All Forum Posts by: Andrew S.

Hey, I just moved into my first house hack after going through all this. My home was HEAVILY smoked in previously. Scrubbed everything with TSP - make sure to wipe off after water rinse. Clean rags with TSP in a bucket and repeat for what seems like a gross eternity. Kilz original 2 coats on dark wood paneling (probably unnecessary but I wasn't sure how much the color would bleed through. 1 to 2 coats of paint. $70 ozone machine from Amazon. Odebon deodorizer to mop subfloor with. Replaced all carpet and ceiling tiles. Left a couple small areas of 12" ceiling tiles (didn't paint or anything) and they don't smell. Replaced all carpet. New furnace filter with furnace scent block. Smells like a new construction house, never would know it was smoked in.

Hope this helps! It works!

Hey everyone, 

I recently purchased a 100+ yr old house and replaced a window in my laundry room. The exterior wall was not insulated before and I'm trying to decide if it's worth insulating one wall when I assume much of the house isn't insulated. The new window is larger so I tore off the wood paneling and have access now. 

Thanks

Happy painting Friday! 

Im renovating a C class rental property duplex. The one side was heavily smoked in, and they share hvac ducts. I replaced 2 ceilings in the smoked in side with sheetrock for $3 / sq ft labor and material.  Armstrong ceiling tiles are $1 to $1.40 sq ft. Are most people replacing these tiles in kind or doing anything else on an older home?

Thanks

Hey everyone,

I'm currently rehabbing a previously smoked in house and moving onto the painting stage. Looks to see how many coats of paint/ primer I need to put on for the different wall / ceiling materials. I've scrubbed everything with TSP. This is my first time painting so I'm not sure how well 1 coat of Kilz will seal the smell or wood paneling color. Or if I need to do 2 coats of Kilz ?

And how well the Behr premium plus primer + paint will cover any remaining wood paneling color.  I'm planning to do 2 coats of Behr paint on all walls and trim, 1 coat on the ceilings.

If my wall paint color is white with a small hint of blue, do I need 2 coats of final paint on all the walls?

Thanks.

New drywall ceiling:
-1 coat of Kilz original primer, 1 coat of Behr Premium primer + paint flat white ceiling paint

Kitchen plastic sheet walls:
-1 or 2 coat of Kilz original primer to hide the pattern on the plastic ?

-2 coats of Behr Premium primer + paint eggshell paint

Bedroom dark wood paneling

-1 or 2 coat of Kilz original primer to cover dark wood ?

-1 or 2 coat of Behr Premium primer + paint eggshell paint ?

Living room light wood paneling

-1 of Kilz original primer to cover lighter wood color? 

-1 or 2 coats of Behr Premium primer + paint eggshell paint ?

Good morning BP,

I'm looking for a sanity check on my installation flooring plan for my 125 yr old home.

The home is settled like many older homes are and historically had carpet throughout on top of the old hardwood floor. The hardwood floor is generally flat inside the rooms.  However the room transitions is where the old hardwood floor has some issues of a rise or fall (haven't taken a measurement of the exact rise or fall yet, guessing < 1/4" generally).  My plan to use LVF planks throughout the home (kitchen, living rooms, and bedrooms).  My plan is to hold onto the rental property for 2-5 years, house hack to rental. 

To deal with the changes in height that are in the transitions between rooms, I'm thinking about using various width boards to build custom height floor transition/ thresholds between each room.  I doubt I'll purchase the thresholds for the LVF planks due to price and lack in ability to customize the width and height changes necessary. 

As far as LVF selection goes, from my research a thinner (3.2 - 4 mm) LVF plank that will hopefully be more flexible to handle the not perfectly level hardwood floor underneath. 

Would an 8" wide handle the irregularities better than a 6" plank?

Would a plank with an underlayment handle it better (would increase thickness) ?

Would an underlayment I lay down myself be a better or worse option than the pre-installed underlayment or no underlayment and insulate the dropped ceiling below for noise reduction if needed?

Any experience with common brands and which have a strong locking mechanism?  Reading online reviews of Shaw, LifeProof, and Stainmaster all seem decent quality.

Anyone have experience with the planks below?  Or other LVF plank recommendations for a durable C class rental with not perfect even floor?

Lowes 3.2mm option: Shaw Matrix 14-Piece 5.9-in x 48-in Asheville Pine Locking Luxury Vinyl Plank

Lowes 4mm option: STAINMASTER 10-Piece 5.74-in x 47.74-in Washed Oak Dove Locking Luxury Vinyl Plank

Home Depot 7mm option with underlayment: LifeProof Sterling Oak 8.7 in. x 47.6 in. Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring

My living room is above the lower unit in my duplex so I was considering a plank with an underlayment for sounds dampening for the living room, but if that increased thickness will handle the unevenness worse then I may look at other options.

There's a couple spots along the wall where the floor dips down as well.  Haven't figured out my game plan here yet.  I'm hesitant to pour a ton of self leveling compound due to added weight on the foundation may cause more settling damage. 

Thanks much!

Andrew

Good morning everyone,

My painter asked to use Kilz latex vs the Kilz original oil based. I've read a few posts that recommend the oil based Kilz.  Latex would be easier for my painter and sounds like it may have better adhesion to the Formica walls in my kitchen. Probably have him paint the countertops too with Kilz primer so I can re-paint them too.

@Terrell Garren good tip with the scent additive, I might try that on the kitchen cabinets that aren't getting replaced. I'll just be re-painting them. 

Do I need to use the ozone machine before I replace flooring, paint, etc ?  I was considering waiting until that's done then seeing if it still smells bad. 

My sub floors are hardwood soI'm hesitant to paint them. I'd like to just clean then with the Odoban cleaner and then LVP over top.

I'll plan for 2 coats of Kilz on the porous ceiling tiles. Scrubbing them today went well. 

thanks for the tip, the entire house except bathroom is currently carpet. Its all getting replaced also. 

Hey BP! 

Hopefully everyone else isn't enjoying Labor Day wknd scrubbing nicotine off the walls!

I'm working on my first investment property for a house hack. The house was previously smoked in. I'm scrubbing the walls with TSP and it's working great. Planning to paint with Kilz original oil based primer then probably a Behr Premium.

Curious if people recommend washing twice with TSP if I'm going to paint over with Kilz and a latex paint?

Kitchen Walls are Formica (might sheetrock over or paint), living areas are wood paneling, bedrooms are sheetrock if that matters. 

Ceiling is the old 12" x 12" tiles. Plan to paint them as well. 

Class C property. 

Thanks much! 

Andrew