I think I spent $1k in blinds. Well worth the savings. Hanging blinds isn’t all that difficult either
House Blinds Quote
- Thread starter Allstar424
- Start date
That's because you put up blinds. Cliff is special so he has to have window treatments.
When using the term “window treatments”, prices automatically increase 10x. It’s a known fact.
Tell Chris I said Hi.
Unfortunately my wife stopped working 2+ years ago due to health issues. But she was determined to have everything finished (house) before regardless of the doctors recommendation. We both grew up with limited resources and worked for everything we have. Never had children, small if any vacations, and most importantly stopped living on credit. Although the lose of her income was significant, it was not debilitating.
When I was in construction, we built some very custom homes. Homeowner walks in one day carrying a crystal paperweight. Says they want to turn that into the lens for the small recessed can lights around the perimeter of the formal dining room. There were 20 of them. We took it, a can light and found a company to cut and polish them to fit. Sent the can lights out to fulfill their request that they be gold plated and the springs beefed up to hold the heavier weight of the heavy crystal. It was mind boggling how much that cost. They had wallpaper put in the powder room that was 500 dollars a roll in 95.
We live 80miles from Aspen, work there often. I’m not on the finishing end of home but I still see my share of unbelievable builds. It’s mind boggling when someone buys a 20m home just to rip it apart to make it their own. I’m glad they do as that funds part of my living.
Is it the same company that gave you quote that built the last section? They may have lost their ass or possible the company has enough work they don’t care to do it.
What do you mean by the same rock? Do you have to excavate rock horizontally or vertically?
It’s been some 15 years since building any block walls but I’m still in the rock removal business.
The wall is 160 square feet 8 x 8 x 16 CMU. Typical foundation of 18 x 18 with 4 continuous #4 and 4' L's every other course alternated back and forth on the bottom two. Average cost according to several online sources shows to run about 25 bucks per square foot on the high side which is 4 grand all in.
The excavation is rock and needs to be excavated both vertically and horizontally back about 3 feet and then down 1.5 for the footing. The same was done for the other wall. The rock here is funny. Very hard, but seamed in layers with lots of cracks. The last one had a small bobcat with a breaker on it. He blew out the whole footing and excavated the rock back to 12" clear on the inside of the wall in about 3 hours. It is terrible to dig or jackhammer by hand, a breaker just blows through it like a stack of unreinforced concrete sidewalk about 2" thick.
Not the same company. The other company was right on the high side at 25 bucks a foot. I'm okay with paying a premium for small jobs. I'm not okay with paying almost 2.5 x the local average.
I worked with a local guy who needed some work. We brought it in at about 18 bucks a foot and that was buying everything from Home Depot and mixing the Quikrete by hand with a small mixer.
Hells NO! I actually have the original pull down shades in my bedroom, the cheap ones. Blinds or as you call them Blaine "window treatments" are from the stock home depot or lowes variety in my homes. I like to keep as much of the money we make and not blow it on over the top decorating crap.
You have all the knowledge needed to do the project. Have you thought about renting the equipment and getting some day laborers? Most of those guys have done some masonry work.
It is a time and effort thing. Yes, I can do and direct the work except for the actual block setting. I am finishing up the mud room so Kat has a work bench with some cabinets so she can set her scroll saw back up. I built it several years ago and just roughed it in with T-111 3/8 ply over the insulation. Now I'm finishing it so I ran the trim, painted it, finished the window trim and painted that, pulled the exterior door and painted that, and then I started on the plywood floor to get it ready for glue down vinyl plank. It took a fair bit to get that skimmed out and flat enough for vinyl. Unfortunately the flooring we picked takes a special glue and they won't give me a substitute. I ordered it 10 days ago and it hasn't shipped yet and there is no one within a 50 mile radius that has any in stock.
While I'm now waiting on glue, I started the stairs for the back deck walkway. To get to the back yard at the rear deck, you literally have to walk the length of the house 100+ feet, across the front of the house another 50+ feet, and then back down the length of the house another 100+ feet to get to the spot you were standing over. There is a covered walkway down the whole side of the house that will now continue on down 3 steps to a landing and then 13 steps to the ground. I got the landing rough framed today and ready for decking.
