A whine, anyone got some cheese?

Hi everyone, I just feel like whining about this but if anyone else would like to add their current whine please feel free. Admission is some cheese....snert. I have been working on our kitchen ever since we moved in which has been four years off and on as I had the money to do the rennovations of course. (Durned money tree died!) Anyway we just refinanced it and it looks like I am going to have about 2500.00 to use for a "project" in the kitchen, which I WAS very excited about. I was trying to decided between new lino floor, new counter tops or new wall oven or hopefully two of the three....but that ended when I started calling around yesterday. First I went to a floor place and picked out flooring, then about 45 minutes later a man came to the house(place is about 4 miles from my house ) to measure the floor and give me a bid, he looks about a bit and compliments me on the cabinets and the plasma tv, then begins to pull a long face and tell me that before I can put down the new floor the old floor will have to be TOTALLY torn out because the carpet has a rubber backing....blah blah blah......subfloor replaced....blah blah and he will call me back with an estimate in about two hours. He never even called me back ! Then I started calling around about the countertops. The town I live close to isn't that big so there were only about 4 places for the countertops besides home depot....but I hear the same depressing news....oh, well first YOU have to tear out the sink and the cooktop! Then we install the new one and we will cut the holes but YOU have to RE-INSTALL the sink, plumbing and the cooktop, WE DON'T DO ANY OF THAT! If I were a contractor I wouldn't be calling these places to get it done in the first place! On to the stove...my house is an older house and the oven has a weird shape, much shorter and wider than what is now in "fashion". I only found ONE stove that would fit into the opening without some MAJOR carpentry needed, a bosche which is a European "BLING BLING" convection oven that is going to cost me about 2000.00 and no one around here even has one that I can look at, I would have to order it from a catalog and HOPE that I liked it when it came, so now I am no longer enthused but feeling bent out of shape and whiney,............PPOOOOOORRRRR MMMEEEEE! Thank you for listening to my sad tale!

Seriosly though, I'm a huge whiner, and that does suck.

awww i am sorry..you know on the floor you could rip it up yourself.... i have done many carpet ripping up jobs...lol..usually it was because there was hard wood underneath to be finnished but that is a way to save some moneys..

Originally Posted by eatrawfish

Seriosly though, I'm a huge whiner, and that does suck.

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Thank you for your sympathy, all is greatly appreciated.....whine.....sniffle....

Originally Posted by ScamperFarms

awww i am sorry..you know on the floor you could rip it up yourself.... i have done many carpet ripping up jobs...lol..usually it was because there was hard wood underneath to be finnished but

that is a way to save some moneys..

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Thanks, I was thinking of that but "MR FLOOR" told me that it is particle board underneth that will "come to pieces when you try to PRY the carpet and glue off because of the type of carpet and the age of it, it will just disintegrate and leave chunks everywhere that are IMPOSSIBLE to get off without destroying the sub floor, hence the total replacement necessary" MOOOAN........I am a do it yourself person but not to the point of totally ripping out the floor to the supports and replaceing it back from scratch...ugh. And again, thanks for the sympathy, I need some......mumble....whine

Aww Carol - that isn't very pleasant news.

On the plus side though, (having recently been there), tearing stuff out if pretty easy and cuts down on the cost of the contractors.

We had to put a whole new subfloor in our whole main level before we laid the hardwood floors and it was actually pretty easy. Same with the sink, John changed that and after watching him do it, I feel confident even I could do it. (Must remember to turn off the water first of course). If I was closer I would be thrilled to come help you.

Sorry can't help you with the cooktop since I still have an old-fashioned stove, but generally hooking it up (once you find one) shouldn't be too difficult. The directions usually give you all the info you need.

My oven temperature wasn't working on our stove and John literally took the whole back panel apart, took digital photos of which wires went with which wires, cleaned it all up and put it back together. Presto - works like a charm. There was also a drip between the glass in the oven so he took the oven door off, took it apart and we cleaned that too. It was relatively easy to do that also.

I hope I'm not frustrating you, but some of these things are quite easy to do if you have the nerve to try them. Personally without John, I wouldn't, but with someone to help - why not?

