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[Homeowner/House] Thread. How long is it going to take? Two weeks!

matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off'Points to 'on'Registered User regular
Home ownership. When you want to suffer, but hiring a dominatrix is too impermanent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_9002bj-J0

Resources taken from That_Guy's post.
That_Guy wrote:
Home Hunting Resources
zillow.com
trulia.com
realtor.com
www.redfin.com

Credit Resources
creditkarma.com
annualcreditreport.com
mint.com

Mortgage resources
mortgagecalculator.org
www.bankrate.com/calculators/mortgages/mortgage-calculator.aspx

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Posts

  • firewaterwordfirewaterword Satchitananda Pais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered User regular
    Cut off sprinkler nonsense from the last thread:
    I wrote:
    Going to have to dive into the horrible looking maw of automatic sprinkler repair...

    Rainbird system with what looks like 4 zones (well, 4 pipes anyway, 5 if you count the one that doesn't seem to go to any sprinkler heads, which I'm guessing is like a purge valve or something?) split between two boxes out front. Box one controls two zones (plus the purge((?)) valve) out front, box two has two for the back. There are also some drip lines connected, but it looks like only some of those work.

    The controller in the garage has power, and the flow is all working properly (I've been manually operating the system using the valves in the boxes every other day for the last week - not fun) but I'm guessing the wire from the controller might have been severed? Part of the sale involved the seller fixing a sewer line issue which involved a 11' deep trench out front, so I'm thinking that may have been involved.

    I found a tutorial online this morning which shows how to use 3 9v batteries to kick open the valves, which I may try if I can convince myself that I have a reasonable chance of not electrocuting myself. I'm sure I'll have to eventually get someone in, but I'm handing out checks left and right these days.

    Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
  • matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off' Points to 'on'Registered User regular
    edited August 2020
    We're getting ready to sell our house, so that means fixing all the things that we were fine just living with and not spending money on. This has been my project on and off for a couple months now.

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    There wasn't a single straight line in that room. The house was built in 1921, so the roof joists didn't meet at the peak, they were offset on either side by one board width. So I couldn't just put in the cross braces for the can lights, I had to run stringers down each side attached to the joists, then put the braces in. The two skylight windows weren't installed the same distance from the peak, either. And the side walls are two different heights. It had been just a regular attic, converted to a "finished" loft, by idiots. Where the railing is use to be just a big plywood box, that's why there's a piece of unfinished drywall. Still have to get carpet put down. Honestly thinking of just dropping $500 off the price of the house, since anywhere I've looked for installation is at least 4 weeks out.

    matt has a problem on
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  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    Carpet is a thing you can install yourself, if you do some reading, watch some videos, buy a couple of tools, and take your time.

  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    Or, click-together laminate flooring.

  • matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off' Points to 'on'Registered User regular
    Yeah, we're going to ask the realtor and see what she thinks the better option is. I'd rather avoid the time sink of doing it myself if a price cut would be attractive enough to a buyer.

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  • SeñorAmorSeñorAmor !!! Registered User regular
    Or, click-together laminate flooring.

    LVP/EVP is crazy easy to put in and increases the value of your house much more than the cost of the materials.

  • EtheaEthea Registered User regular
    Personally I would go with carpet. I worry about how noisy the room would be with hard floors and a low ceiling

  • AbsoluteZeroAbsoluteZero The new film by Quentin Koopantino Registered User regular
    That looks fantastic. Please come do my house.

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  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    This hurricane is going to be the first time in about two years we don’t have to worry about our basement flooding.

    Hadn’t realized how much it’s been weighing on me til I saw the forecast and wasn’t suddenly stressed.

  • AngelHedgieAngelHedgie Registered User regular
    Quid wrote: »
    This hurricane is going to be the first time in about two years we don’t have to worry about our basement flooding.

    Hadn’t realized how much it’s been weighing on me til I saw the forecast and wasn’t suddenly stressed.

    Behold the power of proper drainage.

    XBL: Nox Aeternum / PSN: NoxAeternum / NN:NoxAeternum / Steam: noxaeternum
  • electricitylikesmeelectricitylikesme Registered User regular
    Solar panels going in today. They've gotten crazy cheap - we're putting 10kw on and my biggest problem is that's all the panels I can reasonably fit while still having the electrical and space constraints work out. I'd buy more if I could.

  • thatassemblyguythatassemblyguy Janitor of Technical Debt .Registered User regular
    edited August 2020
    Solar panels going in today. They've gotten crazy cheap - we're putting 10kw on and my biggest problem is that's all the panels I can reasonably fit while still having the electrical and space constraints work out. I'd buy more if I could.

    Depending on how stable they’d be in a typhoon or storm with strong gusts of wind, I’ve thought about extending panels into the back yard as a ‘roof’ to the classic pergola that is popular in landscape architecture today. Adds shade in the back yard and increases square footage of power production.

