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The Home Renovation Thread

tequila4kapp said:
I would like people's opinion about something. We are going to get new flooring. We are going with manufactured hard wood with plywood core. This is going to be installed in all downstairs rooms. We are 99.99% sure we are going to do the stairs also. The question is what to do with the upstairs hallway (i.e., your first step off the stairs). Hardwood the stairs, meaning only the office and bedrooms would have carpet? Or stop the hardwood at the stairs so all of the upstairs is carpet? What say you THP design and renovation experts?
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We had carbonized bamboo installed downstairs in my house. It’s hard wearing and looks good. We had carpet all downstairs except for the 1/2 bath and kitchen. All carpet downstairs was replaced.

We did not have the stair carpet nor the upstairs carpet replaced. My wife and I talked about it but never have. We probably never will.

maxw72 said:
Just bite the bullet and go buy a Milwaukee battery and a impact drill. That battery will last you all day. When my father in law and I built his 1400 sqft deck we burned through our dewalt batteries. He went and bought a Milwaukee and those tools are champs! I only buy Milwaukee now.
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Here’s another vote for Milwaukee. I’d get a drill and impact and 2 5AH batteries. You’ll run those tools all day on those batteries. I’ve got Milwaukee M18 3/8” drill and 1/4” impact. They’re more powerful than the M12 and less powerful than the M18 Fuel.

You probably could do without the drill because I don’t think Trex needs pre drilling for the hidden fasteners.
 
Scorpion12 said:
We had carbonized bamboo installed downstairs in my house. It’s hard wearing and looks good. We had carpet all downstairs except for the 1/2 bath and kitchen. All carpet downstairs was replaced.

We did not have the stair carpet nor the upstairs carpet replaced. My wife and I talked about it but never have. We probably never will.


Here’s another vote for Milwaukee. I’d get a drill and impact and 2 5AH batteries. You’ll run those tools all day on those batteries. I’ve got Milwaukee M18 3/8” drill and 1/4” impact. They’re more powerful than the M12 and less powerful than the M18 Fuel.

You probably could do without the drill because I don’t think Trex needs pre drilling for the hidden fasteners.
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Milwaukee M18 Fuel is what I've transitioned to. I kept adding during a complete renovation a few years ago and they're absolute beasts.
 
tequila4kapp said:
They claim they can't nail anything to my existing subfloor (particle board). I don't have the money or desire to redo the subfloor so that locks us in to floating. The closest I can get is manufactured - thin layer of real wood on top of plywood core.
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Obviously there are different qualities of engineered hardwood flooring and I would argue some look better and are more desirable that solid hardwood. We put a engineered oak hardwood floor in our last two homes that were custom builds. Both builders couldn’t give us a solid hardwood floor that had the matte finish and look we wanted. The have a 6mm top layer and our super durable as when we moved out of our last home after 6 years of heavy traffic on those floors they looked brand new.

As far as the stairs go, if it’s in the budget I really like the look of hardwood with a carpet stair runner which is what we did.
 
About to pull the trigger on 14 Harvey replacement windows and a vinyl siding job... despite a credit score of 800 I’ve found getting a HELOC to be a pain in the ass. Banks have 90 plus day closing dates
 
Productive day. A few damaged boards so not sure if we’ll finish tomorrow, but happy with the progress.
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Shower part of bathroom is done. Glass goes around it soon.

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New flooring is in.
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Busy weekend. I think we’re ultimately going to move away from Louisville in the coming years, so starting to do some work in the house to prep.

painting a few areas. Installed a new ceiling fan in the master bedroom, and towel racks in the bathrooms today. Going to replace the vents in the bathrooms tomorrow morning.
 
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And done for today. 2 boards short since a couple were damaged. Hopefully these guys are reasonable in replacing our damaged boards. In the meantime we can start to build some stairs, figure out the skirting, and install some fascia.
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Did some WORK today, and it feels amazing.

Sill plate replaced on one side and 72x80 door opening framed in with a header then built and installed on the double jack studs.

