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Chris the DIY guy vs. "The Ranch"

882K views 462 replies 44 participants last post by  sleepyg 
#1 ·
My wife and I purchased a foreclosure in June of 2009. We originally looked at the home in April of that year but due to complications with the house did not close until June. When the home inspector looked at the house originally he found 95 items that needed to be replaced/repaired or remodeled. A few of the had to be addressed by the bank before the sale so that contributed to the delay in closing.

So I have begun the journey of completing this list. As of the writing of this initial post I am tearing out the kitchen in order to remodel it. Issues regarding this can be found in this post. I have started a blog with the same title as I will be positing updates. There is always something with this project! Unexpected and unusual.

A few photos of the exterior and some of the items needing attention:
 

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#454 ·
Have you got close enough to make a punch list yet, I love scratching off things done. I like to do a bunch of small things, that way it looks like I did a lot... on paper. LOL
 
#159 ·
I have see that in simauir fashon in France { that where I am now } and it not too bad at all beside what this guy did use stainless steel cabents to match the stainless steel tiles kinda instering set up.

I did the wiring in that place it was not too bad at all.

Merci.
Marc
 
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#200 ·
The bulk of my time has been in the hall bathroom. I have completed the Durock install in the shower and have all but one wall to apply drywall. I should be able to do the last wall this evening and begin joint treatment around the shower as tonights wrap up.

I am still deciding on whether to use edge pieces or to butt ceramic tiles for the outside corners around shower. It would be easier if I can get an inside corner outside corner ceramic tile piece, if such a thing exists. Will go in upper left of shower at Durock and green-board interface.

Will fill large gaps with EasySand 45, then continue with Joint compund.
 

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#263 ·
If you still have a post that is hard to pull up try this: Take a chain and hook as close to the bottom of post as possible, us an old car tire standing against the post with the chain laying over the tire, when you pull the chain it should pull the post up out of the ground.
 
#279 ·
Can't catch a break, got a freak snow storm Tuesday putting 3"-4" on the ground. Rain in the forecast for Sunday and Monday. This wall may not get completed until Spring.

Will it ever dry? I'm guessing compacting soil that contains ice is a bad idea.

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#284 ·
Forgot to post a picture of where I had to leave off working on retaining wall. With all the wet weather have no idea when this will get finished. Have to backfill the fifth course, then run course six and cap to finish.

Backyard Yard Soil Foundation


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#413 ·
Plumb certainly helps, but what they really want is a consistently flat surface. They can measure and fit just about anything. A wall with a consistent surface that's off-level is better than a level one that uneven. Or so my glass guy mentioned to me.

I chose to put Silestone quartz around all the shower openings. You're not likely to get more flat that unbroken lengths of the same 3cm material all the way around...

Which doesn't detract from the excellent job you've done thus far. Nice work!
 
#460 ·
With a deck minimally 6' in the air taking delivery and placing our new grill on the deck was going to be a challenge.

I had to build a "contraption" to transport and lift the 450 lbs. grill on and off the deck and into the garage for storage.







Test run showed that I needed to strengthen and modify front edge

 
#2 · (Edited)
More exterior

...just a few out of many. That's a towel stuck in what we are told was possibly a chimney for a corn cob stove. Being right below a window I hope it wasn't...
 

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#3 ·
A few interior

When you open a closet on the second floor you see the roof of the first half of the house before the addition was done. The addition is larger than the original house.
 

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#4 ·
The infrastructure

The house is on a well and when we purchased it was entirely electrical. I relocated the well pressure tank and installed whole house macro filtration, softener and then whole house filtration. I also installed propane gas line and installed tankless water heaters. This was all done in July and August of last year. Our heat runs on the tankless water heaters and that was done in November.
 

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#5 ·
But look how much $$$ the previous owners saved on permits, inspections and hiring pros to do the work! :eek: A little sarcasm there.

I'd be interested in knowing if the inspector you hired has ever found 95 things to report in any of his previous inspections.

Thanks for posting the pics. Great thread!

Barb
 
#8 ·
But look how much $$$ the previous owners saved on permits, inspections and hiring pros to do the work! :eek: A little sarcasm there.

I'd be interested in knowing if the inspector you hired has ever found 95 things to report in any of his previous inspections.

Thanks for posting the pics. Great thread!

Barb
Thanks!

90% of all the light fixtures were missing, about 75% of all the light switches were missing. Floors, toilets, you name it something wasn't up to par. The home inspector is just one of those you hire when you buy a place not the county code inspector. This thread will be ongoing as I complete the work in my spare time.

--Chris
 
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