bigruss Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 Couldn't find an older thread so starting a new one. I bought a house (yay!) but have some projects that I'd like to do myself (yay?). But this house has some oddities for sure, like the basement bathroom has carpeting, so that has to go. I actually think the reason they put carpeting in there is because of a concrete stair/ramp that is right at the door. It's not a normal stair, it's definitely more like a gradual ramp. I'm thinking I have 3 options: 1. Tear apart the concrete. But, not sure how that would impact the concrete floor and a bit worried I wouldn't do that well myself. 2. Build a wood step to cover the ramp. I could probably do this without too much hassle, but space is limited and not totally sure how it would look, plus would need to consider the height of the top of the stair and the doorway/rest of the basement floor. 3. Keep it there and install flooring over it, I'm thinking vinyl would be the best choice, but still worried how that would look and it definitely limits my flooring options. Anyone have any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joejoedairy Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 I don't know anything about home design, but a picture of what you're talking about might help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiliIrishHammock24 Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 (edited) Just bought 5 blinds from SelectBlinds.com. $660. Woof. But to be fair we have a giant living room window that we got a motorized smart lift for. That alone was about $400. We are definitely in about $10-12K on renovations for this new house that my girlfriend originally agreed was "move in ready". Apparently not. Edited August 14, 2019 by ChiliIrishHammock24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Bigruss, is the step in the bathroom or outside the bathroom? Depending how they mounted the carpet you may have glue residual to worry about. I was thinking finishing the concrete by either acid or paint. Pictures would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevo880 Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 We own a pretty small house, with the main level being about 600 sq ft. We currently have half of it (living room) carpeted and other half (entry way and kitchen) with tile. We hate how the divide limits our living room space and where we can put our couch as there is a solid 2 ft of tile that could be living room space and the tile is just terribly cheap. It cracked in a couple spots and had to get those tiles replaced, then the installer used the wrong color grout so it doesn't even match the rest of the tile! We are debating having all of that torn up to install a wood laminate across the entire main level. We had an estimate done and it would cost $2600 for them to tear up what we have an install the flooring of our choice (flooring price is in addition to that). Couple questions here: Does anyone have wood laminate and what are your opinions on that? Does that price seem reasonable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptatc Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 On 8/7/2019 at 11:08 PM, bigruss said: Couldn't find an older thread so starting a new one. I bought a house (yay!) but have some projects that I'd like to do myself (yay?). But this house has some oddities for sure, like the basement bathroom has carpeting, so that has to go. I actually think the reason they put carpeting in there is because of a concrete stair/ramp that is right at the door. It's not a normal stair, it's definitely more like a gradual ramp. I'm thinking I have 3 options: 1. Tear apart the concrete. But, not sure how that would impact the concrete floor and a bit worried I wouldn't do that well myself. 2. Build a wood step to cover the ramp. I could probably do this without too much hassle, but space is limited and not totally sure how it would look, plus would need to consider the height of the top of the stair and the doorway/rest of the basement floor. 3. Keep it there and install flooring over it, I'm thinking vinyl would be the best choice, but still worried how that would look and it definitely limits my flooring options. Anyone have any thoughts? IMO, your best option is the LVT, luxury vinyl tile. It's easy to lay down and it snaps together. It should be flexible enough to accommodate the ramp. It's nice in the basement because it has it's own backing to provide cushion and some insulation for the basement floor. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted August 14, 2019 Share Posted August 14, 2019 4 hours ago, kevo880 said: We own a pretty small house, with the main level being about 600 sq ft. We currently have half of it (living room) carpeted and other half (entry way and kitchen) with tile. We hate how the divide limits our living room space and where we can put our couch as there is a solid 2 ft of tile that could be living room space and the tile is just terribly cheap. It cracked in a couple spots and had to get those tiles replaced, then the installer used the wrong color grout so it doesn't even match the rest of the tile! We are debating having all of that torn up to install a wood laminate across the entire main level. We had an estimate done and it would cost $2600 for them to tear up what we have an install the flooring of our choice (flooring price is in addition to that). Couple questions here: Does anyone have wood laminate and what are your opinions on that? Does that price seem reasonable? I'm assuming you live in the Chicago area. Since this is labor only lets break it down. Two workers should be able to remove your old stuff in one day. The carpet will be fast, the tile show. So 16 hours of labor. One worker should be able to install 500 square feet in one day. So two guys, one day, 16 more hours of labor. I'm at 32 hours. I don't have a calculator but I think that's around $75 per hour to the company. It seems like it's in the ballpark. Have you considered doing some or all of it yourself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevo880 Posted August 14, 2019 Share Posted August 14, 2019 3 hours ago, Texsox said: I'm assuming you live in the Chicago area. Since this is labor only lets break it down. Two workers should be able to remove your old stuff in one day. The carpet will be fast, the tile show. So 16 hours of labor. One worker should be able to install 500 square feet in one day. So two guys, one day, 16 more hours of labor. I'm at 32 hours. I don't have a calculator but I think that's around $75 per hour to the company. It seems like it's in the ballpark. Have you considered doing some or all of it yourself? In the Denver area now actually. I gave it a quick thought of doing it myself, but I don’t feel 100% confident in my ability to do that. Could probably find someone I know that has done it before to have around and help though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted August 15, 2019 Author Share Posted August 15, 2019 On 8/8/2019 at 9:32 AM, joejoedairy said: I don't know anything about home design, but a picture of what you're talking about might help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted August 15, 2019 Author Share Posted August 15, 2019 I ripped up the carpet to take a further look, looks like it isn't concrete but subflooring, it's not super smooth so will have to add some layer of something to smooth it out in the main part of the bathroom no matter what. Second image has the ramp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted