# First House - Guttin Her and Doin It Right!



## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

Feb 23rd 2013 Got the Keys to our familys new to be house. Corner Lot, 1 Story, Attached Garage, Big Backyard

When we bought it, it was full of blown in insulation, poor wiring, and ceiling tiles, etc... Need I say more 1960's

1 Month Later this is what we have achieved. 

Picture #'s correspond with location on graph which is to size. 2sq ft per square


Pic 49: 


Pic 52:


Pic 54:


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Pic 65:


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Please tell me you had an exterminator in to treat that slab before closing up that floor.
Someone needed to drill that slab and shoot the chemical under it.

Planing on building out those stem walls so more insulation can be added and cover up the bottom row of block?


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

Thanks for the pics! I'm looking forward to seeing more progress.


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## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

joecaption said:


> Please tell me you had an exterminator in to treat that slab before closing up that floor.
> Someone needed to drill that slab and shoot the chemical under it.
> 
> Planing on building out those stem walls so more insulation can be added and cover up the bottom row of block?



Theres already holes drilled from the previous homeowner as well as repair work done due to termite damage.
Had Orkin come out today and install pods around the house.


The flooring will be raised 6" in room closest to orig house and 14" in room closest to garage to supply water lines to the garage as well has hvac to that portion of the house. So they will sit higher then the blocks with an outcome of a 7'8" ceiling.

Im thinking of the yellow foam spray insulation in the area with concrete slab for moisture barrier. Any input????????


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## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

This is the floor Plan I hope to go with. 




Uploaded with ImageShack.us


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## shumakerscott (Jan 11, 2008)

I like this one! Can't wait to see it getting finished up. lots of pic's please:thumbup:. dorf dude...


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## cleveman (Dec 17, 2011)

Is there any way to get rid of that hallway from the garage?

I hate to come through a living/family/dining room from a garage, but you see it done. Of course you would have to re-do your floor plan. Might be nice to have the kitchen on that side of the house, for convenience in unloading groceries. I think the most common layout is a mudroom/entry from the garage, then a laundry room, then the kitchen.

Or maybe you could just treat the garage like a detached garage and enter from the outside?


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## cleveman (Dec 17, 2011)

I reconfigured it.

I have the doorway from the garage more towards the center. Walk in the house and you have a dining table on your right and a U kitchen to your left, with the U open towards the dining area.

The kitchen is 15' long and terminates with a 3x12' bar with 4 stools facing towards the garage wall. This leaves a 4' walkway to pass into the "sitting room. 

The sitting room goes around the corner. The main entry is a 6' wide sliding glass door or french door (facing east) in the 10' wide crotch of the house.

Now on the north side, come down 16' and draw a line to the east, 20' long. Draw a line back to the north at 12. Your MBR is in this corner, 16x12. The MBA is to the NE of the MBR, 8x8', and the bath/laundry, utility room, 8x8', is south of the MBA.

Now from the East, come in 14' on the exterior wall towards the crotch, and go up 14', then west 4' to connect to the other wall. Now put an interior wall in E-W, splitting this into two bedrooms. I would put the wall in 12' to the south from the north ext. wall. And put a 14' closet on either side of this wall.

This gives you a large kitchen, a dining room with plenty of windows to the east, a bar which looks into the kitchen and towards the dining room. The entry opens up into the sitting room, with the bar to the left.

All the bedrooms are huge and have two exterior walls. You still have the 8x8 mba. You may have some trouble getting the bath, laundry, and utilities into the 8x8 space. You may want to stack the w/d and put in a smaller footprint on-demand water heater.

There is room along the interior bedroom wall around the corner from the entry for an 8' closet for your entry closet.

There is also a lot of room to the north or south of the dining room table for a closet.

There is enough room in the center of the U kitchen for a 40" table and 4 chairs as well. You can scrunch down the kitchen if you don't need such a large area, bringing the bar area south and opening up more area for the sitting room.

You can put three bedrooms in place of the two if you don't mind smaller bedrooms, or make two bedrooms and one fairly small "baby room" or sewing room/office.

A 12x14 bedroom with a 14' closet is really quite liberal and some would say a waste of space.


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## BleachCola (Dec 29, 2007)

Looks good
Dont raise the floors theres other ways to run chases


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## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

The hallway is going to be a tile most likely. And yes it would be a far walk from garage to kitchen. I would love to put the kitchen close to the garage but the issue is that concrete slab and the plumbing. 

How would you run a heating duct from orig house to concrete slab portion w/o raising the floor for heat runs as well as w/o cutting wall plates.


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## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

Update 2:
(Pics ill upload tom)

Removed concrete step 2' horiz 26' vert mark. Replaced 2"x6" plate + 2"x8" outside support. + 2"x8"(2 pcs) Floor Joists in Orig House.


Oh, I almost forgot. The blue squares in that template indicate queen size beds.

I will be putting together a more better template in a few weeks here once I get the priority's done that are required before interior wall construction.


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## cleveman (Dec 17, 2011)

You run the heat duct through the attic.


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## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

I will need 3 bedrooms to my father which is retired. Myself and my Wife as well as my daughter.

