c/edmonton-home-reno

25

thomas_brown•9h ago

The painter who tried to cut corners with my driveway

Had a guy come by to give a quote on repainting my garage last spring. He spent 10 minutes looking at my concrete driveway and told me I should just paint it too with leftover house paint to match. I asked him if he'd ever heard of concrete sealer and he just shrugged and said 'it's all the same stuff'.

4

the_derek•1d ago

Why does nobody talk about using spray foam to seal rim joists in Edmonton winters

After my gas bill hit $380 last January, I crawled into my crawlspace and found gaps big enough to stick my hand through between the floor joists and the concrete foundation, so I spent a Saturday with two cans of Great Stuff and it dropped my December bill to $260, has anyone else checked their rim joist after seeing crazy heating numbers?

2

river351•6d ago

That cheap moisture barrier from Home Depot cost me $400 in repairs

Bought the roll that was like $20 less than the proper stuff and found mold behind my basement drywall after 6 months. Has anyone else had bad luck with bargain vapor barriers here in Edmonton?

20

benb21•7d ago

Wasted $800 on a bad basement waterproofing job

Back in March I paid a guy $800 to seal my basement walls after a wet spring. He said he used some special rubber coating and guaranteed it for 5 years. Two weeks later the same spots were leaking again when we got heavy rain. Now I'm out the cash and still have to tear out the drywall he put back up. Has anyone else dealt with a waterproofing company that just didn't do the job right?

29

williamt44•8d ago

My neighbor swore I didn't need to insulate my garage ceiling up here in Edmonton

After our first deep freeze hit -30 he was dead wrong, now I'm ripping down all the drywall I just put up and wondering if anyone else has dealt with sneaky heat loss through uninsulated garages here?

18

cooper.nathan•9d ago

Dealing with a popped pipe in my basement last month

Was doing a simple drywall patch in the laundry room. Hit a water line with my screw. Not even deep, just one wrong spot. Water spraying everywhere at 6 PM on a Friday. Had to run to Home Depot in Mill Woods for a sharkbite cap. $12 fix but ruined my drywall and my whole weekend.

19

aaron_wilson17•9d ago

Tried spray foam myself vs hiring a crew for my garage in Edmonton

I did my own spray foam in a small 12x20 garage last summer and it was a total mess. The kits from the store cost me around $400 but the coverage was uneven and I ended up with drips everywhere. My neighbour hired a crew for his similar sized space and it was $1200 but came out perfect and sealed tight. Has anyone else had better luck with the DIY kits or should I just pay pros from now on?

-1

the_hannah•9d ago

Just found out my "vapor barrier" install was completely wrong for Edmonton winters

I was reading an old post from the Alberta Building Code forum and realized my poly sheet is on the wrong side of the insulation, which means moisture is gonna rot my studs out in 5 years. Has anyone else caught a mistake like this after the fact?

17

milap35•10d ago

Traded my old carpet for that click-lock laminate last month

I had to pick between cheap carpet from Rona or that mid-grade laminate from Home Depot after my basement flood. Went with the laminate at $3.50 a square foot and honestly it's held up way better than I expected through two kids and a dog. My neighbor Bill said I'd regret it but he's still vacuuming pet hair off his Berber every weekend. Anyone else make the switch and find it worth the extra cash?

30

milesrobinson•10d ago

Hit 300 sq ft of floor leveler in my basement and realized I'm now $600 deep on self-leveling compound alone

Who else has watched a 20kg bag of self-leveling compound vanish into a 2 inch low spot and just stood there doing the math on how many more trips to Home Depot that hole is gonna cost you?

0

margaret99•11d ago

Took me 2 years to figure out I was sanding drywall wrong

I kept getting those swirl marks no matter how careful I was. My neighbor who does drywall for a living saw my wall and asked if I was using a work light. I said no and he just laughed. Turns out you need a bright light angled at the wall to see the imperfections as you sand. I tried it on my last patch job and it was like night and day. No more guessing if I missed a spot or pressed too hard. Has anyone else had a simple trick like this that saved their reno?

27

holly_foster•12d ago

Last week my basement flood cleanup turned into a 3 day nightmare

I was finishing a bathroom reno in my 1950s bungalow near Whyte Ave when a pipe burst behind the new wall at 10 PM on a Tuesday. By the time I shut off the water, there was an inch of water across the whole basement floor. I spent Wednesday shop-vaccing and ripping out wet drywall, then Thursday running three industrial fans and a dehumidifier from Home Depot. Has anyone else dealt with a surprise flood mid renovation? How did you handle the drying process?

13

amymason•14d ago

Had a drywaller tell me last week that mudding is 90% knife work and 10% compound, and he might be right.

He showed me how he feathers edges with almost no sanding after, and now I'm wondering if I've been overworking my joints this whole time... anyone else heard this approach before?

13

willow244•15d ago

My baseboards looked like a dog chewed them after I tried cutting miters by eye

I was doing baseboards in my living room last weekend and got way too confident. Decided I could eyeball the 45 degree cuts instead of measuring, and ended up with gaps big enough to stick a quarter through. Spent 2 hours going back with wood filler and caulk to hide all my mistakes. My buddy came over and laughed so hard he took a picture for his reno group chat. Anyone else ever rush a cut and regret it instantly?

