515 Crew

[TooManyHumyns]

i'm about to completely renovate this walden style house in my buddies back yard...i will post before and after pics...its been used as an automotive shed for year and years, and smells like death...new floor, tile, insulation, drywall(walls and ceiling), build a lofted area(possibly for a guest bed or something), replace the soffets, sheeting, siding, and the roof...probably just re-shingle it, but we'll se how it goes...i'll take the before pictures tomorrow when im doing the take-off...i'll hopefully start on it next week...

[Joey Chaos]

Make sure you bid a dumpster into the materials estimate. I have two trailers, and have tried to haul shit myself. With gas prices, the dump fees, and the time it takes, you ALWAYS wind up losing out on it.

[noel_nothing]

do you ever keep any of the decent wood thats left over for bonfires?

[inx515xhell]

i get all the firewood i could ever use from my job, cutting down trees.
just finished my loft project. went pretty smooth. just need to add a shelf or two with the leftover scraps. lookin for a recliner or smaller love seat to put under there as well.
sorry for the low res camera pics.
Before

After


and this is what my car looked like hauling all that shit. note the two 30 racks of rolling rock. my car rules.

[joseph]

tyler- are you trying to build a dorm room to entice college womerns?

[inx515xhell]

naw dude just want more space so i can fill my room with chainsaws, guns, drumsets, and other shit i don't need.
i realized after i built it....NO CLEARANCE FOR DOGGYSTYLE.

[TooManyHumyns]

so heres my project. its a small 10x12x14? waldenish shack in my friends back yard, the previous owners used it for storage of car parts, its smells like moth ballz and mold, which i found some black death the other day when I gutted the place on tuesday. I am going to resheet some of the exterior and fill in the siding blanks. I am going to put up soffets, and some vents. Then i have to wait on the electrical guy to get his shit done so i can put up my vapor barrier, insulation and drywall. Then i am going to reinforce the floor near the entrance. Next will be durock and tile. I am also going to finish sheeting the floor on the lofted area. Then i plan on tiling that as well. We are hoping to find some sort of spiral stairs to lead up to the loft, if not then i am going to build a simple ladder. I am going to re-trim everything, re frame and hang the front door, maybe put some new built in shelves in, depending on what they want. heres some pics...

[TooManyHumyns]

just a minute...

[TooManyHumyns]

[inx515xhell]

DAAAYYYYUM. i seen post katrina house in nola in better shape than this. you got your work cut out for you.
naw but srsly, looks like a real good project. someone gonna be livin in there?

[TooManyHumyns]

there is alot of ideas, art studio, playhouse, guest room, were talking about getting water ran out to it so it can be a legitmate tatoo studio...1 person shop obviously...its kinda a mess, but i've been wanting to work on something for a long time, and this will pretty much keep me fresh on about everything as far as skills and whatnot...im stoked, i only get like 4 hours a week to work on it, i will post pics of my progress and whatnot...i'm havin' fun so far

[joseph]

thats about the same size house i want to build.

[Joey Chaos]

I'll be going back into business for myself in May, so if you're still doing this kind of work I'll hire you as a subcontractor. I know that's a ways away, but something to think about. The work will be between here and Waterloo, but I'll put you up when you're working with me.

[TooManyHumyns]

that would be awesome! thanks

[TooManyHumyns]

so the cabin thing kinda got put on hold...but i just scored a huge job..and am bidding in the next couple days...
it is a kitchen install in a basement...
i have to tear out 2 walls...build 2 up
tear out carpet, hang 3 walls worth of upper and lower cabinents
counertop,sink...all that stuff
tlie, corner round, some drywall, maybe paint...
anyways..........i giving her a low bid, because i am new to the field and whatnot...but i know that if this project were handed to a season pro, that it would probably work out close to 5grand....anyways
i was gonna bid tile at $4-5sq/ft depending on how big of tile she wants...thats already a grand...some people charge double that from what i hear...
but i have no clue how to bid out the cabinets or the walls...
she has an electrician and plumber coming in...should i just have a rate per hour? if so what is a fair price? or should i just give her a lump total for everything and go with it, keeping in mind this is my intro to the remodling field...
i will be working with my, more or less, brother in law, and will most likely just split the profits 50/50...she is taking care of the 2 other trade contractors...all the materials are bought besides the 2x4s for hte walls and the drywall, and the tile/mortar, etc...
any suggestions?

[Joey Chaos]

Joe, you buy a little plot of ground and the materials and I would GLADLY help you properly build it for nothing.

[joseph]

Joe, you buy a little plot of ground and the materials and I would GLADLY help you properly build it for nothing.

thanks, ill keep it in mind. i was talking to one of my brothers this last weekend about buying a few acres in the middle of nothing and challenging each other to a cabin build off. i will win. he wants electricity and water. hes got no idea. we're on the 5 year plan.

[Joey Chaos]

It's reasonably cheap to have electric run to you, then just do everything transformer down yourself (well, myself, don't want you to kill yourself). Water could be hard, or easy, depending on how far you are from town. If you're close to town you can have rural water run to your house for a fee, and then have a monthly water bill, but if you're farther out you'll either have to get a place with a pre existing well, or have one dug, which is pricey. Having a well seems like a good deal, since you don't have a water bill, but trust me on this, it sucks. For one it cost more for the electric it takes to run the well then a normal water bill would take. I had my pump, a switch and some wiring all go bad in the same winter, the shit is expensive, and replacing it when it's butt fuck cold sucks. Another drawback is the fact that everything from the transformer in on private ground is you're responsibility, not that of the power company. The hail storm took out the box, and the lines to my well, and left us with no water for 7 days, and alliant more or less told us too bad. I spent $300 bucks on materials, set two poles through the pasture to the well, and dug a trench from the fenceline to the house for conduit/wire. We rehung the existing triplex from the new poles, and wired it straight to the house. If I wouldn't have known how to do this myself, it would have cost several thousand dollars. The good part of this is the homeowners insurance co gave me the several thousand for doing it. Had I not been insured, it would have sucked.


Ground is cheaper in southern Iowa, the shit might as well be solid gold up in these parts.