All Forum Posts by: Paul Winka

 Cover them with carpet squares with dovetails?? What would be the economical way to deal with it? Basement is mostly dry.

I am "unfinishing" an unsightly basement for a rental. The basement floor has chipped tile that leaves an adhesive residue behind. It's not so sticky, but will look shoddy if not addressed. Unfortunately, the tile needs elbow grease to come up, and it breaks off in pieces, not one at a time.

 My intention is just to remove that tile and adhesive and leave the plain concrete; I am not going to paint it. 

What tools and materials will make short work of getting the tile up in the first place, then removing the adhesive? I heard that a sander will quickly get gummed up with adhesive and won't be effective. If there is an alternative solution like putting carpet squares over it, please provide input on that too. 

It looks like this: 

@William E. @Julie Marquez @Mike Reynolds @Brian Pulaski @Account Closed

This is exactly why I love BP. Because of the feedback here, I have decided to replace the two small doors, not put in one big door. The cost and hassle are too great and the added value to the rental in terms of additional rent just isn't there. And now I know what a LVL beam is! 

 LVL is same thing as laminate beam?

The front of the garage door is on the eave end; here is a picture. 

So is the bottom line that I should just abandon this project and spend my capital elsewhere to add value to this rental? That's what it is looking like. 

I am expecting a ROI of 9% after figuring in property management and capex reserve.

Why do you like two doors instead of one?

Doors are 8' each. New door would be 17'. That apparently is not a standard size? 

Has the cheaper contractor taken it into account? I am thinking yes, because the price seems unrealistically low. Overhead Door seems to be the gold standard around here and wants $4800; I used them on a TX rental house before and was quite pleased. I am sure they'd get the job one quite well. The other company I am not so sure about. A structural engineer weighing in would be helpful

Neither contractor mentioned the exterior of the house will be need to be reduced to get the door size needed. 

Two singles over a double? Hmmm, maybe you could enlighten me as to why you like the two doors. IMHO, the doorways are too narrow--couldn't imagine two '60s era cars working any better! I am either going to hire a structural engineer to look at this or just abandon the two-car door plan altogether. This cost and hassle of this is looking more substantial than I want it to be for a house that is going to be a rental! 

Hiring an engineer seems to be the consensus on this thread, so that's probably what I will end up doing. So the engineer would write up the specs, drawings, and statement of work? If not, what? And what should I expect to pay? 

Yikes. Should Overhead Door and a contractor that works Lowe's know these things? What's the typical fee associated with a on structural engineer to do an on-site consultation?

Yes, I'll need to get a permit. Not that Overhead Door is infallible, but wouldn't they know whether to contact a structural engineer or not? I asked the rep if this job was a big deal and they said they do them all the time. 

And...is an LVL beam the same thing as a laminated beam? I am under the impression they are the same. 

 Sorry, I don't follow...but I am starting to pick up on this lingo. Is that 2 x 4? 

What would then be sufficient for a 17-foot span?