I sympathize with your dilemma. At least you know, however, where the noise or problem is coming from. My problem isn't so simple to define, since finding the source of the noise that I hear seems to be about as likely as proving the single shot theory of JFK's assasination. I've been renting at this apartment complex for a little over two years and have had to call the police three or four times now. Sometimes it's actually quiet, but it's been getting worse over the last couple of months. First, the two apartments across the hall from me are occupied by a woman and her son and daughter-in-law who like to conduct loud conversations up and down the stairs (we're on the third floor) with the door open. Oh, and this woman has a voice that sounds like she's speaking through an artifical voice box. It's horrible and gutteral and low pitched and screechy like a demon from a bad horror movie. Anyway, I've already complained to the landlord about them, which seemed to quiet them down for a little while, but how can you hold back the sea? But before I could relax and enjoy the respite, the neigbors directly below me decided to start playing their music loud from around 10:00 to 11:30 at night. I tried to ignore it at first, but when it continued the next night I did contact management. This time, they seemed more hesitant to do anything. In the midst of all this, there are a band of lowlifes that populate one or other of the buildings behind mine, who like to scream and talk loudly at all times of day and night outside my window, toot their horns, and bang on the door of their buildings while yelling to be let in. How their immediate neighbors can put up with this, I'll never know. Since I don't know who these people are or even their exact apartment numbers, I've been hesitant to call the landlord. I have gone outside late at night and crept around trying to identify the source of the noise, and jotted down the address of the specific building and the floor I thought it was coming from. When I called the landlord about them, the manager said he would try to get security to look into it. That doesn't seem to be working, though, since every week since then I've experienced numerous disturbances, usually two or three times a week. I've been lying in bed at midnight and had to listen to loud street talking among what sounds like a group of guys, using rough language and acting like they're in a bar. Just today, I was awakened at 4:11 a.m to the sound of music blasting from someone's apartment, followed by loud talking and cussing that went on until after 5:00 a.m. When I finally went back to sleep (I had to get up early to drive my sister to work so needed the sleep), I was awakened again at 6:40 to loud music. This is getting to be too much to handle. How am I supposed to police this whole complex when the management apparently is unwilling to do so? How, also, am I supposed to lodge a complaint when I don't know the source? And apparently, the people living near these scumbags are either too apathetic or scared to get involved (or perhaps they're friends or relatives). Does anyone out there have any suggestions? This is ruining my life! I feel totally harrassed and violated.

budge1 - you are so kind to my kitchen! :) Thank you for liking it. I hope I'll one day like it as much as you do - haha. I see the potential, that's for sure. I like the original cupboards too. It's hard though cause without having a lot of money - and we don't - I'm pretty limited about what I can do with that small space which I think is about 12x14' big! I'm maybe short a half-a foot in giving those dimensions. The hardwood floors are so worn they give splinters (!) and can't be sanded down again I've been told. They're just fir. But until I can knock down that mudroom wall and expand - if ever - having a nice countertop, backsplash, new sink and faucet (and first-ever dishwasher and disposal and good safe outlets) will be a HUGE improvement! I'm glad you like the height of the faucet (I've been pretty worried about that). The distance from wall to spout should end up being not too far out once the apron-front sink is put in, since by nature it has to be pulled out as far as the counter comes out. So, compared to the picture you see of my current sink, the new farm sink should poke out another 2 or 3 inches further, making the faucet actually reach just short of the middle of the sink. I hope I don't have the splashing issues others w/ much height have complained about! But supposedly having an aerator makes a difference. I'd hate to find out the hard way that they were wrong! When you wrote of an overhang, you mean the way a table or bar or island can allow chairs/stools to sit under it (but not as far as in those cases), right? Can you tell how ignorant I am when it comes to kitchens and remodeling? ;) Well there is a kitchen door on BOTH ends of the long counter, and if the counter visually comes out too much, it will appear to block the doorways which don't leave much room. Because we need to put a dishwasher in, which will go to the left of the sink (best place), we'll have to bring out the counter there, as far as the sink comes out in my photo. For symmetry we'll probably do that on the right side, too. My hope is that it won't make the doors looked blocked. The counter will angle back in and go back to being more shallow, before hitting the doorways...I just hope they'll do that soon enough to fool the eye into believing the counters aren't too far out! I do definitely look forward to having more counterspace, even if it's only a couple of inches!

I was in a very similar situation a couple years ago. I wanted a midcentury modern home but it had to be in a specific area. Prices were still depressed at that time, but I knew they were bound to increase soon. I had been watching a home online that was built by one of my favorite 1950's architects. I had seen black and white pics of the house from the 50's and it was beautiful then. Unfortunately, the previous owners had altered much of the architecture. The price was much too high. When the price decreased significantly, the realtor and I went to look at it. It had also been abandoned for 10 yrs. There was major water damage EVERYWHERE. The ceiling ballooned out all over the place. The patio overhang and soffit had areas of rot. The carpet had water damage. The realtor and I walked out laughing that anyone would think they could sell the house for the asking price (which was still above my budget). We looked at more homes, but the bones of these homes did not compare to the damaged home. The home had walls of glass, amazing views of the city and mountains and in my opinion had great potential. When I wanted to make an offer on it, the realtor was shocked. He tried to talk me out of it. But I felt it was a matter of time before I was priced out of this area and despite the terrible condition of the home, it had other things going for it. Before making an offer, we had a roofer look at the roof. Like your roof, it had been replaced in the last 10 yrs. All I can figure is that no one had bothered to repair the extensive drywall damage. The exterior soffit damage was from condensation in AC vents (yes- they had AC on the patio!). After haggling with the bank (shortsale), I finally got the house. I remember that night thinking, WHAT HAVE I DONE? The house has taken extensive investment. It is not done, and because of the expense, I am taking my time with it. I did put in new floors, new roof, new electrical, new kitchen, drywall, opened the floorplan up, etc. The house just appraised for much higher than I paid. If I were you, I would have a roofer look at the roof to verify it is intact. Try to get a contractor out there also to give you his/her opinion on the source of the water damage elsewhere and his worst cost estimate. Think about the WORST possible outcome with the water damage and decide if you are willing to pay this for the house. I was fortunate that for my house the water damage, although it looked awful, was negligible for cost. If you really want the house, repairing the issues may be worth it. Dont forget that other things might need repair/replacing - HVAC system, etc.

NIce work by the previous owners, huh? I know nothing about woodworking. But if you were to strip down the door after removing the metal strip, fill all the holes with wood filler, and then re-stain, would the nail holes still be really visible once the door was closed? Or, if the nail holes sit in a bit on the door, could you add a thin piece of some kind of moulding all around the door to hide the nailholes, stained to match of course. Or would that be too odd? I could see that door with some wonderful beveled and textured glass in it, the large header. MIght be cool to move the house numbers (in brass or whatever your hardware is on the door) to sit on the large header, which would further draw your eyes to the doorway. Honestly, tho, I am not sure about losing the shutters - you might end up with a lot of blank wall space up there. What about painting the shutters white? It would make them kind of meld with the porch, but still keep you from having a lot of blank wall on either side of the door. I am also thinking that the style of the shutters is wrong - they should be louvered, not paneled.