Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[Flounder]

Interior DESIGNER sir. Interior designer. Maybe they called them interior decorators when you wound up in that glacier but that was a long time ago.

In college the interior design program had space in the architecture school. We referred to them as Interior Desecrators.

[::: :::]

Interior DESIGNER sir. Interior designer. Maybe they called them interior decorators when you wound up in that glacier but that was a long time ago.

Interior Designer is a licensed profession in many states, requiring a degree, exam & continuing ed
Interior Decorator, not so much

Tho that doesn’t stop some decorators from claiming the name designer

[Foggy_Goggles]

Us trim carpenters usually just call them rent a friends.

[Core Shot]

In college the interior design program had space in the architecture school. We referred to them as Interior Desecrators.

I’m using that

It fits alongside dorkatecht

[RootSkier]

In college the interior design program had space in the architecture school. We referred to them as Interior Desecrators.

Interior designers probably do more to make a space livable than most architects who are high on their own shit.

But prove me wrong and post up some furnished pics of your own projects.

[EWG]

Us trim carpenters usually just call them rent a friends.

This is fucking funny. I’m using this. Thank you.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

I always thought IDs had a pretty good racket. Load up a place with lots of high priced furniture and geegaws and collect a 50% markup on everything.

[Mustonen]

Never heard of radiant that wasn't closed loop (except electric).

Used to live in a house with open loop. Domestic and radiant were on the same water heater (80 gallon gas). One less thing to fail, but when that one thing failed during a stretch of below zero temps it wasn’t great…. We could keep it in the 60s with space heaters easy enough, but the ice cold shower made it all pretty unbearable. Nobody around here stocked 80 gallon tanks, so switched to an on demand system. It worked ok….

[Foggy_Goggles]

This is fucking funny. I’m using this. Thank you.

It's bad. I used to get friendly with the customers, do walk thoughts and such, but now I just run away. With the $1K sq. ft. builds, it seems like at some point the husband is just fuckin' over it. The wife shows up with the designer and it's all pintrest, puffy coats & pino gri.

The GC will usually have a PM or Super that walks around with them trying to take notes on what needs to be done. They are so fuckin' scrambled that nothing ever happens other that another invoice gets generated.

Something like cabinet hardware becomes an insurmountable challenge. "You know that once I drill a hole in the door, you can't change your mind" have led to crying and me being "mean" which I why I just make like a ghost. I've literally seen a customer fly out from the east coast just to make some decisions on cabinet hardware, be onsite with a designer and a PM, spend half a day trying to figure it out and get nothing done. As in, "hey, now that that meeting is over you wanna walk with me and show me where the jewelry goes?". "She couldn't decide".

Closets? Are you kidding me? It is almost like a exercise is who can waste the most time and money. I'd exclude all hardware and closet systems from the bid now. I tell them if you can get it figured out by the time I have everything else done, I'll do it. If not, all bets are off.

I basically refuse to be your back out carpenter and be involved in the last minute panic when everything that you have known needed to be done for the last two years "needs" to get done now because all of a sudden there is an artificial "deadline" that you need to hit.

Have fun with that. Usually what ends up happening is that the punch list takes about a year. No thanks.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

The last 10% of a project takes 90% of the effort.

[Core Shot]

20% of your customers are 80% of your problems

Not my quote. But I’ve found it to be truth.
When your spidey sense is tingling. Walk away.

[Foggy_Goggles]

20% of your customers are 80% of your problems

Not my quote. But I’ve found it to be truth.
When your spidey sense is tingling. Walk away.

Pretty much. I love it when after the pre-construction walkthough I say something like, "Nice to meet you. I don't think we are going to be a good fit for each other. Best of luck".

I've had people threaten to sue me hypothetically before we even have a contract. I've had people tell me what the job should cost without them even being able to explain what the job is. It doesn't end. Luckily in this economy and we my experience and relationships I don't have to look for work or even competitively bid jobs. I'm sure I will have to a somepoint but I'm not looking forward to it.

