General overhaul...ongoing(pix!!!)

Phatboy · 09-25-2007, 11:49 PM

Lots of things happened today. 4 runs to the parish dump, and alot more teardown, and alot more problem discovery. Thank you for that information Glennjanie. Very informative, as far as the stove goes, it was too far gone, but I wish we could have kept it. My real name is Logan JSYK, but I dont mind Phatboy. Obviously...sorry its late.

The representative(my former step father), for the cabinet making company stopped by today to take some rough measurements. Looks like we are going with a natural maple cabinet, with corian countertops. Most likely the countertops are going to look like a poured concrete, but that could change. Deffinitly going to have a lazy suzan, and a two door pantry. We also decided to use a charcoal range hood with an incorporated microwave. They will have a 6inch void at the top where we will be installing some low wattage mood lighting. Yes kitchens can be sexy and functional at the same time. He told us that it could be upwards of a 500 dollar difference between finished and unfinished. We're finishing them ourselves...nuff said. Here are the pics.

You can see the large hole where this wall separated, and my wifes lovely self.

Found this little guy above the back door behind the insulation. We accidently killed its eggs, but there are tons of these around so Im sure we didnt hurt the population.

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh. Clean...much better. Lots more work to do.

This is what was under the toilet, the doggon thing wasnt even bolted down properly, not to mention they used the tub surround as a trash can. These people were disgusting. I wont tell you what we found.

Phatboy · 09-25-2007, 11:50 PM

Attic access. Its about 1.5ft sq...thats gettin changed. Stairs goin in. This was above the tub, which by the way is getting moved.

You can see some of the crappy work here. The walls for the bathroom were built on top of the subfloor, ok no problem, they are completely inside the outter wall of the house. Hes loosing half a SQFT of space per linear foot here. What the heck man. The carnage from the other wall with the hole, continues behind the outside bathroom walls. After we get a new header put on the outtermost wall of the house, we will remove all the inside walls, and subfloor, and start over. Gimmie our space back dangit.

The HVAC unit was installed 2 years ago, and left just like this. The drain did go out the side of the house, but it leaked on the floor also. Why would a a/c drain have a P-trap installed? Is it needed, and can I omit that little token of terror. It was causing the drip pan inside the unit to over flow.

And this is how it sat as we left tonight. Going to town tomorrow to get some lumber, and make another dump run. Yay...gettin to the time to start building back up.

Wish us luck. More pics and progress tomorrow night. Thanks for watching ''This young couples new house!'' Ahha, I crack me up.

Phatboy · 09-26-2007, 08:29 PM

Today was a good day for progress. Acctually started rebuilding some of the frame. I have a migrain so Itll just be mostly pics for tonight. We decided to demo the outside wall today and replace that. Most of the day was spent on doing that, and reframing the dining area wall. My new air nailers are not here yet, so I used 3in wood screws to hold it all together today. I must have run 150 of them damn things, my drill got a workout, and so did I. Anyhwo heres pics.

Well we decided to rip down that tin siding, and so we did.

There was 3/4 particle board behind the tin. You can see about a foot of water damage at the bottom of that. Kim took that out with a big mallet.

Were going for a very open floor plan as you can see. LOL

From the other side

Phatboy · 09-26-2007, 08:30 PM

This is the original wall and header, if you can call it that...

This is my new header work, its a triple with 2 2x10s and a 2x4 for bracing. I had to do it that way. I didnt wanna lap joint the studs, but it was all I could do. The outside 2x10 was nailed to the outside of the 4x4 posts. Its rediculously strong trust me.

And...drumrolll..................................h ere is my handy work. The window is the same size and height as the one in the kitchen and will center the dinning table.

I have to pick up a low velocity gun tomorrow to set the lower 2x4 onto the slab. Oh and that bottom one is treated as well. How does it look? Kim kicked it and it kicked her back...LOL It wont wiggle more than a 8th of an inch in any direction.

glennjanie · 09-27-2007, 09:35 AM

Hey Logan and Kim:
The work is looking good! I'm glad you can take it on while you are young, with endless energy; my projects take a lot longer.
The p-trap is needed on the A/C unit to keep bugs out, although I would have put it outside and used a running trap. It keeps the bugs from camping out in the line and the running trap is smoother for easier cleaning. You can just hook up your shop vac from the outside and give it a big suck; zap the bugs are gone.
Treated wood on the slab is best, you seem to be very well prepared.
Glenn

Phatboy · 09-28-2007, 05:34 AM

Thanks for the kind words. We are amateurs for sure, but I work at home depot so Im exposed to alot of great information all day. My wife bought us a book called ''The big how-to book'' It has tons of info and pics to look at to make sure your doing the job right. We have refered to said book alot so far, and Im sure we will continue that trend.

I dont know so much about endless energy.

Im feeling the effects of a 2day straight sprint on the house still today. It does help though that we can keep pushing ourselves without much worry. My wife is a driving force behind this storm.

I dont know what a running trap is, but I will research that. The way our drain is setup it has a 3ft drop from the unit to the ground. Wouldnt this work like a p-trap, or does it need the down-over-up to retain some water as a blockage for said bugs, and snakes in our case.

I knew treated should go on the slab, and now that I look back I should have put a double stud horizontal under the window. We are using lightweight aluminum windows though so we should be ok for weight.

I am going to brace the wall with a diagonal 2x4 running from the top left corner to the bottom right corner. I have been told this will reduce twisting, just incase another Katrina comes our way.

We also plan to install hurricane straps on the roof joists, and tie them into the exterior wall headers. Found out last night that we need to install a larger ridge cap, ours only has a hangover of about 1.5in so rain can blow back into the house, and it has. We cannot hang any new drywall or anything till this has been corrected.

I also broke the water supply last night while removing the subfloor, that took most of the evening to fix, so no pics today. Ill get more this evening and post them tonight.

Logan

glennjanie · 09-28-2007, 10:21 AM

Hello Logan and Kim:
With your condensate line running straight down a 'running trap' will not work; it would be wise to keep the P-trap. You could replace the first elbow in the trap with a tee and leave the top open so it could be blown out with the vacum cleaner. If you are afraid it will run over on the floor you could use some clear plastic hose in the top of the tee to see when it is overflowing. Install the hose with silicone sealant just like you would use pipe cement. Hang in there my friends.
Glenn

Phatboy · 09-28-2007, 01:08 PM

I think I worded that incorrectly about the condensation line. It does go from the unit to the ground, but then it also has a 90 that takes it out of the house. That line is close to parallel with the foundation, it does have a slight down grade to it. That line is also about 10ft long. Could I use a running trap on the end that sticks out the house, and eleminate the trap inside the house?

You have been most helpfull my friend. Ill be sure to keep updateing, even if it is only for you.

gwliston · 10-03-2007, 08:25 PM

Way cool - great progress! Keep posting your lessons-learned and photos.

'nuther Glenn

glennjanie · 10-04-2007, 04:34 PM

Hello Logan and Kim:
Yes, you certainly can put the running trap on the end of the horizontal line. Its the best place for it, so it can keep insects out. Insects are the number one problem with condensate line blockage.
The running trap is simply a piece of pipe that has a dip in it to catch some water and keep the bugs out.
Glenn