Spin off - how much is your home maintenance

[Deleted]

This is a spin off of the when was your house built thread. I'm curious to see what others have paid for maintenance/repairs.

We purchased a 1950's home that had gone through a series of funky remodels. We've had to replace the original stove, furnace and repair the roof in the three years we've been here. That's around 12k right there.

[schildi]

We built our house in 2000.
The only real repair we had to pay for was replacing the microwave, the cost was $250 for the microwave, I replaced it myself. We did paint the inside (living room, family room, kitchen, bathrooms and the kids rooms) in 2007. That was around $500 for the paint.

Other than that, we were lucky I guess. We do spend a fair amount on landscaping and do regular maintenance.

[bean29]

Our house was built in 2005, and I had to replace the built in Microwave already last year.

We also had the Hot water heater fail last year. Cost about $200.00 to get it fixed.

That big storm that hit the midwest last week - well we now know that there is a lot of air leakage around our garage doors - we had a lot of snow in the garage. We plan to try to seal it up better this summer.

Our dryer vent runs all the way accross the house (front to back). We have had major problems with it. DH tried changing it so it ran fewer feet accross the garage and we still have problems. He is giving up and venting the dryer out to the front of the house. It is just DH's manual labor but we are pretty frustrated with the builder's design putting the laundry room right behind the garage in the front of the house.

[resolution]

We spent about $10,000 last year. Half of it was to replace plumbing, electric, paint, trim, insulate and have the floors sanded and refinished. The other half was because my husband accidentally broke the furnace, which had been in perfectly working order before he blew a big hole in it.

[Deleted]

We've been pretty lucky. I think last year I had two major expenses with the SF Bay Area House. I had to replace the hot water heater last year (it was 17 years old!), and two windows. One was a double paned window which leaked (it was probably 20 years old) and the other was an original window from when the house was built, perhaps in 1964. Total was around $4,000. In 2009 we didn't spend anything. I'll probably have to replace another window this summer, I could see a little moisture collecting in the living room picture window. Its one of the main ocean view windows so I can't exactly ignore it. But we're planning to move back in about a year and half and we're going to do some major capital replacement; e.g. furnance, roof and some other windows. I might wait until then and see if I can get a discount by doing several windows at one time.

[Deleted]

We just replace the original oil fired boiler this winter. It cost us about $8500 but should save us at least $1000 a year in heating costs.

[hawkeyes2001]

Our home was also built in the late 1950's. We purchased it two years ago and thus far the only necessary repair was replacing the furnace circuit board for $450. Of course, we have spent a lot more on other things that we wanted to change for ourselves. None of it was necessary though.

Oh, just remembered we spent about $250 on insulation for the attic. We were getting moisture on the ceiling in the fall when the temperature outside started dropping. The insulation fixed the problem.

[Deleted]

I didn't think about paint and replacing carpets - we had to do both when we moved in. We actually found mushrooms and mold growing under the carpets.

The repair guy just left. Our washing machine, which is ten years old, has to be replaced. It's leaving grease spots on clothing from failed bearings and needs a new electronic control panel.

[Deleted]

I am sorry to say that we have spent over $30,000 on maintenance for a $140,000 house. The stove and dishwasher had to be replaced ($1100). Trees had to be trimmed ($700). The popcorn ceiling covering the giant A-frame was falling down in chunks ($2300). We replaced a deck and built another one plus a "rain gutter" to divert water away from the foundation ($7000). I tried to earlier divert water by putting in a drainage pipe that still helps but isn't enough ($300). We replaced the roof ($7000). We replaced the storm door and two exterior doors where previous owner had put two cheap wooden screen doors ($800). We painted twice with repairs and reseating the gutters the second time ($7000). We just put in a new gas hot water heater ($750), replacing one that was only 21 years old. The list goes on and on . . . Very little is decorative. We had to replace the basement ceiling (stained) and flooring (really stained and ugly rust colored). We had to replace almost every light fixture (ever had a neon light attached to a ceiling fan . . . Groovy!!!). There were also countertops (fire), dining room and kitchen flooring, sunroom tile, and so on and on.

