Best friend's house burned on Easter five years ago

[zannej]

Thanks, Eddie. We have the pulls for the cabinets but haven't installed them yet. I need to find my kit for installing. Already have knobs for the bedroom door. Friend took the old door off and is moving it. He likes the oval shaped knob.
The old ceiling fan from the daughter's room (which had blades that went over the bed) was moved to the living room

Her new ceiling fan is in:

stock photo

She has pads specifically for bunk bed ladders on the ladder now. But from before:

I need to get one with the mattress and the gaming chair in place.

 

[zannej]

I don't have pictures of it, but my friend put up a wall to create a hallway and give his daughter some privacy for her bedroom. She loves it. Still needs the floor fixed and new flooring put in. That carpet doesn't even have pad underneath it and the floor is uneven. Also needs new paint as she no longer likes pink.

Friend wants to change the color of the kitchen cabinets. The gray was something his ex wanted. He & new gf decided they want maroon or some sort of dark red.

I did the layout of the rest of the house (but didn't add doors, windows, or furniture to the newer rooms. Colored the cabinets red (although they said they want something darker).

The crib and most of the furniture are now gone from the nursery. Kid tore stuff apart and they couldn't seem to get rid of the roaches getting into everything.

The Samsung stove stopped working properly (only one burner worked but only had one setting-- super hot). Got a new Hisense Air Fryer convection oven with glass top. Someone pointed out the stove needs to come up a little. Floor slopes down toward the back left corner so much that foot is as high as it can go. Needs shims to go any higher. He plans to drywall over the Relfectix.

I'm going to try to slowly fill in the rest of the house once I have more measurements and find approximations of the furniture (or make models of the furniture). He wants to replace the countertop with butcherblock all the way over to the stove. I think its about 9'. The countertop is sagging and he's not happy with it. Old butcherblock piece can be put in the laundry room as a folding table or something.

This was something I sent to my friend to show how it would look with the 36x30 cabinets and the red color. I have a lot of sketchup plugins. LOL.


The gf wants a white backsplash (smooth frp board) as the backsplash for the rest of the counter.

 

[zannej]

Friend got a new refrigerator. A Samsung Bespoke side by side with beverage dispenser and internal double ice makers. It's fancy. This is not the final location, this is where they set it to plug in and cool off before they removed the other fridge.

rough sketchup version of where it is now. There isn't actually a completed wall-- it's open studs-- and there is a pool noodle cut open and put on a horizontal 2x4 to protect the fridge door from damage.
He built an entertainment center out of 2x4s and 1x12s to have an electric fireplace put in. He still wants to put in a mantle at some point. He built some shelves on the side and I painted the walls.
In the bathroom he changed out to double rainshowers. The hole for the old shower arm will be filled with a drop ell and he's going to add a handheld later on.
He took out the carpet and put in vinyl planks in the hallway.
no photos, but I painted most of the hallway. The rest of it needs to be sanded before I can paint it.

 

[ekrig]

I'd recommend keeping that refrigerator connected via an outlet surge protector (for example, https://www.lowes.com/pd/Southwire-Woods-3839131-125V-Surge-Protector-with-Alarm-Gray/5001748851). The electronics in newer refrigerators are quite sensitive and it is advisable for refrigerators of any brand. (Frankly, they should have that built in and we can hypothesize why they don't...)

I've had a Samsung refrigerator before it started not regulating the temperature correctly within a few months. Based on the sensors that had failed the technician said that was most likely because of a voltage fluctuation (somewhat common due to the storms in that area). It was under warranty and the technician did what he could but it never worked completely right again and he said that those are generally not covered under warranty. So, a surge protector takes away that excuse from them.

 

[zannej]

Thanks, Ekrig. I'll mention that to him.

Friend just sent me this picture of the magnetic handheld. I thought the drop ell was going to be up top, but I guess this was easier for him to set up.

 

[zannej]

Friend has nixed the idea of extra cabinets above the sink in the kitchen. He wants to do shelves instead. Getting cabinets would be cost prohibitive. I still need to get pics of where the fridge is now.

Kids keep leaving the curtain out of the shower and water keeps getting on the floor so they want glass doors instead now.

They are going with this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/America...Silver-Shine-AM00843400-213/317854865#overlay

I'll be getting the old showerhead and the curtain rod back. Will probably use the old showerhead in Mom's bathroom since the diverter is down low. May use the curtain rod somewhere else.

 

[zannej]

Friend got the shower doors installed. He needs to cleanup the caulk and stuff, but this was the photo he sent last night.

 

[zannej]

Friend is planning a shed in the backyard for his wife's sewing workshop. He really liked the plans for a 12'x24' shed I linked and we were talking about modifications and such. I found a good site with some free blueprints. Right now we are discussing truss design. I like this style from Menards (but we don't have one near us)

I do like these gusset plates though.

Thinking of going with a 4:12 pitch (8ft walls with 10ft peak). I was hoping to find prefab gusset plates or even prefab trusses, but the Menards one was the only one I saw thus far. Still looking though. I like the horizontal brace at the bottom and that the rafter tails don't have to be notched.
This was the inspiration shed:

But friend wants the door on the opposite wall of the double doors. And there would be fewer windows. Maybe only one. He wants to have a window AC but eventually would like to get a MrCool Minisplit.
I suggested putting in a small sink to rinse of glue, refill steamer iron, and to have cool water for first aid.
Lulu (nickname for the wife-- who I also consider a friend so I should stop calling her my friend's wife) and my friend liked this sink: https://www.amazon.com/Utility-Laundry-Garage-Garden-Basement/dp/B0CG6RLDZ8/r
and this faucet (which is what they have in their kitchen): https://www.amazon.com/OWOFAN-Lead-Free-Commercial-Sprayer-Kitchen/dp/B07R8KNPL1

I want that same sink in white for washing out filthy stuff outside.
Lulu wants a deep sink to dye fabric in. And that one is 14" deep (according to customer answers).

