G5052 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 If you have scads of projects planned, don't plant a large garden. Canning tomatoes amid cans of paint, plumbing supplies, and drywall dust is frustrating. If you buy paint on sale, you'll run out just when it goes up to the highest price of the year. Talk to the tile guy about patterns and sizes BEFORE you go shopping. Count on finding all kinds of short cuts and errors that the builder made as you tear things down. Today we found a decade-old leak and a gap on an outside wall where you could see daylight. Fun. If a contractor doesn't return phone calls, is snippy on Angie's List, and then is two hours late for the bid appointment, just send him home. What a waste of time it was to even let him in. I can't wait until school starts in two weeks. Truly. The house is covered in dust, and I can't start dinner because the water is off while the plumbing error we found earlier today is fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 The only addition I'd make is the work takes 3x longer than planned and is 2x more expensive than planned. We also found a tiny leak that did a lot of fun damage...new bathroom cabs maybe...now if we could just put the wall back together. Hang in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 The only addition I'd make is the work takes 3x longer than planned and is 2x more expensive than planned. :iagree: Fourteen years in a 110yo Victorian fixer-upper here . . .:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 After our fallen tree rebuild nightmare, I'm ready to sell the house and just live in a rented condo for the rest of my life. We are just NOT yardwork and colonial maintenance folks. I went from the country to the suburbs, and I swear I could be happy in the city. If I want nature, I could happily stroll about the arboretum (that someone else mows). I know I'm cranky, but here's the list of things that broke this year: Tree Roof Master bath Kids bath Washing machine Dh's car My car Two windows Central air Garbage disposal Vacuum cleaner Grrrrrrrr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueridge Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 At least y'all were getting busy with actually repairing things, instead of just thinking about all the repairs that were needing to be done! :blush: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Taking notes ... We are thinking of buying the 100yr old we are currently renting. We know it has not had decent TLC for many years and the current owner thinks a screwdriver will fix anything so there will be lots of work to get it all right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted August 15, 2012 Author Share Posted August 15, 2012 At least y'all were getting busy with actually repairing things, instead of just thinking about all the repairs that were needing to be done! :blush: We spent too long thinking! Of course we were broke too, but... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Count on finding all kinds of short cuts and errors that the builder made as you tear things down. Today we found a decade-old leak and a gap on an outside wall where you could see daylight. Fun. 10% of any project is what you planned on doing. 90% is the (expensive and/or dangerous) problems you found after you started, which had to be fixed before you could proceed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Oh boy, I am right there with ya! We have a tiny deck going up .....found water damage under the siding that was just put on last year....had to remove, replace all the insulation and re-board and side. Gutting out the kitchen, and we keep finding things I'd rather not find.....like a roof leak we didn't know about....which is now fixed, but delayed our renovation. I can go on and on....but won't. My big advice after building our own house ( with our own hands....couldn't afford to have someone else do the labor) ..... Do ONE project at a time! Having ten open projects stinks! Dh has still not learned this. He loves the hustle bustle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted August 15, 2012 Author Share Posted August 15, 2012 10% of any project is what you planned on doing. 90% is the (expensive and/or dangerous) problems you found after you started, which had to be fixed before you could proceed. We knew there was a leak. It wasn't where we thought though, and it was worse than we thought. We should have known... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.