When I have a design idea in my mind, I tend to get stuck on that as an only option. Especially if it is an economical one that will save me quite a bit of time.

I went to the Horizons Home Show and found a newel post that I really liked (pictured below).  I decided that I had to have those posts in my latest fixer, but I didn’t want to go to the trouble to fabricate them.  Lucky for me, I was able to locate the posts at Home Depot for about $65 each.  The time savings in fabrication were well worth spending the $65.  I could have purchased some 4×4 and then trimmed it out in poplar or MDF.  I would still probably have been into it for $40-$50 per post without accounting for labor.  To top it off the labor cost would have been higher and the quality of a site built post wouldn’t have matched the tight construction on a factory built post.

Box Newel Post

I did have an issue when trying to locate the posts at Home Depot. They were not listed as in stock ANYWHERE.  To top it off, similar posts from other manufacturers ran about $160 each.

As an avid web user, I am always surprised by a large company who hasn’t yet embraced what technology can bring.  When the post wasn’t in stock, I had to check the stock at each local store via the Home Depot web site.  This was an in-store item only.  None of the local stores turned up with a stock item for me.  Worse than that, it displayed as in stock “at my local store” until I logged into the homedepot.com site.  I called my local store and was essentially blown off. Called another and was basically told to come in and that they couldn’t check if an item was available elsewhere.  Not too helpful.

As the title mentions, this was a bit of a quest after I determined that I had to have the posts.  I then called the Home Depot customer service line. They put me on hold and called a couple of local stores.  The rep came back and told me that they pretty much blew her off as well and she couldn’t check inventory other than store by store.  WTH?  Can you believe that?  She did ask if I would like to be transfered to “customer care” (she was “customer service”).  ”Why not”.  The rep at Home Depot customer care was terrific.  He let me know that their systems don’t allow a wide search, but that he can search within my city/region with a SKU. The item didn’t have a SKU on the web site (that was actually the primary issue with checking stock online).  He went to the trouble to look up the SKU in their internal system and, with that, was able to search my region.  He located my 3 posts at a local store and had them moved from the shelf to the customer service desk.  My quest was over. I located my posts and picked up my posts at the Home Depot that happened to be the one closest to me.

The customer care rep that helped me was awesome.  I wish that more people at that company had the same attitude and willingness to help.  His name was Charlie and he was located in Atlanta.  Charlie’s direct number is 800-654-0688 x: 76503.  Charlie, if you ever read this, sorry about the additional calls you might receive.   Thanks for your help!

My precious newel post:

Box Newel Post

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We were viewing some project photos and he picked a couple out as pictures for framing. I didn’t consider them anything but a picture to record the state of things prior to renovation. I often take pics of wiring and plumbing prior to tearing apart or buttoning up.

What is your opinion?  Art?

Construction Art?

Do you see “art” in the following?

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I had a ceiling job to do so that we can move forward with other projects in this room and we didn’t want to wait on the pros to do this section. I decided to fashion a lift to make the job safe and easy.  The lift that I built was pretty straightforward and turned out to do a little more than I expected.  At first this was going to be a 2 person job. When my co-worker didn’t arrive, I decided to give the 14′ ceiling a go on my own.  Just prior to doing so, I taped my phone to a nearby ladder and turned the video on. I figured that this was going to go well, or terribly bad.  Either way, I wanted to be sure that I captured it.

I modeled the lift using Google Sketchup. Sketchup is a terrific (and free) 3d design program. It is remarkably easy to use if you have any CAD experience.  Here is a link to my Sketchup file.
DIY Drywall Lift

The material used was nothing more than 7 2×4′s and 3 hinges. I screwed the 2x’s together with 3″ drywall screws and fastened the hinges to a cleat that I then screwed to the wall (the cleat is the 7th 2×4 if you were wondering). By screwing the hinges to the cleat while on the ground it allowed me to position the entire lift at the correct height. I was then able to screw the cleat off at a few points without having to hold the whole rig up.

DIY Drywall Lift Plans

Once the piece closest to the wall was fastened to the ceiling (lift up to the 2×4 @ 48″ and swing up), I was then able to place the next piece a cleat at the base of the lift and lift/fasten. I was nervous about doing this solo since I hadn’t tested the strength of my setup. The sheets of drywall were 95 pounds each so a crash wouldn’t be without some damage below (me).

Video to follow.

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When working on a tile job, you don’t always need the high priced, high powered tool.  Put away your inner Tim “The Toolman” Taylor and consider a manual tile cutter for your straight cuts.  A tile cutter that scores and snaps can save you a lot of time and a bit of a mess compared to using a tile saw.

If you are in a tight space, and aren’t able to setup your wet saw nearby, you will find the back and forths will be a bit tiring and will add a lot of time to your project.  A simple tile cutter will speed your project and keep the mess to a minimum.   There are certainly cuts that can’t be made with a cutter and you will need to head down to your tile saw, but for the majority of your cuts consider the old school method of score and snap.

A decent tile cutter can be had for less than $40.  When I say decent, you might wonder what I am comparing it to.  Decent compared to a pair of nips, or decent compared to a high end wet saw?  What I would say is that it is decent for a one or two time use.  The materials used in the lower end tile cutters are not going to hold up to heavy use. However, if you pick up a tile cutter for $20 and use it for 2 jobs (before tossing it out for the junk collector) think of the money you will save over a rental charge.

