Am I qualified to make these home renovations?
May 1, 2012 7:59 AM Subscribe
I just bought a small brick 1960s ranch house and I want to: 1) cover the outside of the cinder-block lower level with something like stucco, 2) get rid of the crappy grass in the yard and replace it with nice grass, and 3) replace the crappy vinyl siding with something like wood siding. Can a dummy like me pull this off?
More specifically:
1) I would like the lower level of the house to look less chintzy on the outside. Is it easy as covering with a more attractive material like stucco and painting it? Or isn't there some other material called porridge (or it sounds like that) that would work?
2) I've never planted grass before and not sure how easy it is or expensive it is or what kind to get or when to plant it. I'm looking into it, but wondering if anyone has had experience doing it and whether it's worth the effort.
3) Without a bit of research, is it easy enough to remove existing siding and putting up something more attractive?
I have minor experience with renovation, but none of the above I've ever tried. I'm trying to gauge whether I should do some research and plow forward and hope for the best, or if maybe I should hire someone to help with this. Thanks!
More specifically:
1) I would like the lower level of the house to look less chintzy on the outside. Is it easy as covering with a more attractive material like stucco and painting it? Or isn't there some other material called porridge (or it sounds like that) that would work?
2) I've never planted grass before and not sure how easy it is or expensive it is or what kind to get or when to plant it. I'm looking into it, but wondering if anyone has had experience doing it and whether it's worth the effort.
3) Without a bit of research, is it easy enough to remove existing siding and putting up something more attractive?
I have minor experience with renovation, but none of the above I've ever tried. I'm trying to gauge whether I should do some research and plow forward and hope for the best, or if maybe I should hire someone to help with this. Thanks!
I too have a 1960's house and I've hired out the projects you're discussing. What if you remove siding and discover no house wrap or insulation (been there, done that.)
Also, re: siding, Hardy-Plank is the way to go. It's fireproof and has something like a 50 year warantee. It's the #1 project you'll get your money back on. It's great!
As for stucco, think once, twice, then again. You might enjoy some brick or stone facing instead.
Sod. Not seed. I have a landscaper, she got a deal on a pallate of sod. The grass was something like $200, the labor was about $600. Zoysia, looks great.
Where do you live? That will dictate the type of grass you get. I like dichondra, but that's a northern California thing, and completely inappropriate for a hot Georgia summer, so Zoysia it is.
Many of the building trades are still suffering from the economic downturn, use this to your advantage to get some guys who know what they are doing and have the tools to do it. I've rarely saved money on the jobs that require very specific tools (backhoes, nailers, etc) by doing them myself. A pro can knock that shit out pronto.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 8:25 AM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Also, re: siding, Hardy-Plank is the way to go. It's fireproof and has something like a 50 year warantee. It's the #1 project you'll get your money back on. It's great!
As for stucco, think once, twice, then again. You might enjoy some brick or stone facing instead.
Sod. Not seed. I have a landscaper, she got a deal on a pallate of sod. The grass was something like $200, the labor was about $600. Zoysia, looks great.
Where do you live? That will dictate the type of grass you get. I like dichondra, but that's a northern California thing, and completely inappropriate for a hot Georgia summer, so Zoysia it is.
Many of the building trades are still suffering from the economic downturn, use this to your advantage to get some guys who know what they are doing and have the tools to do it. I've rarely saved money on the jobs that require very specific tools (backhoes, nailers, etc) by doing them myself. A pro can knock that shit out pronto.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 8:25 AM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Siding is not for amateurs. We're talking about the part of your house that keeps the weather out. It's only incidentally a decorative element, and A LOT can go wrong. Also, wood siding requires approximately 100000x more maintenance (need to check the exact figure). Contractors regularly charge many thousands and thousands, if not tens of thousands, to do a proper siding job, and there's a reason.
The other two: go for it. Start googling, you can definitely handle it with some learnin'
posted by Patbon at 8:26 AM on May 1, 2012
The other two: go for it. Start googling, you can definitely handle it with some learnin'
posted by Patbon at 8:26 AM on May 1, 2012
I would leave stucco to the professionals. It can get involved and if you don't do it right moisture can get trapped between the stucco and the subsurface and cause problems and then it just falls off in chunks and you are back to where started except for the wasted time and effort.
Redoing a grass lawn in simple, easy and some of the hardest work there is in home renovation. My process would be to
1. spray the whole thing with plain, quick deactivating round up.
2. spread any soil amemdments you may need (your local county extension office can probably do a soil test, or you can buy a kit and do a basic one yourself to find out what you need). At a minimum I would get some compost dumped and spread around the yard. You can buy compost in dump truck loads from a local garden place. You should get enough to cover the yard about 1 inch deep.
