Planning any home improvements?

[treeguy64]

We need to have our concrete driveway replaced so I'm waiting on the lock-down to end so I can start getting estimates and hopefully get over the sticker shock. Our home was built in 1994 and has large oak trees whose roots have played havoc with the driveway. (I'm sure parking our 26,000 pound motor home on the concrete hasn't helped, either. ) While I'm at it, I'll get an estimate on enlarging the back patio area... in for a penny, in for a pound!

I'd also like to have the wood flooring replaced downstairs but I so dread having the house a gigantic mess, plus all the work of furniture moving, etc. So we'll see how that progresses. Our son is a building contractor but is hard to get an "appointment" because he stays so busy.

Do you have any home improvements planned for this year?

Be very careful with that driveway replacement job. If your large oaks have run their roots under the driveway, and you hire a crew that uses a bobcat to do the tear out, they will very likely destroy major roots, much to the detriment of your trees. I have seen huge, ancient oaks go through major die-backs, following driveway replacements.

Also, concrete raises the alkalinity of the surrounding soil. That can kill trees in short order, when tailings from the pour run into the critical root zones of the trees.

Do the right thing: Hire a Certified Arborist, who can review your plans, check out your trees, and advise you on the way to go, to make sure your trees are not adversely effected. A good arborist can work with your designer to come up with a plan that will minimally effect your trees.

The City of Austin has some of the most strict tree ordinances in the US. When builders ignore them, I get called out to get those builders out of trouble, once they've been red tagged. I've seen scores of driveway tree violations.

Please consider the continued good health of your trees when you proceed with your home projects. Your trees will thank you by staying in great shape!

 

[debodun]

The only thing that would improve mine would be 50 gallons of gas and a lighted match.

 

[C'est Moi]

Be very careful with that driveway replacement job. If your large oaks have run their roots under the driveway, and you hire a crew that uses a bobcat to do the tear out, they will very likely destroy major roots, much to the detriment of your trees. I have seen huge, ancient oaks go through major die-backs, following driveway replacements.

Also, concrete raises the alkalinity of the surrounding soil. That can kill trees in short order, when tailings from the pour run into the critical root zones of the trees.

Do the right thing: Hire a Certified Arborist, who can review your plans, check out your trees, and advise you on the way to go, to make sure your trees are not adversely effected. A good arborist can work with your designer to come up with a plan that will minimally effect your trees.

The City of Austin has some of the most strict tree ordinances in the US. When builders ignore them, I get called out to get those builders out of trouble, once they've been red tagged. I've seen scores of driveway tree violations.

Please consider the continued good health of your trees when you proceed with your home projects. Your trees will thank you by staying in great shape!

Thanks, but we had the oaks taken down a couple of years ago due to some kind of disease so they are no longer a concern. We are still trying to decide on what kind of tree to plant in the front yard that will be hearty and not cause a big mess (I like maples but those leaves in the fall...ugh.) I was so sick of acorns that I was glad to see the oaks go--I realize that is blasphemy to a "tree guy."

 

[treeguy64]

Thanks, but we had the oaks taken down a couple of years ago due to some kind of disease so they are no longer a concern. We are still trying to decide on what kind of tree to plant in the front yard that will be hearty and not cause a big mess (I like maples but those leaves in the fall...ugh.) I was so sick of acorns that I was glad to see the oaks go--I realize that is blasphemy to a "tree guy."

Ah, your first post made it sound like the oaks were still standing.

Consider Chinese/Lacebark Elms, Ulmus parvifolia. Great trees, grow very large, look great, resistant to Elm pests, for the most part.

 

[In The Sticks]

The only thing that would improve mine would be 50 gallons of gas and a lighted match.

I love a fire sale!

My last home was like that, but since it was a small house on a nice lot right outside of DC, the new owner walked from the settlement table and fired up the bulldozer, then built a new home worth 3x as much.

 

[C'est Moi]

Ah, your first post made it sound like the oaks were still standing.

Consider Chinese/Lacebark Elms, Ulmus parvifolia. Great trees, grow very large, look great, resistant to Elm pests, for the most part.

Thanks, I'll have to look at those. Are they deciduous? I have read that the Arizona Ash is a fast growing shade but some people consider them junk trees. The only trees I really abhor are those awful Chinese Tallow "popcorn" trees and sycamores that drop those horrible ball things. (Honestly I'd like to pave the entire front yard. )

 

[treeguy64]

Thanks, I'll have to look at those. Are they deciduous? I have read that the Arizona Ash is a fast growing shade but some people consider them junk trees. The only trees I really abhor are those awful Chinese Tallow "popcorn" trees and sycamores that drop those horrible ball things. (Honestly I'd like to pave the entire front yard. )

Don't go with any Ash trees. AZ Ash trees are fast growing, get fairly big, and then die hard and fast, dropping large branches with no warning, no symptoms. Add in that the Emerald Ash Borer may eventually make it here, and you're looking for trouble.
Chinese Elms are great. They do very well, in Austin. You're in Houston, so check with a CA to see how they do, there.

