Last summer, we replaced our roof. Our home inspector had warned us about the roof when we purchased.  It was about 22 years old and had the original semi-transparent skylights. Then, a small leak started around some of the chimney flashing. A friend went over the area with roofing caulk for a temporary fix but it was time to replace it.

Shopping Roofing Contractors

I had the job priced by three different roofing companies: Columbia Roofing, Brothers Roofing, and a third no-name company. The job was to replace my townhouse roof, check/repair/replace the flashing and install two new skylights.

The no-name company was cheapest. They were quick to give us a low price but didn’t provide anything in paper. The truck they used wasn’t marked and the contractor just didn’t leave us feeling very confident.

Brothers Roofing and Columbia were very professional. They walked me through the job asking and answering questions. They were thorough and both companies provided written quotes. They have both been around for a while and have plenty of references. In the end, Columbia had the better price.

Columbia Roofing Review: Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Columbia arranged to have the work done relatively quickly. And they replaced the entire roof including two skylights in one day.

• The roof looks great. I don’t look at my roof much but when I do, it looks nice. The skylights look great too.

• Columbia went above and beyond. I had two other concerns that were not exactly roof issues. A piece of siding had come off the firewall I share with my neighbor. Columbia also does siding work and used a scrap piece of siding to fix this. The other concern was an aluminum end-cap was loose. They used some caulk to secure it in place.

• Columbia presented themselves very well. Their estimator was knowledgeable and polite throughout the entire process.

Cons:

• The yard wasn’t cleaned up very well. They left scraps of tar paper, shingles, and plenty of nails. I could have called them back to clean up again but decided to do it myself.

• The drywall around the skylights was roughed up a bit. I expected a nice transition from drywall to skylight frame. Instead it was jagged and didn’t look good at all. I called them about this problem. The original estimator made several trips to repair the drywall. Eventually, he put a plastic strip around the frame to hide the rough edge.

• The repairs took a long time. I let them know about the drywall problem and they promised to address it. About a month and a half later they called me. I didn’t pay the remaining 2/3’s of my bill until the job was complete. I think that gave them some motivation to get the repairs finished but it still wasn’t done until the end of summer (about 2 months after the roof was replaced).

I’d still recommend Columbia Roofing. I’m very pleased with the work they did. I just wish the loose ends had been resolved quicker.

What do you think? What’s your experience with roofing companies?
Image courtesy of Striatic

Using electric radiant floors as a supplemental heating source in a room has become very popular in the last few years.  We’ve decided to install 1000 sq. ft. of electric radiant heat in the basement of our house to take the cold edge off the concrete slab, which otherwise stays a brisk 55 degrees all year round.

When installing electric heating wires on to a slab (or really any substrate), a professional installer (read: DIYer) has a vested interest in keeping the radiant heating wire and any mesh bonded tightly to the slab.  A close, secure bond to the slab ensures:

• The heating wire maintains a very low profile, making it easier to cover with a thin layer of thinset or self-leveling mortar.  This is advantagous because wires that stick up through the initial layer of thinself or self-leveler can be easily cut or knicked, rendering the entire heating mat useless.  Also, since both SLM and thinset are expensive, the lower profile of the wire ensures a minimal amount of SLM/thinset is required, thus reducing overall cost.
• The wire doesn’t “come loose” while spreading thinset or SLM, which might move the wire in a way that compromises the installation.  For instance, all electric radiant heating systems require that the heating wires never cross.  Crossed wires create an unsafe condition and will likely cause the mats to overheat when they are operated.  Gluing down the wires ensures they don’t move.

Most radiant heating wires are approximately 1/16″ - 3/32″ thick.  Hot gluing the mats allows thinset or SLM used to cover the mats to be poured at a mere 1/8″ - 1/4″ thick.

Steps for Hot Gluing Radiant Heated Flooring Mats

1. Lay out the mat according to your plan for the room.  (All radiant heating flooring vendors will provide you a plan for how to lay out the radiant wire if you first give them a drawing of the room).
2. Plug in and heat up an electric glue gun. You’ll want to use a “professional glue gun” that can take 1/2″ glue sticks.  Hobby models that use 1/8″ sticks will go through glue sticks too quickly).
3. Drop a pool of hot glue onto the slab under where the wire will go.  Press the wire into the glue.  If your slab is below-grade, it is probably 50-60 degrees.  The hot glue will begin to freeze quickly, creating a tight grasp around the wire.  (Note that in some places you may have to cut the radiant heating wire out of the mesh, as shown in the picture above).
4. Move down the wire hot gluing the wire every 12-18″ or wherever the wire protrudes from the flat plain of the surface of the slab.
5. After you finish the install, carefully recheck all the wire to ensure it is tightly bonded to the floor.  Be careful walking with shoes on across the wire, as a stone or other object caught in the treads could nick the wire.

