Home remodel

[maggsmaggs]

We are weighing options to either purchase a home from a new home builder in a neighborhood on the west side of las vegas (outstanding location, school districts, etc) or undergo a massive renovation/addition project to our own home (good location, bad school districts, would require private or charter schools). We met with an architect on Thursday evening who was very interested in making our existing property work for our needs.

 

Some of those needs include accommodating parents and potentially my wife's brother at some point.

 

Very tough decision.

 

Money wise, where do you end up with both options? Because based on what little I know of your situation, the new home is the way to go with the immensly better schools, better location and probably already the existing space to house parents/brothers.

 

 

[Texsox]

Love it or list it?

 

THere is a reason that show exists. It is a tough decision usually.

[iamshack]

Money wise, where do you end up with both options? Because based on what little I know of your situation, the new home is the way to go with the immensly better schools, better location and probably already the existing space to house parents/brothers.

That is still a bit of a wild card, but I am guessing we'd work off the same budget irregardless of which option we choose. However, I suspect we might be able to get a bit more for our money for the existing home than if we were to buy new.

 

As much as we love our existing property (particularly myself, I think my wife likes it but could move on with not much afterthought), I think these new homes we walked through last week have finally impressed me enough to consider moving. I'd love to stay here and turn the property into the vision I had when we purchased it, but I'm not sure I have the balls to make that investment, both in money, time and effort. I suspect we could extract a very healthy profit if we sold it now without taking all the risk of a massive renovation/addition.

 

That being said, I'm still waiting for comps from my realtor for our home. Additionally, we'd have to get into the nitty gritty of the cost of the new home. The model homes are great and all, but there are so many other costs we've got to get a handle on, including the lot premiums, the infamous "upgrades," as well as what it would cost to finish a backyard with a pool and landscaping and all that fun. I absolutely refuse to move to another home in this city without a pool.

 

 

[SouthsideDon48]

Ok home electricians, here's a question:

 

I installed some Ikea under cabinet lights this weekend. The Omlopp LED spotlight kit, 4 lights that plug into a transformer that is plugged into a wall. When I flip the switch, there's a good half second to full second delay before the lights come on. Any ideas why? The old light that was connected to the switch (hard wired) did not have this issue. I took that down and added an outlet and then plugged the transformer into that. No power issues, doesn't matter how many lights are plugged into the transformer. There's still the delay. I'm thinking maybe the transformer is bad? Or maybe the switch somehow went bad coincidentally?

 

Hey jenks, like the other guys said, that is a common thing some LED bulbs get. Don't worry too much about what other people visiting your place think, cause if they have LED's in their place, chances are theey might've experienced the same thing and are totally not judging you for it.

 

If someone does say "Hey Tex,... that light doesn't come on right away.", then use that opportunity to educate them on LED bulbs and the associated cost savings.

 

Like someone else said, some LED bulbs/undercabinet lights/fixtures require that half-second delay for the energy to reach the diode. There's some LED's that doesn't have that delay, but I wouldn't go out and attempt to change it, because there's no telling which LED's has that delay and which doesn't until you try it out in your home.

 

I have LED bulbs all over my condo, most are Sylvannia non-dimmable 60-watt equivalents that uses 8.5 watts and gives off a nice 800-lumens of brightness that has a 10-year life. In light fixtures that has a dimmer, I have Sylvannia 60-watt equivalents that uses 10 watts and gives off a nice 800-lumens of brightness that has a 22-year life. For some other light fixtures that does not have a dimmer, I also have some Feit Electric 60-watt equivalents that uses about 9.5 watts and also gives off a nice 800 lumens of brightness for a life of 10 years as well.

 

When it comes to LED bulbs, I only buy name-brand bulbs like Sylvannia and Feit Electric (Feit is a little-known brand but they make good bulbs.) I would also buy Phillips and Westinghouse, but I never got LED bulbs from those brands, so I can't say for sure how well they'd work. I'd trust Phillips more than Westinghouse because it seems like Westinghouse was a little late entering the LED bulb game, so they might still have to work out some kinks.

 

Don't make the same mistake I made by buying off-brand LED bulbs because when I first got my condo, I got cheap 2-pack off-brand bulbs and they all went out in less than a year even though they were advertised on the box to last for 15 years. In fact, I only have one of those off-brand bulbs left and it's the one I leave on 24/7 above my kitchen sink. The brightness faded and it makes for a nice little nightlight type of bulb, but I think the only reason it hasn't burned out yet is because we weren't turning it on and off all the time like other bulbs throughout our home.

 

So, because of the off-brand stuff burning out, I ended up buying the name-brand Sylvannia and Feit Electric bulbs I mentioned earlier. I replaced them as needed, so, some lights have a mix of half Sylvannia non-dimmable and Feit nontdimmable, such as my hallway lights. One of them comes on right away, but the other light in the hallway has that half-second delay before coming on, and i totally donkt mind at all, because those 4 bulbs combined with those 2 lights makes my hallway nice and superbright.

