Let's See Your House Projects!

[pennsiveguy]

Originally Posted by Turkish Pickle

Those who work on their homes - what is one thing you wouldn't ever do yourself?

Related: how hard is it to change the toilet bowl? Renovating the bathroom doesnt sound like it'd be too hard (tile, new vanity etc) but I don't know how worth it'd be if I did it myself vs paid someone to install.

I'm generally fearless when it comes to most DIY projects. I was working for my parents flipping (long before such a term existed) houses when I was 12-13 years old. Did my first tear-off and re-roof at the age of 14, on a 100-year-old 2-story house. I completely re-wired and re-plumbed a 4K sq/ft Victorian 3-story house back in the '90s. I've done a couple of 5000 sqft+ concrete flat-work pours with power trowel finishing. There's little that I haven't tackled when it comes to construction or remodelling.

But the one thing I won't f*ck with is torsional garage door springs. Those f*ckers will take an arm off in the blink of an eye. And be jubilant about having done it. There are professional garage door companies all over town, and I'll happily pay any one of them to putz with those springs whenever I need one fixed or replaced.

[Alfisti]

Yeah i ain't touching that shit. I've seen them snap and FMD, like a gun shot.

[pennsiveguy]

Originally Posted by Turkish Pickle

Those who work on their homes - what is one thing you wouldn't ever do yourself?

Related: how hard is it to change the toilet bowl? Renovating the bathroom doesnt sound like it'd be too hard (tile, new vanity etc) but I don't know how worth it'd be if I did it myself vs paid someone to install.

My girlfriend, a Special Education teacher, just last weekend swapped in a whole new toilet. Without telling me that she was going to, or asking me how to do it. Let that be an inspiration to you.

[ToddBlack88]

Originally Posted by Turkish Pickle

Those who work on their homes - what is one thing you wouldn't ever do yourself?

Related: how hard is it to change the toilet bowl? Renovating the bathroom doesnt sound like it'd be too hard (tile, new vanity etc) but I don't know how worth it'd be if I did it myself vs paid someone to install.

I have done pretty much everything when it comes to home construction, and hold a few trade tickets.

The one thing I won’t do anymore, is large project drywall finishing. I can do it but I am slow and a perfectionist, so I find it’s better for me to pay a pro to do it in a third the time, while I go do what I do to pay for it in a quarter the time.

[hooligan_G01]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Whooooooooooa there on the toilet. Now, back in the day changing a toilet only had one real challenge and that was to ensure you land it right on the wax ring correctly and don't smoosh it to correct your mistake.

Now, this was when the bolts and bolt holes were visible. With modern "easy clean" toilets, all the hardware is hidden. So you are standing there with a fucking 100 pound toilet, trying to line up bolts you cannot fucking see on a wax ring you have one shot at.

I managed to do it but man I was shaking like a dog shitting razor blades.

Not all modern toilets are skirted, dude.

However, when you're talking about skirted toilets, I agree.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by hooligan_E84

Not all modern toilets are skirted, dude.

I realise that but they do look better and if men are in the house, way easier to keep clean.

[cmyx6go]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Whooooooooooa there on the toilet. Now, back in the day changing a toilet only had one real challenge and that was to ensure you land it right on the wax ring correctly and don't smoosh it to correct your mistake.

Now, this was when the bolts and bolt holes were visible. With modern "easy clean" toilets, all the hardware is hidden. So you are standing there with a fucking 100 pound toilet, trying to line up bolts you cannot fucking see on a wax ring you have one shot at.

I managed to do it but man I was shaking like a dog shitting razor blades.

Originally Posted by Alfisti

American standard. They have been outstanding toilets, only ones since I have been in this country not to constantly clog (Why is the piping so fucking narrow in north america? A decent taco and fuck, all hell breaks loose).

I think I'm in love! Someone else uses fuck the same way I do.

Carry on

[Alfisti]

I'm australian, we use the C word just as much but I refrain here.

[Patrick303]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

Love the exposed ceiling painted black!!!

[Alfisti]

So how do you blokes get the time to do all this work? My missus would go absolutely ballistic if I spent time doing all this stuff 'cos she would have to watch the kids.

[cmyx6go]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

I'm australian, we use the C word just as much but I refrain here.

That is one word I never use.

[pennsiveguy]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

So how do you blokes get the time to do all this work? My missus would go absolutely ballistic if I spent time doing all this stuff 'cos she would have to watch the kids.

