Shawn's House Reno - projects scattered all over the place

[H B]

I decided I should stop hi-jacking Steve's Panope/House thread and start my own. I did not even really know there was an Off-Topic area...I always just posted everything in the "What are you doing.." or whichever thread was relevant at the time.

I had a fabulous read the last couple days catching up on the electric car prediction thread. I could see me being Ajax someday with solar panels and a Tesla wall and my cars plugged into the house...but there are a few more pressing issues at this time.

So, not to go back too far but the current project is trying to finish off this stair case. First post is pics of the spiral before and modular after, and then I'll have a few of the things I've discovered at the end of me hijacking Steve's thread.

[H B]

I see your predicament. Your stairs are tightly constrained by that exterior door. An inside rail would certainly make carrying bulky items more difficult.

Does the narrow section of "floor" (on which the vase is sitting) cause a headroom issue also?

Larry, I am aware that this doesn't meet code, I do have enough railing to add it to the other side, which I will do when/if we sell. Once you have it all assembled, you could remove the entire thing by loosening all the set screws in the baluster base and lifting it out if you needed the space back.

Steve, Yes on that too. It kinda rubs your shoulder if you are not paying attention. One solution is to cut into the second floor at the top and move the landing 4 or 5 inches farther in, but that is the same amount of work as cutting out the drywall in the ceiling underneath that narrow section and investigating whether I can remove it. My understanding is that this house used to be on the first floor and so I think they just cut this hole in it after raising it to add the spiral...no reason that if I use proper joists I can't move the hole around a bit. The one nice thing about the modular part of this is I can reconfigure it if necessary. Another option is to turn the landing 180° away from the front door, but I would have to move my sewing machine, which fits very nicely under the window. One of the reasons we tried this config first was that the spiral was so close to the front door that the door barely cleared it when you swung it open and if you were not paying attention you got a face full of metal staircase when you entered. Additionally, I am not going to do any trim work until I have the 'final' configuration in place.

Anyway, I like how your stairs look!!

To steal this post out of Steve's thread, here is where we are...I cut into the drywall, which is not hard, I just didn't want to make all the dust..but the joists run across the house and no HVAC tucked in there, but there is electrical. This is probably the first time I have had some remotely good news on a major project..I think I can just slice these joists in a bit further and slide the header/athwartships joist in a bit (I am not good with construction piece/parts names), but I need to make sure I can shift the electrical too. The original cut-out for the spiral was not even with any wall.

The house was lifted many years ago and settled on 8 x 8 stilts, and then the first floor built underneath. But the first and second floor interior walls don't necessarily match up, as Steve noted. The 2nd floor seems to be standard 2x4 studs, and I do not see any signs of the 8 x 8 stilts on the interior of the first floor, but there is about 2 1/2" exposed on the outside, so it is possible the 1st floor walls are 2 x 6 thick..I am sure we will find out soon enough.

[H B]

Things move at a glacial pace here at Casa de Stanley as compared to the likes of Panope's work. I mean that with all respect!

Chunk by chunk and piece by piece I have sliced, cut, sawed and moved everything back to line up with the drywall below, shifted electric without dismantling, and trimmed out as much as I can without moving walls. So, at least I will not smack my head & shoulders on the way down.

Tomorrow, we will be painting the 1x10 boards that will close all this back in. Over to the right, in the corner above the door, there was simply not enough extra length in the electric to make a square corner, so there will be small mitered edge there. I'll add some pics when it is installed and a little prettier..it will probably take another month for trim to get put in.

I gained about 5/8" along the hand rail by removing all the trim and baseboard so i could get the circular saw blade closer and take out some flooring/subfloor. I gained whatever was along the exterior edge all the way to the drywall below by careful extraction and movement of pesky things like romex.

This project also "necessitated" a new tool. A dual bevel sliding mitre saw. - and yes..there is a palm tree in my messy ass shop...too cold outside for plants, so we just spread them around the house wherever they can hang out. It is in the high 50's in the shop..well below freezing at night outside.

I am hoping the new saw will speed up my other trim projects that I have been putting off and have hanging over my head, like all the shoe molding and stuff in the living room. I kept jacking up the cuts with the single bevel saw, so if I save 20 pieces of trim, the saw will have paid for itself!