[RootSkier]

Pretty much. I love it when after the pre-construction walkthough I say something like, "Nice to meet you. I don't think we are going to be a good fit for each other. Best of luck".

In my non-building job, most of the best decisions I have ever made include (a) not letting people hire me and (b) firing people who are a pain in the ass.

[SirVicSmasher]

Never heard of it…all our installs are Kerdi these days
(except CA, where they seem to like traditional mud…)

Mud is king . Foam not so much

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[fastfred]

I'm still in my underware getting close to an 11am meeting might have to put some clothes on and drive around and act proffesional and pretend I haven't been baked since 730 this morning
complain complain
best job ever had
love designers love architects
if you cant smile and kiss ass and be someones best friend than time to work at the quickie mart
just sent a customer an invoice for $18,000 worth of plumbing fixtures rough morning I say

[::: :::]

It's bad. I used to get friendly with the customers, do walk thoughts and such, but now I just run away. With the $1K sq. ft. builds, it seems like at some point the husband is just fuckin' over it. The wife shows up with the designer and it's all pintrest, puffy coats & pino gri.

The GC will usually have a PM or Super that walks around with them trying to take notes on what needs to be done. They are so fuckin' scrambled that nothing ever happens other that another invoice gets generated.

Something like cabinet hardware becomes an insurmountable challenge. "You know that once I drill a hole in the door, you can't change your mind" have led to crying and me being "mean" which I why I just make like a ghost. I've literally seen a customer fly out from the east coast just to make some decisions on cabinet hardware, be onsite with a designer and a PM, spend half a day trying to figure it out and get nothing done. As in, "hey, now that that meeting is over you wanna walk with me and show me where the jewelry goes?". "She couldn't decide".

Closets? Are you kidding me? It is almost like a exercise is who can waste the most time and money. I'd exclude all hardware and closet systems from the bid now. I tell them if you can get it figured out by the time I have everything else done, I'll do it. If not, all bets are off.

I basically refuse to be your back out carpenter and be involved in the last minute panic when everything that you have known needed to be done for the last two years "needs" to get done now because all of a sudden there is an artificial "deadline" that you need to hit.

Have fun with that. Usually what ends up happening is that the punch list takes about a year. No thanks.

how this process came to be always baffles me...is it not in the GC's interest to say with a smile: "why don't you guys go get it figured out & call me back when you have a complete set of plans & specs?"
are gc's making money on this turbulence? it seems it's just overhead...
i guess at $1k/sf, it pencils...but it sounds like it's still an immense pain in the ass

[SirVicSmasher]

That's why you build specs not customs

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[AdironRider]

It's bad. I used to get friendly with the customers, do walk thoughts and such, but now I just run away. With the $1K sq. ft. builds, it seems like at some point the husband is just fuckin' over it. The wife shows up with the designer and it's all pintrest, puffy coats & pino gri.

The GC will usually have a PM or Super that walks around with them trying to take notes on what needs to be done. They are so fuckin' scrambled that nothing ever happens other that another invoice gets generated.

Something like cabinet hardware becomes an insurmountable challenge. "You know that once I drill a hole in the door, you can't change your mind" have led to crying and me being "mean" which I why I just make like a ghost. I've literally seen a customer fly out from the east coast just to make some decisions on cabinet hardware, be onsite with a designer and a PM, spend half a day trying to figure it out and get nothing done. As in, "hey, now that that meeting is over you wanna walk with me and show me where the jewelry goes?". "She couldn't decide".

Closets? Are you kidding me? It is almost like a exercise is who can waste the most time and money. I'd exclude all hardware and closet systems from the bid now. I tell them if you can get it figured out by the time I have everything else done, I'll do it. If not, all bets are off.

I basically refuse to be your back out carpenter and be involved in the last minute panic when everything that you have known needed to be done for the last two years "needs" to get done now because all of a sudden there is an artificial "deadline" that you need to hit.

