dr. awsome's house remodel - Page 2 - DIY Chatroom

**AtlanticWBConst.** · 10-11-2009, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Awsome

The flooring is a sheet linoleum and the green sheet you can see while we are painting is just a painters tarp.

So, how much of the materials in that house was asbestos?

Dr. Awsome · 10-13-2009, 10:13 AM

I have a chimney that was used for the original furnace that is no longer needed. I would like to remove the entire thing since it has no use any more and is taking up space in my master bedroom.

Here is the chimney sticking out the roof. You can't see it from this angle but I can see sun light shining through is several spots.

This is the area of concern for me. If I don't have to take this out I would rather not.

This is where the chimney goes from the outside of the house to the inside.

During our first phase of remodel I put this box around the chimney to cover it up. I didn't do a very good job because of lack of time and I knew it would be coming down in a few months.

From the master bedroom the chimney continues up into our upstairs bathroom. It's not visible since it's behind a wall.

My plan so far is to start taking it out from the top down. I'll either rent an air chisel or use a cold chisel and BFG to break apart the mortar and then lower the bricks down. I don't want to have to break into the wall in the bathroom if I don't have to.

Dr. Awsome · 10-13-2009, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtlanticWBConst.

So, how much of the materials in that house was asbestos?

Most of the house has been gone through and redone at one point of another. The addition the kitchen and master bath are in was done in the 80's but everything else in the house I have no idea when it was updated. So I guess to answer you question I'm not quite sure, but I don't think I have worked in any areas that would have asbestos in them.

Dr. Awsome · 10-15-2009, 10:08 AM

I've had an unexpected turn of events

. We had carped scedualed to be installed friday so last night I was trying to rap up a few odd jobs I wanted to get done before hand. One of which was reinforcing a wobbly hand rail at the top of the stairs. Appon inspection I decided the wood it was anchored to was shot and would need to be replaced so I started pulling it out. I guess the vibrations from me hammering my wonder bar under it were to much. I started to have plaster and lath come off the walls in sheets.

So today I need to call the carpet installer and move back the install a few weeks so I can take down all the plater and replace it with drywall. It will be a good thing to have done. It's one of the last big projects I have to do in the house and will vastly improve the look upstairs. I'll be posting pictures of the progress of course. I have a two week dealine since the wife is throwing a baby shower in the house.

Wish me luck.

gma2rjc · 10-15-2009, 12:47 PM

Good luck! You'll get it done in time. Set your deadline for the day before the shower, just in case something else unexpected comes up.

It's going to look great!

Dr. Awsome · 10-16-2009, 11:09 AM

As promised I took some pictures of the area we will be putting drywall and the area that cause of the whole mess.

Here are out steps. They are incredibly narrow at 28 inches so we are going to pull the plaster off instead of just putting drywall over it to save that inch.

This picture is of a drop in the ceiling that will prevent us from taking a queen size bed up the stairs. I'm going to take the opportunity and move it back so we will have more clearance for large furniture. Currently there is a 46" max width.

Where the wobbly banister used to be. There was almost nothing to anchor it to, hence why it was all wobbly. Once again, my poodle always enjoys watching me work.

And finally all the plaster that fell off the wall while I was pulling the banister out.

Also in the plans are a new sub floor for the whole upstairs since the original one is 3/4 pine planks and are rather warped and bowed. We will be pulling plaster off as soon as I finish clearing out the upstairs and get the new sub floor in. I figure it will be easier clean up with an even floor that doesn't have lots of cracks and grooves in it.

Handyservices · 10-16-2009, 11:33 AM

Plaster is one of those materials that will crack and break off under certain conditions

Your large project looks good. Gotta keep at it regardless of setbacks.

Dr. Awsome · 10-16-2009, 11:39 AM

This is a project I knew I would need to do. I just was hoping to push it off until next year. It will be good to have it done. Then I can move onto doing to final stage of remodel in the master bed and bath. Once that's done it's on to digging out the basement and reinforcing the foundation.

Dr. Awsome · 10-17-2009, 01:40 AM

Today's progress included finishing moving all the items from the upstairs so we can start pulling plaster off the walls. I was able to do that in a few hours. Then I taped up the door way at the bottom of the stairs to try and keep the dust down.

The progress so far. 60-70% of the plaster is down.

Dr. Awsome · 10-19-2009, 12:38 AM

It has been a busy weekend. We were able to finish pulling all the plaster off this morning. Yesterday we spend most of the day pulling plaster and taking it to the dump. Today we finished the final details of the plaster and cleaned up in prep to start hanging drywall.

We ended up needing 51 sheets of material in all. It was quite a feat loading them into the truck.

We had a few friends come over and help hang the drywall on the ceiling. We discovered quickly that we can't get a 4x8 sheet up the stairs. The turn at the bottom that just won't allow it. So we ended up having to cut them down to 4x4 sheets to get them up the stairs.

I'll try to post some more pictures once I get more drywall hung. At the moment we have drywall on all the horizontal space that I wouldn't be able to hang on my own. Tomorrow after work and after I do my school work I'll start hanging on the walls.

Dr. Awsome · 10-20-2009, 10:50 AM

I was able to get all the drywall hung in the hallway last night. There was a lot of trimming to do. There was only one 4X4 sheet that didn't require cutting. Tonight I'm going to work on the bedroom and hopefully have time to start on the stairs. The goal is to be mudding by Friday.

gma2rjc · 10-20-2009, 08:49 PM

Keep up the good work!

These pictures are going to be priceless when you're completely finished. It's hard to believe, but you're going to look at them and say, "I forgot how much work we really did on this place."

Dr. Awsome · 10-21-2009, 10:06 AM

Last night I moved my 11 sheets of sub floor upstairs after cutting them down to 4'x4' sections. I'm almost done with the back bedroom. I only have a few more sheets to hang, maybe an hour or so. We had to take out the light to hang drywall on the ceiling and I haven't put it back up yet so I can only work that room during the day time. The stairs are getting close to being finished as well.
Now I'm to the point where it doesn't make sense to keep hanging drywall until I knock back the section above the stairs. I need to reroute some electrical and update it in the process which will be the project for tonight.

Dr. Awsome · 10-22-2009, 10:37 AM

I updated some of the electrical last night and started mudding what drywall I have hung. I wasn't in the mood to hang more but I needed to make more progress.

The seam tape is going on easier with out using a banjo. I guess I just couldn't get the hang of that thing. It's taking a little longer but the result will be better in the end.

Tonight I plan on knocking back the hump above the stairs. I'm a little nervous about this one since I've never done it before. I also discovered last night that all the electrical upstairs is still node and tube. I thought it had been mostly updated. So now I need to decide the best way to replace it. It's looking like I will need to pull up the sub floor to run new wiring and install junction boxes for all the ceiling lights at the same time.

It's starting to look like I won't hit my deadline. There are too many things that need to be updated that I wasn't planing on.

shumakerscott · 10-22-2009, 04:33 PM

It always turns out "Bigger than expected" Keep up the good work and good spirits. Dorf dude...