renovation Archives - Page 5 of 6

Useful DIY Sites

September 2, 2010 RH 1 Comment

Since I’ve been so bad about posting my own DIY tips lately, here are some great sites with easy to navigate home improvement posts.

Bob Vila. The King of Home Improvement! Needs no introduction, but if you’re novice, perhaps you don’t realize the awesomeness of Bobby V. His site has step by step videos of each project, so if you’re too lazy to look at instructions, just watch.

Fine Homebuilding. This is a site for pros. You do have to become a member to access much of the site, but it’s worth it. Before The Internets were created I subscribed to the magazine (remember those things made of paper?). I ripped out the more useful articles and still keep them in a binder to this day, even though I never look at them because it’s easier to go online. Not only do they have DIY instruction, but they go over materials as well.

Family Handyman. Ok well, my biggest problem with this site is the name. I typed in “FamilyHandywoman.com” and guess what? They own that too! But it just forwards you to the MAN site. Grrr. One more thing….check out the photo above. That’s from this site. Why is the guy doing all the work while his bitch is just sitting there? Oh, they have photos of females working…on easy garden projects. (As if any of the other sites are better.) Anyway, regardless of their sexism, it’s a good site. Each project is broken up into a summary, tool list and step by step guide. So easy, even a man can do it!

House Renovation Tips. There’s so much information here that I’m not sure if it’s actually someone’s blog or one of those blogs that grabs content from elsewhere. In any case, I’m including it because da bomb. (Yeah, I said that.)

DIY Network. Categories are listed near the header and there’s a search bar waaay up top. The nice thing about this site is that they give you time, cost and difficulty estimates on each project.

Garage Face Lift

August 30, 2010 RH

So, the Beacon house has been on the market for nearly four months now and we are freaking out, man! We’ve decided to give it one more month (maybe two) since the summer was sort of a dead zone and then we’ll have to think about renting it out until the market picks up again. That being said, just when we’re about to give up, it looks as if we may have a few interested parties. Fingers crossed!

The plan over the weekend was to go up to Beacon and ready the exterior for winter, should we end up keeping it or should the new owner take over during the cold months. The front of the house was painted when the new porch was put in, but the rest of the house is screaming for a paint job. (BTW, what ever happened to people who think it’s romantic to work on an old home? Are we the only ones left?) No, the two of us didn’t repaint our entire house over the weekend. We did scrape and touch up the worst bits. Now it just looks patchy but maintained, instead of neglected. At least this way, if it doesn’t get painted until next Spring, the clapboard isn’t rotting away.

The garage face lift was just that. Like an aged has-been getting her face pulled tight when her neck remains wrinkled and saggy, the garage now looks better at first glance. We’re not trying to fool anyone. The structure needs complete rehabilitation at best or needs to be torn down and rebuilt. The waste of half a day and the leftover paint was decided upon when we realized that this is the first thing people see when they pull into the driveway. So, now at least it looks like a charming dilapidated shed instead of a total eyesore. Smoke and mirrors. Curb appeal. Whatev.

That Flipping Out Guy:Love Him or Hate Him?

August 26, 2010 RH 3 Comments

I’ve been catching up on Bravo’s Flipping Out with interior designer/house flipper Jeff Lewis. Ok, so I’m kind of hooked on the guy’s bitchiness. He’s awful to his employees, like really mean, but I think I love him anyway.

The realty series had me at hello. A gal like me who restores her own shacks? What’s not to love about a renovation show? I get off on watching the contractor ordeals and how they meet their deadlines in spite of it all.

And the pets! I wish I had a staff to take care of my own brood. Lewis’ dog pees on his assistant’s head and he thinks it’s funny. It IS f*in’ funny! It’s hilarious!

So, love him or hate him? I vote that I love him, but I could never in a million years work for that a-hole

Ancient Artifact Unearthed

July 6, 2010 RH

The hubby was cleaning out the basement over the holiday weekend (What, did you expect us to barbecue?) and discovered a vintage wedding cake. It was a very eew moment. The cake was sitting in a plastic bag in a freezer that hasn’t been plugged in at least since we got the place in 2005.

