[Oni Koroshi]

Aside from the small sales tax increase, this won’t affect the income for most of us yet public education will benefit greatly which does affect all of us.

[Oni Koroshi]

Del Sur and 4S are so similiar I can’t think of a reason why you would sign up for the higher MR’s are Del Sur.

[Oni Koroshi]

[quote=ocrenter]

I’m sure Romney fully understands this too. Although I doubt the GOP base really comprehends this.[/quote]

The majority of the GOP base will never even come close to earning more than 250k but they dream that they will be millionaires some day and when that day comes, they don’t want to be taxed!

[Oni Koroshi]

[quote=outtamojo]
Yes, do not skimp on leveling the floor. If you do, seams that were perfect when you locked the planks together will open up later if your surface is uneven. Also, your baseboards will have have dips and corners will be difficuclt to join.[/quote]

You just need the floor to be flat, getting some of these slabs level is more work than it’s worth. I rented a concrete grinder to smooth out all the left over thinset but didn’t realize my subfloor wasn’t very flat. It looked to be ok with my 6′ level but I realized I still needed more work. I was able to get some people from G&A Sanding to come in and get everything nice and flat for the same amount it would have cost to rent the concrete grinder again.

Back on topic, you might want to look at installing the flooring yourself to save a lot on money. I just did the tile and bamboo flooring at my house for the first time. I did a glue down on a concrete slab and it was fairly easy, much easier than tile. I was working with 6’x6″ planks so I would think the smaller, lighter laminate pieces would be even easier. If you’re going to float it, it should be very easy if you’re working on a flat surface already.

[Oni Koroshi]

[quote=AN]It depends on who you hire, but I got tiles rip out for $1/sq-ft. I got my bamboo flooring installed for $1.50/sq-ft.[/quote]

Wow, that’s an amazingly low cost for wood floor installation. Was it floated on a plywood subfloor? I’m guessing that’s not including the installation materials because I paid about that for just the glue and moisture barrier, not including all the time and effort it took to get my concrete subfloor flat.

Back on topic, if you’re taking the time and money to get rid of the old tile, why go with laminate? I know not everyone has a huge budget but in the long run, wouldn’t it be better to save a little longer and get real wood?

[Oni Koroshi]

What’s wrong with Fry’s?

[Oni Koroshi]

I had already been considering being my own GC but decided to see the where other GC’s bids would come in at. After doing background checks and going over reviews of many of the large San Diego GC businesses, I had 4 companies come out to give me an estimate but only 1 actually came back with a detailed bid and another just gave a general estimate. I guess business is so good for these guys they don’t bother following through after they meet people.

If the big guys can’t even be bothered to follow through with a bid, I didn’t want to trust them with my house. Of the one bid I did get, for the rough plumbing alone, I’m saving just over $6k.

For the electrical which includes a 200 amp panel upgrade, several new dedicated circuits for major appliances, heated flooring, new GFCIs, rewiring the terrible existing wiring from the previous owner, etc. I’m saving over $10k.

I was very particular about my fixtures and appliances so I don’t think a GC would have saved me any money on that. Being able to shop around for tile and wood flooring, I’m sure I was able to actually save money buying it myself. Design and demo would have been several more thousand that I saved. Overall savings I would estimate around $35-40k, I’ve budgeted $90k doing it myself. The savings are not only from hiring my own subs directly but also doing a lot of the tasks myself such as flooring.

The major upside of being my own GC, I am able to get everything built exactly how I want. The GC’s I talked to wanted to build the showers with the hot mop method, something that seems to be pretty popular in California, but I wanted to build all my showers with Kerdi to ensure they will be water and moisture proof forever. Neither of them were familiar with this method which seemed strange.

This project is probably something I wouldn’t have done if this was my only residence since there is no way I could arrange all the work to be done as quickly as a pro would. If it was only a bathroom it wouldn’t be a problem but I don’t know if I could be without a working kitchen for that long if I was living in the house.

[Oni Koroshi]

I’ve never done a major remodel like this before so pulling the permits for the interior electrical and plumbing didn’t bother me. Yes, it’s more money but it’s nice to have an inspector come in and make sure things are done right.

I have a good overall understanding of how everything should be done correctly but there are minor things that the subs might try to do that I miss. Permits aren’t entirely evil and now that the house is gutted, I don’t see how the inspector could find much that I haven’t discovered already.

Also, since I was pulling a permit for the electrical panel upgrade, hvac, and deck the inspector would easily see all the other work I’ve done and tell me to get a permit or shut me down.

[Oni Koroshi]

There shouldn’t be any insurance issues as long as you’re using licensed contractors for your subs. They should carry their own bond insurance and worker’s comp (which you should check out yourself, make sure they haven’t made any claims and they’re still in good standing).

If you start hiring unlicensed people to work on your house then you become their employer and are responsible for having worker’s comp insurance for them.

I got the permits myself as an owner/builder but only after getting rejected by the city with plans I had from the previous owner. I tried to revise the plans I had to meet all the local codes but it ended up being more work than I wanted to do so I just ended up hiring an architect. If you’re only remodeling and not moving walls, you can easily go to the permit office and submit a no plan/ over the counter permit and get it all that day, just make an appointment, the city gives high priority to appointments. You can do the mechanical (HVAC), electrical, and plumbing permits all under one combination permit to save money. The inspector will come out and inspect everything during a 2 hour block of time so you don’t have to pay for multiple inspections.

I only needed an architect because of the enclosed patio that I want to turn into a 2nd story balcony deck. I probably could have done the wall demo plans myself.

[Oni Koroshi]

I had Rob from http://www.sdinsightinspections.com/ do my home inspection on my short sale purchase. I thought he did an amazing job and his report was very long and thorough.

[Oni Koroshi]

I don’t think the mello roos and HOA fees are worth it in either community, but maybe that’s just me. I find it hard to swallow putting in an extra $500 a month in extra fees for a large home on a small lot of land.

The $800k+ homes seem to have decent sized yards though but for that price you have a lot of better options around the city.

[Oni Koroshi]

The area is nice but just like 4s, most houses are on tiny lots with small backyards, close proximity to your neighbors. The mello roos are as high as possible. If you really like the area I would look at 4s. Pretty much the same type of houses but with slightly lower mello roos.

[Oni Koroshi]

You can enter the address in redfin or zillow and see the public sale records.

If it’s a house in your neighborhood with a stagnant pool, you might want to buy some mosquito fish and toss them into the pool.

[Oni Koroshi]

You can enter the address in redfin or zillow and see the public sale records.

If it’s a house in your neighborhood with a stagnant pool, you might want to buy some mosquito fish and toss them into the pool.

[Oni Koroshi]

You can enter the address in redfin or zillow and see the public sale records.

If it’s a house in your neighborhood with a stagnant pool, you might want to buy some mosquito fish and toss them into the pool.

[Author]

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