 

[Aneeda72]

Been here 7 months and it seems like a lifetime. new floors, removed fake stone wallpaper, patched walls after removing miles of little mirrors (don't ask) dealt with a mold issue, new dishwasher, some new kitchen cabinetry, paint, fireplace revamp, new window treatments, new furnace and hot water tank, refinished some good furniture.

Next is the sunroom and outside. nawww the sunroom can wait till fall if'n I don't give up and sell

I’ve told him I want to sell ours.

 

[Lee]

Aneeda, maybe once all the work is finished we will both want to stay and enjoy the fruits of our labour.

 

[Aneeda72]

Aneeda, maybe once all the work is finished we will both want to stay and enjoy the fruits of our labour.

It will never be done, mine is a money pit, but if he dies before me, I will see sell and move.

 

[Aneeda72]

Don't go with any Ash trees. AZ Ash trees are fast growing, get fairly big, and then die hard and fast, dropping large branches with no warning, no symptoms. Add in that the Emerald Ash Borer may eventually make it here, and you're looking for trouble.
Chinese Elms are great. They do very well, in Austin. You're in Houston, so check with a CA to see how they do, there.

If you are talking about the same tree I know as a Chinese Elm, it’s, IMO, a horrible tree. I just paid to have a 50 foot one removed. This tree spreads all over the yard, has deep roots, and is nearly impossible to get rid of. Why do you consider it great?

 

[C'est Moi]

If you are talking about the same tree I know as a Chinese Elm, it’s, IMO, a horrible tree. I just paid to have a 50 foot one removed. This tree spreads all over the yard, has deep roots, and is nearly impossible to get rid of. Why do you consider it great?

I can't say that I've ever seen one that I remember, but looking at the pictures the "lace bark" gives the tree a diseased appearance. Some photos almost look like a weeping willow with long drooping branches, too. I'm thinking I wouldn't care much for one of those.

 

[MeAgain]

Its about time to do some repairs but no hurry on anything. Main thing we worry about is the ouside where garden and fences are.

 

[jujube]

We've been in the house for a year now and outside of some landscape work, we're still talking about what to do inside.

The hall bathroom needs retiling, a new counter (the one in there is a virulent shade of fake green marble and it hurts my eyes to look at it) and a new toilet ( it's actually a new toilet but it's so low and I'd like one that's a little higher). We're in accordance with that.

The kitchen, however, we can't agree on. It needs new counters and I'd like granite or quartz; he wants formica. I want to paint the cabinets and the island; he wants to replace them altogether. I think they're perfectly well-built cabinets...they're just that "builder oak" and I'd like to either stain them darker or paint them white. He wants a new stove and refrigerator; I can't see replacing perfectly good appliances.

We'd like to replace all carpeting with wood. The carpeting looks good, though, so that's not an urgent thing.

So, until we get in agreement as to what we're going to do, we're muddling along as-is.

 

[asp3]

We reconfigured our bathroom last year only having a plumber in to move the pipes.

My wife is going stir crazy these days so she's currently working on scraping, patching and sanding the house and painting it section by section. We also extended our back yard fence and moved the gate to the back yard about 16 feet down the driveway towards the street last weekend. We have a long thin house that extends lengthwise from the street towards the narrow back yard.

Later on this summer we'll be running electricity from one of my wife's studio buildings in the back yard to a screened shade structure between the house and her studio building. Then I'll be running CAT 6 cable from the sitting room to the back of the house so we can put an exterior wifi router there. We'll eventually put a TV in the shade structure so we can go in the shade structure in the evenings when it's cooler outside to watch TV. Our house is an old Victorian from the 1880's and has very little insulation so it gets hot on hot days.

 

[Lashann]

We've been living in our 2 storey townhouse for 5 years and we 're planning to downsize to an apartment hopefully within the next 2 years. Some improvements are needed to update our kitchen & bathrooms and the bedrooms have to be repainted at the very least. Also, good tradespeople are very difficult to find so that will take some time as well. In any case, before we start we'll need to seek advice from a few trustworthy realtors.

 

[Lakeland living]

I was not planning to replace the west side screen door, BUT... Now I have no choice, an old cedar home built fell apart today. Wood rot and past repairs. The bottom half dropped a center support, rest followed. Top half is ok, however there is no bottom....lol
Oh well....

 

[win231]

Man, that absolutely stinks. That's about the same as those Quest horror stories.

My nightmare was a house built in the 40s when they used Orangeburg drainage pipe. Every time I had the sewer pipe snaked, the plumber would bring up bits of pipe on the end of the coil. My only saving grace was Virginia clay. I swear that the only drain I had was the tunnel left in the clay where the Orangeburg used to be. I lived in that house for over 30 years. Any looser soil would have collapsed and left me hanging.

