Things I learned renovating my cottage (Long)

[Ron Citerone]

Things I learned Renovating My Cottage
I have posted quite a few questions on Sawmill Creek during the past several years of renovating my cottage on the Delaware Bay. I have been meaning to share some things I learned during the adventure, some are general thoughts and some are more specific. I hope it is well received.

1. Murphy was right about time. He may have actually been under played the “Longer than you think” part!
2. I tried to demo and complete one room at a time since we needed to live there as we did the job. Big mistake, next time I would get the big dumpster and totally demo it first. I basically ripped the walls down to the stubs.
3. I had relatively new floors so I bought 4 x 8 sheets of thin MDF and covered the floors. Good idea.
4. My friend who is a builder installed New Construction windows for me instead of replacement windows. I love them, but it meant some creative building out of the window openings for the trim.
5. Some of the building out around the windows required tapered pieces. I cut strips to the thickness of the widest part. Then cut 2 thirds on the table saw of the middle measurement and then the last third slightly heavy and blended the taper all together with a block plane. Took time, but got great results.
6. Every short cut I took came back to bight me in the arse. Go the extra mile from the beginning and it will save time in the long run.
7. You can’t paint ceiling tile with latex paint, it bleeds through bad. Either replace it or paint with Kilz original followed by 2 coats oil based finish coat.
8. The porch/bedroom was redone with tongue and groove pine. I shellacked it two coats before installing. Good idea.
9. When working tongue and groove pine around a room. Sort through the pile and get pieces that match exactly in width for each row so the “line” is maintained.
10. 3 walls horizontal tongue and groove and one wall vertical solves all sort of problems. No match problems in the last corner.
11. I built two sliding barn doors during the project. I put blocking in for the rail part and hung it before building the door. I then made a mock up out of 1/8’ MDF and made sure the size was right for the floor spacing. This avoids any guess work for the floor guide. Figuring everything from the directions is for better men then me.
12. I put dry wall in 2 rooms. I would suggest buying and learning how to use a rotary tool for the outlets and such. I haven’t done much of it and overestimated my ability. Nuff said!
13. I replaced 2 small deck landings. I came to learn to tear out the old framing and google the span charts to make it rock solid. I used Stainless Steel joist hangers and nails since it is a stone’s throw from salt water and everything else rusts in no time. Manasquan Hardware is a great supplier of Stainless hardware. I have no connection to them but they have the right stuff.
14. I used Ipe decking. I was surprised how well it cut and drilled. Predrill and countersink everything, and no problems.
15. I built the kitchen and bath cabinets with Hickory fronts and doors and drawer fronts. I have pics posted a while back in the project forum. I made the cabinets so they had to be mounted on a 2X4 floor frame. Very easy to level and install.
16. I hung blocking for everything. Cabinets, baseboard, chair rail, cove molding. This took time, but made the final install fool proof. This was at the advice of my builder buddy and he could not have been more right. HD discount bin has tons of cheap 2X material for cheap blocking.
17. I learned later that pressure treated wood should not be used for blocking as it rusts hardware. Good thing to know.
18. I primed and painted all trim and wainscoting before installing. Filled holes and put final paint on after installation. Good idea IMO.
19. Thanks for reading, I hope this might be of help to any members who are doing a renovation. Pics will come at some point, there is one more bedroom to finish this spring………

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Sounds like a big project, probably equally satisfying! #6 is universally correct.

[Lisa Starr]

Ron,

Our home was a similar endeavor, though we were lucky enough not to live in it for the first 5 years of the project. Like you, we had to create all sorts of creative trim to solve exterior vs interior wall plane issues at every window and door opening. I also learned to take perfect measurements and pre-assemble each window casing for the interior. The corners are doweled and glued to keep everything aligned at the corners. Our trim was all pre-finished as well and just needed minimal fill at the nails attaching them to the wall and a quick coat of paint in the front surface.

I think your list is very complete and I'd emphasize numbers 1, 6 and 16. Finally, take more pictures than you think you need. I can't tell you how many times I've looked back to see exactly where that blocking is installed or where exactly the tubing for the radiant floor runs through a doorway.

Congratulations our nearing the end of your project.

[Bill Space]

LOL

"Murphy was right about time. He may have actually been under played the “Longer than you think” part!"

I started our house around 1980...still not finished as far as the details goes...but entirely functional. It started as a five year project...live and learn.

I have been renovating the house next door that I bought for the 4 acres. Slow project that follows your experience.

Live long and prosper!

[Michael Schuch]

Things I learned Renovating My Cottage
14. I used Ipe decking. I was surprised how well it cut and drilled. Predrill and countersink everything, and no problems.

I love Ipe and have used it through the interior of my home a fair bit. It does work quite nicely BUT has the nastiest splinters I have ever encountered if you get a splinter from it. I always wear a GOOD dust mask / respirator when working with Ipe.

Thank you for sharing your experiences!

[David Stone (CT)]

Lots of good advice and lessons in your list. As owner of an old house, I would add #20: Assume that prior work has been been done in such a way as to cause additional work to fix or deal with its shortcomings.

[Terry Wawro]

Another fan of IPE here. It's great for outdoors as it's hard as a rock and tough as nails. Doesn't float like regular wood. So dense that it sinks. Like Michael said, the splinters are nasty.

[Jack Frederick]

We re-modeled our current place while living in it. Re-built is a better way to describe it. Hindsight being 20/20, I could have bought and lived in a used 25’ Airstream and let the job proceed efficiently as opposed to scheduling around us. I’m sure I could have netted out the cost of the AS in building costs. To late smart!

[Rick Potter]

We moved into my parents house in 2006, and have been remodeling and adding on since then. The stair rail has been 2x4's for over 10 years, and I have one more set of cabinets to build.

So far, have added a 1200SF granny flat addition, a workshop, a new garage with a guest room, and remodeled most of the house.

I hope to outlast the remodel. At 79, I am a LOT slower than I used to think I was.