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I started a major house renovation. It's a two level colonial with an addition.

It was always planned but never executed. But now, my brother moved in with me. He has a learning disability and family takes care of their own. He was living with my sister but that devolved into a bad situation.

The house was originally built before 1900. Exact date was unknown because the county courthouse burned down in the early 1900's and all records were lost. So everyone had to get new deeds registered with estimates of when the houses were built.

Anyway, it's an old house, all walls and ceilings are plaster/lath. There was an addition put on in the 1940's, also all plaster. The strange part of the addition is that it has a flat - pitched roof (pitched about 8" over 15') BUT the pitch was built from the ground up, for the most part, if you can imagine that.

The addition is where my bro is getting his room. It's 15' x 22' room and in that footprint will go a bathroom and small closet. The second floor of the addition will become a master bedroom.

I've never done any residential demolition and remodeling. I have industrial experience in demo and construction as a mechanical engineer.

Sadly, I underestimated on demolition, leveling of the floors and stripping the exterior fiberboard/strip sheathing.

Both levels of the addition were taken down to floor joists and wall studs. Interior plaster/lath walls & ceiling are gone and exterior 1940's era strip sheathing & fiberboard covering (homesote?) are gone. The first floor leveling needed a 5" correction and the second floor needed 3 1/2". This meant ripping up the flooring on first floor and shimming the joists. The second level floor was jacked up and shimmed.

Anyway, thought I'd share and introduce a topic to the gen'l discussion section that's not related to the same old same old.

I'm on a T&M basis with the contractor. The contractor is charging $25/hour per man. He was hesitant to go firm/fixed price because of all the unknowns with old houses. So far I'm happy with the production and charges.

By my new and improved estimate I'll be in at about $50/sq ft for the renovation. Not bad, IMO, but I'm thinking I should have let some Jewish lightning hit the house. (BTW, that's not really a derogatory term..in NY, where I grew up, it was a commonly used saying)



Anyone else have any experience with gutted house renovations?

that's really interesting

Absolutely gorgeous house. Demolition is a common issue because people tend to underestimate the extent of it in the old fixer-uppers. If you decide to paint, I agree entirely with SeaBeeDaddy - BEHR is the way to go, just don't forget a good paint edger if you're going to do the paint job yourself. It makes a huge difference to have a good one. Here's the list of the best paint edgers for 2021 https://toolsngoods.com/best-paint-edger/. I think it's impossible not to find a decent one among the ones listed. As for the lightning, I'd use some street string lights on the porch to give it a cozy look. Good luck with your project, and please upload some pics of the results. I think we all are waiting for them.

House renovation is a big job. You can spend a couple of months reducing leaks and shoring up weak spots. But you can't make any serious progress until you install an aircon because air-conditioning costs as much as a second mortgage or more, and if you don't have one installed before the roofers arrive, they will probably take them away from you. The aircon is part of what you pay for in return for having your house torn apart. You can contact the guys from airconservicingsingapore.com to help you with the installation process. They are the best on the market nowadays.

When I bought a new apartment, I told myself that I wanted to make a design similar to this company http://1500marketstreet.com. I went to work and stayed in an apartment here. I mean, I fell in love. I would stay there to live, buy an apartment, and not have to worry, but I work in another country, and I can't afford to work online. I need a permanent physical presence. That's why I asked that company to send me at least a few sketches because this information is not possible to spread to other people. But still, I tried to build the apartment of my dreams.

Yes, moving into a new apartment could sometimes be challenging. I understand your feeling about repairing there. But, I find it suspicious when someone has to handle my job. With other stuff, it comes easier. For example, I got an air conditioner, and sometimes it gets checked by this aircon service. I always enjoyed seeing those guys repairing my aircon. Unfortunately, we don't see many companies like that, and it gets hard to find a good place.

Can I use the program to visualize the future of the office or home?

I learned a long time ago that the best office or home design is the one that fits your individual needs. Since no designer knows the needs of your business, you are the best person for the job. Whether your home is large or small, it is essential to have a well-organized space. When planning a tiny house, divide the space wisely. When I was planning my home, I got a lot of help from https://planner5d.com/use/office-design. Once you draw a drawing, you can convert it into a 3d picture.

I've another question. I am finishing a major renovation on my new house, I would like to find the best quality and most stylish exterior doors. Any ideas?

Hmm, I've been to many building stores, where I saw more than 50 doors, but none of them I liked. It's not that I'm picky, it's just that all those doors looked the same. I wanted to find something interesting, so I thought of https://doordesignlab.com/front-entry-s ... doors.html, I fell in love when I saw the door in a shade of anthracite. This door blends perfectly with the facade of my house, I chose it precisely on this principle. I'm thinking about ordering doors in that shade for all the rooms in the house.