Anyone have anything planned for this year? We've got a lot of stuff we'd like to do, not sure how much we'll be able to get done, though.

Definite:
New flooring in our basement. We had it remodeled last year (I posted about it) but it flooded shortly thereafter and ruined the flooring. We've since had several iterations of "fixing" the basement leaks. It took 3 attempts, but it's finally fixed. It's been fixed for a while, but we wanted to go through several large storms without leaking before we felt comfortable putting the flooring in.

Finishing garage walls. The garage is currently unfinished inside. I've already got a supply of ceiling insulation panels (free) that will go up this summer. Also planning on putting up plywood or osb panels on the walls.

Maybe:
New fencing. We want to put privacy fence around our backyard and black aluminum fencing around the front. The current fencing is shitty chainlink. Our dogs bark at everything, so it's a pain in the ass when we let them outside and someone walks by on the sidewalk. Tall privacy fence will not only give us some privacy in the back yard, but also prevent the dogs from seeing everyone walk by.

New deck. It's small, so it would be cheap to replace as is. I'm considering expanding it, but it's not a high priority currently.

New patio (expanding, new design and brick pavers). We currently have 2 cement slabs from the old owner. But, since baby is due May 3rd, we are likely putting that off for another year. 

Other than that, everything we needed done we just forked over for last year:

• New Fence (Privacy, backyard)
• New Landscaping. Old owners let everything die...and it was hideous
• New furniture for a room we basically didn't have in house 1

I really want the patio done, but it just might not be feasible. But the current one is too small for an umbrella/bigger table, and we enjoy sitting outside in the spring-fall. And with grandparents and friends likely over more, it would be nice to have a patio that had a little more room to put more furniture and matched the rest of the yard (ie, not rundown and ugly). But, unless we can get a good deal, this will be a 2020 project.

Did the patio and fence last year (woof), so not too much this year. Need furniture for the patio, get the house power washed and some new pine straw (instead of mulch), but the outlays should be pretty minimum this year (until the wife wants a golf cart).

Got a wine cellar project going, nothing major but going to look darn nice.  My basement is divided up into 4 large rooms, and two small offshoot storage rooms – one of them is undergoing the deluxe treatment.

Build a new larger storage shed

Rebuild the patio stone stairs

Rebuild a 3 foot high flower bed wall where we had a tree removed just before winter.

Chip an seal the driveway.... i'm not doing it..

Main House Must Do's:

1. Side fence to hide trash cans with sidewalk and landing off of back porch.

2. Re-route plumbing to finish basement.

3. Run electrical in the Garage - currently have 1 outlet in the garage and all my tools run off of a series of power strips.

4. Frame up basement, run electrical, prep for finishers.

Main House - Like to if there is money available

1. Finish basement.

2. Repair shitty drywall work in main levels of the house and re-paint.

Ohio House - Must Do's

1. New Roof - 29 year old roof and lost a few shingles in the last big wind storm.

2. Re-do bathroom. Tile peeling off of the shower walls and drywall is rotting out behind it.

Ohio House - Like to if money is there

1. Replace landscape ties - rotted out and overgrown.

2. Remove old pine tree that is leaning over the outbuilding.

All this is in addition to our property in Ohio that I have spent 1/2 my free weekends grooming and prepping for hunting season. I now have 6 total acres of food plots, 3 corn feeders and 2 protein feeders. Maintenance on all that is a bit of a chore too.

House Main-Do's:

• Need to do earthquake retrofitting - This is main priority
• House has knob and tube wiring, would like to modernize. Might wait to do this with kitchen remodel + half bath addition, once we build up the slush fund again.
• Double pane windows
• Build deck off the front of the house
• Get nice indoor wooden window shades. I'm SOOO sick of shitty blinds.
• Dishwasher install

2018 accomplishments (wife very happy with first 2 items!):

• New vinyl laminate in living room, family room, hallway, and bathroom
• New accent rugs to match flooring
• new furnace boiler
• new hot water heater
• new kitchen disposal

2019

Just hired a local guy to do some things for, starting this Saturday

• install baseboard molding in living and family room, hallway, and bathroom
• new toilet in basement
• add wall-mounted storage shelves in basement
• put in new exhaust fans w/lights in all 3 bathrooms
• add a door to a finished basement room

By the end of the month I'll attempt to reclaim my shed.  Need to replace the outer sheathing and roof, which doesn't have to be pretty, but I think I'm capable of trimming 4x8 plywood sheets well enough to do a decent job, and I re-roofed our garage before.   It's a wooden affair set on a concrete slab, with vertical studs and rafters, pretty solid bones, and I'd like to keep it going as long as me.

One big goal is to try to finish our half-bath into a full-bath. This will definitely help in resale of our house if/when we upgrade in a year or two (or more). It's a 3/1.5 right now and going rates for 3/2s are decent in NKY. If we can do it right, it'll really be a good upgrade to our house and location.

It shouldn't be hard. Seems all the necessary hardware is there to get the shower/tub put in. Probably gut the bathroom first to just make sure it's all done right. Previous owner(s) just did some random work on places in the house that was never done right.

I need to find housing by June 1, 2019. Fun times ahead!

Nuiposted by justincredible

Anyone have anything planned for this year? We've got a lot of stuff we'd like to do, not sure how much we'll be able to get done, though.

Definite:
New flooring in our basement. We had it remodeled last year (I posted about it) but it flooded shortly thereafter and ruined the flooring. We've since had several iterations of "fixing" the basement leaks. It took 3 attempts, but it's finally fixed. It's been fixed for a while, but we wanted to go through several large storms without leaking before we felt comfortable putting the flooring in.

