Put bid on house, HATE the bathrooms!
Marge A
3 years ago
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maifleur03
3 years agoBeth H. :
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoRelated Discussions
I hate my house
Comments (56)All of this has been interesting to read and to help me put things in perspective. I also, have had many moments where I have hated my 95 year old Craftsman home. I purchased it about 1-1/2 years ago but was not able to actually move into it for several months, as the person who lived in it prior for 30 years had let it fall into quite a state of neglect. Even when we finally moved in - I had no running water in my kitchen for many weeks. I, having been working in the field of architecture for the same amount of time, saw beyond it's sad state to the good bones it has. Did all the right things; got my inspections, had the advice of good people including my old bosses on board to help with renovations. Even my main contractor was a friend from that job (I'm actually in administration in that field but have learned quite a bit about design and building practices second hand from being around them for so long). However, even with all that knowledge behind me, and even with paying a very good price for the home, I found myself spending more than twice I expected on renovations and I'm still nowhere near done. There were times were I would come home and literally cry myself to sleep in a panic of how I was ever going to pay for everything which needed to be repaired that we didn't anticipate; things that were hidden from the inspection like the near re-enactment of the bathtub scene from "The Money Pit" where it comes crashing through the floor through the ceiling below (mine, had we not had to take down the kitchen ceiling, and discovered the tub was being held in place by "tinker toys" more or less, certainly would have fell through at some point if we had filled it with water). I've spent $22,000 on new electrical and lighting and other miscellaneous repairs after the fact. $10,000 on plumbing. $15,000 for 27 new windows. I don't even know what my kitchen cost me because you have to figure in some of the costs above into it; so what? $40,000? (the kitchen was a disaster area and it had to be completely gutted). I had a jungle of weeds and ivy, cracked concrete and crap as a garden and the City was mandating I remove it (I have a TCO on the house and much of what I am doing I literally have to do to clear the TCO), landscaping cost me over $12,000 (I did put in a new paver patio, glad I did). My chimney/fireplace needs repairs - it's unsafe, that's costing $6000. I need regrading of my side yard and drainage underground - $5200. About to paint the house, another $5200 (house is stucco). New gutters $2200, Added central a/c $8000 (did get a rebate back on that). Oh and contractor payments $20,000. There's more, another $40,000 that have added up of miscellaneous stuff; emergency repairs, things necessary for the home, etc. I still don't have furniture for my guest bedroom. The interior needs painting badly. My main bathroom is falling apart - every day another tile comes off the wall. The attic needs better insulation. I have no backsplash in the kitchen yet. I have unfinished carpentry items around the house. My floors need refinishing. I 5 doors which need replacement. Water issues in the basement (contractor is pretty sure the new gutters will take care of it for the most part). I need window treatments everywhere (currently have very cheap stuff up but at least it's something). There's other furniture I need here and there. My closets could use systems in them - they were built with minimal shelving. On and on and on. And yet when people see and walk into my home, they are mesmerized. The LOVE it. Compliment me on how far it's come since I purchased it. Love it's uniqueness (well I do too - it seems to be a cross between a Craftsman and Victorian and it's made from terra cotta brick which is unusual in my area). But when I look at it, I'm depressed. It still looks dismal. All I see are all the repairs still to be done and the fact that my money isn't holding up (although since my mortgage wasn't huge to begin with, I just did a re-finance already, and took hopefully enough out to do nearly everything left to finish up - other than the bathroom, which I'll have about half of what I need). I just feel like at 52 years old, I'll be dead before I see this house done. And it isn't like I have kids to leave it to either. It truly does feel like a money pit to me. My partner and I have like no money to enjoy ourselves (he had been out of work for over 2 years, and JUST finally went back to work). I'm the one who owns the house, so every penny goes back into the house now. The only good thing, is that I have a very stable job and I feel that I can keep looking forward to increased salary over time, so hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the repairs. But oh my, like everyone else, it feels so daunting and overwhelming most of the time. I thought about bailing out several times and taking the (huge) loss - I still do - but I love the house too much to throw in the towel yet. Probably not ever. It's a curse, and a blessing. We're happy here, very happy....See MoreSo we are going to put a bid in on the house..
Comments (16)With that type of purchase from a bank where it is a foreclosure or short sale you don't always have the option of an inspection option it's as is. Having new plumbing and electric is a biggie. You can check with the city or County for the pulled permits. However dealing with a bank sell is different from buying from an individual. Hopefully all goes well with it and you are very happy....See Moreneed advice on putting a second AC on the second floor of an old house
Comments (4)Warm in the attic is not the primary reason for keeping the ducts indoors, it is pressure differentials induced by leaky ducts. In supplies, leaks cause make-up air to be drawn into the house from air leaks in the envelope. In returns, leaks cause air to be drawn out of air leaks in the envelope. (Poor return vs. supply balancing can do similar.) How high is the ceiling in the hallway? If there is enough space, the classic right way to do this is probably to fur down the ceiling for ducts and put the AHU in the attic within a sealed box that is made contiguous with the indoor space. Done right, the difference in ceiling heights can be architecturally pleasing....See MorePutting porcelain tile throughout the house - will my body hate me???
Comments (9)We have all tile on our main floor. It is hard on the feet and joints. If you can get used to wearing slippers/shoes around it is fine. But we also put area carpets down and carpet runners (sort of like little habitrails) around the house which make it easier to walk in bare feet). I prefer bare feet but have slippers I wear around the house often. All flooring is a tradeoff. Carpet is soft but easily soiled. Wood gets scratched and need refinished, often with noxious chemicals. Tile is hard but easy to clean. My favorite flooring was a solid surface linoleum I had in an old house. I'm not sure they make it anymore. It was a solid material all the way through, had no odor, repelled dirt and was soft to walk on because the sub floor was plywood. I must say the wood look tile does look fantastic. The only issue we've had is cracking when the tile spans a doorway and they are on different heat zone pours (our heat is in-floor hydronic). To fix that we have used the grout caulk to patch those areas so it is a bit more flexible. Probably a better tile installer could have avoided this issue. Would I put it down again? Probably not if I knew I was living here so long. I would have put down my solid surface linoleum. But since this subfloor is concrete I may not have gotten the softness I liked out of it. But I would not have had to deal with cracking grout issues. The reason I didn't put it in was I was concerned about resale. Wood look tile has a more high end look. I was interested in hardwood but didn't know how it would perform with the expansion and contraction of the floor heat. I also was concerned it would insulate the heat too much. If you get carpet go with a thin berber (ours was a cheap berber). We had that in our upstairs and the heat came through beautifully. Then we got a cheap plush style and the heat does not come through very well....See MoreColor Zen
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Marge AOriginal Author