c/albuquerque-home-reno

Appreciation post: the cheap 2x4 trick that beat my leveling laser

Last month I hung 200 feet of cabinet uppers in a Nob Hill flip and my laser level kept drifting on the uneven slab. A guy from the lumber yard told me to shim a 2x4 with drywall screws and use it as a straightedge instead. I laughed at him, but after the third recalibration I tried it. That simple setup was dead nuts for all 14 cabinets in one afternoon. I still use the laser for rough layout but the 2x4 method is now my go-to for long runs. Anyone else ditched fancy tools for something Home Depot sells for $3.47?

Contractor walked off my job over a paint color, glad he did

Guy in Rio Rancho quoted me $9k for a kitchen reno, then threw a fit when I picked a beige he didn't like, said I was ruining his portfolio. He packed up his tools on day 2 and left. I found a local crew who finished in 3 weeks for $8.2k and the color looks great. Has anyone else had a contractor bail over a small choice like that?

Hit the 1,000 square foot mark on my adobe patch job today

Been tuckpointing this old adobe wall in the North Valley off and on for about 6 months. Today I counted the bags of mud I've mixed, came to 38 total. That's when I realized I'd covered over a thousand square feet of cracked mortar, one trowel load at a time. My grandpa used to say adobe work is about patience, not speed, and I finally get what he meant. The first 200 feet took me almost two months, the last 300 went by in three weekends. Anyone else keep track of how much surface they've repaired in an old house, or am I just too numbers-brained about this stuff?

Question about mixing my own stucco patch vs buying the premix buckets

So I've been patching my own stucco around the house for about 4 years now, and I always mixed my own from the bag. Sand, cement, lime, the whole deal. Last month I got lazy and grabbed one of those premixed buckets from the hardware store on San Mateo. Honestly, the color match was way better and it stuck to the lath without fighting me. My old mix always sagged on vertical spots unless I did like three thin coats, which took forever. The premix went on in one pass and I was done in like 30 minutes instead of a full afternoon. Is that just a beginner hack though, or do the pros actually use those buckets too? I'm wondering if I should switch over for good or if I'll end up with cracks in a couple of summers with this stuff.

TIL my stucco patch job failed because of a brush, not the mix

I watched a crew at a house on Copper Ave use a damp sponge wrapped in plastic to smooth their patch, so I tried it on my 2 month old wall crack that kept reappearing. The trick was wetting the surface before pressing, not scrubbing after. Anyone else have a simple tool swap fix a repeating stucco crack?

That one inspector who refused to look at my new water heater

I had a city inspector come out for a tank swap in my place near Nob Hill, and the guy stood in the doorway for a solid 5 minutes refusing to step inside. He said he could smell the old solder flux from my pipe work and that it reminded him of his ex-wife's nail salon. I mean, I laughed so hard I almost dropped my wrench, but he did eventually come in and passed everything. Has anyone else had an inspector who got weirdly personal about a smell or sight on site?

Shoutout to my neighbor for that terrible paint advice

My neighbor Bob told me I could save a ton by using the cheap flat paint from the discount store on my living room walls... two months later and every scuff shows up like a neon sign. I spent last weekend repainting the whole room with a decent eggshell from Sherwin Williams. Has anyone else fallen for that flat paint trap or was it just me?

The drywall guy who laughed at my level and then showed me his dented 4-footer

After 6 months of fighting crooked walls with a 2-foot level, this old timer told me to switch to a 6-foot one and handed me his beat-up one he'd been using since the 80s, and now I'm wondering if tools are really supposed to last that long or if I just got lucky.

Chose fiber cement siding over hardie board for my garage and actually saved $400

Finally stopped drywalling white over pink and it actually looks good now

Used to just throw a single coat of cheap flat white over my pink primer and call it done. Usually got away with it in closets but the living room ceiling looked patchy as heck. Three weeks ago I started using a gray primer first, then two coats of a decent eggshell from Sherwin. The difference is night and day even in crappy afternoon light. Whole room feels more finished without me having to squint at the edges. Anybody else notice a big jump when they switched primer shades or am I overthinking this?

Three tile guys gave me three different quotes for my kitchen backsplash and the spread was over $1,200

TIL spray foam insulation made my old adobe house feel like a plastic bottle

I hired a crew in June to spray foam the attic of my 1950s adobe in the South Valley. Everyone told me it was the best thing for efficiency, but now my house sweats like crazy in the summer and I can't get the humidity out. I spent $2,800 on that job and now I'm looking at installing a whole ventilation system. Has anyone else had moisture problems after sealing up an older home around here?

TIL a $20 foam backer rod saves way more money on concrete driveways than the $80 tube of caulk I bought first

Sealed the expansion gap wrong on my driveway in Rio Rancho and now water's getting under the slab, has anyone else dealt with that cracking thing that happens when you skip the rod?

