Category Archives: issues

05/13/10

what are you doing with your $8,000?

Originally posted at twentysixcats.com

So anyone who bought their first house in the past year should have gotten the $8,000 homebuyer’s credit. I’ve been really excited to get ours, because there is so much that needs to be done!

We have a really long list, and several pretty expensive items. Not everything is going to get crossed off, so we’re trying to figure out what’s the most important.

On our list:
Foundation – One contractor quoted $5400 back last July. This is something that needs to be fixed before we try to sell the house. However, it’s not really affecting our quality of life right now. So even though it would be really nice to fix, we’re thinking it might be something that could wait.

Water – A plumber quoted $5800 yesterday. Our pipes are old, and need to be replaced. We see a lot of mineral deposits in our water (mostly rust), and we don’t feel comfortable drinking the water. I can only imagine what it’s doing to our laundry (especially those diapers!). We also need a new hot water heater, which we’ll replace after we fix the pipes.

Windows – We got a quote for $12,000 to replace all our windows. Currently, we have the original single pane windows, and 4 of them are broken and taped up. We would need to get a few more quotes; I’m hoping to find them cheaper than that. New windows would probably really help with our high gas bills, help cut down on noise, and give us some screens so we can open the windows during the spring/fall. Also, as a side benefit, we’d be able to get frosted glass for the bathrooms so we can have some privacy while still letting in the light.

HVAC unit – We haven’t gotten a quote yet, but worst case scenario we have to replace the whole thing and I think that would be about $3500. Our inspector told us back when before we bought the house that there are some issues with the HVAC, and that we needed to get someone to fix it. I don’t think the unit is broken as much as it’s not hooked up correctly. This would help some with our gas bills, and my guess is the house would overall be more comfortable temperature. The true test will be this summer when we find out how well the air conditioning works.

Downstairs den – Home Depot quoted $700 to carpet the den downstairs. We are so close to being done with this room! We just need to install the carpet, and then I’d love to replace the light fixtures, and we’ll be able to use that room. I want to turn one corner into an office, and make the rest of it a kids’ playroom. I am so eager to be able to “move in” downstairs. I feel like once that room is done, then I’ll be able to make the furniture arrangement in the main level more permanent, and put up pictures, and then finally feel more at home.

So we have a lot of decisions about what to tackle first. The plumbing makes sense to tackle first since it’s under our budget unlike the windows, but it’s not very much fun. Carpeting the downstairs is really important to me, but it’s also one of the more optional things.

There are other small things on our list. My uncle is going to replace the door to our carport, which is exciting! Also, he is going to put a lightswitch in the master bedroom. That will be a nice change.

So who else got $8,000 for buying a house, and how are you spending it?

03/23/10

gas is expensive!

Originally published at twentysixcats.com

So we got our gas bill yesterday – $365!! Unfortunately it’s a monthly bill. I looked at all the things we use gas for, and really the only logical culprit is the heat. We don’t cook enough (and we rarely bake) for it to be the oven/stove, we don’t take showers very often (being honest here!), and I always wash in cold water.

I thought we were being conservative with the heat – we keep it at 65 during the day and turn it down to 57 at night. I also try to turn it down when we’re not home for several hours or more. So, I’m disappointed that despite our efforts we still have such a high bill.

To be honest, this is really going to stretch us financially if it’s the norm.

We turned off the heat last night and today. The thermometer in our house said it never rose above 61 upstairs and 58 downstairs. I was so cold! Savannah and I sat in the guest room all day in front of the space heater. I could hardly bear to go downstairs. I did take a nice walk around our neighborhood in midday, but it wasn’t quite warm enough to just be outside. Maybe tomorrow!

I asked Paul if we could at least keep the heat at 62 degrees tomorrow. It’s just way too cold to have it completely off. And I worry about how it will affect Savannah – she wouldn’t nap at all today and so was fussy all day. It could have been a coincidence, but I wonder if it was because it was so cold.

This is making me rethink our priorities with our house projects. It’s really hard to save the money for repairs to fix the energy inefficiency of the house when you’re spending so much on the bills! So maybe we should bump those to the top of the list?

The biggest thing we probably should do is put insulation in the crawlspace. I hope that helps! The other big thing that will probably help will be to put new windows throughout – we still have the original 1960s single pane windows, and 3 of the windows are broken. I would LOVE new windows for the sound factor alone! But with 12 windows plus a sliding glass door and a bay window, I’m not sure when we’ll be able to afford it. (Anyone have new windows installed recently? How much did it cost, ballpark range?)

Making the house warmer would be nice! But it also would be nice to fix the rust in our water so we stop having to buy bottled water, and so that the rust doesn’t ruin Savannah’s diapers. And it would be nice to get some drainage ditches put in the yard so it stops flooding, which is contributing to the sinking foundation. And I really want carpet in the den. And of course we do need to fix the foundation which is the least exciting project. Where to put the money first??

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, fixer-uppers are fun when you have the money. :-) When you don’t… well they can just be frustrating.

02/5/10

when it rains, it floods

Originally posted at twentysixcats.com

We have the pleasure of having a yard that’s lower than our neighbor’s. So, when it rains, all the water goes pouring into our backyard. We need to make some sort of irrigation system that will divert the water to the stream that is back behind the property, because the water is making the ground soft and the foundation weak. But in the meantime, this is what we see every time it rains:

Flooded backyard

It has been raining hard all night and all morning. This picture was taken a few days ago, but that’s pretty much what it looks like now. I am not sure how to go about solving this problem – you would you contact with a problem like this? Landscaper?

