Elessar78 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 I back filled a lot of the wall with gravel. Mostly the bottom mad middle sections. The top I filled in with dirt. Do you think it will be okay? I back filled a lot of the wall with gravel. Mostly the bottom mad middle sections. The top I filled in with dirt. Do you think it will be okay? gotcha. from the picture it looks like compacted dirt is behind the wall. But now that I look at it again, I see some gravel around. The top doesn't need a lot of dirt for planting. What did you do for water drainage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popeman38 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 can you give me some questiouns to ask a potential concrete contractor? To make sure he knows his stuff. 1) How thick are you planning on making the slab? (you need at least 4', but I would prefer 5") 2) How far apart do you plan on placing the control joints? (should be 10-15') 3) Will you use any rebar for stability? 4) What is your process for prepping the ground for the pour? (should roll the ground to make it flat and compacted and then some crushed stone on top and rolled again) 5) What guarantees will they stand behind? I would not go with the lowest bidder. Concrete work is one of those areas you need the contractor to be skilled and thorough. I would rather put the money upfront for a long lasting, low maintenance finished product. There will most likely be surface cracks over the years (usually very fine, not massive), but those are easy to seal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinz4Life12 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 gotcha. from the picture it looks like compacted dirt is behind the wall. But now that I look at it again, I see some gravel around. The top doesn't need a lot of dirt for planting. What did you do for water drainage? Only backfilled with gravel and used my base layer as gravel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 Bought a new home in March. Things i built the first week: That now has another one stacked on top (its 8 feet tall now). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stugein Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 OK. So I'm closing on a new house in 2 weeks. The basement is unfinished and mine to do with as I please. I intend to make it my gaming/PC/office/media center/Redskins room. I want to go for a ware-house, industrial/loft-style look to it. Sealed concrete walls, exposed rafters, painted exposed pipes and duct work, stained concrete floor, etc. I have a couple of design/logistics questions though.. 1. There is an open perimeter drain around the entire basement, leading to the sump pit. How do I hide this without blocking it? 2. Corner of the basement whee the sump pump resides also has the furnace and water heater. Can you think of a creative way to cordon off this section into a "utility room" area while maintaining the ware-house/concrete style design? I was thinking like a storage cage with a door, but then lining the inside with sheet metal to make a "wall". I'm open to suggestions and ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elessar78 Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 (edited) I back filled a lot of the wall with gravel. Mostly the bottom mad middle sections. The top I filled in with dirt. Do you think it will be okay? sorry, just saw this. Yeah it will be okay if you filled up just shy of 6-8", it just looked like in the photo that you were right up to the wall with dirt. The old wall was two-tier, you can see the remnants of the old wall before it was taken down. Whole wall Showing how the gravel gap. Edited May 26, 2014 by Elessar78 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popeman38 Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Well, 8x12 is not that big (it's less than 100 square feet). If I were you, I'd build it bigger than you think you need. Find a deck design website & place the virtual furniture on it (plus grill, etc.) You'll see how much space that stuff takes. A couple of chairs, grill, table, umbrella stand and suddenly you have no space to enjoy a ****tail with more than 1 person. Since it will be at the 2nd floor level, I'm assuming that is the main house floor where the kitchen is. If so, you will definitely want to have your grill & other things on the deck so you don't have to go up & down the stairs to the patio to cook. I keep my gas grill on my deck & my smoker on my patio. The smoker is used for long cooks that I don't have to monitor every 10 minutes. That's a nice size patio. As I said, look at the patio pavers/stone as an option to concrete (which can crack). Since you have a new home, the ground around your house is going to settle for a while. For the fence, I've never done a vinyl fence but I'm pretty sure you can't just push them in the ground. They have to be set in concrete. It's really not that difficult if you're the least bit handy. A 1 or 2 person power auger will make short work out of digging the holes. The work is the design & layout in your yard. Once that is all mapped out, hole digging & filling with concrete is not bad. Again, depends on the size & number of post holes. The other hard part is getting the gate right (as in designed & laid out correctly). Put in a contract for a 12x20 deck and 228' of vinyl 3 board fencing with one 4' gate. Surprised how good the price on the deck was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoSkins0721 Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Put