My top projects that I would be happy to not do again and leave to the pro's

: 2023

[00:00:00] It's around the house. I went and rented all the right materials, got everything right, and I tell you what, that Swedish finish that they had put on it back in the eighties or whatever it was, it was a nightmare to fight it come everything up. I had to go really, really heavy on the grit just to get that off, and it was a complete issue.

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[00:00:45] When it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know. We've got you covered. This is around the house. Welcome to the Round the House Show. This is where we helped you get the most outta your home through. [00:01:00] Information and education. Wow. After Memorial Day weekend, it is what I call summertime.

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[00:01:23] Look for around the House Show and the television show, which is around the House Northwest. You can find both of those on Facebook and Instagram. And, uh, make sure you follow us over there. And we do have a close group on, uh, called Around the House Nation if you wanna post up projects, have questions.

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[00:02:01] And yes, there are projects out there that if you look turnkey between both of them, You can see one of 'em is gonna be cheaper to have the pro come do it, so that way you can go fishing, whatever you wanna do while the work's being done, and you don't have to worry about it. Now, the first one today on my list here, and there's gonna be, there's gonna be a little asterisk at the end of our hour today on this because there are some of these that I'm gonna say.

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[00:02:58] And if you think about it, there [00:03:00] is so much power hiding up in those springs cuz that's what lifts the garage door and that garage door. Like mine for instance, the have in my house, it's wooden, so it, it's a 16 by seven garage door with wooden glass. When you go to lift that, it's hundreds of pounds and that is what makes it lift so easily is that torsion spring.

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[00:03:42] These are things that you do not want to tackle yourself. Now, there are ways to do like the, the little rollers on the side if you do it carefully. But the bottom roller where that cable is tied to, that's another issue. So when in doubt on a garage door, have a garage door [00:04:00] company come out, get it tuned up, and you'll be good.

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[00:04:20] Yeah, absolutely. Do you wanna mess with that torsion spring and the bearings and all that? No. That's where you bring the pro in and let them deal with it. That's the crazy fun part with that. So if you can do that, you'll be good to go. That's the key with that. Bring a pro in for garage door repair. Now the same thing goes to garage door installation as well.

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[00:04:58] I go ahead and let [00:05:00] that professional come in and we're gonna actually do a video here coming up in the next few months. I've got a garage door on order right now that we're gonna do for, uh, around the House Northwest to really be able to cover that because, uh, we're gonna talk about how dangerous those things are so you can kind of get an idea what to look at now when you have a garage door spring break.

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[00:05:35] Never just replace one spring. You've already gotta torn apart. They've already gotta do it. Put the other spring in there. It's really just costing the parts Anyway, and that's where it's at. Now, the next one here on my list is a big one, and I have done this myself and quite frankly, after doing it myself, I'm not doing it again.

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[00:06:16] So we. Sanded it down. I went and rented all the right materials, got everything right, and I tell you what, that Swedish finish that they had put on it back in the eighties or whatever it was, it was a nightmare to fight. It gummed everything up. I had to go really, really heavy on the grit just to get that off, and it was a complete.

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[00:07:00] You've gotta sand it. Screened it. You've gotta get all the dust off of it, all the corners and edges. And then, uh, I even had some issues where, uh, the finish had worn through and there was some contamination. And when you're putting over, like somebody had waxed it at one point, and so they'd put wax over it and the wax had gotten into the wood, which caused staining issues.

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[00:07:37] And yes, it's thousands of dollars and I'd just much rather have somebody else do it. Can you do it if you're patient and you got plenty of time? Yeah. But the problem is, is that it's not going to be a weekend project for more, most people. So if you're taking a week off of work and you're gonna redo your floors, You're probably okay, but you just can't have anybody on it while you're working on it.

