Little projects around the House

[deantrip]

So now that we have decided to move/sell our house, we have been getting all the little projects done that we have been putting off for the past couple of years, makes me realize how much nicer staying in this house would have been if I had gotten off my butt earlier and gotten some of these projects done.

"Just fixing it up so sell it" very frustrating, but hopefully we will make a bit of money off the deal and be ahead on everything.

Anybody else have this going on with themselves and did it motivate you to stay on top of things better?

[Wizard of Id]

One more reason why procrastination is not a good idea

[deantrip]

Jul 27, 2012 12:43:51 GMT -5 Wizard of Id said:

One more reason why procrastination is not a good idea

Lol, I heard a good line on procrastination the other day.

"It isn't procrastination, it is a tactial delay!"

[raeoflyte]

We're horrible about that. We'll put up with all kinds of things, but as soon as we're going to rent it out we get everything fixed for the tenants.

I actually have a quote request into a 'honey-do' service in my area this morning because of some items that can't wait.

[Deleted]

My house in NJ had a leaky basement. The previous owners, who were very nice and accommodating people in general, had some weasel wording in the disclosure saying there might be a few "puddles" during periods of heavy rain or if you didn't clean the gutters regularly (which I did religiously). So I couldn't say they lied but they sure underestimated the problem. I was mopping up water after every heavy rain.

Six years later, the year before I sold it, I'd gotten a job that actually paid a bonus, and used part of that to pay for french drains. (Being NNJ, it had been all I could do to pay the regular expenses and save a little for retirement so I hadn't done it before that.) What a difference! Dry as a bone no matter how much it rained. I really should have come up with the money before.

[KaraBoo]

I hear you on the little projects!

Our house is a project in motion - everything needs to be fixed. We've talked about patching everything up and moving, but decided that once we actually patch everything up - there's no reason to move.

So, we're plodding along.....

[kittensaver]

Realtors don't call it procrastination, they call it "deferred maintenance" - lol.

We saved for the 10 years we've owned this house, and this spring we launched into "fix it up to stay put." I think of it more as renovation, not remodeling. We're not moving any walls or adding on, just new interior and exterior doors, new windows, new exterior stucco, improved insulation, new exterior and interior paint. We are *almost* done, then we need a new driveway and landscaping. Frankly, it's really hard to stay motivated, especially if you're living in the middle of chaos for any length of tiime. I can TOTALLY understand why folks just live in a place and turn a blind eye while it slowly gets more and more run-down. I'm really hoping that when I'm done it's worth it!

[shanendoah]

We're getting ready for the home inspection for our foster license. It has made us organize the basement, throw out/donate a lot of stuff, etc. I do, in fact, like my house much better when it's not filled with useless crud. And we may even be able to use the finished room in our basement again.

[jeffreymo]

We've spent about $15k this year updating and taking care of stuff we've put off the first 4 years of ownership. In all likelihood we are going to sell next summer, and I'm having some of the same regrets about not having done this stuff a while ago.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

We finally replaced the landlord carpet in the sunroom. The local Kelly's carpet had a hell of a deal going on so we got some really nice carpet remenant for the cost of "landlord" carpet.

We also snagged some linolium remenant and we can FINALLY get rid of the kitchen carpet. .

We got rid of the carpet in the living room and had the hardwood restored a couple years ago. There was an ad in the paper for a local hardwood restoration company. We got the living room done for only $600.

We are liking the house much better now that we have put some effort into it. We don't spend too much since my parents own it, but as long as they approve and since we plan on staying awhile we don't mind spending a little to make the house nicer.

[Waffle]

I've got some carpet that needs to be stretched. I keep putting it off because I hate the thought of emptying the room of all it's furniture. It's one of those things that I would definitely do before I sold the house though. Crazy isn't it we all live with less than perfection, but when we go house hunting we are looking for perfection.

[kittensaver]

Jul 27, 2012 15:09:56 GMT -5 Waffle said:

Crazy isn't it we all live with less than perfection, but when we go house hunting we are looking for perfection.

This is sooooooo true!

[ontrack]

Jul 27, 2012 15:07:49 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

We also snagged some linolium remenant and we can FINALLY get rid of the kitchen carpet.

I always wondered why anyone would put carpet in kitchens or bathrooms. It seems ridiculous to me.

[deantrip]

We pulled up the old ugly carpet in our living room, and restored the hardwood underneath ourselves in two rooms and a hallway, contractor quotes were over 1k, but for less than 200 bucks we did it ourselves.

[northdakotanice]

We are in the process of refinancing our home. In anticipation of our appraisal we've been doing little touch ups around the house. Things like painting trim that was chipped, replacing a storm door that was junk, painting the stairwell, etc. Just some things to spruce the place up. I don't think we'll spend more than about $600 total for all of the projects (doing all the work ourselves). We're hoping that the house would appraise for enough so that we'd be able to drop our PMI, but I don't think it will happen.

[Deleted]

I recently got tired of the smell of cat pee in my office, ejected the offending cat to the outdoors, and ripped out the carpet. Spent nearly two weeks on the floor removing staples, tack strip, sanding, sealing and patching the subfloor.

When done, and the floor was smooth and nice, I laid down over 600 square foot of vinyl peel and stick tiles in my office and my kitchen. I literally peeled and stuck for almost three days!

My floor looks amazing and when finished I told my kids that it is a lesson for them. My new flooring is proof that anyone with a bit of determination and reading on Google can accomplish dang near anything you set your mind to. I might be middle aged and fat, but damn my floor looks great!

I have also tackled car repair, appliance repair and dang near everything else that breaks and needs fixing. Time, some cash, and Google ROCKS!

[Deleted]

(about the cat... I threw it outside and that was the last we saw of her.... I feel like a horrible parent, but I didn't know the cat would not come back. I have a suspicion that my neighbor might have trapped her with some strays and taken her to the shelter to be put to sleep, but I haven't seen my neighbor to ask.)

[Deleted]

Jul 28, 2012 9:41:09 GMT -5 @tbird said:

Jul 27, 2012 12:53:17 GMT -5 KaraBoo said:

I hear you on the little projects!

Our house is a project in motion - everything needs to be fixed. We've talked about patching everything up and moving, but decided that once we actually patch everything up - there's no reason to move.

So, we're plodding along.....

I'm in the same boat. The list is so long! sigh.....it can be paralyzing.

I started working my way through a very long list over a year ago. I've gotten most of the boring maintenance repair/replace things done, now I'm moving on to the things I just want to do. It's going to take a while to get through the entire list, but that's ok, I don't plan on going anywhere.

[Deleted]

Great job getting the motivation

Bleh, our house is such a fixer upper, I finally bought one of those school planners again, so I can keep track of all the project steps from week to week. DF nailed the sewage clean out pipe with the riding mower, so I was out there with a shovel digging that out and then replacing the shattered pipe and cap earlier this week.

Lol, I am going to be a plumbing CHAMP once this house is fixed up /