The Houck Remodeling Journal

Finished product

Houck Remodeling — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:18:08 +0000

Bathrooms done. We removed an existing tub and shower unit and installed a 5′ wall in Swanstone shower. Never had to touch the drain line since we used a conversion base. We did move the valve to the opposite wall, installed some grab bars and a seat. We also installed a new Starmark vanity, medicine cabinet and “Johnny wall” cabinet. A new Swanstone vanity top and Moen faucets all around.

Tub to Shower Conversion

Houck Remodeling — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:17:31 +0000

Today we started a tub to shower conversion. We’ll be removing the 30 year old tub and tile walls and installing a new shower conversion base with Swanstone walls. We’ll also be updating the medicine cabinets and. Vanity base.

Titan tile for the showroom

Houck Remodeling — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:28:27 +0000

All of the tile is installed in the showroom. The photo is of Florida Tile “Titan” tile. They are 18″*18″ laid on a diagonal. It’s half grouted but will be finished in the morning. Next is baseboards and more displays, looks like a late January open house.

Pillars, crown, chair, and door

Houck Remodeling — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:05:42 +0000

We are close to wrapping up our current job. We built a wall where we added a 5′ interior door. Inside the new room we installed chair rail, 5 decorative pillars with crown on top. We’ll paint in the morning and be wrapped up on another successful job.

Complete Bath Remodel

Houck Remodeling — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 06:50:29 +0000

These are before photos of our current job. The shower, sink, toilet, medicine cabinet, and flooring all are getting replaced. Upon tearing out the shower we noticed that the floor had extensive water saturation, not only the floor under the shower but it stretched to a good portion of the rest of the floor. The original goal for today was to tear everything out and get the shower base in and ready for walls in the morning. After finding all the water damage we decided that the install should start Wednesday, there by giving us an extra day to try to dry out some of the floor to determine just how much will have to be tore out. We did make great strides in other areas of the job. We got everything tore out and all of the drywall patching done, the new medicine cabinet installed and a new drain box for the washing machine.

New Complete Bath Remodel

Houck Remodeling — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:22:29 +0000

Today we started a new job. This is a complete bathroom make over. Everything goes and gets replaced with new. We’ll be doing new tile floor, shower base and tiled shower walls. The existing drywall on the exterior wall was removed to reinsulate. we’ll be installing new vanity, top, faucets, medicine cabinet, toilet, and lights. This project will take us roughly one and half to two weeks. Pictures to follow.

New Complete Bath Remodel

Houck Remodeling — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:26:47 +0000

Hidden Electrical Issues

Houck Remodeling — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 02:25:31 +0000

One of the things we run into on a regular basis are illegal or “boot-legged” electrical splices. Below are some photos of some we found on a recent job. None of the splices were in wire nutted, they just took electrical tape and taped them together. There were other spices made in the ceiling that no one knew were there. What happens if you have a short or the splice comes apart? How do you find a hidden splice point if you weren’t the one who did it? Answer: you really cant without tracking the wire all the way back to the splice point, which could be a major endeavor, depending on where you start and where you have to go to find it. Here’s the deal; if you HAVE to splice in the middle of a circuit (1) it has to be in a box, (2) you need to use WIRE NUTS, then tape them up, and (3) you HAVE to leave them accessible (in other words you have to put them in a box and have a plate on the finished wall so that you can get in there and work on them if need be). Ideally you dont splice into the middle of a line, if the circuit can carry the extra load you can jump off of an existing terminal point or if at all possible have a new circuit run from the main box, by a professional. Bottom line: If you DON’T know what your doing, hire a professional. If not (especially in a case like this) you could be putting the lives of yourself and your loved ones at risk, not to mention the next owner.

Laundry Room Finishing

Houck Remodeling — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 05:02:29 +0000

This was an unfinished room the home owner was using as the laundry room. The project consisted of hanging drywall after. New studded walls were installed. Some electric had to be run and in the process of doing that, we found several illegal splices that had to be fixed. We added a dryer vent and a laundry tub.

Bathroom Wrap up

Houck Remodeling — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 03:27:00 +0000

This job consisted of removal of the existing fiberglass base, tile walls, and existing shower door. The base would be replaced with a almond Swanstone base, tile from “Florida Tile”, custom made on site soap dish, and a new shower door from Alumax. We also installed a new tile floor. The faucet would be reused (it’s a Moen, so it had held up pretty well, a little cleaning and it look almost new again). There were some surprises on this job, as there was a lot of water damage that was hidden (for a full explanation see the previous post “Water Damage…”).