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Huntn

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The local storage unit place just raised their rates again. I have a 10x10 which has gone from under $100 to almost double that. I might as well spend $200 a month on a loan for that vs $200 to those money grubbing bastards.

Does anyone have an air conditioned Attic?
if so I'd like to know. Spray foam applied to the roof rafters.
  • how much it cost to install?
  • if there are any warnings or caveats?
  • and how pleased are you with it?
 

DT

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Our attic is closed up, and has an AC vent, so we're able to keep things up there that could possibly be damaged on an unfinished space. The air handler is up there too, as well as two light and also handy, a regular 110v outlet (super helpful when I've needed to use the shop vac up there).

No idea about the cost as it was like this when we bought it, but it is very nice to have. We've got lots of things in plastic tubs, but other things sort of out in the open, like my comics in cardboard boxes, that would get decimated just sitting on plywood in an unfinished space. Keep in mind, the access is usually through rafters, that have pretty tight spacing, plus going up and down a ladder. We swapped to smaller tubs a few years ago, they hold less per container, but are way easier to get into the attic (this is stuff that moves up and down every year like various holiday decorations.

One thing I'd suggest: put in a return (for the AC). Home HVAC systems work - and I'm sure you know this - by removing the hot air, cooling it down, and blowing it back into the house. That hot air extraction (or cold air in the winter) is critical, and even more so in a closed space, with extra, more concentrated heat.
 

Huntn

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Our attic is closed up, and has an AC vent, so we're able to keep things up there that could possibly be damaged on an unfinished space. The air handler is up there too, as well as two light and also handy, a regular 110v outlet (super helpful when I've needed to use the shop vac up there).

No idea about the cost as it was like this when we bought it, but it is very nice to have. We've got lots of things in plastic tubs, but other things sort of out in the open, like my comics in cardboard boxes, that would get decimated just sitting on plywood in an unfinished space. Keep in mind, the access is usually through rafters, that have pretty tight spacing, plus going up and down a ladder. We swapped to smaller tubs a few years ago, they hold less per container, but are way easier to get into the attic (this is stuff that moves up and down every year like various holiday decorations.

One thing I'd suggest: put in a return (for the AC). Home HVAC systems work - and I'm sure you know this - by removing the hot air, cooling it down, and blowing it back into the house. That hot air extraction (or cold air in the winter) is critical, and even more so in a closed space, with extra, more concentrated heat.
What do you have up at the rafters that make up the roof, batt insulation, rigid foam, or spray foam? This area, the first time I considered it and now, I am reluctant to seal it off where it becomes inaccessible, while realizing that it has to be sealed if you want this area relatively cool.
 

DT

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Just some batt tacked up on the walls, and at one end is an opening, just a cutout with a plywood cover screwed on (definitely keep some kind of access to the rest of the unfinished attic).

It's not like a super finished space, ducts in/out of the air handler, insulation could be improved a good bit, we just used it as is.
 

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What do you have up at the rafters that make up the roof, batt insulation, rigid foam, or spray foam? This area, the first time I considered it and now, I am reluctant to seal it off where it becomes inaccessible, while realizing that it has to be sealed if you want this area relatively cool.

Here is what I did.

I have a 9/12 hip roof with the top of the peak at around 18'. I built knee walls on 3 sides at the point they were 4' tall. The 4th wall is 10' high. I then made joists at 10' tall across the rafters. I screwed 1" rigid foam board to all surfaces and then covered it all with 1/4" drywall. Taped all the seams and spray foamed the bottom (did this on the rigid foam before I installed the drywall) At the end with the 10' wall, I added an old interior door I had sitting in the warehouse to provide access to the rest of the attic. Nothing is covered up to the point it can't be accessed.

I have HVAC vents in the garage (I know, against code, but I didn't build this house) so I tapped one of them and extended it up to the attic. This adds a little heating and cooling so the room stays under 80 in the summer and over 50 in the winter.
 

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i have a photography studio above our garage. the garage is separated from the two story main house by a one story mudroom. from the street the garage looks detached but it’s not.

the studio is fully finished with a full bath (no closets so technically not a bedroom) so more than you are looking for. the hvac is a mini split system because the mudroom is only a crawl space and ducting above the garage was difficult.

i’m pretty sure there is just regular bat insulation in the walls/rafters but we later had spray foam but in between the garage ceiling/studio floor after a pipe froze one winter. luckily we figured it out before it burst and out builder came over with a hair dryer and thawed the pipe.

but look into a mini split system.
 

