I leveled the floor in our upstairs bathroom. It was out by 4-1/2 inches over a distance of 7 feet, but I might have left it alone except that the flooring and plumbing needed replacement anyway. I tore up the old subfloor, exposed the joists (which were placed in a pretty haphazard way). I sistered new joists onto those and cut tapered strips which I secured to the old joists, effectively making a 4"x8" joist. This also made it easier to install new plumbing. The most expensive part will be replacing the flooring, because I am using tile instead of the original linoleum. I chose to do this instead of jacking the whole wing of the house because I didn't see much sign that the foundation was still sinking. If there is something going on like rot or a collapsing foundation, that's a different call. The room was small, 7'x9', so nothing was real costly. Aside from my labor, there was probably less than $500 in materials, including the plumbing. Tile will add another $400-$500. Old houses are "old", and you can spend a lot of money trying to make them level and plumb, at which point they are still "old".

I agree with the rest, keep the machine, get it tuned, and get a new foot pedal--popping and you could have a short in the cord because the cord is that old, could be hazardous so I wouldn't run it until you get it fixed. That was probably what was wrong with my 1963 Lady Kenmore purchased new, and you just made me realize that may have been the problem after 30 years of pedal to the metal--it and the blonde formica cabinet went to the dumpster during a move. Also, if you are running the pedal on carpet, put it on a hard surface such as a cutting board (I have plenty of them, so it works for me). I fried a $65 Singer foot control because I had it on carpet (it would start up, run and speed would slowly die). I now always have a board under the foot controller...I have mostly carpet. You are lucky you have the instruction manual...some aren't that lucky. Sears still parts and the extra feet for your machine, if you don't have those, for around $29 excluding the ruffler...the original box had the ruffler included, or you can buy any after-market low bar foot that screws on or has an adapter. You can go into Searsparts.com and look your machine up to see what parts and feet are available. Your whole model number should be on the electrical plate on the back and in your manual.

Ok, three of my favorite voices around here--Palimpsest, Ideefixe and Oakleyok--have pretty well covered all the bases, but just to recap... The three biggest causes of Decorating Remorse--other than watching TV decorating shows & wishing you had done something other than what you already did, I mean--are Being in too big a hurry & buying something just to have something (rather than have nothing), Worrying about inconsequential stylistic labels & categories, and Buying brand new pieces. I did without a sofa for five years rather than buy something merely to be have something to sit on, I don't worry about what style supposedly goes with what, and I never buy anything new. Well, almost never. The most expensive thing in my house is an early 19th century sofa, for which I forked over 850 of my hard-earned dollars, and the two-months-long diet of peanut-butter sandwiches that paid for it was worth every bite. The second-most-expensive thing I ever bought was also the only thing I've ever bought new: a gigantic 3-piece arched mirror set out of a popular catalog that looked very handsome in the photo but which turned out to be a piece--well, three pieces--of junk, which I should have predicted, since, Hello!, it was in a popular catalog. All I can say is I must have been on Nyquil that day. Anyway, I seldom make mistakes, but when I do, I don't brood & beat myself up over them, so I hauled them down to the service entrance lobby of my building and in a few hours, they were gone. The sofa I'll have forever.

Hey uptown great to here from you. We have used may tricks of the trade. Including renting high power lighting from rental stores when the frantic RE agency cannot sell the house because they lifted the dining room carpet & OMG oxidation. The point is only the original flooring is exact match and the damage is always focal point of home. Dish washer, moving refregerator (digs) & Ice maker are top 3. Steal/borrow and fix with existing then replace with new. Thanks Bucks County