Also in May we had our basement rim joists insulated, there was little to no insulation in the basement and we desperately needed some, here's a few before and afters



There was some 1" fg insulation in some of the joists, but we had serious air leakage coming in all the way around, also the door had no insulation around the wood framing






A couple afters, we did spray foam all the way around the basement and it made a huge improvement

 

More house project updates, this project started back in April or May and has been going on for some time.... When we redid our deck, we opted to leave the joists and stair runners which were all painted. In hindsight we should have removed all given how bad the latex paint was on the deck overall. Here is a few befores of what was left to be removed which I've been working on here and there for months.



I spent hours stripping, scraping, and sanding the old paint as some adhered better than other, but it was difficult and extremely tedious and time consuming.



The stripper worked somewhat, but not great. Power tools did prove to work a bit better.



When stripping, I definitely put the scrapers through their paces and several of them ended up cracked or broken



We also pressure washed some of the harder to get paint with mixed results. In addition to sanding and prepping the wood, there also were a lot of old bolt and screw holes from the previous deck, so I filled all of those with wood putty and sanded.



You don't realize how many holes there are till you have them all filled lol



We also did a quick pressure wash on the decking to make sure it was clean and ready for stain. Here's a before



Given the gap between the boards we opted to use a brush in order to get down between the boards and to hit the top of the joists, I wanted to use rollers, but this definitely was the slower and more tedious way to do it



Coming along, almost halfway through first coat



Finishing up the first coat, working my way to the stairs



Final result of first coat, coverage was good, but I see why they recommend at least 2 coats



Some more of the first coat finished






We had my Daughter's 2nd bday here at the house, so I setup the grill. It was a hot and humid day!

 

Back at it, we started off getting the second coat down on the deck boards, the stain definitely covered and cured much better with the second coat and really sealed the wood decking on the second coat.






My wife came out and helped get the railing started



The next day we started by doing all the rest of the hand rails and stringers with the first coat, and then started on the long side of spindles



We managed to get the entire outside rail and all of the spindles done with the first coat, painting the spindles is extremally time consuming and tedious



I also did all of the handrails on the steps, and the right stringer since we had a few drops on that side.



And another look at the outer rail. Weather has been up and down so finding days to stain after 24 hrs no rain and 24 hrs no rain after for it to cure have been few and far between, but definitely making progress. More progress to come for sure

 

Looking good.

I had my water heater fail this year too and came out to a garage with water in it. Here is to hopefully 15 years+ for us both with the new ones.

 

Nice work.
Send some of that rain our way, we need something to break this heat wave.

 

Looks awesome. Makes me even happier for going with maintenance free, that looks like it fucking sucked.

 

Lol yeah it sucks, and we're not done haha

 

Wow, that deck is amazing! If my backyard was big enough I would totally do that, great job!

 

Thanks!

 

Nice work!

 

Thanks bro

Some more progress yesterday, got the driveway side spindles and stringer done, also got the stair spindles and outer stringer done as well















More to come today

 

Man, I can't imagine how long that must be taking but well worth it, based on the pics.

 

Too long lol, It is definitely tedious, I especially hate being on a ladder, but yes well worth it for sure

 

Looking good. End result, eyes on the prize.

 

Thanks man

More progress today, only the stairs are left without their first coat. I'm sore af and have calluses on my hands, but it's looking great




,

 

Definitely does not make me miss having a 2 story home.

 

I hear you there, I love having the car port under the deck for a third parking spot, but spending almost a week straight on a ladder is not fun

 

I've got 3 kids, so the upstairs circus & footfall noise is not missed.
2nd story work on a ladder is no fun either.

 

Got the stairs done today, also finished the underneath and the other stringer. Pain in the ass, but it's all stained. Fighting the weather the rest of the week

 

How long does the stain end up lasting?

 

Looks really good!
Almost looks like you painted it brown in which case I probably would not have bothered stripping.

 

Sadly the paint that was on the deck was peeling and so poorly applied that I had to remove anything that was loose or questionable, but I definitely questioned myself as I painted over certain painted parts lol

 

It has a "lifetime guarantee" no idea how long it will actually last, but solid stain is supposed to last the longest.

 

Well it looks incredible
You have a pretty big deck, man.

 

That's what my wife tells me

 

Trim those bushes back and it'll look even bigger.

 

I almost cut that whole damn tree down when I was trying to paint around it

 

The deck looks amazing. Great work, Ack.

 

You just made up my mind of wanting to spend the extra money for composite on my landing. Looks greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!

 

I didn't use composite?

 

Maybe all your work pushed him to avoid that route

 

Looking good man. Will be well worth the work to enjoy it all finished for the fall. I don't hate being on ladders but I am sure I would after all that.

 

That was my assumption as well

I don't hate ladders either, but the hill around the far side of the deck slopes in so many different ways it made it very precarious to be up that high

 

The amount of work you did, makes me want to avoid that for my project. Composite it is!

 

:pofl; Totally hear you, if it was in our budge we definitely would have done it. Sadly with a small child and paying for daycare we just couldn't swing it. More big house projects on the horizon though

 

After staining my deck last year and cleaning this year (and it looking terrible)...yeah, do composite

 

We had a few nice days without rain, so I was able to get all of the handrails and runners stained with their second coats. I also was able to do the second coat on the stairs, as well as the stair runners and the underneath of the stair treads. The only thing that doesn't have a second coat is the spindles, however that may wait until spring time given the amount of effort.



But the second coat really makes the stairs and everything look more finished and sealed. The wood actually looks like Trex decking now, which is great. Just hope it holds up.

 

Wow, can't believe I haven't updated this thread in 2 years lol. Well, in March of 2024 we had our air ducts sealed, and our attic sealed and insulated.



This is supposed to improve the airflow from the airducts.



The next day they started sealing up the attic, including wrapping the skylight and shower area



Everything was sealed






We had some crappy plywood as a floor, so we had them build a storage platform as part of the project.



Coming together



Wrapped and sealed



Storage platform



Then they blew in the cellulose insulation



All finished



Looking good

 

In July 2024 we had to replace all of our sewer pipes because the ABS under our basement floor was sagging and causing a belly. Here's some before and afters. Here's the laundry room



Basement area



The sag old pipe was in this area going out to the garage



The original rough in that was put in when the house was built. Those pipes coming down are from the master bath.



Middle of the basement



And then the jack hammering started



Laundry room



Rough in area by garage



Starting in the garage



And more



Basement area into the laundry room



Laundry room



The cutting and digging took longer than expected because the concrete was all reinforced with rebar



Chasing the pipe to the outside access



Told them we wanted it dug all the way to the foundation wall



More and more digging



My poor garage....



And here is the sagging pipe, they said it was probably left in the sun while the house was being built which caused it to warp and bend



The bent pipe



New piping going in



And then the concrete



All finished :gheywave:

 

Damn man. That is crazy and awful to have to tear all that up. I assume cause of the sagging pipe it was starting to cause a stench down there or was it causing things to not drain right as well?