Avoid these common mistakes—and save yourself BIG headaches and BIG money
Rushing a concrete pour
Concrete pours are exciting.When the truck comes, you have to work fast and hard to place the heavy stuff carefully and finish it off before it hardens. They’re risky, too.Many things can go wrong, and a mistake can mean tons of useless rock.
I witnessed that kind of disaster a few years ago when I helped a friend pour his driveway. It was a fairly ambitious project, about 4 yards of concrete, but we were experienced and he had enough helpers. Although the weather forecast included possible rainstorms, we thought we could knock it off in about two hours in the morning.
That morning the clouds darkened, but my friend wanted to go ahead anyway. We had completed about three-quarters of the pour when the deluge came. There was nothing we could do. Water poured into the forms and ruined the concrete. A few days later it had to be jackhammered out and hauled away.
When you’re pouring concrete, consider:
- Are the forms solid? Once a form bows or dips under the weight of the concrete, it’s almost impossible to straighten it. Avoid last-minute form building. Complete them before the truck arrives.
- Do you have enough tools and help? Placing and smoothing have to go well so the concrete doesn’t harden too soon.
- How far can the truck back up? A loaded concrete truck can break driveways, walks and septic systems. It’s better to wheelbarrow the concrete a little farther than to take a chance.
- Did you check the weather? Rain will ruin concrete that hasn’t set (concrete usually sets in a few hours). After concrete has set, however, rain will help it cure (harden). Avoid pours in hot weather (above 90 degrees F), because the concrete will harden too fast.
- Did you order enough? Doublecheck the form dimensions and the order. Coming up short can ruin the pour.
Building too close to the property line
Property lines can be a sensitive issue when you’re building close or right up to them. You have to deal with the neighbors and satisfy local code requirements. Recently a building inspector told me a tale about a homeowner who had decided to build his own garage in the back corner of his lot facing the alley. The city approved the plan and then gave the homeowner a sheet of paper with all the rules and restrictions such as property line setbacks and building heights.
The homeowner poured the slab and started framing. While framing the roof, he decided to change the plan and extend the overhang to direct the water away from the foundation. When the job was finished, he called for the final inspection. When the inspector showed up, he noticed that the eaves extended over the property line and told the homeowner he’d have to trim that side of the roof to comply. As you can imagine, nobody was happy about the extra work and expense. And the garage looks bad too.
The inspector’s words of wisdom:
“Stick to your plan, and check your local building requirements whenever your project affects setbacks.”
- Garages. Double-check setback requirements before you pour the slab. Roof overhangs may also have to meet similar rules. Also check size and height limitations.
- Sheds. These often have size and height limitations in addition to setback requirements. They may have design restrictions as well.
- Front porches. Surprise! Front porches, like the main house structure, often must meet setback requirements from the street.
- Fences. Check specific fence setback rules. Observe height restrictions. Most rules require the nicest side of the fence to face outward. Fences are a common source of neighborhood irritation.
- Decks. Setbacks for decks may be the same as for the house. Always call the planning office with questions before you start your project or you too could be in for a costly but completely avoidable mistake.
Skimping on floor prep
Home centers now have a spectacular array of floor coverings to choose from—oak, maple and exotic species of hardwood; a variety of ceramic and stone tile; handsome styles of sheet vinyl and vinyl tile; and durable laminates—most of which you can install yourself. But there’s one big trap that can ruin all your efforts: inadequate subfloor preparation. All floors are just looking for an excuse to squeak, creak and groan, and that’s exactly what yours will do unless you take pains to get the subfloor right.
A cabinetmaker friend of mine learned that the hard way when he recently installed 12 x 12-in. glue-down composite tiles in his kitchen. He partially scraped off the old vinyl tiles but gave up after a while because it was tough going. He then screwed thin plywood over the entire floor to create a smooth base and laid his new tile. But soon he noticed a crackling sound whenever he walked across the new floor. He finally concluded that patches of old adhesive were grabbing the new plywood underlayment as it flexed underfoot. Unfortunately, there’s no fix except to tear everything out and start over.
