Going to meet the architect tonight to go over the initial plans. It's a unique build and he says it's narrower than we originally discussed. ( Insert obligatory that's what she said joke here.) Hopefully Us dragging our feet on the build, while we get the new Airbnb going, will save us some money as wood and builder price seem to be going down a bit. Any general suggestions about questions to ask architects at this stage or is it pretty much saying what we like and don't like.
The fireplace/chimney that keeps on giving. Will be calling the company out tomorrow that did all the work considering it hasn’t been 6months don’t think the siding should be protruding out like that. I’m no expert tho
Apparently the real concern is fucking ticks. Had one on me last night and one on the dog after we came back inside.
Suppose to come out and inspect it at 1130. They couldn’t find us in their system but the guy remembered our names. Glad i kept the invoice from the job back in February if they tried any fuckery
Didn’t even include the mud room. Gonna have to abandon that and new windows. 100k was for a new kitchen, floors, and laundry room. 30k was for cabinets and countertops alone.
If I could afford to tear it down and build a new house I would. Now I’ve just got to figure out how to make due. This has been a pretty disappointing experience so far.
The only thing keeping me sane is thinking that time should erase these pains. May just take a while. I think the historical appreciation is 3% a year or so, not to mention the gains that you'll see with the improvements you're planning.
Prioritize. Go 2/3 needs and 1/3 wants. Ask your contractor if his vendors expect prices to come down (don't hold your breath) in the next year. Tell them what you want to spend. As a GC, I'd love it if people would come to me with a list and an expected budget. Could save us both some time and heartache. Also, if you're handy at all, you can put in some sweat equity and save money too. I have plenty of customers that want to do stuff (demo, painting are common) to lessen the costs. Find some creative options, I know guys here have had cabinets refinished rather than all new. Most cabinet guys could get you new doors for existing boxes. It may take some compromise (what doesn't? ), or an extended timeline (2,5,10 yr plan), but you'll get there.
Yea the 100k was pure wants. Now I’m going through and seeing what I can live without and what I can do myself. I’d do more myself, but I have limited free time between work and school, so unfortunately my options are to do things myself, but have it drag on for months, or pay someone to do it. I was hoping for something closer to 60k, so my grand plans of a big remodel are out of the question, but now I know. I think next steps are to go back to the contractor with my budget and seeing what he recommends to trim the number down.
that sounds like all low-end also... you start choosing high end cabinets, finishes, etc. you are going go go well over $100k hate to say it. Kitchen remodels are expensive.
Hired a lawn maintenance company (same one the former homeowners used) to mow while I'm gone and they send their rate sheet. It's like $60/cut for a weekly cut. I ask if they can do biweekly. "No, only weekly". The fuck
What's the size of your property? My cuts run $59 each but i am on 3/4 of an acre with a decent amount of grass and I live in an expensive area to begin with.
I laughed because I used to have the hardest time getting my lawn guy to do what I asked. But he always responded in perfect English. Then I realized he didn't speak a lick of English, he would just forward English texts to his daughter to translate and then have her type out a response which he never knew what the response was. So now I use google translate and we are mejores amigos
I did landscaping for a summer so I can sympathize, but the dude’s name is Brett Scott. They just don’t mow biweekly.
Well the electrician just left. Was originally supposed to come out last Tuesday, but the weekend before we had a storm that had 180K+ without power so they asked if I could wait another week. Anyways after messing with the breaker and looking for additional GFIs he finally tested the outlet and it was shot. His guess is the outlet was added after the fact when previous owners added the microwave above the stove, at that time they ran the wire off there to power the ceiling fan which was probably installed at the same time. He switched out the outlet, charged me 100 bucks and everything’s back in commission. Electrician said “appears to be a DIY where they didn’t know what the fuck was going on” lol
The guy in the house behind me is cleaning out his gutters using a shop vac with a massive extension. I’m impressed and jealous.
Couldn’t find anything with the search so where do you guys buy air filters? Ours is apparently not a common size (20x25x2) and not in stock in any of my local big box stores. And google gives me half a dozen online “discount” sites to order from.
Spending the first night in our first house, feelsgoodman. Appliances coming in Friday for install, tv as well. Uplift desks coming in between now and mid-August. Next will be to measure for couches and other furniture. But first, beautiful, peaceful sleep
Anyone had hardwood installed or refinished recently? I’m about to meet with a flooring contractor and wondering what to expect for pricing.