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[00:08:17] Now, in my experience, at least in my area here, the markup that the home centers and places have on insulation is enough that I have been able to get for the price of insulation or less have someone come in and do the project. So that means if you want to reinsulate your attic, that every quote that I've ever had, From people out there, it was cheaper to have them come in and do the project than it was for me to go buy the insulation and do it myself.

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[00:09:08] In heck, you're gonna gain a couple days of time and not have to be in that crawlspace or attic. So that's a win-win for everybody. All right, when we come back, we've got so many more here on our list today and, uh, including a bunch of honorable mentions of my top projects. For you to leave to the pros.

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[00:09:46] Should I be loud? Be so hot.[00:10:00]

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[00:10:29] Hardwood floor refinishing. And we are just wrapping up our discussion about insulating a crawlspace or attic. That is one of those at every single time that I have found that, uh, well, I've gotten cheaper quotes that I can buy the materials for, and that's when I have no problem letting 'em take care of it.

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[00:11:16] You need to figure out all the things that are going on with your system and you wanna have a pro sitting there working on it for you, cuz that's really where the problems arise. For instance, if you own a carrier brand system, let's say like I do, you want that carrier tech to come out and to really sit there and know what's going on with your system.

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[00:11:55] Service contracts. I think for this is a good thing. And if you do have a [00:12:00] failure, when you have a service contract, in most cases it gets you through. That thing first, where you're probably gonna be on the shortlist, you are a existing customer to them. So you getting somebody out there faster is gonna be key.

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[00:12:34] So having that annual service done on your H V A C system and making sure that someone's taking care of it 24 7 is a good thing. So something to consider there. Now, H V A C systems are not a DIY project. And here's why, and let's talk about this for a few minutes because I really wanna, I really want you to think about this, especially if you're thinking about upgrading your system or putting a heat [00:13:00] pump in this year.

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[00:13:41] You need to have a great installation. Mixed with a great product and you as a DIYer is not a great installation. I want somebody coming out to do heat calculations and figure out how many windows, which way the house is facing, how much air needs to move, what your [00:14:00] temperature is. These are things that most homeowners are gonna do poorly.

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[00:14:41] You want somebody trained that's going to tell you what system you need in there and to be able to stand behind it. I've had people do bad calculations, and guess what? They had to come out and fix it because they didn't do the calculation right. Now, here's the thing too. If you're in a place like I am where [00:15:00] you get to be, you know, minus 10 on a very cold winter day.

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[00:15:34] So just keep that in mind when you're doing things. Okay. That's part of that process. So that's a big one. Making sure that that H V A C is done by a pro is where you're good. Now, here's the next one. Major drywall projects that require texture. Now, if you're just doing a smooth wall and you're gonna do it great, but if you're redoing your, if you're taking that eighties paneling [00:16:00] down in the den and you're gonna put up new drywall in there and you're gonna texture it, this is not your basic DIY project that you want to look good.

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[00:16:38] Now, here's the problem. Some textures, there's not really a good way to do that, so you have to redo that entire area. Sometimes it's better. To have somebody come in and just do that drywall work for you. So it's done. It's done by the artist. It's beautiful. And yes, you've paid a little bit, [00:17:00] but that is going to be, you know, I've got tons of bad patches in my house.

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[00:17:27] I don't want to do an a, uh, just a, uh, you know, a standard knockdown or an eggshell texture. I don't wanna mess with it. So that's where I'm gonna go in and really knock out those, the professional, do it so it looks perfect, you know? And there's different levels of finish as well. You know, you can't just say, Hey, I want a smooth wall.

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[00:18:11] So really, when you're talking about drywall, I would let that go. That is a great one to have other people tackle and that way it's done right and you can paint over it and it'll look good at the end. All right, we come back so much more about projects. You should let the pros tackle just as soon as around the house returns.[00:19:00]

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[00:19:23] Maybe it's safety, maybe it's quality, maybe it's something that's a learned skill that's gonna take you as a homeowner a while. So here we go. Let's keep going on this one. Now, here's the next one, which I think there's plenty of YouTube videos of this going badly, but let's talk about it. Large tree removal in the city.