I spent every non-work minute of the first 2 weeks of my first marriage - right after we moved into the new house we built - fixing the shitty drywall job the contractor had done in the 3-1/2 stall garage. And putting corner bead on all the corners, and j-bead on the exposed edges. And poly-ing the floor and then spraying three coats of primer and paint. And then peeling up the poly and epoxy coating the floor. While she stomped around the house and pouted and sulked.

It kinda set the tone of the marriage. It was pretty much over before it began.

But the house turned out fucking great!

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

With modern "easy clean" toilets, all the hardware is hidden. So you are standing there with a fucking 100 pound toilet, trying to line up bolts you cannot fucking see on a wax ring you have one shot at.

Leave it up to those pesky Americans to come up with a reusable synthetic toilet seal:

[vreihen16]

My DW and I are in the early planning phase for building our retirement all steel barndominium. One thing that I will not compromise on is a commercial-grade, rear-exit toilet, with an electronic Sloan-type valve to flush it. No way am I ever going to wait for a residential toilet tank to re-fill! Bombs away woosh, wait 5 seconds, ready to fire again. I want the mother-of-all toilets that even puts Al Bundy's mighty Ferguson to shame.....

[pennsiveguy]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

My DW and I are in the early planning phase for building our retirement all steel barndominium. One thing that I will not compromise on is a commercial-grade, rear-exit toilet, with an electronic Sloan-type valve to flush it. No way am I ever going to wait for a residential toilet tank to re-fill! Bombs away woosh, wait 5 seconds, ready to fire again. I want the mother-of-all toilets that even puts Al Bundy's mighty Ferguson to shame.....

Yeah, man, one of those vicious commercial units that sound like a jet engine. Don't forget to keep a tight grip on your junk if you're going to do a "seated multi-flush." There are lots of ways to lose your manhood, and that's about the least dignified of them all.

[vreihen16]

Shortly after we bought our house 15 years ago, I changed out the toilet with an American Standard Champion. You know, the toilet that claimed to be able to flush down 3 dozen golf balls in a 1.6 gallon woosh:

In 14 years, I can count on one hand how many times I had to take a plunger to "flush-a-saurus" for a clog.

Our well water finally ate the bolts that hold the tank to the bowl out last year. Rather than replace the stainless bolts for another 10+ years of lifetime, my DW thought that it would be a good idea to replace it with a one-piece toilet with no metal parts and pushbutton flush. Enter the poo Jacuzzi from hell.

TL;DR is that Jacuzzi should stay out of the toilet business! European styling (but not European plumbing) means that an American plunger doesn't seal against the drain. I have no idea what the trap diameter is, but the thing needs plunging at least 75% of the time and would seriously choke on a grape if I tried to flush one. I had to buy a wonky, snake-looking plunger to, as Ed Norton sang in "Song of the Sewer" keep things moving along.

Long story short, if I'm building from scratch, it will include the mother-of-all commercial toilets!

I have similar plans for the guest bathroom in our garage. I always said that if I was building a "trophy" garage that it would include an indoor handicapped porta-potty as the guest bathroom. Can you imagine the grossness of telling a visitor that they have to use a porta-potty and not a bathroom in the house? When they open the door expecting a plastic seat and smell, they find a real toilet, lights, and marble fixtures.....

[bosstones]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

So how do you blokes get the time to do all this work? My missus would go absolutely ballistic if I spent time doing all this stuff 'cos she would have to watch the kids.

Either the project:
1. doesn't finish in anywhere near a timely fashion
2. stalls or drags out enough to annoy my wife enough to allow for dedicated time to finish
3. gets done in the wee hours of the morning
4. is already wifey approved so time is not an issue
5. is completed in a timely manner, possibly at the expense of a happy wife

[hooligan_G01]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

I realise that but they do look better and if men are in the house, way easier to keep clean.

Completely agreed and we'll be swapping to skirted units when we renovate the bathrooms in our house.

[PoorLurker]

Originally Posted by hooligan_E84

Completely agreed and we'll be swapping to skirted units when we renovate the bathrooms in our house.

In regards to placement - not my house. I would have put it against the other wall to enjoy the ocean spray on my face and the toilet spray on my butt

[hooligan_G01]

Originally Posted by PoorLurker

Not one of those, no.

[lsturbointeg]

now that the main basement flooring is done i continued into the guest bedroom as well as the guest bathroom!

[Hawkeye]

Wanted a more custom storage solution for above our main fridge so just built one myself with removable dividers.

Before and after