Opinions Matter

c/edmonton-home-reno

1

thea_mitchell20•1mo ago

The day my bathroom reno turned into a waterfall

Last Tuesday I was just trying to replace a sink faucet in my old house near Whyte Ave. I thought I shut the water off under the sink but the valve was so crusted I guess it didn't fully close. I unscrewed the supply line and got a solid spray of ice cold water right in the face. Water was EVERYWHERE on the floor and I was sliding around trying to find the main shut off in the basement. By the time I got it turned off, my entire bathroom floor was soaked and there was a puddle in the hallway. My cat just watched from the doorway like I was an idiot. Has anyone else had a supply line blow on them during a simple swap?

6

rileynelson•1mo ago

Warning: DIY light fixture install almost burned my house down

I found out after 3 years that I'd been stripping wire with my teeth instead of using a proper stripper, and a loose connection nearly started a fire in my living room last week. Has anyone else dealt with sketchy wiring from old Edmonton houses that makes you question your whole setup?

15

the_jenny•1mo ago

Vent: My sump pump gave out during that rainstorm last Thursday

Came home to a flooded basement after that big downpour hit my neighborhood in St. Albert. Turns out the pump motor seized up because I hadn't tested it since last spring when I moved in. Anyone else forget to check their basement systems until something breaks?

10

riley_west•1mo ago

Spent 3 hours painting a bathroom ceiling before realizing I used the wrong primer

I was in my upstairs bathroom last Saturday, rolling on what I thought was stain blocking primer over some water stains, and after the third coat I checked the bucket and saw it was just flat ceiling paint with zero primer in it, so I had to sand everything down and start over the next day with the right stuff has anyone else made a similar paint disaster and how did you fix it?

12

milestaylor•1mo ago

Gutted my basement only to find knob and tube wiring everywhere

Bought a house in Edmonton from the 50s and thought I'd do a quick basement reno. Tore down the drywall last weekend and found knob and tube wiring running through half the ceiling. Insurance won't touch it and a sparky quoted me $3800 to replace it all. Anyone dealt with old knob and tube in Edmonton before? How hard was the permit process for you?

20

jennys72•1mo ago

Why does nobody talk about how expensive those DIY countertop kits really are?

I tried one of those epoxy countertop kits from Home Depot last spring for my kitchen in Edmonton. Spent about $300 on the kit and another $150 on supplies I didn't know I needed like sandpaper and sealant. After three weekends of work it still looked terrible with bubbles and brush marks. Had to pay a guy $900 to grind it all off and do real granite. Has anyone else wasted money on those kits?

19

willow407•1mo ago

Got told I was sanding drywall all wrong by an old painter at Home Depot last Saturday

He said I was pressing too hard and making swirls that would show through paint, so I switched to feathering light passes and now my finish coat actually looks smooth instead of a mess, has anyone else spent years doing a basic step wrong and had a random stranger set you straight?

2

piper_burns•1mo ago

Debating whether to insulate my garage ceiling - savings vs. risk of ice dams on the roof

I'm in the middle of a garage reno in Edmonton and I keep going back and forth on spray foaming the ceiling. On one hand, keeping the heat in would make my workshop way more usable during those -30 weeks. But my buddy who does roofing says insulating the garage ceiling can trap heat against the roof deck and cause major ice damming in our climate. He had a client who lost shingles because of it. I tried doing a cheap fiberglass batts install in one bay last fall just to test, and sure enough I got some ice buildup along the edges in February. So now I'm wondering if I should just do a cold roof approach with vents instead, or maybe there's a trick to balancing insulation with ventilation that I'm missing. Has anyone in Edmonton found a good middle ground for a heated garage that doesn't wreck your roof?

19

rowan725•1mo ago

Appreciation post: That breeze from my new HRV this morning

Had a contractor install an energy recovery ventilator in my 1970s bungalow last week. Yesterday was the first day I didn't need to crack a window during my morning coffee despite the -25C weather outside. Anyone else in Edmonton try retrofitting an HRV into an older home and notice a difference in air quality?

14

oscar_ellis•1mo ago

That baseboard gap fix took me 3 weekends instead of 1 afternoon

I was trying to close a 1/4 inch gap between my new baseboards and the wonky subfloor in my 1950s bungalow near Whyte Ave. Thought some caulk and a quick trim would do it, but ended up pulling all the boards and shimming each section individually. Anyone else spend way longer on a simple trim fix than you expected?

8

the_evan•1mo ago

Update: That flooring guy I hired last month saved my basement project

I was dead set on ripping out the old vinyl tiles in my basement myself to save money. This guy Bob who does floors for a living told me to test them for asbestos first since my house is a 1970s build in Edmonton. I almost ignored him because I was impatient and wanted to get started. Turns out three of the tiles came back positive from the lab test he recommended. Spent $400 on proper removal gear and disposal instead of breathing in that stuff for a week. Has anyone else run into surprise asbestos in their older Edmonton homes?

11

milestaylor•1mo ago

Always laughed at people sealing their grout, then my kitchen floor turned into a sponge

I thought grout sealer was a total cash grab from the hardware stores. After 8 months in my Edmonton bungalow the grout in the kitchen got dark and started crumbling near the dishwasher, nobody warned me how much moisture gets trapped in there. Anyone else skip the sealer and regret it later?