I didn't count some stuff because there is a fine line between maintenance and updating. But I honestly feel like the only thing we updated was the backsplash (glass tile) in our kitchen and replacing a vanity in the main bath.

If I had to do it over again, I would not have bought a 1980s house. I love the house itself . . . the lot size, the room sizes, the layouts, etc. But I bought near the end of everything's life span, even if it had already been updated. The roof, for example, had been replaced once. Evidently the hot water heater had, too. The stove was original.

We have more to do. The master bedroom bath needs to be gutted . . . not for style, but because there was a leak that wicked up into the studs. My handyguy and I repaired it as best we could, but I knew it was only a temporary fix. I have that, the HVAC system, and the front porch on "the list."

This is why Phil says he only buys newer houses.

ETA: Correction of errors. Lol.

[Deleted]

My house was built in 1992 and some of the larger maintenance items are coming up. We replaced the HVAC over the summer. The old one was 7 years old, but a problem since we moved in. This year I have us budgeted to do the roof. Somewhere in the next 2 years the driveway will need to be redone.

After that I think we will be good with the major items for a while and can do some cosmetic work.

[Deleted]

We bought this old house almost 5 yrs ago. We have so far replaced the roof and the driveway. Lots of little stuff like stain the deck, paint the trim (brick except for trim), refinished floors,landscaped. Still need a bathroom remodel and minor kitchen remodel. Most of this stuff is to make it look pretty as it has been taken care of all these years and functions well. Old houses can be expensive to keep up with but I swear this house is so sturdy and sound for being almost 100 yrs old, it's worth it.

[Regis]

We put away 1% of the value of our house into an ING account for maintenance and repairs. My wife spends every bit of it!

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

We pay about $700 per year for a home warranty ~ which I put in the maintenance category.

We spent $375 today for a new exterior door and security screen door (and hardware) from Home Depot.

When we moved in we replaced the roof and the garage doors and one other exterior door. And a few years ago we had the swimming pool Pebble-Teched and chose to retile it ~ so that was a planned upgrade from required maintenance. And we chose to install some dual pane windows a few years ago, too ~ but that wasn't required maintenance. We also had 1/3 of our backyard fence replaced in 2008. We also chose to recarpet 1/2 the house (color change.)

Sometimes, there's a fine line between "home maintenance" and "choosing to upgrade/update" (at least for us!)

[lurkyloo]

We bought our 1985-built house just over two years ago, and apparently we've been lucky so far (knock wood!) We had to have it tented for termites before we moved in, and the furnace replaced--those were about 2K apiece, and we pay $150/year for a termite warranty. Other than that, it's been a lot of little things on the honey-do list: changing the lighting in the bathroom, painting rooms and the garage interior, replacing some boards on the fence, various maintenance bits on the hot tub to get it and keep it working. The oven needs replacing (but we're in the habit of using our large toaster oven for everything, even turkey!) as does the fridge we brought with us. Oh, and the dishwasher started making noises like a dying giraffe shortly after we moved in; we found a good deal on a JennAire--$600, maybe $700?

What's really going to hurt is the lawn--it's a mess of weeds, quackgrass, and about 8 different kinds of actual grass. It needs to be killed, thoroughly, ripped out, and re-sodded--all 0.25 acres or so of it. We've been really good at coming up with excuses as to why we shouldn't start that yet, so far

Oh, the best bit was that a previous owner had built an (obviously non-permitted) closet out into the garage. We took that sucker out ourselves; started by firing hockey pucks at it to break down the dry wall. I'm kind of sad we don't have any more walls to take out, that was great.

[greenstone]

I have a 1963 concrete block house that I bought from the original owner. Within 2 weeks of moving in I had to replace the sewer line from the house to city line for $2.5K. It was Orangeburg pipe that was used heavily before PVC was available. I search online and found it was failing in large numbers throughout the country because it was simply at its life expectancy. I could have made the case that the previous owner must have been aware of the issue (my first load of laundry caused a backup into the shower), but I don't know that I would have won a fight. My seller, a very nice man, had recently lost his wife of 40+ yrs and was well loved by my neighbors whom he had also known for 40 yrs. These same neighbors had been very sweet and welcoming to me so I didn't want to start off my new life in this neighborhood by being the avaricious jerk. I just let it go. I know I probably overpaid for the work but I was desperate, and the company I used was fantastic and got all the city permits and inspections so I have that peace of mind. It became even more important as I watched two houses behind me do the same repair work without permits. I much rather know that if/when I sell my house I have proper documentation.

