New member from Iowa!

Zach5.9CTD said:

I will be closing on the house in March and i already have plans to change the kitchen and bathroom some to suit my needs. I just figured id join up here to see if theres not some (or all) of the work i can do myself rather than always paying a contractor to come in and do the work.

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Congratulations. Good luck, but...
but I didn't see anything that needed any work.

"if it ain't broke... wait until you have a wife to complain about it being ugly"

Welcome and good luck. Make sure to keep paint on that t-111 siding.

It's what's on the outside of your house by the looks of it.
It's it's not kepted up with it will start to peel and rot.

well i knew it was my exterior siding but my parents said its supposedly really really good.

also, for the house, i will be removing some kitchen cabinets as well as possibly updating them. Im wanting to remove current lanolium floor and replace with possibly laminate hard wood.

Bathroom needs a new sink/vanity, new tub and shower. The current shower has a lower ceiling than rest of the bathroom and has a plastic "top" above the shower walls. When i stand in tub i need to lower my head and look dow just to fit in there, so that will be fixed before i move in.

Also, the current seller is giving us a $2000 dollar allowance for a new roof as the current one is in bad bad shape.

Sounds like the first order of the day then is a new roof.

You'll want to strip the old one. For that, you will want to get an assortment of shovels-a flat spade, a small flat spade, a potato fork, there are even special removal tools.

You'll need a way to haul away the old roof. At least a pick-up, maybe a trailer with sides.

You'll want to make sure your venting is adequate when you do this, and make any corrections at this time.

Of course you'll be replacing any rotten sheathing which you may come across.

yeah, ive help put new roof on in the past, was about 10 years ago, but i remember a lot of what we used, esp for removing nails etc. This roof isnt very steep, maybe a 3-12 or a 4-12 pitch. As far as venting, it does not have any of the vents inside the attic that you use Styrofoam for or something? the ones you put between rafters and wall sides maybe? Has an elec fan with a seized motor, and inspector reccomended a ridge vent and to dispose of old fan.

that stuff sound right to you guys at all?

Welcome Zach.

You probably should replace the link to your house with just a picture. http://www.diychatroom.com/f19/how-attach-photo-post-12559/

Not a good idea to post your address on the net.

fixed....i know how to use photobucket, just didnt have many exterior pics of house i took on personal phone....will add pics later

if i can find the home inspection report i can show you guys the pictures he took of trouble spots of the house that he was mainly concerned about.

Welcome and good luck with your new place.

Regarding your roof and the ventilation thereof, most people are going with ridge vents now.

If you post a question about it, or do a search, you'll find a lot of threads about ventilation.

I don't think I saw any gable vents in the photos.

My belief is, and this will cause you some trouble, that the best system is soffit intake and ridge exhaust.

I don't know the soffit material you have. Is it plywood, or more t-111? Nowadays most builders are using a metal 50% vented soffit material, then an aluminum fascia cover.

You can order the soffit material in a 100% vented version, which is what I prefer. This soffit material mounts against the wall into some "F" channel. The F channel is nailed to the sheathing. In your case, your t-111 is the sheathing. Then the panels are nailed into the underside of the (2x6) fascia as they interlock in a row. Then the fascia is covered with the aluminum cover.

Cleveman - i am unsure of soffit material, id have to shoehorn myself into the attic and find out. I will let you know at possession or if i find home inspection results packet.

You must have misunderstood. You can see your soffit material from the exterior.

I think you mentioned that there are no baffles between the rafters. This would lead one to believe that you have gable vents, but I don't think I see any in the photos.

Your soffit material could be plywood, vinyl, or metal. Maybe some metal vents every 8' or so, or just some slits or holes cut in the wood if it is wood.

By the way, do you have electric heat, or hot water? AC? Is it a modular home?

ohhh i gotcha.....i thought you were talking something INSIDE the actual soffit...id have to look and see what they are.

As far as heat goes, he has hot water baseboard heaters as well as a normal furnace with ducting. The furnace and ducting he said is mainly used to run the central AC in the summer. not sure if it has heating capabilities or not.

Yes pre-fab/modular home.

Sounds like a nice heating set-up. If you have a furnace, you can use it when you have a cold snap in the fall or spring, and just get the boiler running when the cold weather is here to stay.

yeah, the guy is a licensed plumber and seems like he knew what he was doing to help minimize costs etc.