OMG I have to decide today -- more house angst

[carbonel]

When I bought this house, I loved the bones of the living room, but I hated the actual look of it. Brown carpeting, greyish brown cedar walls, and no lighting to speak of.

The carpet is gone and the wood floor is in process. Here's what it looks like so far, though the sun is too bright to get much of a picture with my phone camera:



I dealt with the walls back in 2007 by having them painted over, but the wood is still uneven and less than ideal.



My eventual plan was to remove the cedar plank walls, and put in proper dry wall and mud where they used to be. I didn't have a time frame for this, just "eventually." While Rick the floor guy and I were discussing baseboard options, I mentioned the eventual plan, and he asked if I was aware that he did this sort of work, too.

I wasn't. But I know that if I'm going to do it, now is the right time, while all the furniture is out and before the floor is finished. His quote was $1700, though I'm sure it'll come to $2000 or more by the time everything is done.

I guess I'm really just trying to talk myself into doing it. It'll be another week of having the living room unavailable, but I'll be much happier with the place when it's done.

At least, I think so.

Any advice, potential gotchas, or voices of experience would be greatly welcomed, since I have to make a decision on this by the end of the day.

Comments

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

that will totally lighten that room up, and that seems totally cheap. wow.

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

If you can afford it then just get it done with. But yes expect that it might cost a bit more and might take more like two weeks.

[daedala.livejournal.com]

If the contractor is reliable and you like working with him mostly (I mean, aside from all the scary caveats he kept giving you), go for it. Being happy in your home is important!

[yarram.livejournal.com]

I agree with daedala - if you can afford it, and you trust the workmanship, go ahead and stitch both threads together for a neater and faster result.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

This is the time, for all the reasons you list.

I don't know what's under the panels; probably some sort of wall surface already. They may be bonded to it, though, meaning destroying and replacing might be a lot easier. He probably knows, he should have seen this sort of thing a lot.

Make sure you understand whether the quote includes painting the new walls. And pick a less pink color. (Okay, they're your walls.)

[carbonel]

Yes, definitely a less pink color. The color it was before was a bit more extreme than I'd had in mind, and in any case doesn't go terribly well with the nice new oak floor.

Not sure what color I'll end with, but it might be white with just a few rat droppings.

[naomikritzer]

I vote for getting it done. Moving furniture is such an enormous hassle, if you don't get it done now it's going to wait for years.

[timill]

You're going to do it, so do it at once...

Aside from anything else, the floor/wall joins will be much better if they're done at the same time rather than trying to cut the floor to mate with the existing wall, and then trying to cut the new wall to match the now-existent flooring.

Also to consider: Wall Insulation. If it needs upgrading, Do It Now.

[timill]

Plus, upgrading in-wall services - more electrical outlets, cable TV feed, wall lighting, network outlets (unless you've gone all wireless) etc etc...

Basically, redo anything that hides behind drywall.

[carbonel]

That first one makes me laugh. What I call the living room would actually be considered a family room if a) I had a family, and b) I weren't using what the original owners considered to be the living room for my dining room. What they called the dining room I call a wide hallway.

Anyway, the living room was added on by the previous owner, and he must have been a bit electricity-crazy. There are outlets every four feet or so. There are two sets of outlets over the large windows. What this room does not have is a shortage of outlets.

As for the other stuff -- the cable TV feed (DirecTV, but it's cable once it gets into the house) emerges from holes in the floor; wall lighting is a possibility I hadn't thought of and shall; and I think wireless is sufficient for network access.

Lighting is a definite problem, though. What's currently there is totally insufficient, and I haven't figured out a way to get enough light ("enough" being defined as enough to knit and spin and cross-stitch by) into the place. It has a vaulted ceiling with cross-beams (fake wooden beams, but covering structural metal beams, I believe), and the only thing I can come up with is track lighting on the beams, which sounds rather tacky-looking. I think I'm going to need to find some sort of lighting expert to advise me. People keep suggesting a chandelier, but I think that would look stupid with the rest of the way the place looks.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I'll chime in with the common wisdom -- if you feel good about your guy, and can afford to have the work done, do it now while you're already prepped. You won't want to go through a second iteration of clearing the room and living with the rumpus. And as mentioned, this could be a good time to upgrade your insulation if it turns out that that taking out the planks means going down to the studs anyway.