2. Rent a rototiller from your local rental place and till the whole yard (you can hire this part done if you aren't up to running a tiller-it can be tough if you have a decent sized yard)
3. spread seed. Buy a cheap push spreader and get one of the seed mixes with the fertilizer and weed killer in it. You can also buy bulk seed from the same garden center you got the compost from and get a seed mix tailored to your area, your shade/sun mix and your expected traffic on the yard. You can buy sod but it is much more expensive and harder work to spread and takes more water. However you get an instant, weed free, yard.
4. Water according to the directions on the seed mix or the garden center. In about 2-3 months you will have a beautiful yard.
Wood siding is pretty easy. I would but up a product called Hardieboardbut nothing wrong with plain cedar siding. It just takes more maintenance. I wouldn't do it without a nail gun and good quality miter saw however.
posted by bartonlong at 8:30 AM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Redoing a grass lawn in simple, easy and some of the hardest work there is in home renovation. My process would be to
1. spray the whole thing with plain, quick deactivating round up.
2. spread any soil amemdments you may need (your local county extension office can probably do a soil test, or you can buy a kit and do a basic one yourself to find out what you need). At a minimum I would get some compost dumped and spread around the yard. You can buy compost in dump truck loads from a local garden place. You should get enough to cover the yard about 1 inch deep.
2. Rent a rototiller from your local rental place and till the whole yard (you can hire this part done if you aren't up to running a tiller-it can be tough if you have a decent sized yard)
3. spread seed. Buy a cheap push spreader and get one of the seed mixes with the fertilizer and weed killer in it. You can also buy bulk seed from the same garden center you got the compost from and get a seed mix tailored to your area, your shade/sun mix and your expected traffic on the yard. You can buy sod but it is much more expensive and harder work to spread and takes more water. However you get an instant, weed free, yard.
4. Water according to the directions on the seed mix or the garden center. In about 2-3 months you will have a beautiful yard.
Wood siding is pretty easy. I would but up a product called Hardieboardbut nothing wrong with plain cedar siding. It just takes more maintenance. I wouldn't do it without a nail gun and good quality miter saw however.
posted by bartonlong at 8:30 AM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
For #1, do some research on brick bagging. Quick how-to here: BHG Australia. About half-way through, this insufferable video gets into how to do it with large brushes: Top Billing. You could always practice and perfect your technique on the back side of the house.
posted by loosemouth at 8:31 AM on May 1, 2012
posted by loosemouth at 8:31 AM on May 1, 2012
HardiePlank is a good product in lieu of actual wood siding, but take care to read the safety instructions and other documentation before doing it yourself. Some cutting of the planks will inevitably be required, and since HardiePlank is a composite product there's some nasty junk that can get airborne and into your lungs pretty easily if you don't wear the right kind of protection. Putting up wood siding is pretty easy as things go, but protecting the end grain against moisture infiltration can be tricky.
posted by LionIndex at 8:51 AM on May 1, 2012
posted by LionIndex at 8:51 AM on May 1, 2012
Installing the wood siding aside, it's a huge pain to get all the vinyl siding off the house and carted off to be disposed of properly.
posted by mikepop at 9:49 AM on May 1, 2012
posted by mikepop at 9:49 AM on May 1, 2012
I had neighbors that (for some reason) covered their stone house with some sort of spray on stucco. Seemed easy, but probably expensive, and stucco doesn't hold up well.
As for siding, don't get wood. It requires a ton of upkeep, those cedar shakes you linked turn grey in a couple years and make any house look like a shack. We had a crew install vinyl siding right over the original wood siding of our turn-of-the-century house. I don't know if that works with existing vinyl siding, but you may want to look into it, it would basically be extra insulation. Removing siding is a lot of work, but you could probably do it yourself it you are at all handy, it all just kind of hooks together, and you'd save a bit of money. I don't reccommend trying to install the new stuff yourself though.
For the grass, either get sod, or look into other options for attractive ground over, especially if you're somewhere very dry or where it's hard to grow nice grass. There are a lot of plants that grow better and more quickly than grass and will cover the area without every needing to be cut. A neighbor has their front yard landscaped in rocks and wildflowers. It looks very nice, but probably requires some planning to have stuff blooming at all times during summer. Googling turned up stepables.com which looks like a good place to start looking at alternatives to grass.
posted by catatethebird at 10:24 AM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
As for siding, don't get wood. It requires a ton of upkeep, those cedar shakes you linked turn grey in a couple years and make any house look like a shack. We had a crew install vinyl siding right over the original wood siding of our turn-of-the-century house. I don't know if that works with existing vinyl siding, but you may want to look into it, it would basically be extra insulation. Removing siding is a lot of work, but you could probably do it yourself it you are at all handy, it all just kind of hooks together, and you'd save a bit of money. I don't reccommend trying to install the new stuff yourself though.