Jasper and Tia will be sure to help.

PS - I could send you some really good Canadian cheddar to go with the whine.

Originally Posted by BigKittenDaddy

Here is a big Towel for you Carol.

too of course. I don't know but it sounds like the guy is tryin to hose you.

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That could very well be Howard. The funny thing is though that he never called me back with a bid. I would think if he was trying to er, "hose" me as you said that he would have called back with a nice "DEAL" but instead it looks like he decided he didn't want ANY part of it, tucked his tail and RAN for it . Thanks for the cheese and the towel BTW...

Originally Posted by carolcat

Thanks, I was thinking of that but "MR FLOOR" told me that it is particle board underneth that will "come to pieces when you try to PRY the carpet and glue off because of the type of carpet and the age of it, it will just disintegrate and leave chunks everywhere that are IMPOSSIBLE to get off without destroying the sub floor, hence the total replacement necessary" MOOOAN........I am a do it yourself person but not to the point of totally ripping out the floor to the supports and replaceing it back from scratch...ugh. And again, thanks for the sympathy, I need some......mumble....whine

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We put our new sub-floor over the existing one and John screw-nailed the new one to the old one in many, many places so there would be no squeaks.

Yeah Like Yosemite sez.
I seem to be about 2 mins behind this conversation.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Aww Carol - that isn't very pleasant news.

On the plus side though, (having recently been there), tearing stuff out if pretty easy and cuts down on the cost of the contractors.

We had to put a whole new subfloor in our whole main level before we laid the hardwood floors and it was actually pretty easy. Same with the sink, John changed that and after watching him do it, I feel confident even I could do it. (Must remember to turn off the water first of course). If I was closer I would be thrilled to come help you.

Sorry can't help you with the cooktop since I still have an old-fashioned stove, but generally hooking it up (once you find one) shouldn't be too difficult. The directions usually give you all the info you need.

My oven temperature wasn't working on our stove and John literally took the whole back panel apart, took digital photos of which wires went with which wires, cleaned it all up and put it back together. Presto - works like a charm. There was also a drip between the glass in the oven so he took the oven door off, took it apart and we cleaned that too. It was relatively easy to do that also.

I hope I'm not frustrating you, but some of these things are quite easy to do if you have the nerve to try them. Personally without John, I wouldn't, but with someone to help - why not?

Jasper and Tia will be sure to help.

PS - I could send you some really good Canadian cheddar to go with the whine.

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Thanks Linda, my problem is that while I am pretty much a "go for it" person, my hubby is NOT and will not be "helping" with the project. I am not confident of doing it on my "own" and hubbys carpentry skills are NOT something to be desired anyway. Plus, he HATES having the house torn up so I am pretty much stuck with someone coming in to do it I think. If it were just a matter of ripping up the carpet, I wouldn't be so concerned but trying to tear out the subfloor by myself isn't physically possible for me. I have laid vinyl flooring before, cut it and put it down although it was a smaller one, that part doesn't faze me, but tearing out the whole sub floor and replacing it first has me beat, and yes, I would LOVE the Canadian cheddar, thanks .

Man things are so high even if you don't have someone do it, when you haven't bought new things it's like sticker shock isn't it. My hubby decided he wanted to look at countertops, They wanted $5500.00 I looked at him and said have you lost your mind or what, there is no way this house is only 5 years old and I am not spending that kind of money for something I don't need, I have countertops

Originally Posted by carolcat

Thanks Linda, my problem is that while I am pretty much a "go for it" person, my hubby is NOT and will not be "helping" with the project. I am not confident of doing it on my "own" and hubbys carpentry skills are NOT something to be desired anyway. Plus, he HATES having the house torn up so I am pretty much stuck with someone coming in to do it I think. If it were just a matter of ripping up the carpet, I wouldn't be so concerned but trying to tear out the subfloor by myself isn't physically possible for me. I have laid vinyl flooring before, cut it and put it down although it was a smaller one, that part doesn't faze me, but tearing out the whole sub floor and replacing it first has me beat, and yes, I would LOVE the Canadian cheddar, thanks

.

