In the early fall of 2018, we started remodeling a house on our place for Wifey and I to live. Started out as a 900 sq. ft. house and I took in the carport to make it about 1200 sq. ft. Nothing fancy, but I did all the work I could, by myself. I did hire a carpenter friend to help build the porch and put on the metal roof. Also hired someone to tape, float, and texture the walls and ceiling; and cabinet maker. The rest I did myself. New roof, siding, porch, electrical, plumbing, floor joist, subfloor, flooring, walls, drywall, doors, windows, paint, cabinets, appliances, central ac/heat, trim, etc. The house is basically new.

Here is what we started with. (Some of the pics have been posted before)



Kitchen cabinets



Enough of the old house...... I gutted the house and just about started from scratch



Took in the carport... New metal roof, siding, porch



New floor joist and subfloor



Hung the sheetrock.... but hired it taped, floated, and textured



New flooring



Couple pics of some finished rooms





and, Wifey unloading, washing, and putting up things in her new kitchen.



Got family and friends gonna help move furniture this coming weekend and then it will take a few days to finish unloading boxes and getting things where they belong, but by the end of next week, at the latest, we should be in the house.

That looks super!! Tons of work!! "This is my father's hatchet, I've changed the handle twice, and the head once".

Real Nice Work

Very nice work. I'd have been tempted to flip it for a sizable profit and bought something newer, but you know best for your own needs. Great work, and at least you KNOW what's behind everything.

RR, this house sits on our place. I was raised here and own about 75 acres. No one can build close to us. No way I ever intend to sell.

If the KNOW is code for something...... It's gone.

That's the proper way to do it , bring all the walls down to studs. You notice none of the HGTV and DIY Flip shows do that with the exception of Mike Holmes.

Nice, and plenty of land for a garden out back.

Other than the outside walls of the old house and the 1 load bearing wall, the inside has been completely changed. Only 1 room is the same as before.

Whoa!

Thats way nicer than I was expecting for Louisiana!

wow.....congrats......I'm sure it was a lot of work......looks great

Nice work, Randy!

Hope to see you back at the summer "camp and shoot" this year.

Amazing transformation, nice work!

What I meant by KNOW is not hidden treasure, but rather you don't have to guess how things were constructed, what grade of materials were used, how carefully things were fitted, and on and on. As opposed to buying a finished house where all that is hidden and unknowable.

In my house, for example, we started seeing small cracks in the drywall in one area. Assumed it was due to minor settling after 30+ years. But during our remodel, the contractor discovered that the original HVAC guys had cut a box THROUGH the major load-carrying beam to run a duct! The entire load across the center of the house was being held by about a 2x2"!

Great job!!

That's awesome! Thanks for Sharing

Heck of a project, Randy!

You done good!

I bet you are proud of that, as you should be!

A lot of work but a nice home. Hope you and your wife are very comfortable and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Well done! Now sit back, relax and enjoy it!

Damn fine job Randy! You have much to be proud of.

More pictures!
Bob

Very nice!

Very nice, you can take a lot of pride in that house!

Yeah it'd be nice to see the view from the spare bedroom, Wife said she'd like to know what the view was before we move in........

You did a great job! I bet the wife is really proud of that new kitchen and her husband that built it. Congrats

Little house on 75 acres, very nice spot it looks like from the pics, very rewarding for you and your family.

Vey nice Home Place!

You should have a real sense of satisfaction. You have transformed that place.

Wow! You really gutted it. That is no minor undertaking but probably made it a much better and less frustrating job.

Congrats on adding new life to your roots!

Nice and cozy. Well done.

Well done! Enjoyed this posting and the fruits of your labor.

Looks great! Lotsa work.

Well done! Something I'd do too in a heartbeat.

Wife would like a small log cabin in TX in the back 40, and that would be easy to do on my months off. BUT the water well, power, septic thats non existent would drive the cost through the roof... we could rent the other 2 houses up front but thats not the point, but I may still do it depends on how long Mom lives and what comes next in life.

OUTSTANDING!!

I'd buy ya a beer!

Excellent!

Well done Sir! A job to be proud of!

Randy, thanks for posting this. I knew that you and Jo were doing this project but did not understand the scope of the conversion. Now i even better understand why you've been tied there and not had time to come to a couple of our SW events. The outcome is simply excellent. Congrats to both of you for the work, patience and perseverance. Your lovely wife looks to be right at home in that new kitchen. Enjoy it - and, now, come see us!

Well played!

Fine job sir.
That is something I did with my dad growing up. My first job at 8 yrs old was to feed the fuel oil tank burn barrel with scraps from the tear out, and straightening nails I pulled from the materials before burning.

Well done.

Most excellent!

g

Very nice and a TON of work!

Fantastic work OM. Now all you need is to dig a mud hole to bring in the crayfish. powdr

Holy cow, stripped to the bare bones.

Good work!

Looks fantastic!

Someone asked for a few more pics. Here is some of the things I did that could have been left out, but it makes the house better.

