View Full Version : Remodeling our "new" home
xiamenmom
11-28-2011, 11:16 PM
We purchased a 35 year old home and we are remodeling it, and will be including many features to make it more accessible, but it won't be a "fully" accessible home since my husband doesn't need some of those features. But so far, my favorite part of the process was today, watching him do drywall work and touch the ceiling for the first time in 23 years since his injury :) He had to build a ramp and platform to reach the top part of the wall, widen doorways, etc..., but so far, we're doing everything ourselves. I always tell him I know he can do ANYTHING, and this is another way he's proven me right!
micah_d
11-29-2011, 12:44 AM
wow! the true definition of "where there's a will there's a way." just watch out for that first step, it looks like a doosey.
ZEN12many
11-29-2011, 03:49 PM
Love it!!
PhoenixFiresky
11-30-2011, 02:47 AM
:notworthy
I wouldn't even know how to put the ramp together, let alone the walls!
Color me impressed.
xiamenmom
12-19-2011, 10:38 PM
He did carpentry as his trade for 15 years or so before getting hurt, so he knows the "how" to all these things, just not always the "how to" from a chair. We're making progress daily - so far, plans include making the two master suites accessible (including one roll-in shower), roll-under sink and lowered upper cabinets in the kitchen, and widening doorways to make closets accessible. Also going to put in all hardwood floors since they are easiest to roll on, and additional heat via woodstoves to help him keep from being constantly chilled.
pararich
12-19-2011, 11:03 PM
Will he do the hardwood floors?
I am wondering how hard it would be for me to put down 20" linoleum tiles (in wet mastic).
Like your husband, I helped renovate my kitchen using a platform and ramp.
I was a carpenter for 25 years.
you can do that rich. where you putting it?
drywalling wheeler is a cool picture.
xiamenmom
12-20-2011, 07:58 PM
Rich,
Yes, he is planning to put in the floors himself. But he's doing custom wide plank flooring, not the stuff most people put down. So instead of that nailer that does the nails in the side, he'll be doing countersunk screws covered with plugs. He's got a dolly he made that he uses to get down on the floor to work (old J cushion on a square of plywood w/ casters), so as long as he doesn't sit that way for more than a few hours at a time, he'll be able to do it himself.
pararich
12-20-2011, 10:40 PM
Rich,
Yes, he is planning to put in the floors himself. But he's doing custom wide plank flooring, not the stuff most people put down. So instead of that nailer that does the nails in the side, he'll be doing countersunk screws covered with plugs. He's got a dolly he made that he uses to get down on the floor to work (old J cushion on a square of plywood w/ casters), so as long as he doesn't sit that way for more than a few hours at a time, he'll be able to do it himself.
I made a dolly like that but haven't used it much.
That'll be a nice floor he's putting down.
I'm glad he can do it himself.
pararich
12-20-2011, 10:42 PM
you can do that rich. where you putting it?
drywalling wheeler is a cool picture.
Jody,
I want to do the whole house (it is painted plywood now).
But, I'd start by doing the kitchen.
Right now, money is tight, though.
MSWIFE1
12-20-2011, 10:45 PM
See...I'm not so bad. I was thinking about putting a piece of 3/4 in plywood on a drywall jack and putting my hubby on it so I could jack him up there and he could patch the ceiling where I have torn walls out. I have patched them the best I could but he keeps telling me it looks awful, so I threaten the drywall jack :)
geezus, i'd be too lazy to build the platform alone
flying
12-23-2011, 11:39 AM
Hi I'm a builder In a chair. (11 mouths post) Thanks for the ideas on how to do building from a chair. Alrighty have paint on my chair, guess you have Sheetrock mud on yours.
truly
12-26-2011, 08:29 PM
This is an awesome thread! I've been wanting to get at the wallpaper in my house (too many months in bed, staring at the walls) but couldn't think of a way I could get up high enough. I've had crazy thoughts of getting up on a ladder. The platform idea is excellent and I think hubby could make something similar.
xiamenmom
04-05-2012, 09:58 PM
Glad that the pics of my husband and his ramp have give some of you guys ideas on how to tackle some projects in your house, too!
His latest idea was to go down in the crawl space and check things out from beneath the house. I came in from outside and couldn't find him - just and empty chair and dolly - and I panicked thinking he fell between joists and got hurt. He was hiding UNDER a sheet of plywood, lying on the dirt floor beneath the house! But the good news was, he says it looks good from down there :)