Adventures in Home Ownership
or How To Spend Half of My Annual Salary in 3 Months...
So, the house was built in 1925. That makes it just shy of 90 years old, which gives it character and such things, also means that on top of the standard care and feeding of the house, there are some things that simply have reached the life expectancy, and need to be addressed.
We finally bit the bullet an decided that there were big ticket items that need to be dealt with on the house. Top priority was the roof and the exterior paint. Secondary items were insulation, and a moderate plumbing project in the upstairs bathroom. DIY project is the patio/planter in the backyard, but mostly that is stuff that I can take care of.
Got some minor cosmetic stuff taken care of to qualify for a refi of the house, Derek's office needed a coat of paint and some plaster work to fix the bits that were damaged from the flue condensation problem. Refi happened successfully, but we didn't get back as much cash out as we had planned on. We ended up getting a home equity loan to make up for the difference.
It's a bit confusing, because there was a lot of elements involved. I'm gonna try and go sequentially, but I make no guarantees.
While we were getting the finances sorted out, I had our plumbers work on replacing the valve assembly and shower unit. The valve that closes off the drain has been broken since before we bought the house, and while it isn't a critical thing, the drain was starting to break apart as well. Neither of these are particularly *hard* to contend with by themselves, in order to get to the bits, they had to remove the toilet entirely to get to it. Oh yeah, and the lever on the toilet was cracking too, so we had them replace that too. While everything was open, we had them replace the shower assembly too. One full day.
- drain lever, drain plate, toilet lever, shower assembly.
I got 2 estimates regarding insulation, one was for blown in cellulose in the walls, and one was for the expanding foam. For the record, that is sorta an apples/oranges situation. Since we already have a few inches of cellulose in the attic, we decided that the priority was addressing the walls. Foam is a great product, but the area has to be open for it to expand, so attics or new construction. Two full days, first floor accessed from the outside, second fl. from the inside.
- walls insulated.
The roof was more challenging. 4 estimates, 2 low, 2 high, one of the high ones was REALLY high. I managed to negotiate the Super High company down to the Reasonably High one, and they got scheduled in. Half way into the project, I realized that the metal roof over the dormer hadn't been touched. Called. Oh look, it didn't get put specifically into the contract. Joy. They are willing to add it in for the cost of just the shingles and labor, but still. Since the weather was off and on raining, 2 weeks.
- roof replaced, metal dormer roof replaced.
Sunday before the roofers were scheduled to start, I went into the basement to rotate laundry, and discovered that the water heater had a conspicuous puddle underneath it. Run around, shut off heater, drained, and plumber called. Arrived first thing on Monday, waved their magic wand, and made everything better. Less than 1/2 day.
- new water heater.
Gradual acceptance of the sinkhole in the front yard dawns to "this might actually be the runoff/sewer line" I call the plumber back, and discuss the sinkhole, and he met me with the camera to take a look at the pipes in the yard. Problem is, we couldn't get the camera past the house trap. The trap is cracked, and stopped up 2/3 high with debris from the roof breaking down and running down the gutter drains. Digging up the trap took a full day, and while the hole was dry when we got home, the next morning when I opened the basement door, there was 5 in of water in it. House trap replaced, pipes checked, and the sewer line is totally functional and working fine. 3 days.
- new house trap.
House is currently about halfway done being painted, and everything is going well and on schedule. Same colors as before, but I chose a more ivory colored white, since we are on a busy road and there is a lot of soot from the cars.
- painted house.
The Sunday before the concrete was poured in the basement for finishing the trap, we had one last bit of excitement. The faucet in the first floor bathroom finally got too clogged up with lime scale, and stopped having any running water to it. When talking to the plumber about the plan for Monday, I asked him to have they guys check out the fixture. I know I could take a wrench to the end of the faucet, but I am pretty sure it would end up simply shearing off, leaving me with a broken faucet. Of course, getting the type of assembly that fits a vintage sink you get to pay vintage prices. Cheaper to simply replace the whole sink and assembly. He has them ready to go, he just needs to get back to me on prices and schedule.
- new sink and faucet (pending)
The first repair was March 8, and we are at May 19 now, and in another week the house will be done being painted, and the sink will be installed. 2.5 months of Homeowner Adventures. If you subtract the plumbing adventures, we stayed on budget, but only barely.