What do you think?  Did this article help you?  Do you have any other tips for radiant flooring installation?

A few weeks back a couple good friends came over to help me install hardwood floors. It was a lot of work but I’m very pleased with how things are going. The project isn’t complete; a little more in the dinning room, bathroom and hallway closet. We came across a few trouble spots and I like to share how we tackled these problem areas.

Uneven Sub-floor

Most of my sub-floor was uniform and in good shape. I found one instance where two pieces of plywood were not even. The easiest way to resolve this is to drive a few screws into the sub-floor to pull things snug and even. Fortunately, the area beneath my dining room is unfinished. We cut a 2 x 4 and I held it in place while another friend put in some screws. Unfortunately, this did not resolve the problem. The next solution is to use a sander or grinder. Be careful not to remove too much. You still need something to nail (or staple) your floors to.

Hardwood Meets Carpet

I’m laying hardwoods on my entire first floor. This does not include the stairs going up to the second floor. How do you make the transition? One solution is to use quarter-round to hide the transition from wood to carpet. Instead, we choose to put the wood tight against the carpet. We made sure to use the manufacturers edge and hide any cut edges on the opposite side with baseboard. Make sure each board is snug but not more (or less) so than any of the other boards. This will create a professional, uniform looking transition to carpet.

Cutting the Door Jam

Often you’ll find that the door jam is too low for a board to fit underneath. Here is the best way to cut your door jams. Lay a scrap piece of flooring against the door jam. Take a handsaw and cut away the jam using the scrap to maintain the correct height. A typical handsaw will be very awkward to maneuver. We used the Irwin Reversible Flush Cut. It’s a useful tool with an ergonomic handle that will swing around, letting you reverse the blade. The handle made it so easy to use and it saved us a lot of time. The Reversible Flush Cut is available from Amazon for $11.89.

Slip-Tongue to Reverse Tongue and Groove Orientation

We started laying the floor on one side of my house and worked toward the opposite side. This resulted in a few unfinished spaces. The picture shows how we continued the boards from the hallway straight into the bathroom which basically created an unfinished area “behind” us. A slip-tongue is a slender spline of wood that fits into two grooves, allowing you to reverse the direction of the boards. I used a slip-tongue to complete these areas.

Floor not Square with Hearth

I almost assumed that the walls and other various items would not all be square with each other. One of the first trouble spots we came across was the hearth. It wasn’t square with the floor or walls. I choose to use some T-molding transition strip to hide this. By laying the transitions strip parallel with the floor boards, no one will ever know the hearth is skewed.

What do you think? Are these helpful tips? What tips can you share?

This week’s Before and After is brought to you by Melanie in Richmond. Melanie didn’t leave a blog address with her submission, so we’re not sure whether she has a blog or not. But, when you see her Before and After story below, I’m sure you’ll agree she should have one if she doesn’t already. (Apparently there are actually folks who work on their homes and don’t blog about it–shocking!)

Melanie’s Before and After is a superb restoration of rustic wood floors in her Richmond, VA Rowhome. The result is a beautiful floor with a lot of character. It’s a bold design move, and one that paid off.

As a result of her submission, Melanie is automatically entered into our contest for a $50 home improvement gift card. And, as always, OPC will make a $25 donation to Habitat for Humanity in her honor.

Continue reading below Melanie’s post for this week’s Habitat Quick Fact, and a link where you can financially contribute to Habitat or locate a local affiliate where you can volunteer.

Rustic Wood Floor Restoration by Melanie

So about three months ago Kris and I decided to test what was under our black and white checkered vinyl kitchen floor. I didn’t mind the look of our kitchen, other than it being kind of mini and not having any drawers.  I like my original wood cabinets and the Formica countertop….. But I really didn’t like the floors. So, we did some investigating and this is what we uncovered.

Underneath the black and white vinyl was red and white checkered linoleum tiles. These things took us (Kris) a few days to chip away at, which exposed this black tar…..also known as cutback adhesive. We tried tons of adhesive removers, all unfortunately pretty harsh since the safer methods we heard about just weren’t cutting it. After about a month of working on small sections each night after work and living with plastic on our floors we got as much of it up as we could. We were also simultaneously demo-ing our existing basement stairs and pantry, having new ones built by our green builder friends at New Earth and creating a 5 ft. opening between our kitchen and pantry.

