Let's See Your House Projects!

[sirdaft1]

lsturbointeg wow!! Nice work!!!

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by QUiKSR20

Looks great, Love the built-ins... Heres a little before and after in our Den, Bought the house last year..

Let me know what you guys think.

Pictures 1 & 2 - The real-estate listing and when we moved in..

Pictures 3 & 4 - Where we closed off the pointless doorway and prepped for an IN-Wall Middle Atlantic Audio Rack w/ Rear Access + front speaker wiring.

Pictures 5 & 6 - Rear In-Wall speakers [ HTD ] / Front Speakers wired in-wall [ PSB ] / 75" LCD [ Samsung ] + New Hardwood floors

Picture 7 - Middle Atlantic Audio Rack w/ CNC Faceplate on Receiver.. Waiting on plate for Xbox 1 & Tivo.

Big changes for not a ton of money, Equipment I already had from previous home.

Nice PSB speakers, I have a few pairs but mainly have Paradigms, my top end versions are the Studio series.

[BuiltnBoostedZ]

Remodeled the entire house. Built in 2005. My renters jacked it up pretty good. Cheap ceramic tile, apartment grade carpet, Vinyl flooring....sheetrock was tore up. I started with the Counters. They were laminate...I put in Granite.

Then I stained the cabinets so they'd match well with the counters.

[BuiltnBoostedZ]

Stain cabinets, rip out all the flooring, and demo the shower/tub

[BuiltnBoostedZ]

Finished Product.

All fixtures (plumbing and electric) new
All flooring new (porcelain 18x18 and carpet)
New shower / tub surrounds and hardware
New door hardware
New appliances
New granite counters, travertine backsplash
New smart light switches, garage door opener, front door lock, and thermostat
New motion sensing lights for the garage, utility, baths and closets
New sheetrock in the bathroom
New garage door
New paint.

[BuiltnBoostedZ]

Should be sold on the 7th.

[ShopVac]

Originally Posted by BuiltnBoostedZ

Should be sold on the 7th.

Well done...nice improvement

[KingOfJericho]

Here's our renovated master bath that just wrapped up last week. The last two pics are the "before". We did the kids bathroom as well but I don't have finished pics yet.

[RickFLM4]

Nice upgrades. We are starting our master bath in January. Not looking forward to living through it, but looking forward to final project.

[BuiltnBoostedZ]

Kingofjericho - Nice touch with the ceiling tile and shower head.

[RickFLM4]

When we bought our home in 2002, it was only 4 years old but we expected to remodel the master bath eventually. We didn't realize it would be 16 years later.

Some before (with crud from old water heater in shower), during and after (missing a few finishing details like shower drain cover and hand towel bar between mirrors) pictures below. (Yes, we got rid of the tub.) We are moving back over this weekend and it has been a challenging 9 weeks. Fortunately, we made the decision to move to the guest room / guest bath on the other side of the house before the project. Anyway, glad it is finally done!

[Kenny's X5]

Not really a "project", but how hard is it to install a dishwasher? I have an existing one now and the youtube vids look easy. Is it as easy as it looks?

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by Kenny's X5

Not really a "project", but how hard is it to install a dishwasher? I have an existing one now and the youtube vids look easy. Is it as easy as it looks?

it is if you look at yours. every dishwasher is different but look towards the top sides and you'll see some screws holding in in place. at least mine was only held with two screws on each side than the dishwasher basically pulled out. you'll have to disconnect your water line and the electrical plug.

[lsturbointeg]

sort of a house project...more like outside project but i finally received my new Husqvarna riding mower. last year i used a push mower and it took forever to do the lawn. This year i plan on going all out and getting my yard looking good and dominating my neighbors. eh, i must be getting old if that got me all excited but the soil is really compacted so i also ordered the aerator attachment. i already dethatched the yard last fall so hopefully all goes well

[KenB925]

Originally Posted by Kenny's X5

Not really a "project", but how hard is it to install a dishwasher? I have an existing one now and the youtube vids look easy. Is it as easy as it looks?

it is easy, hand full of screws and few uncomfortable minutes under the sink and you are done. No special tools needed from what i recall, wrench, pliers and screwdriver should cover it, unless someone tiled up against it...

[Kenny's X5]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

it is if you look at yours. every dishwasher is different but look towards the top sides and you'll see some screws holding in in place. at least mine was only held with two screws on each side than the dishwasher basically pulled out. you'll have to disconnect your water line and the electrical plug.