in a contract for a 12x20 deck and 228' of vinyl 3 board fencing with one 4' gate. Surprised how good the price on the deck was. Good for you! I see the deck is bigger than originally planned. Did you go with Trex or wood for the deck & railings? Any decision on the patio? Post some pics when it's done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 I wish I could post picks to this thread from my iPad. I installed a ceiling fan to replace an old noisy one that was in a tight space in my bedroom. I measured and got a bigger one. Fit like a glove. Literally a quarter inch larger and it would have hit a wall. I think my next project will be to rewire that thing so it's in the center of the room. I don't imagine it will be too hard since it's on the top floor and above that is an attic. Probably wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popeman38 Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Good for you! I see the deck is bigger than originally planned. Did you go with Trex or wood for the deck & railings? Any decision on the patio? Post some pics when it's done. Went with plain old wood. I love the feel of a wood deck and I am not a fan of Trex. Not sure why. Patio is punted to fall/spring as funds running low after the expenses associated with moving into a new house. My water bill is gonna be astronomical watering this sod to keep it alive!DIY projects form the last week are hanging blinds, mounting a 60" TV over the fireplace, and hanging 2 52" ceiling fans to cut down on the cooling costs. Can't post any pics cause I still have no Internet or TV service (10 days without, but no interruptions getting **** done). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.T.real,lights,out Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 So i am just about finished with our kitchen remodel. We have wall cutout shelving...or whatever its called. I was thinking about making a wine rack and hanging it in the shelving area. Does anyone have good directions on how to make a wine holder....looking to go with the lattice look. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted June 3, 2014 Author Share Posted June 3, 2014 (edited) I bought an 8 foot tall wine rack from these folks: http://www.winecellarinnovations.com/ They send you the parts, you build it and install it yourself. I posted a picture in post 554 of this thread (before I installed the second one on top of the first). Edited June 3, 2014 by PleaseBlitz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD0506 Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Man I wish I had been kidding about tearing out the chimney............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chew Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 ugh, looks like a pain in the ass LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.T.real,lights,out Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 I bought an 8 foot tall wine rack from these folks: http://www.winecellarinnovations.com/ They send you the parts, you build it and install it yourself. I posted a picture in post 554 of this thread (before I installed the second one on top of the first). Thanks for the info man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elessar78 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Anyone knowledgeable about Ductless HVAC? My AC unit is up for replacement any day now and I'm exploring options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 That's opening up quite the can there. The "easy" answer here,is simply replace the ac unit because more than likely,it will be less costly than a ductless system,(assuming it's running with the same lines as the heat of course). Okay. That's that. However,(isn't there almost always a "however"with this stuff?),there are other possible issues to consider before taking the easy answer and running with it. Number of rooms,size of house,energy costs and most importantly,is the ac working efficiently,(with a perfectly working ac unit of course),enough to simply replace it? Big thing here is leaking in the ductwork. Many "mchomes" can have that problem. Epecially those built in the big booms during the early nineties and 2000's. hvac company can run a couple of reasonably quick tests to check that out. That's where things can get interesting. Depending on the house,finding and repairing leaks in the system can be a huge undertaking and very costly. As an example,(on what I believe is the plus side of ductless). We have a smaller home,about 1600 square feet. Single floor dwelling with a crawl space. The present system does a fantastic job of keeping the crawl space nice and warm during the winter months. Between that and the original 1979 windows it's no cheap task to keep this place warm. Now even with most of the ductwork visible and easy to get to to,it's still a bit costly to find all the leaks,repair them,(if possible,and insulate every last bit of it,(lots of heat loss there from the old tin). For nearly the same cost,(as well as cleaning the system),I can have ductless run to about 3-rooms and the only thing to worry about there are the window,(fortunately not too many of those in this small house). Oh. And this place doesn't have air conditioning,(story about that dealing with the old owner. ). So the cost there works. As always do your research and whatever you do,don't tell any hvac company what you may be planning. Just have a few tests done to check the system and go from there. Hope that helps a little. By the way,cons for the ductless are mainly cost and getting someone who actually knows how it install it. * Oh yeah. The laundry room remodel is now in its 3rd week. Sigh. We don't have those 5 uninterrupted days of work that they do on Renovation Realities. Kids and work schedules tend to prolong these projects,(that and I had to shake off a little rust. ). That said,it does already look good. Cut in a new window,built in shelving on one wall,replaced all the drywall,(found one burnt match,one live 220 wire,and a badly rusted and frayed wire job to a light when we removed the old stuff along with the insulation),painted,and adding a door to "separate" the now room,(used to be remodeled closet),from the house. Sound thing. Now it's some flooring and then adding the plumbing for a sink. Fun. