What kind of idiot....

Cool Texan · 05-01-2003, 08:43 AM

Builds a deck in such a way that it is fused to a section of fence, making it all but impossible to remove the old posts on the fence without damaging the deck?? Further, who then paints that section of fence dark brown, against a light gray house, and next to a deck that was also painted a light grayish color??

The former owners of my house, that is who.

The same people who did a "do it yourself" fireplace bricking job, incorrectly. The same people who, instead of putting a real mantle on that fireplace, simply put a metal trough on top and filled it with concrete, then painted it (not joking).

Oh these people are killing me. The fireplace is 90% done on its remodel (pics will be posted when its finished in a few weeks). The fence...I have issues. Can remove the posts, I think, but they appear to be in decent shape still. So now we try to hide the brown color.

Sorry, had to vent.

greenbuttskunk · 05-01-2003, 08:49 AM

awe, house projects! welcome to my world, Jeff!
sounds like 101 tons of fun! I just got done having a hge maple tree removed from my front yard. Got a good price on the removal, they left rounds for me to split. Nope, it was too freakin hard, so I had to hire a guy to do it with a hydraulic. 85 bucks by worth it. So I end up with a cord and1/2 of maple at 500 bucks! The last 3 days I've been moving it from my front yard to the side of the house to stack. I'm wiped!
Only like a dozen more projects to finish by the baby's due date.

Crayfin · 05-01-2003, 09:01 AM

As a Realtor, I feel your pain! I call that a "home remedy"--there are alot of people that do things that they should not be doing!

Depending on the vintage of your house--it could get more interesting! [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img]

Good Luck

Crayfin

Hoosier Daddy · 05-01-2003, 09:02 AM

CT, I didn't know you were living in my house?

Same story at my place, just different details. My personal fave is the fiberglassed chimney.

Birdnest · 05-01-2003, 09:03 AM

My house is about 100 years...

The Fishing Geek · 05-01-2003, 09:11 AM

What kind of idiot would BUY a house with those problems? :grin:

:tongue:

Cool Texan · 05-01-2003, 09:15 AM

Mine is just over 50 years old.

Who would buy it? A guy with a wife saying "Ooooh, this one is cute, I like it. Lets buy it". It also helped when our realtor said "Oh yeah, if you want a house that you will cash out on when you sell it, this is it". So here we are. :grin:

The Fishing Geek · 05-01-2003, 09:18 AM

Well they DID build the trailers differently back then...

05-01-2003, 09:30 AM

Been there CT, but I've managed to keep most of my hair.

Cool Texan · 05-01-2003, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Fishing Geek:
Well they DID build the trailers differently back then...

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Sorry Geek, I dont like in Twister Pez. However, my dog does spend a lot of time in the basement, so technically, I do have a dog living under my house. No wheels though, no redwood deck, no red plaid curtains, no tires on my roof, no gun rack in my truck or in the wifes BMW, no naked woman or Yosemite Sam mud flaps, and no "Grass Gas or Ass, no one rides for free" bumper sticker. :grin:

Hogmaster · 05-01-2003, 09:55 AM

Hmmmm, yet you claim to be from Texas???

As far as your house, well, you didn't buy one of mine, but it sounds like the old emotion thing got the better of you.

Want more joy? Hows the furnace and hot water heater? :shocked: :shocked: :shocked:

Cool Texan · 05-01-2003, 10:00 AM

Brand new. Converted to gas before we moved in. Roof is in great shape. Structurally sound.

Its actually a great house. Its just the little details that the former owner did himself, and not too well. No worries...just frustrating. We'll make some nice bling bling off it when we sell. We were in it for a year, went to refinance, and it appraised at $30k higher than what we paid. Houses in our area are now consistently selling for $30-$40k higher than what we paid, and those houses arent as nice as ours, in our opinion.

