Bought an old house on some land. Had to fully gut it. It had some water damage on some sheathing. Hardwood floors were wore and tore. The Sheetrock was old real rock.
Took it to the studs.
I am not skilled at this. Demo was easy I guess, just removing.
But now I have electrical wires to plumbing to insulate to walls to floors to siding.
I had a roof put on immediately and had the septic installed.
Long story short. I have no Idea what I’m doing. I have around 15-20k to put into it. I need all that and a deck and porch.
Wish me luck? Any advice? Other than kys. ?
you got a local library? either that or some cheap ebay books on wiring and plumbing. It aint rocket science but you gotta learn somehow and the internet is complete garbage these days for learning from scratch. Easier to learn from a book and come here or to other forums with specifics
>you got a local library? either that or some cheap ebay books on wiring and plumbing
Not OP but I've had to read tech manuals and books for nuclear power plants and I've read books on home repair. I hate to be cliche but "trust me" it's way easier to just youtube all the basic info you need for residential wiring and plumbing plus you will learn way more also it's also faster and sometimes you get practical advice on codes.
>the internet is complete garbage these days for learning from scratch
Like many things you just have to keep on searching for the good stuff. I had a 2 inch thick book on drywall and it was only a fraction as valuable as compared to what I watched on youtube.
>come here or to other forums with specifics
Definitely true. Ask ask ask for free advice.
Don't mean to be a dick I just had a few beers tonight
No offense taken, but I guess that wasnt my experience. When I had to do some electrical work I kept getting annoyed at all the Bob vila type garbo out there and decided to go browse. I took out a book on home wiring and another on industrial wiring, then looked up a few questions specific to my case. Felt like that was way more efficient than youtube cause I can read faster than I can watch a video, even on 2x speed.
Also
I wasnt trying to be the "just google it" type but it mightve come off as that, just saying it worked for me.
wow, that house has actual diagonal clad sheathing on the outside. nice.
anybody can do electrical, plumbing, or hang drywall. have your friends come help and pay them in beer. you can do it anon.
>anybody can do electrical, plumbing, or hang drywall.
After like 8 years of lurking on this board and witnessing endless numbers of DIY atrocities, I can tell you that is completely untrue.
$20k to completely fit out the interior of a house and build a deck & porch simply isn't feasible, even if you do 100% of the labor yourself. It's probably going to end up costing you twice that much or more even with low grade materials.
One word of caution: don't just throw insulation into the walls and expect it to work. Many old buildings are leaky but it doesn't really matter because the walls are empty. A little water won't hurt real wood and it dries out fairly quickly because of airflow. You fill up those wall cavities with insulation and a few years later your walls are full of fungus and the wood is rotting. I don't see any kind of tar paper or Tyvek between the studs and the sheathing. You may have it on the outside of the sheathing or you may have none at all. Do not insulate an old building until you know it is 100% weather tight.
Also, you may want to look over your framing and add some studs here and there. For example, the framing around your windows isn't great. There are no proper jack studs or headers. Now is the time to fix that. Will your house fall down without them? Frick no. That shit is probably at least 80 years old. I bet the old windows had cracks in the drywall around the corners though. Do you windows and doors like picture related and that is much less likely to happen.
As for plumbing and electrical; do it right once. Stay away from PVC or PEX or any of that plastic shit. The only plastic you should allow in your plumbing should be ABS and then only for drains. Cast iron if you can swing it. Supply lines should be copper. And not the thin walled chink shit either. Yes, copper is a pain in the ass. Yes, it is more expensive. As long as you have the right water you will put it in once and you'd never have to worry about it again. Make sure you have the right water though. I've seen some types of water eat copper in a little as ten years. They do have whole house water treatment systems and they aren't that expensive. Same thing with galvanized pipe. I've worked on houses that were built in the teens and had beeswax and twine to keep the unions from leaking and the pipes are still fine.
Electrical is easy. The one thing I don't frick with is the breaker box, as you'll never find a good electrical that will sigh off on your work for something like that when its inspection time. Anyway, keep each breaker on 8 outlets or fewer. Wire for 20 amps (because why not?) and find a simple book that explains how to do everything up to code. As long as you don't half ass things it is hard to frick up electrical.
> OP hasn’t done any of this before
> Stay away from PVC or PEX
Terrible advice tbh
>Supply lines should be copper...I've seen some types of water eat copper in a little as ten years.
BWAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAAAA
it depends on youre local water, you need to call your city and ask them what they recomend.
or if they have no clue ask them for chem parameters and look that up.
i have 30 yo copper lines and there still good if the water is not agressive to copper i would chose it over stainless.
this guy is a idiot still, why would anyone frick around and thread galvanized pipes lik its 1920, modern pipes are not that thick galvanized either. the galavanizing gets damaged by to hot water. still rusts, pain in the ass to thread.
Cast iron sewer pipe will rust to.
Crimped copper or stainless is the state of the art for tap water hot and cold and heating water. gas oil or whatever you want.
PP for sewer,
the only place that I would use cast iron sewer is in an exposed external application (which I would try to avoid having in the first place)
or as a drop pipe when going between floors just for the noise reduction compared to plastic pipes
>drinking all that zinc flux and zinc galvanization
enjoy your alzheimers
Remind me or mention again, how in hot climates, with aircon, the vapor barrier goes towards the inside/indoors, and in cold climates it goes towards the outside (under that diagonal sheathing). Whichever side will accumulate moisture, needs to sweat not into the wall, because that's a vector for mold. I bet it was you, on a previous thread.
