trwebb26 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I've owned 2 houses and both of them have been a terrible train wreck to work on. Every time I go to paint a room - some jackass has done some piss poor job previously and it takes me days of sanding/spackling to clean up their mess. I think what makes it the worst is the home improvement shows that say you can redo a complete room of a house in 1 day. I mean - It takes me a day just to get the room apart and start to spackle the holes and FLA on the walls. My Z build is on hold while I redo a bathroom and paint the baby room. I've already repainted the baby room - so it is in good shape, but this bathroom is another story. Sombody has repainted the bathroom in the past - and the paint is cracked terribly - spotty all over the walls. I originally thought it was quite strange because of how spread out the paint cracking was. So I dig in and start scraping the cracked paint off of the walls and I soon find out that there used to be wallpaper in the bathroom, but the guy who repainted didn't get all of the wallpaper glue off. It is kind of funny because the parts of the wall that are easy to reach are ok - but up high - and over the shower stall - and in the corners the paint is VERY cracked because the guy painted over the wallpaper glue. So today I took out several sections of drywall and replaced them because I didn't think I could do a good job of fixing the guy before me's horrible remodeling job. I started spackling the joints tonight but it sure seems like this kind of remodeling always takes way longer than it should because of incompetent previous owners that think just because they can buy a paint brush and paint - it makes them a home remodeler. Sorry for all of the bitching... Can anybody else share in my pain - or am I just way too uptight about my room refinishing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280zjoel Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 That sucks, I know how you feel. Ive gone through that but with cars, I always seem to get people who bring me their car to work on and I let them know about something that will need to be fixed soon and they ignore me and end up running the car to the ground, then they bring it back to me and expect me to fix it for next to nothing:weird:. Once I sold a 260z to someone and i ended up pulling the eibach springs for my 280z. I noticed that the hub in front had some play in it so i decided to take off the dust cap and check it out. Man did I FREAK OUT when I saw what the PO did to it. Aparently he stripped the thread on the spindle, what did he do? He ground down the threads on a smaller size nut and hammered it into the spindle like it was a sleeve TO HOLD THE HUB TOGETHER!!!!!! I was so pissed I couldnt believe it, at any moment the wheel would have come off and done some major damage... man that just boils my blood.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rolling Parts Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Even NEW houses have surprises of bad workmanship hidden in them. And yes, it's a PITA to do drywall work and bathroom tile. House projects are my least favorite thing to schedule for a weekend... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janaka Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Even NEW houses have surprises of bad workmanship hidden in them.And yes, it's a PITA to do drywall work and bathroom tile. House projects are my least favorite thing to schedule for a weekend... Isn't this the truth. My mom's house (where I am living till my house is built) is only 6yrs old and its unreal what we've come across in doing things. We are now finishing the basement and basically had to take down the studding/insulation to start over becuase of the piss poor job the previous owner had done. Thankfully my wife works for the builder (both my mom's house, and ours that is being built) so she has a few contractors that are working for an amazing rate to get it done for us. Some people just shouldn't own a hammer or drill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woldson Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Mine is a beautiful 1912 craftsman. The po's Sheetrock over the lath and plaster. When I do a room, I take it back to the studs, insulate all walls and ceilings, new, (and more) 12ga weiring, lots of low volt, heavily reinforce all framing, then use that thicker sheet rock on the walls (fire rated) only because it is soooo much stronger. I typically only like to do things once. My background in home construction is this house. If code requires 2x6, I will use 2x8's, why not, it is not that much more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I hate working on houses. Anything where +/- 1/2" is "good" just sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woldson Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 My home is so off after a couple of things I did, I threw away the level. Everything is done by eye, I'm becoming a master of optical illusions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
83zxowner Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 yeah i have started to notice i am way to much of a perfectionist lately. i go into maybe 20-30 houses a week ( i fix appliances)and even in the new ones i find all kinds of wierd stuff. i have seen houses where you can tell all they did was slap on some mud and then painted right over it without sanding. i cant believe some of the things people do. just today i was in a house where they didnt have a new receptacle so they cut the end of the cord to a washer and wire nutted it together.it would habe only take 80 cents to fix the outlet but noooooo. thats way to much work. if your gunna go through all that work why do it half @$$ed ya know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrustnut Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 My last house in Georgia was pretty bad. My Wife and I re-did almost the entire house and found not one, not two, but THREE layers of wallpaper that was painted over. I found three layers of linoleum on the floor when I went to put down pergo, the fan in our computer room actually had a hole cut in the ceiling above the power outlet so that the wiring could drop down INSIDE the house and be plugged into the wall. The best one was when I was cutting the pergo for an interior wall and found out that from the corner to the end (I think it was like three or four feet) the wall was off square by over three inches. I thought maby it was just because it was an older house built in the south... lack of codes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossman Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I hate working on houses. Anything where +/- 1/2" is "good" just sucks. LOL, man can I relate! I regularly deal in thousandths of an inch at work and come home to work on my house where the walls are easily out 1/2 inch or more. It's a difficult adjustment. I know what you mean about the remodeling shows. They show the easy part and act like the whole job is easy as pie. My wife watches that stuff to get ideas. At first she was expecting me to turn around a bathroom remodeling job in a week! I had to educate her on what it really takes. Now she sees the BS they show on HGTV. There is lots of BS not just remodeling: home prices, materials usage, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazeum Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I'm into reviewing the decoration of the flat I've purchased lately. I thought it would be piece of cake to do... after many days with 4 of my friends, we are still not done clearning up walls, ceiling,... It takes so much time (and dust) to make it nice. I have to redo the whole bathroom... I can't imagine how much time it would take. Of coure, it takes precedance over the Z, so no Z fun for me this summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETEW Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Try moving into an old farmhouse that was built in the 1700's. You want to talk about years of half assed workmanship! I have spent the last 5 years of my life working on this house. Problem is, I like the old school stuff. There is no way you could rebuild this house the way it was done due to costs. The one thing I really hate is the previous owner put texture paint everywhere. I HATE texture paint! There is no good way to take it off of plaster walls, either. I am glad I am finally done so I can start to work on the Z more. The 280Z has sat since we are here waiting for some one to finish her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I've owned 2 houses and both of them have been a terrible train wreck to work on. Every time I go to paint a room - some jackass has done some piss poor job previously and it takes me days of sanding/spackling to clean up their mess. I feel your pain. I have remodeled several houses and the last one was the most intense. Old, neglected, or just plain broken parts of the house are difficult to address because there are always deeper issues!! (like termite damage) "Screw it!" I have yelled and then ripped out all the old sheetrock just to give myself a level, solid surface to work on. Man, I know what you are going through. We opted for a newer home to avoid having to put so much time & effort into redoing an older home. It is great in that the house is relatively sound but, as with all things we own, it is never just "good enough" the way that it is. We want to change the color, we want to change the floor, etc, etc. Homeowner's disease never ends Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrustnut Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 The house I own now is a 2006, and I have noticed a couple soft spots in the floor. Even new houses have there downfalls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Evangeline Parker Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Ya it's really pain full and I know it's really hurts I have all the sympathy for you why don't you check this site http://homecontractorsdirect.ca/ hope it'll help you it's a good site which is made for home contractor.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Try working at Home Depot.. i swear 9 out of 10 people are complete idiots and refuse to listen to the advice we recommend. (4 out of 5 associates are complete idiots too lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi303 Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 try working on a house that's been through an earthquake and then 70 years of additions and extensions and modifications... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naviathan Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I've owned 2 houses and both of them have been a terrible train wreck to work on. Every time I go to paint a room - some jackass has done some piss poor job previously and it takes me days of sanding/spackling to clean up their mess. I think what makes it the worst is the home improvement shows that say you can redo a complete room of a house in 1 day. I mean - It takes me a day just to get the room apart and start to spackle the holes and FLA on the walls. My Z build is on hold while I redo a bathroom and paint the baby room. I've already repainted the baby room - so it is in good shape, but this bathroom is another story. Sombody has repainted the bathroom in the past - and the paint is cracked terribly - spotty all over the walls. I originally thought it was quite strange because of how spread out the paint cracking was. So I dig in and start scraping the cracked paint off of the walls and I soon find out that there used to be wallpaper in the bathroom, but the guy who repainted didn't get all of the wallpaper glue off. It is kind of funny because the parts of the wall that are easy to reach are ok - but up high - and over the shower stall - and in the corners the paint is VERY cracked because the guy painted over the wallpaper glue. So today I took out several sections of drywall and replaced them because I didn't think I could do a good job of fixing the guy before me's horrible remodeling job. I started spackling the joints tonight but it sure seems like this kind of remodeling always takes way longer than it should because of incompetent previous owners that think just because they can buy a paint brush and paint - it makes them a home remodeler. Sorry for all of the bitching... Can anybody else share in my pain - or am I just way too uptight about my room refinishing? Hope I'm not too late, but I would highly recommend High Fill primer for the glue riddled walls. I painted a projector screen on my wall and had to use high fill primer to smooth out the crappy workmanship from previous owners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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