    Edit:
    Yeah, we're going to ask the realtor and see what she thinks the better option is. I'd rather avoid the time sink of doing it myself if a price cut would be attractive enough to a buyer.

    Given the amazing results in the series of photos above, I’m tickled a little bit that carpet is where you drew the line on the rest of the project (Seriously I get it though, lots on the plate, and it’s worth the money to not need to finish the floor as long as the house sells)

    Just epic job on the renovation.

    thatassemblyguy on
  • firewaterwordfirewaterword Satchitananda Pais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered User regular
    edited August 2020
    First proper morning in the new house...

    Nest installed and functional!
    Shitty screen door repaired enough to last until I replace the whole damn door!

    Wow the Nest is worth every cent so far. It's replacing a 3M thermostat that I'm pretty sure required a blood sacrifice in order to be programmed...

    firewaterword on
    Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
  • BullheadBullhead Registered User regular
    Has anyone added an attic access point to a ceiling? I need to add one in my Master Closet (and I'm hoping there's room for one with a drop-down ladder) so I can get into my attic from there and fix the lack of insulation in it (my house has a hip roof and my 6'3" ass can't make it across the house from the current access point). Can I simply use a stud finder to locate the joist patterns in the celing?

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  • SimpsoniaSimpsonia Registered User regular
    Bullhead wrote: »
    Has anyone added an attic access point to a ceiling? I need to add one in my Master Closet (and I'm hoping there's room for one with a drop-down ladder) so I can get into my attic from there and fix the lack of insulation in it (my house has a hip roof and my 6'3" ass can't make it across the house from the current access point). Can I simply use a stud finder to locate the joist patterns in the celing?

    It would be a bit more complicated than that. Your ceiling joists are likely 16" OC, meaning you'd have to cut one of the joists down and box it out with proper headers and joist hangers. Since it's non load-bearing up there you don't have to worry quite as much, since all it's doing is holding up your ceiling, but you'd still want to do it right since it would be supporting you + a hatch and ladder. And likely a joist might not be perfectly centered above your closet so it might be difficult to fit in there depending on the layout. Boxing it out correctly would also probably mean removing more ceiling drywall than would just be for the hatch, then re-drywalling to your new opening. Might be easier if you could do the work from the top if you could get over there from your existing access hatch.

  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    Well thanks Isaiah. The ceiling in our kitchenette started leaking a bit, and I looked at the roof to see one of the aluminum roof sheets just... twisted in a loop.

    Fuck.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
  • firewaterwordfirewaterword Satchitananda Pais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered User regular
    They live! My sprinklers liiiiiive!

    My girlfriend and I were having dinner in the back yard, and Little Dog went off for a sneaky pee on the lawn (back yard has a big lawn bordered by rock areas, and we're trying to get the pups to potty on the rocks). I get up to give him a little hassle about it, and all of a sudden the back yard sprinklers erupt!

    Scare the hell out of Little Dog (he's deaf to boot, so didn't even hear them engage), which was both hysterical and teachable (hoping he starts to think peeing on the lawn turns them on?). I jumped up and cheered. My partner looked at me like an idiot. But whatever, the controller works!

    So here's my theory: In the process of installing the Nest, I had to shut off power to the HVAC. Rather than fuck-around-and-find-out, I just killed the mains (this house has two separate HVAC systems, a condenser and furnace for the basement and main floor, and same for the upper floor, so I wanted to be sure). Anyway, I'm guessing killing power to the controller may have been the trick.

    I still think I'll upgrade the controller, since they seemed cheap-ish at the store, and the one I have is pretty unintuitive.

    Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
  • BullheadBullhead Registered User regular
    Simpsonia wrote: »
    Bullhead wrote: »
    Has anyone added an attic access point to a ceiling? I need to add one in my Master Closet (and I'm hoping there's room for one with a drop-down ladder) so I can get into my attic from there and fix the lack of insulation in it (my house has a hip roof and my 6'3" ass can't make it across the house from the current access point). Can I simply use a stud finder to locate the joist patterns in the celing?

    It would be a bit more complicated than that. Your ceiling joists are likely 16" OC, meaning you'd have to cut one of the joists down and box it out with proper headers and joist hangers. Since it's non load-bearing up there you don't have to worry quite as much, since all it's doing is holding up your ceiling, but you'd still want to do it right since it would be supporting you + a hatch and ladder. And likely a joist might not be perfectly centered above your closet so it might be difficult to fit in there depending on the layout. Boxing it out correctly would also probably mean removing more ceiling drywall than would just be for the hatch, then re-drywalling to your new opening. Might be easier if you could do the work from the top if you could get over there from your existing access hatch.

    Ugh. While not un-doable that sounds more like a job I need to contract out.