See all the black gunk? Yup, the icing.

After careful evaluation, we’ve dated the artifact around the 1980’s.

This is one salvaged item that ended up in the trash.

I Want a Dumbwaiter!

May 18, 2010 RH

We’ve taken over 2 apartments in our brownstone but have not yet gotten around to privatizing the hallway. It’s a real hassle running up and down the stairs hoping the neighbors won’t catch us in our skivvies. Neither apartment is fully finished or furnished and we are far from getting our act together.

So, I’m nagging the husband for a dumbwaiter.

Who knew that commercial dumbwaiters were so costly? Over 3000 bucks! Wow, that’s not gonna happen in my house.

But there’s hope for the “We are lazy yet take on impossible tasks, and oh yeah, we are broke.” people yet! The video above shows us how we can build our own dumbwaiter for $300 using a garage door opener. Alls I need to find now is the space.

Also see:

DIY Network: Install a Dumbwaiter

E-How: Build a Dumbwaiter

You Know You’re DIY Obsessed When…

May 14, 2010 RH

…you have his and her safety masks hanging from your bathroom sconces.

Unfortunately, I did not set up this shot. Wish I did.

Hallway, Bedroom, Guest Room, Bathroom

April 26, 2010 RH 3 Comments

Got to add a few more rooms to the “finished” list over the weekend. We still have plenty of work to do, but as far as we’re concerned, the house will be ready to go on the market by next weekend! Hopefully, we’ll have something that resembles a kitchen by then.

New Contractor Bid Site Outta Bed Stuy

April 20, 2010 RH 4 Comments

Swee10 is a new “online marketplace where homeowners design, share and post their home remodeling projects and contractors bid on them.”

Much like this blogger, the founder, Jean was inspired after the renovation of her Bed Stuy home. And much like this blogger, she is still not finished with said home.

Swee10 has got it going on though! The company has a team of architects and designers (including Jean) overseeing the now-in-beta website.

Members can browse projects and post their own and receive bids from interested contractors. There is a section to view bids and best of all…complaints! Keeps these guys honest, know what I mean?

Anyway, check it out. Even if you don’t have a project going on, worth the visit to check out that adorable logo!

They Said It Couldn’t Be Done

April 19, 2010 RH 4 Comments

Four months ago we embarked on a major renovation to get our Beacon house on the market by Spring. April 30th is the target date. We went over room by room, taking up some floors and taking down some walls. Nobody thought we would be ready in time, including (especially) the broker.

“That’s a tall order!” “April?! Good luck!” “That’s impossible.”

Ha! They don’t know who they’re dealing with. We are rocking this house and kicking it’s gorgeous ass into shape! So much so, that we have to get out of here quick because it’s so museum-like that’s it’s no longer habitable by slobs like us.

Behold the three downstairs rooms that are totally finished. Yeah, I know you’ve seen them, but I changed stuff around and took new pictures. All but one of the upstairs rooms will be finished today. It’s just a matter of me cleaning them up enough to take pictures.

Yes, we moved the dining area to the room just off the kitchen. Makes more sense than the way we had it.

Go ahead, tell us how great we are. Pat us on the back.

Oh, and PS: Dimas the contractor? Ever since he and his assistant John read my blog post about how slow as shit he is….they picked up the pace!!

The Porch is Coming Along!

April 14, 2010 RH 3 Comments

We’re seeing a light at the end of the tunnel with this porch rebuild. Look!

Above is the porch prior to demo. We were going to put balusters instead of shingles, but we’re sticking with the original design.

It was taken down to the foundation. We had plywood flooring for 2 years.

Look! Rotted columns repaired! It was being held up by 2×6’s for the longest time.

Look! Interior framing done and columns back up!

Look! Gorgeous floor and wainscoting!