By the way, I was thinking about how a year ago we were praying for rain because Atlanta was in a drought. There were watering bans and restrictions, and we weren’t sure if there was going to be enough water for the city! God has a sense of humor because he answered our prayers – and sent us all the rain we’ve been missing over the past few years at once. :-) I sure am getting tired of rain. Especially when it’s cold, but not cold enough for snow. :-(

02/2/10

our house to-do list

Originally posted at twentysixcats.com

I am putting this up here not because I think y’all will find it interesting, but because I want to be able to look back at this in the future. It will be interesting to see what gets done, and what drops off the list.

People who have talked to me recently will probably have noticed that I’m a bit disenchanted with the whole fixer-upper idea. I’ve decided, buying a house that needs work is great if you have money (or have an income where you can easily save for big expenses). We probably could have done this if we had bought this house a year or two ago; as it is, we’re now 3 people on one income and so it is a lot harder. On the upside, our mortgage is lower than any rent we’ve paid. Our thought had been that we could save the extra money that we would have been putting toward rent, but there is just *so* much. There are things we’re discovering now that we didn’t know before – like the rust in the water. Just in general, older homes have hidden surprises. I like the potential of our house, though, and we do plan on staying here a while. I often daydream of what I would do if money wasn’t a hindrance. And I do like the area and neighborhood a lot. Aside from my neighbor’s dogs, I really have no complaints about that!

Below is the rough list we have so far, somewhat in order of importance. We’re hoping to knock off the first couple from the list with the $8,000 from the gov’t.

  • Foundation (One corner of the main level of our house needs to be jacked up, due to soft ground beneath it. One contractor quoted $5,000, but we still need to get a few more quotes.)
  • Insulation in crawlspace (There currently is no insulation under the main level in the house.)
  • Finish the den (This needs a lot of work, and the biggest expense will be the new carpet since the paint has all been purchased. We need to clean all the walls and floor with anti-mold cleaner, then paint the walls and ceiling, then carpet the floor.)
  • Irrigate our backyard (So it stops flooding whenever it rains, which is what is causing the ground to sink and bit and why we need to get the foundation fixed! We have to get our land surveyed before we do this though, so we know exactly what land is ours.)
  • New side door (For safety and energy reasons; I won’t explain in case there are any would-be thieves lurking around my blog. :-))
  • Get HVAC fixed (An air conditioner was added to the existing heater, and apparently they hooked it up inefficiently, so we need to do this for energy savings and also to preserve the life of our A/C. I’m also hoping it will help make the temperature in the house better regulated.)
  • Fix the rust in the water (Currently we don’t drink the tap water in our house… it’s like I’m back in Peru! Not sure what the problem is exactly, or how much it will be to fix.)
  • Double pane windows & sliding glass door (The windows are incredibly energy inefficient; they are the original single pane and several have cracked/broken glass. All are very noisy – sometimes I think they are open because I can hear the cars outside so well. New windows will hopefully help with sound and energy!)
  • Electrical grounding in the den & upstairs (Currently the only area of the house with 3-prong plugs is the main level; grounding the electricity in the den would allow us to put the tv and/or computer down there.)
  • Kitchen redesign (I am not sure exactly how the kitchen could be improved, but I know I’d like to get cabinets that all match and fit my dishes better, a new countertop, and a built-in dishwasher. I would also like to increase the counterspace and storage space somehow – perhaps add a pantry? – but the location of the HVAC vent makes the only free space in the kitchen unusable.)
  • Bathroom redesign (I’d like to put in a new fiberglass tub/shower unit over the existing, recessed lighting above the tub, and redo all the walls – taking down the awful mirrors! The fixtures could use a little updating, and the bathroom really needs some towel rods and perhaps some storage shelves or two.)
  • Landscaping (There is very little grass in our yard and a lot of weeds. I’d also like to put some bushes along the sidewalk to discourage people from throwing trash in our yard, and to give some sort of privacy to our backyard. The joy of a corner lot!)
  • New hot water heater (Ours is 15 years old so we’ll probably need a new one before too long.)
  • New roof (It’s fine for now, but we’ll need a new one sooner than later.)
11/4/09

welcome to our sauna!

Originally posted at twentysixcats.com

I’ve had a productive day so far. I finally tackled the linen closet. Because we moved from a fairly big bathroom to a pretty small one, I had a lot more stuff than room. So, I spent an hour organizing the shelves, trying to get everything to fit, and then putting the rest of the stuff in our bedroom to be dealt with at another time.

Spending all that time upstairs has gotten me frustrated about the temperature of our house!

I’ll start at the beginning. You see, when we had the house inspected before we bought it, we found out there were powder-post beetles in the crawl space. The cost to get them exterminated was covered when we closed, but first we had to remove all the insulation from the crawlspace. Because of Paul having to be at CNN so much, he didn’t get a chance to do that until last week. They came and sprayed the crawlspace on Monday, and we now have to wait a few weeks before we can put the insulation back up.

In the meantime… MAN I am noticing a difference in the temperature of our house without the insulation! The main level of our house is really cold. We turned on the heater to see if that helped, and it has.

HOWEVER…. now the upstairs is a sauna! It is *SO* hot up there. It’s like 80 degrees, and the heat is blasting. We have all the register vents closed, but it doesn’t seem to help. So we have to turn the heat completely off at night, which isn’t a problem, but it gets quite chilly in the wee hours of the morning. :-) (This morning, Savannah’s feet were like ice. Since Paul had already left for work, I brought her in the bed and under the covers with me and rubbed her feet until they felt warm. Poor baby.)

So, does anyone have any ideas of how we can regulate the temperature? It is really quite unbearable upstairs. Is this just normal with two-story houses, or is there something wrong with our heater? Perhaps putting the insulation back will just do the trick.

Anyways, after spending an hour and a half upstairs sorting the closet, I am back downstairs and feeling much cooler. In fact, it’s rather pleasant. When I get too cold, I’ll go back upstairs. ;-)