I know it's bad form but I can't help but chuckle at the "220K being expensive" notion. West coast real estate is absurd in comparison.
Masonry wrapping up: I was really looking forward to putting up x-mas lights but I don't want to die so I'll probably farm that out.
Also, quick update on the cracked foundation slab... We told them we weren't building on it and are now building on the slab you see above a little further up the street. They took back their foundation and moved forward with building a spec house on the cracked slab. They pumped it full of epoxy which I believe was for aesthetic reasons. Also they sanded down the higher edge (the two sides of the crack were not level). Its brought a lot more attention to the crack IMO. I imagine a home inspector is going to alert the potential buyer before they purchase it but who knows.
Updates: Spoiler Before: This +this Now looks like this: New beam is in to open up the area. Cement floor has been removed. The sand should come out tomorrow and then next week they'll be putting in the radiant heat system.
To the guy putting in the pool or anyone else knowledgeable... If I put in a ~$80k pool using a HELOC, roughly speaking what kind of monthly payment would I be looking at just for the pool?
HELOCs only charge interest (no principal required) so divide the annual rate by 12 to get a monthly rate and multiply by $80k. So for instance, 5% HELOC is .05/12*80,000 = $333.33. Obviously you need to pay more to reduce the principal though.
Finally closing on my townhome today. Lender asked me at the last minute (last month) to file my 2015 return. I heard they really scrutinize full commission applicants.
How big is the shower? We are doing very close to the same thing with a 7 foot shower (5 foot base with 1 foot seats on each side) with heads on each side.
I can confirm it is not in fact camo, but black with a Volt Yellow GOLF highlighted on the front. I own exactly zero camo things.
Yes, it looks great now but I worry about it's ability to stay looking new since marble is a softer stone. Wife had her heart set on it though so what are you going to do.
I hear ya. I love the look of marble though. If we ever redo our kitchen I think I'd like to do the island in a Carrara marble to get bluish tones (we have light blue walls and would probably keep that color) with a more durable surface for the countertops and then a Carrara marble backsplash. Spoiler Something along these lines for finishes.
We put in quartz countertops in our kitchen that look like Carrara Marble and they look great. Plus the easy cleanup factor and low maintenance required make them a great choice.
Looks great. We want to do something similar with a giant shower like that. Probably a couple years away but I love how you did it.
Just put up these shelves I made in my bathroom. Curly maple with stainless steel brackets I made. Spoiler Got this live edge walnut that I am going to put up in our kitchen for more storage. Got to do a a few more coats of shellac. Spoiler 1000 sq ft house (also 1000 sq ft basement) with no storage has got me thinking creative
The joys of remodeling. 1) We had to replace a galvanized steel pipe (main drain) that wasn't buried deep enough for lowering our floors. It turns out the pipe was very corroded so it would have likely created problems for us in the near future. Maybe that one is a blessing in disguise. 2) We have to add a new (second) sump pump. We have one in the portion of the house that was an addition in the 90s. For some reason when they did the addition they disabled the old sump pump but never connected the drain tile to the new drain tile system. For the last 20 years the drain tile in the old portion of the house has been collecting water but there hasn't been a pump to get rid of it. We're very fortunate there haven't been water issues.
My current sump pump is a fucking mess. I moved into my house in August and the basement was a grow-op before then. So, needless to say, some shit down there is shoddy. I am in the process of resealing my concrete and the next step will be working on getting a better sump pit/pump. Did you add a french drain or an interior drainage system? What is the setup you are going with? Any tips?
We already have an interior drainage system that the prior owner had unplugged the pump on and covered the basket. Because the drainage system is in place, all my contractor needs to do is dig a hole for a new basket (the old basket would have worked but the way we reconfigured the basement, it is now located in doorway), add a pump, add an electrical outlet and plumb it to the outside. The sub-contractor we are using has a bunch of videos on their website: http://standardwater.com/
I appreciate it. We walked through yesterday and I have no clue how we make close. We have no driveway or sidewalk, no landscaping, there is a bunch of tile work that needs to be re-done/replaced, no carpet, need a master bath tub and a million other little things by Feb. 29th. We're nervous as hell we have scheduled the movers, wood installation and delivery of a couple of big items right after close. These are things that cannot be undone. Good news though we were able to work down the final cost on the wood floors to $6,600 out the door. This is down from $24,000+ at the builder's preferred design center and ~$15,000ish from a brick and mortar store. We were able to get the wood through a friend at contractor pricing out of Florida and then through word of mouth found a guy who does wood installation (ironically used to work for the brick and mortar store) and got great reviews from people who have used him. Both his pricing and the wood were negotiated down. That whole process has lit a fire in me to negotiate everything these days. I haven't had much luck at Lowes or Home Depot when it comes to negotiating appliances. I thought I would have some bundling leverage as I need many items (fridge, freezer, water softener, washer/dryer, patio furniture, etc.) and I just get blank stares. I ask to speak to the manager and nothing. Any advice on good places to negotiate these items?
