KnarlyCarl Posted September 5, 2016 Report Posted September 5, 2016 Present day work: Time to pull the massive thick walls of flagstone, mortar, and block out of the basement and up and out to make new stairs so i can actually utilize the basement! Old stairs of flag were narrow and a little bit steep, and I needed a proper staircase from the new addition I put on the house 2 years ago (time flies!) Just yesterday, we hit it hard, had two cousins over who tag teamed the removal in a 16 gallon barrel, dump in a loader bucket tractor I borrowed from my boss and drove it around to the back of my garage for a big pile of rubble. Meanwhile, I was on the big spline rotary hammer punching out the cement blocks, and the flagstone used to build the sides of the stairs and surrounding walls. I put up screw jacks before completely removing the supporting walls! - A little ways into the demo: .. .. .. .. End of yesterday: .. There was a solid wall of flag on either side of the stairs: ... -- There a TON of work on this property I did it would take weeks to document it all, but boy what an achievement looking back on it. But there's still more to do, I bought this as a foreclosure and it had sat empty for 2-1/2 years while raccoons roamed freely in the basement mostly. Fortunately, the neighbors let their dog in occasionally to hunt them out LOL!!! So they are great neighbors and I appreciate them not letting the wildlife take over and make a complete mess of the place -- Off top of my head: --Planted bunch of arborvitae along property line, and couple other trees here and there --Gut the kitchen walls, leaving floor and ceiling, build all new cabinets, new appliances, new countertop, leave the stainless steel sink. --Redo the entry doors to actually close because the strike plates on the doors were just surface mounted, not sunk in the door! Then I completely replaced the back door it was so bad. --Install screen/storm door in back. --Oh yeah, the furnace was vented to the basement, hello carbon monoxide... route new venting to the outside. --Then completely remove the furnace and basment ductwork, install new geothermal and ductwork, add second thermostat upstairs. --Water pipe burst the first winter i was there, they didn't put proper insulation and now I have mini waterfalls going down to my (unfinished) basment, redo entire bathroom and laundry, new pipe as well to first and second floor bathrooms. Thanks insurance! --Massive wind storm came through and destroyed my (rickity) barn, so i pulled the entire thing down and burned it on multiple bonfires --Pulled down all the drywall in the garage, it was so bad, old junk above that was removed --New double 2x12s across the front of my garage to support new garage door, beefed up, braced up, etc --All new pole barn metal siding on garage, plus add an enclosed lean-to on side of garage, about 11' wide, down the entire length --Gutted front room upstairs, new everything, new duct run to add air supply --Finished the bathroom the previous owner had started, new everything, tub/shower, pedestal sink, toilet --Removed two old tank water heaters, new tankless/on demand high efficiency water heater plus recirculating loop for the hot water line, (love my instant hot water!!!!!) --Install used water softener --In progress: finishing the baseboard trim the PO hadn't even bothered on --New stair treads and balusters and spindles and trim and carpet in about half the house --Add closet under the stairs, really supported the stairs themselves since they were so bouncy they weren't done right. --Add plumbing vents to the system, take them and bath vents through the roof instead of dumping to attic space (Eeewww) --Had chickens which I recently got rid of, pulled their fence down, planted new grass in a large part of the lawn --New fence along the entire front of the property along the road, the house is quite close to the road! --New 19x13' addition on back of the house, which allowed me to fill in 3 cisterns, and make the rear entrance so much better!! --Spray foam insulation in the basement at the end joists and sill plates --Peel off old wallpaper on everything, new paint everywhere --Corner whirlpool tub was sunk in the floor, thought that was stupid, raised up to be on the floor itself, made cherry shiplap skirting around the whole thing --New dedicated iron filter media tank, new pressure tank too oh man this could go on, i'm sure i'm missing like 31 more things ... @ChrisK please have more sanity that I and tell me you got somethinga little more ready to use LOL!! 7 Quote