101 Unfinished Projects

April 5, 2010 RH

We can’t finish a single project. Every room in our house is 90% done, but we get bored before finishing. Wanna see what I mean? Loads of before and during shots. No afters. 🙁

Fugly made-in-China chandelier. Hubby wanted to throw it in the trash. I said…..

“Paint it pink!” Inspired by the Jonathan Adler. It’s still sitting there with the tape though.

Exterior needs a ton of work. We’re doing the best we can with money and time constraints. Instead of stripping it down to bare wood, we’re scraping and patching. And when I say “we” I mean the contractor in this case.

Now that the wood is protected, it’s time to get back to building the porch. Doug Fir tongue and groove is nearly finished. It should be in by the end of the day. FYI, that’s plywood in the photo, case you didn’t know.

The wall in our driveway needs repointing. Grooves have been cleaned and it now awaits the cement. It’s in such bad condition that some stones came loose and fell on my husband. I LMAOROFL just as any good wife would do.

So, that’s where it’s at. Maybe I’ll get an after shot of something by the end of the week, but probably not. It’s mission: “Get rid of clutter” this week. Hence the tag sale.

10 Reasons My Reno is Stalled

March 30, 2010 RH 4 Comments

1. 24/7 for 3 months now. I’m burnt out, baby!

2. Can’t rip up the kitchen floor with the cats in there.

3. Dimas the Contractor is slow as shit.

4. Mother Nature keeps raining on my porch parade.

5. My husband dropped the radiator on our new wood floor and now we can’t pick it up.

6. Gotta get some crap out of the way before restoring office woodwork. That means packing. That means sorting, organizing, filing….

7. Speaking of my office, did I mention that I found receipts from 1993? Also found my upcoming Specials concert tickets in the recycling bin.

8. Pesky “real job” sometimes gets in the way.

9. Tuesday. Day of rest.

10. Facebook is more fun than plastering.

So You Wanna Be Your Own GC?

March 25, 2010 RH 3 Comments

My husband and I are Mr. and Mrs. DIY. This is now our fourth huge renovation project and we’re both kind of hoping it’s our last. We usually have skilled subcontractors helping out, but normally it’s my hubby, in the construction management field, acting as project manager.

Well, this time it’s me. With Hubby working down in Brooklyn all week, I’m the one dealing with the Beacon house. I have two guys here doing most of the work while I concentrate on the finishing touches and seeing that things run smoothly.

So, what’s it all about, this being your own general contractor thing? Do YOU have what it takes?

1. Know your stuff. 8 out of 10 times, we end up tweaking our sub-contractors’ work. Are we overly fussy perfectionists? Well, ye-ah! It’s one thing to do it yourself and screw up, it’s another thing for someone to call himself a professional and take big money for a shoddy job. Know what you’re looking at. People complain about contractors finding more work to do when they rip down a wall. We love those contractors! The last thing you want is someone covering up a problem that should be brought to your attention. You don’t want to get ripped off, so do your homework.

2. Planning. Before you start, go through the house and make a list of things that need to be done. If you’re the GC, it’s your job to make sure that the work takes place in the proper time line. For instance, you want to run electric and plumbing while the walls are down, not after. Duh!

3. Budget. I’m not one to talk about budget since I can’t follow one, but I do know my bargains! So let me talk about finding those. Before running out to Home Depot or your local lumber yard for material, try finding overstock and second hand from the internet, salvage yards and ReStores.

4. DIY. A lot of your time will be spent making phone calls, picking up materials and keeping the worker bees happy, but if this is your full time gig for the moment, there will be plenty of time to do your own work. Choose your skill wisely. Are you strong? Demo. Got a steady hand? Paint. Green thumb? There’s always the garden. Come on, you can’t be that much of a loser. There must be something you’re good at! Unskilled day laborers earn about $125-150 per day in New York. If you’re capable of working full days, that’s what you’ll save. Skilled contractors start at around $200-250. Of course, prices vary from low to high end.