[olderburgher]

I am amazed that some of you view the minor repairs/replacements as anything other then normal wear and tear. We replace tires and batteries on cars not to mention oil changes and the occasional dent or rarer transmission or even the cars themselves as if it is normal but see a new hot water tank as major "repairs". That isn't anything and with older homes is normal with older homes. A shingle roof may have a 20-25 year life but they don't last forever. it is a normal cost of home ownership. Heck we have replaced all the windows, garage roof, repointed brick, repainted throughout, replastered where needed, remodeled kitchen and all bathrooms, replaced appliances but that is cost of home ownership in a 70 year old place. No big deal! Those of you with houses from the 70s through at least the early 90s should see them needed such work to varying degrees and see this as normal.

[mcmommy]

Our house was built in 2004 and we bought it in 2008. Luckily we haven't had to do a lot of maitainence on it. We've spent about $1500 on the two AC/heat units. The other two things we've done have been completely our choice - $1200 for a deck that we built ourselves and $300 to build a wall in order to "create" another room.

We will be fixing up our master bath soon. The tub needs to be removed and reinstalled properly and the drywall around the tub needs to be switched out for the correct drywall.

[Deleted]

Just spent 2k on a new, super fancy LG washer and dryer. Since I'm having to throw away a ton of clothes destroyed by oil from the bearings I guess I'll live. And the set will use half the water of the old one.

[Deleted]

I'll agree that it is just "normal maintenance." My point is you had better expect it in an older house. While I was unsurprised that the hot water heater started leaking and we do have a house maintenance fund, it was still $750 that we didn't particularly want to spend this month. We keep a "list" of projects that we know are going to need doing, and that one hadn't made the list yet.

[pepper112765]

I bought my house in 2003. Had plumbing issues first, then the next two years a problem with squirrels, that was about $1500 a pop, not including the time I had to take off work. Two of my children had dust mite allergies, so I had to get rid of the carpet; got hardwood and did it in stages I believe offhand that was about $10-12,000. During the first stage of having the floors put in, my stove died two days before Thanksgiving and all my family was coming over for dinner. I had bisque colored appliances and had to buy a white stove (delivery would have been after Thanksgiving) from Home Depot. Also had to find an electrician, which was a pure miracle so close to the holiday, since my original stove was hardwired to the fuse box and he had to make an outlet to plug the new stove in ($125.00). I then replaced the refrigerator and dishwasher to match the stove and also because I thought that if the stove was installed in 1976, the rest of the appliances were also old and ready to die. I also had work done of both bathrooms and powder room. Replaced the washer and dryer. Also had to replace the water heater (that was under warranty), and a compressor for the HVAC. Replaced all interior doors and the storm door and entry door (original door was this ugly green thing with no peep hole). I also had a deck built, which required having to cut down a maple tree, and the contractor made a door out of where the window was in my living room to put in french doors to lead to the deck. That job was $6000. Way reasonable, since I was quoted $16000 from Long Fence. That's all I can think of for now.

You have to fix things when they occur or they can potentially turn into larger problems and cost more money to repair. Luckily for me, and in particular with the floors, a friend of mine has a flooring business and the labor was relatively cheap, which enabled me to get the flooring I really wanted. He also got plenty of referrals from me.

