House renovations

[BriarFox]

So, here's a thread for house renovations, partly because I'm curious about what you folks are up to and partly so I can show off my wife's and my latest project. We bought our house about a year ago and have been working on the downstairs. This project has taken about six months from design to finished product, but we turned the old, redundant dining room into an office slash library. I still have to cut some bifold French doors to size and install them, and do a little finishing work, but the project is mostly done. Check it out. Before and after photos below.

Before:
9309

After:
9311

[Astray]

What was the reason for losing a door? Or was something lost in translation here?

Anyways, just got done converting a house with cast iron pipes into pex. I did an initial inspection and found some bullshit. When we cut deeper, it got worse. I don't have the picture on my phone anymore but one of the pipes was so badly corroded, it had been turned into a baseball sized knot of minerals.

Before:
https://i.imgur.com/ipt35FG.jpg

Jesus Fuck:
https://i.imgur.com/GpEVJA9.jpg

[BriarFox]

9312

Ugh. Plumbing can be such a pain in the ass. At least the pex should last a good 50+ years now. We had a copper pipe separate from its elbow while doing this project. Had never been properly soldered. It’s right above the desk, so I’m glad we found it. That door in the back was a closet/pantry built to hide plumbing and heat runs. The house is so old (c. 1850) that it didn’t have them originally and doesn’t have room in the walls for them. I redid three 7” steel heat runs with 6” insulated flex duct and then boxed them in. That cabinet on the right is actually a heat chase now. Plumbing to the bathroom above runs down the back of the left one. I saved the door and I’m going to refinish it and flip it to the other door on the side I’m taking the photo from. It’ll make a nice office door.

[Astray]

Ugh. Plumbing can be such a pain in the ass. At least the pex should last a good 50+ years now. We had a copper pipe separate from its elbow while doing this project. Had never been properly soldered. It’s right above the desk, so I’m glad we found it. That door in the back was a closet/pantry built to hide plumbing and heat runs. The house is so old (c. 1850) that it didn’t have them originally and doesn’t have room in the walls for them. I redid three 7” steel heat runs with 6” insulated flex duct and then boxed them in. That cabinet on the right is actually a heat chase now. Plumbing to the bathroom above runs down the back of the left one. I saved the door and I’m going to refinish it and flip it to the other door on the side I’m taking the photo from. It’ll make a nice office door.

Nah man, it's super great to crawl under a house with a grinder and cut through cast iron. Without goggles or a mask that's not a piece of plastic shit.

Pretty good stuff though. 6 months? Was it between work and stuff?

[BriarFox]

Nah man, it's super great to crawl under a house with a grinder and cut through cast iron. Without goggles or a mask that's not a piece of plastic shit.

Pretty good stuff though. 6 months? Was it between work and stuff?

Super fun. My first job was HVAC. I sympathise. 6 months ... mostly waiting on the carpenter to build the cabinets. Guy was slow as hell.

[Astray]

Super fun. My first job was HVAC. I sympathise. 6 months ... mostly waiting on the carpenter to build the cabinets. Guy was slow as hell.
Six months for cabinets? Oof.

[Parkbandit]

9312

Ugh. Plumbing can be such a pain in the ass. At least the pex should last a good 50+ years now. We had a copper pipe separate from its elbow while doing this project. Had never been properly soldered. It’s right above the desk, so I’m glad we found it. That door in the back was a closet/pantry built to hide plumbing and heat runs. The house is so old (c. 1850) that it didn’t have them originally and doesn’t have room in the walls for them. I redid three 7” steel heat runs with 6” insulated flex duct and then boxed them in. That cabinet on the right is actually a heat chase now. Plumbing to the bathroom above runs down the back of the left one. I saved the door and I’m going to refinish it and flip it to the other door on the side I’m taking the photo from. It’ll make a nice office door.

I wish I was that confident in pex. It's 100x easier to use than copper or regular pvc, but 20 years from now, are we going to see the seams giving out and leaking all over?

Previous versions of pex are already leaking. They claim to have fixed the problem, but we won't really know for another 10-20 years.

