The Home Reno Thread

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I think we currently rent our water tank for $20/month taxes in. It's a 40gal and more than we've ever needed.
Guy comes tomorrow to see about options, so thanks for all the info!

On a side note, metal roof goes on tomorrow and extra sub floor for the hardwood.

All the dust must be doing a number on the HVAC:(
 
when ever we start a reno/drywall/ paint sand/ flooring I go to CTC or homer depot and buy a dozen of those el cheapo furnace filters and change it every second day till done. $30 or $40 bucks stops a lot of yelling by the lady that vaccums.
 
crankcall said:
when ever we start a reno/drywall/ paint sand/ flooring I go to CTC or homer depot and buy a dozen of those el cheapo furnace filters and change it every second day till done. $30 or $40 bucks stops a lot of yelling by the lady that vaccums.
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Problem is that for the furnace to suck it up...it's already travelled through the house to the nearest cold air return grille.

I have one of those vacuum attachment drywall sanding tools that completely eliminates the dust. Just beware, you MUST use a bag in your Shop Vac when sucking up drywall dust otherwise two things will happen - the dust just blows right through the vacuum and it sprays it everywhere, or....it will get into the motor and hose up the bearings.

Best money I ever spent.
 
Anyhow, on the renovation topic, my wife finally convinced me to start doing some updates. Our downstairs powder room was still original 1980's builder original, so I gutted it one evening...and put this together.

bathroom1.jpg


bathroom2.jpg


It's a mix of Ikea, Home depot, and Lowes. Vanity, sink and mirror are Ikea. The textured tile wall and floor were Lowes. Home Depot was all the hardware, new toilet, and such.

It was one of those projects that initially looked like it shouldn't be a big deal...until I yanked out the old vanity (which went wall to wall) and found that the lazy assed original builders didn't bother to plumb things properly, opting to simply ram everything through the centre of the floor (vs neatly against or in the wall), and worse yet, the vent stack literally went through the right wall and then up. Needless to say with the new vanity not going wall to wall that needed to be re routed to the basement and the holes patched.

It took way longer than I'd planned originally, but I ended up redoing the entire front entrance along with it. I'm pretty happy with how it all came out.

I'm contemplating the kitchen next.
 
I just did a popcorn removal -- never again. I got quoted $3K to remove, skim coat and sand -- would have been a bargain. Me thinks a weekend, a box of mud and a case of beer -- nope. 4 weekends, 2 boxes of mud, 10 bottles of Vodka and a few nights on the couch.
 
Mad Mike said:
I just did a popcorn removal -- never again. I got quoted $3K to remove, skim coat and sand -- would have been a bargain. Me thinks a weekend, a box of mud and a case of beer -- nope. 4 weekends, 2 boxes of mud, 10 bottles of Vodka and a few nights on the couch.
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Ugh, yeah. We have popcorn through the entire...freakin...house.

I thought about DIY removal on the main floor at least (upstairs can wait, meh) but after my right shoulder reconstruction..overhead work is not my friend.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Ugh, yeah. We have popcorn through the entire...freakin...house.

I thought about DIY removal on the main floor at least (upstairs can wait, meh) but after my right shoulder reconstruction..overhead work is not my friend.
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I'd seriously consider a quick scrape down to remove the majority of the peaks and then throw another layer of board up and tape and finish the virgin surface. If people can't bare to lose the ~3/4", Festool makes a sanding system that looks good, but damned is it pricey.
 
Mad Mike said:
I just did a popcorn removal -- never again. I got quoted $3K to remove, skim coat and sand -- would have been a bargain. Me thinks a weekend, a box of mud and a case of beer -- nope. 4 weekends, 2 boxes of mud, 10 bottles of Vodka and a few nights on the couch.
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We removed all the popcorn in the house too for the same amount. That was not a fun job and well worth the money.
However I liked the popcorn and would have been fine to keep it and spend the money on something fun, but someone else didn't like it.
 
GreyGhost said:
I'd seriously consider a quick scrape down to remove the majority of the peaks and then throw another layer of board up and tape and finish the virgin surface. If people can't bare to lose the ~3/4", Festool makes a sanding system that looks good, but damned is it pricey.
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I own the festool 10" electric disc sander and the hepa vaccum it attaches to. Its almost 4K with the taxes, but also connects to the track saw system and sanders plug into the vaccuum and turning on the tool switches on the vaccum. I was renoing a condo and we wanted all the textured ceilings gone.
weed sprayer to loosen up the popcorn, 8" scraper on a broom handle to get the worst down, then the 10" disc sander cleans it up very nicely. 1200sq ft, 2 days. 2 LONG days

I have never regretted buying tools, only having buddies that borrow said tools and cant seem to bring stuff back.....
 
crankcall said:
I own the festool 10" electric disc sander and the hepa vaccum it attaches to. Its almost 4K with the taxes, but also connects to the track saw system and sanders plug into the vaccuum and turning on the tool switches on the vaccum. I was renoing a condo and we wanted all the textured ceilings gone.
weed sprayer to loosen up the popcorn, 8" scraper on a broom handle to get the worst down, then the 10" disc sander cleans it up very nicely. 1200sq ft, 2 days. 2 LONG days

I have never regretted buying tools, only having buddies that borrow said tools and cant seem to bring stuff back.....
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I've done this before, removing existing drywall then replacing it is pretty easy IF there is vapour barrier. In the 60s, builders used as little as R7 paper+foil backed fiberglass and no vapor barrier. Over the years the attic accumulated 3' of blown in insulation so those old paper backed insulation bats were only friction fit -- the drywall was holding the insulation in place. I started in the kitchen because I wanted to replace AL wiring and add/move the ceiling lights to her preferred locations. I carefully pulled down small pieces and followed by shoring up with 6mil poly. After replacing four 4x12 sheets, I decided it wasn't practical to do the whole house -- despite working carefully and slowly, I couldn't avoid avalanches of blown in crashing to the floor - I decided scraping was the better option.