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One issue I can see is that our attached-integrated garage is un-insulated and gets hot in the summer. This is a one story house and the attic covers the entire space including the garage. The floor of the attic where the garage would have to be insulated which would be doable.

You might ask why not insulate the garage too? The outside wall is finished and it would be an extra mess to remove the drywall to apply the insulation I assume is not on the outer wall. This is doable too, just more work.

My goal would be to prepare the attic first and I could possibly do it myself, but I need to research how much thickness insulation would be needed to be effective. The last time I insulated was when I refinished our master bath, and there I used a combo of 2” and 1” rigid foam On the outer walls, and filled the cracks with spray foam, then covered it all with drywall.

The attic would become a tolerably warm storage space, so it would not need to have a finished appearance, but I do believe I’d have to get some AC circulation up there. I’ll be contacting contractors soon to see what the commercially installed space would cost versus the hassle, but savings of doing it myself. The attic is tall enough that being on a ladder would be required along with the flooring to support it.

I wonder if placing insulation in the roof rafters has any adverse effect on the roof and shingles as far as accelerating breakdown of the shingles based on heat? Or those shingles are hot anyway, what is the difference to them? ;)
 

mollyc

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have you considered blown in insulation? they make little holes every so often and blow in loose insulation through a tube. then you just patch the holes, rather than pull out all the drywall and reinstalling it.
 

DT

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This seems like the place to post this.

We have GOT to get a whole home filter setup. The sediment keeps wrecking the hot water heater (it's fine now after an R&R on the coils, but only a matter of time), plus all the other plumbing, appliances, not to mention general health considerations, better tasting tap water (vs. always using the fridge filtered water), etc.

Looks like Aquasana, specifically their Rhino series products. They're modular, so you can get different protections, I suppose add on later, but I'm looking to do this once. Something like this (though I might not buy from Home Depot):

 

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This seems like the place to post this.

We have GOT to get a whole home filter setup. The sediment keeps wrecking the hot water heater (it's fine now after an R&R on the coils, but only a matter of time), plus all the other plumbing, appliances, not to mention general health considerations, better tasting tap water (vs. always using the fridge filtered water), etc.

Looks like Aquasana, specifically their Rhino series products. They're modular, so you can get different protections, I suppose add on later, but I'm looking to do this once. Something like this (though I might not buy from Home Depot):


Our local water supply also has a lot of sediment, though it tastes great coming from snow melt a couple hundred miles away from the Sierra Nevada mountains. Thus we didn't need any filtering to deal with taste. Just needed to keep out the sediment that could mess up our tankless water heater and faucets.

I ended up going with a single Pentair 10" Big Blue filter housing and 50 micron pleated polyester filters. I change them 1-2 times a year. So far so good. Pentair also makes a larger 20" housing and filters, but didn't think that was necessary for a two person household.
 

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DT

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Oh yeah, that's good information. That system I linked above is very likely overblown for our needs, I was just starting with the worst case cost, and figured I'd work back from there (and that system has $799 versions that are single tank).

I don't think there's so much a taste issue as probably some psychological impact knowing the water contains sediments (calcium and magnesium).

Filter maintenance isn't a huge deal, heck, if I'd be happy to change it 4-6 times a year if it made a huge impact (assuming the filters aren't more than ~$100).
 

AG_PhamD

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My sister and I recently inherited my grandfather’s beach cottage in Rhode Island. My parents and extended family also own several houses in the neighborhood. It’s an amazing location with 220+ degree unobstructed views of the beach, direct beach access (in fact we own a couple hundred yards of private beach), and sits next to a pond. It’s about 300 yards from the beach which is nice. In 60+ years the house the most storm damage it incurred was a single torn off roof shingle during Hurricane Sandy.

The house itself was built in the late 60’s. My grandfather maintained it well over the years but in the last few years of his life his physical abilities deterred and by the end was no longer visiting and things have fallen by the wayside. His “girlfriend’s” adult children spent a lot of time over the past couple years there (for free) but did not really do any repairs or upkeep unfortunately.

The decking absolutely needs to be replaced, or at least have considerable repairs made. There are also two bay windows that are only probably 5-6 years old but are falling apart (Home Depot garbage). Some of the wood shingle needs repairs.

Our plan is to make the necessary repairs and rent the house alongside my family’s rental houses down there. We might want to replace the 1980’s era kitchen (or at least the Formica countertops) and make a few other interior modernizations. It has an ideal position to install solar which might be worth exploring given current incentives.