 

So yea, don't worry about the delay, that's normal.

 

Whenever you buy name-brand LED bulbs you can get the best deals with 60-watt equivalents in soft-white color because they mass-produce so many that those are the ones that usually have a lower price compared to the 75 and 100 watt equivalents and most 40 watt equivalents. If you see a 4-pack of non-dimmable LED 60-watt name-brand equivalents for $8, that's actually a good deal. 3-pack for about $6 or $7 is also a good deal. If you see a 4-pack of dimmable LED 60-watt equivalents for about $20.00, (still $5.Per bulb) that's also a fair price, but it's a better deal whenever itks on sale for less. If you have recessed can lights and need LED 65-watt BR30 equivalents, then a 4-pack for $35 is typically a good deal as well as single packs for $8 or less if it's on sale is also a good deal, especially if it has a 22-year life advertised on the name-brand box.

 

Sorry for boring you with all this, I sell LED bulbs for a living.

Edited June 5, 2016 by SouthsideDon48

[Texsox]

I just bookmarked this. Thanks SSD

[RockRaines]

I have almost all Phillips dimable for my can lights. They are fantastic.

[Texsox]

Eventually they will become like incandescents and anyone will be able to make a decent product.

[Texsox]

I'm excited. The lumber company just dropped off a couple thousand dollars worth of cedar and metal roofing. My brother-in-law and I will be starting on my back patio roof and makeover. I'm seriously looking at a grillzebo next with the cost savings from the roof project. I'm going for a kind of Texas hill country feel for the back yard.

[iamshack]

I'm excited. The lumber company just dropped off a couple thousand dollars worth of cedar and metal roofing. My brother-in-law and I will be starting on my back patio roof and makeover. I'm seriously looking at a grillzebo next with the cost savings from the roof project. I'm going for a kind of Texas hill country feel for the back yard.

Nice Tex!

 

How long do you expect the project to take?

[bigruss]

Going to need pics when done

[iamshack]

I've got a lot of balls in the air at the moment...we've been working with an architect to try and get our arms around what the general costs might be to renovate and add on to our property. Meanwhile, we've gone ahead and gotten prequalified for the new homes we've been looking at on the west side of the valley with the builder's preferred lender, to see how much they might be willing to negotiate in terms of upgrades and incentives. I've never really even looked at new homes before, let alone bought one, but I was playing around in their online system last night looking at the upgrades, and I was shocked to see how much they charge for some of these things. As we recently remodeled our kitchen, I've got a pretty good idea what things cost, and they were asking more than retail price to upgrade appliances. Finally, I am heading out to Henderson this morning to meet the sales manager of a new development that has been sculpted out of some canyons, to talk about potentially purchasing a lot and building there.

 

Lots of options, and lots of fun...and lots of stress!

[Texsox]

Nice Tex!

 

How long do you expect the project to take?

 

 

Going to need pics when done

 

It took us three days. I'll try to post a pick. I also built a little ramp / deck at my shed. The drywall guy is here repairing some ceiling damage, a plumber will be replacing my water heater, I'm replacing the locks at my front door, that cheap s*** Kwikset suddenly stopped working. Lots of projects going.

[Texsox]

Something I thought to do this time when changing the door lock. I decided to not rekey to my old lock. I started fresh with a new key. I labeled the two keys that came with the lock and immediately went and had copies made. I have a list stored of who will be getting a key plus I have the originals in original condition when I need to make any replacements. It seems like copies of copies always have glitches "just wiggle it a little bit"

[StrangeSox]

Any carpenters here that could give some advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

I'm a ways into a project of installing 9/16" pre-finished engineered hardwood flooring in my bedroom, upstairs hallway, and down our main flight of stairs. Most of it has been straight forward, but the stairs have me stumped due to the way they were originally built. Simple "builder's grade" stairs out of 2x, but the stair skirt boards aren't tall enough. When I go to put the new stair nosing on, it'll overhang the skirt by a good 1/2"+.

 

 

My initial thought is to try to build this up somehow with 1x, but I'm not really sure if that's the best approach.

 

The more challenging part is where the top set of stairs hits a small landing. The top skirt board and stair nose/riser sticks out past the drywall quite a bit, and once the new riser and nose are on, it'll be a couple of inches.

 

 

My only thought so far is to try to make something like this corner trim block shown on this floor trim here.

 

 

I've really stalled out on this project trying to figure out the next step here.

[Texsox]

I must be missing something. Isn't this as simple as making the tread shallower to match what was already there? Why does the tread have to overhang the riser so much? You would rip the board that is closest to the riser.

 

And I really like that trim work. If it is in the room with the staircase, I would try to incorporate that into the stairway design.

[StrangeSox]

No idea whose trim that is, though it is very similar to my in-laws'. I just used that as an example photo. We've got white tall trim with 1/4 round in the areas we've started to remodel, but it's a little more simple than that. We've found we both really like the craftsman style, which is nice because it's typically easier!

