New member, partial reno, on a Major Budget!

Repair help for the do-it-yourselfer.
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asa
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:03 pm

Hi, new member here.

We have started a small reno on the house I grew up in. The original part is a mobile home (probably around a '78), and then it has two additions that are slab/stick-built.

Our goals: remove all carpeting/vinyl, repair any wet/weak spots in the floor, have sheet vinyl installed everywhere, gut kitchen and install new cabinets/countertops/etc, replace wall covering in kitchen and part of living room, replace toilet and vanity in one bathroom and repair floor damage, remove faux dropped ceiling from kitchen, figure out how to patch ceiling in kitchen, (and then get assistance from someone else in looking at part of the electric and the furnace.)

We've been working weekends mostly. Got all the carpet/vinyl ripped up. Still have some of the millions of staples left to either pull out or pound down. We just started working on repairing damaged areas of the flooring. Thankfully it all seems solid underneath - and we have 2x6's on 16" centers. We are replacing with 5/8" plywood. Boxing in the area below the repair and adding new insulation to that area as well.

Got the kitchen gutted. Started with pulling off the vinyl "wall paper". Plan was always to go back over kitchen wall and connected living room wall with 1/4" sheetrock. Found some ants and determined they were not in the sheetrock, but in the wall behind it. Also, signs of moisture around sink area. Figured out that there was paneling behind the sheetrock, so decided to remove it. Boo - it was glued to the paneling. So, that was a tough job. Finally got it all off. Found a bit of mold on the back of sheetrock, but not much. After more thought, I decided I wanted all the paneling in that area taken off as well. Not much cost difference to go up to 1/2" sheetrock, and this will give us a chance to redo the insulation and treat the ants better. Also happened to be where the area with the electrical problems are, so this gets it all exposed for our contractor when we get him out. Found lots of mouse poop, signs of ants, some yucky looking insulation, etc - basically what you would expect. Framing all seems to be sound.

The kitchen ceiling is still our area of contention. It had a lowered faux ceiling. When we removed that, found out they had not been careful above when making the hole for the light fixture. We also have some electric hanging down that went into an island that we removed. I think the plan is just to splice the line in a junction box in the ceiling. We'll probably do it the correct way and install a cover. Husband thinks we should add furring strips and thin plywood or hardboard and cover ceiling in that area (kitchen and living room connected). I think we just patch those two areas the best we can, add 1x4s down the strips, texture, paint, and call it a day. (Other parts of the house have the 1x4s down the strips and they have held up for years.) If we have problems with sagging or something down the line, THEN we can look at redoing that area.

Not sure what all prep will have to be done to put sheet vinyl down everywhere. (Two cats that are pukers - with no known cause or cure from vet - and a small dog that is on diuretics, = we have to have something that can withstand moisture on it for periods of time. Sheet vinyl seems our best option.) I assume we may need to use some kind of flexible floor patch/leveler type stuff around the edge of each board. We also need to redo the area where the two halves meet. It looks like it was caulked before, but some has come out. Thinking of looking for some caulk rope to shove in there and then following up with the floor patch/leveler.

In the addition (not mobile home), we have removed the carpet, the tack strips, and the base boards. Then we used a wire brush on each hole left where we removed the tack strips (where it was shot into the concrete), sucked up the dust with a shop vac, and then used concrete patch. After many hours of doing that, I certainly developed quite the technique for it and knew exactly how wet I wanted my mix!

I'm sure I'll be asking lots of questions along the way, but wanted to provide a basic overview on what we're doing.
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Greg
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Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:01 pm
Location: Weedsport, NY

Hi & welcome. It sounds to me like you are off to a good start. I have found that it is much easier and cost effective to take it to the studs and rebuild from there. Do it once, do it right.

You may want to think about dropping the ceiling in the kitchen if there are good break off points. That way you can get a good look at things, move any lighting and properly insulate. I would go with 3/8" sheetrock for a new ceiling.

One other thing, you did relevel the home didn't you. :P

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
asa
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:03 pm

The home was releveled a few years back - maybe 3, so I think we are good there.

There isn't an easy place to drop the ceiling - it's all pretty connected. So that, plus cost, make redoing it something I want to avoid if possible.

I'm wondering if we are going to be able to put the sheet vinyl directly over the particle board subfloor, or if we must use underlayment. Previous vinyl was glued directly to subfloor with no problems.
cattus
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2012 1:03 am

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Last edited by cattus on Mon Apr 08, 2013 7:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Greg
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Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:01 pm
Location: Weedsport, NY

You may have to go over it lightly with a sander to remove any glue then use floor leveling compound.

I know what you mean about the ceiling. Our's goes from the kitchen, through the living room and down the hall with no break.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
asa
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:03 pm

Just wanted to share some photos of our progress. We're basically down to small things now.

