The Design Community Hub

c/edmonton-home-renovations

30

bailey.xena•7h ago

Had to choose between shiplap and beadboard for my bathroom reno in Edmonton

I went with beadboard because I thought the shiplap trend was played out, but now I'm second-guessing it every time I see those vertical lines in my 1940s house. The beadboard took me four hours to install around the window, and I'm still not sure if I messed up the caulking. Anybody else flip-flopped on wall paneling and regretted it?

1

morgan_jenkins90•21h ago

Took me 8 years to realize I was over-torquing deck screws in Edmonton winters

After a deck board popped up last spring I found all my screws were stripped from expanding and contracting in the cold, and my neighbor the contractor pointed out I should have used exterior-grade screws and left a 1/16 gap between boards the whole time - anyone else make this mistake on their first deck build?

6

rowanp15•1d ago

Used to buy pre-primed trim. Now prime everything myself.

I grabbed a bundle of MDF primed baseboard from Home Depot in Edmonton last spring. Paint was bubbling off within 3 months. Switched to raw pine and I prime with Zinsser BIN before install. Way more work but no problems since. Anyone else finding the factory primer on trim around here just doesn't hold up?

30

betty_shah•1d ago

Vent: That "simple" electrical panel swap took me 14 hours

I figured I'd swap out an old Federal Pacific panel in a 1970s bungalow near Whyte Ave in one afternoon, but every single wire crumbled when I touched it and I spent 8 more hours than I budgeted running new home runs. Has anyone else dealt with antique wiring that just disintegrates on you?

25

morgan_jenkins90•2d ago

Paid $800 for a cheap laminate floor install - now it's buckling after one winter

Went with the lowest bid from a guy on Kijiji and he didnt even leave expansion gaps around the edges. Now three boards are lifting near the patio door and I'm looking at another $500 to fix it. Anyone else get burned by going cheap on flooring labor?

3

margaret_lane•2d ago

Saw something odd at the Habitat ReStore on Calgary Trail last weekend

They had about 20 identical white vanities lined up, all with the same small chip on the left drawer. Any idea if a local supplier over-ordered or if a whole subdivision got the same model?

9

gonzalez.phoenix•2d ago

That week in February when my basement flood turned into a total gut job

I came home to 3 inches of standing water on a Tuesday after that big thaw, and by Friday I had ripped out all the drywall and carpet myself. What started as a small leak ended up costing me $4,200 just for the demo and dumpster fees. Has anyone else had a seemingly small issue snowball into a full renovation nightmare like that?

1

taylor_barnes59•4d ago

The best tip I got was from an old plasterer in Edmonton

I was working on a 1950s house in the Glenora neighborhood last winter, tearing out lath and plaster from a bathroom. An old plasterer named Bill walked through and saw me struggling with the dust. He told me to stop using a shop vac for the fine stuff and just wet everything down first with a spray bottle. At the time I thought he was crazy, but I tried it on the next wall. The dust dropped to almost nothing and the work went twice as fast. He also showed me how to tell if the original plaster was horsehair just by looking at the cross section. Has anyone else run into old-school tradespeople in Edmonton who gave you a tip that actually worked better than the modern way?

34

joel280•4d ago

Had my tile guy call me out for not back-buttering last month

He pointed to a loose piece in my shower floor and said, 'this is why you always back-butter,' so now I spend the extra 45 seconds per tile and havent had a single hollow sound since, anyone else get called out on something basic they were skipping?

10

simon_black•6d ago

My 90s basement bathroom tile got a radical update with just paint and sealer

I tiled my basement shower back in 1998 with those tiny white square tiles that always looked dirty. Over the last 2 years the grout turned yellow no matter how much I scrubbed it. Finally decided to try a two-part epoxy paint made for tile and a matte sealer over the whole thing. Took about 6 hours and cost me $80 in supplies and it looks like a brand new bathroom now. Has anyone else tried painting old tile in their Edmonton home and had it hold up through the winter?

10

riley595•7d ago

My plumber laughed at me for using silicone caulk around the toilet base

He said I should have used a wax ring with a plastic horn instead, and after he showed me how the silicone traps moisture and rots the subfloor over time, am I the only one who never thought about that?

0

susanm22•8d ago

Big mistake with a cheap laminate floor install... cost me $2,800

I decided to save some cash last summer and bought that bargain laminate from a big box store in Edmonton. Thought I could handle the install myself with a buddy over a long weekend. We got the whole main floor done but after three months the edges started curling up everywhere. Turns out we didn't leave enough expansion gap around the walls and the subfloor wasn't level enough. Now I'm looking at tearing it all out and paying a pro $2,800 to do it right with a proper floating floor system. Has anyone else had a floor fail like this after going the cheap route? What did you switch to?

11

nathang67•8d ago

TIL my buddy's advice about spray foam insulation was dead wrong

My friend Mark swore by that DIY spray foam kit from the hardware store for our garage ceiling. Said it would save us a ton compared to hiring a crew. Well, 6 months later we got a weird smell in there and the foam started cracking and pulling away from the wood. Turns out he didn't account for Edmonton's extreme temperature swings and the cheap stuff just fails here. Had to pay a crew $2,100 to remove it all and do it right with closed cell foam. Has anyone else had trouble with those DIY kits in this climate?

10

the_patricia•23d ago

The number that blew my mind on our basement reno was 37 bags of concrete mix

We were doing a small basement slab pour in our 1950s house in Edmonton, maybe a 10x12 area, and I figured we'd need maybe 15 bags of that 80lb stuff from Home Depot. By the time we'd dug out the old floor, added rebar and gravel, and realized the slope was jacked, we ended up at 37 bags. That's like 3,000 pounds of concrete I had to haul down the stairs one by one, and my back still hurts thinking about it. The thing is, the bag calculators online are total garbage for old houses with uneven floors and random depth requirements. We had to go back to Rona twice, and the second time the guy just laughed at me. Has anyone else had a concrete project where the number of bags ended up way higher than you planned?

21

the_terry•24d ago

Hired a drywall guy off Kijiji last month and now I'm crying into my coffee

Found this guy who said he'd do my basement for $700 cash. Showed up two hours late with a rusty knife and no drop cloths. Took him three days to hang 12 sheets and the seams look like mountain ranges. Now I'm sanding for the second weekend straight. Has anyone else had a nightmare with a random handyman from online?

16

felix478•24d ago

That one trick for drywall mud that nobody tells you about

I kept getting bubbles in my joint compound no matter how careful I mixed it. Turns out you need to let it sit for a full 5 minutes after mixing before you start using it. I noticed it at a workshop at the Home Depot off 170 Street and it fixed my whole bathroom drywall job.

7

kellyj23•25d ago

Hit $15,000 on my kitchen reno this week - way over budget

I was aiming for $10k but the countertop quote alone was $4,800 plus the plumbing moved added another $1,200. Anyone else have a renos estimate that just kept climbing like this?

19

sullivan.john•26d ago

Stop putting in pot lights without checking the attic first

Got called to fix a job last week. Guy put 15 pot lights in his kitchen ceiling. Looks great from below. Problem is the attic insulation is now completely messed up. Ice dams forming already. Battleship number was $800 to fix the vapor barrier. Why don't people check before cutting holes? Has anyone else seen this hack job? My buddy does this all the time and it drives me nuts.

4

zara_allen•27d ago

Has anyone hired Millcreekpainters for interior work?

Getting ready to list my house in the south side of Edmonton and the whole main floor needs a fresh coat. Has anyone worked with Millcreekpainters recently? Their quote was pretty reasonable but I want to make sure the quality is there before I actually book them.