[tiredturkey]

We bought our 1959 house from the original owner in 1995. We immediately upgraded the electrical, replaced kitchen cabinets, countertops and flooring, added a dishwasher and disposal, installed an alarm system, insulated the attic, replaced sliding glass doors with French doors, replaced the garage doors and added openers and repainted the interior. Over the next 15 years we've replaced the windows, replaced one room of carpet, replaced the bathroom floor tile and tub surround, added front and back decks, a sprinkler system, landscape lighting, replaced the front door, added gutters and screened them, replaced the garage door openers, insulated the garage door, and repainted the exterior twice. Of course we've had to replace the hot water heater, A/C and heater, kitchen range, parts and pieces of plumbing, all the 6' cedar fence, as well as the roof when a big hailstorm hit in 2001. And we replaced the flooring, door, roof and windows on the shop in the backyard and added electric service to it. This year we will replace the 1995 French doors with new double-paned ones. The front door has to be revarnished every other year and the decks have to be restained every 2-3 years. I'm hoping to replace our badly cracked driveway in 2012. I'm sure we'll need another water heater one day soon. But we still have our 1973 Amana microwave and it works great!

[Deleted]

You guys are listing your maintenance issues, but I'm curious as to how much you have put into these houses as opposed to how much you paid for them. I paid a little over $140,000 for my house with more than $30,000 maintenance to date.

Numbers, guys!

[jkapp]

I have a long list of things I want to do still, but since I've only purchased the home 18 months ago I have plenty of time

So far I have:
Replaced the stove ($800)
Replaced the dishwasher ($600)
Bought new kitchen table/chairs ($900)
Replaced gutters ($3250)

So about $5500 over 18 months (paid $150k)...but I still want to replace linoleum, replace carpeting, replace toilets, replace refrigerator, have wiring checked out, new sump pump, finish garage (it's just has an empty barn look to it right now), paint the inside, get new siding on the outisde, landscape the front and back yard, put a sidewalk from the back garage door to the deck, repair the deck, clean the air ducts, and replace some of the light fixtures (inside and out). Now I just have to figure out what I want (or need) to do first

[illinicheme]

I lost count with our previous home in NJ, but it was many thousands of dollars in the five years we owned it. ~$5k for basement wall resupporting, ~$1.5k to replace a sump pump, ~$1.5k to repair a leaking portion of the roof....and that was just the major stuff. We never got around to spending much money making cosmetic changes because we were always just trying to keep up with everything that seemed to be falling down around us.

We've owned our current home in CA for about 4 months. We spent $2k for a termite treatment in the crawl space (Inspection found minor termite activity on wood debris under the house that had not yet reached any structural pieces. We got enough money from the seller at closing to cover the termite plus some.) We also spent a few hundred on minor fix-ups when we first moved in (improving toilet performance, re-caulking shower door, etc.). We'll need to do some roof maintenance in the spring (tar and gravel portion is showing some wear). Otherwise house is in great shape.

ETA: I forgot to include the numbers.

NJ - paid $290k in 2004. Sold for $232k in 2009. Total maintenance in those five years was something well north of $8k.

CA - paid $485k in 2010 (sellers bought for $525k in 2003...we did alright!). Maintenance in first four months ~$3k, mostly covered by seller. Upcoming projects ~$2-4k (roof maintenance, vapor barrier in crawl space, etc). After that, house is pretty buttoned up until roof will likely need replacement in ~7 years.

[TD2K]

My house was built in 1993, I bought it in 1996. I haven't had to do a lot of repairs. It's been painted once and I've done the trim on the porch again a couple of years ago as the paint wasn't holding up (the paint on the house itself has held up well). I replace the hot water heater about 5 years ago by myself. The furnace and applicances are all original so I'm expecting some of them to need replacing in the next few years. The roof is another job coming up in the next few years I'm thinking. Not sure what I'm going to replace it with. I like metal but dont' think they are cost effective.

Replaced the carpets upstairs with hardwood in two parts. The first part was replacing the original pink carpet. The second part was replacing the berber when it started to show wear. I much prefer the hardwood.

[schildi]

Feb 9, 2011 19:00:44 GMT -5 @southernsusana said:

You guys are listing your maintenance issues, but I'm curious as to how much you have put into these houses as opposed to how much you paid for them. I paid a little over $140,000 for my house with more than $30,000 maintenance to date.

Numbers, guys!

We paid $140K 11 years ago, the house is worth ~@$270,000 now and we put under $800 worth of maintenance into it over these 11 yars.

