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I Bought A Neglected House!

Glad I stumbled across this thread. I enjoy watching some of the home makeover shows on TV (there's no shortage of them), but it's cooler to watch your project as it progresses.

(Have to admit, I initially read the title as "I Bought A Neglected Horse!" — that would have been a thread of a different color, to paraphrase the line from The Wizard of Oz.)
 
I love to see the vision some people have to bring a place back to life. I've been doing some minor work around the house over Christmas Vacation. Just finished some electrical upgrades (Wifi switches) that required running some new wire here and there.

The messiest project I have ever done is refinishing hardwood floors. There was sawdust on every surface and in every crevice. Took me longer to clean the house than to sand the floors. I could not imagine living in a place while doing that!
 
This week I move into Bedroom 4, fix a draft, smash my finger, and break some glass while finishing up Bedroom 2:

Apple fanboy said:
Living in the house you are doing up is the worse. We stayed in ours for the first 2 months, then moved into an AirBnB for about 6 weeks. That way I could go do stuff in the evening's after work, but then head to the other place for a wash and relax in a clean environment. Its the dirt and the dust that's the worst. I recall days before we moved out when I would get home and take my coat off and realise there was no where clean to put it down! That was probably about a year ago today. But once they had to put the underfloor heating in we had to go. As all that was left was a shell.

The bit I hadn't factored in was how long it would take to dry. Plastering, new floor screed, floor tiles, paint. All just needed time. Unfortunately I couldn't just put the heating on as we had to give it a few weeks for the floor tile and grout to dry. Not finished everything, but close enough. Next project for me is getting some curtains up (we have blinds). Lots of big windows here.

Oh and we have the fence guy starting next week. I'm too old to dig holes for fence posts. There is a lot of fence to do as we are responsible for 3 sides of it.
Click to expand...

The dust is everywhere, it just doesn't stop. Blocking HVAC vents and closing the doors doesn't seem to stop it from getting everywhere. I've thought about scheduling a monthly deep clean with a local housekeeping service just to make it easier to stay on top of it.

The time it takes the same bucket of drywall mud to dry varies by a lot. How warm is it? How thick did you apply it? Did you thin it out? How big is the room and how much air moves through it? How warm in the other side of the wall? Is it going on a painted surface, or bare drywall? All those things, and I'm sure more, will effect how long it takes to set enough to sand/paint it. You might as well just walk away from that wall for half a day and go do something else.

Roller said:
Glad I stumbled across this thread. I enjoy watching some of the home makeover shows on TV (there's no shortage of them), but it's cooler to watch your project as it progresses.

(Have to admit, I initially read the title as "I Bought A Neglected Horse!" — that would have been a thread of a different color, to paraphrase the line from The Wizard of Oz.)
Click to expand...

Golly, I have no idea what I'd do with a horse!

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy the videos! I think what a lot of TV shows don't show is how long it takes the average person to complete these tasks. There is nothing quick about it. Doing that first window only took $105 in putty and tools, but in time it took an entire day. And at that end of it you would never know I did anything if I hadn't told you. They don't show you that on TV.

I dug out the last of my SLR parts, so it is now easier to shoot while I work, last week I shot nearly 100GB of footage. So you'll see more little stuff in future videos.

ejb190 said:
I love to see the vision some people have to bring a place back to life. I've been doing some minor work around the house over Christmas Vacation. Just finished some electrical upgrades (Wifi switches) that required running some new wire here and there.

The messiest project I have ever done is refinishing hardwood floors. There was sawdust on every surface and in every crevice. Took me longer to clean the house than to sand the floors. I could not imagine living in a place while doing that!
Click to expand...

When assembling this weeks video I noticed dust on the hallways doors. I don't mean on top of the door, I mean on the big flat vertical surface. It just gets everywhere! It doesn't help that my furnace doesn't appear to have a place for filters, or that this place hadn't been properly cleaned in at least a decade.
 
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wow! Really great work, just spent the better part of 2.5 hours watching your vids! I have a very similar fan in my house like that and i had no idea what it was called! keep up the good work, and how dare you not tell us what you were making at the end of that video!! 😄
 
Just finished binging the whole series from starting last night. I really enjoy how you're presenting these, agree that you just need to run & post more video like you did in #13. 45 minutes preferred over 15 minutes, remember we can 2x the speed on YT or just scrub forward. These work for me, it works with you on camera, kept my interest.