I just finished up the other deck finally. I laid exterior plywood over the 2x6 diagonal decking. Ripped out the aluminum patio slider and installed a Pella slider in its place. That let me raise the threshold above the deck to keep water out so I could apply waterproof deck coating. The walls were covered in the T-111 and since I had to remove several sheets of it to install the slider, I removed the rest of it and installed the same siding that is on the rest of the house. I got that installed, caulked, trimmed, and painted. While I was at it, I painted the rest of the area. The deck covering was 8 coats, 1 per day.
In other words, I have plenty to do, I have about enough time in each day to supervise someone on a wall as long as it isn't more than a couple hours per day.
I hate digging, jackhammering, painting, flooring, yard work, and painting. Did I mention I hate painting yet?
It's amazing how costly good blinds are. I just moved into my first house last May and found this out the hard way since there was nothing on any of the windows when we moved in. We ended up getting some nice blinds for our bedroom, but said fuck it to the rest of the house and just put up some basic curtains, haha.
Crap, $55 & up for decent blinds at your local big box home improvement store. 19 windows in my house, 14 with curtain rods & "window treatments" dress up. 2 weekends and the project was done for under $1500 all in. Mind you, the misses would not let me put the cheapest crap in the house since the house is her domicile and the man-cave garage is my domicile...... You get the picture.
Better learn quick how to do home improvements if you're a home owner.
Plumbing is one of the most expensive jobs to pay someone to do yet is really not hard to do at all. I got so tired of the $100 smell-good buba to root the main line that I bought a professional grade rooter machine with multiple attachment heads. I can go out to the main line at over 150 feet with this thing and the best part is it paid for itself in about 3 jobs. I have a video camera for looking inside pipes too...
Right tools for the job, a proper understanding and a little brain power aptitude one can do virtually almost everything.
Disclaimer:
I really don't recommend home dentistry, triage surgery or working with any high voltage powerlines though.......
Unless you're brave and insured....... Very brave and over insured. That and have been schooled for it and are insured for it...... And have the facilities.... And did I mention insured?.... Nevermind.
There are some people who really just shouldn't touch anything with their golden screwdriver.
Better learn quick how to do home improvements if you're a home owner.
Plumbing is one of the most expensive jobs to pay someone to do yet is really not hard to do at all. I got so tired of the $100 smell-good buba to root the main line that I bought a professional grade rooter machine with multiple attachment heads. I can go out to the main line at over 150 feet with this thing and the best part is it paid for itself in about 3 jobs. I have a video camera for looking inside pipes too...
Right tools for the job, a proper understanding and a little brain power aptitude one can do virtually almost everything.
Disclaimer:
I really don't recommend home dentistry, triage surgery or working with any high voltage powerlines though.......
Unless you're brave and insured....... Very brave and over insured. That and have been schooled for it and are insured for it...... And have the facilities.... And did I mention insured?.... Nevermind.
There are some people who really just shouldn't touch anything with their golden screwdriver.
Yea, very true. I definitely didn't have a ton of handyman experience before moving into my house, but in the age of the internet, it's just so easy to learn how to do whatever you need done. It's also been really enjoyable to learn so many new skills.
I can only imagine how much money some people throw around when they either feel too intimidated or are just unable to handle basic repairs around the house.
OP
We ended up ordering blinds from a local rep and I will be doing the install. We were able to buy them for a 1/3 the price we were quoted. I was really hoping it would be a reasonable price to have someone come and do it for me as free time is not abundant with my current work schedule.
It certainly helps to be able to do most home repairs myself. Hardwood floors I would probably consider contracting out next time. YouTube and forums have been a lifesaver! My father-in-law built homes for years so he has been a wealth of knowledge. It can be humbling how much you don't know about certain things (electrical)!
It certainly helps to be able to do most home repairs myself. Hardwood floors I would probably consider contracting out next time. YouTube and forums have been a lifesaver! My father-in-law built homes for years so he has been a wealth of knowledge. It can be humbling how much you don't know about certain things (electrical)!
There’s a really simple solution to your situation, take on more builds. You get to do what you’re best at and leave that other stuff for someone else. Glad I could help you for once.