DR99 Posted September 5, 2016 Report Posted September 5, 2016 Damm, KnarlyCarl your never far away from some kind of construction work are you A friend bought an older house and we spent days removing bad mortar and re waterproofing the walls. I wish I had pictures of the before and after. The basement before was dank dirty and nasty now it feels like a place you can actually live in. A cool trick we figure out to cover up the rock walls was to float cement board with construction adhesive. It actually worked out really good 1 Quote
KnarlyCarl Posted September 5, 2016 Author Report Posted September 5, 2016 1 hour ago, DR99 said: Damm, KnarlyCarl your never far away from some kind of construction work are you A friend bought an older house and we spent days removing bad mortar and re waterproofing the walls. I wish I had pictures of the before and after. The basement before was dank dirty and nasty now it feels like a place you can actually live in. A cool trick we figure out to cover up the rock walls was to float cement board with construction adhesive. It actually worked out really good Sweet!! Already getting free advice, LOL Quote
ChrisK Posted September 5, 2016 Report Posted September 5, 2016 7 hours ago, KnarlyCarl said: Present day work: Time to pull the massive thick walls of flagstone, mortar, and block out of the basement and up and out to make new stairs so i can actually utilize the basement! Old stairs of flag were narrow and a little bit steep, and I needed a proper staircase from the new addition I put on the house 2 years ago (time flies!) Just yesterday, we hit it hard, had two cousins over who tag teamed the removal in a 16 gallon barrel, dump in a loader bucket tractor I borrowed from my boss and drove it around to the back of my garage for a big pile of rubble. Meanwhile, I was on the big spline rotary hammer punching out the cement blocks, and the flagstone used to build the sides of the stairs and surrounding walls. I put up screw jacks before completely removing the supporting walls! - A little ways into the demo: .. .. .. .. End of yesterday: .. There was a solid wall of flag on either side of the stairs: ... -- There a TON of work on this property I did it would take weeks to document it all, but boy what an achievement looking back on it. But there's still more to do, I bought this as a foreclosure and it had sat empty for 2-1/2 years while raccoons roamed freely in the basement mostly. Fortunately, the neighbors let their dog in occasionally to hunt them out LOL!!! So they are great neighbors and I appreciate them not letting the wildlife take over and make a complete mess of the place -- Off top of my head: --Planted bunch of arborvitae along property line, and couple other trees here and there --Gut the kitchen walls, leaving floor and ceiling, build all new cabinets, new appliances, new countertop, leave the stainless steel sink. --Redo the entry doors to actually close because the strike plates on the doors were just surface mounted, not sunk in the door! Then I completely replaced the back door it was so bad. --Install screen/storm door in back. --Oh yeah, the furnace was vented to the basement, hello carbon monoxide... route new venting to the outside. --Then completely remove the furnace and basment ductwork, install new geothermal and ductwork, add second thermostat upstairs. --Water pipe burst the first winter i was there, they didn't put proper insulation and now I have mini waterfalls going down to my (unfinished) basment, redo entire bathroom and laundry, new pipe as well to first and second floor bathrooms. Thanks insurance! --Massive wind storm came through and destroyed my (rickity) barn, so i pulled the entire thing down and burned it on multiple bonfires --Pulled down all the drywall in the garage, it was so bad, old junk above that was removed --New double 2x12s across the front of my garage to support new garage door, beefed up, braced up, etc --All new pole barn metal siding on garage, plus add an enclosed lean-to on side of garage, about 11' wide, down the entire length --Gutted front room upstairs, new everything, new duct run to add air supply --Finished the bathroom the previous owner had started, new everything, tub/shower, pedestal sink, toilet --Removed two old tank water heaters, new tankless/on demand high efficiency water heater plus recirculating loop for the hot water line, (love my instant hot water!!!!!) --Install used water softener --In progress: finishing the baseboard trim