We replaced the vanity and toilet in one bathroom. Also repainted and replaced the sheet vinyl.

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Took the former laundry room and turned it into a pantry. We added shelves and replaced the sheet vinyl.

We had not replaced the flooring yet in this photo and we used a hamper as a prop for the trash can that will go here. The microwave will sit on this table.
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Table is gone in this photo, but flooring is in. You can also see the pegboard I put up that will be my pot rack.
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We took out this faux rock wall.
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We replaced it with a whiteboard/bulletin board combo that we built.
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Small hallway and some of the bedrooms we put in sheet vinyl. (These will be storage, not actual bedrooms.)
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We painted a lot of paneling and replaced some with sheetrock.

We put in a new kitchen, a new metal ceiling in the kitchen and living room, and we put in allure ultra flooring. We've still got to install some additional toe kick before we can finish up the baseboards.
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asa
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:03 pm

In the addition that is on slab, we decided to paint the floor for the time being to save some money. We can always come back and install the planks later. We scrubbed and sanded and etched and rinsed and finally got to paint. We used an oil based porch and floor paint by Valspar. Two coats most places. Three in one room - we learned the hard way that my husband's boots will scuff the floor if he is crawling around on them (he was reattaching the base board.) We tried a few ways to clean it, but it messed with the glossiness so we just added another coat to that one room. You can see some roller marks in certain lights, but the finish has held up pretty well during construction.

We use the bathroom at the end of this hall for all our water needs, so we go up and down it in work shoes many times per day when we are out there.

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opinion free
Posts: 70
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2012 3:24 pm

Looks beautiful!!!
Please don't be offended, just an idea. The area where you removed the faux rock and put the white/bulletin board thing. If you remove the cabinet below the counter top, you could use that space as a little desk or home office.
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Greg
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Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:01 pm
Location: Weedsport, NY

I can't believe how well the floors came out.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
asa
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:03 pm

Thank you both.

We have an office and the dining room table will be in that area, so no need for a desk there. I understand the thought, but it just doesn't match our needs. (Plus, I am really downsizing on kitchen cabinets, so I need all these for my overflow!)

We're around $11,000 for the entire reno. I am pleased at what we've been able to do on that amount. Flooring and kitchen ate up about half of that. The floor seems very durable and is good around water. I ended up with a few boxes left over but can't return them since we opened them to sort out all the planks. I'll keep some and might try selling the rest.
countrydan
Posts: 82
Joined: Fri Apr 19, 2013 3:51 pm
Location: s/w michigan

Wow!!!

Badass!
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JD
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Location: Fresno, CA
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I think this is a showcase remodel. Looks beautiful! I like the whiteboard.
☯JD♫
Today is PERFECT!

All information and advice given is for entertainment and informational purposes only. The person doing the work is solely responsible to insure that their work complies with their local building code and OSHA safety regulations.
asa
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:03 pm

Thanks for the compliments, guys! We had some hand me down furniture stored out there and got it set up this weekend. It's starting to feel more like a home now. We plan on doing the big move over spring break as my husband and I have both taken the week off. Once that is done, unfortunately, it'll be time to find a new credit card offering 0% interest and start working on repairing our current house. Over 10 years of puppies/dogs who eat houses, cats that mark occasionally and puke a lot, a dog on a diuretic, and a few water leaks means there are some repairs to do before we can sell it. After this reno, it's stills scary because of the money factor, but I know we can handle the work.

Here are a few new photos:

As you come in the front door:
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The dining table:
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Back living room taken from the kitchen:
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Our work table refinished and put in the pantry:
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We had already started demoing the fire place when I decided to take a photo, but here is a before of the back living room. This is where the light colored couch is now. We took out the rock, installed new sheetrock and painted the door white.
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We also took out the faux rock and mirror tiles in the front living room. This was the previous view as you came in the front door.
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The faux rock walls were added on top of the paneling, so we were able to just remove them and keep the paneling. We tore up some areas pulling off the mirrors, but I was able to fill it in with mud and once it was sanded down, as long as I kept the lines from the paneling clear, you can't tell. Once we took down the rock, the ceiling boards no longer reached the edge, so we cut them all off even and then added in a 1x6 or a 1x8 (I can't remember which one it took.)

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We painted over the paneling in the back living room as well. It worked fine. We just washed the walls, then used a bonding primer. We did not remove any strips. These photos are from before we added in the metal ceiling, but after we moved lights, replaced/added insulation, and repaired the plastic layer. It was a bit dangerous doing the ceiling repairs as you'd be checking an area and a chunk of a 2x4 or something would fall down and hit you. They must have just tossed all their scraps up there.

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