Home Repairs/Improvements

teachercd

teachercd

Head Coach
Okay, since I can't go out in public this weekend (cold sore, thank you very much random girl) and since I have been posting a lot about home stuff, I figured we could share some stuff here.

I got my house 2.5 years ago. Basically, it is your typical Celebrity home...

So in that time I painted most of the rooms

Had new carpet put in

Put down a paver patio that is maybe the worst thing ever, with a fire pit, which is actually pretty cool but I never use it

So recently I painted all my tacky gold light fixtures (7 dollars in spray paint)

Stained my deck (about 60 dollars total)

I am looking into putting tile down in the 3 bathrooms (probably around 400 dollars total, depending on the tile cost)

I think I will redo my pavers since no concrete guy will call me back.

Oh, I also changed my gross gold address numbers to silver...5 dollars

Big projects will either be vinyl or repaint the outside. Anyone have vinyl put on? I might have a guy come out and give me an estimate.

 
teachercd said:
Big projects will either be vinyl or repaint the outside. Anyone have vinyl put on? I might have a guy come out and give me an estimate.
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I've put a lot of vinyl siding on over the years. My guess is that your vinyl estimates are going to be in the $10,000-15,000 range for a celebrity home. Fairly expensive . . . but then again so is paying someone to paint the exterior every 3-5 years.

Of course you could easily paint or side it yourself (you'd need a buddy or two to help out with the siding). With no experience I'd guess that you could probably side a Celebrity home in ~4-5 days. The pros will probably do it in around half that time.

How long do you plan on living there? I'd definitely keep that in mind before dropping too much money.

 
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carlfense said:
teachercd said:
Big projects will either be vinyl or repaint the outside. Anyone have vinyl put on? I might have a guy come out and give me an estimate.
Click to expand...
I've put a lot of vinyl siding on over the years. My guess is that your vinyl estimates are going to be in the $10,000-15,000 range for a celebrity home. Fairly expensive . . . but then again so is paying someone to paint the exterior every 3-5 years.

Of course you could easily paint or side it yourself (you'd need a buddy or two to help out with the siding). With no experience I'd guess that you could probably side a Celebrity home in ~4-5 days. The pros will probably do it in around half that time.

How long do you plan on living there? I'd definitely keep that in mind before dropping too much money.
Click to expand...
That is a great question, I have no idea how long I will live in this house.

10,000 to 15,000 is a lot more than I would want to spend. Painting I could do on my own with a sprayer and probably knock it out in two days, maybe 3. I have been looking into buying a sprayer

 
I'm putting up wainscoting and a chair rail this week in the soon-to-be baby's room. I'm not looking forward to it. I HATE trim work.

I put up a new privacy fence a few weeks ago, now that's something I can enjoy. Working outside, easy to fix mistakes...

 
I have installed vinyl siding on probably 250 houses and I would almost hesitate to put it on now with the large size hail that seems to be common in the midwest (assuming you live in the midwest). The formulas have improved as far as fading and appearance and if you aren't in a hail zone you'll be alright. They have lots of "beige" colors. If you tackle it yourself have someone who knows how to install it help you get the first two rows on and you should be fine. Just make sure EVERY piece gets snapped in place. Get at least an .044 thickness or better, not the cheap stuff sold by the box stores.

 
I bought the house six years ago. I built a cedar fence around the backyard so I could get a dog. Put in a garden, planted five fruit trees, and a bunch of flowers. Built a 275 sq ft deck (cedar and Trex). Put a 175 sq ft addition onto one paver patio, and built a different paver patio of ~100 sq ft. Built a small deck on the front of the house (4' x 15'). Built a pirate ship play structure for my kid. Currently I'm making a water filter/water falls for a small pond in our back yard, and remodelling the basement.

 
TonyStalloni said:
I have installed vinyl siding on probably 250 houses and I would almost hesitate to put it on now with the large size hail that seems to be common in the midwest (assuming you live in the midwest). The formulas have improved as far as fading and appearance and if you aren't in a hail zone you'll be alright. They have lots of "beige" colors. If you tackle it yourself have someone who knows how to install it help you get the first two rows on and you should be fine. Just make sure EVERY piece gets snapped in place. Get at least an .044 thickness or better, not the cheap stuff sold by the box stores.
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Thank you for that information. I was wondering about that and I live in Omaha. If you had to guess, would you say a 1,500 sqft home would be how much to side?

 
NUance said:
I bought the house six years ago. I built a cedar fence around the backyard so I could get a dog. Put in a garden, planted five fruit trees, and a bunch of flowers. Built a 275 sq ft deck (cedar and Trex). Put a 175 sq ft addition onto one paver patio, and built a different paver patio of ~100 sq ft. Built a small deck on the front of the house (4' x 15'). Built a pirate ship play structure for my kid. Currently I'm making a water filter/water falls for a small pond in our back yard, and remodelling the basement.
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Dang, you sound like a boss when it comes to being handy! I basically have no tools at all.

 
Junior said:
I'm putting up wainscoting and a chair rail this week in the soon-to-be baby's room. I'm not looking forward to it. I HATE trim work.

I put up a new privacy fence a few weeks ago, now that's something I can enjoy. Working outside, easy to fix mistakes...
Click to expand...
I put down floors two years ago and new trim...I hated it

 
teachercd said:
Junior said:
I'm putting up wainscoting and a chair rail this week in the soon-to-be baby's room. I'm not looking forward to it. I HATE trim work.

I put up a new privacy fence a few weeks ago, now that's something I can enjoy. Working outside, easy to fix mistakes...
Click to expand...
I put down floors two years ago and new trim...I hated it
Click to expand...
Yea, a year ago or so I replaced the flooring in our kitchen and our laundry room and did the trim work in there. I think it wouldn't be so bad if I had practice at it, but when all you do is the occasional baseboard work, it's hard to get the practice.

 
Speaking of contractors, are we just going to gloss over the fact that teach contracted the herpes?

 
teachercd said:
TonyStalloni said:
I have installed vinyl siding on probably 250 houses and I would almost hesitate to put it on now with the large size hail that seems to be common in the midwest (assuming you live in the midwest). The formulas have improved as far as fading and appearance and if you aren't in a hail zone you'll be alright. They have lots of "beige" colors. If you tackle it yourself have someone who knows how to install it help you get the first two rows on and you should be fine. Just make sure EVERY piece gets snapped in place. Get at least an .044 thickness or better, not the cheap stuff sold by the box stores.
Click to expand...
Thank you for that information. I was wondering about that and I live in Omaha. If you had to guess, would you say a 1,500 sqft home would be how much to side?
Click to expand...
I pretty much quit doing vinyl after the last big hail storm here (2006? Hastings). I was doing it for about $350/sq then so I would estimate probably $450 now and a 1500 sq ft house with 8' ceilings and garage would have approx 20 sq of siding. Taller ceilings and bigger gable ends would bump that up to 22 sq maybe.

20 sq x $450.............. $9000

Soffit and facia board wrap- $2500

Wrap window trim with coil- $1000-1500

Some of the bigger companies will tear off and remove old siding for "free" but you are paying for it somewhere.

 
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