All Forum Posts by: Steven Straughn

Gotta correct Josh... the vast majority of laminate floors do not use adhesive, and are not waterproof at all. If water is allowed to sit on the surface on a seam, it will penetrate into the floor and cause it to bubble. That said, it's acceptable for use in kitchens if you're selling the house, but certainly not very good for a rental property.

Pour leveling compound over the rock to provide a flat surface, then install tile. Two bags should do it, plus primer you're looking at $70 to level it. Carpet will get destroyed in a room like that. Seems to me like there is enough backyard, so you probably don't want to reduce the square footage of the house.

I've installed tens of thousands of square feet of Harmonics brand laminate, which is sold at Costco, and it's the best floor for the price (1.50-1.80/sf, a bit less if you get it when it's on sale, pad included). Otherwise, find a flooring contractor first and ask them for wholesalers in your area. Home Depot and Lowe's have very few flooring products that are worth what you'll pay for them.

Ditto what J Scott said.

What does your ARV at $250K assume for flooring? Certainly it's not independent of your flooring choice.

Some quick numbers... 850sf of hardwood at $3.50/sf materials and $2/sf labor, that's $4,675. For laminate you're looking at $2/sf for materials and $1.25/sf for labor, roughly $2,750. You can get laminate cheaper, but it'll look like what you paid for it.

In a market like Arlington you should have some good wholesale flooring suppliers. Find them, and tell them you are an investor. You should have no problem getting a floor that retails around $4.50 for $3.25. Make them compete against each other on price. Let them make their profit, but go back and forth a time or two to get the price down.

Perhaps carpet in the bedrooms and hardwood in the living areas? Again, depends on what people expect in a home selling for your target ARV.

It doesn't seem to me that there is any real correlation, or any benefit in trying to find one. Why would it cost more to install a $150 faucet than a $50 faucet? Or to install a $200 prefab slab vs. a $500 slab? As a flooring pro, I leave myself room to charge more for installing a cheap floor because they are usually harder to install, but generally my rates don't change based on the cost of the material. Also, consider that I had a client pay $5.50/sf for a floor that I could have sourced for him at $3.25/sf. Not that anyone around here would overpay like that.

In the end, your ratio might just be an indication of the quality of your finished products.

All bets are off regarding leveling since you have some crazy stuff going on there.

The things that stick out to me are the baseboard and leveling the basement floor. I don't know how many linear feet of base you have, but let's assume 500. For $3,500 I'll fly out to Maryland in install that for you. $.75/lf for material, and a few bucks per foot to pain and install. Shouldn't be more than $2K total, and that's retail pricing. And just using the old ones will still cost you something. They need to be removed carefully, cleaned up, reinstalled, caulked/touched-up, and painted. I usually charge nearly the same price to reinstall existing base as I do to install new.

As for leveling the floor, why not leave the concrete and level via traditional means - grinding and leveling compound? I obviously don't know the particulars here, but I don't see why removal and repouring would be necessary.

More generally, I would recommend soliciting another bid. I understand that you want to use this GC, but in a business that's about the numbers as much as about the relationships, you need to make sure that you are not overpaying. Your GC might realize that you want to hire him and pad the numbers a little bit knowing that you'll be more likely to pay a higher price to work with him. Get another bid from a reputable contractor so that you have something to compare to. If it's lower, ask your GC if he has any room to lower his bid. Make it clear that you are not necessarily asking him to match the other bid because you value the relationship, as well as the peace of mind in using him. Or, look at the two bids and figure out what that's worth ahead of time. If they are $10K apart, maybe you're willing to split the difference to use your guy. He'll respect you for being willing to pay more for his work, and on future bids he'll know that his pencil needs to be a little sharper when bidding your jobs.

Thanks Bill Gulley. The appraisal that was done during escrow does not include the square footage of the sunroom, and refers to it as a "covered patio". I knew I was missing a key ingredient - heating! There is currently a gas fireplace, so I think that would suffice. It would be difficult (and cost prohibitive) to tie into the HVAC system that services the rest of the house.

I recently purchased a SFH as my primary residence and will be renovating it over the next 2-3 years. It's a 4/3, 2,161 square feet, 2 car garage (extra deep), 8,125sf lot.

My question concerns how to convert a 370 sf sunroom into living space. It currently has block walls 30" high, and windows all around. Ceiling is 7' to the bottom of the exposed beams. See pics here: http://s99.photobucket.com/user/Steve_Straughn/library/Jackson%20Drive?page=1

My assumptions are that the walls and ceiling would need to be insulated, all electrical would need to be inside the walls, and the finished height of the ceiling would have to be 7' or higher. Is it possible to install 2x4s on their side over the block with 1.5" rigid foam insulation? Can the electrical be run through conduit in that space?

FYI, windows will be replaced with dual-pane, and we'll get rid of some of the ones above that little table. Also, we are considering vaulting the ceiling to match the rest of the living areas.

I'm sure all of this information can be found on the internet somewhere, but I figured I'd let all of you knowledgeable BPers show off your smarts.

I like your method Randy! I have always caulked toilets in, leaving an inch or two uncaulked in the back. After reading through your process I'm kicking myself for never thinking to butter the flange, but I will certainly do that from now on. Thanks for posting.