5. Keep the work going. This is part of planning, but I’m talking about the day to day stuff. If you have a crew, you have to make sure there’s enough work to keep them busy. Have all of your materials ready in advance. If they are working on an outside project (like my porch), see to it that there’s inside work to do when it rains (I screwed myself a little with that this week. No biggie because there’s plenty to do, but it didn’t feel 100% productive.)

6. Answering to The Man. Does your job require building permits? What is the code? If you don’t know this stuff, you better learn fast or hire an architect. The Man doesn’t mess around. The good news is, if you’re just making your interior look real purdy, you don’t need permits.

7. Trucks and Tools. It’s not necessary if you have sub-contractors bringing their own stuff, but in my case, I find that I’m using the van and our tools nearly every day. Why, just yesterday I picked up our porch floor (yay!) with the van. Ok, so places deliver, but I’m cheap. If you are doing DIY work, you should have tools. At least a friggin tape measure and drill!

Ok, the list could go on forever, but I have to get to work. The final thing I should mention is this: Keep in mind that you will not have a life while the renovation is going on.

Good luck!

Dining Room Done

March 18, 2010 RH 7 Comments

The dining room renovation was finished about two weeks ago, but I just grabbed some snappies of it yesterday. Last you checked in, the restoration looked something like this. And before that, even worse.

It’s kind of a non-event since we didn’t change anything drastically. It just needed a lot of repairs. The plaster. The wood. Even the light fixture needed to be rewired. We lived with all that for five years and only finished it for someone else.

The adjoining living room has been finished for quite some time, but the wood still needs sprucing up.

There is still something to do in every single room, but we’re getting there! We finally have more help. This weekend there will be 7 different people working on our house. Woo-hoo!

Are You Apt for the Construction Industry?

March 15, 2010 RH 1 Comment

It’s a choice that you probably made when you played pretend with your Lego sets all those years ago as a child, but the construction industry is more than a plastic brick world. Once you commit to it, you’re responsible for the safety and security of thousands of people, from your workforce to the people who will ultimately reside and work in the building you’re erecting. So before you jump into this field of work, you need to know if you’re apt for the job. In general, you’d fare better if you’re armed with a degree in engineering or construction management and if you’re the kind who:

· Pays attention to detail: When you become a construction manager, you’re going to become involved in all the projects that your company handles. You’ll generally be responsible for handling details related to the workforce, materials and equipment and also for coordinating schedules and ensuring that materials are delivered on time. A degree in construction management comes in handy when you’re employed at a senior level, but if you’re just starting out, you would be working under a manager and following direct orders from them.

· Doesn’t mind working long hours: When you’re part of the construction management team, you’re the person in charge of the day-to-day operations. And this means you need to be ready to handle any emergencies that may come up at any hour of the day or night. You’ll have to put in long hours at the site and at your desk because paperwork is important too.

· Is passionate about construction: It’s an industry that’s plagued by ups and downs, and with the way the economy is at present, the construction industry which took a really hard hit seems to be recovering very slowly. If you belong to this profession, you need to be able to deal with the way its fortunes swing and take the rough with the smooth.

It’s a fulfilling profession, but one that demands your effort and time. So if you don’t mind working hard and dedicating yourself to your job, perhaps construction management is your cup of tea.

If you’re interested in becoming a construction manager, you will find yourself deeply involved in each project, from concept to ribbon-cutting. You’ll oversee details regarding the workforce, materials, equipment, and safety issues for workers and the surrounding community. This is done by dividing site activities into logical steps during the planning stage, and monitoring each step along the way to ensure the project meets deadline and budget requirements. Your job may involve working directly with the architect or engineer on design specifications. It’s crucial that you understand both the ‘big picture’ and the minute details that go into making it a reality.

** This guest post is contributed by Nicole Adams, she writes on the topic of construction management degree . She welcomes your comments at her email id: nicole.adams83@gmail.com .

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