Yea HD won't give much that way. Asking a manager and telling him you'll buy 10k worth of appliances if he takes 10% off is your best shot, so if that didn't work then you're SOL. Or just try another store. Volume pricing discounts exist but they're at contractor levels for the same item (not a bunch of different ones).
Any refrigerator repair help here? Have a whirlpool gold refrigerator that just the other day the water dispenser has no pressure to it. Fills glasses about half as fast as before. If I pop out the filter it works like normal. Filter in and it's slow. I bought a new filter but that didn't fix the problem. My guess is there is a bypass somewhere that when no filter is in it bypasses and goes straight to dispensing at an expecting rate. Shouldn't be any reason for a pinched hose as it wasn't a problem for years. Any ideas how to fix?
I had that problem but it was related to an old filter and resolved itself with a new one. Shouldn't be a bypass just a faulty new filter maybe.
Fiancé and I are about halfway through having our first home built. Everybody said it would be fun... I disagree. Builder is very old school so no CAD or rendering software of any kind. Picking every brick, stone, shingle, paint color, cabinet, finish, appliance, molding etc etc all in a short time with no visuals and just small square samples is incredibly tough. Plus, everything the fiancé wants is an upgrade. It's fun seeing it come together but damn it's stressful.
I.have fixed every appliance i own with the power of googles Get that model number and go to work young man
One other thing I'd do differently is get ALL budgets in the contract up front next time. Our building contract says what we get but doesn't go into detail about how many options we have or our budget for things like fixtures and appliances. The builder basically made what he considers his basic package for the neighborhood and that's what you get. Some stuff is nice, like the wood floors and counters are legit, but other stuff seems ridiculously cheap. We've been looking at some cool farmhouse sinks and other styles, I feel pretty good when I find one for $650. I press the guy to give us our sink budget and he comes back with $150. He basically has it set to spend 90% of the money on the major things like floors and counters, then throw the cheap stuff in for lighting, knobs, handles, etc
I had that problem once and we were keeping the refrigerator interior too cold. The water in the filter was freezing and slowing the flow. Try knocking the temperature down a couple degrees if you have it on the coldest setting.
Currently looking for a 1 BR condo or 2 BR townhouse in my area. For $220k you're not getting anything halfway decent.
I think this is why I would struggle to build new. I would want it to be perfect and I know there is no way it would live up to expectations. Better to be underwhelmed from the start.
I tend to agree. I'll like the finished product I'm sure but I'd lean towards buying something already built next time. Anything not in the builders original plan is just a headache to deal with. I'll upload some pics of the progress soon.
thought the seller was going to balk at my post-inspection crawl space needs, but they're doing every bit of it. moving on to the appraisal and such! should work out. time to start figuring out how to build a fence and paint aluminum siding...
I've been through the process you're going through and I was also annoyed when I didn't care for some of the things they had selected. In one case I disliked their lights but they got them so cheaply it was a big out of pocket expense to change them so I ended up going with it. It is interesting now going through the process with our remodel. By its nature, everything has to be customized to our house and the things they find. We had a plan going in but the contractor has to be nimble as they address issues like where support beams are located, working around a furnace location, whether moving ductwork will get enough airflow throughout the house, finding out half your house has drain tile with no sump pump so we need to find a place for a new sump pump, etc. For the actual design/fixtures they set us up with an interior designer who works us through the process and orders things on their timeline. Rather than choosing baseline things for us, they set us up with a budget or allowance based on tiers but for the granite, for instance, there are so many different options. It is incredibly overwhelming. The other thing is that we've had to do meetings with about every different vendor for appliances, plumbing fixtures, granite, multiple cabinet meetings for a few hours at a time, etc. It is nice to have all of the choices but it is really time consuming. On that note, I'd love to hear opinions on which tiles to use in our bathroom to go with the bathroom counter granite slab. Spoiler Left: The big one would be the floor. The gold brick would be a backsplash. The thinner gold would be a vertical accent in the shower. Shower tile yet to be determined. Right. The big one would be in the shower. The left with a light wood look would be the floor tile. The small squares would be the backsplash as well as the back of the encove in the shower. I don't think we would use the more brownish tile on the far right.
Closing on our first house this coming Friday. Mixture of excited and anxiety making sure we have everything good to go. Got lucky last week and the furnace blower motor went out on the sellers....one less $500 bill we have to look forward to in the near future. Like lechnerd we've been doing some appliance shopping (though we only need a washer/dryer and range). After quite a bit of research and looking around, we're fairly set on Samsung for both the washer/dryer and our range. Anybody have comments regarding the Samsung appliances? I have a friend who went all Samsung in his new construction couple years ago and loves them, and they rate really high in consumer reports. Planning to buy the w/d at Best Buy, then use my 5% rewards to go buy the range a couple weeks later (need 15 days for points to post, apparently).
I used a Lowe's 10% off coupon from here to help buy my mom a new washing machine http://renovopower.com/lowes.html Better than nothing Not sure if there is a price cap on it or whatever
I got one of those coupons in my change of address packet. Unfortunately, the nearest Lowes is slightly over an hour away and I fear we may not be within their free delivery range. I'm going to look into it regardless though, thanks! While on the appliance subject, anybody have comments on gas dryer vs. electric?