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  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    I have never been, hell even seen the attic in my house (7+ years owned) but I’m getting inspired

  • Stabbity StyleStabbity Style He/Him | Warning: Mothership Reporting Kennewick, WARegistered User regular
    When quarantine restrictions get slightly lifted and we move into the next phase, builders should be coming to my house to cut a hole into the attic. And then I can get up there and run some cat6 :D

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  • firewaterwordfirewaterword Satchitananda Pais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered User regular
    Got a guy coming to put a vent fan in mine sometime in the next few days. Apparently gets hotter than the surface of the sun up there.

    Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    Got a guy coming to put a vent fan in mine sometime in the next few days. Apparently gets hotter than the surface of the sun up there.

    Working in attics is the worst.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
  • firewaterwordfirewaterword Satchitananda Pais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered User regular
    edited August 2020
    Yeah for the time being, the attic and crawlspace are places I'm going to pay other people to do things in. Crawlspace makes me feel claustrophobic just thinking about it. Got another guy coming in next week to give me some ideas regarding the humidity down there. Guy who's doing the attic wants to put an Aprilaire dehumidifier down there but I'd like to see how much it would cost to just connect a fan to one of the vent stacks in the basement that's not being used or something like that.

    ALSO I totally replaced the hinges on a cabinet today (and it's level and in the correct place tooooo) and I feel like a million dollars.

    firewaterword on
    Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
  • y2jake215y2jake215 certified Flat Birther theorist the Last Good Boy onlineRegistered User regular
    Just wondering - how much did all of y’all have in savings left after you bought your house?

    With the current climate I’m hesitant to leave myself with less than like, 50k, but websites don’t seem to advise being quite so cautious (though just because they say that doesn’t make it a good idea)

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    maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
  • Stabbity StyleStabbity Style He/Him | Warning: Mothership Reporting Kennewick, WARegistered User regular
    edited August 2020
    y2jake215 wrote: »
    Just wondering - how much did all of y’all have in savings left after you bought your house?

    With the current climate I’m hesitant to leave myself with less than like, 50k, but websites don’t seem to advise being quite so cautious (though just because they say that doesn’t make it a good idea)

    Like $3000. I'm kind of dumb. Probably wouldn't have done that in the middle of a pandemic, though.

    Stabbity Style on
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  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    Your situation is going to vary based on the work that needs doing to the house. We had about 5k and that wasn't nearly enough, but also we didn't know that at the time.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    Thanks to the improvements made to the deck, absolutely no water came close to leaking in to the basement.

    However a window on our top floor started leaking.

    *weeps in home ownership*

  • electricitylikesmeelectricitylikesme Registered User regular
    Asbestos is the real wall candy.

  • firewaterwordfirewaterword Satchitananda Pais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered User regular
    I was left with just over 20% of my non-retirement savings post down payment. I will say - like many I'm sure - I feel like I'm spending money left and right, so I wouldn't have been very comfortable with that % dropping. I would have liked to spend less honestly, but Denver's housing market is white hot right now, so them's the breaks. Loving the house so far so all good.

    Except the screen door I just spent more time than I'd like to admit fixing. Fuck you, screen door.

    Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
  • MyiagrosMyiagros Registered User regular
    Got the first bite on the house sale. No offer yet but someone wants a second showing! They are currently farm owners as well that want to downsize so they know what they are getting into.

    iRevert wrote: »
    Because if you're going to attempt to squeeze that big black monster into your slot you will need to be able to take at least 12 inches or else you're going to have a bad time...
    Steam: MyiagrosX27
  • Jebus314Jebus314 Registered User regular
    We had like 10k after we bought, but my father is also a building contractor so I did almost all of the work that came up myself (usually with his help). The exception being some work on the furnace.

    If you’re putting 20% down, you can usually also get a home equity line of credit to get back some of that 20% down money at a slightly higher interest rate if things get really bad.

    Although I’d say 10k is probably a fine number to shoot for, provided your income is high enough that you are saving money every month even with the new mortgage payment. If it isn’t, well there’s probably bigger issues.

    "The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it" - Dr Horrible
  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    edited August 2020
    We had about 15k in non-retirement savings.

    We also had the benefit of knowing my job would be guaranteed stable for another eight years or so.

    Quid on
  • GdiguyGdiguy San Diego, CARegistered User regular
    Quid wrote: »
    We had about 15k in non-retirement savings.

    We also had the benefit of knowing my job would be guaranteed stable for another eight years or so.

    We were pretty similar to this.

    Though we had enough contributions in Roth IRAs that we were comfortable that we could pull without penalty if there was an unexpected maintenance or something issue early on

  • AbsoluteZeroAbsoluteZero The new film by Quentin Koopantino Registered User regular
    I had like 50 cents left after we bought our house, because we were in the market for something around 130k and wound up with a 160k house, so that cleaned me out. House still needs a ton of work too, but it's mostly superficial stuff. I am regretting not painting and replacing the carpet before we moved all our shit in though.

