Home and shop build thread

I used all pvc and cpvc in my little cabin. It was quick and easy and has held up well so far.
I was also lucky enough to have an old tobacco barn so I stole the heartpine floor planks, 3s planed them, and lightly sanded the tops, followed with water poly. Has held up well to boots and mud very well.
If you can find some engineered wood flooring and a surface prep membrane, you could glue down wood floor in the basement.

 

Sub'd. Looks Great! I'd love to do something like this one day.

 

I installed and finished wood floors for about 12 years. Started when I was 16. I've also laid tile floors and engineered floors (snap together stuff). I think my best option for the basement is a swiftlock type flooring. Not too keen on glueing down floor to the slab. Also not too sure about setting tile on it. Carpet, no. I want something that can move a little if it had too. If my wife would let me cut and dye it I would, but she doesn't think it will look good .

I'd love to see that floor in the cabin of yours. My dad's house has random width heart pine flooring from a barn that was torn down somewhere in Ohio. Looks killer. I refinished for it for him about 6 years ago.

 

Same here, been a finish carpenter/tile/etc since the nineties. Doing a ground up resto on a bathroom with full tile shower now. Here's a couple shots of the barn floor. Went through three sets of planer blades on these planks. Dewalt 13" planer was howling! Left the original kerf marks where I could. No stain. Satin water poly.

 

That looks great. The saw marks add a lot of character. In the house I live in now, I laid 3 1/4" red oak crap. It is knotted up, worm holed, cull pile junk.......it looks awesome (well it did when I first put it down.....kids toys and dogs).
I like water based poly myself, easy to put down, and durable. I really miss the building and work I used to do. Now I have a shitty office job. This house has really been enjoyable to do. Not just because it is mine but I enjoy the work.
I have been doing lots of reading and video watching about tile shower installation. I will be doing the one in the master bathroom, and I have never done a tile shower before. I'm really excited to do it. My day dreams now consist of trim work, flooring and cabinets.

 

Use Schluter Kerdi in your shower

 

The orange looking kerdi board with the screws and washers?

 

Thats Kerdiboard , you can use that or just the Kerdi fabric over drywall or whatever substrate you choose

 

I see. I was looking into the Red Guard rubbery coating and another one (forgot the name, it's green looking). As with everything building, there are numerous ways to do the same thing. I assume you have used the Kerdi product before?

 

Yeah , we use it in every shower . I just used 1/2" kerdiboard in my own shower too

They also make premade shower pans and curbs , its a great system and pretty bullet proof

http://www.schluter.com/schluter-us/en_US/Shower-System/c/SS

 

They make some badass stuff, I used them in my laundry room that used to be part of the deck. House looks great I wish I had that much knowledge to build a house but I guess I'll stick with my Lincoln logs

 

I use the red guard stuff mainly because of familiarity and cost. The kerdi product looks like a good system, but its quite a bit more expensive compared to the pvc liner,
mortar base, redguard system. I also like the hardi back for my wall board compared to the durarock, mainly because its quick and easy to score,snap, and screw into place. Million different ways to skin that cat.

On another note, I have the mitsubishi mini split heat pump, I highly reccommend the mr. slim units over standard ducted systems. Best investment I made in my house. It also has a great dehumidifier system for the humidity down here in the deep south. Mine costs less than $20/mo to run the 12k btu unit.

 

FYI , you can use a dry pack mortar bed with the Schluter system , you just use the Kerdi over it , which gives you the same advantage of shaping custom sized / sloped / shaped pans but unlike the old school system witb EPDM liner that goes under the mortar bed , the Schluter system has the waterproofing layer on top of the mortar bed so that mass of mortar does not become and remain saturated with water

 

My plan is too add a wood burning furnace outside and tie it into my HVAC and water. I have 5 wooded acres and access to a lot more so I have a plentiful wood supply. That should help out on the heat bill. As far as AC goes, I don't feel as if this place will be to hard to cool with all the shade I get.

I'm still in the research phase of this. My biggest problem is cost. I need to keep this on the lower price range. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to skimp, but I need the cost effective way to do things. I need to price some of this stuff and see what I can do.

It's been said over and over...there are many ways to do the same thing with the same outcome, it just needs to be done correctly, that is the main part.

 

I just had to cut the header out for the main basement exterior door. It was 2" too small and I didn't realize it until last night. PIA but not too bad to do.




Almost finished. After this I am moving the exterior door in the garage (that should be fun).

 

I know there is money in it, but dang I don't like plumbing. The waste is done (minus vent out the roof), supply is 40% complete. I ran out of Pex and need to get more. 1 million different kinds of fittings make plumbing a major PITA. If you don't have one certain thing it will ruin your day.
The MBR shower. Tile project.

 

Another major PITA is the fact that the ceilings in the basement are finished. I have to tuck everything up into the 2x10 floor joists. I tried to get my wife to let us put in a drop ceiling and she said no. We will see. The HVAC will be another headache in that area as well.


Chipping away, doing what I can.

 

It looking great, Bob! You need to check out Oz's shower if you haven't already. Whole bath, actually.

 

He has made a few comments.

You know where it is? Shoot me a link?

 

Its all looking good!