The Home Improvements Thread (2)

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Only going to start in the new year... just doing the pricing at this stage. Not looking forward to it though... tired of the trade :D Hopefully this is the last in this house.
 
I sat down a
Amazing how quick things go up.

Busy pricing converting my ex-jacuzzi room to an office, already sitting at just over 35k:
  • Roughly 2.1 x 2.0m double brick wall
  • Hopefully successful removal and reuse of small strip of existing tiles (2m)
  • 12.5m2 vinyl flooring and skirting
  • Two plug points - currently there are none - but power is available from jacuzzi power.
  • Internal Door and Door frame
  • Alarm
  • 2.4m x2 Blinds
  • Fill and screed jacuzzi pit
  • Labour

I just started calculating the 'critical' things we need to pay for in the next 2-3 months. A new Pool Cover, Jojo tank for municpal feed, some garden rectification + irrigation), building some table legs and small fixes, is in the ball park of 90K and that's without the school fees which will be 100K ... Fok! That wish of buying a 75" QLED TV during black friday - will need to wait another year.
 
Hi guys

Long (LONG) time lurker here. Always enjoy following this thread (and many others) and all the advice that comes with it.

Any recommendations for a carport supplier/builder? I'm in the Southern Suburbs in Cape Town. The existing carport is quite old and the heavy winds we had last week nearly blew it off - currently tied down to pallets with some ski rope...

Just got my claim approved by building insurance and I'm exploring the option of them fixing/replacing it vs taking the payout and getting my own contractor in.
Support structure is brick (pillars built in to boundary wall on the one side and then attached to the house on the other side) with wood beams and fibreglass sheets.

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi guys

Long (LONG) time lurker here. Always enjoy following this thread (and many others) and all the advice that comes with it.

Any recommendations for a carport supplier/builder? I'm in the Southern Suburbs in Cape Town. The existing carport is quite old and the heavy winds we had last week nearly blew it off - currently tied down to pallets with some ski rope...

Just got my claim approved by building insurance and I'm exploring the option of them fixing/replacing it vs taking the payout and getting my own contractor in.
Support structure is brick (pillars built in to boundary wall on the one side and then attached to the house on the other side) with wood beams and fibreglass sheets.

Thanks in advance.
I am currently looking as well.. the two quotes info have for a double car port is day and night..

One came in at 23k for maintenance free alu-zinc and solid sheets..

The other was 80k for the same thing but, included building plans and submission thereof.. though this is minimal really..

Some recommendations from the other members who had good experiences would be great..
 
I am currently looking as well.. the two quotes info have for a double car port is day and night..

One came in at 23k for maintenance free alu-zinc and solid sheets..

The other was 80k for the same thing but, included building plans and submission thereof.. though this is minimal really..

Some recommendations from the other members who had good experiences would be great..
Did you call the guys I recommended? Just realized that I don’t know if they do the aluzinc setup
 
I am currently looking as well.. the two quotes info have for a double car port is day and night..

One came in at 23k for maintenance free alu-zinc and solid sheets..

The other was 80k for the same thing but, included building plans and submission thereof.. though this is minimal really..

Some recommendations from the other members who had good experiences would be great..
Thanks. Insurance payout in the region of 20k. Just need to get quotes in a similar region to that. 80k...:oops:. I definitely won't need plans though - it's a remove and replace job.
 
Just got a quote to have a 6.5m pvc gutter and downpipe installed.
R4000.
Fcking madness.
 
Busy getting my gutters redone, aluminium 60m for around 12k. Im in Cape Town and using A1 gutters
Let me know how it goes - literally last week I removed 50% of my PVC gutters, they're falling to pieces and I don't really see the purpose.
 
RE: my jacuzzi hole room.

What sort of person do you get for demolition? i.e. to remove all the tiles.

(I decided I'm probably just going to fill the pit and concrete over it)
 
Let me know how it goes - literally last week I removed 50% of my PVC gutters, they're falling to pieces and I don't really see the purpose.
You don't see the purpose of what? The gutters?

Please for the love of all that is damp, you would want to do as much as you can to remove water from your foundation. Gutters are critical if you have small overhangs.
 
Morning. So the quote is reasonable ?
It’s high, but I’ve assumed it’s the cheapest quote you got... should probably not have assumed.

my answer is more based on people who can’t diy it. Rather pay a bit and have it done properly as opposed to sitting with damp walls which will cost a lot more to repair.

as for costing, I can’t always comment without knowing everything. Like my call out cost would be R450 for small things which are under a hour and don’t require material costs... sometimes I have materials lying around which I don’t charge for. I have been thinking about upping this cost as these days it’s actually easier for me to not go and do the job for R450 and rather spend that time focusing on the job we’re busy with as I make more money finishing that job.

then I mention the cost of R550 per call out (the norm seems to be R650 these days) and people will have a problem with the cost. They don’t think about the traveling cost, traveling time, wear and tear etc which are all costs I need to take into account.

now I’m not saying the 4K is justified, but at the same time I’ve stopped questioning people’s pricing unless it comes to a carport where the price difference between 2 people are 60k difference as seen earlier. I especially don’t question pricing when it comes to things which require the job to be done properly as it can end up costing more if not done properly.
 
You don't see the purpose of what? The gutters?

Please for the love of all that is damp, you would want to do as much as you can to remove water from your foundation. Gutters are critical if you have small overhangs.
I don't know the purpose of the gutters I removed. The down pipe is on the one side of the wall - to the ground - the water then runs along the paving (and wall) to the otherside of the wall - before hitting the garden. its about 12-15m - so - no - I don't know what the purpose is.
 
It’s high, but I’ve assumed it’s the cheapest quote you got... should probably not have assumed.

my answer is more based on people who can’t diy it. Rather pay a bit and have it done properly as opposed to sitting with damp walls which will cost a lot more to repair.

as for costing, I can’t always comment without knowing everything. Like my call out cost would be R450 for small things which are under a hour and don’t require material costs... sometimes I have materials lying around which I don’t charge for. I have been thinking about upping this cost as these days it’s actually easier for me to not go and do the job for R450 and rather spend that time focusing on the job we’re busy with as I make more money finishing that job.

then I mention the cost of R550 per call out (the norm seems to be R650 these days) and people will have a problem with the cost. They don’t think about the traveling cost, traveling time, wear and tear etc which are all costs I need to take into account.

now I’m not saying the 4K is justified, but at the same time I’ve stopped questioning people’s pricing unless it comes to a carport where the price difference between 2 people are 60k difference as seen earlier. I especially don’t question pricing when it comes to things which require the job to be done properly as it can end up costing more if not done properly.
The guy that did my kitchen, redid the gutter outside the kitchen (they had to replace roof sheeting) - they did the fall in the opposite direction of the downpipe - and couldn't understand why I was ****ed off. Fortunately it was the middle of winter, so rain was there for a demonstration.

Needless to say, I redid it myself.

I'm tempted to redo all the gutters where I need gutters myself - considering the cost of materials vs. what they charge for labour. I was quoted around R20k in 2016ish...
 
I don't know the purpose of the gutters I removed. The down pipe is on the one side of the wall - to the ground - the water then runs along the paving (and wall) to the otherside of the wall - before hitting the garden. its about 12-15m - so - no - I don't know what the purpose is.
Upload a picture if you can? I'm curious to see if the downpipe was setup to just dump the water at the base of your house or if it actually routes water away from your foundation.
 
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