This is so freaking enjoyable.

Now have the front side to replace the sill plate in and then frame in two new window openings and correct the door build.

Sadly I’ll be shut down for the next 4 days, but, hoping to get it rolling again by weeks end.
 
After trying to run new wiring in the attic, and install new bathroom exhaust fans and lights, I have a newfound respect for electricians. I do not like wiring, nor do I like trying to do it on a ladder, above my head, in a hole in the ceiling that I could barely fit my head through.
 
JB said:
Shower part of bathroom is done. Glass goes around it soon.

New flooring is in.
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That looks very similar to the tiles we have got in our bathroom
 
Annnnnnd now it’s 33 and rainy for the next 4 days. Work site shut down for me 😭
 
RealPretendPsychic said:
Productive day. A few damaged boards so not sure if we’ll finish tomorrow, but happy with the progress.
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Love the tv. Got to watch the game while working right? I'd just have a radio out there with me and listen to music. Is that Milwaukee red I see?



@Jman it sounds like you're putting in some great work... replacing sill plates and all that. I wish I could do that sort of thing
 
Scorpion12 said:
Love the tv. Got to watch the game while working right? I'd just have a radio out there with me and listen to music. Is that Milwaukee red I see?
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I use my 3M Worktunes hearing protectors with built-in Bluetooth. It not only protects the hearing and allows me my choice of listening, but also fends off unwanted/unneeded supervision - for a while.

I saw the red as well. EDIT: I will recalibrate my monitor. Which ones did you go with. I chose the M12 Fuel myself primarily because of lighter weight, but they have all the power I need in 95% of cases. So I can imagine the M18 Fuel line is even better.
 
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Scorpion12 said:
Love the tv. Got to watch the game while working right? I'd just have a radio out there with me and listen to music. Is that Milwaukee red I see?



@Jman it sounds like you're putting in some great work... replacing sill plates and all that. I wish I could do that sort of thing
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No sir, that is Black & Decker orange (army of batteries survived the weekend) and infuriating Indiana red on the TV.
 
Well, not buying Milwaukee saves money. Especially if what you've got works.(y)
 
Scorpion12 said:
Well, not buying Milwaukee saves money. Especially if what you've got works.(y)
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We’re still working on a resident’s salary with med school student loans. If I keep up this home improvement nonsense, I should be able to leverage some better tools.
 
Scorpion12 said:
Love the tv. Got to watch the game while working right? I'd just have a radio out there with me and listen to music. Is that Milwaukee red I see?



@Jman it sounds like you're putting in some great work... replacing sill plates and all that. I wish I could do that sort of thing
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It’s been fun. Lots of learning as I go, and I won’t lie, taking it down to the frame was daunting, but I’m glad I did it. We are going to save 10’s of thousands.
 
Decorator got a chunk of the work done at the back end of last week so the space looked like this - the plaster hadn't dried enough to paint, so the dining room olnly had the ceiling painted, but the decorator will be back to finish it off and touch up any areas that get marked during the fitting of the kitchen

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Then the new kitchen was delivered on Saturday so it now looks like this

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Fitting of the new kitchen will start either Monday or Wednesday next week depending on when the fitter finishes the job he is currently doing
 
Need to frame out steps while I wait for damaged decking replacement material. Do I order cabinets for the laundry room at the same time? I mean there’s room to put them in the garage if they arrive before I’m done with the deck...
 
RealPretendPsychic said:
Need to frame out steps while I wait for damaged decking replacement material. Do I order cabinets for the laundry room at the same time? I mean there’s room to put them in the garage if they arrive before I’m done with the deck...
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I vote yes :ROFLMAO:
 
RealPretendPsychic said:
Need to frame out steps while I wait for damaged decking replacement material. Do I order cabinets for the laundry room at the same time? I mean there’s room to put them in the garage if they arrive before I’m done with the deck...
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Yes, because no truly good project ever avoided scope creep.
 
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