August 15, 2019 Author Share Posted August 15, 2019 On 8/13/2019 at 3:48 PM, ptatc said: IMO, your best option is the LVT, luxury vinyl tile. It's easy to lay down and it snaps together. It should be flexible enough to accommodate the ramp. It's nice in the basement because it has it's own backing to provide cushion and some insulation for the basement floor. I would love that, but not sure how they would do with the uneven floor. I bought some for the rest of the basement and hoping I can install it myself, if I don't like how it looks I'll probably get new carpet for the basement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 I had a house built last November and to save money I didn't have the basement finished or the deck added. I just did a VA streamline (after 7 months) and got to skip 2 mortgage payments in a row, so after I get my escrow refund that's gonna be about $10k to spend. It's been driving me crazy that I have a sliding door in the back of my house that I can't use, it's like a big part of my house is missing, but thanks to this unforeseen mini-windfall I can go most of the way to the ~$14k or so the deck will cost. Ordinarily I would've just taken that money and put it back on the mortgage but thinking about it, that doesn't really make any sense, plus the deck is gonna go right towards equity on the house so it's basically the same thing as if I had just built the deck on my original purchase in the first place, but with a lower mortgage payment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptatc Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 11 minutes ago, lostfan said: I had a house built last November and to save money I didn't have the basement finished or the deck added. I just did a VA streamline (after 7 months) and got to skip 2 mortgage payments in a row, so after I get my escrow refund that's gonna be about $10k to spend. It's been driving me crazy that I have a sliding door in the back of my house that I can't use, it's like a big part of my house is missing, but thanks to this unforeseen mini-windfall I can go most of the way to the ~$14k or so the deck will cost. Ordinarily I would've just taken that money and put it back on the mortgage but thinking about it, that doesn't really make any sense, plus the deck is gonna go right towards equity on the house so it's basically the same thing as if I had just built the deck on my original purchase in the first place, but with a lower mortgage payment. Good call. You will enjoy the deck and it probably won't get all of your 14 back but it will increase the value. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 2 minutes ago, ptatc said: Good call. You will enjoy the deck and it probably won't get all of your 14 back but it will increase the value. And I'm not trying to sell a house I just moved into, so not really too worried about it. (That and we just put solar panels on it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiliIrishHammock24 Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 I just installed motorized blinds in our big front window. It's preeeeetty sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted September 10, 2020 Author Share Posted September 10, 2020 So I ended up hiring a contractor to help with the basement, it was up to 3 inches different in floor level in some places, so we jackhammered out some of the highest ends and poured new concrete and leveler. And with the bathroom floor being so much lower, decided to just rip everything out and start from scratch so we could start with a floor totally leveled with the rest of the basement. I've also started to redo my kitchen, painted the cabinets, got new appliances, put in a new backsplash, new countertops, and new flooring is coming in tomorrow. The house feels totally different now. https://imgur.com/gallery/1eOZw8M Old: New: Old: New: Old: New: Still have some pieces to be done, but most of the major pieces will be all done by end of the weekend hopefully. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted September 10, 2020 Share Posted September 10, 2020 1 minute ago, bigruss said: So I ended up hiring a contractor to help with the basement, it was up to 3 inches different in floor level in some places, so we jackhammered out some of the highest ends and poured new concrete and leveler. And with the bathroom floor being so much lower, decided to just rip everything out and start from scratch so we could start with a floor totally leveled with the rest of the basement. I've also started to redo my kitchen, painted the cabinets, got new appliances, put in a new backsplash, new countertops, and new flooring is coming in tomorrow. The house feels totally different now. https://imgur.com/gallery/1eOZw8M Old: New: Old: New: Old: New: Still have some pieces to be done, but most of the major pieces will be all done by end of the weekend hopefully. Holy cow looks great. There is nothing better than those first moments in a redone room doing exactly what you imagined for months for the first time. Especially kitchens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted September 10, 2020 Share Posted September 10, 2020 We just got our roof done on an insurance claim for hail damage as well as we are about to have half of the house sided under insurance and paying for the other half. Next year will be a new fence and maybe some work on the garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted September 10, 2020 Author Share Posted September 10, 2020 For sure! One of the hardest parts is A) coming up with the design B) trusting through the process that its going to be what you wanted. I am very much looking forward to not making a design decision for awhile lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted September 10, 2020 Author Share Posted September 10, 2020 1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said: We just got our roof done on an insurance claim for hail damage as well as we are about to have half of the house sided under insurance and paying for the other half. Next year will be a new fence and maybe some work on the garage. Nice that they are covering that but I'm sure it's been a pain working with them. I couldn't believe how much fences were to put up when a friend mentioned they were doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted September 10, 2020 Share Posted September 10, 2020 3 minutes ago, bigruss said: Nice that they are covering that but I'm sure it's been a pain working with them. I couldn't believe how much fences were to put up when a friend mentioned they were doing that. I think I might buy materials and build the fence myself. It isn't hard, but it is tedious. There was no way I could do roofing or siding, which is why we started looking. Then the construction company told us about the hail claims they have gotten approved in the last six months, including one just down the road from us. The roof cost us our insurance deductible of $500, plus about another $1000 over overage related to some boards needing to be replaced which had rotted under the shingles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 9 hours ago, lostfan said: Nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heads22 Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 I would drink a beer at that bar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 We fully remodeled our basement this past spring/summer It immediately became an 800 sqft playroom rather than something cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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