New home(to us) labor time estimate (vinyl, windows, paint)

[Ted Bear]

Half day, more or less.

Do it neatly....take the time to pry up the floor boards; remove the nails, stack materials orderly. You will save time and injuries in the end.

Probably no permit required to take it down; probably need a permit to rebuild. Plans will be required to get the permit. Be careful about zoning issues, especially if the exisiting deck is located within the zone of a variance.

Good luck. Welcome to the joys of homeownership. Get the systems done....Elecrtrical, plumbing, HVAC (putting in central air is a big job when you have baseboard heat) , roof?, windows? etc. before you worry about sanding floors and painting walls.

[HWTechGuy]

Good luck. Enjoy your new home.

[mkarch]

Coming from baseboard heat you may want to look at ductless heat pumps. There are some federal tax credits for those as well as big ones for geothermal heat pumps. Although in PA you'll probably need some backup heat source during the dead of winter.

[jzamorski113]

Thanks for the tips guys, we took it down Sunday with the use of sawzalls, chainsaws and pry bars.

Was pretty easy and actually a little bit of fun.

Took about 5 hours to get it down, but there was a bit of a holdup close to the house because of the electrical box...and then some of the nuts on the lag bolts just ripped off, so we had to use the sawzall to just cut it.

In the end it was easy with a few guys to help. We rented a roll off dumpster and filled it. Highly recommend as a diy project even if you aren't confident in rebuilding it.

Now to decide between another deck or a patio...hmm

[Coldjensens]

You can list it on Craigslist for free and someone will come remove it for free to get the lumber. Usually they are pretty careful because they want the lumber intact, but still you should be home to watch them and make sure they do not break anything.

Oops did nto read through to the end. Sorry. But the next person looking may be able to do this, Saves the cost of a dumpster, even if you demo it DIY.

[akck]

Dumpster for deck? That's just paying to throw away free firewood. Of course, the deck I ripped out wasn't pressure treated, so it was okay to burn.

[Ohiogirl81]

Good grief! Here's how I would do the after-deck stuff ...

• Add the AC and do your electrical updates first. That's going to mess up your walls, unless you install a ductless or high-velocity system. They also will mess up your walls a little, but not as much as adding full-size ducts for the AC.
• Then paint.
• Then refinish the floors. Do not do it yourself; hire someone. You won't be sorry.

PS -- Your timetable is not "plenty of time" to do any of this.

if anyone wants to provide some tips for the transition from apartment to first time home buyer

Moving into, furnishing, and refurbishing a home is a process that can and should take many years. It doesn't have to be done all in one weekend, and the house doesn't have to be "perfect" before you move in. Don't make any major changes until you've lived in the house for at least a year.

You're living in a home, not a showplace or a museum. When you first move in, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Decide what you can and can't live with, and for how long, and proceed accordingly based on time and money available.

For instance, when I moved into my first house, the Pepto-pink bathroom and the nicked kitchen cabinets were a quick fix with some paint, but the turquoise carpet upstairs was not because I simply did not have the money to replace it at the time. So I decorated around it until I could replace it. Took about 5 years.

Come up with a 5-year plan for work you want to do on the house, and in the yard, set priorities for what you want to do first and what you have money for. Make up a budget for each thing you want to accomplish, always working in contingencies on both time and money.

Stuff happens that will derail your 5-year plan. Don't sweat it. If it takes 7 years, it's not the end of the world.

Good luck.

And most of all: Enjoy your new home.

[jzamorski113]

Thanks for the tips, we actually refinished all the floors ourselves. Was not difficult at all, just very time consuming. We spent about 15 hours just doing the sanding for 1500 sq ft of floors. Then took the next days to stain and urethane. I'd do it again any day to save the $3700 difference between what we spent on materials, versus the quotes we got to do it.

Starting to paint tonight after work. We are doing it room by room in order that we are moving stuff into. We are coming from a 1 BR apartment so we don't have much coming over from there. The other furniture is at our parents' homes, so we will move that once the other rooms are painted. 2 of us in a huge house, not really a rush to furnish the whole thing.

We want to do the patio as the next project, then A/C. With A/C we are putting the unit in the attic and then running down the ducks through the closets to the first floor. My dad does central a/c for a living and highly suggests that approach as it is the easiest and most cost effective(especially since he gets wholesale prices).

Patio will be fun to do with some friends as well. Need to kill the darn ivy the previous owners had growing all over the lattice on the deck and underneath. So gross even after clearing the lattice work. Need to hit that with the weedwacker and pushmower this weekend, then try to kill it after that.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by jzamorski113

Starting to paint tonight after work.

Ah, see, you've done the floors and walls backwards. Live and learn!

In that case, load up on impermeable drop cloths and Goo Gone. Paint will fly where you least think it will go, and will soak through even the sturdiest fabric if it's untreated. The Goo Gone will take up the spills and splatters you invariably will make on your freshly refinished floors.

Under no circumstances should you let the cat walk into the room you're painting!!! Don't ask me how I know that ...

[jzamorski113]

Haha no pets here, apartment wouldn't allow it.

We stacked up on the drop clothes, rags, mineral spirits, goo gone and tape lol.