EDIT: anyone have recommended websites or Youtube content on recommended drywall prep before painting? This link seems helpful but will search Youtube for step-by-step instructions: https://www.familyhandyman.com/dryw...prepare-interior-walls-for-painting/view-all/

IIRC, most drywall finishing advice is pretty similar, and there is a lot of helpful content on youtube. Definitely try to get any drywall work you can done before you get moved in - elsewise drywall dust will become a permanent part of your life. Also, if you have any larger than a small amount to do, consider hiring someone. Drywalling is something that the skill and speed at which a pro works makes it much harder for me to want to do it myself. In addition, in most locales, decent (at least better than my quality) drywall work can be had for a much lower price than say plumbing work (which I generally do myself).

 

[idfnl]

I think I've asked this before, but does anyone have a zoned HVAC system? When we finish our upstairs (which should hopefully start any day), we were thinking about zoning the upstairs into two zones (~600 sq ft + ~1000 sq ft). Reading more, it seems like a lot of people have complaints about their zoned systems not working right or not actually saving them much on heating and cooling.

Do you need a dual-stage AC to do it? We'll have a variable speed blower, but you have to go to a 17 seer AC to get the dual-stage which is a huge step up in price, and per multiple calculators never pays for itself in energy savings.

Why don't you consider ductless splits instead?

 

[RedLantern]

Has anyone looked into the Tesla roofing options? Kind of a big hit (money) at first but seems to make a lot of sense in the long term. Looks like starting costs are about 3 times a normal asphalt roof, but basically could go completely off grid.

I have not looked at it yet, but I'm waiting on converting to solar power. I figure the technology is still changing at such a fast rate it will only get cheaper and more efficient the longer I wait. Plus, I figure at some point the feds will really get serious about pushing renewable energy and it will get subsidized/rebated out the wazzu. Until then, I'm still buying heating oil 1-2 times/yr. As an added bonus, I'm looking forward to converting to a heat pump whenever the big push to solar happens, at which point I will revel in dat sweet AC that we northwesterners have been deprived of for so long.

 

[RedLantern]

..

 

[Ataturk]

Making me feel bad about the mini split still sitting in boxes in my garage. I've done a lot of work in there, but I'd planned to wait for cooler weather to finish the work in the attic. Now it's cool enough for that, but I no longer need the a/c, so...

I also snagged another 12k mini split, brand new, from Craigslist for $300. Not sure what I'm going to do with it though.

 

[brokencycle]

Has anyone looked into the Tesla roofing options? Kind of a big hit (money) at first but seems to make a lot of sense in the long term. Looks like starting costs are about 3 times a normal asphalt roof, but basically could go completely off grid.

I looked at it as far as I used their calculator. Their calculator estimates it would cost me quite a bit. It is like $50k up front for me, and I don't ever recoup the full cost over the life of the roof. Plus, last time I did a roof it was ~$5k, so it is more like 10x not 3x.

Edit: I just realized that it automatically downgraded me to only a 10% roof after I put my electricity bill in. Basically, if I went with their recommended 50% it would be $90k, but I could more than double my electricity usage for "free."

Why don't you consider ductless splits instead?

Because the 600 sq ft section is already, so even if I only did the new space, it would be at least 4 mini splits, which just the hardware alone would be what I'm being quoted to do everything the HVAC guy is quoting me to do.

 

[otc]

Zoning by floor sounds like the only thing that is worth it.

multiple zones on the same floor sounds ridiculous unless you have a massive house with unused spaces (I'm not considering multiple window units/mini splits to be "multiple zones" here...with them, you obviously have more than one).

 

[jbarwick]

Out old townhouse was zoned by floor. Worked pretty well but we never had to replace units.

We will never be able to do solar at our house as the most sun we get is roughly ~5hrs in any one spot. Add to this each neighbor has mature trees that shade our property and we live on the east side of a hill so daylight is minimal. By 3pm in the middle of a summer afternoon, our property is completely shaded.

 

[emptym]

...
The prior owners were jackasses and painted cream latex paint on all of the original white oil trim and doors. That will be a joy to strip and sand in order to repaint. Want to salvagethe doors because they are solid wood.
...

How are you planning to remove the paint? Is there a way to remove just the latex?
I stripped several doors and their trim at our place. I went back and forth between using a chemical stripper and just scraping it away by hand. We had many layers of paint (8-15 iirc), and a mix of oil and latex. The stripper I used was Smart Strip. It's good and pretty non-toxic, but sometimes it left a sticky mess that took as long or longer to scrub away as straight stripping did. It does prevent nicks and gouges that scraping produces.

IIRC, most drywall finishing advice is pretty similar, and there is a lot of helpful content on youtube. Definitely try to get any drywall work you can done before you get moved in - elsewise drywall dust will become a permanent part of your life. Also, if you have any larger than a small amount to do, consider hiring someone. Drywalling is something that the skill and speed at which a pro works makes it much harder for me to want to do it myself. In addition, in most locales, decent (at least better than my quality) drywall work can be had for a much lower price than say plumbing work (which I generally do myself).

+1. After the mudding is done, I'd just get a damp sponge or rag and wipe the walls lightly. One painter told me just to "waive a broom at it," which I started to do after getting tired of wiping. Seemed to work fine. Then a drywall-specific primer and paint.