I have not drawn in closets yet as to I will be building them in a very different way then just on one wall left to right. So no I won't have a 14' closest in that 12'x14' MB. Hehe

I like your layout but how would you have your grey water line running from a 8" drop up 8" and back into the house to the city grey water line? I would have to raise the floor quite a bit I would think so I atleast have a fall to it?





cleveman said:


> I reconfigured it.
> 
> I have the doorway from the garage more towards the center. Walk in the house and you have a dining table on your right and a U kitchen to your left, with the U open towards the dining area.
> 
> ...


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## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

cleveman said:


> You run the heat duct through the attic.


Even the supply line? And just vent the ac/heat threw the ceilings and cold air return threw ceiling as well? 

If so im jumping up and down in joy right now if that would not create a bunch of cold/hot spots in the room.


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## cleveman (Dec 17, 2011)

I'm not sure if there is a crawlspace under part of the house and the low part is a slab,or if the whole thing is on a slab.

It is not uncommon in a smaller home with no basement to have the supply air run in the attic and a return vent very close to the furnace room.

I can't tell what you can and can't do with the plumbing and where your existing plumbing is and where it leaves the home.

I just thought it would be nice to get rid of that long hallway to the garage by putting the living room and kitchen on that south side of the home.

You could put the living area to the south closest to the garage, then the kitchen in the middle somehow and even have the kitchen plbg backed up to where the master bath is in your original plan.

If you want some more suggestions on lay-out, let us know where your plumbing is and what the floor is. If you have a slab everywhere, then obviously you are not going to move anything without cutting up the concrete and re-configuring the drain lines.

Now that we know your father will be in the house, maybe there is some way of having a separate sitting room for when the whole family doesn't want to be together. When your daughter has guests, your father may not want them listening to Justin Bieber in the same room where he is trying to watch the Lawrence Welk show.


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## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

The north 39'x26' has a 4' crawspace under neath of the flooring. 
Water + gas is coming in from the 2'x12' mark.
4"x8" Support Beam runs at the 14' vertical mark.

Im planning to build the 1st lvl concrete slab up with 2"x4" and the 2nd lvl concrete slab build it up with 2"x6" to the same lvl of the 1st lvl slab. That would give me enough room to run 3/4 or 1/2" lines to the garage for the wash sink out there. Which will give me a 7'6" ceiling. Only reason I am raising the floor is I would prefer to have a wood floor base to lay my flooring over + coldness of the concrete in the winter + room to run my hot/cold supply water lines to the garage.

I would love to put the kitchen/living room in the south side of the house. The only issue is the draining of the sink+dishwasher as well as a low ceiling in the living room/kitchen wouldn't seem right.


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## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

Update: Currently demoing outside walkway from side of house. Removing all fascia and soffit and replacing before the installation of the new gutters as well as down spouts


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## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

I altered the 2nd bathroom , Master bathroom and Furnace/Water Heater Room. 
Not yet added. Sliding Glass door at the 26' vertical 20' to 24' Horizontal for access to the ground level deck with working built-in firepit+sitting area+grill.

6x8 Mud Room
15x12 Kitchen
22x14 Living Room
6x10 Public Bathroom
4x6 Furnace/Water Heater Room

Father's Room:
14x14 Master Bedroom 
6x12 Master Bathroom(Might change the design of it)

Daughter's Room:
12x12 2nd Bedroom

My Wife and I's Room 
18x12 3rd Bedroom
*Very large compared to other rooms, however my wife and I would have extra furniture pieces to be adequate for are daily tasks*


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## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

Concrete slab portion. *2nd + 3rd Bedroom*

As for the heat/ac duct issue, am I able to run my supply lines threw the attic and down threw a top plate to the bottom and have a wall bottom register?


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## Ralph Coolong (Jun 19, 2013)

Hats off to you.. Nice to see people working wood and lumber. Looks great.
Keep us posted.


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## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

Well hello everyone. I think im alive but barely after alot of stress with this project.

We came up with a floor plan that is set in stone, but reversed completely. Livingroom/Kitchen will be down by the garage now. I will upload the new sketch and more pics soon.

But I just took a pic today of the 2 concrete ugly ass rooms that were next to the garage or ust to be right.... These will be the livingroom/kitchen.


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## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

What has been done to the above picture. 

All 5 exterior walls replaced. The 2 closest to the garage were moved back 4" to give the ceiling a bit more support. But in order to do that we had to replace over 50 block. The block that the orig walls were sitting on had very little to none mortar. 

The wall that was between the two rooms was taken out. More of an open concept kitchen/living room concept.

Ceiling joists replaced in the smaller concrete room of the 2.


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## DukeLewis87 (Mar 27, 2013)

Rest of the house which I do not have pictures of atm. Sort of a quick list of what i've done to give you all an idea.

Exterior:
-Siding Removed
-Old windows removed
-Old gutters/soffit/fascia/fascia board Removed
-New soffit/fascia/fascia board/gutters
-New 3/4 OSB Installed over exterior outside walls 167' around house(Excluding garage)
-HouseWrapped
-New PVC Trim + Fiber Cement 7.25" siding
-New Construction 30"x54" 6 windows
-New Octagon windows installed bathroom windows.
-5 Exterior walls completely rebuilt
-75% existing window holes/walls had to be rebuilt in 24x36 area

This concrete room floor structure is my first solid inside project.

I haven't got to far in the 3 months I don't think but seeing as im doing all the work myself + working a day drywall hanging/finishing job.

Atleast 400 hours i've put into it.


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