You can purchase a decent unit at a tile shop, or at Amazon.com, or you can head down to Lowe’s or Home Depot and pick up a serviceable unit for about $20-$30.

Good luck.

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It is tough to beat the price per square foot for a building of this size (4,416) that is renovated/updated and in a suburban location.

• 4,416 Sq Ft
• Reception area
• Conference room (large)
• Interior is freshly appointed
• Multiple offices
• Suitable for 1-3 tenants or owner occupant
• Large basement with high ceilings
• Ample parking
• Well trafficked area

Take a look:

Wheatfield, NY commercial office building for sale

Office building for sale in Wheatfield, NY

http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/MainSite/Listing/Profile/Profile.aspx?LID=16658348

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Here is a rundown of some of the work done to the exterior to date:

• Removal of carport along with the shingle patching after removal
• Replaced a flat roof and tied into the pitched roof in rear of house
• New roof
• New soffits and fascia
• New paint (not complete, but close)
• New windows
• Removal of enclosed porch windows and wrapping of columns

30 Lombardy Before and After (actually, during)

To complete the outside we still need quite a bit including shingles on the dormer sides along with gutters, trim paint, and landscaping.  Not to mention many of the finishing paint touches, trim pieces, driveway sealer, etc.

I’ll continue to add to the new Before and After photos category over time. In fact, I might just add some items from the archive. Who doesn’t love a makeover?

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Here is a sad example. In New York state, there should be thousands of real estate listings.  In fact, a quick search of a rival “classified” type site named Oodle.com turns up 2,262 listings in Buffalo, NY alone. Not the whole state of NY as I pulled on Ebay, just Buffalo New York.  On Ebay, the entire state of NY returned 14 listings!  That’s right, 14 listings.  Who would even bother to go there.  Visitors will move toward the listings when searching for real estate.

Ebay Listings in New York:

Ebay real estate

Oodle.com Listings in Buffalo NY:

Buffalo Real Estate on Oodle

Why isn’t Ebay able to generate real estate listings at their site?  There are a number of reasons, but here are the two primary ones:

1. Price
   To list a property on Ebay, it is expensive (Fee table below).  Expensive is relative, but based upon the options out there for someone looking to sell a property, the cost outweigh the potential reach. I can only assume that the reach is poor based solely on the listing results.
2. Audience
   If they are heading to Ebay as one of the top few listing sites, I don’t care to be there at their price.  When you search for real estate, you probably find yourself hitting a few sites and quickly realize that you are seeing the same listings across multiple sites.  Because listings are scarce in Ebay Real Estate, they don’t have an opportunity to capture audience during the short window when someone is searching.

Ebay Real Estate Listing Fees:

Ebay Real Estate Listing Fees

I hope Ebay’s leadership takes a long look at their real estate category. As with EbayMotors.com, they could be a dominant force in this space.

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I picked up this Johnson level at Home Depot last night. It was $69 at home depot, so I paid a bit more than I needed to, but having it on hand for was more important. I’ll follow up with a review of the Johnson rotary laser level after completing a couple of projects. You can’t beat the price compared to some of the pro tools. This could save a handyman hours if doing a drop ceiling, chair rails, etc.

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Rubble Foundation Wall Repair

My experience with a rubble foundation repair.  I happened to be fortunate that the water infiltration into this basement was minimal. Because of that, I did not have wash out issued in the foundation.  These old rubble foundation walls eventually give way if water infiltration is an issue.  Over the years, the force of the water will break down the cement and the wall can start to crumble.  On top of that, most people will apply a band-aid fix that will essentially skin the wall with cement.  This will hold for a bit, but eventually the skin will start to flake off in large bits.

Rubble foundation repair

In our case, we had a foundation wall that was 14″ to 16″ thick.  There was only one area where I had concern about the amount of rubble that had crumbled from the wall.  When enough of the rubble foundation material crumbles away, it will compromise the integrity of the upper foundation (usually large stones or cement) and cause cracks, settling, or worse partial collapse.  We hired a competent contractor who has done hundreds of jobs similar to this.  The contractor is from the East Aurora, NY area where an old stone foundation is common.

Our fix could have been accomplished using a variety of techniques.  The 2 best solutions were a poured interior wall, or a block interior wall.  Due to cost and accessibility, we selected a block interior wall.  The new block wall is tied to existing structure with Rebar and the wall itself is built to last.  This interior wall is placed against the existing rubble foundation wall and will eliminate future crumbling of the foundation.  Not only that, but it provides a crisp interior wall with a nice clean look.

The cost for a repair of this nature will depend on the linear feet you need to cover and the height of the new wall.  Assuming you catch the repair prior to any structure being compromised, you will not have a need to do any lifting of the existing structure.  This new interior wall essentially acts to “retain” the current footer.

Don’t let your rubble foundation get to the point where your house needs to be lifted and the foundation dug out and rebuilt.

Since we have a smaller basement area (there is some crawl space that isn’t affected), our cost was below $5,000. Some might not consider this a cheap fix, but it would certainly beat the $20,000 bill you will face should a major repair/reconstruction be required.  Get multiple estimates and be sure to go with a contractor who has done this repair before.

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Zimmerman Lumber Ad from 1919

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