0

joelwells•1mo ago

Had to choose between engineered hardwood and laminate for my living room

I finally got around to redoing my living room floor last month and was stuck between engineered hardwood and laminate. The laminate was about $3.50 a square foot and way more scratch resistant with kids around. But the engineered hardwood at $6.50 a square foot just felt nicer underfoot and added more value to the house. I went with the engineered stuff and so far it's held up okay, though my son's hockey puck left a small dent already. Anyone else have to make this call and regret their choice?

9

ryanh56•1mo ago

Hit $12,000 in unexpected reno costs on my 1960s bungalow foundation

Bought a house in Bonnie Doon thinking a few cracks in the basement slab were cosmetic. After the foundation inspection, turns out I needed helical piers under the whole west side. That number just kept climbing as they dug. Anyone else get blindsided by foundation work in Edmonton?

23

wendy_jackson•1mo ago

That week my basement flood cost me $4,000 in drywall and flooring

Last spring I woke up to 2 inches of water in my basement after a heavy rainstorm in Edmonton. The sump pump failed and I didn't have a backup battery system. My finished basement was a total loss - all the drywall up to 4 feet had to come out, plus the laminate flooring was warped everywhere. I spent three straight days with a wet vac and fans, but the mold started showing up by day four. The insurance adjuster told me they wouldn't cover it because I didn't have a sewer backup rider. Has anyone else dealt with sump pump failures in Edmonton and found a reliable backup system that actually works?

25

jamesf26•1mo ago

That $50 moisture meter I bought off Amazon totally screwed my drywall repair

I was doing a patch job in my basement after some water seepage last spring, and I thought I'd be smart checking moisture levels before painting. The meter kept giving me green readings so I went ahead and painted everything. Three months later the paint started bubbling and peeling off in chunks. Turns out the meter was reading wrong by like 20%. Had to rip out a 4x4 section and redo it all for another $80 in materials. Anyone else had a cheap tool like that fool them into thinking their repair was solid?

10

lisak26•1mo ago

I finally stopped ignoring the neighbors gutter issue

My neighbor across the alley told me her fascia boards rotted out after ten years of never cleaning her gutters. She said the water just sat there and ate through the wood over time. It made me think about my own house, I got up there last weekend and found a pile of leaves and muck thick enough to grow stuff in. Has anyone else had fascia damage from neglected gutters in Edmonton winters?

11

oscarw83•1mo ago

Debated between spray foam and batt insulation for my garage attic...

I went with spray foam after getting a $2200 quote from a local Edmonton company and honestly my garage stays way warmer now but I'm worried about the long term ventilation issues has anyone else dealt with moisture problems after spray foaming?

-2

anthonymurray•1mo ago

Warning: Don't skip air sealing your attic like I did

I had my attic reinsulated last spring by a crew in St. Albert and they told me to seal all the gaps first but I figured it was fine to skip it. Now my upstairs bedrooms are still COLD no matter how much I crank the heat, and my gas bill went up almost $80 a month. Has anyone else learned this lesson the hard way after a reno?

17

shaneb16•1mo ago

Shoutout to ductless mini splits for our garage conversion

Spent around $3800 on a Mitsubishi unit for my garage conversion in Edmonton last fall. I was gonna go with baseboard heaters but my buddy who does hvac talked me into this instead. It heats way faster and I don't have to deal with cutting into my furnace ducting. Has anyone else tried these for a cold climate garage?

30

drew_park•1mo ago

Went to that reno show at the Expo Centre and got burned on a window quote

I was at the Edmonton Home Renovation Show last Saturday and some booth guy quoted me $4,800 for three basic casement windows. Turns out he added a 20% “show special” fee that wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the fine print. Has anyone else dealt with sketchy pricing from vendors at those trade shows?

19

miles_sanchez•1mo ago

Talking to a plumber at Rona changed how I look at PEX fittings

I was grabbing some copper fittings last Saturday when this older plumber told me he's seen PEX fittings fail after 8 years in Edmonton basements because of the chlorine in our water. He showed me a cracked fitting from a job he did in 2016 and said most people don't realize the cheap ones can get brittle over time. Has anyone here compared brass vs plastic PEX fittings long term?

25

the_joseph•1mo ago

Knocked out a 1970s popcorn ceiling in my living room last week

I finally got around to scraping that awful popcorn texture off my living room ceiling (about 400 square feet) and the difference is night and day. I thought it would be a quick weekend job, but it took me three full days from start to finish. The trickiest part was getting the texture wet enough to scrape without damaging the drywall paper underneath, you know? I used a pump sprayer with warm water and let it soak for about 15 minutes per section. My arms were killing me by day two, but seeing that smooth ceiling made it worth it. Has anyone else tackled one of these old Edmonton ceilings and found a faster method I should try next time?

22

linda500•1mo ago

Rant: I tried painting my basement with a roller vs. a sprayer and the sprayer saved me about 6 hours of work

The roller gave me a better finish on the concrete walls but the sprayer cut my time from 9 hours to 3 hours and I'd rather have my weekend back lol, has anyone else found a faster method for basement ceilings?

17

johnson.daniel•1mo ago

That $40 caulking gun I cheaped out on cost me 3 hours of cleanup

I thought I was being smart buying the basic home depot caulking gun for my bathroom reno. Well the plunger slipped halfway through the tub surround and I had silicone EVERYWHERE. Took me an entire afternoon with scrapers and goo gone to fix the mess. Has anyone else had a tool fail that ended up costing way more in time than just buying the good version?