[H B]

In other news, I am also trying to build a shed. It is a Lifetime bolt together style, similar to the one I had at the old house. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow!

[LarryHoward]

In other news, I am also trying to build a shed. It is a Lifetime bolt together style, similar to the one I had at the old house. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow!

From us lazier folks, how does the price of a "Lifetime" shed compare to a delivered Amish shed?

I may need to bribe you and Rich on weekend when it warms up. I want to extend my pole barn style, open front 24 X 12 "boat shed" by 8' out the back with the addition of 5-6 cylindrical footers and then extend the structure. The boat is a 23 with an outdrive and long tongue trailer. Really want to be able to get the boat entirely within the shed in winter and put in either a roller door or a garage door. Tired of the ugly view into the shed from the drive.

[Charlie]

Shawn,

If you’re removing trim, and want to avoid damaging it and the walls, try this trim puller from Zenith. I’m in the middle of a kitchen and family room remodel, and found it works great.

[Ajax]

In other news, I am also trying to build a shed. It is a Lifetime bolt together style, similar to the one I had at the old house. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow!

From us lazier folks, how does the price of a "Lifetime" shed compare to a delivered Amish shed?

I may need to bribe you and Rich on weekend when it warms up. I want to extend my pole barn style, open front 24 X 12 "boat shed" by 8' out the back with the addition of 5-6 cylindrical footers and then extend the structure. The boat is a 23 with an outdrive and long tongue trailer. Really want to be able to get the boat entirely within the shed in winter and put in either a roller door or a garage door. Tired of the ugly view into the shed from the drive.

Can I bring the 5-ton?

[Ajax]

Shawn,

If you’re removing trim, and want to avoid damaging it and the walls, try this trim puller from Zenith. I’m in the middle of a kitchen and family room remodel, and found it works great.

Thanks for this. I'm looking to replace all of my interior doors with pre-hung, 6-panel doors. I wasn't keen on using a prybar to pry off the old door frames.

[LarryHoward]

In other news, I am also trying to build a shed. It is a Lifetime bolt together style, similar to the one I had at the old house. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow!

From us lazier folks, how does the price of a "Lifetime" shed compare to a delivered Amish shed?

I may need to bribe you and Rich on weekend when it warms up. I want to extend my pole barn style, open front 24 X 12 "boat shed" by 8' out the back with the addition of 5-6 cylindrical footers and then extend the structure. The boat is a 23 with an outdrive and long tongue trailer. Really want to be able to get the boat entirely within the shed in winter and put in either a roller door or a garage door. Tired of the ugly view into the shed from the drive.

Can I bring the 5-ton?

Sure. If it had a dump bed, I'd have you pick up a load of topsoil.....and then gravel.

[H B]

Shawn,

If you’re removing trim, and want to avoid damaging it and the walls, try this trim puller from Zenith. I’m in the middle of a kitchen and family room remodel, and found it works great.

Thanks for this. I'm looking to replace all of my interior doors with pre-hung, 6-panel doors. I wasn't keen on using a prybar to pry off the old door frames.

+1 !!!! I just saw one of these the other day. Except for the piece mentioned in the recent update, I am generally replacing the dark stained trim with white as we rebuild..this piece will go back in and this would have been a nice tool..I used a 6" mud knife to break the paint seal and the small pry bar after that..i will pick up one of these tools!

Larry, this Lifetime shed was ~$1,100 for 10 x 8ft. My 8 x 15' at the old house was about ~$1,750 if I recall..and that was 6 or 7 years ago.
I really wish I could get a bigger one, but this will already be an 'eyesore' to some. I started at 40 sq ft and then doubled it at the permit office. people watch too closely down here to just build something over the weekend without calling up the county (i.e., a better placement for me, and aesthetically would look better on the property IMO, but too close to the boundary, etc.)

[Ajax]

In other news, I am also trying to build a shed. It is a Lifetime bolt together style, similar to the one I had at the old house. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow!

From us lazier folks, how does the price of a "Lifetime" shed compare to a delivered Amish shed?