the PO hadn't even bothered on --New stair treads and balusters and spindles and trim and carpet in about half the house --Add closet under the stairs, really supported the stairs themselves since they were so bouncy they weren't done right. --Add plumbing vents to the system, take them and bath vents through the roof instead of dumping to attic space (Eeewww) --Had chickens which I recently got rid of, pulled their fence down, planted new grass in a large part of the lawn --New fence along the entire front of the property along the road, the house is quite close to the road! --New 19x13' addition on back of the house, which allowed me to fill in 3 cisterns, and make the rear entrance so much better!! --Spray foam insulation in the basement at the end joists and sill plates --Peel off old wallpaper on everything, new paint everywhere --Corner whirlpool tub was sunk in the floor, thought that was stupid, raised up to be on the floor itself, made cherry shiplap skirting around the whole thing --New dedicated iron filter media tank, new pressure tank too oh man this could go on, i'm sure i'm missing like 31 more things ... @ChrisK please have more sanity that I and tell me you got somethinga little more ready to use LOL!! And........yup. We are closing on a fifteen year old cape next Monday! I went from a 1797 Federal to a 1911 Four Square to a 2001 Cape. Quite the transition! And yet a big part of me is really sad, I wish I was over there to help dude, that sounds like one heck of an awesome experience (yeah dude, I'm mental). My new home will end up having a pole barn and large shed to build and I may be....gasp, cough, gasp....buying a single car garage/shed for an outdoor woodshop. MAYBE!!!!! Awesome post dude, cannot wait to see more, I eat this stuff up. I love reno work! Of course with a baby on the way in December and a HEALTHY respect for lead paint, this was the safe way to go ..... ! Quote
KnarlyCarl Posted September 5, 2016 Author Report Posted September 5, 2016 2 hours ago, ChrisK said: And........yup. We are closing on a fifteen year old cape next Monday! I went from a 1797 Federal to a 1911 Four Square to a 2001 Cape. Quite the transition! And yet a big part of me is really sad, I wish I was over there to help dude, that sounds like one heck of an awesome experience (yeah dude, I'm mental). My new home will end up having a pole barn and large shed to build and I may be....gasp, cough, gasp....buying a single car garage/shed for an outdoor woodshop. MAYBE!!!!! Awesome post dude, cannot wait to see more, I eat this stuff up. I love reno work! Of course with a baby on the way in December and a HEALTHY respect for lead paint, this was the safe way to go ..... ! Need to keep your mental state in check with the baby on it's way!! ? Ah yes, VERY good point about the paint. Fortunately, the previous owner gutted many of the rooms and added new construction and redid many of the remaining walls, leaving no old paint behind when i bought, so there's that. Forgot I pulled out the old broken basement windows(single pane ) and put batts and osb to stop the air from blowing straight through, it was supposed to be temporary, but that was 5 years ago already! I need to pull the osb out and put proper blocks in, looking a little weather worn. ,If I were to guess, this house would be going on 90 years old Quote
phffter Posted September 5, 2016 Report Posted September 5, 2016 furnace and plumbing vented into the building, amazing. thought i bought a shack. (there was a pallet nailed to the basement rafters. no clue wtf it has to have been doing. i do know it was heavy as sin as i allowed gravity to work as i cut the nails) Quote
Poisonfangs85 Posted September 6, 2016 Report Posted September 6, 2016 Awesome! Saying thats an undertaking would be an understatement for sure. Keep us posted with progress Quote
99_XC600 Posted September 6, 2016 Report Posted September 6, 2016 Congrats and Good Luck. You never know what you're going to get with older homes. Awesome progress so far. Quote
regopit Posted September 7, 2016 Report Posted September 7, 2016 Awesome work Carl. Now just think if you got on one of those HGTV show you would have been done in 3 days. Good luck and keep us posted 1 Quote