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[00:20:09] Um, places they didn't want to. Power lines go down the list and, uh, when in doubt if you can't drop it down, if it bounces, if there's nothing for it to bounce on, then the only person that's gonna get hurt is you. But the rest of that could be a problem. So that's really what I want you to, to take a peek at.

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[00:21:00] So they're going through that process. That's how that works in my neighborhood. So understand what trees can be removed and what the legal process is. I have four trees in my front yard that it would take me probably a year to 18 months to get through the city process because they're healthy, they're in good shape.

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[00:21:34] What I'm seeing is a tendency for dads to go out and dads, I'm calling you out on this one. Dad's to go out and really run the chainsaw and show the kids how to use it. If you are going to be teaching your kids how to use a power equipment, especially outdoor power equipment, can we please make an effort to do some kind of safety discussion with 'em?

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[00:22:23] That way they learn it the right way. There goes my little public serviceing amount smith to all you dads out there. Let's think about how we're teaching 'em so that we don't get them hurt later on, because we taught them poorly. So a large tree removal in the city is a big one. And I mean, I've seen people do it successfully, don't get me wrong, I have seen people go out and rent boom lifts and cut 'em into very small pieces.

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[00:23:11] I could have done it, I could have read up on code, but you know, something, I brought in the, uh, electrician to do it because I wanted to see it get done correctly, and I didn't want to ha, I didn't have time to be able to sit there. Because I'll be honest, I knew it was probably gonna get two or three call outs on a, on electrical, being a homeowner, doing an electrical panel when I called and get my building permit.

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[00:23:53] It's a split main panel where it's split up and it was made by Cutler [00:24:00] Hammer. And I had one of those panels that, um, you see, what happened is, is way back when in the, in the seventies, eighties and nineties, we had a problem. There were some companies out there putting out UL listed products that were not UL listed.

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[00:24:51] If your house is built in the seventies, sixties, seventies, eighties, and nineties, take a peek at it. You might be, uh, might be, uh, one of [00:25:00] those that need a upgraded panel. And if you're thinking about doing a, a car charger or something like that, now's the time to tackle that project. Cause I really want you to be safe with that.

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[00:25:45] The first thing I want you to do is to give a call to your local structural engineer. And pay them to come out and write you a report. That way, that report, you're gonna be golden guys. Have them write up [00:26:00] the re, the repair that will tell you what's going on. That way you're safe. Then if you're gonna do the repair yourself, you can follow that to a t cuz they will tell you what needs to be done or you're gonna go out and get your bids for it to be done correctly.

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[00:26:51] There are a lot of ways that you can do this without having to jack the house up again. Um, that's the key there. There's a lot of different options for you, so just think about that, where [00:27:00] you're working on that, but really foundation repairs. And then the other one I'm gonna go with here. Is digging out a basement or crawlspace, and we won't get to this before.

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[00:27:29] If you have four walls in a basement and a concrete floor, Sometimes if you have a lot of lateral pressure pushing that in from the outside, that basement floor has locked the bottom of the walls in. So if you have other foundation issues, that's what's holding everything from coming in. So if you take out the, if you go in and say, I'm just gonna take out my concrete floor in the basement and take it down, there's nothing holding the bottom of those walls in and you can have a problem.

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[00:28:18] You might be able to do some of that yourself, cuz some of this stuff is, uh, definitely not d i y homeowner. Type projects, but part of it is, we'll talk about that just as soon as around the house returns.[00:29:00]

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[00:29:22] How to, you know, stuff to leave to the pros, like garage door repair, garage door installation, hardwood floor refinishing. I just, can you do it? Yeah. Is it a lot of work? Absolutely. Insulating a crawl, spacer, attic. Yeah. Many times it's cheaper to have a pro do it than just to buy the materials. HVAC repair, replacement, large tree removal in the city.