After as much of the cutback was off as we could handle and the “new” floor was in place, it was time to rent the floor sander. I believe we needed a drum sander for this amount of adhesive, but the man at Home Depot suggested an orbit sander, called U-Sand-It. It took driving back, buying lots more sand paper and extending our contract from 4 hours to 24 hours…..but eventually we got it to a point we were happy with.

Some of the black marks from the adhesive….or possibly water damage (who knows, the floor is 90 years old) didn’t come off, but hey, if we wanted a new looking floor we could have bought one! Next was time to finish it off!

We used an oil based semi gloss polyurethane because that is what is on the rest of the floors and we have liked it so far. The first coat, by recommendation of my dad, we cut with half paint thinner. It made it easy to get used to applying the finish with the wool mop head that Home Depot suggested, and then we progressively used less paint thinner in each coat until the fourth and final coat was all polyurethane. This is how is looked before drying….it is not this shiny at all anymore and we love it!

Thanks from OPC!

Melanie, thanks so much for submitting your article to our Before and After event… Your rustic floors are great… quite a restoration!

Habitat Quick Fact

One of Habitat’s most lauded strengths is that they do not merely provide hand-outs in communities.  They engage the community; each Habitat house is built by and for partners within their program.  From Habitat’s web site:

How does [Habitat] work?
Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses with the help of the homeowner (partner) families. Habitat houses are sold to partner families at no profit and financed with affordable loans. The homeowners’ monthly mortgage payments are used to build still more Habitat houses.

Habitat is not a giveaway program. In addition to a down payment and the monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor — sweat equity — into building their Habitat house and the houses of others.

To read more general facts about Habitat, visit their Frequently Asked Questions page.

If you’re inspired by Habitat’s mission as much as we are, please consider giving financially.  You could match our $25 donation today.  Just follow this link to Habitat’s online donation page. 

If you did give to Habitat this Summer, either because of this program or for any reason, please let us know so we can honor you in an upcoming article.

How Can I Submit an Article?

There’s plenty of weeks left this Summer and more room for articles.  If you have a Before and After project that you’ve finished, consider submitting it!  Odds are, you’ll get picked, make a difference for a Habitat homeowner, and have a chance to win the $50 gift card.

Submit articles to oneprojectcloser@gmail.com.

What do you think?  Have you ever restored original hardwoods?  Leave Melanie a note and let her know what you think!

Ever heard of a Rocket Stove? I recently read a few good articles boasting the benefits of these efficient cookers. Here’s what you need to know.

About Rocket Stoves

A Rocket Stove is an economic variation of a wood burning stove with several distinct advantages. They have a unique construction that makes them more efficient than cooking on an open fire and they create less pollution. Rocket Stoves are easy to make and composed of inexpensive materials.

Making a Rocket Stove

The basic pieces of a Rocket Stove include:

• Chimney - height should be about 2 or 3 times the diameter.

• Insulation - pack the combustion chamber (elbow joint), chimney, and anywhere else hot air might escape (except where your pot will be) with a low mass, non-flammable insulator. Wood ashes are a common choice.

• Elbow joint / Combustion chamber - Typically, 4″ diameter is best.

• Fuel shelf - This is a shelf that elevates your fuel and helps distribute air.

• Fuel Magazine - Houses your fuel shelf and helps regulate air flow.

• Enclosure - This houses all the other items. Lot’s of options here ranging from brick to aluminum.

Connect the chimney, elbow joint and fuel magazine inside the enclosure. Be sure everything is set firmly in place and insulate. Start your fuel with some scrap newspaper under the fuel shelf.

Rocket Stove Tips

Only burn the end of the fuel in the combustion chamber, else it won’t burn as cleanly. Push the sticks farther in as the fuel is consumed. Regulate the air flowing in through the fuel magazine. Too much air flowing above the fuel can cool the flame. Insulation helps direct heat and create a vacuum to draw in air. Use a pot skirt to keep hot air along the bottom and sides of your pot.

Benefits of a Rocket Stove

Rocket Stoves are designed to use small twigs (not large logs). This means they require less fuel and helps maintain forested areas. The construction and materials makes this a real benefit to third-world countries. Rocket Stoves burn more efficiently creating less smoke and harmful emissions. That benefits the environment and the quality of the air we breath.

For some more information, check out this article.

What do you think? Ever use a Rocket Stove?

For many of us DIYers, the primary motivator for doing it ourselves is the cost savings.  When a hardwood flooring contractor wants $7/sq. ft. to lay a floor, and you know you can do the job for $3/sq. ft., that’s a big incentive to roll up your sleeves, move the furniture, and nail down those floors by yourself (or with friends and family). 

