Home renovation project

nice job patrick, looks great! love your sense of humor. we have done a lot of remodeling over the years, you definately need one!

 

sorry! thought it was anew post. hope my confusion doesn't lead to U/A!

 

SCREEEECH CRASH!

Too late

 

I'm sorry I'd missed this thread when it was new!
Thanks for those photos, PatrickWong! :thumb:

When we completely remodeled our house (yes, Jayman, we discussed the bulldozer technique, quite a few times!), we did not 'remodel' the kitchen. It was stripped, new flooring, walls, new window, electrical and plumbing, but we just reinstalled the original cabinetry. Oh, we did have (cheapo) formica counters installed. the "dream kitchen" remodel part of it just hasn't happened yet. We still discuss it, of course, but haven't gone there yet. The bulldozer still sounds like it might be the way to go...

 

Bulldozer!? Perish the thought. Mind you, I'll be doing home renovations the rest of my life. I really like the look of solid woodgrain, so it's gonna take awhile. Either that or trade the place in for a kayak and a bicycle and enough play money to....uh oh, there's that little voice again.

 

My GF got a divorce from her ex-husband after they remodeled their kitchen. Coincidence? I think not. :madgrin:

 

Um, we're in the middle of a kitchen *remodel* right now.

It's a little more involved than the typical swapping of cabinets though. Our farmhouse was built in 1869 and the scullery had a separate entrance (although it was adjacent to the kitchen). In the 40's (when the plumbing and electricity went in) the scullery was made into a bath room (bath, not toilet) and connected to the kitchen by knocking a small doorway through the kauri wall. Part of the scullery was walled off and turned into a pantry.

Well anyway, we've removed the bath & opened up the wall by putting a fairly large support beam, we've purchased very cool granite for the counter tops, a nice Falcon cooker with induction top (but we're leaving the coal range too), we're having new custom cabinets made, a dishwasher is going in (woohoo), a new window in the old style over a porcelain sink, we're rehanging a huge door to open the other direction, and lots of other bits and pieces.

It was cool to see how all the kauri planks in the walls hold up the house and are/were dove-tailed into the ceiling joists, not many upright studs or even nails involved. We've had to re-pile the foundations under the scullery in order to bring this part of the house up to meet inspection (its has passed on both the visits we've had from the council to date).

I'm also running two water systems - low pressure hot and cold for all the taps (doesn't require electricity as it uses the header tank on a stand outside and the wetback from the coal range) and high pressure cold water (which does require electricity and is used in another part of the house for the shower and washing machine) for the dishwasher. As I said, its complicated. Perhaps this is already too complicated to describe.

Maybe I'll post some pics if anyone is interested.

PS We've lived here for nearly 15 yrs and done a few of the other rooms as we've been able to afford to. The kitchen is the most challenging by far however.

 

I would be interested... It is always interesting to see how old houses were constructed - they had to be good or they wouldn't be around now.

 

I'd love to see pictures of your house, Sam, especially the nail-less joinery. With the exception of some high-end contractors, the quality of house construction seems to be declining steadily. I really appreciate the old craftsmanship.

We only recently got rid of some 70-year-old lead-pipe plumbing. There may still be some left in the vent stacks, and the original cast iron parts still work fine. The new plastic stuff is so easy to put it it's almost like cheating.

Just out of curiosity, whatever became of the house's original plumbing, meaning the outhouse?

 

Keep me in mind, I know how to run one

Of COURSE not! They don't call it "divorce dust" for nothing!

I'd much rather just build from scratch than ever endure a reno ever again. Why? Simple, you know exactly what you're getting, and there are NO surprises.

Like bare wires behind the wall, an ancient forgotten pipe that is about to turn into a Super Soaker Hose, a critical support beam that has been the home to several hundred generations of hungry pooping termites, etc

Just the thought of it makes me want to crawl into a bottle and pull the cork behind me

I would LOVE to see that project! Sounds like you have made your home as self-sufficient as possible. Many turn-of-the-century Prairie farmhouses in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta featured similar "technology"

Amazing how many coal/wood burning cookstoves back then had the hot water loop in them to provide an almost-endless supply of piping hot water for cooking, cleaning, bathing, etc

Just drag the tin tub into the middle of the kitchen, and one at a time, bathe the entire family. Naturally, the Man Of The House got to go first, the baby last, so the baby probably never got really "clean" in that sense

You obviously have little experience with plumbing. When is cursing NOT involved dealing with plumbing??