For the grass, either get sod, or look into other options for attractive ground over, especially if you're somewhere very dry or where it's hard to grow nice grass. There are a lot of plants that grow better and more quickly than grass and will cover the area without every needing to be cut. A neighbor has their front yard landscaped in rocks and wildflowers. It looks very nice, but probably requires some planning to have stuff blooming at all times during summer. Googling turned up stepables.com which looks like a good place to start looking at alternatives to grass.
posted by catatethebird at 10:24 AM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
You don't necessarily need to rip the grass there out and deal with sod. A lot can be done with just regular watering and mowing, with appropriate fertilizers when needed. We contemplated sod years ago but never got around to it, and now that we have sprinklers installed, mow regularly, and have treated for weeds it looks really great.
If you are going to go through the effort of planting/laying new grass make sure existing sprinklers are up to snuff/or install a system.
posted by Big_B at 10:37 AM on May 1, 2012
If you are going to go through the effort of planting/laying new grass make sure existing sprinklers are up to snuff/or install a system.
posted by Big_B at 10:37 AM on May 1, 2012
I have never built anything in my entire life. I needed to build a bedroom. I built the room (from the framing to the drywall), installed an electrical circuit (4 outlets, 3 light fixtures, one light switch, a junction box, and a new circuit breaker) and even hung the door. All from watching Youtube videos. My advice is, watch at least 5 videos on each phase of the project and make a list of the things that you need. Over think the project - spend an hour each night staring at what you want to renovate, and write down everything. Make diagrams. You can do this. If I did what I did, anyone can.
posted by brownrd at 3:46 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by brownrd at 3:46 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I *had* never built anything. Until I built the aforementioned room.
posted by brownrd at 3:47 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by brownrd at 3:47 PM on May 1, 2012
Be aware that there might be asbestos siding hidden under that vinyl siding, and it may or may not be properly covered and sealed.
Asbestos siding is not much of a risk to your health unless you start breaking it apart or drilling into it, but that's exactly what you'll wind up doing if you rip off the vinyl and install wood. I'd at least have a cursory look under a small patch of your vinyl before committing to doing the replacement yourself.
If you haven't already had a home inspector thoroughly check your new house for issues that could cause problems during a renovation, you might want to.
posted by BlueJae at 4:26 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Asbestos siding is not much of a risk to your health unless you start breaking it apart or drilling into it, but that's exactly what you'll wind up doing if you rip off the vinyl and install wood. I'd at least have a cursory look under a small patch of your vinyl before committing to doing the replacement yourself.
If you haven't already had a home inspector thoroughly check your new house for issues that could cause problems during a renovation, you might want to.
posted by BlueJae at 4:26 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I don't love the look of concrete block foundations, but I'd landscape 1st to hide it before I'd try stucco.
Siding is often put on because what's under it is in bad shape, so assume the worst.
You can re-sod, or you can add organic matter, fertilizer, and generally whip the lawn into shape. Then you'll have to mow more often. This is something you can do.
posted by theora55 at 6:25 PM on May 1, 2012
Siding is often put on because what's under it is in bad shape, so assume the worst.
You can re-sod, or you can add organic matter, fertilizer, and generally whip the lawn into shape. Then you'll have to mow more often. This is something you can do.
posted by theora55 at 6:25 PM on May 1, 2012
I tried that routine for removing a terible lawn and seeding in a new one. After an unbelievable amount of work I gave up and called in a professional. The amount of attention that careful watering took drove my wife almost crazy. So IF you plan to put in a new lawn, consider paying a guy to do it, and also think seriously about installing underground sprinklers at the same time. (But the end result is oh so nice!)
If you take the "t" and the "o" out of "Stucco"…well, you be the judge.
Exterior siding can be tricky to hang level, so start somewhere hard to see -- say, the toolshed. :7) Make sure not to try to do it alone or you will be unhappy with the results. Keeping wood siding in good shape is, as has been pointed out, work. We chose to go with vinyl at the last house, and I was a hard sell until I lived with it for a year and didn't have to do anythign beyond power-washing it once or twice a year.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:59 AM on May 2, 2012
If you take the "t" and the "o" out of "Stucco"…well, you be the judge.
Exterior siding can be tricky to hang level, so start somewhere hard to see -- say, the toolshed. :7) Make sure not to try to do it alone or you will be unhappy with the results. Keeping wood siding in good shape is, as has been pointed out, work. We chose to go with vinyl at the last house, and I was a hard sell until I lived with it for a year and didn't have to do anythign beyond power-washing it once or twice a year.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:59 AM on May 2, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Forktine at 8:12 AM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]