He's an old frick with lots of money and can afford type K plumbing. Me, I would do pex, but agreed, take a serious look at the water. Fixtures will still be wrecked with the wrong water, and I assume OP has a well or springwater source on-site.
He showed some initiative already. No way would I say he's done nothing and is looking for handouts, without his own time and money. Shows way more capability than wooden-sword boy.
I know you don't have time to waste, anon. Have a look at the JPB interview with (real) mold experts. I was struck by two things, so far:
When they checked old castles and other buildings like that, which should have mold issues, they found benign mold. 'Modern' construction has mold inhibitors, but what they found is it inhibits the benign mold, allowing the more aggressive -and toxic/poisonous- molds to grow.
This idiot doesnt know shit…stfu you frick
Same goes for this larping tard
In fact this whole thread is a joke
I mean you can definitely do this but I gotta ask: what was your endgame dude? “Oh I’ll learn as I go despite not behaving access to any educational resources or mentors”? Bad plan. Can still be done though, just gotta start reading up on how to do shit
My advice is to learn to conceptualize the issues you are facing and break large problems into smaller ones. If you try to research “how to wire a house” you will be overwhelmed with information. If you try “how to wire an outlet”, “how to route wiring through framing”, “how to select appropriate wire for a load of x”, etc, it will be much more digestible. Plan your work and research accordingly. Sounds obvious, bc it is, but lots of people I know get stuck here
OP here
Good advice. Cut it into smaller searching.
What I have done so far. I’ve gutted as the Pic shows. I’ve added an attic space or loft by using 2x10s and LVLs.
I am taking the advice from anon about framing issues. I have a contractor that is going to assist me on what and where needs updating.
As for electrical I took all wires out of house so I can run new wires. It does seem easy no offense to electrical people but with instructions I can do that.
Plumbing, I am going to run pec and pvc because it’s simpler. I’ve done a bit of this in repairs over the years.
This is a “out in the sticks” home but it does have local water.
The end game is just to have it all be new. My worry is the economy isn’t for middle class people anymore and the sticker shock is killing me.
I’m hell bent to do this but I’m 40+ years old. I think I’m more worried than anything.
I’m not going in deaf dumb and blind. It’s good to know it’s possible and not about to ruin the last part of my life here.
Electrical can be really simple depending on the amount/lengths of runs you're gonna do. If I were you, I would wire everything up and then hire an electrician to inspect what you've done and then do the panel work. That would be the most cost effective and safest thing to do. You could do something similar with the plumbing as well. Once you get that done, I would go room to room finishing everything up. My priority would be the master and kitchen followed by your primary bathroom. Those, for me at least, are the most important areas of the house. From there it's up to you and your available budget. The main goal is to get the house livable.
>I have around 15-20k
that probably won't even cover materials
>15-20k left
looks like youre gonna have to go room by room. Enjoy the next 5yrs of your new 2nd job. I'm in the same boat
Not OP.
But what are some good alternatives to drywall? I think I'm gonna end up gutting my place too. But hate drywall. Mostly to avoid mold issues.
Car siding. Pine 4-6” wide.
are you getting this work permitted because if so your are fricked.
No permits.
I was gonna ask that, too. Could also be an issue if you decide to sell it and it isn't inspected. Some of the rules/regs are serious bullshit, like "how far apart is each staple, on your wiring run" and shit like that. Electrical wiring is dead-easy, but it's also easy to get dead, if you frick around. Take your time and test EACH circuit, before you move to the next. The one thing about both plumbing and electrical is - PRACTICE before you do anything. Get some junk sections of copper pipe and wire and get comfortable cutting clean, square ends on the pipe and stripping wire without nicking the copper. Solder a bunch of test-joints, as well.
this old house youtube and the spruce website. unironically.
>long story short, I destroyed American history in an attempt to make a few shekels. It's not going so well.
kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys kys
oh yeah, it's really such a shame that people are taking uninsulated, unmaintained shitboxes from 100 years ago and fixing them up to be comfortable and durable
>but the heritage!
get fricked and choke on asbestos
Larper begone.
my dad tried to do this in the 90s, while he was working a full time job with a long commute
we lived in a trailer on the property in front of the house. i remember me and my brother pulling nails out of studs
he had a massive coronary, never did finish the house
just do a lot of research and go slow. nothing in the trades is that hard and you can find answers to basically everthing on the internet these days. you got this brother.
Connect ethernet wires to rooms, then you won't need to frick with wifi.
Take a look at the bathrooms and do some drawings / measurements. Last two houses I've done were built in the 50s, and the bathrooms are tiny my current standards, especially with newer tub/shower sizes and elongated toilet bowls. If I could go back, I'd have moved the walls to give them another foot or so in each dimension.
And make sure you lay out and put some thought into the overhead lighting. Have seen more than a few rehabs that ended up having light wells in bathrooms and kitchens because they didn't take overhead cabinets and wet-walls into account.
>Wish me luck? Any advice? Other than kys. ?
kys