Anybody got any hints and tips for a do-it-yourself home remodel?
We're having to re-do my grandma's 50 year old house, taking it down to the studs, mostly so we can re-wire and re-insulate. Plus the gas wall heaters need to be replaced, as well as the hot water heater. The kitchen is being switched with the laundry area, new exterior doors, and a couple windows which are broke.
We're on a LIMITED budget and need to get half of it liveable SOON! We also live on the rez where there's NO CODES, so we have a lot of liberty to do whatever, but try to keep it SAFE.
At the start of demolition today, what a surprize to find NO insulation in the walls at all. And NO wiring going through the walls - it all comes up from the crawl space. We hate to go down to the crawl space cuz there are garter snakes GALORE down there. So I'm wondering if we should violate the virgin studs and run the electric through the studs around the rooms.
The ceiling insulation is probably pretty much powder with a tar paper layer. I just heard how yucky it is to breathe it in, so am trying to devise a way to contain the yuck while we're taking it down. Hopefully the drywall will come off first, leaving the tar paper and insulation fibers in the ceiling until we take it out. There's no attic so we can't remove it from above. Any tips are welcome!
There's no central air, just old gas wall heaters that need to be replaced, and NO heat in the bedroom or bathroom. Thinking about doing 110 V wired radiant floor heating in the tiny bathroom. Thought about vent free blue flame or radiant heaters until I found they don't work great at high altitudes and northern latitudes. Same with the tankless water heater we wanted.
We only have 100 Amp Electric Service, so that eliminates electric heating. We also thought about a continuous vapor barrier but don't have any air ventilation so I think we'll leave it "leaky".
Tomorrow the gas company is going to come out and suggest and quote a replacement heaters. My uncle died from carbon monoxide poisoning so that's 1 area where we're going with all new and all professionally installed equipment.
Luckily our friend is the only licensed electrician on the rez. NO electric contractors are willing to touch an old home around here and he's too busy, so we're doing all the wiring ourselves, with advice and final connection by our friend. It was actually fun designing the circuits and learning electric code. Plus anything has to be safer than what's in place now.
So to sum it up, we're open to any hints on the remodel from demo to heat - electric - drywall - insulation (especially how to keep an air channel open above the insulation on a flat roof system) - bathrooms - kitchen - laundry area - sewer - painting.
Today my friend that is very NON mechanical had some great tips on stuccoing ceilings. I'm sure our drywalling is going to be so uneven that it's gonna NEED some texture.
I'll have to post some pics! Gonna sneak off from work tomorrow and check the progress!
We're having to re-do my grandma's 50 year old house, taking it down to the studs, mostly so we can re-wire and re-insulate. Plus the gas wall heaters need to be replaced, as well as the hot water heater. The kitchen is being switched with the laundry area, new exterior doors, and a couple windows which are broke.
We're on a LIMITED budget and need to get half of it liveable SOON! We also live on the rez where there's NO CODES, so we have a lot of liberty to do whatever, but try to keep it SAFE.
At the start of demolition today, what a surprize to find NO insulation in the walls at all. And NO wiring going through the walls - it all comes up from the crawl space. We hate to go down to the crawl space cuz there are garter snakes GALORE down there. So I'm wondering if we should violate the virgin studs and run the electric through the studs around the rooms.
The ceiling insulation is probably pretty much powder with a tar paper layer. I just heard how yucky it is to breathe it in, so am trying to devise a way to contain the yuck while we're taking it down. Hopefully the drywall will come off first, leaving the tar paper and insulation fibers in the ceiling until we take it out. There's no attic so we can't remove it from above. Any tips are welcome!
There's no central air, just old gas wall heaters that need to be replaced, and NO heat in the bedroom or bathroom. Thinking about doing 110 V wired radiant floor heating in the tiny bathroom. Thought about vent free blue flame or radiant heaters until I found they don't work great at high altitudes and northern latitudes. Same with the tankless water heater we wanted.
We only have 100 Amp Electric Service, so that eliminates electric heating. We also thought about a continuous vapor barrier but don't have any air ventilation so I think we'll leave it "leaky".
Tomorrow the gas company is going to come out and suggest and quote a replacement heaters. My uncle died from carbon monoxide poisoning so that's 1 area where we're going with all new and all professionally installed equipment.
Luckily our friend is the only licensed electrician on the rez. NO electric contractors are willing to touch an old home around here and he's too busy, so we're doing all the wiring ourselves, with advice and final connection by our friend. It was actually fun designing the circuits and learning electric code. Plus anything has to be safer than what's in place now.
So to sum it up, we're open to any hints on the remodel from demo to heat - electric - drywall - insulation (especially how to keep an air channel open above the insulation on a flat roof system) - bathrooms - kitchen - laundry area - sewer - painting.
Today my friend that is very NON mechanical had some great tips on stuccoing ceilings. I'm sure our drywalling is going to be so uneven that it's gonna NEED some texture.
I'll have to post some pics! Gonna sneak off from work tomorrow and check the progress!
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