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I hear you! I wouldn't take on a job like that on my own either. We want to do our kitchen over next year since we've done all the rest of the main level. We were discussing it the other night and since John loves his food we've decided I'll cook a lot of meals in advance and freeze them for microwaving so he'll be able to get decent food while the kitchen is in shambles.

We also need to re-do the counter tops (raspberry colour right now) and a new floor (we are going to put down a cork floor) but we'll also add another layer of sub-floor so the kitchen floor will come up to meet the dining area now that there is double sub-floor in the dining area.

I'm serious though, if I were closer I would be over there helping you.

In this area, we have folks who are retired but worked in the construction/renovation area before retirement who take on these kinds of jobs for single women/elderly people who cannot do it themselves but need to save money. Usually the homeowner buys the materials and these folks will come and do the job. My friend (who lost her husband 2 yrs. ago) had them come in and remove and replace her sink and toilet in her powder room. They do a good job and don't charge an arm and a leg. Perhaps there are folks in your area that do this?

I wonder is you could rip that old glue backed stuff up with a carbide scrapper (you can find at most paint stores. There are 2 kinds the one where the blade faces down and the other uses a longer blade(about 2") and is flat looking with the blade area titled at an angle. Then maybe sand with electric sander (handtool) with coarse sandpaper. Perhaps then lay quarter inch plywood over this particle board???
Lots of work but I'd give it a try to see if it works.

Originally Posted by halfpint

Man things are so high even if you don't have someone do it, when you haven't bought new things it's like sticker shock isn't it. My hubby decided he wanted to look at countertops, They wanted $5500.00

I looked at him and said have you lost your mind or what, there is no way this house is only 5 years old and I am not spending that kind of money for something I don't need, I have countertops

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Gee, were you looking at granite? I was too, but too pricy by the time I hire someone to come and take out the sink and cooktop and then replace them again....sigh

Thanks everyone for your ideas, sympathy, cheese :-) and imput but as I said, I DON'T have anyone to help me with this, hubby WON'T get involved because frankly his carpenter skills are a No Way ( THEY SUCK!!!) and I am not Hurculeas plus I am older and have a hernia on top of it all, so heavy physical labor is now beyond me.....but I do appreciate your sympathy and ideas, maybe I will try to get another floor place to come out for a look see....hope springs eternal.....snert

*sigh* This is why I do everything myself. I suspect that what is the problem with that carpet is that it can't be gotten up in a reasonable amount of time. I'm sure the contractor was thinking of using some chemical to disolve the glue, which of course would also dissolve the top layer of glue in the particle board.

It could be scraped up with minimal damage to the subfloor, but that is a long, tedious, nasty job.

Taking up the old subfloor and putting down new isn't really that involved. Try looking for a handyman type person rather than a contractor per se, they're usually not as expensive. But also make sure you know exactly what you want done, and get it in writing if at all possible. There are hundreds of contractor horror stories out there.

In my apartment in London I laid marine quality plywood over a pretty bad underfloor, and then put the lino tiles on that. Its really quite easy if you measure everything carefully and can use and electric jisaw. And if you do decide to go for hte Bosch oven - I had one in a house once and it was hte best I ever had! The fan system is better than any other make. I love Bosch products - I still have one of their dishwashers and it is perfect after 15 years.

So...this has got me thinking...Carol - is this just the kitchen, or all the first floor. First of all - for your situation, I wonder if there are some high-school/college-age types that could do some labor for you? I'm sure my teenish aged kids would love to destruct things; too bad that we're so far away!

Now (the catch) my situation - I've been thinking about pulling up MY carpeting. Darn new cat pees all over it. Plus it's about 20 years old - I just needed an excuse to get rid of it. So...when you pull up the carpet - just why did you need to redo the subfloor if it's a rubber backing? And if you replace the subfloor, is there this gaping hole in your room until you do? AND...what could you put down that would be waterproof? Pergo? Linoleum? Not wood, I guess. Thanks! Kim.