While you should know whether his estimate includes painting, it probably doesn't. Painting is simple enough that any nominally able-bodied person can do it themselves, though.

[carbonel]

The estimate does include painting, but specifies that I have to pay for the paint.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

If you can afford it, I think getting everything done at once is a good idea. Then instead of sitting in the room with the new floor you spent a lot on and going "gee, the walls suck" you can sit in a room that's exactly the way you want it and say "wow, this looks fabulous!"

[kalikanzara.livejournal.com]

No advice, but I might be interested in your experience qith Rick the floor guy - I might want a floor guy to polish up/protective coat/maybe refinish some of the hardwood in the house I just made an offer on, assuming I get it, of course

[carbonel]

Rick the floor guy (Rick Charmoli aka Charm's Enterprises) does excellent work, though he will talk your ear off if you let him.

Congratulations on making an offer, by the way. And good luck!

[barondave.livejournal.com]

I'm on our condo Board of Directors. I can't talk to the specifics of the work you want done, but if I were satisfied with the bids I know how I'd vote. I'm with everyone else: Get it done now. Save the hassle and probably some money in the long run. Then there's the parking stickers... hmm... you don't have to worry about that...

[carbonel]

I was on my condo's Board of Directors for several years. You probably could pay me enough to do it again, but it would involve six figures.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

The Board is work not a hobby, but it's a good group and we have fun at the meetings. I'm the Recording secretary, and produce clubzines that I have to sign and make official...

While I might not stand for another term, it's good to have something on the resume during a period of unemployment.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Oh, my gosh no! DON'T DO IT! YOU KNOW WHY!!!

K.

[carbonel]

I do?

Actually, I was going to ask your advice; there's a niche up high (that lydy wants to put a Cthulhu-in-a-bathtub in) that I think is going to get dry-walled over, but before I do that, I ought to put some sort of time capsule there.

What should go in a time capsule that will probably never be unearthed?

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

If you don't know why you shouldn't, then you should! :-)

Get a dust proof container, like a tupperware or a glass jar, and put in it things that you'd like to have remembered about you, or the house, or both. Pictures and journal entries come to mind. Write about your world, and seal it up, and forget it.

Or you could put in things like current magazines, I suppose. What I find most valuable is the messages to the future that some people manage to create in their diaries or photo albums. Put in what's important to you.

But don't stew over it too much. Just do it, if you want it done.

K.

[lydy.livejournal.com]

You're taking away the niche? But it has such possibilities. A Cthulu-in-a-bathtub is just one of a myriad things you could do with it. Ok, I guess time-capsule is another thing you could do with it. Still, I will miss it.

[carbonel]

I'm sorry that I never allowed it to reach its fullest potential. But honestly, drywalling and mudding the alcove would be a real pain, whereas covering it over is easy. And a time capsule is a rather intriguing idea.

Maybe I'll include a thumb drive with my LJ in it. And a copy of the program to read it, of course.

[lydy.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of the thumbdrive with the LJ.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

I'm with everyone else. If it's within your means, do it now.

Either that, or leave the uneven wood in place and spend the money to hire someone to do some whacka fabric drapey thing that covers them over and turns the room into an art project/gallery. I haven't been there, and you haven't seen the circus that hides and unfortunate beam and pillar in my basement toy room. Beside that, what's great for a toy room might well wear thin in a living room.

You want the wood gone? Banish it now -- the time is right and it will never again be this easy to do.

[maruad.livejournal.com]

I would do it now if you can manage the cost. We learned the hard way not to postpone a decision on renovation once you have started the process (we dithered about replacing the old and rotting basement windows and now it has set our renovation back by a couple of months).