10

kai_knight1•19d ago

Had to tear out my own basement framing after 2 days of work

Was putting up vapor barrier in my basement in St. Albert last week and realized I forgot to staple it to the rim joist before I built the stud wall in front of it. Had already framed 12 feet of wall with a buddy on Saturday. Spent Sunday pulling out 20 screws and cutting the nails with my sawzall. Whole mess cost me 4 hours and a trip to Home Depot for more 6 mil poly. Anyone else ever have to double back on their own work like that?

4

paul_mason12•20d ago

Ran my sump pump nonstop after last rain and the basement still got damp

I was standing in my utility room in Edmonton last Thursday watching water seep up through the floor crack even though the pump was cycling every 90 seconds. Turns out the discharge line had a slow freeze block from the cold snap, so the water was just recirculating back through the gravel. Anyone else had a hidden winter freeze issue with their sump setup?

19

john_johnson75•22d ago

Hit 100 basement bathroom inspections today feels weird

I do reno consulting on the side and today I hit 100 basement bathroom inspections just for Edmonton homes. That number popped up in my spreadsheet and I had to double check. Most of them had the exact same issues like poor venting and drains that slope the wrong way. It got me thinking how many people just copy what they see online without thinking about our freeze thaw cycle. Have any of you run into weird code stuff specific to Edmonton basements?

5

milap35•22d ago

Just spent 3 hours removing old popcorn ceiling texture from my living room in Edmonton - was it worth the mess or should I have just skim coated over it?

Scraping that stuff off took forever and made a huge dust cloud everywhere (even with plastic sheeting), but now I'm wondering if the smooth finish looks better than what I'd get with a thin layer of mud, so has anyone else tried both methods and regretted one more?

9

hill.jade•24d ago

That moment I cut into a live wire at a 1950s bungalow in Hazeldean

I was cutting out old baseboard with a multitool and zing, sparks flew because someone had stapled romex right behind the trim. Had to call an electrician buddy to fix it on a Saturday and it cost me $300 and a six pack.

13

kaib18•24d ago

Why does nobody talk about using foam backer rod for caulking gaps

I was sealing some gaps around my windows last month on a 1950s bungalow near Whyte Avenue. The spaces were way too big for just caulk alone, and I wasted a whole tube trying to fill them. A buddy who does commercial glazing told me to shove foam backer rod in first before applying the caulk. It saved me about 40 bucks on caulk and the finish looks way cleaner now. Has anyone else tried this trick for big gaps in older Edmonton homes?

12

lucas_grant83•25d ago

Heard a contractor say never use self-leveling compound on plywood subfloors

I was at Home Depot last weekend and overheard a flooring guy tell a customer that self-leveling compound will crack if poured directly on plywood. He said you need a primer or a crack isolation membrane first, otherwise you're just wasting $50 a bag. I've been planning to level my basement floor before laying LVP, and I always thought you just mix and pour. Now I'm second guessing my whole approach. Has anyone here tried using a primer like this? Did it hold up through winter?

8

jakewilliams•25d ago

That $250 waterproofing job I did last spring is already failing

Had a chat with my neighbor Dave last week who's been a contractor for like 20 years. He saw me patching a spot in my basement wall and asked what sealer I used. I told him the big box store stuff and he just shook his head. Apparently those acrylic sealers from Home Depot are basically a temporary fix for Edmonton's clay soil. He said the ground shifts so much here during freeze-thaw cycles that you need a flexible polyurethane or the seal cracks right open. I went down to check my work from April and sure enough there's hairline cracks all along the areas I painted. Now I gotta scrape it all off and redo it with the proper stuff from a real masonry supplier. Has anyone else had luck with the rubberized coatings for Edmonton's climate or is that just another gimmick too?

24

leobrown•25d ago

My uncle swore by using a regular ol' drill for concrete anchors and I laughed at him

I was putting up a heavy shelf in my basement in Edmonton and my uncle said just grab a cheap hammer drill from Canadian Tire, don't bother with the fancy SDS rotary hammer I was eyeing. I thought he was nuts because that thing was 300 bucks. But after drilling through 6 inches of concrete with his old Ryobi and it took maybe 2 minutes per hole, I realized he was right. Has anyone else found that the pricey tools aren't always worth it for one-off jobs?

21

willow244•26d ago

Tried big box store laminate vs the flooring supply shop on 99th Street

Spent $200 more at the supply shop but the planks actually clicked together without gaps. Has anyone else found the big box stuff just doesn't lock right in Edmonton winters?

11

amymason•27d ago

I used to think hiring a structural engineer was a waste of money until Mike showed up

I was dead set on knocking out a load bearing wall in my 1950s bungalow near Whyte Ave myself. My neighbor Mike came over, looked at the ceiling crack, and just said 'you're gonna lose your roof if you touch that.' He's a retired framer and he showed me exactly how the joists were tied in. That honest 5 minute chat saved me thousands in potential damage, and now I always get a 2nd opinion from someone who's done it before. Anyone else have a neighbor or random contractor talk them out of a bad idea?