KnarlyCarl Posted September 14, 2016 Author Report Posted September 14, 2016 On 9/6/2016 at 9:00 PM, regopit said: Awesome work Carl. Now just think if you got on one of those HGTV show you would have been done in 3 days. Good luck and keep us posted LOL suuuureee, what a joke STAIRS... minus the finished product, i'll either have to find a picture, or take a new one .. ... Kind of see the empty space beneath the stairs .. Built a closet to close it in and especially support the stairs themselves .. looking a little better .. ,,.. I turned these by cutting a piece of cherry in half then gluing paper bag between the two halves, turning it in the lathe, then splitting the two halves apart to make two. It's the transition between the stair trim and the baseboard trim ... ... 8 Quote
KnarlyCarl Posted September 14, 2016 Author Report Posted September 14, 2016 Couldn't find the pictures I thought I took so I snapped a few new ones: Toys are just part of the normal decorations lol ... .. ... .. To be honest, I wasn't sure how to do the railing, I simply made it sturdy and appealing and may not have done to typical industry practice but it turned out well. 8 Quote
JimboS1ice Posted September 14, 2016 Report Posted September 14, 2016 Looks good!Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote
ChrisK Posted September 14, 2016 Report Posted September 14, 2016 Gorgeous work Not Carl!!!!! The trim work is beautiful and love the use of the stair well too. Quote
LarryS Posted September 14, 2016 Report Posted September 14, 2016 Looks really nice!!! You've done a lot of work!!!! It's fun to work on old houses. Get a lot of satisfaction of how it looks when done. Quote
KnarlyCarl Posted September 17, 2016 Author Report Posted September 17, 2016 Thanks guys!! Yeah, quite satisfying! Well I'm going to keep at the basement rubble cleanup tomorrow, and keep posting pics and details about the journey so far so I can weasel some advice from anyone who cares to offer it!.. Nah I don't have an ulterior motive what are you talking about lol!!! Quote
MikeyB Posted September 19, 2016 Report Posted September 19, 2016 Really looks great Carl... Nice job 1 Quote
Bigmikez Posted September 19, 2016 Report Posted September 19, 2016 Man that looks sweet Carl!! Great job bro!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote
wildroamer Posted September 19, 2016 Report Posted September 19, 2016 Holy Schnikey's Carl! Great job! I think I threw my back out looking at those first pics! 1 Quote
KnarlyCarl Posted September 20, 2016 Author Report Posted September 20, 2016 Thanks guys, haha yeah Wild, this thread is going to be like a timeline of events that I was going to try and document and look back and think how I would have done things differently..... I come home each afternoon but there's mowing that takes at least two nights after I come home, one night at my wife's parents, and maybe a night at home to do a few things, then this weekend we're going to my parents so I don't get much time to work on the house..... You get the idea 2 Quote
KnarlyCarl Posted November 7, 2016 Author Report Posted November 7, 2016 Played around with a time lapse app on my phone! I take a few hours at a time, pace myself, take frequent breaks, and things start to look a little less disastrous!? .. 2 Quote
KnarlyCarl Posted November 7, 2016 Author Report Posted November 7, 2016 Removed the glass surround and door from corner shower because caulk was getting nasty and I didn't like how i put it in 5 years ago. Then I decided I should keep going because the water has frozen in the pipes before plus my wife was agreeable to having it out of service for awhile since we have the hall bath to use... .. .. It didn't want to come off easy, means I adhered it good 5 years ago. The shower was in the house already, and I had to redo it when I bought it, long story short, I put it in to get by, but it is PVC and cheap and yellowed and cracking. Another issue is the walls are not level! The guy that was here before did not take the time to do things right, so the surround didn't fit right, I'm going to have to fudge it when I put one back in... Bummer 3 Quote
KnarlyCarl Posted November 11, 2016 Author Report Posted November 11, 2016 June 29th 2012 I was working in a city 30 minutes from home, storm blew through, didn't think much of it until we started driving home and saw barn after barn blown down, then I came home to this: : .. I knew my barn was very weak and had been neglected so I knew it would have to come down, this was just quite a surprise seeing it happen, also a relief, because that meant the process was started.... 2 Quote
JMG Posted November 11, 2016 Report Posted November 11, 2016 Nothing like a push from Mother Nature to get the ball rolling. 2 Quote
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