Subfloor would be 23/32 tongue & groove OSB (close to 3/4") over 16" on center studs. Layout would be this:

Wall with door would be like this but door would be to the left and the walls would have 8ft studs. I think 3" would be added for top and bottom plates so it would be 99" high or so. That would add 3" to the 10ft peak as well I think since I want to maintain slope.

https://myoutdoorplans.com/shed/12x24-shed-plans/ Has good plans but I want to modify them. The walls and trusses can stay at 24" on center but the floor would be 16" on center. Would use posts and camo blocks for support so it is easier to level and doesn't have the issues with permits (only $33 for a permit to have it on blocks). Camo blocks are only slightly more expensive than concrete blocks, are lower profile, and hold more weight. I'm currently trying to figure out the spacing for them and hardware needed to attach things. I could go with the 4x4s on the inside and the frame of the floor tacked to the outside or have the frame directly on top (making it higher off the ground). Simpson makes brackets but its for doubled up joists.

For the small door, we plan to have a simple 36" exterior inswing door with a security door that has a screen. The inswing door can be painted to look however Lulu wants. So, something like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/36-in-x...d-Inswing-Front-Door-THDJW166100302/202036470
And a metal security door like this maybe: https://www.lowes.com/pd/ReliaBilt/5014033261

 

[zannej]

So, major updates. My friend got tired of his mother reneging on her agreement to sign the house over to him and how she was constantly using her ownership of the house to manipulate him, invade his privacy, steal from him, and basically harass him and his wife.

They started trying to buy another house in October. It was a nice house in the middle of town, right near the school, post office, banks, City Hall, etc. Unfortunately, the seller was an unreliable jerk. I told my friend I was worried about the seller reneging but he assured me that with a signed contract that wouldn't happen. Well, it happened. Friend paid several hundred $$$ for an inspection and the seller broke the contract and backed out of the sale. My friend and his wife were very disappointed until friend's aunt mentioned another house for sale by her landlady. The landlady has a good reputation, was much more responsive, and much more accommodating.

She agreed to credit my friend $ toward sale of the house in exchange for him fixing any issues that came up under inspection that needed to be fixed as well as to pay closing costs. We had to demo some additions to the workshop, replace all of the electrical outlets & switches, replace P-trap under the sink, replace bottom of the cabinet, replace a door on the Air handler closet, and touch-up some paint.

It passed inspection and closing was in early January. It has 4 bedrooms, a bunch of closets, a pantry, a car port, a barn, a small workshop, a little storage area connected to the car port, water feature out front, and its brick. It's in a rural area technically outside the city property tax does not apply. Their water bill is pretty low compared to the other house. They have a septic tank so they don't have to pay for sewage and the septic tank was drained in August. New roof was put on only a few years ago.

They plan to plant a garden and get some chickens. They already know some of their neighbors. They were able to get fiber internet although cell signal kinda sucks out there.

The older kid is ecstatic to have a bigger room and her own bathroom. The bathrooms are small but still ok. Guest bathroom has a tub. Little girl's bathroom has a shower. My friend's bathroom has an ADA shower. We just put up a curved double shower rod. He needs a better curtain though.. I'm sure his wife will pick something she likes.

They had to remove some cabinets to make their fridge fit. The dishwasher that came with the house works fine. They plan to renovate the kitchen eventually but the layout is good for now.

Friend's wife is very happy that she has her own designated sewing room.

They have about 2 acres of land to boot.

 

[shan2themax]

Sounds magnificent!

 

[zannej]

I'll have to get some old google earth shots of the new house from 2022 to post. But this was the most recent pic my friend sent me of the laundry room. Tenants didn't leave a washer and dryer so he found some on marketplace. At first his wife wanted to hang their clothes to dry and didn't want a dryer, but he convinced her after it rained for several days and they couldn't hang stuff to dry so they got a 40+yr old Maytag.

Floor is linoleum. Water heater is directly to the right. Main breaker box is up on the wall behind the machines. There are many storage places to left and right. I'll have to get more pictures.
This was the laundry room before they got the dryer (but after getting a washing machine)

My friend's Transformer collection up on a shelf in the master bedroom

Some of their furniture-- it looks small compared to the room. Their previous room was half the size. There are actually 2 ceiling fans and a light in the middle but only one of the fans works. They plan to eliminate those 3 lights and get a large ceiling fan over the bed.

Flooring is vinyl plank. It extends into the bathroom. The door to the left is a walk-in closet with pull-down stairs for the attic. We got the area rug to hide some damaged planks from the inspector and it worked. I snagged the Optimus Prime metal poster thingy for my friend a few years back. Saw it and knew he'd love it.

The master bedroom used to be the garage but was converted to a large bedroom because the previous tenant was an extremely large 600lb man who needed wider doors. The fridge was originally on the right but my friend had to remove one of the upper cabinets and then bumped one over to swap places as the new fridge blocked the doorway a bit. They plan to put in a coffee bar to the right of the fridge. The dining room is very yellow. LOL. Previous tenants painted murals on the doors. One set of doors is to a pantry and the other door is for a closet.
Street view from 2022. The white building is the neighbor's house. Brick building is the house. Red buildings are barn and workshop. Well, you can only see the workshop but see the roof of the barn. The workshop had the front and back parts taken off bc they were collapsing so only the middle part with the one window remained.

I marked the spots where the building had to be cut off