Home Improvement Today?

Any of those will do well for you. Maybe add Ryobi (lower end) or Milwaukee (higher end, but some aggressive promotions these days) into the list of possibilities. Try and lay hands on the actual tools to see how they feel. (For example, the Makita oscillating tool feels too big for my hands... drill and impact would be even more important.)

Ask yourself how serious you are about the circular saw. In my experience, the non-brushless ones are only good for sheet goods or a very occasional 2x4. Apparently, the newer brushless ones kick ass.

Although I'm a serious Dewalt user, I've been avoiding the flexvolt because of the added pain of a battery system that's only compatible in one direction. (In other words, you can't get yourself out of a flat battery pinch by putting a 20v battery on a 60v tool.) Plus, friggin dewalt bundles their crappiest 6Ah battery with most of their tools and doesn't make the bare tool price attractive enough to make that worthwhile.

I don't know if this is true for Ridgid and Makita, but be aware that there are different quality grades in the Dewalt lineup. The 'made in USA' ones are good; others vary. I have the impression that the cheapy ones get into the combo packs, so make sure these are what you want. I suspect that for diy use, any of them would be okay -- it's not like Dewalt is making outright junk.

Don't go nuts stacking up a collection of a zillion spare batteries. They'll die soon enough (like, 5 years) and you'll be re-buying.

 

RIP.

 

Just purchased my first house a couple months ago. Have pretty much redone the whole place. Still have a lot to do though. Also plan to finish off the full basement it has. Heres how the living room came out

 

That fireplace is like night and day.

 

Great transformation

 

One of my techs just left to go work for Miele factory service. Pay is about the same at the end of the day, but pays more hourly, and 1/2 the daily calls (or less).

10 weeks of training in IL, too.

 

Thanks!

Thanks! Im a hot natured person anyways so getting rid of the wood stove was a no brainer. The open fireplace doesnt heat much but the abiance vibe it puts off is killer! I plan to convert to gas down the road when i have a tankless hot water heater installed.

 

Thanks!

 

Working for an independent company?

 

Let me know how that goes.

I work on most brands, so I see everything.

 

We’ve been in our new house since August and I finally got some garage shelves up. I’m still not sure if we’ll ever get two cars in this “two car garage”.

 

I love that. Might need to copy that, and add doors to bottom shelf and do it over my laundry.

 

What’s cheaper or more cost effective for a good job.

Demo ceiling sheet rock and put new Sheetrock up or scrape pop corn off and repair existing?

I was told the latter will always have it’s faults.

 

Thinking this may be my only option.

Don’t have bolt cutters that big, it’s a heavy duty anchor.

Nope, from what I remember it is a spike in the wall that turns sideways when the screw is tightend. Probably just cut and patch at this point.

 

My sister just had her ceilings scraped instead of new drywall installed over it. I think it was $2700 vs $4500 or so

 

Doing the work yourself or hiring it out? If you're hiring it out, just get quotes. Be aware, though, that popcorn can sometimes have asbestos which triggers all manner of hazmat requirements which drives the cost up. In this case, covering everything with a new skin of rock might actually end up cheaper. (And if you're tempted to get a pro that'll ignore the asbestos, just remember that it'll be floating around your house and settling on every flat surface for a while.)

If you're doing the work yourself, it's cheaper and faster to scrape and patch.

The additional time to scrape will be offset by the following:

- no time and money on demo/disposal
- probably less time messing around with light fixtures
- no money on new ceiling rock
- no money/time on rock install. (You either need a lift or another guy, unless you're my sheetrock guy in which case you're a miracle worker.)
- no paint touchup on the walls where a new install would have corner tape coming down the wall
- let's imagine that tape/ skim/ skim/ sand/ paint is the same for both. If you really suck at skimming, do a clean tape coat (mesh and setting compound -- no lumps or bumps) and get a pro in to finish.

Caveats:
- if you wanted to touch electrical at the same time, take the ceiling down
- if the ceiling was really buckled and wavy and you wanted to strap it flat (or level, if it's a kitchen with cabinets near the ceiling), take the ceiling down
- if it was old plaster and lath and was cracked to crap, take it down

The comment earlier about asbestos... strongly suggest you send a sample to a lab. With that, you'll know how much care to take with your lungs, the rest of the house, and what you toss out.

 

@LTDSC

 

Drywall right over old ceiling

 

Absolutely do NOT attempt to do any type of spackling and then call in an expert. They will have to charge more to attempt to rework what you fucked up.

 

Installed over the air hdtv with tablo dvr. All works great. Tomorrow I cancel the directv bill.