Reno One

Current Plumbing project. All new ABS plumbing drains to replace clogged up 1960's cast iron. Adding 3 additional bathrooms for a total of 5. Will need to upgrade water service per city bylaw to 1" pex. A Navien 200 000 BTU on demand hot water system with 3/4 gas connection will be used. Lots of jackhammering in the basement concrete slab and prepping the trenches for the pipe. 50 bags of Quikrete to fill things back in.... A total plumbing refurb/upgrade including all drains, hot and cold supply lines , and on demand water system ,(5 bathrooms) materials and labor costs approximately $14 000 Our basic bathroom remodel starts at $7000 It includes a Maax Fiberglass tub and surround with glass doors...A new vanity and faucet with tile backsplash. Vinyl floor, new paint and trim. New bathroom fan installation.

Stucco Removal. (Invigorating Job!) So you want new lap siding on your house but you have existing stucco? You can't nail through stucco so you need to use furring strips. We decided to remove the stucco entirely. Procedure:... 1: Cut a line through the stucco with a circular saw and masonry disc. Usually one line at chest height horizontal to the ground is all you need with 1 vertical line somewhere in the middle. (4'X4' squares work too) The idea is to cut through the stucco and the wire mesh that the stucco is embedded in. You will know you have gone deep enough when you see sparks. You can also visually inspect and set your circular saw to the appropriate depth. Have a hose and a helper on hand to wet the cut as you go, which does wonders for keeping dust down. A respirator is always a must for a job like this. 2) With a heavy duty pry bar work your way along the cut line slowly peeling away the stucco. Some stucco comes off easier than others. If your house is older and has 3/4" ship lap siding with nails holding the stucco wire mesh in place it will be harder to remove than a newer house with 1/2" plywood and staples holding the stucco in place. 3) Once the stucco is removed you will have a big project getting the debris to the dump. Plan for around a $500 dumping fee. On top of additional labor costs to load it up and get it there. Now that all the stucco is removed you need to wrap your house in Tyvek, and maybe upgrade your soffits, fascia and gutters at this point, before the new siding goes up.

Drywall 101 So how do you insure a professional looking job every time, with hand tools? Here are some basic tips. Ok for starters i recommend installing boards vertical rather than horizontal, when your ceiling height is less than 8' (usually in basements)... When embedding tape (first coat) on the beveled joints make sure that there is not too much mud left under the tape..you want to make sure the taped joint still sits below the bevel. Also make sure to wipe mud over the top of the tape to get it wet but then wipe it all off this will ensure that the tape doesn't bubble as it dries. The next day (second coat) just fill the bevel with an 8" buddy knife, flush. Third day, float the bevel flush, once again this time with a 12" knife, the mud will always shrink back when it dries so this third coat is making sue the bevel is flush and you are building it out ever so slightly. The less mud you use the better, you don't want to create a hump... Corner Beads. You can use metal or paper corner beads. I like metal for high traffic areas, paper for bulkheads. The trick with paper beads is the make sure the drywalled corners are quite tight or you will have to back fill them before putting on the paper corner bead. If voids do form you can drill the metal and inject mud with a syringe...seems weird but it works! With metal beads you don't have to worry about air pockets. Inside corners first coat. apply mud to both inside corner of the wall with a 2.5" buddy knife. embed the tape, wipe off excess, making sure the tape gets wet on top to ensure no bubbles when drying. Second coat, you can only do one inside corner at time. Let it dry and do the other side the next day. I like to use a 4" knife for inside corners. Taper the mud so you don't have a huge ridge to sand when it dries. 4) Butt Joints - You have to build them out at least 3 ft to hide the hump which will invariably exist. In a basement if you run drywall vertical (8' ceiling) , you will only run into butt joints on the ceiling. Sanding - the secret to sanding is not putting a bunch of mud on the wall in the first place which will just be sanded off anyways. I first go over every joint with a pole sander to knock things down a bit. Never go right into a corner with a pole sander it will gouge, say 1" away from the corner and then sand the last inch by hand, with a bevelled sanding sponge. I use a LED hand held light and then i feather out by hand. Mark problem areas with a piece of coloured chalk. If you have any questions just let me know...or you could just watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VpzUYln8g4

So have you ever had a flood in your basement due to a bursting hot water tank? If you have you probably know how to prevent such things in the future, but if you havn't here are a few things to know so as to avoid costly flooding. Im mostly talking about gas and electric tanks, not on demand systems. First of all, your gas hot water tank should be replaced after 10 years, even with yearly maintenance it should be swapped out, an electric tank you can push to twelve years. ...Maintenance: 1) Every year drain and flush the tank to remove sediment that has settled at the bottom of the tank. 2) Every year inspect the anode rode to make sure it is functioning properly, its what helps your tank not rust from the inside out, it usually needs to be replaced every 4-5 years. 3) Check your t&p (temperature & pressure) valve twice a year to make sure it is working properly. You can do all of these things yourself or call a plumber and have them do it for you. In the long run it is much better than flooding out your newly renovated space because you decided your hot water tank had a couple more years left. You always Win with Reno One This link goes into a little more detail about what im talking about. https://plumbingtoday.biz//3-things-that-can-cause-your-wa

Before and after

Before and After