Updating a 60s Mansard-ish roof?
melle_sacto
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
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melle_sacto
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Maybe a little more acceptance here? Im new and my story is...
Comments (39)Ladyvixen, we were in our 30's in 1985 when we bought our 1898 house. Looking back, we were very young. Neither my husband nor I had any skills or knowledge at all about how to work on houses. All we knew was that our house was nearly intact, was very inexpensive, and that we loved it. I had always wanted an old house, and had been buying things such as light fixtures, hardware, etc., for years before we bought the house. We bought the house "as is". Fortunately we were both employed and had no children. We had to hire almost everything done, and it needed a lot of work. We did not take a vacation for years. Then came a time of around a year or two that my husband was either unemployed or underemployed. During that time, the house just didn't get worked on. We didn't care that we lived in an unfinished house; in fact, I thought it was beautiful from day one. We have a corner in the dining room where all the little balls the cats play with end up, but you don't notice the slope otherwise. It has taken us over 25 years, and we are almost finished, but still have some work to do. We should have it finished by now, but are in our 60's now and do like to take a vacation now and then. Also we sometimes didn't have work done even when we had the money, because we were tired of the mess of having things torn up. We lived with a practically non-existent kitchen until about 2004. I said all along that this house was my dream house. People would look at me funny, but it was and still is my dream house. Don't let others talk you out of your dream. Make the decision based on what you want and what you think you can handle. If you think you can live with an unfinished house for years, go for it. If you have to have everything finished and perfect, you shouldn't buy an old house. I have the ablility to not even see the unfinished stuff until we get ready to do something about it. I meant this to be an encouragement to you, but reading back on it, maybe this will scare you because it has taken us so long. Don't let that scare you--you can do it faster than we did! I will try to attach some pictures if I can....See MoreAnyone up for a hypothetical facade update challenge?
Comments (18)Yes anele, it's the same street - about 2 blocks closer to the school, actually. Thanks for the compliment on the town, we love it here; it's a great place to raise a family. I take it you are from around here? That house is definitely a possibility, I actually asked about the kitchen on the kitchen board. The price range I feel comfortable with is $750K max. So, the house itself as described is not necessarily out of our price range, but new construction comes with so many unknowns and so many add ons (we previously bought a new construction townhome and even that had a million options and add ons - upgraded cabinets, upgraded carpet, padding, tile, painting all the rooms if that's not included, landscaping, lawn, virtually all the hooks and organizational things. They all add up and we'd have to be really careful to keep in line with the budget. I do really like the looks of it though and it's tempting, very tempting. If it were priced at $650K we wouldn't be having this conversation and that would probably say "under contract" :-)...See MoreLet's talk 'updated for sale' :(
Comments (18)"Around here if I see "newly renovated in 2006" that's a big red flag that there was probably major hurricane damage, for example." it may also indicate that the structure has been brought up to the present code requirements. Except in limited cases, a building only has to meet the code that was in effect when it was built. After that it is 'grandfathered' for code changes. Without grandfathering we would all be rewiring every three years, and making all sorts of structural changes every time a new code revision occurred. When a building permit is pulled for remodeling or major repairs, the new work often must comply with the present code since the grandfathered items have been destroyed or removed. A few localities have done things like require GFCI receptacles on all kitchen counter outlets as a condition of sale since they are a huge safety upgrade, not very expensive, and can be retrofitted without wiring changes. California has required earthquake upgrades on sale in some locations. Large hurricanes in Florida often manage to destroy (or severely damage) older structures) giving the local a AHJ a shot at enforcing change sin the building code when repair and restoration occur....See MoreCreating a sense of identity.
Comments (11)Oh Pal you're going to LOVE this challenge once you embrace it. Our townhouse is 1980's YAWN and was full of wonderful 1980's decor, even the "updated" stuff was still builder basic 1980. Over the course of three years I wiped it all out and now it's a very eclectic and personal space, totally different than the others who've tried to update (but still used the 1980's style as their guide...yuck LOL). I think you and I have very different style preferences, but just as an example, I think if you click on this picture it will take you to one of my messy photobucket albums (it says kitchen but it's stuff from allover the townhouse after remodel). The period of your new home and my old one is completely nondescript (IMO). God no don't go with 1968 decor LOL The 70's and 80's need to be forgotten heh heh They were NOT a good time in the life of design. Here's what I did with the decade heh heh :) It's an eclectic mix of art deco, turn of the century lighting, new stuff, old stuff....and monkeys :) Draperies aren't done by the way so picture really fabulous stuff LOL They'll be there as soon as I clean up the sewing room, sew drapes for the victorian, restore 3 parlors and design/build an english garden, make 50 christmas stockings and.....ok maybe next year....See Moreawm03
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