The Home Improvement Thread

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by d00little

Does anybody know how much it would cost to create an open-concept kitchen? I'm talking about in one of those common 1950/60's bungalows.

What would be the price above and beyond a normal kitchen renovation. E.g. closed kitchen renovation vs open kitchen renovation. Is the wall load bearing or is there load bearing pole inside?

Considering the vintage of the house, those walls are probably load bearing. If you know what to look for you can have a peek in the attic and see what kind of trusses you have. Manufactured scissor trusses would mean the interior walls likely are not load bearing. But that's not probable in your house so your next move is to look in the basement and see what is beneath the walls you want to open up. Is there a wall or post beneath at the points where you will be leaving the post upstairs? basically you will be transferring the weight of the whole wall to two points at the corners. Those points have to be supported in the basement down to the concrete...even down to a footing in some cases. It's not hard to open up the walls...two posts and a beam (both of sufficient structure as designed by an engineer). The work in the basement is also easy if it's not developed, more difficult if it is developed. And if it was previously open it would be partly closed up with the new support posts.

A regular kitchen with appliances and electrical upgrades and permits should be about 40-50k. The structural work would be just a guess but upwards of 15k if it went well and easy. You will also have a flooring issue when you take out the wall (they likely did not run the floor under the wall so there will be a piece of missing floor). So plan on doing something with that...this could add a bunch to the cost if you want to feather in hardwood and refinish the whole floor on the main.

[d00little]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

30-100k

Is that $30-100K total or in addition to a regular renovation where you aren't taking down the wall?

[You Need a Thneed]

Taking out walls can cause scope creep, even without the walls being structural. All of a sudden you are renovating two (or more) rooms instead of one.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

Considering the vintage of the house, those walls are probably load bearing. If you know what to look for you can have a peek in the attic and see what kind of trusses you have. Manufactured scissor trusses would mean the interior walls likely are not load bearing. But that's not probable in your house so your next move is to look in the basement and see what is beneath the walls you want to open up. Is there a wall or post beneath at the points where you will be leaving the post upstairs? basically you will be transferring the weight of the whole wall to two points at the corners. Those points have to be supported in the basement down to the concrete...even down to a footing in some cases. It's not hard to open up the walls...two posts and a beam (both of sufficient structure as designed by an engineer). The work in the basement is also easy if it's not developed, more difficult if it is developed. And if it was previously open it would be partly closed up with the new support posts.

A regular kitchen with appliances and electrical upgrades and permits should be about 40-50k. The structural work would be just a guess but upwards of 15k if it went well and easy. You will also have a flooring issue when you take out the wall (they likely did not run the floor under the wall so there will be a piece of missing floor). So plan on doing something with that...this could add a bunch to the cost if you want to feather in hardwood and refinish the whole floor on the main.

I've got a hip roof, and I'd have to confirm, but I don't think the trusses are supported on any central beam in the house. I think they are scissor. The basement beam is a steal I-beam. Would this all indicate the main floor wall is probably not load bearing?

[OMG!WTF!]

I have seen several older houses with steel beams in the basement that still have framed trusses. There must have been a builder in the '60's that used them a lot. I don't think they are correlated with a scissor truss system. And hip roofs could be either. If yours is older than 1970 you probably have a framed in truss system. I suspect also that no matter how the beam in the basement works, the removal of a wall might still require additional support in the basement. The house will absolutely remain standing if you have the scissor trusses without posts and a beam. But if you use posts at all and don't add support in the basement you will forever get that annoying drywall crack in the ceiling right at the corner of the post unless it happens to rest right on the steel beam.

[Fuzz]

Thanks, I'll be talking to an engineer before doing anything but it's good to have some idea of what the issues might be beforehand. Looking at this I think I might have scissor braced rather than scissor truss. Would have to take another peek.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber...#Scissor_truss

[speede5]

I have done this twice and just quoted a third. First house was 1958 vintage with braced rafters. 24ft wide house, 48ft long with hip roof. I put the beam (20ft) above the ceiling joists, and strapping to hold the joists tight to the beam. We blocked down to the walls on each end of the beam, posts in the walls down to the floor, more blocking under the floor, posts down to the foundation. I might have spent $3000 doing this as it was part of a whole home reno.

All engineered and approved. We got away without footings but I don't think we would now. This was 12 years ago.

Second one was a cottage roof and we just snuck the beam in above the joists again. Cost was similar as it was for a family member and they had the home gutted.

The one I just quoted was a cottage and I was pretty sure we were going to have to put the beam inside this time, but the customer stopped me after my rough quote.

I was expecting the quote to come out around 20k. Including engineeers drawings and permits. I know that's vague but I didn't have firm costs on anything, this beam was going to be 24 ft long, there was electrical and cold air return in the wall being removed. Because this was for a customer, commercial, and not part of a bigger reno, all costs were directly on this project.