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[00:30:06] So what I'll do is I'll cut out 50%. That's holding that wall out. And I'll put in a new fitting, a new footing and a new wall up, and then I'll come back in and at least with that new footing, I can lock in that wall. And so I've gone in and locked in those new footings and I pour those in A and B sections.

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[00:30:46] But again, you need to have a, a engineer, draw that up for you, come up with the plans, building permits, all that stuff. So you're good to go. So that is the key right there, making sure if you're do doing that, that is what it's all about. [00:31:00] All right, now here's some projects that I want to talk about here that are kind of my asterisks.

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[00:31:26] Maybe you've got a main stack you're gonna move where you're gonna place that vent so that things drain correctly. Is really key. And yes, I want you to pull building permits on this stuff so you can do it safely. And here's the key to this, and this is where it gets really important. You need things to drain.

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[00:32:17] If you don't like to hear somebody flush the toilet upstairs. That can be a big key right there. To making sure that you've got things pretty well quiet downstairs. Now, can you go a, B, S or P V C depending on what your building code is and insulate around it? Sure. But cast iron's really good for that.

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[00:32:57] Now the next one here is, um, major [00:33:00] electrical work, like hooking up a generator or hooking up a car charger Now, A car charger's a little easier cuz you know what you're doing. It's a simple circuit. You wanna make sure that you're hooking up in the panel correctly. You wanna make sure you're following all the building code.

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[00:33:35] Some of these issues you're dealing with floating neutrals and things like that, which are well beyond what many homeowners are, uh, commonly working with. And so those are things that I really want you to be able to have somebody come, you know, deal with it as a pro. So that way it's safe, that way you know it's correct and it's gonna pass into the inspections that need to happen.[00:34:00]

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[00:34:23] It's just part of pool ownership and having that looking good, but making sure that you are all dialed in on that in a pool is important. And then the next one here that I want to talk about is a big one. Here's the thing. Major concrete work is where you bring the artists in. This is the place that you really want it to be done and done correctly.

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[00:35:21] Because I tell you what, that prep work is where all the work is done and the rest of it is finished work when the mud shows up. Now that's the big key to doing a great project. And this is not a DIY or friendly game. That person out there doing the concrete work that concrete's expensive these days. So have the person come out, have 'em do it, start to finish.

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[00:36:14] Make sure they've got the right concrete mix showing up. Is this fiber reinforced? Is this something that's gonna be finished where you don't wanna see the fibers in it? What are you doing to make sure that this is done correctly and then getting the finished where they've got the edges right, the broom finish, right, or whatever is gonna happen, including stamping.

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[00:36:58] You can do that. [00:37:00] But if you think that you're just gonna run down to the home improvement store, get five or six pallets of red brick and go put red brick up on the wall, it's gonna look gorgeous. It's not how it's gonna work, it's gonna, it's gonna be a tough go and you need to know what goats behind it, cuz you're gonna have weeping holes, you're gonna have a rain screen, you're gonna have a place that if moisture gets back behind it, how to let that out.

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[00:37:43] Later Today I'm heading out to a project, I'm gonna go take a peek at where a homeowner ended up hiring somebody spent 140,000 bucks on a project and they have a hot mess, which it's probably gonna cost him 200 to fix it [00:38:00] because from the little bit of pictures I've seen, there is no business. I mean, the, the bathrooms are gonna have to be re gutted, and they didn't, they tried to save money and hired somebody that wasn't licensed, bonded, and insured.

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[00:38:33] So you'll be able to find that stuff. But it's really all about trying to make sure that you've got the right people going in and doing the job, and aren't gonna run away with your money. That's the key right there of having that. So do your research, sign the contracts, verify their license and their insurance so that way if they pour your concrete and it all ends up coming apart and they gotta rip it out and do it, you know you have somebody that has the ability to do this right, and is [00:39:00] gonna come back and fix it and not go out and run off with your money.

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[00:39:19] We'll see you then.