This is Why I Hate the Off Season

[FDNY]

Don't let your spouse watch those home improvement programs, you'll be sorry.

 

[Elrod]

FDNY....Where is Norm,  Tommy,  or Richard..  When you need them..?,,,,Oh!...and Roger....

[JohnH]

You missed a spot...

[GeneInAlabama]

Looks like I'm going to be replacing windows in out house.  I ordered one to see if I can do it and if it goes well, I'll do the rest.  I have never replaced a window before.  Google sure does make it look easy.

[Jack from Ohio]

42 minutes ago, GeneInAlabama said:

Looks like I'm going to be replacing windows in out house.  I ordered one to see if I can do it and if it goes well, I'll do the rest.  I have never replaced a window before.  Google sure does make it look easy.

I did that.  Replaced one.  Took me three whole days.  It was done correctly, beautifully and only 2 nails showing in the aluminum wrap.

It was the first and the last I will ever do.  Hired the next 2 (much larger and more difficult) done by a professional.  They arrived at 8:00 and were totally finished and completely cleaned up by lunch time.

My time is better spent doing other things.

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Yes, sometimes, nearly always, leave such things to professionals.

Uh, Gene, you did mean ouR house, not ouT house,  right?  Or not

 

[GeneInAlabama]

Yeah Margaret I did mean ouR house.  Sometimes my fingers work faster than my mind which is getting slower and slower.  Since you mention it, this house did have an out house when it was first built in 1939.  Electricity nor water was available at the time.   My grandfather built the house and used windows and doors from another house that was torn down at the time.  I have no idea how old the windows are.  I replaced the doors several years ago.

[GeneInAlabama]

I just happened to think.  An out house with a picture window might be a novel idea.

[FDNY]

I knew I could depend on everyone's support.   This job started as a strip the wallpaper and paint, she said it would only take 2 days like they said on the show.  Not my bathroom...so I come to find that the walk in shower water control was loose.  Needed to open a wall to get in there and brace everything.  Then she thought an efficient water flow toilet would be nice.  That medicine chest you see should be recessed,  I'll be fixing that.   New fixtures on the vanity may as well be done as my new knee pads are getting broken in.

It's like a new client who says, I don't have much, won't take long at all, not long at all.  It'll be a week for this one, but at least I could say, she's appreciative, and that's a lot more than you get from many clients.

Thank you all, you made me smile, makes me forget the back pain.

 

[Catherine]

On 7/14/2016 at 2:21 PM, FDNY said:

This job started as a strip the wallpaper and paint, she said it would only take 2 days like they said on the show. 

My husband calls these "just" jobs.  "I'll just swap this light fixture," or "I'll just replace this faucet washer," et cetera.  Three weeks, several hundred more dollars, and lots of essential service interruptions later, it's finally done.

[FDNY]

Herein lies the problem with most "just little"  jobs whether it be a tax return or a home improvement job.  Today, after last week I wired up an under the cabinet over the kitchen sink LED light, should last my lifetime.  But the wire connecter that goes behind the fixture will not fit into the wall due to a 2x4 in the way.  Tried Home Depot and Ace to get a smaller one, no luck.  so I fabricated one out of two, hack sawing and filing to make it work.  Wonderful, then the last step trying to screw it under the cabinet was impossible as the little screws are recessed and also impossible to set the screwdriver in the recessed hole.  Two hours later after a lot of cursing (which I never do) I went to the nuclear option and drove two big screws into the fixture and under the cabinet.  Didn't care that they popped a little bit of shelf in the back of the cabinet.  I felt satisfaction.

So the moral of this story is there is no such thing as a little job, it's always the last screw or nut that is impossible, or the tax return with that last piece of info that is so elusive, or the loan analysis I am currently working on for a client that was from her mother and is needed now for the estate with all the siblings calling me.  Varying interest rates, payoffs, and dates all over the place.  Yes, there is no easy job. 

Funny, I actually feel better now.   This place is like therapy.

[Elrod]

Don't feel bad FNDY.....When it comes to electrical work.... this is what I end up looking like....

 

 

On the other hand.... look how wonderful it can be done when a wall or cabinet isn't involved....

 

 

[Eric]

On 7/18/2016 at 1:46 PM, FDNY said:

Herein lies the problem with most "just little"  jobs whether it be a tax return or a home improvement job.  Today, after last week I wired up an under the cabinet over the kitchen sink LED light, should last my lifetime.  But the wire connecter that goes behind the fixture will not fit into the wall due to a 2x4 in the way. 

This describes every single home improvement project we've taken on in our house.  Every step of the way.  My dream is to one day live in a house where the walls are mostly square and plumb, with studs that are 16" on center.

So now, we start every room with the nuclear option, and it goes like this: Step 1: Rent a roll-off dumpster.  Step 2: Get the big hammer and gut the room down to the studs and joists.  Step 2b: Try not to entertain the idea of arson.  Step 3: new sub floor, wiring, insulation, drywall, floor, trim.  Step 4: Live in relative relative comfort for a few months, and then repeat.  

[Catherine]

Step 2b is the most crucial to follow - yet the most tempting to succumb to.

[Elrod]

 

Save on repair costs...........Go this route....

 

[FDNY]

I showed this to my wife and she said it would be enough for her shoes.....maybe.  Great suggestion though, I like the patio  but I think the jacks in front are illegal, easy fix.

[joanmcq]

I'm in the process of selling the extreme fixer I've been living in for 16 years that's only partially fixed. Getting enough to buy a DONE house.  I have been cured of my love of old houses.

[FDNY]

That would be my new strategy going forward.  Buy a house all done, just try not to overpay, because the sellers always think they have gold.  And not to look too excited when seeing something that just may be perfect.  

[easytax]

6 hours ago, FDNY said:

That would be my new strategy going forward.  Buy a house all done, just try not to overpay, because the sellers always think they have gold.  And not to look too excited when seeing something that just may be perfect.  

Think positive AND look for a place that had a murder or (even better) multiple incidents ---- condition seems to be good in many BUT price is typically very below comp. value.

[FDNY]

This is good advice, if you don't believe in ghosts.  The first house I owned there was a SIDS death (found out years later).  I swore I heard a baby crying at times, or maybe it was my old Mita printer groaning.. 

One other thing, finding a house that was over improved for the comps in the area would be a great find.  You just have to know the market and look at a lot of houses.

[joanmcq]

Yup, and I'm not really tied to any one particular area of the city, besides where my friends live, and the proximity to a grocery store.  So I'm looking for the perfect house.  I really like shopping real estate (I've found every property I've ever bought, not the agent) so I've already set up filters on realtor.com and getting alerts on particular properties I've saved.

Now there is one I'm interested in that isn't finished....but it will be a million dollar property once it is and the price is well in range.  Gotta see it so I know what it still needs and even more important, if what it needs is within range of pay someone to finish it.  Yeah, I think I'm incurable. 

Damn, I'm excited though!  Finally getting out of Sacramento!