I am intrigued at the racks of electronics you brought into the house and would appreciate some more detail on what exactly everything is for in what sounds like what will eventually be four racks in the IT room. From the little things (what's an 'AP'?) to what the Pi is doing to the heavy duty stuff. I'm really interested, but not at all IT saavy -- so you might consider explaining it to me like I'm a fourth grader. And you might consider explaining some of the tools you're using, like the steamer for removing wallpaper. Not everybody knows how those work, but it became self-explanatory.

You might consider getting an engineer to evaluate the structural integrity of the foundation before you fire up those gigantic subwoofers. 24"? Might bring the whole thing down. At least tape the glass first, lol.

Good job, looking forward to next episode. 👍

On the whatchamacallit, I'm stumped. With your hint, I'll guess stop critters?
 
asleep said:
Just finished binging the whole series from starting last night. I really enjoy how you're presenting these, agree that you just need to run & post more video like you did in #13. 45 minutes preferred over 15 minutes, remember we can 2x the speed on YT or just scrub forward. These work for me, it works with you on camera, kept my interest.

I am intrigued at the racks of electronics you brought into the house and would appreciate some more detail on what exactly everything is for in what sounds like what will eventually be four racks in the IT room. From the little things (what's an 'AP'?) to what the Pi is doing to the heavy duty stuff. I'm really interested, but not at all IT saavy -- so you might consider explaining it to me like I'm a fourth grader. And you might consider explaining some of the tools you're using, like the steamer for removing wallpaper. Not everybody knows how those work, but it became self-explanatory.

You might consider getting an engineer to evaluate the structural integrity of the foundation before you fire up those gigantic subwoofers. 24"? Might bring the whole thing down. At least tape the glass first, lol.

Good job, looking forward to next episode. 👍

On the whatchamacallit, I'm stumped. With your hint, I'll guess stop critters?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback!

I am putting together a video specifically to show some of this computer stuff, but I figured I'd give you a run down here since you just watched everything. :)

The hardware in the computer racks are this:

GHiXJKjh.jpg


1: Drobo with 10.8 TB of usable space, two drives can fail without data loss
2: ONT - This is the box that converts the fiber from my ISP into an ethernet signal
3: PDU - basically a rackmount power strip
4: RaspberryPi 4 - Pihole #1
5: RaspberryPi 4 - Pihole #2
6: RaspberryPi 4 - Home Assistant, for connecting all the "smart" things in the house into one user interface
7: Ubiquiti 48 port POE switch with 10gig SFP(fiber) ports
8: 2 patch panels
9: Ubiquiti Unifi Dream Machine Pro - Router and NVR(network video recorder) for the cameras
10: 1018 Mac Mini with 10gig ethernet - This is my media and file server, the Drobo is it's main storage unit.
11: 2014 Mac Mini, base model - This is my test unit, and the one I remote into if I can't get into other computers when I'm not home
12: OWC Mercury Rack Pro - Raid 5 array with 12 TB of usable space, it is a daily backup of the Drobo
13: OWC Mercury Rack Pro - Raid 5 array with 16 TB of usable space, it is a weekly backup of the Drobo
14: CyberPower UPS, this give this rack about 50 minutes of run time should the power go out, and allows the 2918 Mini to shut down properly.
15: Marshal Monitor - I have the HDMI out from the 2014 Mini going into a Decimator, the SDI output from the Decimator goes into this monitor, and the HDMI out from the Decimator goes to the monitor on my desk at the end of the room. I also have a USB over ethernet extender plugged into the same mini with the other end on the desk.
16: PDU
17: PDU
18: KVM - I'll be removing this because the OS on the rest of the computers doesn't need a monitor.
19 + 20: DakTronics custom computer - Each of these has a low-power AMD quad core CPU in an mITX board and is running Proxmox Backup Server. 19 is backup up the Handbrake machines, and 20 is backup up the Chenbro cluster
21 + 22: DakTronics custom cases - Each has an AMD 3600x CPU and cheapest GPU I could find. These are running Proxmox and clustered together to present a single UI. I haven't set up their VM's yet, but they will be running Tdarr on top of Debian. Their sole purpose in life will be converting torrented movies and TV shows into HEVC files for iTunes.
23: DakTronics custom case - I haven't built this machine yet, but I want to build it into a Steam gaming server.
24: DakTronics custom case - I haven't built this machine yet, but I want to built it into a backup server that can handle everything on the network.
25 + 26 + 27: Chenbro 12 drive 1RU server - These are clustered together, I am using them to learn Ceph storage and they will be the main VM host for the network. They will be running PiHole, Radarr, Sonarr, NUT, Emby, and so on.

