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Advice? Hunting House Remodeling

Sligh1

Sligh1

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Hey guys, I know how to improve land BUT I know JACK-SQUAT about houses!!! I bought a farm with a house that's a piece of crap. Structurally it's ok and can be made better. It's AROUND 800 square foot ranch with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. Basement is cement and JUNK - won't do anything with it. Will be a great hunting house!

WALLS... Should I do that pine tongue & groove (also called carsiding)? Could do cedar too. Where is the best deal? I hear Menards, I guess I need to wait til it goes on sale? Someone said they do a buy-one, get one free if I time it right. Any other ideas OR places to get best prices? (I think my buddy will install for me, should I have him clear-coat carsiding so I can buy it cheaper???). Type: white pine, cedar, other stuff???? What looks coolest and is best and/or reasonable/best priced?

FLOORS... Kitchen I was thinking lanolium that looks like tile. Living and bedrooms- I was going to do SOME type of carpet. No idea what I'm talking about- what do I need to get? Guy that did carpet at my house said he'd do the work, I just need to think of what to buy?!!?!?

ROOF.... eventually needs a new little roof, pry do metal, what you think??? May wait on this BUT hopefully local contracting guy would do this???

SIDING... Just locate someone who does aluminum siding or something? May wait a year on that.

I need a furnace & water heater too. I got some BALLPARK costs of $2300-2500 TOTAL installed, etc. Sound reasonable??? small house, want something DECENT, several guys in a row taking AM showers- want big enough water heater.

LAST, I need about 2500-ish of foundation work- need a Hoe to dig up around, relieve pressure, fix crack, brace, put a french drain in, etc, etc. Nothing huge BUT need to get that done, no idea how or who to hire on that one?!!??!

Best way to find guys to do these certain jobs (like just ask around at local lumberyard or menards for names?)?? Best way to get best prices? Any advice? I'm just an idiot when it comes to ALL housing matters!!! Let me know what you'd do and how you'd handle this - for work, cost, looks, material choices, etc - if it were your house. THANKS!
 
I would go with a tankless water heater a little more spendy but will save you money unless you are going to turn the heat off on it when your not there. Plus you might get a rebate on it if you check for one.
 
what county is the house in? Im a contractor always looking to do business, especially for a fellow sportsman. (theyre usually the best to work for, or at least bs with!)
 
Carsiding is good and saves the pain of drywall work! I've always stained it first and used pine.

Floors: I'm not a carpet guy but have done a lot of tile and wood floor work. When doing lanolium I've used the 12x12 inch sticky-backed stuff more than the rolls, but you need a good, level floor for it. I highly recommend good laminate flooring, though. It's cheap and easy to install. I've got about 1300 sq.ft of good laminate that I'd sell you, matter of fact! It's a floating floor: lay down the pad, lay down the floor, no nailing necessary and it's all tongue and groove.

Metal roofs are good but pay to have all the old shingles, etc., ripped off before installing. You want to make sure any weak spots get attention if need be.

As far as siding, water heater, furnace, even windows goes, make sure you look into the "green" options. They pay themselves off and often give you tax breaks!

If you're hiring this stuff out, have your contractor buy everything, even the stuff you plan on doing yourself, as they should have a contractor discount. Get a couple bids from several home-improvement stores, too. Good luck.
 
The snap together laminate is a great DIY project. I agree on tearing off the shingles before reroofing. Bribe some friends with beer and do that yourself too, you can strip that size house in a day easy. Check the big box lumberyards for carpet remnants. Alot of small town lumberyards can put you in touch with contractors. If you can pay cash for labor some guys will cut you a pretty good break.
 
Skip, if its just going to be a hunting cabin, for carpet go with the indoor/outdoor carpet. Its a lot cheaper than regular carpet, and is tough as heck.

Definitely go with the carsiding for the inside, you don't want to mess with dry wall.
 
I have half of my trailer done with carsiding.the first time i just put a clear coat on it and that didnt work very well.Every place i hung a deer head or picture you can see the outline of it on the wall when i move them.I just hung some more last week and i am going to stain and treat it this time.If you do endup putting up drywall i would put plywood behind it so you wont have to worry about finding studs when hanging deer heads.you can just put them where you want.
 
DannyBoy said:
Carsiding is good and saves the pain of drywall work! I've always stained it first and used pine.

Floors: I'm not a carpet guy but have done a lot of tile and wood floor work. When doing lanolium I've used the 12x12 inch sticky-backed stuff more than the rolls, but you need a good, level floor for it. I highly recommend good laminate flooring, though. It's cheap and easy to install. I've got about 1300 sq.ft of good laminate that I'd sell you, matter of fact! It's a floating floor: lay down the pad, lay down the floor, no nailing necessary and it's all tongue and groove.
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For the carsiding that what I did. Its a lot easier to get it all stained before it is up on the wall. Not terrible to do it either "good for man caves"

The floating floor is awesome. Installed it in two houses, it is also pretty easy to install.
 