So, the house was built in 1925. That makes it just shy of 90 years old, which gives it character and such things, also means that on top of the standard care and feeding of the house, there are some things that simply have reached the life expectancy, and need to be addressed.
We finally bit the bullet an decided that there were big ticket items that need to be dealt with on the house. Top priority was the roof and the exterior paint. Secondary items were insulation, and a moderate plumbing project in the upstairs bathroom. DIY project is the patio/planter in the backyard, but mostly that is stuff that I can take care of.
Got some minor cosmetic stuff taken care of to qualify for a refi of the house, Derek's office needed a coat of paint and some plaster work to fix the bits that were damaged from the flue condensation problem. Refi happened successfully, but we didn't get back as much cash out as we had planned on. We ended up getting a home equity loan to make up for the difference.
It's a bit confusing, because there was a lot of elements involved. I'm gonna try and go sequentially, but I make no guarantees.
While we were getting the finances sorted out, I had our plumbers work on replacing the valve assembly and shower unit. The valve that closes off the drain has been broken since before we bought the house, and while it isn't a critical thing, the drain was starting to break apart as well. Neither of these are particularly *hard* to contend with by themselves, in order to get to the bits, they had to remove the toilet entirely to get to it. Oh yeah, and the lever on the toilet was cracking too, so we had them replace that too. While everything was open, we had them replace the shower assembly too. One full day.
- drain lever, drain plate, toilet lever, shower assembly.
I got 2 estimates regarding insulation, one was for blown in cellulose in the walls, and one was for the expanding foam. For the record, that is sorta an apples/oranges situation. Since we already have a few inches of cellulose in the attic, we decided that the priority was addressing the walls. Foam is a great product, but the area has to be open for it to expand, so attics or new construction. Two full days, first floor accessed from the outside, second fl. from the inside.
- walls insulated.
The roof was more challenging. 4 estimates, 2 low, 2 high, one of the high ones was REALLY high. I managed to negotiate the Super High company down to the Reasonably High one, and they got scheduled in. Half way into the project, I realized that the metal roof over the dormer hadn't been touched. Called. Oh look, it didn't get put specifically into the contract. Joy. They are willing to add it in for the cost of just the shingles and labor, but still. Since the weather was off and on raining, 2 weeks.
- roof replaced, metal dormer roof replaced.
Sunday before the roofers were scheduled to start, I went into the basement to rotate laundry, and discovered that the water heater had a conspicuous puddle underneath it. Run around, shut off heater, drained, and plumber called. Arrived first thing on Monday, waved their magic wand, and made everything better. Less than 1/2 day.
- new water heater.
Gradual acceptance of the sinkhole in the front yard dawns to "this might actually be the runoff/sewer line" I call the plumber back, and discuss the sinkhole, and he met me with the camera to take a look at the pipes in the yard. Problem is, we couldn't get the camera past the house trap. The trap is cracked, and stopped up 2/3 high with debris from the roof breaking down and running down the gutter drains. Digging up the trap took a full day, and while the hole was dry when we got home, the next morning when I opened the basement door, there was 5 in of water in it. House trap replaced, pipes checked, and the sewer line is totally functional and working fine. 3 days.
- new house trap.
House is currently about halfway done being painted, and everything is going well and on schedule. Same colors as before, but I chose a more ivory colored white, since we are on a busy road and there is a lot of soot from the cars.
- painted house.
The Sunday before the concrete was poured in the basement for finishing the trap, we had one last bit of excitement. The faucet in the first floor bathroom finally got too clogged up with lime scale, and stopped having any running water to it. When talking to the plumber about the plan for Monday, I asked him to have they guys check out the fixture. I know I could take a wrench to the end of the faucet, but I am pretty sure it would end up simply shearing off, leaving me with a broken faucet. Of course, getting the type of assembly that fits a vintage sink you get to pay vintage prices. Cheaper to simply replace the whole sink and assembly. He has them ready to go, he just needs to get back to me on prices and schedule.
- new sink and faucet (pending)
The first repair was March 8, and we are at May 19 now, and in another week the house will be done being painted, and the sink will be installed. 2.5 months of Homeowner Adventures. If you subtract the plumbing adventures, we stayed on budget, but only barely.