Three days of rain destroyed my brand new drywall.

Last monsoon season we got caught off guard. Roof had a tiny leak I ignored. Figured it was nothing. Woke up to a ceiling stain the size of a dinner plate. Then it grew. Tore out 4 sheets of wet drywall. Had to redo all the tape and mud. Cost me $200 in materials and a whole weekend. Anyone else learn the hard way about roof leaks?

The tile vs. hardwood debate in my kitchen ended with a puddle

I was remodeling my kitchen in my Albuquerque house last summer and had to pick between tile and hardwood flooring. I went with tile because I figured it'd hold up better with my dog and the dirt we track in from the yard. Well, I didn't think about how cold it gets here in the winter, so my feet are freezing every morning unless I wear slippers. Plus, I dropped a glass of water and the grout lines soaked it up like a sponge, now there's a weird stain I can't scrub out. Tile looks nice but I'm already regretting it after just 6 months. Anyone else deal with cold floors or staining issues with their kitchen tile?

My tile guy told me I was spacing wrong

I had been using 1/4 inch spacers on my bathroom floor tile because that's what I saw on YouTube. He said for Albuquerque's climate and the specific tile I bought, I needed 3/16 inch gaps to avoid cracking in the dry heat. Has anyone else gotten conflicting advice from online tutorials versus actual local pros?

Had to choose between spray foam and blown in insulation for my attic

My house in the North Valley was losing heat like crazy last winter. I went back and forth on spray foam vs blown in for like 3 weeks lol. Ended up going with blown in cellulose because it was way cheaper, like $1200 vs $3500. It's been 6 months and my heating bill dropped about 40 bucks a month. Anyone else deal with this choice and regret going one way or the other?

Adobe vs. local NM stucco mix - the local stuff held up way better after our monsoon season

My neighbor swore by the big box store premix for our stucco patch last year. His south wall is already cracking after just 8 months. I used a custom mix from a place off San Mateo and mine looks fine still. The local sand just binds different I guess. Anyone else have better luck with regional materials?

Insulation trick that saved me $200 on my electric bill

I swapped out the fiberglass batts in my attic for blown-in cellulose last month and my electric bill dropped by $200. Some folks swear fiberglass is fine and cheaper upfront, but has anyone else seen that big a difference after switching to cellulose in an older ABQ house?

Rant: Adobe's 'lightweight' PDF reader is anything but

I was updating my home Reno contract PDFs the other day and noticed Adobe Reader was eating up 1.2 GB of RAM. That's insane for a viewer. I found a stat on some tech blog that said the new version uses 4x more memory than the one from 2015. No wonder my old laptop chugs when I open a simple floor plan. Switched to SumatraPDF last week and it launches in 2 seconds flat. Anyone else ditch Adobe for something lighter on your work machine?

Got quoted $8,000 for a simple bathroom vent fan install

Had a contractor come by last week and tell me it'd be $8,000 to run a new vent through the roof for a bathroom fan in my 1950s house near Nob Hill. I get that stucco is a pain to patch, but come on, that's more than my entire bathroom remodel budget. Anyone else run into crazy pricing for what should be a simple job?

Found out the hard way that cheap pex crimp rings are a false economy

I spent $25 on a off brand bag of 100 crimp rings off Amazon and three of them split on me during a small bathroom reno last weekend. Had to go to Home Depot and grab the brass ones for about $18 for a 50 pack. The cheap ones might save you a buck up front but when one pops while you're pressing it you lose all that time and maybe a fitting. I'm also wondering if the tool I have is fine or if I should upgrade that too. Anyone else have bad luck with no name copper crimp rings?

Switched from spray foam to rockwool for my garage attic, what a difference

I was all set to do spray foam in my garage attic last month until I priced it out and realized it would cost over $1,200 just for that one small space. Went with rockwool batts instead for about $300 and it took me just a Saturday morning to install. Has anyone else found a big price gap between insulation types on smaller projects around town?

Sanded my adobe walls smooth before realizing they're supposed to have texture

I spent three weekends sanding down every bump in my 1950s South Valley living room walls, then my neighbor from down the street walked over and laughed, telling me the original plaster finish was intentional and I just destroyed the character of the whole house, so has anyone else made a similar mistake trying to make old Albuquerque homes look modern?

Heard a contractor bragging about skipping permits on a full bathroom gut...

Was grabbing coffee at Flying Star last week and overheard a guy telling his buddy he saved $2k by not pulling permits for a bathroom remodel in the North Valley. Said he just "knows the inspector" so it's fine... but I've seen what happens when unpermitted work gets found during a home sale. That tile work could leak or cause electrical issues down the line and you'd have zero insurance coverage. Anybody here dealt with a buyer backing out because of unpermitted reno work?