Recent content by hydrojim

A financial update for those interested: DIY costs: Framing Tools: $1,000 Windows: $863 Doors: $550 Paint: $1,500 400A electrical upgrade and underground utilities: $6,670 Framing Lumber: $3,030 Sheathing: $2,228 Trusses: $5,081 Concrete Foundation & Sit Prep: $15,945 Plumbing (so far): $404...

Whether I realized it or not, I think the concrete guy soured me on the project so progress was slow for a while. I also did a lot of travelling and I've been working on and racing my Lotus Elise. In August I got around to starting to paint. Primer. I don't love being on an extension ladder and...

Almost done with my complaining... They left a nice rusty chain in my yard. The grass grew perfectly to obscure it so of course I went right over it with my lawnmower which tore up a belt and a pulley. I didn't feel like I had much recourse here since they only indirectly caused the damage...

From February through April I dealt with the concrete guy from hell. I entered into the contract on 01/24 and he said he could start right away and we agreed the work would be done within 30 days as stated on the contract. I didn't make the final payment until 04/17. It took him that long to do...

A long time since the last update. I have a lot of pictures so this will be spread across a few posts. After the holidays, I ran out of time off from work so I ended paying someone to install the siding & soffit. They didn't do things as well as I would have done them, but it was a decent job...

The garage door got installed on 01/19 while I was on work travel. The guy showed up unannounced, but I'm pretty happy with the work. I just need a 5/8" shim where the tracks attach to the ceiling to account for future drywall. He said he got sick so he's coming back next week to install the...

Here is a timelapse of the build up to this point: I parked my daily driver inside for the first time:

Housewrap was a lot more of a pain than I anticipated. It was windy and driving in all the cap nails by hand was quite tedious. I'm not a huge fan of the hammer stapler approach but by the 4th row up the wall, I was happily using the hammer stapler to save some time. By 01/08 I had all my...

The day after Christmas we framed in for the garage door opening and placed the LVLs just in time for some rare Alabama snow. The next day, we finished placing the final hand-framed truss. In subsequent days it was just a matter of sheathing the walls and starting the roof sheathing. On...

I had the shelter wrapped up just in time to start framing. My dad and my step mom came and helped me out with the build for two weeks. Great memories for sure! Overall, I underestimated the time needed to complete the job by about 2X. I previously helped my dad with his 30x40x16 versatube...

After the slab cured, I started building up the tornado shelter. This was my first time doing masonry so it was definitely a learning process. I learned a lot about what not to do and a little bit about what works. I broke my finger playing softball at the end of July so that delayed my progress...

My schedule was originally for the 2022 labor day timeframe, but that got delayed to around Christmas / New Year.

I'd go 6 inch for future versatility. Minimal delta in cost. Make sure to keep track of the pex tubing in the slab so you don't drill into it for anchors. Usually wait 30 days for coatings.

The reviews on Ballistix are definitely mixed. I've been following closely since I'll be doing my floor in the spring. At this point I'd recommend everyone do a sample area before committing to do their whole garage. Numerous threads here have noted application issues.

I recently paid about $9k for 864 sq ft of 8" concrete. 4500 psi, supposedly fiber reinforced. Early entry control joints. I also needed a concrete pump. However, there was minimal formwork required and I did all the backfill, compaction, rebar, and vapor barrier. I felt the quote was on the...