[Wrathbringer]

I wish I was that confident in pex. It's 100x easier to use than copper or regular pvc, but 20 years from now, are we going to see the seams giving out and leaking all over?

Previous versions of pex are already leaking. They claim to have fixed the problem, but we won't really know for another 10-20 years.

pvc fails over time too, though. Seen many of those pin hole leaks in pvc. Unless you're putting out the cash for copper, pex is the way to go, imo. Just redid our home's old pvc with pex last year. Made hot and cold water manifolds with individual shutoffs for each line. It was fun. :)

[Astray]

I wish I was that confident in pex. It's 100x easier to use than copper or regular pvc, but 20 years from now, are we going to see the seams giving out and leaking all over?

Previous versions of pex are already leaking. They claim to have fixed the problem, but we won't really know for another 10-20 years.

Pex is fine. The problem comes in people doing shit installation or bad crimping. In the picture I posted, whoever did the pex in that wall should've known better. If you crimp pex, the line will have to be under some absurd amount of pressure before they give out and it's the pex line that will burst, not the crimp seal. As for wear and tear, it's a tube of plastic in your wall. It'll last until the end of time or until your replace it. If you use an RO system though, that puts a strain on every kind of pipe but still, pex is good for a long, long ass time.

[Taernath]

Yeah pex is the way of the future... or present, really. Super easy to use, much cheaper and very reliable. Other countries have been using pex since like the '60s.

[Astray]

I think the burst rating for pex is like, 4-500 PSI, give or take depending on high temperature? Your house has bigger problems at that point though.

[BriarFox]

9319

All decorated, with the bifolds on.

[Archigeek]

Looks nice.

[BriarFox]

Looks nice.

Thanks!

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

Very nice. Much better than the dinning room where it looked like those against the wall had no room at all.

[Tisket]

Looks really nice, Briar. The last project we did was to add a skylight in the dining room. We didn't do the work though. We are cowards and decided that cutting through a roof isn't for amateurs like us.

[Fortybox]

Honestly and in all seriousness I kinda liked the rustic charm feel of the original. But that depends on what the rest of your house looks like. And what’s with that “dunce corner”; hallway like room with a wierd single desk facing nothing but a blank wall.

http://66.media.tumblr.com/bc1938c21ad97be4cfba07dd045aea2b/tumblr_mgzx0ykc8a1s3hileo1_400.gif

Shut up Murrandii.

[Murrandii]

Shut up Murrandii.

Shut up Macguyver

Again rambling like an old man?

[BriarFox]

Very nice. Much better than the dinning room where it looked like those against the wall had no room at all.

Yeah, it was way too small to be a useful dining room, and there’s another room we use for that purpose, so it was just useless space before this project. And thanks!


Looks really nice, Briar. The last project we did was to add a skylight in the dining room. We didn't do the work though. We are cowards and decided that cutting through a roof isn't for amateurs like us.

I wouldn’t trust myself with a skylight either. Too much of a chance of missing something and creating a huge leak. And thanks!

[BuffyWales]

So, here's a thread for house renovations, partly because I'm curious about what you folks are up to and partly so I can show off my wife's and my latest project. We bought our house about a year ago and have been working on the downstairs. This project has taken about six months from design to finished product, but we turned the old, redundant dining room into an office slash library. I still have to cut some bifold French doors to size and install them, and do a little finishing work, but the project is mostly done. Check it out. Before and after photos below.
----------------------------------------------
cleaning with https://www.emop.co.uk/greenwich-cleaner


Great repair! I hope, you enjoyed the appearance of the new home and you've got here everything you wanted to. But how do you plan to clean the home? With the help of professional cleaning company? As there are a lot of variants today to work with. But not all of them are reliable as the chosen team you already work with.

[Ardwen]

You import your cleaners from the UK Nuadjha? Seems a little much, and here I just used the French services.

[Tgo01]

I sure know the first thing I think of when someone renovates their home is “how the heck do they plan to clean all of that?!” But I’ve always been too afraid to ask.

Thanks, Buffywales, for asking the questions the rest of us are too scared to ask.