Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[lake_effect]

Was out on a service call this evening and the irony was almost too much. Someone, assuming his wife, had gotten the poor son of a bitch a drywall lift for Christmas. Was sitting in the corner with bits of wrapping paper still stuck to the box. It made sense because it appeared he was trying to finish his basement himself and the next step was drywall but god damn that's a horrible present regardless. Wish I could've gotten a pic but the phone was dead.

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[lake_effect]

And I've seen some gnarly insulation and sheetrock crews but some masons a few years ago stand out the most. Show up at 7 on a Saturday to try to finish the electrical on a really nice custom build. Masons are already there putting stone on the fireplace and hammering White Claws. They said it was too early in the morning to be drinking beer. I think they had switched to High Life by 8 and were done and outta there but noon. Those guys were a different level of functioning alcoholics.

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[Vt-Freeheel]

Fucking squirrels

A-squirrel-wrecked-an-Atlanta-home-while-the-family-was-on-vacation

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Squirrels are fucking evil.

[old goat]

Was out on a service call this evening and the irony was almost too much. Someone, assuming his wife, had gotten the poor son of a bitch a drywall lift for Christmas. Was sitting in the corner with bits of wrapping paper still stuck to the box. It made sense because it appeared he was trying to finish his basement himself and the next step was drywall but god damn that's a horrible present regardless. Wish I could've gotten a pic but the phone was dead.

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I got my wife one of those fancy folding Little Giant ladders for xmas one year (she won't let me get on a ladder, for good reason) and knee pads another year. (I did get her some nice presents as well, and I'm the one who uses the knee pads.)

And I've seen some gnarly insulation and sheetrock crews but some masons a few years ago stand out the most. Show up at 7 on a Saturday to try to finish the electrical on a really nice custom build. Masons are already there putting stone on the fireplace and hammering White Claws. They said it was too early in the morning to be drinking beer. I think they had switched to High Life by 8 and were done and outta there but noon. Those guys were a different level of functioning alcoholics.

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We did a wood shingle re-roof on a very complicated roof--hip roof with 3 hip roof dormers--some years back. Roof pitch is 14 in 12, except for the back which is 20 in 12 and those guys were having fist fights up there. One monday morning one of the guys didn't show, since he was in jail.

Fucking squirrels

A-squirrel-wrecked-an-Atlanta-home-while-the-family-was-on-vacation

Squirrel ate a hole in the wood shingle roof and was raising a family in the attic. Cat followed him in and couldn't get out. We hear this howling, open the access door, and there it is. The hole was a couple feet in diameter, fortunately it was the dry season. Kinda wish we'd left the cat in there, attic is full of rats.

[iceman]

Um. Your attic is full of rats?

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Re squirrels: I was working on a large project in YNP, and our office was one of the defunct cabins we were replacing. We'd keep the door open on nice days and pretty soon a park squirrel was coming in and stealing whatever food it could get it's squirrel hands on and running out the door. After a couple of weeks of this I decided to see what would happen when I closed the door before it could bail. Well this squirrel went absolutely ape shit when it realized it couldn't get out and for the next 5 minutes started doing laps of the room about six feet off the ground. I finally opened the door and the limb rat launched itself outside a solid twenty feet before touching ground. I'm positive it would have completely destroyed the office if I hadn't opened the door.

It didn't come back after that and I'm sure I just admitted to a federal offense.

[old goat]

Um. Your attic is full of rats?

could be mice, but rats I think, full of is an exaggeration I suppose. At least one.

[old goat]

Re squirrels: I was working on a large project in YNP, and our office was one of the defunct cabins we were replacing. We'd keep the door open on nice days and pretty soon a park squirrel was coming in and stealing whatever food it could get it's squirrel hands on and running out the door. After a couple of weeks of this I decided to see what would happen when I closed the door before it could bail. Well this squirrel went absolutely ape shit when it realized it couldn't get out and for the next 5 minutes started doing laps of the room about six feet off the ground. I finally opened the door and the limb rat launched itself outside a solid twenty feet before touching ground. I'm positive it would have completely destroyed the office if I hadn't opened the door.

It didn't come back after that and I'm sure I just admitted to a federal offense.

Colleague of mine got hantavirus in one of those cabins, wound up on a heart lung machine before recovering. Glad you survived it.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Colleague of mine got hantavirus in one of those cabins, wound up on a heart lung machine before recovering. Glad you survived it.

We were stuporvisors, we made sure we got the good ones. As for the workers, maybe Fireball kills the virus? Some scientists should really look into that.

[4matic]

The hole was a couple feet in diameter, fortunately it was the dry season. Kinda wish we'd left the cat in there, attic is full of rats.

You could send him up there for the night. Bones the Bengal would knock them out in a hurry.

[dan_pdx]

This is just curiosity, I'm not really considering it, but...most houses in my neighborhood were built in the early 20th century with short basements, in the 6' - 7' range. Some of them are now getting lifted 2 or 3 feet to build finished living space in the basement. I think in these cases they're most often demoing the foundation and pouring a new foundation.

So, the question: is that ever worthwhile in terms of resale? Or is it reserved for people who never want to move and really want the space? Same question for digging out the basement floor and gaining height that way.