Right now I have PEX in a crawlspace, but there are so many snake sheds under there that a rat doesn't stand a chance...and I only have field mice out here.

Keep an eye on it. ALL rodents' teeth never stop growing, so they have to chew constantly to file them down or they won't be able to eat & they'll starve.

 

[In The Sticks]

Keep an eye on it. ALL rodents' teeth never stop growing, so they have to chew constantly to file them down or they won't be able to eat & they'll starve.

This place had copper before an investor bought it and "renovated it."

I was just a few months late on pulling the trigger on this place. Because the house was in such poor condition, the investor initially had it listed just for the land with a "tear down" home on it. He then removed the listing and had contractors come in and do work he did not supervise or inspect, because he lived out of state. (He had central heat & air installed, and the contractor failed to run ductwork to two of the floor registers!)

The worse part is that the roof leaked, and washed all the insulation out of the walls. I didn't know, and moved all my stuff in here and painted. Otherwise, I would have had some blown into the walls and then patched the holes before I took up residence.

Anyway, thanks for the tip. I'll crawl under there and look for evidence of damage. I've entrusted my robust snake population to be my tubular cats. We'll see if they're doing the job.

 

[win231]

This place had copper before an investor bought it and "renovated it."

I was just a few months late on pulling the trigger on this place. Because the house was in such poor condition, the investor initially had it listed just for the land with a "tear down" home on it. He then removed the listing and had contractors come in and do work he did not supervise or inspect, because he lived out of state. (He had central heat & air installed, and the contractor failed to run ductwork to two of the floor registers!)

The worse part is that the roof leaked, and washed all the insulation out of the walls. I didn't know, and moved all my stuff in here and painted. Otherwise, I would have had some blown into the walls and then patched the holes before I took up residence.

Anyway, thanks for the tip. I'll crawl under there and look for evidence of damage. I've entrusted my robust snake population to be my tubular cats. We'll see if they're doing the job.

I also learned something else while getting rid of rats. A large full-grown rat's body is so flexible, it can easily squeeze into a 3/4" opening. Mice can get into an opening small enough for a cockroach.

 

[In The Sticks]

I also learned something else while getting rid of rats. A large full-grown rat's body is so flexible, it can easily squeeze into a 3/4" opening. Mice can get into an opening small enough for a cockroach.

I hate to admit that I had a rat problem in my previous home.

A contractor purchased the adjoining property as a renovation, then tore down the house and kinda/sorta rebuilt as he got the cash to do it. This went on for over 10 years, and his rats became my rats.

Fortunately, I don't see any evidence of them here in the country.

 

[treeguy64]

I can't say that I've ever seen one that I remember, but looking at the pictures the "lace bark" gives the tree a diseased appearance. Some photos almost look like a weeping willow with long drooping branches, too. I'm thinking I wouldn't care much for one of those.

I just looked at many online pics, and they are very poor representations of what healthy, well-maintained, Chinese Elms actually look like.

I will be pruning one, this coming Wednesday. I will try to remember to take some pics. The tree is very good looking, and will look even better when I'm done pruning it.

 

[Aneeda72]

After I got laid off 5 years ago, I:
-Installed a water softener and whole house filtration system
-Removed the microwave and installed a range hood vent system with roof-mount fan
-Tiled my kitchen backsplash (over 40 ft²)
-Installed under-cabinet lighting
-Tore out the tub-surround walls down to the studs and installed new backing & tile
--Installed a niche for soap & shampoo
--Replaced the wood framing around the shower window with water-tight Corian
-Built a cornice
-Built a mantle
-Built a 6' stand for trash can/microwave/toaster oven,wok
-Built a floor-to-ceiling firewood rack
-Installed a roof-mount tv antenna, later upgraded to a 2-bay unit
-Plowed a garden, installed an electric fence

Did it all by my widdle self.

Last year I had the driveway graded and fresh gravel put down. Also enlarged the area in front of my garage.

I'm going to clear and grade an area behind my garage and have gravel delivered to spread myself as an open storage area.

I really want another outbuilding for my tractor to free up garage space. It will be too large to do myself. Not sure exactly what style I want.

I still need to tear up and tile the bathroom floor and take the door frame out so I can fit a corner vanity in it.

The old house has no insulation. I need to move things around so I can have some blown in, but that involves all that moving, having 3 big holes drilled every 16" on the exterior walls, repairing all those holes, then repainting. It makes me tired just to think of it. But I really need to do it before I can't, rather than won't. Without insulation, hauling firewood is a necessity.

I've become such a sloth lately. What happened? I did all that stuff only 4-5 years ago.

What happened? Just a guess-you got older.