Unfortunately, every DIY project requires tools, and tools cost money… sometimes a LOT of money.  Some projects, like hardwood flooring, require specialized tools (e.g. a toe nailer) and that means some of the savings of DIYing is going to get absorbed.

But before you run out to Home Depot or Lowes and purchase the tools you need at full retail prices, take a look at our Frugal Tool Hierarchy below for the best ways to get your hands on just the right tool at a rock bottom price.  Our list starts with the best way to get tools, and follows all the way down to the worst way.  If we’ve forgotten something, weigh in below and let us know!

#1 Beg, Borrow (but don’t steal)

That’s right; you guessed it.  The best way to get your hands on the right tool is to find a friend who has it, and borrow it.  There’s simply no cheaper way to get a project done.  Borrowing brings on some responsibilities and challenges.  Here’s our take:

1. Take full responsibility for the tools you borrow.  If you break someone else’s tool, you should replace it unless you’ve worked out some other deal.  Since tools can break for no apparent reason, it’s a good idea to work out in advance who is responsible for repairing/replacing a tool in this scenario.  When I loan out expensive tools, I always tell the borrower that they assume all risk.  If it breaks on their watch, they must repair/replace it.  That way, there’s no confusion or hard feelings.
2. Don’t be a mooch.  While some people are glad to loan out tools, make sure you’re willing to give back to the lender.  Either offer to loan a tool that person doesn’t have, or at least volunteer labor hours to their next project.  Most people who own great tools are doing lots of projects, so it won’t be too long before they can use an extra pair of hands.

#2 Buy Used

Believe it or not, there are thousands upon thousands of used tools available online.  A few places to start: Craigslist, Amazon, and Ebay.  Expect to pay 40-75% off depending on the type of tool and condition. 

Why are there so many tools online?  Many people buy a tool for one project and then don’t have any further use for it.  This is especially true of special purpose tools, like the hardwood flooring toe nailer.  Also, many avid DIYers upgrade their tools to more powerful or versatile versions and just need to get rid of the older version.

#3 Buy Refurbished / Factory-Reconditioned

Many manufacturers sell factory-reconditioned tools that come with the same warranty as the new version.  These refurbished tools are generally 20-50% cheaper than buying retail.  For instance, the Wagner Paint Crew Airless Sprayer retails at Home Depot for $199.  A reconditioned version is available on Amazon for a mere $99.  We own that sprayer, and I paid full retail at HD before I found the Amazon deal…shame on me.

Some people are concerned about buying reconditioned tools because the tool was both used, and at some point broke.  This concern is generally unwarranted.  Factory reconditioning programs include quality assurance checks, and the parts that did break are replaced with new ones.  Reconditioned tools are not substantially more likely to break than buying the new version at the store.

#4 Wait for a Sale or Get a Coupon

Waiting for a sale sounds easy enough, but for many of us, it simply isn’t practical.  Further, many tools don’t ever go on sale.  That said, if you’re lucky enough to find a sale at your favorite store, you can usually add a coupon for additional savings… read on.

Both Home Depot and Lowes offer 10% off coupons that can be found pretty easily online.  Click those links for pages on this site where you can find coupons to get started. 

#5 Buy Online

Hop on the net before you buy at the store. A simple Google search for a tool name will often yield several online retailers that are slightly cheaper than buying retail even after adding in shipping costs. Amazon is always a good place to start, as many retailers partner with them directly. Figure on a 5-10% savings.  Online retailers are competing with a much larger pool of businesses, and don’t have the costs of running a brick-and-mortar shop.  As a result, they can pass on the savings.

#6 Buy Local Retail, and Take the Hit

If you’ve made it this far, you must really be in a pinch.  Of course, buying at the local big box isn’t the end of the world; all of us do it every now and then.  The best advice we can offer is to really consider what type of tool you’ll need and how often you’ll use it.  The old adage “Good tools aren’t cheap; cheap tools aren’t good” is very true.  But, if you’re only going to do a job once, you might be better off buying the “home” version of a tool instead of the “pro” version.  

We’ve been extremely happy with a tile saw we bought from Home Depot for a mere $79.  We’ve tiled 6 rooms with that saw and it’s still working great.  Tile saws can easily run into the multi-hundreds of dollars, but we’re not professional tilers, so it just didn’t make sense to buy the good one.

What do you think?  How do you get your hands on cheap tools?  Let us know if we missed a good method.

Photo courtesy of JGCF on Flickr Creative Commons.

Renovating your kitchen can be a pricey project. A good rule of thumb is not to spend more than 15% of the total value of your home. Else, you may lose out when it’s time to sell. Here are some simple solutions to give your kitchen a new look without breaking the bank.