KillerDave · 05-01-2003, 10:16 AM

I hear ya Texan. My favorite home remodeling tool is a pickaxe. It rips, it pry�s and does it quickly!

fishuntr2 · 05-01-2003, 10:35 AM

My favorite home-remodeling tool is a chainsaw :grin:

Radke · 05-01-2003, 03:05 PM

When my spousal unit and I bought our current house, we found some unusual prior owner work. Children's bed rooms with locks that can only be locked/unlocked from the outside. Didn't have storm windows, but you could see where the owner had stapled plastic sheets over the windows. The staples were still in the window molding. He liked running phone extensions. He would take the face plate off the junction box, splice a wire for the new phone, screw the face plate back on with, the new wire hanging outside. Oh yeah, on one, he wanted the phone in the basement, so he stretched it down the wall, drilled a hole through the floor two inches out from the wall running the wire down into the basement. That was a classic. You entered the house into a slate entryway. The kids had used the slate for their coloring book, along with the entry walls. Didn't even try to clean it up before putting it on the market. It was a FSBO (For Sale By Owner). Sat down with the owners at the formal dining room to negotiate on the price. You couldn't help but notice all the ketchup on the celing. Kids must of loved red flavored popcicles. The stains were all over the carpet. So you ask, why did we buy it? Sits at the end of a single lane dead end road overlooking Oxbow. No traffic, dogs, only deer and an occasional elk or bear (really, seen them both on the property). And all the flaws could be repaired. Yep, gonna actually have to get working on that some day. Still bothers me to this day about the locks on the kids bedrooms though. That seems like it could have been deadly.

happybrew · 05-01-2003, 03:34 PM

This sounds like the sort of thing my wife wants to do to our house. She's a full time homemaker, but she doesn't watch soap operas. She watches home improvement shows. She is continually coming up to me with projects she wants to do. When I ask what it would involve, I keep saying "No, No, and heck NO!" Her latest idea was to build a bed in my daughter's room with a desk underneath............... attached to the walls!

"So honey, do you think this might make it harder to sell the house or reduce its re-sale value?" How in the world would we sell a house where you need to rip into the walls to take out a bed???? We walked into the house with $1000 down, and instantly had $6000 equity because the owners had to sell right away to get into the house they wanted. Every time she's got a project she wants to do I keep asking myself how much it's going to cost us when we go to sell. Now mind you, not all of her ideas are bad, but her good ones cost more than we can afford right now. She's like I am before a fishing trip, just eager and rearing to go. I guess if I really wanted to go fishing, and had to wait a couple of years to do so, it would be a bummer. Hey, does anyone want my wife to come over and work on your house so she won't want to work on ours?????? :grin:

happybrew

Lucky Bamboo · 05-01-2003, 06:37 PM

I know this is a tad bit off the subject...but, it sounds like a lot of you have recently bought houses. Can anyone tell me, when you have an inspection (something the lender requires)...what do they look for? We are in the process of selling our vacation home, and I got to thinking about the wood stove. It was given to us, because it was too big (too many BTUs?? or something) for the house it was in. People had to take it out, and replace it with a smaller one. We took it, and installed it.....and, it's worked great for us. Now, I wonder if when the place is inspected, they would consider the wood stove? It's making me a bit nerveous, cause I don't want to have to take it out and replace it. Thanks for any info on "inspections" anyone can give me!

happybrew · 05-01-2003, 08:24 PM

The buyer pays for the inspection, and a lot is based on how much they are willing to pay. The inspector only gives advice. Anything having to do with what they want done to close the deal, unless there are code issues, is something you have to negotiate with the buyer. Don't bring it up. If it's truly an issue, a good inspector will point it out. You don't want to make it an issue if it isn't.

happybrew

Lucky Bamboo · 05-02-2003, 05:45 AM

Thanks, Happybrew.......I am basically a 'worrywort', and since this is our first experience selling property, don't know what to expect. I had thought the inspection was part of the lenders requirements...not the buyers. This is a great relief, since I know these people are chomping at the bit to have our house. I truly can't think of anything that they don't already know about that would sour the deal. They've been in the house several times, and we've been very honest about everything. We've filled out and given them a Disclosure Statement, and told them of little 'quirks' in the house, and they are totally at ease with all of them. I guess I'll just worry about the appraisal, and forget the inspection part of it, huh?

happybrew · 05-02-2003, 11:03 PM

The appraisal, not the inspection, is usually a lender requirement, although they may wish an inspection as well. Good luck! I hope you close a deal quickly.

happybrew