Have fun with that. Usually what ends up happening is that the punch list takes about a year. No thanks.

The finish carpenters I've worked with are all foreigners and guess what, no hablo engles when the homeowner is around. The bills are crystal clear though.

[Timberridge]

I'm still in my underware getting close to an 11am meeting might have to put some clothes on and drive around and act proffesional and pretend I haven't been baked since 730 this morning
complain complain
best job ever had
love designers love architects
if you cant smile and kiss ass and be someones best friend than time to work at the quickie mart
just sent a customer an invoice for $18,000 worth of plumbing fixtures rough morning I say

killing it as usual fastfred.

[Foggy_Goggles]

are gc's making money on this turbulence? it seems it's just overhead...
i guess at $1k/sf, it pencils...but it sounds like it's still an immense pain in the ass

I'm pretty sure they are making money on all of it. The high end guys are getting 20% on top of everything. The project manager, office chick, designer etc. are all line items. But on top of that the fact that a few that I work for are actually the carpentry sub (they pay me hourly) and I bet they make $50 for every hour I work.

[skifishbum]

back to sum stoke
i knew i didnt want to try and grow grass in the front yard with a northerly exposure

1st thing i did was git a sod cutter git it cut and stacked up


i think it sat that that for a year or 2 while the backyard where we spend time got done
conerted the sprinklers to low flow drip/micro sprinklers
dug in a couple dry creek beds and started filling the boat with river cobble every fishing trip
using leverage bars come alongs and the durango
we moved some of the big rocks out from along the house
went to our local water conservatory district gardens for ideas and drought tolerant low sun native plants
threw in yuccas, a smoke bush hostas, poppys, mo tea, and assorted ground covers and desert grasses
and topped it off with a few yards bark/mulch
took a few years for some of it to establish and the ground covers have good seasons and not as good but rarely bad
now it looks nice has little to no maintenance other than weeding , remulching and adding a bit more ground covers every couple of years
with a fraction of water it would take for a green grass ya dont smokes lawn



pretty stoked on how it looks/turned out and the cost and labor werent to bad

[Ski220]

What's up with that law suite sidewalk ?

Get the city to fix that shit !

[dan_pdx]

What's up with that law suite sidewalk ?

Get the city to fix that shit !

Will the city fix that shit where you live? Here it's on the homeowner, which sucks.

[old goat]

back to sum stoke
i knew i didnt want to try and grow grass in the front yard with a northerly exposure

1st thing i did was git a sod cutter git it cut and stacked up


i think it sat that that for a year or 2 while the backyard where we spend time got done
conerted the sprinklers to low flow drip/micro sprinklers
dug in a couple dry creek beds and started filling the boat with river cobble every fishing trip
using leverage bars come alongs and the durango
we moved some of the big rocks out from along the house
went to our local water conservatory district gardens for ideas and drought tolerant low sun native plants
threw in yuccas, a smoke bush hostas, poppys, mo tea, and assorted ground covers and desert grasses
and topped it off with a few yards bark/mulch
took a few years for some of it to establish and the ground covers have good seasons and not as good but rarely bad
now it looks nice has little to no maintenance other than weeding , remulching and adding a bit more ground covers every couple of years
with a fraction of water it would take for a green grass ya dont smokes lawn



pretty stoked on how it looks/turned out and the cost and labor werent to bad

That's downright purty.

[Ski220]

Will the city fix that shit where you live? Here it's on the homeowner, which sucks.

City owns the sidewalks. City gets sued not the homeowner, unless
the homeowner is responsible.
Homeowner is responsible for keeping the sidewalk free and clear,
i.e. snow removal.

Case in point - City repaved street without milling first. All the water then ran down my driveway instead of continuing down the street. City's solution was to lay a layer of asphalt on top of sidewalk to raise and redirect the water. Elderly neighbor walking her dog trips, falls and goes to hospital. Tries to sue us. Nope, she has to sue city.