[::: :::]

This is just curiosity, I'm not really considering it, but...most houses in my neighborhood were built in the early 20th century with short basements, in the 6' - 7' range. Some of them are now getting lifted 2 or 3 feet to build finished living space in the basement. I think in these cases they're most often demoing the foundation and pouring a new foundation.

So, the question: is that ever worthwhile in terms of resale? Or is it reserved for people who never want to move and really want the space? Same question for digging out the basement floor and gaining height that way.

Don’t do it for resale
Unless resale is 10yrs from now

[AdironRider]

This is just curiosity, I'm not really considering it, but...most houses in my neighborhood were built in the early 20th century with short basements, in the 6' - 7' range. Some of them are now getting lifted 2 or 3 feet to build finished living space in the basement. I think in these cases they're most often demoing the foundation and pouring a new foundation.

So, the question: is that ever worthwhile in terms of resale? Or is it reserved for people who never want to move and really want the space? Same question for digging out the basement floor and gaining height that way.

The only way I see it working is if you are adding a rental unit to the basement, and even then it’s probably got to be in the right market.

But that being said, few remodels actually pencil out no matter what they are so you gotta kinda side on the want more than need side of the spectrum.

[iceman]

The basement still won't be above ground so the space won't count towards the square footage you can claim on resale. Think of your house, then think of it with a finished basement. Like your house and the same house with a finished basement right next door. How much more would you have been willing to pay to get that extra space? Probably not that much.

[fatnslow]

The basement still won't be above ground so the space won't count towards the square footage you can claim on resale. Think of your house, then think of it with a finished basement. Like your house and the same house with a finished basement right next door. How much more would you have been willing to pay to get that extra space? Probably not that much.

Common practice to ad egress windows to basemet to be able to include it as living space. Lifting houses are common but doesn't pencil out very often BUT it's still done around here. Quite a few disagreements with the wife over this kind of shit. $250k remodels on $600k houses that return maybe $100k is pretty common around here, contractors are busy and expensive right now.

[iceman]

Egress windows/doors are necessary but they don't convert a basement into above-ground living space, which is how square footage is determined for real estate sales purposes. It's definitely living space though, and can be advertised/marketed as such. A 2400 sq. foot house with a finished 1200 sq. ft. basement has 3600 sq. ft of living space but it's still a 2400 sq. ft. house. fwiw.

[zion zig zag]

Egress windows/doors are necessary but they don't convert a basement into above-ground living space, which is how square footage is determined for real estate sales purposes. It's definitely living space though, and can be advertised/marketed as such. A 2400 sq. foot house with a finished 1200 sq. ft. basement has 3600 sq. ft of living space but it's still a 2400 sq. ft. house. fwiw.

Is that regional? It seems like basement square footage is counted here....

[Skidog]

Is that regional? It seems like basement square footage is counted here....

Same here in NY. Mines half above ground and still can't be counted. Full sliding glass door as well as garage access egress. 3 windows that a person can fit through too. Will still = finished space but no add to sq ft.

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[fatnslow]

Egress windows/doors are necessary but they don't convert a basement into above-ground living space, which is how square footage is determined for real estate sales purposes. It's definitely living space though, and can be advertised/marketed as such. A 2400 sq. foot house with a finished 1200 sq. ft. basement has 3600 sq. ft of living space but it's still a 2400 sq. ft. house. fwiw.

I don't know the legal qualification for tax purposes locally but for buy/sell/price purposes it is widely accepted as "living" space in Portland, especially with older houses. Basement rooms converted with an egress window and proper height is considered a legal bedroom in Portland.

[iceman]

Is that regional? It seems like basement square footage is counted here....

Nah national but may be open to some interpretation locally, here's a decent article on it if yuo want to read more (and it's from the other side of the country from me): https://sacramentoappraisalblog.com/...quare-footage/

[dan_pdx]

I don't know the legal qualification for tax purposes locally but for buy/sell/price purposes it is widely accepted as "living" space in Portland, especially with older houses. Basement rooms converted with an egress window and proper height is considered a legal bedroom in Portland.

Yeah, I definitely see real estate flyers here in Portland advertising an 1,800 square foot house when the house is clearly not that big. Then somewhere in the fine print, it says "800 sq. ft. finished basement counts as living space."

[dan_pdx]

And thanks everyone for chiming in, that's more or less what I figured. I do love that there are still occasionally guys in my neighborhood who dig out their basements themselves and remove the spoils in 5-gallon buckets. I'm sure they're getting a structural engineer to consult on that, right?

[skiballs]

I noticed, when looking at real estate in SLC, that basements were counted in sq footage. I was surprised because most places do not count sq footage below grade. Must be a MoMo thing.

Egress windows/doors are necessary but they don't convert a basement into above-ground living space, which is how square footage is determined for real estate sales purposes. It's definitely living space though, and can be advertised/marketed as such. A 2400 sq. foot house with a finished 1200 sq. ft. basement has 3600 sq. ft of living space but it's still a 2400 sq. ft. house. fwiw.

Is that regional? It seems like basement square footage is counted here....

[Cruiser]

All finished sqft are counted here in CO whether they're above grade or not.