[nogooddeed]

My house was built in 1982 and I paid $79,000 in 1994 just in time to begin replacing original items to the tune of thousands of dollars. Since purchased, I've replaced the air conditioner and furnace (much more efficient), the hot water tank (the old one was 22 years old) and the garbage disposal when all ceased to work. I've also replaced all kitchen appliances and now am looking to replace the refrigerator bought in 1994. Several years ago, the sewer line became dislodged backing up sewage into the house so I got to enjoy paying for someone to dig a big hole next to my house and repair that. Several months later, the water line to the ice maker in the freezer leaked with the water traveling down to the basement and I had to have drywall replaced. After watching several maple trees get huge, I paid for tree trimming last fall - that was $1,600. A hail storm caused enough roof and gutter damage to have those replaced in November - that was about $7,700, but insurance covered most of it. I've also replaced carpets and vinyl since nothing lasts forever and I've updated all the lighting and window coverings. I've also replaced a hollow core door from the garage into the house with an insulated door. That was a good move since the laundry room, where the door is located, is much warmer. Every room has been painted at least once (most twice) by me. I've painted the exterior once and that experience was more than enough so I hired painters to repaint the exterior the second time. Seems like it's always something. I'm now at the point that the almost 30 year old formica counters in the kitchen and bath need to be replaced and when that's being done, I'll also replace the original sinks and faucets. I'd also like to have the chunky wood stair railing to the basement replaced and it's time to begin repainting two rooms last painted in the mid-90s.

[Tiny]

We purchased a 1950's home that had gone through a series of funky remodels. We've had to replace the original stove, furnace and repair the roof in the three years we've been here. That's around 12k right there.

I'm gonna be persnickety and say that stuff wouldn't really be "maintenance" in your case - you shoulda kinda had some idea of the things that might need to be replaced on the house BEFORE you bought it and then considered those costs when purchasing it.

I bought a 1947 "fixer upper" in 1997, I spent 7K before I moved in: floors refinished, new electric circiurt box replaced fuses (and had the exterior electric wires moved so they go along the property line versus across the middle of my yard!), new fridge, I refinished the kitchen cabinets, new faucets on Tub, sink, kitchen sink, all leaking plumbing fixed, new light fixtures in 3 rooms, new outlets/switches put in (while I was doing electrical stuff), an exhaust fan added to the bathroom, all the rooms repainted, added some electric outlets in the basement, outside the house, and in the garage... and a boatload of other things...

After I moved in I added a "check valve" to the sewer system to keep the basement from flooding, rebuilt the front porch, a new front door, painted the exterior trim and storm windows so the City wouldn't fine me... eventually had new gutters, facia, and storm windows installed (no more painting!), New Roof, new furnace, new AC, tore out the basement bathroom (with the intent to rebuild it but haven't gotten there yet). When the City offered a 50/50 plan to replace broken sidewalks - I had all 9 of my cracked and uneven "squares" replaced (I paid for half) - worth EVERY penny... and then a dozen other little things.
Thing is, I had a list of the "fixes" and guesstimates of costs before I put in a bid on the house.
I think the overall grand total was close to 25K over 12 years... it was worth it - it's a good house and I got it for a good price. I own it outright now (no mortgage).

I just had my first unplanned I didn't know about "maintenance" expense in 14 years - the Bathtub drain pipes started leaking... cost me $600 (for 5 hours of plumber time and materials) to get it fixed.

FWIW: I "budget" $500 a year for "maintenance" for the house: Check Valve (fto prevent basement flooding) gets checked every year, chimney swepted, furnance/AC check up, furnace filters, lightbulbs, any thing I have to fix (bathroom p-trap starts leaking). I rarely if ever spend all of it... the "overage" stays in the "account" for when I need something like the drain repair or perhaps a new fridge (current one's 14 years old) . I think that's what you are really asking...

[Deleted]

You're right - it's not really maintenance! We expected it when we purchased the place. It was a trade off between old funky construction and being close to downtown, with a large lot and established trees. I'm just trying to get a feel for how much repairs/upgrades cost at different points in time on a house.

[Deleted]

We put $500 a MONTH into a house account that is strictly for maintenance. We still pay some stuff ourselves to keep from depleting it.