All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Lais Lima this is risky business and easy to underestimate. Expect your construction to run over time and budget by A LOT. Avoid major repairs.

@Femi Ibrahim... Dang! Praying for you!

@Aaron Gorum sounds like a learning experience and a reminder that it’s hard to find good finish guys. Lots of “contractors” but not many can install cabinets properly or finish floors with the right process. The contractor needs to learn from his mistakes and fix his crap. To not screw face frames together is more than negligent. The face frames should be screwed together before driving any screws in the bottom of the cabinet to line them up. He might have installed only one handrail to make the width of the stairway code compliant. Only one is required and very common to find. To have real peace of mind, you might want to check on those studs yourself if you think they missed. If they missed studs on the top of the uppers you’ll have problems even if they hit them on the bottom obviously. Sounds like you’re not in a real bad relationship with this guy yet, so maybe try to have him fix stuff and have an attititude that you’ll pay him if he fixes xy and z. To try to get him to redo all his work is not going to happen, unless it was me. Let him know where you’re not satisfied and if he’s really striving for good reviews etc he’ll want to fix whatever it is.

@Trevor Dominique going down down a slippery slope here and may cost yourself tons of $. Obviously you guys were loose as heck if you intended to get permits, as those are supposed to happen before work starts obviously. After you’ve done half the work, I wouldn’t assume to insist on permits. It’s like robbing a bank, then trying to put money in the parking meter or stopping at a stop sign while running from the cops. However, it’s not near as scary as that, and I commend you for the investments you are making. Pro homeflippers I’ve worked for have done full requires w/o permits in heavy regulated areas. Just saying I’ve seen t done and certain times when they got caught they paid a fine. I’m not making any recommendations on what to do because you know the feel of where you’re at with the building department, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot and cost yourself a bunch of $. Full re wires on remodel can be tough. Look up requirements for wiring on kitchens and bathrooms and what outlets are to code in the areas. Find out what color wire belongs where whether yellow or white or orange etc. definitely use this to educate yourself on electrical work.

@Joe Splitrock 10’... ouch! I understand there’s variables, but most lines won’t be more than 3. They don’t have to replace the whole pipe to get it working, just where the problem is of course. Sounds like you replaced the whole sewer across your yard. If I had to dig the whole yard up to find a leak, I’d replace the whole thing. I know those South Dakotans work hard. Curious if that’s where the hammers start getting gold, I’ve heard that’s the best flip market. Thanks for sharing your experience; I’m always learning new things.

@Todd Wheatley doesn’t look like its moving too far in the last 70 years. Maybe squeeze some epoxy in the crack, pressure wash or sand blast exterior and stucco all. That crack doesn’t seem to represent a whole ton of movement. I would make sure I’m getting a good deal. If you have to do anything beyond surface work (who would on a house that old) it’s going to be too expensive and the house sits trashy. The real bad crack looks exterior, so break up and replace. Inside you’ll have to decide if it’s too high and must be broken out and replaced or leveled with concrete.

@Mike Brown the way your asking this leads me to believe a book on brrrr would be real good. Pick up Brandon’s or David Green’s book on brrrr to help you figure out the specifics on what and how to rehab! If I asked you what kind of sauce should I use for my food, you’d probably ask what kind of food is it? These questions become very tailored to the market you’re in, the purchase price and after repair value and your budget. I like to get rid of repulsive things on a house that would turn a buyer away or a bank away from financing.

@Huso Akaratovic hmm... I’d be curious to find out if this actually should be covered in the warranty and the company is pushing them off. The “sewer” line can’t be a pipe in the city street, it’s just a pipe buried in the ground a couple feet down. Maybe review the warranty details. They may not have communicated this properly to the insurance company. Otherwise, you’re not responsible for this anyways and shouldn’t lose sleep over it. This kind of repair should not cost 6-7k. If a line is collapsed, they need to have the plumber they paid tell them where in the yard, then have someone dig it up and repair it for $1000. There’s no way this thing is collapsed all over the yard. Maybe try to redirect them to a better solution and just show them you really wish you could help more but it’s their responsibility overall..

@Andrew Schrader hmm.. is it worth busting the wall out to locate the shut off valve? I would say definitely not, unless you are replacing pipe. Jim K had some good recommendations. If you want to be hands on, check the recommended areas. If you still can’t find a shut off, don’t assume it’s buried in a wall, as that would be very unlikely to do, unless the wall is covering something that used to be open. Plumbers don’t put shut off valves where they will be permanently enclosed in drywall ever. I wouldn’t assume they were that dumb back then, but then again I haven’t seen the rest of the house. You should call a plumber per Jim’s recommendation.

@Brian Ellis, you could look for some small threads of evidence for a foundation somewhere on the property and bull crap your way to a grandfathered structure. You’d have to be quick and build cheap. Ok ok, I have an idea.. so build something really small with a poured slab, like a 16x 20. Make it simple, shouldn’t cost too much. Make it look old somehow with some recycled stuff and then just wait. If it doesn’t get any attention, then go in and add some plumbing and see if you can get a ninja to hook you up to sewer... na, sounds a little risky. You might have to go with the mobil idea. Even with a mobil your screwed on the sewer, so you’re left with very little wiggle room to hook up to sewer. Electric might not be too hard but you sure won’t be able to do septic near the beach unless it’s a big lot (probably not). Ok, your best bet is a camp site. People love camping near the beach and you can get an out house or two.