When you hire a crew it’s faster and cheaper to do the whole house at once. That’s how our house was done. When I was young and poor we did a room a year because that’s what we could afford.
When you hire a crew it’s faster and cheaper to do the whole house at once. That’s how our house was done. When I was young and poor we did a room a year because that’s what we could afford.
No can do a room at time. This is major construction that requires moving plumbing, electric service HVAC service. we’re building a double garage we’re bumping out the basement, we’re building a room on top of that, we’re moving the kitchen from one side of the house to the other.Originally Posted by frugal-one
When we were in our 30s we did our our city house a room at a time, yeah that took 25 years. There is no way I will do that again. I don’t have another 25 years on earth. But I will say that I think it’s kind of funny that here I am sitting in this room looking at studs and an old floor in an old house. This brings back memories. And really we’ve never stopped gutting houses because when we got our city house dry walled with a great deal of finish work done, we started working on tiny houses. It’s just what we do.
Seems to be the story of our lives as well. From a 1903 bungalow when we were 23 to this mid 60s split level in our 60s. And all the ones in between. With the price of houses now, I fear one last re-do is in our future. I am tired just thinking about it.It’s just what we do.
I think it's a very fun hobby. What a creative endeavor!
On a related note, I've discovered two design shows that pass muster for me: One is No Demo Reno which I like because it drives me CRAZY when they waste materials in the name of the Trend Du Jour.
The other is the British show Grand Designs, which my son turned us onto. IL, I'm thinking you would love that show.
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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IL, am I wrong in thinking that original 2x4's would be thicker and stronger than today's green lumber? I imagine craftsman builders and carpenters loving the quality and strength of the old wood in the framing of your house. Am I under illusions?
As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”
Probably the 80-year-old wood is better quality than the new stuff, but I don’t know if they can reuse the old stuff if they have to cut it out. I don’t really know how that works.
Last edited by iris lilies; 4-9-21 at 10:26am.
I believe the change in lumber came after 29, but I don't remember the date. Prior to the change, a 2x4 was truely 2" by 4" and the waste was off of their end. After, the milling waste, your new 2x4's are 1 1/2" x 3 1/2", so just by dimensions, the older lumber is a little bit stronger.
My friend who loves my Victorian neighborhood in the city often remarked that the joists in our homes were cut from the king’s forests. In other words, when those trees started growing, king George owned the forests here.
Another interesting fact about England and Missouri and Wood is this: Missouri Oak wood forms the barrels that Scottish whiskey is aged in.
Last edited by iris lilies; 4-9-21 at 4:31pm.
We just had part of our deck redone to get rid of a stupid stage area that was 6 inches higher and make it level with the rest of the deck. Holy cow lumber is expensive. We used ipe since that’s what the rest of the deck is and the stuff is hard as a rock so it will last forever. For 16 ten foot long boards it was almost $1500 for just the wood.
Lumber has tripled in price locally since the pandemic. Some friends are building a house and it’s really costing them. So IL did you set a budget or is it in the doesn’t matter category.
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