Oh yeah, and when we do tear it down we’ll have to deal with the absestos flooring (currently under new flooring). I’m pretty sure the deck was painted with surplus WWII leaded naval paint. And then there was the cache of 1960’s carbon tetrachloride fire extinguishers (including the glass grenade style) we found in the garage- super toxic stuff. I’m pretty sure this stuff was banned like 40 years ago. I still need to find out where this can be disposed.

It’s incredible how costly building materials are right now. The labor is also insane in some cases- especially in this market where contractors try to take advantage of people. I got two quotes on the deck with one more than double the other. When we replaced garage doors at other houses this contractor wanted tripple everyone else because his claim to fame was he did Taylor Swifts garage doors in Watch Hill (and let’s be clear we’re not talking about $19m mansions like hers). Or perhaps the deck guy charging double just really doesn’t want the job.

I got one quote on the bay windows. The windows themselves are like $3000 x2 from Anderson, but the guy wanted $9,000 for labor. That seems excessively high.

We should probably also replace the two garage doors which are so old they’re made of wood. We have a guy for that who did the other houses. The front door has two doors, a recently replaced steel/glass security door and an original wooden framed screened door. The wood is deteriorating. And of course, the door is not a standard size. I was quoted $800 for a new door. Ridiculous.

We also probably want to install a mini-split HVAC system. Currently it has no central AC and crappy electric heat. While expensive, AC gets rid of the humidity and makes everything last longer. And if you know anything about living on the ocean, between the salt and humidity things wear out very quickly.

Also on the to-do list is to have the chimney bricks repointed. The pond also has a dock that’s in disrepair, so that should either be rebuilt or torn out for safety reasons.

I hate dealing with contractors, especially down here where many expect they can just throw out an absurd number and people will pay it.

I guess the ultimate question is how much money and work do we put into this if we’re going to rebuild it entirely in the the future- which will probably cost $500,000 minimum. We’d like to rent it out for several years before we go down that road. So we at a minimum need everything to be safe. Due to new hurricane regulations, the fact we abut federally protected land, the town’s relatively recent interest in regulating construction, new laws about water and septic systems, and the fact nothing in the existing structure is to code these days make rebuilding a very complicated and expensive. The permit approval process is also extremely slow here too.

A95855A8-2299-4AC1-87E2-E28D0D5877E2.jpeg
 

DT

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The condition and renting it out sounds like it could lead to significant time costs. I certainly understand wanting to keep it in the family, and even offset some of the cost by way of renting it, but me, personally, I wouldn't do it. Said the same thing to my folks when they moved, kept the old place, and rented it. Sometimes it was fine, other times it was 2-3 trips over a week - and this was a newer house - and they were ~5 miles away. They wound up selling it when an offer came through the neighborhood grape vine, I was thrilled, I thought it was a waste of their time at their age.

re: Your place

I'd put just enough to make it a place for me to go with the family, and not spend a bunch extra to make it suitable for renting. Take time with the planning, if it's a family place, get everyone involved (including the funding :) ), and redo it once so it'll last for the next 25+ years.

Look like a beautiful area BTW, love to see some additional pics.
 

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My sister and I recently inherited my grandfather’s beach cottage in Rhode Island. My parents and extended family also own several houses in the neighborhood. It’s an amazing location with 220+ degree unobstructed views of the beach, direct beach access (in fact we own a couple hundred yards of private beach), and sits next to a pond. It’s about 300 yards from the beach which is nice. In 60+ years the house the most storm damage it incurred was a single torn off roof shingle during Hurricane Sandy.

The house itself was built in the late 60’s. My grandfather maintained it well over the years but in the last few years of his life his physical abilities deterred and by the end was no longer visiting and things have fallen by the wayside. His “girlfriend’s” adult children spent a lot of time over the past couple years there (for free) but did not really do any repairs or upkeep unfortunately.

The decking absolutely needs to be replaced, or at least have considerable repairs made. There are also two bay windows that are only probably 5-6 years old but are falling apart (Home Depot garbage). Some of the wood shingle needs repairs.

Our plan is to make the necessary repairs and rent the house alongside my family’s rental houses down there. We might want to replace the 1980’s era kitchen (or at least the Formica countertops) and make a few other interior modernizations. It has an ideal position to install solar which might be worth exploring given current incentives.