I would opt for a wood stove for heat if you are only going to be there for a few days a year. You should have plenty of dead trees or TSI firewood lying around! Plumb your pipes so they are easy to drain "so they wont freeze" when you are gone. Furnaces are expensive and if they aren't kept running all winter they can have issues. There is nothing like coming back from a cold evenings hunt to the sight of smoke rolling out of the chimney! When I do my man cave I will use the knotty pine tongue and groove from Menards. I have heard it is best to stain/seal it outside then apply it to the wall. Save a lot of mess and fumes in the house. Steel roofing is the only way to go on a hunting shack. Low maintenance and worry free. Make sure to take before and after pics so we can all see your progress! :way:
 
my buddy just mentioned - installing the Tongue and groove planks HORIZONTALLY instead of vertically. Any of you done this or suggest this? Any pics? Or pics of ANY CARSIDING you have??? Thanks!
 
I found some old ones on my computer
carsiding1.jpg

carsiding2.jpg
 
Use your own Timber

Skip: If you have time and the price is reasonable, see if someone in the area will mill some of your own timber (oak, hickory, maple or whatever) into interior siding or flooring. Might save a little money and it is great conversation piece.
 
I'm guessing the house has an 80% furnace in it and I would replace it with just an 80%. They are a little cheaper and have fewer things to go wrong with them. A high efficient furnace condensates in the secondary heat exchanger, I have seen people have them in there shop or some where they didn't heat all the time and they end up with a bad secondary when the water freezes in there. Being that it is a smaller house and you won't be heating it all the time it shouldn't cost you too much more to heat.
 
I would put the carsiding up horizontally (dont have to worry about blocking in between the studs, as you would if you hung it vertically). and most places like Lowes, Menards, etc. you can get names of contractors that do the type of work you want done. Usually at Menards carsiding will go on sale and if you buy it full price you can take your reciept in and get some cash back. Also i would go with cedar carsiding, looks more rustic, no need to stain/seal it, and it smells nice as well. Only bad thing is it costs a little more.
 
Carsiding is cool. Price per sq ft is a little hight for a hunting cabin. I don't know how grandiose your plans are but you could do some neat stuff with reclaimed barn boards, lap siding, etc.

For flooring I'd stick with sticky squares or floating laminate. The sticky squares are a nice option for what you're doing.

Heating...I'd go with a combination of a wood stove and vented hanging heater. Your HVAC guy is probably a Reznor or Hot Dog dealer....or you can buy a Maxx Heater at Northern tool. 80% efficient, thermostat controlled, quck response time. 75k BTU will run you under $600 and you can install yourself. Pair it wish a wood stove for when you're actually there and you've got a sweet combo. Add a gas water heater and it will all tie together.

Slap steel siding and roofing on the house at the same time. Ag panels are easy to install on a roof for a DIY'er. You can order them cut to the exact lenth you need, just screw them down. If you sided and roofed together you'd could get a decent deal at the state fair or any home and garden show this spring.
 
I used prefinished carsiding on my hunting cabin built last year. I would post a picture if I knew how.
 
I'm guessing the house has an 80% furnace in it and I would replace it with just an 80%. They are a little cheaper and have fewer things to go wrong with them. A high efficient furnace condensates in the secondary heat exchanger, I have seen people have them in there shop or some where they didn't heat all the time and they end up with a bad secondary when the water freezes in there. Being that it is a smaller house and you won't be heating it all the time it shouldn't cost you too much more to heat.
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Just put a new cheap 80% furnace in for the reason mentioned above and the cheapest A/C (if you desire A/C) unless you will heat all the time or cool all the time.
Our cabin is in the works (1/4 finished) we are using PTAC heat pumps that mount through the wall (like motel room units) they have electric heat back up when the heat pump can't make enough heating BTU's when the outdoor air temp cools down and A/C as we spend many weekends at the farm during the summer. All plumbing is made to be drained and winterized with RV antfreeze.
I would of loved a wood burner for relaxing nights or weekends but in reality I don't have the time to deal with it. I may show up get the power turned on, get the hot water rolling, and the thermostat turned up, roll out my hunting gear, take a shower and run for a tree to sit in. Come back, eat dinner, and crash get up early shower and do it again. Dealing with wood controlling heat and clean up is more than I would want for my schedule most of the time. As I can cut the power drain the lines and be home in a couple hours. Turning a stat up fits my schedule much better.
 
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As stated earlier in the thread, nothing beats walking back to the cabin after a long cold sit and seeing that smoke rolling out of the chimney.

We use the wood stove as a a reson to make a few extra weekend trips down to the hunting property. We always try to spend a day in September splitting two pickup loads of wood and loading the crib in the cabin. The wives think it takes all day. We play cards, watch football, and drink cold ones after a couple hours of work.

We built clothes lines and racks around the stove for drying gloves, hats, coats, etc. during soggy weather. The card table sits right next to the stove. I don't think it would be archery season without that stinkin' thing!!!
 
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