I also have a rack in the living room for A/V, it will eventually be moving into the IT Room:

QsvRkjPh.jpg


1: 2011 Mac Mini - For programming the DSP's
2: AppleTV 4K
3: AC Infinity fan - to cool the receiver
4: Marantz Receiver - literally the cheapest one with RCA outpouts for every channel
5: Acoustic Power Labs APL1 - Processing the sub and center channel outputs from the receiver
6: Acoustic Power Labs APL 1012 - Processing full range front left and right from channels from the receiver
7: Acoustic Power Labs APL 1012 - Processing full range rear left and right from channels from the receiver
8: MiniDSP 10x10 - Combining subwoofeer outputs from the APL units
9 + 10: Crown XLS 2502 Amplifier - One for each subwoofer. Right now they are powering the JBL 15's, but will eventually power the Stereo Integrity 24's.
11: Behringer EuroPower EPQ304 Amplifier - One for each main, left, center, right, and each rear.

I haven't built the main speakers yet, but I have all the drivers. I need to find another APL 1012 and swap it in place of the APL1, but this is what I'm doing with the audio:

Tz9JoW3h.png


The idea is for fully active 3-ways for the left, center, right and rear speakers of the 5.2 system with full FIR processing for each driver. The APL processors are very unique in that they offer 4096 tap(bands) for every input and output. The software also measures the entire listening space and will calculate the best corrections for the whole space, instead of having just one sweet spot. The MiniDSP is for redirecting any sub signals from the mains back to the subwoofers, so no info is lost. It is an absurd setup, but lots of fun.

The speakers are all Stereo Integrity, the M25 Tweeters will each get 75 watts, and the M3 mids will each get 75 watts, that will take up two channels from each 4 channel amps. The remaining two channels will be bridged for the TM65 Mk I woofers and will supply 150 watts. The sub amps are bridged giving 2400 watts to each sub. So it is a total of 6300 watts for the home theater setup alone.

The 4th rack will be dedicated for whole home audio so you can listen to whatever you want in just about any part of the house, via bluetooth or AirPlay, but I don't have most of that gear yet.
 
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LumbermanSVO said:
Thanks for the feedback!

I am putting together a video specifically to show some of this computer stuff, but I figured I'd give you a run down here since you just watched everything. :)

The hardware in the computer racks are this:

GHiXJKjh.jpg


1: Drobo with 10.8 TB of usable space, two drives can fail without data loss
2: ONT - This is the box that converts the fiber from my ISP into an ethernet signal
3: PDU - basically a rackmount power strip
4: RaspberryPi 4 - Pihole #1
5: RaspberryPi 4 - Pihole #2
6: RaspberryPi 4 - Home Assistant, for connecting all the "smart" things in the house into one user interface
7: Ubiquiti 48 port POE switch with 10gig SFP(fiber) ports
8: 2 patch panels
9: Ubiquiti Unifi Dream Machine Pro - Router and NVR(network video recorder) for the cameras
10: 1018 Mac Mini with 10gig ethernet - This is my media and file server, the Drobo is it's main storage unit.
11: 2014 Mac Mini, base model - This is my test unit, and the one I remote into if I can't get into other computers when I'm not home
12: OWC Mercury Rack Pro - Raid 5 array with 12 TB of usable space, it is a daily backup of the Drobo
13: OWC Mercury Rack Pro - Raid 5 array with 16 TB of usable space, it is a weekly backup of the Drobo
14: CyberPower UPS, this give this rack about 50 minutes of run time should the power go out, and allows the 2918 Mini to shut down properly.
15: Marshal Monitor - I have the HDMI out from the 2014 Mini going into a Decimator, the SDI output from the Decimator goes into this monitor, and the HDMI out from the Decimator goes to the monitor on my desk at the end of the room. I also have a USB over ethernet extender plugged into the same mini with the other end on the desk.
16: PDU
17: PDU
18: KVM - I'll be removing this because the OS on the rest of the computers doesn't need a monitor.
19 + 20: DakTronics custom computer - Each of these has a low-power AMD quad core CPU in an mITX board and is running Proxmox Backup Server. 19 is backup up the Handbrake machines, and 20 is backup up the Chenbro cluster
21 + 22: DakTronics custom cases - Each has an AMD 3600x CPU and cheapest GPU I could find. These are running Proxmox and clustered together to present a single UI. I haven't set up their VM's yet, but they will be running Tdarr on top of Debian. Their sole purpose in life will be converting torrented movies and TV shows into HEVC files for iTunes.
23: DakTronics custom case - I haven't built this machine yet, but I want to build it into a Steam gaming server.
24: DakTronics custom case - I haven't built this machine yet, but I want to built it into a backup server that can handle everything on the network.
25 + 26 + 27: Chenbro 12 drive 1RU server - These are clustered together, I am using them to learn Ceph storage and they will be the main VM host for the network. They will be running PiHole, Radarr, Sonarr, NUT, Emby, and so on.