Originally Posted by KenB925

it is easy, hand full of screws and few uncomfortable minutes under the sink and you are done. No special tools needed from what i recall, wrench, pliers and screwdriver should cover it, unless someone tiled up against it...

Thanks guys...think I'll try to install it and hopefully save a couple hundred.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

When we bought our home in 2002, it was only 4 years old but we expected to remodel the master bath eventually. We didn't realize it would be 16 years later.

Some before (with crud from old water heater in shower), during and after (missing a few finishing details like shower drain cover and hand towel bar between mirrors) pictures below. (Yes, we got rid of the tub.) We are moving back over this weekend and it has been a challenging 9 weeks. Fortunately, we made the decision to move to the guest room / guest bath on the other side of the house before the project. Anyway, glad it is finally done!

Looks amazing! What did you choose for the countertops? it looks very similar to the Pental Quartz I just ordered for our kitchen remodel.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Kenny's X5

Thanks guys...think I'll try to install it and hopefully save a couple hundred.

As others have said, it's just a couple screws. Surprisingly little holds them in. Open the door and loot up at the top of the door jamb. There's typically a flange there that has a couple screws going up into the countertop or cabinet face frame. Many also have a kick plate at the bottom that is removable to give you access under the unit.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

Looks amazing! What did you choose for the countertops? it looks very similar to the Pental Quartz I just ordered for our kitchen remodel.

Thanks! It is Brittanicca Quartz (from Cambria). Tiles in shower and on floor are all porcelain - no natural stone used. Some friends have used marble, which looks awesome, but requires a fair amount of maintenance. We decided functionality and lower maintenance were high priorities for the project.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Thanks! It is Brittanicca Quartz (from Cambria). Tiles in shower and on floor are all porcelain - no natural stone used. Some friends have used marble, which looks awesome, but requires a fair amount of maintenance. We decided functionality and lower maintenance were high priorities for the project.

Ah, very nice. We looked at Cambria as well. Cambria definitely minis the look of natural stone very well. It was #2 on our list. The thing that tipped us over to the Pental was that they have a warehouse here in Seattle and allow the public to come in and select their slab. Haven't gotten to that point just yet. Should be this week though.

I hear you on the maintenance of natural stone. I found our granite counters in our last kitchen to be impossible to maintain; completely frustrating. There was always this haze on them.

Anyway, the finished product looks great and is inspiring to those of us who are part way through to keep pressing on. All the effort, expense, splinters, bashed fingers, etc. are totally worth it in the end!

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

Ah, very nice. We looked at Cambria as well. Cambria definitely minis the look of natural stone very well. It was #2 on our list. The thing that tipped us over to the Pental was that they have a warehouse here in Seattle and allow the public to come in and select their slab. Haven't gotten to that point just yet. Should be this week though.

I hear you on the maintenance of natural stone. I found our granite counters in our last kitchen to be impossible to maintain; completely frustrating. There was always this haze on them.

Anyway, the finished product looks great and is inspiring to those of us who are part way through to keep pressing on. All the effort, expense, splinters, bashed fingers, etc. are totally worth it in the end!

Yeah we've had issues with our kitchen granite as well. We had a small crack behind the faucet. We got it repaired and now have another. We have had it for 15 years but expected it to last forever. Perhaps we will replace it with quartz if it gets worse but don't want it to turn into a kitchen remodel.

One thing we did with quartz is get 3cm thick vs. 2cm granite in kitchen. It looks better and isn't much more expensive. We think the kitchen cracks are happening because of metal inserted in the granite by the original installer that is rusting and screwing up the granite. That metal wouldn't have been required is we had 3cm granite. Hindsight is 20/20.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Yeah we've had issues with our kitchen granite as well. We had a small crack behind the faucet. We got it repaired and now have another. We have had it for 15 years but expected it to last forever. Perhaps we will replace it with quartz if it gets worse but don't want it to turn into a kitchen remodel.

One thing we did with quartz is get 3cm thick vs. 2cm granite in kitchen. It looks better and isn't much more expensive. We think the kitchen cracks are happening because of metal inserted in the granite by the original installer that is rusting and screwing up the granite. That metal wouldn't have been required is we had 3cm granite. Hindsight is 20/20.

Yep, 3cm here as well. The 2cm look very "builder grade" to us. Plus we have a cantilevered section that hangs out over an eat in bar and we didn't want to have to load up the underside with support brackets.

I wonder if the granite installer created a crack when drilling into the top and the metal bolt expanding and contracting with heat over time just caused that crack to come to the surface and spread? Natural stone is a finicky thing!