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD0506 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 RR, the funniest show on TV bar none. I've gotten my wife to watch it now and we wait for the magic words, "How hard can it be?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Laid a 12x20 patio this weekend. Wasn't as terrible as I thought it was going to be. From start to finish, took about 7 hours. Though I'm already thinking about expanding it another 3 or 4 feet lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Patios can be like that. One minute there's a nice,decently sized patio and the next,you're trying to see if you can borrow some of the neighbor's backyard. Yeah. RR is absolutely hysterical. Sometimes,they actually do a pretty good job. My fiance and I have been adding/remodeling the laundry room and every now and then she or I will suddenly say "If Jay or Sally had gone to DIY.com......" Or as we tore down all the drywall and insulation to see what was in the walls,we would identify a problem as an RR discovery moment or Holmes moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 Said laundry room at the early stages of "during" and right about now. Typical of a lot of homes built back in the 60's and 70's,(including one we lived in in Rutherford in Fairfax way back in the 70's),the laundry "room" was a former closet. Moved there from the garage lot's of times. This one was located in the old mechanical/coat closet right inside from the garage. I'll have to post a picture of what it looked right when we started. It's funny what we have uncovered in just a space of 8x6. The entry door was replaced back in 1985. I know this because I read the date of some of the newspaper they used as insulation in between the wall and door jamb. The original closet doorway was framed like the wall was a bearing. Complete with what was left of a 3x8 glulam. Someone had cut most of it out to make room for the closet doors that used be there for the converted laundry. This of course,drew my attention. A quick check revealed nothing below the floor where they once framed for bearing. Anyway. We demo'd all of that,removed all of the drywall and first level of floor decking,(untreated bits and pieces of particle board. ). New drywall,paint,window,built in shelving,(both of which I cut and framed in),and flooring later,things are looking pretty cool I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD0506 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 So, did everyone just take the summer off? I know PCS is still throwin' sawdust on some project...... Needed to reroof a back porch addition/ 3 season room, got all my materials together and had a plan that lasted about midway through Day 1. Original build was a mess, have to rebuild the entire thing along with the transitions where the low slope porch meets the steeper house roof. Finally got the roofing complete after a scorching week that left me feeling and looking like a rotisserie chicken, low slope (less than 2/12) Flintastic roll roofing 2 sq+ that was charming to do singlehanded, redid an iffy gable/main to porch valley, tore walls down to concrete floor and block halfwalls, building back up solidly from there, new 6' slider............. oy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 (edited) I finally finished our patio. Pretty much right after I did it initially, I decided I wanted to add 3 more feet to it. Hadn't had the time until recently, but had to have it done by this weekend for our party on the 4th and my daugther's bday the following day. Ended up with a nice 13x24 patio. Wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. My 2 next projects are to build a coffee table for the patio using one of those big steel coolers as the base and using plywood and 2x4s as the top. My other one is to build a bar for the patio out of pallets. Saw this and figured I could pull that off. Doesn't look too challenging. My big fall project will be putting a bar in my basement, just in time for football season! Edited July 2, 2014 by MattFancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfitzo53 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Thanks for the bump LD0506. Our exterior side door is going to need replacing fairly soon. I need to figure out whether it's something I can do, and/or how much I should be expecting to pay to have it done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.T.real,lights,out Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Taking the summer off from working inside. Have a lot of landscaping to do. Hopefully will get to some of it today and tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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