AustinBike Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 Just picked up 2x4's - $7.77 each at Lowes. Ouch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 (edited) These boxes are close to $600 in materials. Brutal but 1/4 what it would have cost me to buy or have built. Edited July 13, 2021 by ATXZJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattlikesbikes Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 1 hour ago, ATXZJ said: These boxes are close to $600 in materials. Brutal but 1/4 what it would have cost me to buy or have built. They keep saying lumber prices are going to go down. I hope so. I have a 12'x50' deck to build. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAF Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 17 minutes ago, Mattlikesbikes said: They keep saying lumber prices are going to go down. I hope so. I have a 12'x50' deck to build. I have a whole effen house to build ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 TBH, I think this is the new normal for years to come. If companies can charge this much and still have high demand, prices won't drop. Unfortunately the economy has to shit the bed for that to happen. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 Sag mir, dass du Deutscher bist, ohne mir zu sagen, dass du Deutscher bist. Finished my wood holder. The one on the right is only for limbs that come down in the yard. The one on the left will be for a nice delivery of split oak every September. The ones on the left light easy and burn faster, but once the fire is going you can toss stuff from the right on and it will burn for hours. Yeah, we do go through that much wood in a year. Not only am I segregating the two types of wood by origin, if you look at the stacked wood, it is larger logs on the right, smaller ones on the left. That is the German in me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattlikesbikes Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 28 minutes ago, AustinBike said: Sag mir, dass du Deutscher bist, ohne mir zu sagen, dass du Deutscher bist. Finished my wood holder. The one on the right is only for limbs that come down in the yard. The one on the left will be for a nice delivery of split oak every September. The ones on the left light easy and burn faster, but once the fire is going you can toss stuff from the right on and it will burn for hours. Yeah, we do go through that much wood in a year. Not only am I segregating the two types of wood by origin, if you look at the stacked wood, it is larger logs on the right, smaller ones on the left. That is the German in me. Do you have an air gap between the ends of the wood and the house? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 I was advised not to store firewood against my house due to concerns with termites. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 Yes, there is a gap. Also, that is basically vinyl, not exposed wood back there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 My house is concrete foundation and rock veneer but they still considered it conducive when I had one of those metal log cord holders next to the house. Â This is 50% of the reason why if you see our front yard right now (aka the big dig), you'll see holes and piles of dirt. Â The dirt was above the foundation line with flashing between the dirt and the house, but that doesn't seem to matter to the pest control experts. Gap is good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 Got the lowers bolted up. 2nd floor is gonna be a whore  5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 Well, finally finished the boxes for the 2nd story and as expected they were quite the whore to install. Warning, white trash installation technique incoming. Â Â Â Â Â Â 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cafeend Posted July 24, 2021 Author Share Posted July 24, 2021 Well, finally finished the boxes for the 2nd story and as expected they were quite the whore to install. Warning, white trash installation technique incoming. Â Â Â Â Â Â Looks great! Thats not white trash .. more like common sense. Whatever worksSent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 7 hours ago, ATXZJ said: Well, finally finished the boxes for the 2nd story and as expected they were quite the whore to install. Warning, white trash installation technique incoming.       Irish POS! That was my idea!🤣 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree Magnet Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 Well, finally finished the boxes for the 2nd story and as expected they were quite the whore to install. Warning, white trash installation technique incoming. Â Â Â Â Â Â That looks damn good.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 Thanks! The uppers and lowers cost me around $700 in materials. I picked a bad time to build these things but I've been wanting to modernize our somewhat boring 70s townhouse. I priced custom boxed online and it would have been well over $2k. The flower/plants are all up to my wife at this point. Made the boxes specifically to fit some plastic inserts I found on scamazon. Probably do synthetic up top and real on the lowers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 We've been saving a lot of money lately and we want to take on a big project. by that I mean pay a professional to do a big project. mostly, we want to revamp the kitchen. cabinets, countertops, some plumbing, some wall demolition to make room for a better cabinet, electrical, etc. We could hire someone to do this, but I'm just afraid we're going to start this without considering how the rest of the space will look and function. I'd feel much better if I could consult with someone who's job it is to do bigger home renovations so we can get a big picture of the order to do everything: lighting, floors, etc. trying to figure this out on our own quickly leads to analysis paralysis. to that end, what kind of professional am I looking for? is this the job of an interior designer? or do I need someone with more detailed functional knowledge of how everything works? