House Remodeling Thread (long)

[Zen]

Tulip, is it that beautiful French stove that you got working?

I wonder if Salvation Army sells gift certificates?

[tulip]

Tulip, is it that beautiful French stove that you got working?

I wonder if Salvation Army sells gift certificates?

Well, in theory it's working. But I haven't fired it up yet because it's not cold enough. If it's warm outside, the chimney doesn't draft like it should and the house gets smokey.

That Salvation Army is awesome. I got a very cute 1950s side table for next to my sofa the other day--$14! They also had an awesome dresser, but I already have two so I passed this one by.

But I paid plenty of money to get the stove hooked up, even though the stove itself was free (it had been in my parents' house for many years). I have to get it approved by the insurance company anyways, so it's just as well that I'm not using it yet. But it sure is pretty.

[Tuckervill]

Tulip, call your insurance company and have them send someone out to look at your roof, especially if there have been some storms recently. Could have loose shingle or hail damage, and if so, you should get a new roof.

Karen

[tulip]

My roof is fairly old. I doubt the insurance company would agree that the issue is a new condition (even though it hadn't leaked before the last rain storm, which was really bad in Virginia). I just think insurance companies are out to find reasons NOT to cover repairs. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's been my experience. Is your experience different? Anybody here work for an insurance company who could give the lowdown?

I know I need a new roof eventually, but I don't think the insurance company is going to pay for it. I would love to be wrong, though.

[Tuckervill]

I got a new roof on my rental property because of storm damage.

Any settlement you get would be depreciated, but you might as well give them a call. It doesn't hurt.

Karen

[tulip]

Thanks, Tucker. I think I'll call them. The Governor did declare a state of emergency and all. I'll let you know what they say.

[papaver]

Thanks, Tucker. I think I'll call them. The Governor did declare a state of emergency and all. I'll let you know what they say.

I always say: you already have a NO, but you can still get a YES.

Otherwise what would be the use of having an insurance if you think they won't pay for your damages. Even if they only pay you a couple of hundred dollars, it's still better than nothing.

[tulip]

Hey, I called the insurance company and they said there was alot of damage from that storm and they will send an adjuster out as soon as possible. I would think that I would at least get my ceiling fixed, maybe even the roof repaired. If they want to go above that and give me a new roof--all the better. Maybe it will be all even with the deductible if it's just the ceiling, but at least it's something.

Thank you SO MUCH, Tuckervill, for suggesting that I call them. And thank you Papaver for reminding me that I already have NO all by myself.



Oh, and while I had them on the phone I told them about the wood stove, thinking that would be prudent if I ever needed to call them about any related damage. It raised my premium by $50/year, which is very reasonable. Maybe I haven't been giving insurance companies enough respect.

[Tuckervill]

If they only fix the ceiling, they're not doing their job. They will definitely fix the ceiling, and sometimes they even repaint the whole room. They repainted my whole bedroom once when they just need to fix the ceiling (lightning strike).

You're welcome. I feel like I've paid it forward, because if the neighbor of my rent house hadn't called to tell me about the hail storm, I wouldn't have even known about it to call the insurance company.

Karen

[Irulan]

DH started tearing down our deck today. We knew it was bad, but wow - good thing it's coming down! No parties for a while! We'll expand it, rip out the lower tier that has a not tub in it, and rebuild the whole thing out of composite decking.

The hot tub deck will be the big project. Tear out old one ( which is plumbed through the wall of the garage) pull down siding that has hole in it for plumbing, tear out siding above that which is warped from the steam because they put the hot tub too close to the house ( less than 12")

Then, either put a flagstone patio there, or a step up deck, instead of a top tub level deck which is how it was before. Put the new hot tub about 2' away from the house, close up holes in wall with new siding.

The door out to the hot tub has to be re done because it's old, leaky, unsecure and it was installed inside out instead of reverse hung, coming off the bath room. And then, there's the bathroom attached to the door, LOL. That might have to wait.

And then, the storage area under the upper deck has to be redone,too....

I'll take some more before pictures tomorrow.

Wow, I forgot I had posted this.

Here's almost "before". This is right when we started the tear down. Whoever owned the home before us had painted over stain ( don't EVER do that) and paint would never stick after that. We found this out by painting every year for five years and finally gave up. In this photo, we've pulled off all the railings.



Tear down all done. Anyone want a really old fiberglass spa?



Almost all done.



It's completed now, even to my clothesline mount on the deck
I love the new configuration; love the new spa and patio set, and it's just so nice compared to the ugly old crap we had before. We did all the work ourselves. Or, DH did and I was chief gopher.

[ny biker]

It's completed now, even to my clothesline mount on the deck
I love the new configuration; love the new spa and patio set, and it's just so nice compared to the ugly old crap we had before. We did all the work ourselves. Or, DH did and I was chief gopher.

Wow. Very nice.

[tulip]

NYBiker--has the condo board made their decision yet, or is it still too soon?

Nice, Irulan.

[ny biker]

NYBiker--has the condo board made their decision yet, or is it still too soon?

Nice, Irulan.

Still waiting to hear how the comittee voted on Thursday. They will make a recommendation to the board based on their vote, and the board will vote at its next meeting, on Dec. 2.

[ny biker]

Good news!! The condo board approved my request last night in a unanimous vote.

Now I get to spend lots and lots of money on my new heat pump. Luckily I will have the federal tax credit and the state rebate to get some of the money back.

[ny biker]

So, the new heat pump is installed and keeping me warm. It is so quiet. I have had a problem with the new humidifier leaking but I'm sure we'll get that solved as soon.

It was a bit of a scheduling mess getting the installation completed, due to massive snow in December, the holidays, and then 2 people at the HVAC company had deaths in the family in the same week. But they managed to get it done before the end of December. There were 2 guys working on it and they were here for something like 12 hours. They hardly even took a break for lunch.

Now I'm dealing with the aftermath -- while installing the new refrigerant pipe above the hall ceiling, they discovered 2 water pipes with kinks in them, so I'm working on getting a plumber in here to fix that. While the plumber is here I'm going to have a new toilet installed (a Toto Ultramax -- it gets great reviews and will use way less water than the crappy (pun intended) one that I have now). Then I need to have the big hole in the hall ceiling repaired.

Next I'm moving on to making improvements in the kitchen. There is an old '70s-style dropped ceiling in that room. In addition to it being ugly, there are gaps between the plastic panels and the frame that let the heated air out and my neighbor's cooking odors in. So I'm going to have the ceiling redone with drywall and canister lights (I might get LED lights if I can afford them).

I'll also be doing additional renovations in the kitchen, depending on how much the ceiling costs. At a minimum I want to paint the cabinets and walls and redo the floor. There are also some details I want changed like new moldings around the cabinets. I also want to replace the tile backsplash and counters, but that will probably have to wait until another year.

I am looking for opinions from you ladies -- what color should the new kitchen floor be? The cabinets will be white and the walls will be blue. Appliances are white. The new backsplash will also be white and although I haven't chosen a material for the counters yet I know they will be some kind of black/dark gray. I want the floor material to be something environmentally friendly, like cork or marmoleum. So what color should I go for?

If it helps, the kitchen is small. Not a really small galley kitchen, but also not large enough to have a table in it. The window faces south so the room gets lots of sunlight. I'm still deciding on a shade of blue for the walls, but it will probably be close to my periwinkle Fiesta ware dishes.

Thanks!