I spent 10 years in the Army, and usually have to use my entire repertoire of humorous military curse phrases and acronyms just to crimp a PEX ring

I like to set my regulator at around 65 psi. I enjoy a shower that almost blasts the skin right off my back

My Sweetie generally makes me stand in front of the shower head to "deflect" the blast of water. I had no idea that women had such tender, sensitive skin

Nobody gives one s*** anymore because housing is such a farce, an investment bubble, that they are slapped together ASAP.

I like building my own homes, I know exactly what goes into them, and tend to pay attention to picky little details like, oh, making sure on any given wall the stud crowns are all in the same direction.

I much prefer ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) for both basement and above-grade walls

LOGIX ICF

Although most claim its not necessary, piling for the footing is ALWAYS cheap insurance. Proper layout to ensure absolutely LEVEL and TRUE footings will ensure the entire house stays that way, but who does that these days? Takes too much time

But I do. Call me picky.

House construction is like vehicle maintenance: if you really want to ensure it is done right, do it yourself

I would keep it as an "emergency backup." We're kind of spoiled now, sitting on our Throne, reading the morning news on our WiFi enabled iPod Touch or Netbook, or texting/sexting, or whatever.

Back then, folks used the outhouse for its intended purpose. Nobody monkeyed around - it was all business. Even "indoor" plumbing back then was kind of primitive

Where do you think the phrase "s*** or get off the pot" came from??

 

Yes, but pre-50s older homes have character you just can't find in a new house. The 2x4s are actually 2 inches by 4 inches, and the 'junk' wood of the day is finer than anything you can buy now.

We had one of those until about 5 years ago, half electric and half wood-burning. It's being uh...'preserved' at the moment in the garage.

I like the sounds of that. Next time.

It wasn't the line of people at the front door that caused the hurry, it was all the ravenous critters like mosquitos and black flies at the back door...

 

As a kid at my parents cabin, I once had a fun encounter with a huge, hairy, but ultimately harmless spider. She actually scuttled across my private parts as I was seated.

I screamed and literally knocked the door off the s***house. Mom and dad came rushing out of the cabin to find me standing there with my jeans around my ankles, tears streaming down my face, telling the tale of the evil spider

My mom just rolled her eyes, told us that the spider was a frequent visitor whenever she used the s***house, nothing bad happened, and only men would make a big deal out of it anyway

Kind of took my manliness down a notch

 

It is still standing, albeit the *floor* has been concreted over and it now serves as the pump house and contains our high-pressure hot water cylinder.

Here's a brief overview of our water system. The pump draws water from our underground concrete cistern and sends it to:
1) a header tank holding approx 5,000 litres sitting on an outside stand approximately 3 m tall. This tank supplies cold water to all of the interior taps and the low-pressure hot water cylinder attached to the coal range (aka, the wetback). (note this tank replaced the two iron tanks that were fed by rain water. I disconnected the rainwater many years ago because of the lead-headed nails on the roof and some concerns about occasional spray drift from the farm *next door*.)
2) the high pressure lines that include a) toilets, b) the many farm troughs and taps that are distributed across 22 acres, c) our shower, laundry tub, and washing machine (located in the laundry room - inside but you have to go outside and along the verandah to get to them), and d) the soon-to-be installed dishwasher.

Patrick - I'll post the specs on the water pressure(s) shortly, but the high pressure is whatever I set the pump to by means of the air ballast tank. The low pressure is typically referred to in metres (how high the tank is) but I can convert it for you (its on the order of 3 psi, too low for us to use any modern tapware that has a ceramic mixer or small diameter inflow lines, but fine for most uses).

I'll post photos and more info later this week when I can find a spare minute or two

 

I'm also on a catchment system. 8000 gallon above ground corrugated bolt together steel tank with plastic liner, pump, and pressure tank. I thought about adding some gravity feed water for the toilets but decided to get a small generator instead.

No city water even though we are a 15 minute fast drive from Waikiki or downtown Honolulu.

 

The advice you've shared was truly informative. Thanks for sharing it!

 

You've never used an outhouse in winter. I did, once.

Makes me really appreciate what the pioneers went through. Also makes me get on my hands and knees and kiss my modern porcelin throne