Oh yeah, and when we do tear it down we’ll have to deal with the absestos flooring (currently under new flooring). I’m pretty sure the deck was painted with surplus WWII leaded naval paint. And then there was the cache of 1960’s carbon tetrachloride fire extinguishers (including the glass grenade style) we found in the garage- super toxic stuff. I’m pretty sure this stuff was banned like 40 years ago. I still need to find out where this can be disposed.

It’s incredible how costly building materials are right now. The labor is also insane in some cases- especially in this market where contractors try to take advantage of people. I got two quotes on the deck with one more than double the other. When we replaced garage doors at other houses this contractor wanted tripple everyone else because his claim to fame was he did Taylor Swifts garage doors in Watch Hill (and let’s be clear we’re not talking about $19m mansions like hers). Or perhaps the deck guy charging double just really doesn’t want the job.

I got one quote on the bay windows. The windows themselves are like $3000 x2 from Anderson, but the guy wanted $9,000 for labor. That seems excessively high.

We should probably also replace the two garage doors which are so old they’re made of wood. We have a guy for that who did the other houses. The front door has two doors, a recently replaced steel/glass security door and an original wooden framed screened door. The wood is deteriorating. And of course, the door is not a standard size. I was quoted $800 for a new door. Ridiculous.

We also probably want to install a mini-split HVAC system. Currently it has no central AC and crappy electric heat. While expensive, AC gets rid of the humidity and makes everything last longer. And if you know anything about living on the ocean, between the salt and humidity things wear out very quickly.

Also on the to-do list is to have the chimney bricks repointed. The pond also has a dock that’s in disrepair, so that should either be rebuilt or torn out for safety reasons.

I hate dealing with contractors, especially down here where many expect they can just throw out an absurd number and people will pay it.

I guess the ultimate question is how much money and work do we put into this if we’re going to rebuild it entirely in the the future- which will probably cost $500,000 minimum. We’d like to rent it out for several years before we go down that road. So we at a minimum need everything to be safe. Due to new hurricane regulations, the fact we abut federally protected land, the town’s relatively recent interest in regulating construction, new laws about water and septic systems, and the fact nothing in the existing structure is to code these days make rebuilding a very complicated and expensive. The permit approval process is also extremely slow here too.

View attachment 18551

Major remodeling or new construction is extremely stressful. Especially if you're a hands-on detail-oriented person who likes or wants to stay on top of everything. Almost everyday is an adventure with what seems like a never ending number of decisions to take/make and problems to solve. Having a really good general contractor helps a ton; but the stress is still there being the final arbiter of stuff that will bound to come up.

Be prepared for schedules slipping, for a variety of reasons, many you'll have little control over. For example...five years ago with multiple major forrest fires in California and nearby housing in populated areas destroyed, caused construction lumber to skyrocket (fortunately our general anticipated that and quickly placed a large bulk lumber order before the prices shot up). And with that, decent subcontractors (framing, plumbing, electrical, tile, etc) going to where the work is, making it difficult finding good local subs, and thus causing delays.

That said, being hands-on and detail oriented will in the end pay off in getting what you want at the level of quality you expect!

Best of luck to you and yours on your journey!
 

AG_PhamD

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Major remodeling or new construction is extremely stressful. Especially if you're a hands-on detail-oriented person who likes or wants to stay on top of everything. Almost everyday is an adventure with what seems like a never ending number of decisions to take/make and problems to solve. Having a really good general contractor helps a ton; but the stress is still there being the final arbiter of stuff that will bound to come up.

Be prepared for schedules slipping, for a variety of reasons, many you'll have little control over. For example...five years ago with multiple major forrest fires in California and nearby housing in populated areas destroyed, caused construction lumber to skyrocket (fortunately our general anticipated that and quickly placed a large bulk lumber order before the prices shot up). And with that, decent subcontractors (framing, plumbing, electrical, tile, etc) going to where the work is, making it difficult finding good local subs, and thus causing delays.

That said, being hands-on and detail oriented will in the end pay off in getting what you want at the level of quality you expect!

Best of luck to you and yours on your journey!

Thanks!

Yeah, 4 years ago my wife and I bought a brownstone condo and renovated it. Definitely a stressful experience. It had been completely gutted in the early 2000’s so it was pretty straightforward. It did take longer than expected to get the permits and some of the appliances. Thankfully the construction was pretty much on target with the schedule. The contractor and his laborers (interestingly all Thai immigrants) were fantastic- excellent attention to detail and work ethic. I am definitely someone to keep and eye on things but thankfully all these guys took a lot of pride in their work and would correct any issues themselves. They also knew what they were doing in terms of when to make executive decisions and when to offer us choices. I know this is often not peoples experience though. We were pretty lucky- granted we did a lot of research into finding a highly reputable contractor.