This is a picture of the floor joist in the utility room.... 2x8's on 8" centers. Freezer, water heater, washer, and dryer in this room. If you notice, there is only 1 cinder block under the box frame. Later on, I put them in solid. Since they are on the old carport and this is an inside wall, I didn't mortar them in. On the outside walls, they are mortared in. These floor joist are on their own box frame, but the two box frames are bolted together.



The house had one sill running the length of the house on about a 12' span, under the load bearing wall on the right of the pic. I added one on each side of that sill, so now the sills are on a 6' span.... again 2x8 floor joist on 24" centers, in the original part of the house.



Where I took in the carport, I raised the floor to match the existing floor. Here the floor joist are 2x8's on 16 centers, but since this was a concrete carport, I nailed a 2x4 at the center of the joist, down to and touching the concrete. Acts the same as a sill in the middle of this 12' span. I did it after this pic was taken.



Not required in our part of the country, but I put 3/4" foam board insulation under the metal roof.



There was some water damage in places. Especially around the bathroom, some windows, etc. All of it was torn out and replaced. Window and door openings moved to where they needed to be. The 3x4" OSB replaced the 1x8's that had to be removed for repairs and then the house wrapped, before the siding went on.





Other things I did, but dont have pics of. I insulated the inside walls, between the rooms. Everything painted has a primer coat and 2 top coats..... even the back side of the T1-11.

In the 3rd pic, looking at the carport floor joist, you can see a header. It was around the old carport. 2' from top to bottom and solid. Had to run all the electric lines under the floor in the kitchen area and there are 3 circuits in there. Made things interesting.

I just tried to make it tight and strong.

I like Lowe's paper much better than Tyvec.

Great work you did there. Now get settled and enjoy it.

I have got one major job to complete at a later date..... blowing insulation into the attic. I've held off doing this job until we live in the house a month or so, to make sure all the electrical and ac/heater equipment is operating properly.

Now for my question. There are 2 main types of blown insulation, fiberglass and cellulose. Fiberglass is just what it says. The cellulose is shredded paper and can have fire retardant and boric acid, for bugs, added. Has anyone used the cellulose and tell me anything about it. I know the fiberglass has a R rating of 2.7 per inch, while the cellulose has a 3.7 R rating per inch. The cellulose is a little cheaper and has a better R rating.

Anyone know any pros or cons about either.

If you plan to go up there more than once every few years go for fiberglass batts (sp?) Just avoiding the itch and glass fibers in your skin and clothes is worth it..(You will still have to throw out the clothes you use to install, unless you wear a tyvek s suit..)

The problem with cellulose is that it absorbs moisture..

It will be warm by the time you install it...use the time to save for the better stuff.

Great job Bucko!

Oldman,

care to share the story of the house? who built it, who lived in it, how long it sat empty?

Sycamore

p/s great job, lot of love in that house!

Randy - you did a heck of a job! Even with me not knowing the quirks of building in LA - looks like you did very well !
I don't know how to build in that soft of an area - foundation - wise.
Wish I could have come to help you out, though, and I am a pretty good drywall finisher! Expensive, though - work for beer!
Here's hoping "rattlesnake" loves the new digs!

Looks great!!

Great project - thanks for sharing the pictures!

I'll go back a ways..... My great uncle and great aunt bought this place in 1923. They sold some of it, but kept most. Great uncle died in the 50's and Dad bought the place, except for 3/4 acre, from his aunt in 1960, that's when she built the house, spring of 1960. They never had kids and when she passed away, Dad inherited this house and the 3/4 acre it sits on. Wife and I lived in the house for about 5 or 6 years and then we moved away. My sister and then one of my cousins lived there at one time or another. In the 90's, Dad started renting the house and there were 3 or 4 renters over the next 20+ years. .

I bought the place, the remaining 75 acres in 2007, but still lived away, and part of the agreement was that Dad could still rent the house, but he was responsible for upkeep. Fast forward to 2017, the last renters moved out and the house needed some serious work, so I asked Dad not to rent it anymore. It sat empty for about a year and that's when Rattlesnake and I decided to move to 'our place'. We had a choice of building a house, buying a trailer and moving it in, or remodeling this house.

After crunching the numbers, it wasn't hard to figure that remodeling this house was the cheapest of the options. If the foundation was good, remodel..... if the foundation was bad, tear the house down. Either way, the eye-sore was going to be removed. After gutting the house and finding out the foundation was in really good condition, we started the remodeling. It's taken us 1 1/2 years, but we're finally about thru. Hopefully by the end of next week, we'll be in the house.

Congratulations! Nice job all around. Happy Trails

Good stuff! When is the 40 x 80 shop going up?

Mornin, looks really good. Pretty satisfying feeling building you own house. In my first house Dad & I cut the timber out of the bush, had it cut into boards, 2x4, . We sized it more uniform with the garden tractor hooked up to the saw. Dam thing burnt to the ground while at a friends wedding. Second house was bought lumber, was never quite as special. Your the kind of man we need in this world, not afraid of getting a little dirty!!! You'll make lots of memories, & dreams come true. GOOD ON YOU!!!! I'm out, Bill. 🐾👣🇨🇦

That is some good work. I think it would be more accurate to say you built a house than you remodeled one!