I may need to bribe you and Rich on weekend when it warms up. I want to extend my pole barn style, open front 24 X 12 "boat shed" by 8' out the back with the addition of 5-6 cylindrical footers and then extend the structure. The boat is a 23 with an outdrive and long tongue trailer. Really want to be able to get the boat entirely within the shed in winter and put in either a roller door or a garage door. Tired of the ugly view into the shed from the drive.

Can I bring the 5-ton?

Sure. If it had a dump bed, I'd have you pick up a load of topsoil.....and then gravel.

A little shovelin' never hurt anyone.

[BeauV]

Shawn, does that shed come as a kit?

[H B]

Beau, Yup..it arrived today! One of the delivery guys had to hop on the pallet jack to pop a wheelie on the front end to roll it up the driveway.

[TheOffice]

Sweet saw!

[H B]

Public Service Announcement

Sharkbite plumbing fittings are officially the shiznit. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[Slick470]

Public Service Announcement

Sharkbite plumbing fittings are officially the shiznit. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Pricey, but yes. They are pretty sweet.

[H B]

Andy, yes...I agree, But I have been fighting what I am now figuring out is a hot & cold supply + drain leak in a single vanity, so I have been eliminating them one a time.

I would not want to do the entire house with them...but I might re-do the entire boat with them (with PEX tubing) when I add hot pressure water to the boat (someday).

[Charlie]

Sharkbites are handy, but I’m not willing to use them inside a wall. Just old fashioned, I guess.

I do use them for temporary capping off active water lines during renovation. Funny story: we were demolishing a kitchen in a friend’s house and the plumbers had just finished capping the under sink supply lines where they came up through the floor and through cutouts into the sink cabinet. We unscrewed the cabinet from the wall and the adjacent cabinets, and were lifting it off the supply line stubs, when the edge of the cutout hole in the cabinet caught the Sharkbite and released it from the pipe. A geyser from the 1/2” cold supply ensued, blasting all the way to the ceiling. One of my buddies did his best to deflect the flow into a bucket, while I sprinted to the (unfamiliar) basement to find the shutoff. A lot of water comes out of a 1/2” line in only a couple of minutes.

Now Pex, THAT is a magical invention.

[H B]

Charlie, I think I would agree with you on 'not behind a wall'. These are under the sink, and for 48 hours, it has been dry..that is a win for me! Even though this is technically off topic, I think I am going to re-do the entire boat in PEX and Sharkbite when the time comes.

In other news, which is always happening around here, the shed is up. About 5 hours start to finish if you don't count the neighbor interruptions looking for a free beer. 95% of it I could do by myself, a testament to the construction techniques by Lifetime. I needed a little help on a few things, and employed my Laura twice for 15 minute intervals, to help line up the last roof panel, and to hold the captive nuts in the corner trim until the machine screw caught the nut (duct tape might have worked, but this way she feels better for helping!) I was also FB-Messengering with an old high school friend now in Myrtle Beach that I had not talked to in 10 years, so he slowed me down a little too, but it was great to catch up while I was reviewing the manual.

P.S.> the shed is level..the phone was crooked. Next project is the ramp into the doors. I had a sweet 2x6 frame and 5/4 board ramp on my old one, I plan to re-create that here so I can roll the cheap bikes and mower up in this bitch.

[kimbottles]

.........Even though this is technically off topic, I think I am going to re-do the entire boat in PEX and Sharkbite when the time comes.........

WHITECAP came with all PEX and Sharkbite fittings. Great stuff, but it is possible to have the fitting catch where it goes through a bulkhead and disconnect. I kept finding fresh water in the engine room on occasion and I kept looking for it. I was worried about maybe a fresh water tank leak, but it seemed intermittent.

One night while cruising I finally torn the boat apart and found a large quantity of fresh water under the forward cabin in a almost inaccessible spot. It was the hot water line so it didn’t get used much until we went cruising. I bailed it all out and reset the Sharkbite. No leaks since.

I think we must have caught the fitting when we were running the Hydronic Heating Lines.

[Slick470]

I completely re-plumbed my house with PEX over the past several years. I have mostly used the SS compression straps, but have had a few locations where the sharkbite fittings were needed. Mostly when tying into an existing shower fixture and not wanting to replace the mixing valve, under the vanity in one of the bathrooms, where I didn't have enough space to use the tool, and capping the water after making the switchover from the "old system" to the "new system"

All of those could have been solved with more money, tools, or time, but the sharkbite fittings were the right solution at the time.