I also have a rack in the living room for A/V, it will eventually be moving into the IT Room:

QsvRkjPh.jpg


1: 2011 Mac Mini - For programming the DSP's
2: AppleTV 4K
3: AC Infinity fan - to cool the receiver
4: Marantz Receiver - literally the cheapest one with RCA outpouts for every channel
5: Acoustic Power Labs APL1 - Processing the sub and center channel outputs from the receiver
6: Acoustic Power Labs APL 1012 - Processing full range front left and right from channels from the receiver
7: Acoustic Power Labs APL 1012 - Processing full range rear left and right from channels from the receiver
8: MiniDSP 10x10 - Combining subwoofeer outputs from the APL units
9 + 10: Crown XLS 2502 Amplifier - One for each subwoofer. Right now they are powering the JBL 15's, but will eventually power the Stereo Integrity 24's.
11: Behringer EuroPower EPQ304 Amplifier - One for each main, left, center, right, and each rear.

I haven't built the main speakers yet, but I have all the drivers. I need to find another APL 1012 and swap it in place of the APL1, but this is what I'm doing with the audio:

Tz9JoW3h.png


The idea is for fully active 3-ways for the left, center, right and rear speakers of the 5.2 system with full FIR processing for each driver. The APL processors are very unique in that they offer 4096 tap(bands) for every input and output. The software also measures the entire listening space and will calculate the best corrections for the whole space, instead of having just one sweet spot. The MiniDSP is for redirecting any sub signals from the mains back to the subwoofers, so no info is lost. It is an absurd setup, but lots of fun.

The speakers are all Stereo Integrity, the M25 Tweeters will each get 75 watts, and the M3 mids will each get 75 watts, that will take up two channels from each 4 channel amps. The remaining two channels will be bridged for the TM65 Mk I woofers and will supply 150 watts. The sub amps are bridged giving 2400 watts to each sub. So it is a total of 6300 watts for the home theater setup alone.

The 4th rack will be dedicated for whole home audio so you can listen to whatever you want in just about any part of the house, via bluetooth or AirPlay, but I don't have most of that gear yet.
Click to expand...
Wow.

I was reluctant to ask because I didn't want you to have to go to all of that work stealing time from your projects. Thanks so much for all of the detail.
bow.gif
 
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Was stumped on the thingamabob.

It's amazing how much debris you have to remove from a house that's been lived in and 'fixed up' for so long. And how much dust there is.

pig_pen.jpg
 
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The dust is the biggest battle, it seems to never end.

Right now the garage is 1/3rd full of debris, mostly materials I've removed during demo. I need to get another dumpster or two.
 
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LumbermanSVO said:
This week I replace the old heater and a bunch more lights. I also start the drywall work in Bedroom #1.

Click to expand...
Man, wallpaper has to be the bane of every remodeler's existence.

Enjoyed the progress, keep it up. 👍
 
Dude, wallpaper is terrible, and it is everywhere in this house. I briefly thought about painting the living room, but that thought ended when I looked at how much wallpapar there is in it. I'd rather wait until it is time to remodel it.
 
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