I used a garden sprayer (amazing how much nicotine gets stored in popcorn over 50 years) and an 8"knife. After that I repaired rough spots that were hidden by the popcorn, skim coated the entire ceiling, sanded, primed and painted.

Messy work, it's done now -- never again.
 
your nicotine reference was exactly why the condo got removed, it was completely brown/yellow. window coverings , all carpeting , we never smoked so we found it pretty foul.

We just capped all the stair treads with Acacia to match the new engineered floors on the second story, now the handrails which are oak on metal ballusters look odd so I'm making new rails out of Sapelle mahogany since I cant get 2 1/2" thick acacia, 40ft of hand rail....

always look at how an improvement will affect the surrounding fixtures and fittings. I changed a bathroom light bulb once that lead to an 8k makeover.
 
crankcall said:
always look at how an improvement will affect the surrounding fixtures and fittings. I changed a bathroom light bulb once that lead to an 8k makeover.
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haha.
Did the new light make everything look like crap so you had to change it out?
 
bulb added a 'sparkle' to the room , then the faucets looked old, which meant vanity and sink, which meant change the flooring and if the floors coming out , the shower may as well go to.

Hanging a new picture once triggered painting the entire house.
 
crankcall said:
your nicotine reference was exactly why the condo got removed, it was completely brown/yellow. window coverings , all carpeting , we never smoked so we found it pretty foul.

We just capped all the stair treads with Acacia to match the new engineered floors on the second story, now the handrails which are oak on metal ballusters look odd so I'm making new rails out of Sapelle mahogany since I cant get 2 1/2" thick acacia, 40ft of hand rail....

always look at how an improvement will affect the surrounding fixtures and fittings. I changed a bathroom light bulb once that lead to an 8k makeover.
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No Acacia for me!! I started putting it in my house only to find it doesn't hold a gloss finish. After 2 years, the seasonal humidity change has madly cracked the external finish on a number of the boards. At $10/sq' I'm more than a little bummed.

One more thing -- no pets allowed! When the dog does a burnout, she leaves some nasty scratches.
 
Thanks again for the advice to get the extra subfloor put down. What a difference in how solid it feels.

Also decided to stick with a regular tank for the water heater and it will be new 50gal. For our use it's the most sensible.

For those that have done good sized renos before, what kind of rebates did you get back?
Not sure if there have been a bunch of changes with the new provincial government.
 
shanekingsley said:
Thanks again for the advice to get the extra subfloor put down. What a difference in how solid it feels.

Also decided to stick with a regular tank for the water heater and it will be new 50gal. For our use it's the most sensible.

For those that have done good sized renos before, what kind of rebates did you get back?
Not sure if there have been a bunch of changes with the new provincial government.
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It sounds like most of your reno wouldn't reduce energy consumption so it wouldn't generate much rebate even under past programs. About 8 years ago, I needed a new furnace so I did the blower door tests, attic insulation, toilet replacement and air sealing at the same time. IIRC I spent ~10K and got a cheque for $500. Better than a kick in the teeth, but insignificant. Dougie has probably killed everything.
 
Mad Mike said:
No Acacia for me!! I started putting it in my house only to find it doesn't hold a gloss finish. After 2 years, the seasonal humidity change has madly cracked the external finish on a number of the boards. At $10/sq' I'm more than a little bummed.

One more thing -- no pets allowed! When the dog does a burnout, she leaves some nasty scratches.
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Our ground level maple floors are full of 'character' from 20yrs of dogs, cats, and a goat named Norton (dont ask) .

Seasonal humidity changes are the number one killer of floors, wall paneling and furnishings . Gas furnaces are really drying and a proper humidifier is needed. Techs hate to install or spec them because they need maintained and the warranty they supply has them coming back to fix them all the time.
They may tell you "modern houses with well insulated walls and vapour barriers dont need them" and you need them more than ever since the houses are so air tight. Buy a GOOD hygrometer , about $20 bucks , and see what the levels in your home are like.

Being primarily employed in the wood business, I see a lot of architectural paneling and floors, millwork and trims destroyed by humidity swing. And its easy to control, it just takes some effort.
 
Silly or not? A friend in Quebec, a cancer survivor had some radon issues so I put in a radon detector to see where I stood. We're good but apparently it can be an issue and I get the impression the readings vary widely house to house. Lung cancer is the concern, the leading cause for non smokers.

For Hamilton but TO is likely the same:

https://www.hamilton.ca/public-health/health-topics/radon
 
GreyGhost said:
It sounds like most of your reno wouldn't reduce energy consumption so it wouldn't generate much rebate even under past programs.
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Thanks.
We did remove the old insulation and do spray foam for about 50% of the house. Also replaced all windows with triple glazed and replaced all exterior doors & garage door. Also gutted 3 washrooms and added dual flush toilets. Removed our chimney, and put a metal roof on and added all new kitchen appliances that are all much more energy efficient. I did some brief looking around and it seems that we might be able to get around $15k back from this federal renovation rebate, but always looking for more gifts from the gov.

edit: just found this - provincial rebates are essentially dead: https://greenon.ca/

When we were trying to sort through all the wood flooring choices, we ended up getting a Superior Flooring product - engineered white oak in hand scraped, so nicks and scratches over time should blend in well. The flooring just arrived yesterday and is really beautiful right now. What kind of effect does humidity and dryness have on engineered floors?
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