Upgrade your Kitchen Storage

Open shelves and floating box cabinets are easy kitchen upgrades. They provide good storage and a great display venue. This renovation idea also helps a small kitchen feel larger.

Pull out storage is another way to maximize space. Shelves that extend from a cabinet and pull-out pantries let you utilize every inch available. Remove cabinet doors and use stylish wicker baskets as another alternative.

Update your Kitchen Architecture

Accent your kitchen with beaded-board or tile. A very cost effective upgrade is adding a tile back splash. This is a great DIY project that will introduce color and protect your walls. Install beaded-board around your island (or just opposite sides). This easy upgrade will give your island a whole new feel.

Add a window to the adjoining room. Make sure nothing important (electrical, pluming, gas, etc.) is running through the wall and cut out a window. Frame it with molding for a polished look. This will help open up your kitchen and bring in light from the other room.

Update your Kitchen Style

A fresh coat of paint will go a long way. You can liven up a dark kitchen by painting the walls a bright color. Or renovate your cabinets with a new color and polyurethane finish. Lightly sand your cabinets, prime, paint and finish. If you like your cabinets, just paint the doors. Don’t have doors? Paint the interior for a striking backdrop. Incorporate stencils to add extra character. Distress wood with sandpaper or by adding small dents.

Upgrade your Kitchen Hardware

Purchasing new appliances can be costly. I highly recommend searching sites like Craig’s List for these items. We (Fred and I) have both picked up brand new refrigerators at unbelievable prices. But there’s other kitchen hardware that is much cheaper to upgrade. Change out your faucet. Make sure it looks good AND functions well. You’ll be using it everyday. Pick up new handles and knobs. Update that light fixture. Your local DIY center will have plenty of choices.

Re-purposed Dresser for a Kitchen Island

Most modern kitchens have an island. And you can too. Find a dresser or another appropriately sized piece of furniture. Select a countertop material. And anchor it to the floor. Add beaded-board around the outside to complete the disguise.

What do you think? What tips can you share?

Images courtesy of Macinate and OK-59 respectively.

When we designed and contracted to have our deck built last year, I did’t think too much about the railings.  We knew we wanted traditional rails without any special features like a sunburst.  We ended up with traditional 2×2 pressure treated southern yellow pine balusters fixed between parallel 2×4s at the top and bottom.  It’s plain, but it’s just what we were looking for.

This simple design works well because the balusters are fixed close enough together that there’s no chance of the kids’ heads getting stuck between them.  And, the 3″ gap between the bottom 2×4 and the deck surface makes it much easier to sweep debris off the deck vs. if the balusters were attached directly to the rim joist. (Our previous deck was constructed that way).

One thing we were pleasantly surprised with was how our contractor attached the deck railing posts to the rim joist (a.k.a header board, or fascia).  Instead of the posts being attached on the outside, as shown to the right, our contractor cut holes in the deck surface and installed the railings on the inside of the rim joist.  This creates a much cleaner look on the face of the deck.  It also means the bottom of the 4×4 doesn’t have to be cut to sit partially on top of the deck, making it stronger.

This style of installing deck rail posts was popularized by composite decking companies because it is impossible to sheath a 4×4 post with a vinyl slip when it is installed on the outside.  Even though initialily popularized by the CDCs, this works just as well with traditional pine, redwood, and cedar decks, and is pretty easy to do yourself if you’re building your own deck.   Here’s the steps:

1. Finish the deck up to, and including, laying the decking surface.  This includes mounting the rim joist and laying the decking boards, but not any additional trim (our deck as a 1×4 piece of trim over the rim in the picture above)
2. Plan out the railing post locations.  In most cases, railing posts should be spaced no more than 6′ apart; but local codes vary.  If you install the posts too far apart, the railing may sag over time.  Remember that when installing posts on the inside of the rim joist, you’ll need to avoid the joists underneath. 
3. Mark out the 3.5″ x 3.5″ hole location on the top side of the deck.  Using a drill with a 1/4″ drill bit, drill four holes down through the surface of the deck inside the corners of the square marking.  Note that drilling the holes completely inside the marking is important, otherwise you may end up with odd looking rounding gaps at the corners where the 4×4 will be inserted.
4. Use a jig saw to cut out the hole in the surface decking boards.  Insert the jig saw into one of the drill holes and follow your marking line to the next hole.  When finished, you should have a perfect 3.5″ x 3.5″ hole.  (An alternative to the drill-and-jig method is to use a rotary tool with a sharp bit to trace the line).
5. Insert the post into the hole and lag screw through the header board from the front into the post.
6. Attach railings the same as if the boards were attached on the outside.

What do you think?  Do you have a preference for railing posts?  Did your deck have any railing innovations?