How far you having to move stuff, Randy?

Got about any style trailer I can hook up and come help if you need it.

Cost ya a beer and a steak though...

Personally, I don't like cellulose. I believe that it compacts over time and loses R value, I think it's a mold magnet too. Once it gets damp it is toast. I also think that it is dusty and the dust somehow gets in the house, making for a very dusty house. I could be wrong, I'm willing to listen.

ETA: I think blown insulation makes it harder to use the attic for storage too.

Wow, super! Thanks for sharing.

Damp Climate I would go with Fiberglass if just for that reason.

OldMan:

Congratulations on finally completing the journey. Quite a project. You are to be comended for sticking with it.

I am a retired architect and I have done several similar projects so I know that selective demolition is very time consuming. You have to be careful not to damage that which will remain. It almost looks like it would have been easier, quicker and cheaper to just remove everything but the foundation and utilities then start from scratch. Are there code or zoning restrictions that prevented you from doing that?

KC

Looks great Oldman, heres to wishing you and the Mrs. a long and comfortable stay. Too much yard to mow, better get a goat.

I like fiberglass blow in, that stuff will outlast all of us. It's about 20% more expensive than cellulose, but probably a good idea in damp environment.

I can't speak to modern-day lose cellulose insulation but back in the day, over time it would settle and pack down, and depending on tightness of construction, accumulated dust and prone to draw and hold moisture. It also could get blown around to varying depths in heavier winds, too. The added weight from years of accumulated dust and moisture can cause plasterboard ceilings to sag and even crack, too.

Down there i would go glass.

It's just to humid.

This old house had rock wool when it was built back in the 60's and when remodeling before we moved we found that it had packed down about 2 ft.

After putting new glass in and foam board with a vapor barrier wrap,with new siding it had helped keep it cooler and warmer.

We also put in new windows in.

By the way the house still breathes.

How did you get that schitt out?

Barry, the furniture is about 120 miles from here. I've already rented the biggest U-Haul truck and a got friends and family lined up for the move. One trip is all it will take, so it wont be too bad. I appreciate the offer and you're welcome anytime to come visit..... might even feed ya!



Several members answered and the consensus was that in the damp climate we have, I better stay away from the cellulose. I never thought of that and I really appreciate the words-of-wisdom. Fiberglass it will be.

As for batt vs. blown in..... the attic is so low that there is hardly any room for any storage. You can't stand up straight in the attic. Maybe one sheet of plywood by the attic stairs and that will be all. I'll go with blown in.



KC, I had to be careful how I did things.. I wont go into all of it, but for trailers and new construction, you have to jump thru hoops, but...... remodeling is another story. By checking with the utility companies first and finding out what they required, I managed to avoid all the pitfalls. Thus when I called them to come turn on the utilities (gas, electric, water) they didn't have a problem and didn't require a permit from the parish (county). Different parishes have different building codes but our parish is lenient on remodeling. There might have been a shuck-n-jive pulled a time or two.



This house had rockwool batts in the walls and attic. Took it out by hand and stuffed it in 55 gal trash bags. Took 32 bags to the dump. Itched for 3 days!

Very cool. Thanks for sharing. Bet you're glad to be mostly done!

Hey you got that place lookin GREAT!!!

Pretty far stretch to characterize that as a remodel project. It obviously worked, so good on you. I love it anytime that someone outsmarts the regulation makers.

My Dad was a flipper before the name was coined. He would buy old houses and along with his 2 sons would gut and rebuild houses . My brother and I learned life lessons from this process. He is a successful GC and when I semi-retire in the next year or so, I think we are going to flip some houses together.

Yep it would, but he did it the right way and probably exceeding code.

Very nice, Oldman3.

My Dad was a rehabbed before the term was coined. I have rehabbed at least 50 properties myself over the years.

Dad was absolutely fearless when it came to rehabbing. Helped him with several. He would buy concrete block shells that had sat for years. I remember a few. Grass waist high, mice, snakes. Remember hand building the trusses for a couple. The floor joist picture was a flashback.

KC, the last time I talked to the building code people, I had them scratching their heads. The short version of the incident is that you have to have a permit from A before you are suppose to do certain work To get a permit from A, you have to have a permit from B. To get a permit from B, you have to have a permit from A.

When I pointed that out to the people at B, they said they didn't know what I was suppose to do. So I told them I would call them, when I had a question. So far, I haven't called them.

Like I said earlier, new construction and trailer houses, it's spelled out in black-n-white. Remodeling, has a lot of gray area. If its on an existing foundation and has a roof over it, it's a remodeling job.

There is something magical about being connected to the land, places and people you grew up with.

Congratulations and best wishes to you and your family in your new home.

Randy, glad you are about done. Looks like time to go Crappie fishing, or White perch, or Sac-a-lac. miles

We have a city dumpster here on the place.

I got some 55 gallon heavy duty trash bags from the city and hauled a lot of them to the dump.

It was nasty but was sure happy with the way things turned out.