I am also well aware of how screwed the supply chain is right now. My cousin is replacing her windows and the lead time is 3-4 months, whereas prior to the pandemic it was a few weeks. Our beach neighbors new construction was delayed for months due to a lack of steel beams.
 

Huntn

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My sister and I recently inherited my grandfather’s beach cottage in Rhode Island. My parents and extended family also own several houses in the neighborhood. It’s an amazing location with 220+ degree unobstructed views of the beach, direct beach access (in fact we own a couple hundred yards of private beach), and sits next to a pond. It’s about 300 yards from the beach which is nice. In 60+ years the house the most storm damage it incurred was a single torn off roof shingle during Hurricane Sandy.

The house itself was built in the late 60’s. My grandfather maintained it well over the years but in the last few years of his life his physical abilities deterred and by the end was no longer visiting and things have fallen by the wayside. His “girlfriend’s” adult children spent a lot of time over the past couple years there (for free) but did not really do any repairs or upkeep unfortunately.

The decking absolutely needs to be replaced, or at least have considerable repairs made. There are also two bay windows that are only probably 5-6 years old but are falling apart (Home Depot garbage). Some of the wood shingle needs repairs.

Our plan is to make the necessary repairs and rent the house alongside my family’s rental houses down there. We might want to replace the 1980’s era kitchen (or at least the Formica countertops) and make a few other interior modernizations. It has an ideal position to install solar which might be worth exploring given current incentives.

Oh yeah, and when we do tear it down we’ll have to deal with the absestos flooring (currently under new flooring). I’m pretty sure the deck was painted with surplus WWII leaded naval paint. And then there was the cache of 1960’s carbon tetrachloride fire extinguishers (including the glass grenade style) we found in the garage- super toxic stuff. I’m pretty sure this stuff was banned like 40 years ago. I still need to find out where this can be disposed.

It’s incredible how costly building materials are right now. The labor is also insane in some cases- especially in this market where contractors try to take advantage of people. I got two quotes on the deck with one more than double the other. When we replaced garage doors at other houses this contractor wanted tripple everyone else because his claim to fame was he did Taylor Swifts garage doors in Watch Hill (and let’s be clear we’re not talking about $19m mansions like hers). Or perhaps the deck guy charging double just really doesn’t want the job.

I got one quote on the bay windows. The windows themselves are like $3000 x2 from Anderson, but the guy wanted $9,000 for labor. That seems excessively high.

We should probably also replace the two garage doors which are so old they’re made of wood. We have a guy for that who did the other houses. The front door has two doors, a recently replaced steel/glass security door and an original wooden framed screened door. The wood is deteriorating. And of course, the door is not a standard size. I was quoted $800 for a new door. Ridiculous.

We also probably want to install a mini-split HVAC system. Currently it has no central AC and crappy electric heat. While expensive, AC gets rid of the humidity and makes everything last longer. And if you know anything about living on the ocean, between the salt and humidity things wear out very quickly.

Also on the to-do list is to have the chimney bricks repointed. The pond also has a dock that’s in disrepair, so that should either be rebuilt or torn out for safety reasons.

I hate dealing with contractors, especially down here where many expect they can just throw out an absurd number and people will pay it.

I guess the ultimate question is how much money and work do we put into this if we’re going to rebuild it entirely in the the future- which will probably cost $500,000 minimum. We’d like to rent it out for several years before we go down that road. So we at a minimum need everything to be safe. Due to new hurricane regulations, the fact we abut federally protected land, the town’s relatively recent interest in regulating construction, new laws about water and septic systems, and the fact nothing in the existing structure is to code these days make rebuilding a very complicated and expensive. The permit approval process is also extremely slow here too.

View attachment 18551
I realize this might not be doable, or you might not care if you have the money, but the more you can do yourself, you’ll save hugely. Decades ago I discovered that most stuff around the house is just not that hard. A lot boils down to familiarity. Example I added a 4 season porch, now granted this was 20+ years ago, but I hired two guys to frame it in 2 days, and I did the rest, the price on this room was $6k vs about $25 for a contractor at the time.

Ok, so you are laughing. :) That was a long time ago when prices were sane, but the same principle applies today, I finished part of a basement for about $5k, a contractor would have charged $20k. In the last 5 years I updgraded our kitchen for $17k, a contractor would have been closer to $40-50k.