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  • OneAngryPossumOneAngryPossum Registered User regular
    I had a VA loan and solid job security back before the pandemic, and we could barely cover the escrow. We got some money back in closing that gave us a cushion of about $1,000 after moving in.

    It worked out extremely well for us, but it was dependent on a lot of unique factors. Job with strong raises and borderline guaranteed employment, a family safety net if we miscalculated, and nothing major went wrong after we moved in. If we’d had to do some major appliance repair right away things would have been tight.

    There was a period during the escrow where we were essentially just cashless, which was tense even with all the above.

    If you’re going to be cash-strapped to accomplish the purchase and intend to do so anyway, I suggest literally sitting down with a calendar to work out day to day cash fluctuations you face on a monthly basis. Overestimate by 10% or more, and include literally all expenses.

    Not a real finance guy, but that’s how I managed our money and my anxiety.

  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    Oh yeah, VA loan was a massive boon too. We paid 0% down and don't have to worry about PMI.

  • JengoJengo Registered User regular
    y2jake215 wrote: »
    Just wondering - how much did all of y’all have in savings left after you bought your house?

    With the current climate I’m hesitant to leave myself with less than like, 50k, but websites don’t seem to advise being quite so cautious (though just because they say that doesn’t make it a good idea)

    I have not yet bought a proper single family house but I am currently in the market. It seems like the general consensus is that people are pretty cash strapped after purchasing a home. I feel I lean a bit more towards your side of things in being more cautious rather than less. From my own perspective, 50k as a minimum would probably be more than what is needed. I think 30k (10k for immediate home repairs and 20k emergency fund) would be pretty comfortable depending on how confident you are in your job situation.

    I'm not sure if you've considered a coop or condo but if your finances are a paramount concern then I think you would do well to research coops or condos in your area. Your costs will likely be much lower and you should only have to worry about minimal maintenance costs for your particular unit. Obviously owning a coop or condo does not always fulfill everyone's needs when it comes to home ownership but I think they can be excellent stepping stones for people.

    In my own case I bought a small coop which has appreciated in value by somewhere between 20k and 50k. This will allow me to have a much larger amount of cash after I make my next house purchase to the tune of 50k to 80k depending on circumstances. While I don't want to imply that these results can necessarily be replicated, purchasing my coop was an infinitely more economical option compared to renting and has provided me the funds to comfortably make the jump to a house.

    3DS FC: 1977-1274-3558 Pokemon X ingame name: S3xy Vexy
  • SimpsoniaSimpsonia Registered User regular
    Bullhead wrote: »
    Simpsonia wrote: »
    Bullhead wrote: »
    Has anyone added an attic access point to a ceiling? I need to add one in my Master Closet (and I'm hoping there's room for one with a drop-down ladder) so I can get into my attic from there and fix the lack of insulation in it (my house has a hip roof and my 6'3" ass can't make it across the house from the current access point). Can I simply use a stud finder to locate the joist patterns in the celing?

    It would be a bit more complicated than that. Your ceiling joists are likely 16" OC, meaning you'd have to cut one of the joists down and box it out with proper headers and joist hangers. Since it's non load-bearing up there you don't have to worry quite as much, since all it's doing is holding up your ceiling, but you'd still want to do it right since it would be supporting you + a hatch and ladder. And likely a joist might not be perfectly centered above your closet so it might be difficult to fit in there depending on the layout. Boxing it out correctly would also probably mean removing more ceiling drywall than would just be for the hatch, then re-drywalling to your new opening. Might be easier if you could do the work from the top if you could get over there from your existing access hatch.

    Ugh. While not un-doable that sounds more like a job I need to contract out.

    In case you're still interested, I just saw this on Reddit. A little different since the guy already had an access hatch, but shows how he had to cut the joists and re-create the headers. https://imgur.com/gallery/EkWSBg4

  • firewaterwordfirewaterword Satchitananda Pais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered User regular
    edited August 2020
    Anyone have a garden hose box recommendation that isn't a flimsy plastic piece of trash?

    Also, just mowed with the greenworks pro 80v for the first time and I would definitely recommend it.

    firewaterword on
    Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
  • Stabbity StyleStabbity Style He/Him | Warning: Mothership Reporting Kennewick, WARegistered User regular
    Anyone have a garden hose box recommendation that isn't a flimsy plastic piece of trash?

    Also, just mowed with the greenworks pro 80v for the first time and I would definitely recommend it.

    Mine feels like a flimsy plastic piece of trash, but I think it's because it's on an uneven hill, and would probably feel better on a flat surface.

    Stabbity_Style.png
This discussion has been closed.