 

The stairs used to be carpeted, which covered up some of the shoddy original building. Even if the nose of the new floor was flush with the existing riser, it'd still stick past the skirt boards as shown in the first photo. It was hard to get a good angle to show the overhang, so I threw together this quick sketch:

 

 

I can't really do anything to modify the existing "builders stairs," so I don't know what you mean by cutting back the tread. The overhang in the first photo is correct, the overhang in the second is too far. The nosing of the underlying builder's stair has already been cut back flush with the existing riser.

 

This is more or less the end product I want, but the existing skirt board was just put in in a really stupid way.

 

 

 

edit: This may be the time to admit defeat and call in the professionals, though.

Edited June 16, 2016 by StrangeSox

[Texsox]

If I am understanding this correctly this is tongue and groove flooring. You seem to be trying to fit three boards deep on each step when 2 1/2 boards may fit better. The tread is what you step on. If your stairs were made with, for example, 16" treads and you are trying to fit (3) 6" boards on each tread can't you just rip the first board to fit then fit in the next two boards to fit?

 

Looking at your drawing again, the new flooring is too deep and needs to be cut. Why can't you just cut the new flooring is what I am trying to say.

[StrangeSox]

It is T&G (prefinished engineered)

 

Look at the corner where the existing builder stairs 2x's come to a point. It's more or less flush with the stair skirt board, and that's not something that can be changed short of tearing out and rebuilding the whole staircase. Any additional thickness on the stairs, any nosing at all will have the ends sticking out past the skirt board. I already know that I need to rip down the last board on each stair, but it's not about the depth from the back of the tread to the front that's giving me the problem. It's that the existing skirt board is flush with the existing 2x stairs.

Edited June 16, 2016 by StrangeSox

[RockRaines]

You guys have big balls doing that work yourselves.

[StrangeSox]

I need to post some before/after pictures of my master now that that's 99% done (some minor trim patching and painting left, waiting to do that at the same time as the stairs).

[Jenksismyhero]

Tough to say without looking at all of this in person but:

 

(1) can you use a thinner riser covering and/or no covering at all, just paint the 2x stair? That'd set the nose back a little more.

 

edit: nm, that wouldn't change anything since the nose is going to be where the nose is going to be. Maybe on that 2nd pic though where it sticks out farther. Although that's drywall nm. Ha, just forget this suggestion.

 

(2) is it really that unsightly if the nose did stick out further than the skirt board?

 

(3) i'm sure it's next to impossible on a long run, but how straight is that skirt board going down? Any chance you can tack on a new skirt board on top, fill the seam and paint it?

Edited June 16, 2016 by JenksIsMyHero

[Jenksismyhero]

You guys have big balls doing that work yourselves.

 

I installed custom wainscoting when I finished part of my basement, including up the stairs. I would get to certain points where I would be stumped for days trying to figure out the best way to work the angles. You don't think about the little things at the start of the project. It's not until you get to that point, then it becomes a hurdle.

[StrangeSox]

Tough to say without looking at all of this in person but:

 

(1) can you use a thinner riser covering and/or no covering at all, just paint the 2x stair? That'd set the nose back a little more.

 

That's a decent thought. Don't know why the flooring store sold me 1/2" thick risers, a 1/4 or even 1/8" veneer would be fine

 

(2) is it really that unsightly if the nose did stick out further than the skirt board?

 

oh yes it will look terrible

 

(3) i'm sure it's next to impossible on a long run, but how straight is that skirt board going down? Any chance you can tack on a new skirt board on top, fill the seam and paint it?

 

I actually made a sketch of that same idea earlier! I'm just not sure how well it'll work/how well I could pull it off. Something like this:

 

Edited June 16, 2016 by StrangeSox

[Jenksismyhero]

Yeah I think 3 is going to be your best shot, but that'll take some accurate cuts to look good. In my experience even the best cut/fill/paint job ends up cracking or needing a touchup after a season or two with the wood contracting/expanding.

[StrangeSox]

I installed custom wainscoting when I finished part of my basement, including up the stairs. I would get to certain points where I would be stumped for days trying to figure out the best way to work the angles. You don't think about the little things at the start of the project. It's not until you get to that point, then it becomes a hurdle.

 

This is where having an engineering background and 3D CAD at work has helped me a few times, especially when I built a new deck/staircase at our previous house. Lots of little minor tweaks to the design on the computer when I would realize "wait, I can't built that that way." Had a good idea of every board and cut that had to be made before I even bought the wood. The village permit office also appreciated a set of real plans rather than crayon scribbles on a napkin they usually get.

 

A lot of that is stuff that a pro would have breezed right by because they've run into the same thing a dozen times before, but it's always harder figuring it out the first time.

 

Yeah I think 3 is going to be your best shot, but that'll take some accurate cuts to look good. In my experience even the best cut/fill/paint job ends up cracking or needing a touchup after a season or two with the wood contracting/expanding.

 

It'll be something that I'll notice forever but nobody else would ever be at eye-level (hopefully).

Edited June 16, 2016 by StrangeSox