The boat had Qest tubing, but I ripped all of that out. Still deciding if I want to go back in with PEX or just go with a roll of the reinforced clear tubing. Decisions... decisions.

[TheOffice]

My boat also used Qest. FWIW I've replaced about 1/2 with Pex. The long lines to the heads would be a bear to replace, so I left them alone for now.

[Slick470]

Joel, when we bought our boat, the two previous PO's had never used the pressure water system and knew nothing about it.

When I started digging into it, I found that sections of the Qest tubing had been replaced with the clear reinforced tubing and the pressure water pump was seized. (not to mention wired with lamp cord)

Apparently relatively early in our boat's life, the system was on the fritz, and the first owner was chasing leaks.

[Ajax]

Qest's problem is that it is not chemically cross-linked to resist chlorine. That's why my house is full of it with no ill effects- I'm on my own well.
Sure, it doesn't flex and swell (to resist freeze bursting) like PEX but if you're not pumping it full of chlorine or letting it freeze full of water, it should hold up.

All of my Qest plumbing is in the crawl space under the house and connects to copper rough-ins, so if any of the Qest bursts, it won't flood the house.
My main hurdle to re-plumbing the house with PEX, is that the utility room crawl space is isolated from the main crawl space by a cinder block footer. I'll have to cut up the utility room floor to access the beginning of the Quest where it attaches to the well pump accumulator and the water heater.

[H B]

Interesting data on two of the most recent posts. Andy, I found lots of lamp cord in my boat too..all removed. My Dad is a EE so I guess he knew the risks.

Ajax, My house I sold in 2018 was on a well..but the primary boat fill location, plus my new-to-me-old-house has lots of chlorine, so I am glad it is not using Qest.

[Slick470]

The big problem I heard with Qest was the connectors. The tubing was supposedly ok, but the connection relied on a rubber gasket that was compressed and over time and/or due to chemicals in the water they would harden and you would lose the seal. It's been a couple years, but if I recall, all of the ones I ripped out of the boat were hard.

[Ajax]

I also had lamp cord in my boat. I backhauled a lot of unused wiring, wiring to ancient and defunct instruments (SI-TEX weather fax) and replaced lamp cord.
As a whole system, I'm still not happy with it but it's a lot better than it was.

My house is...amusing. Nearly 1/2 of the entire house is wired to a single, 15a breaker.

Before you freak out, realize that my house is quite small. It's basically a ceiling fan and a string of outlets and light fixtures in the bathrooms. The elderly woman who owned the house previously, put 100w lightbulbs in every single fixture. The guest bathroom has a "dressing room" style light fixture with 6 bulbs. That's right- 600 watts of lighting in the bathroom. 300 watts in the master bath. My kids would pop the breaker if they turned on the lights and ran a hair dryer at the same time.

Anyway, replaced all the lighting on that circuit with LEDs- problem solved. Reduced from a total of 900 watts to maybe 20w. Plus, the kids have moved out.

[Slick470]

Rich, old houses are like that. Keep in mind that for a really long time the only things you would plug in around your house were lamps and fans.

Our house was built in 1947 and while our electrical panel had been upgraded when we bought it, I found that outside of the basement and kitchen the top floor and ground floor of our house were all on one 15 amp breaker. As part of my ongoing renovation, I broke that into as many separate smaller circuits as I could reasonably access and/or made sense.

A house I rented had a four fuse, fuse box in the basement. Two were for the A/C and furnace, one was for the kitchen stove, the last one was for all of the lights and outlets. I had to make sure a bunch of stuff was off before vacuuming.

[H B]

Damn kids...always making a mess of things.

[BeauV]

Our 1929 house started with one Fuse Box with 6 fuses, 30amp service from the pole, and nob-n-tube everywhere. It's now 300amp service run through the main panel with 6 big breakers for 3-240 and 3-120, cascading panels up to three levels deep with various 15-50 amp breakers. Ah me..... it would have been better (in perfect 20/20 hindsight) to require the entire house at once. The introduction of electric cars, a steam shower, and various electric space heaters really drove the incrementalism.

This is one of those cases I have found in every engineering project I've worked on: "If we only knew then what we know now! Our plans could have been perfect!!!"