Finishing garage walls. The garage is currently unfinished inside. I've already got a supply of ceiling insulation panels (free) that will go up this summer. Also planning on putting up plywood or osb panels on the walls.

Maybe:
New fencing. We want to put privacy fence around our backyard and black aluminum fencing around the front. The current fencing is shitty chainlink. Our dogs bark at everything, so it's a pain in the ass when we let them outside and someone walks by on the sidewalk. Tall privacy fence will not only give us some privacy in the back yard, but also prevent the dogs from seeing everyone walk by.

New deck. It's small, so it would be cheap to replace as is. I'm considering expanding it, but it's not a high priority currently.

Built a fairly large deck last year and love it and I, too, have to do something about our fence.  Need to replace a section, easy, and possibly repaint the wooden section until we decide what we really want to do.

*New roof on the screened porch.   When we get a goose drowner storm it leaks but the rest of the time it is fine.

*Rework the yard. Put a new lawn in last year. Turned out...OK but not near my liking so I am going to work on it in sections this year so the whole thing wont be out of commission at the same time.

*New fire ring and fire section.  Just didnt get around to it last summer.

*New paver walkways. Didnt do anything with the ones that were here when we bought it last year but this year it is a priority, along with fill dirt around it.

*Run power to the 'barn'.  At one point my man cave and boat will be in there but right now there isnt even any power to it.

*Raised flower beds/garden.

I got a lot done last summer when I took 4 months off of work but this year who knows what I will get to. Starting this weekend, we have a baseball tournament every weekend through mid-july and then Ill be in Louisiana for a month so it looks like its Mon-Thur evenings to get it done!

posted by Commander of Awesome

House Main-Do's:

• Need to do earthquake retrofitting - This is main priority
• House has knob and tube wiring, would like to modernize. Might wait to do this with kitchen remodel + half bath addition, once we build up the slush fund again.
• Double pane windows
• Build deck off the front of the house
• Get nice indoor wooden window shades. I'm SOOO sick of shitty blinds.
• Dishwasher install

Getting a wife, huh?

posted by thavoice

Getting a wife, huh?

 

Not even close to being funny, terrible troupe.

Will be buying our first house in the next two months. Looking for a fixer-upper, so I will have a ton of projects moving forward. I've never been much of a DIY person, but now that we'll be owning I'm looking forward to it.

posted by GOONx19

Will be buying our first house in the next two months. Looking for a fixer-upper, so I will have a ton of projects moving forward. I've never been much of a DIY person, but now that we'll be owning I'm looking forward to it.

Learn on the fly like the rest of us!

Stain Deck

Paint patio floor 

Get rid of 18 year old trampoline and replace with shed

Maybe: she wants a hot tub and extended patio

posted by Zunardo

Just hired a local guy to do some things for, starting this Saturday

• install baseboard molding in living and family room, hallway, and bathroom
• new toilet in basement
• add wall-mounted storage shelves in basement
• put in new exhaust fans w/lights in all 3 bathrooms
• add a door to a finished basement room

Got all those projects completed - whew - although back is still sore from moving everything out of the way for the work to get done.

Excellent:  the guy hung a new storage cabinet in the master bathroom, plus he installed a custom wainscoting on the main wall of the main bathroom.  And those storage shelves are solid.

Bogus:  I had disconnected my voice studio equipment (which was against joining wall of shelves.  Bought a longer cable to connect the digital interface to the PC, but had no sound and no microphone input when I reconnected. Tried a different cable brand - still no juice.  Had to hook up the original short cable to make it work, but the PC is now in an awkward spot.  May have to call the interface manufacturer for a cable.

Bogus 2:  Now Mrs. Z is making a list of where everything will go on those shelves, plus I still have to move other things that were pushed out of the way to get the work done.  There goes my back again .....

Nothing major, and some of it is already done.

Complete:
Cut, install, and stain two doorway thresholds
Replace two ceiling light fixtures with ceiling fans
Set up home entertainment system
Paint kitchen cabinets (wife helped a lot with this, since I suck at painting)

Pending:
Plant second lilac bush in the backyard
Replace section of gutters
Secure laminate floor on stairway landing
Build flagstone patio with a builder's block fire pit in the back yard (for early summer)

Anyone have an idea what tree removal costs in general? We have a small tree, maybe 10-12' tall, I can wrap my hands fully around the main trunk, and it needs to GTFO. I can borrow a chainsaw and do it myself, but if it's only going to be a couple hundred bucks I'd probably rather pay someone to do it. 

posted by justincredible

Anyone have an idea what tree removal costs in general? We have a small tree, maybe 10-12' tall, I can wrap my hands fully around the main trunk, and it needs to GTFO. I can borrow a chainsaw and do it myself, but if it's only going to be a couple hundred bucks I'd probably rather pay someone to do it. 

I'd love to know this as well, though my tree is bigger.

posted by justincredible

Anyone have an idea what tree removal costs in general? We have a small tree, maybe 10-12' tall, I can wrap my hands fully around the main trunk, and it needs to GTFO. I can borrow a chainsaw and do it myself, but if it's only going to be a couple hundred bucks I'd probably rather pay someone to do it. 

Dude, just do it yourself or ask a friend/neighbor.  

I estimate for that size, roughly $200 to $250.  We have a couple of 20-footers in our backyard, a good-size maple and a pine tree.  A tree service said they'd do them for $500 each.