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 You can start with an architect if you are moving walls, moving plumbing, moving electrical, etc. Some contractors *can* do this but some will also tell you that they can and then do a poor job of it. It is hard to know for sure how good they are. At least with an architect you know what you are getting. If you do go down this path, an architect can be a black hole and they love to charge a percentage of the cost of the job so set the right parameters with them first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 (edited) to clarify, there's a built-in pantry next to the stove. like, right next to the stove. so there's a wall on the left side of the stovetop, making a lot less space for pot handles, a giant PITA. We'd like a countertop there with cabinets above and below. The walls of the pantry don't go all the way to the ceiling, as the ceiling follows the slope of the roof up, and there's a useless ledge on top of the pantry. so it's not structurally important. there's also a box that sticks out of the wall above the cabinets. the cabinets aren't attached to this box. unless there's HVAC stuff in that box, it seems to be just weird '80s aesthetic, taking up room where taller cabinets should go. there's also a "peninsula" of countertop with a sink and dishwasher under it, and we'd like that to be an island countertop. however, there might be vital plumbing inside that wall. I don't know how to find out without cutting a big hole in the wall. there is certainly electric in there for outlets and power to the dishwasher and garbage disposal. an architect might be helpful here, but we don't know where to start otherwise. I don't feel comfortable telling a capable contractor, "take down this wall and put that there, and that there," without knowing if a) it will actually work and b) if it will look ugly and detract from the value of the home long-term. in case anyone cares, I started drawing it. Edited January 24, 2022 by mack_turtle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 There are realtors that can get you started on things to do for your area that will improve the house and some have GC contacts.  Look for one that’s very popular in your neighborhood and ask.  They may also be privy to what similar houses are like in the area and what other people have done.  Unless yours is a custom home it likely shares a lot of traits with surrounding houses. for our current professional job we hired a certified draftsman to do the design.  It still has to go through engineers and architects  due to structural work in our case.  Probably true for anything involving plumbing and/or electrical.  I personally would start with a realtor to get some guidance, then if you have zero idea find a designer/architect.  I think you can also get the plans from the city so you can see where plumbing is. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 2 hours ago, mack_turtle said: I don't feel comfortable telling a capable contractor, "take down this wall and put that there, and that there," without knowing if a) it will actually work and b) if it will look ugly and detract from the value of the home long-term. Looks like you just bought yourself an architect. An interior designer will probably not be able to do what you want although they will have an opinion. You want someone to structurally tell you what makes sense. The one that I use would probably not want to take this on and I think he is requiring. But if this is just "consulting" and you want to but a couple hours of his time he might be interested in taking a look. This would mean no drawings, but just a "yea or nay" on what you are trying to do. Don't even know if that is his thing but I can ask him if you'd like. Â 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notyal Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 I redesigned my whole kitchen myself using the IKEA designer tool online. Then I took it into the store and they pulled up my design and made a few very good suggestions. I'd consider trying out that tool even if you don't go that route. It's really easy to move stuff around and see what you like. If you do go that route, there are contractors that specialize in IKEA installs. We've been very happy with the IKEA cabinets. I did a lot of the work myself, but also had a contractor who did the harder stuff. The entire kitchen with floors, backsplash, counter, and cabinets cost about the same as the quote we got from a custom cabinet maker just for the cabinets. We had the same weird box thing above the cabinets. We were lucky, but the contractor said that a lot of times there is some ductwork or other stuff hidden in there. Any of that stuff can be relocated, but the cost goes up accordingly. Same with power and plumbing for the island. I assume you are planning on new flooring in there anyway. Pictures of the current layout may be helpful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, AntonioGG said: There are realtors that can get you started on things to do for your area that will improve the house and some have GC contacts.  Look for one that’s very popular in your neighborhood and ask.  They may also be privy to what similar houses are like in the area and what other people have done.  Unless yours is a custom home it likely shares a lot of traits with surrounding houses.  We're doing this exact thing in the next week. We have at least a dozen things we wanted to do to the house this year but are currently focused on the fence that was blown down two weekends ago. For the rest, we are instead meeting with our realtor to get an idea of what's going to be the best ROI for a house we plan on unloading within the next six months. No need to dump too much into a project thats just going to be altered by the next owner. Edited January 24, 2022 by ATXZJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 the realtor who found this house for us stays in touch, so I'll check with her. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Finally finished the window box project we started last summer. Ended up costing way more than I wanted but glad we did it. Still have a few more things to do before we can list it this spring. Â Â Â Â Â 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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