LEt the renos begin

[Quicksilver]

Today I bought 400 sq ft of hardwood flooring, tile, a vanity, lighting, drywall, insulation, and various other stuff. We are doing some major renovations at my house: my en suite bathroom, 600 sq ft of hardwood(I had 250 sq ft left over from doing other rooms), new drywall in my dining room, a new vanity in my powder room, and a new roof and ceiling. The ceiling in my kitchen has been leaking for years, but my guys were always busy, and since I'm in the business I didn't want to pay somebody else's profits. So, my men are finally available and we are doing the work. I have 37 items on the list ranging from fixing a small patch to the bathroom (a complete gut), the floor, the ceiling and roof over it, some exterior work, and depending on the budget, even some landscaping. I'm also hoarding left over wood so I can build an awesome deck so we can start entertaining again if and when COVID is over.
One little comment: the house is an 80 year old farmhouse that was apparently built one room at a time. We expected the find the unexpected, and by gosh, we certainly have. We are one day in, and already over budget on the bathroom by 20%.
However, we'll see how it goes.

[83 5.0]

Must be hard running your own renos, as I am my own worst critic when it comes to doing things.

[IanGTCS]

Must be hard running your own renos, as I am my own worst critic when it comes to doing things.

I think my wife is my worst critic. She will see the single paint drip in a room. But heaven forbid I criticize any of her painting. I've also learned I don't paint well with others.

Gotta love old houses. Square and level often seen to be vague ideas at times. I find it oddly satisfying to fudge it enough that everything looks proper and you don't notice.

[CON VERT]

Glad my basement bathroom reno is over, last coat of paint today ! big shout out to my contractor "Tim" for beating on it till it was finished, 4 days start to finish !

[Quicksilver]

We are now into our 4th day. We have removed one extraneous wall in the bedroom. Lo and behold, it isn't a bearing wall but whomever did it nailed supporting gussets into the joists above, for no apparent reason.
Then there were layers of insulation literally just laying there not in between the hoists. The rafters above the bathroom are all different sizes. They measure from 5 3/8" to 7 3/4" with notches cut into them.
One wall of the bathroom used to be and exterior wall, complete with stucco and a board over, then with another layer of drywall over it.
The exterior wall didn't have any insulation in it. Two of the studs were crooked when originally installed. The window was in the shower stall, so you can imagine the water damage to the wall, which was covered with tiled over ordinary drywall.
And the floor! Oh boy. Suffice to say we have replaced it with new pressure treated plywood.
I had planned to replace the window with glass block, as I like the light coming in. There are no privacy issues given the way the window is oriented. However, it turns out that almost NO ONE stocks glass block in Toronto. We called a dozen places until we found Simcoe Building Supplies in Barrie. Their answer was "how many do you want?" So, I drove hurriedly up there yesterday to buy 40 of them, along with the necessary framing and mortar. They gave it all to me for half price because they don't plan on bringing in more stock.
Then, it turns out the wiring must have been done by a first year apprentice, or maybe an amateur. One outlet was simply a wire in the wall, attached to the back of the outlet, without even a junction box. About half the house was rewired at some point, as it does have a 200 amp box, but I guess they missed the bathroom.
Finally, the vinyl tiles throughout the bedroom may be asbestos based, so in the interests of safety we are tearing them up, and replacing them, with either hardwood of carpet. That's a toughie. It's the master bedroom; I'm leaning towards hardwood, while my wife likes carpet. Either way, it wasn't in the original budget.
The bathroom should be finished this week. Then it's on to the ceiling in the front great room, which has been leaking severely for several years. I'm almost afraid to open it up for fear of what we might find in there.
So Glen, if you're all done in 4 days, that's fabulous. I think my reno will take the whole month.

[hammerhead]

You never know what your getting with old houses - my first house way back in the late 80's had stripped cedar or they may have been Hemlock rails for roof rafters with about a 2' spacing and maybe 8-10" diameter - also remember someone had ran extension cord through the wall to connect a switch to the light..lol - oddly enough had found that extension cord trick in a jeep project on the tail lights (maybe was the same guy)...lol - the roof sounds kinda scary hope it works out....

[Quicksilver]

..lol - the roof sounds kinda scary hope it works out....

It's kind of hard to describe. The original roof had a flat ceiling. There was a small part in what is now the laundry room that was vaulted, so I decided to vault the whole length of the two rooms. I have a rather modernistic two level ceiling with a flat part, a big beam, and a vaulted part. Looks killer. however, the carpenter who built it for me seems to have screwed up, as the roof leaks. We haven't been able to find the leak, even though I have replaced that section of the roof twice. My current carpenter plans on ripping the entire ceiling of the room out (we also have a skylight that was improperly installed, and also leaking) to trace, then fix, the leak. Then we have to put back the whole ceiling.
We are also installing 600 sq ft of hardwood, painting the entire main floor, putting in a new vanity in the powder room(not in the original budget), and of course the carpet/hardwood in the master bathroom.
On top of that, the bathroom upstairs apparently is in dire need of work. My 6'3" son cannot stand up straight in the bathtub to shower without hitting his head on the ceiling, and it looks like we are going to join two smaller dormers into one big one.
Bye bye budget.
I may have to sell the Jag to pay for all this, but my wife says she's waited long enough. Word of advice: don't stay married for 46 years to the same woman. They tend to get picky after a while.

[redo75]

In the Buy and Sell there is a "Other Stuff to Sell". Might need a good pic of the wife.

[MUSTANGWOP]

Sounds like a huge project Steve, best of luck with it. Post up some progress pics along the way.

[90LXCoupe]

I have just gutted my ensuite bathroom. Thought that was a big job. Remind me to log out so my wife doesn't see your list and adds to mine !!!