Recent content by sutcac

Are the drywall tape joints bad, or is it just that the rough texture makes it hard to get a clean break at the paint color transition? If so, breaking the paint color at the picture rail would help with that. Otherwise, yeah maybe re-do the joints. Just trying to hide them with crown...

Tough call. For fiberglass or other plastic sorts of surrounds, the only thing keeping the water out sometimes is the caulking between the pieces. This can be compromised pretty easily and then the resulting rot might end up costing you a lot more down the road than going with a good, solid...

I would second trying to talk you out of crown moulding at all. I think there is a general assumption that this is always an improvement and I don't agree with it, especially with all the odd ceiling angles you have here. You might consider a simple picture rail run all horizontally just...

This is my self-installed sytem from Radiantec. Three zones covers about 2200 sq.ft. Mild winters here, but if I was in a colder climate I likely would have went with 5 zones.

If you cut one down, just make sure you buy a solid core one. The hollow cores can but cut down, but it's much more of a hassle. You have to re-install the bottom wood filler.

You may want to look at the Dex-O-Tex website for your waterproof covering. They have systems that will be walkable and that can just be tiled over later. www.dex-o-tex.com

It's admittedly been awhile since I priced redwood, but when I did my own deck a couple of years ago, Ipe was the same price as redwood. This is a tropical hardwood (and there are some other names for it which are typically similar breeds) which has become increasingly popular in this area for...

And just for giggles- The preivous owner (83 years old at the time) had managed at some point to build some walls around this old, then broken, chest freezer in this cellar area. Now way to get it out through the door. So, tear down some walls or....... Cut it in half with a Skillsaw and...

Here's some photos of the kitchen transformation. I left my wife alone one day to do the demo here. If you look closely, you will see a black wire poking through the ceiling. This was connected to a very large, heavy, hood/microway shelf which was hanging by this wire when I got home. The...

Back in architecture school 20 years ago now, I did a long report on asbestos. The thing that always stuck with me was not how MUCH asbestos could be lethal, but how LITTLE. I agree if it is in a solid/encased/contained material, it's probably OK, but I'd repeat the advice of being very...

Thanks on both accounts. At first, to be honest, we were into flipping it but fell in love with the location and then that changed the whole approach. Some of my family is from Lincoln Nebraska, though I haven't been out there since I was about 5 years old.

Newbie here, looks like a lot of fun. Design/Build Contractor for 18 years, Licensed Architect for the last 6. Look forward to reading and sharing battle-scar stories. :D

A couple more progress pics of the front-

It wasn't until we were nearly finished with this project (a complete overhaul and a very small addition of square footage) that we were informed by the tax assessor (of course, out to re-assess) that they have a rating system of A to E, where E is when you get an official CONDEMNED notice...

Wow, what a story! It's comforting to know there are people out there as crazy as my wife and I. :o Just joined here, will be posting pics of our 3 year project.