Costs:
Engineering- $1500-2000 (I don't know rates in Calgary and my guy works on the side)
Beam - $1000
Wall removal, depends on what is in the wall.
Footings?
Jackposts x4
Drywall
Permits
Crane $1000 (don't try to lift it no matter how many friends you have!)

[Meelapo]

Originally Posted by lazy_programmer

When the builder did my house, I had to buy and install a quick connect/disconnect coupler to the hookup. In this image: https://www.handymanhowto.com/wp-con...t-Coupling.jpg it's labeled quick disconnect coupling. The hose that typically comes with your bbq will need that connection type. It's pretty easy to install, just apply the appropriate sealant (like pipe dope) around the threads and screw on the coupler, test for leaks by brushing some soapy water around the connection and open the gas value. If no bubbles appear, you connection is good.

I think they already did this for us. I don't know the terminology but on the end of each gas output there's a thing that I can push up that would allow me to connect a gas hose. It seems to look very similar to the quick connect so I'm assuming it actually is a quick connect.

[Fuzz]

Yes, that's a quick connect. Is there a shutoff valve just below it? It's possible there is one inside where these lines connect to the main one.

[speede5]

BTW, with that era of a house take a look in the attic before you get too gung ho. Zonolite is quite commonly found and adds a whole new dimension to the job. If you have Zonolite put the beam inside the house and stay out of the attic. be careful opening up the ceiling as you dont want it spilling into the house.

[Fuzz]

My inspector took a look and said it wasn't zonolite before I bought. Looks like cellulose to me.

On another note, has anyone used the foam fence post stuff? I'm moving a 4 foot high chain link fence, so it doesn't have a lot of stresses compared to a taller wood one. I'd really like to use this stuff for simplicity, and it is only 4 posts.

[photon]

That foam stuff is awesome, so easy to work with. Just keep in mind that you don't get the weight of the concrete. Don't use sonotubes lol, when I was buying the stuff the guy was telling me one of his customers bought it and used sonotubes.. On a really windy day the wind lifted his fence right out of the ground!

EDIT: Expensive though for a large project. This is the one I used:

https://www.lowes.ca/concrete-mixes/..._g1505553.html

[Fuzz]

How many bags did you need? One per post? I was hoping one bag would do 2 posts as they are just the skinny steel ones.

[photon]

I think it was one bag per post, we followed whatever the instructions were on the bag. They have a FAQ section, kind of sounds like you might be able to do it as long as the holes are deep enough.

http://www.fast2k.com/faq/

[Fuzz]

Now I just need to find the smallest post hole auger I can get...

4. How many bags of Fast 2K do I need for my fence project?

It depends on the posts and hole sizes as well as the Fast 2K bag size used. The narrower and deeper the hole, the better for installations with Fast 2K. As for the hole diameter, a minimum gap between the post and the hole wall is ideal. For example, a hole of 6 in (15 cm) is ideal for the installation of a 4×4 in (15x15cm) post. Check the bag calculator chart or Click on the “Calculator” tab at www.fast2k.com

Posts are 1.5".

[topfiverecords]

Scissor truss is one with a vaulted ceiling rafter chord and not a differentiation between a stick framed roof and a manufactured truss.

[Meelapo]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Yes, that's a quick connect. Is there a shutoff valve just below it? It's possible there is one inside where these lines connect to the main one.

Thanks, Fuzz.

Yes, on each output there is a dark orange handle which I'm assuming is the shutoff handle. When I was in the basement I didn't notice any other orange type handle that went from the yellow colored piping to a metal looking pipe (which I'm assuming is the main gas with the yellow pipes being auxiliary feeds to other things).

I didn't touch the yellow pipe (couldn't reach it) but it looked flexible compared to the black pipe it attached to. It didn't look like the yellow pipe would be able to have one of those shutoff valves attached to it.

So when I connect the gas BBQ is there a "gas off" valve on the BBQ itself or should I be controlling the flow of gas from the shutoff valve attached to the gas output. It seems to be safer to control the gas and the shutoff valve but I don't know if that has adverse affects on the BBQ.

[Fuzz]

I'm not sure if the BBQ will have its own(other than individual burners), but yes, you should shut off the valve after using the BBQ.

[Robotic]

I'm using 1-3/8" top rail chain link fence, and trying to connect the male end into the female end. It's not fitting, and the problem is in the inside of the female end theres little spurs causing it to be slightly smaller than the male diameter.

Is there a tool that I could grind the inside of the pipe to smooth out any edges and allow the pipes to easily connect?

I think a Dremel might work, but I don't want to buy one for a quick job. Are there grinding bits that fit into drills that would hold up grinding out 30 metal pipes?

[Fuzz]

Pipe reamer, but you could just use a round file, or a flat one if you had too.