When you’re about to lay a new floor, you have the perfect opportunity to upgrade your subfloor to make it solid and squeak-free. While the specifics might vary a bit depending on your new flooring material, consider these issues:
- Deflection/stiffness. If you find soft spots in your floor or areas that “give” as you walk across them, stiffen them by adding framing from below or more underlayment on top. Ceramic tile floors require extra stiffness to keep grout lines from cracking.
- Bounce. If the dinner plates rattle every time you walk across your kitchen floor, you’re getting too much vibration or bounce. Corrections must be made from below.
- Flatness. Now’s the time to level off high spots and fill low areas so your new floor runs true.
- Squeaks. Drive screws through the subfloor into joists to eliminate the wood movement that causes squeaks. Use adhesive as well as screws to fasten new underlayment down.
- Surface flaws. Some flooring, like vinyl, linoleum and carpeting, requires perfectly smooth subfloors or underlayments. Otherwise, every flaw will be telegraphed to the surface.
- Moisture in concrete. Always check the moisture level in concrete before laying flooring over it. Trapped moisture will ruin the floor and encourage mold.
- Asbestos. Asbestos, a proven carcinogen, was used in many types of flooring and adhesives. While old flooring isn’t hazardous if left undisturbed, don’t rip it out unless you know it’s asbestos-free. Call your local health department for instructions about how to collect a sample and have it tested for asbestos.
Calling in a big crew for a challenging project
Assembling a large crew seems like the perfect solution when you’re tackling a big job. But a large crew of inexperienced helpers can be a hazard to quality results. Like the 12 guys who helped my neighbor roof his house. He coached them on shingle layout and trimming techniques, but he couldn’t supervise them all. A few hours later, after a flurry of hammering from every corner of the roof, he ended up with wavy rows of shingles, rows that didn’t meet above gables and forgotten flashing at a dormer. He corrected the worst problems and the roof doesn’t leak. But the job still looks bad and would cost thousands to redo.
Managing a big group is tough. On one hand, you want everyone to be engaged in the work, but it’s not always obvious what task is best suited to each person’s skills. And you can’t be everywhere at once to supervise.And of course, you run the risk of hurt feelings and other “interpersonal complexities.”
In planning for a big crew:
- Avoid complex projects like roofing, taping drywall, putting up siding and insulating. All require attention to detail, and mistakes are often difficult to correct.
- Focus on simple projects that require mostly unskilled labor, like painting, digging and backfilling (moving dirt!), demolition and cleanup, and hauling lumber and drywall.
- Select the helpers you need for more skilled projects like roofing, setting fence posts, hanging drywall and installing siding. Don’t assume that friends and family understand the scope of the job just because they own a hammer or a tool belt.
- Invite only as many as you can manage and coach to meet your standards. They should understand your exact goals and expectations and be enthusiastic about meeting them. There is great satisfaction in a job well done.
Changing a floor without considering the height
A flooring height change is one of the most complex issues a homeowner can face. It can affect thresholds, doors, stairs, cabinets and a myriad of other things with dire consequences. For example, a friend decided to install a new prefinished maple laminate floor right over the old vinyl flooring in his kitchen. He removed the range, the refrigerator and the dishwasher and got right to work. Everything went fine until it came time to fit the dishwasher back under the countertop. It was 1/2 in. too tall even with the foot adjusters screwed all the way in. Eventually he had to remove the countertops, raise them and then rework the entire tile backsplash—two full days of extra work. And it could have been much worse.
The next time you’re thinking about adding a new floor, consider these potential problems:
- Will all the appliances fit? Pay careful attention to the refrigerator if it has a cabinet directly over it with minimum clearance.
- What about the transition from one room to another? A difference of 1/2 in. to 3/4 in. is usually acceptable, but steeper transitions can be awkward looking as well as tripping hazards.
- If the floor adjoins a staircase, are the stair risers still consistent? Too much buildup on the floor can make the lower or upper step height dangerously different from the rest. Most building codes mandate that no step on a staircase vary in height by more than 3/8 in. from the rest.
- Door heights can be affected as well. Interior doors can be cut fairly easily, but you usually can’t cut off an exterior door at all, much less raise a threshold. And there may be no room for a “mud” rug under the door as it swings into the room.
- Consider the toe-kick space under the cabinets. It should be greater than 3 in. or you could get your work boots caught between the floor and the cabinet.