A big ticket item like a bay window, just watch a couple of This Old House, and you’ll be good o go. Just kidding. ;) But there are things that are not too hard to do, if you think you’d like doing such things and can find a good book or watch YouTube.
 

DT

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FMA. Thought I was going to get some work-work done today ...

Yesterday, we had squirrels in the outlet/exterior vents for the downstairs bathroom, I flushed them out with X14, duct taped it closed till I could get my head around it later.

Nope.

F****ers got into the dryer vent, turned on the dryer (that's some seriously hot air), cleared them out, I had to make a run to HD (*groan*), score some varmint proof covers, some concrete fasteners (Tapcon), I think they're both secured now. I've been meaning to do this since the bird incident several months back. One I couldn't get the pilot holes drilled I think maybe some metal conduit, so I installed the cover sideways, which isn't really even noticeable. They have a latch so you can open them if needed, but I left the ziptie on (how they were packaged from the store), figured that would be even more squirrel-proof.
 

AG_PhamD

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I realize this might not be doable, or you might not care if you have the money, but the more you can do yourself, you’ll save hugely. Decades ago I discovered that most stuff around the house is just not that hard. A lot boils down to familiarity. Example I added a 4 season porch, now granted this was 20+ years ago, but I hired two guys to frame it in 2 days, and I did the rest, the price on this room was $6k vs about $25 for a contractor at the time.

Ok, so you are laughing. :) That was a long time ago when prices were sane, but the same principle applies today, I finished part of a basement for about $5k, a contractor would have charged $20k. In the last 5 years I updgraded our kitchen for $17k, a contractor would have been closer to $40-50k.

A big ticket item like a bay window, just watch a couple of This Old House, and you’ll be good o go. Just kidding. ;) But there are things that are not too hard to do, if you think you’d like doing such things and can find a good book or watch YouTube.

No, I’m not laughing. Maybe at just at the fact there was a time when you could do those projects at those costs.

I’m actually pretty handy. My dad has always lived the philosophy “why would I pay someone to do something I can do myself”. I would think between my dad and uncle they know how to replace a bay window. They’re on the second floor but conveniently there is a deck. I’m pretty sure they replaced a bay window in one of the other houses like 15 years ago themselves. Both my parents and my aunt/uncle own houses in the neighborhood. My parents own another house they rent and then co-own (with my aunt and uncle) a second rental house. Between all these houses I have learned quite a number of handyman skills. Everything from painting to hanging drywall to building decks (back when my dad and uncle weren’t so old) to outdoor showers to installing cabinets etc. A couple weeks ago we replaced the two well pressure tanks at one of the houses (2 tanks for 2 wells).

Considering I also own (a small part) of a residential treatment program, I have also been able to practice fixing things there too.

The benefit of having rental beach house is you can often exchange labor for time at the house. A couple years ago we installed mini-split AC in the two rental houses (fantastic btw). For example, our family friend owns an HVAC company, so we got the hardware at cost and gave him a week at one of the houses. We’ve done the same with our landscaper.

One of our rental houses needs a new deck too, so maybe we can arrange a deal. We tried an new type of deck paint that was supposed to be minimal maintenance, rather than having to pressure wash and reseal every couple years. Unfortunately this stuff did not work out well and a few years later is peeling up… not enough to pressure wash it off though. I don’t think it could be sanded off either due to the deck nails. So at this point replacing the boards is just easier. The question is whether to replace it with composite, which would require adding more floor joists… which may then get into problems requiring a permit and having to meet new hurricane regulations that did not exist years ago meaning the entire deck needs to come down. Apparently replacing the boards with 2x6’s (what’s there) should not run into this problem. So I suspect we’ll just replace the decking with what’s there already.

My problem is ultimately time. Between working at the hospital and my other business I work 60-80hrs a week. And my sister who owns 50% of this lives 2000 miles away.
 

DT

I am so Smart! S-M-R-T!
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JFC.

Our monster squirrels went through the pretty thick plastic covers, didn't quite get in, I re-taped them, chased them away in the evening, but left them a little surprise, and it's quiet today :) Re-taped the damage this morning, using some super HD 5" Gorilla tape, this stuff is nasty sticky. Tomorrow during the day, when it's quiet and nobody around, I may further reduce the population.

So 2-3 hours and $25 later, it's not solved, TBH, I was a little worried about the plastic, that's great for small rodents, and especially birds, but they weren't designed for large "tree rats" with determination.

Ordered these today:


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304 stainless, powder coated. :)
 
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