My mother bought a house 11 years ago so she would have someplace to call her own when she visited her grandkids. I know she would add "and her daughter" but I am a realist, and when her grandkids came on the scene they were quite the attention hogs. As it should be.
She is here about 3 months out of the year so liked having her little house. At about 900 square feet and built like a tank it is a solid, if petite, place. She is gearing up to sell it this spring and I recommended Javier to do painting before she got here from Michigan so she was not asphyxiated by fumes. I told him what she told me - which was the ceilings need painting. I unlocked the door, gave him some paint, and drove to Lowe's for more paint. When I returned he had me follow him around. "It looks like a little hole for a mouse back here... (behind her fridge) want me to patch that?" "I pulled off some of this where the hole was and there was a whole 18" paper hornet nest (in her shower)." Do you want me to paint over the green paint around the doors (incomplete paint job)" " Do you want me to attach her baseboards and sink the nailheads and paint?"
So a ceiling paint job turned into a Javier fixit couple of days. God bless that man. Did I tell you he charges me $150 a day? If he brings his cousin I pay $300. And a day is as long as it takes the job to be done?
Did I tell you I pay my plumber $150 an hour?
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Plan of Attack - farmhouse
So say I had $10,000. And with it I could do any house project I wanted. (Which I guess is not that much considering what I am working on --it could disappear fast.)
Some options are to:
1. Paint the whole house and replace some siding (who is burrowing in my siding? Do I really want to know?)
2. Replace my three garage doors (two of which are broken) and the painted FOAM filled support beams-- part of the previous owners Walmart crafty repairs. God I love them for the humor aspect when I am not cranky about their workmanship. Foil. Foam. Empty paper towel rolls. Why buy it when you have perfectly good repair materials laying about the house, preferably from the garbage or burn pile?
3. Foundation work. Add support to the basement and stabilize the south wall which has a bit of a tilt. Should my house move like I live on the train tracks when youth are running rampant on the main floor? Granted they are boys, but still.
4. Move my fridge to the kitchen. Yeah, a novel concept... it is currently in the mud room. This job involves electricians, and they never come cheap.
5. Build out a two level studio/guest house into the loft and main floor of the garage. This might be a weeeee bit more than $10K. BUT it could be an income generator down the road.
6. Build a porch. I have always wanted a porch to sit on and narrate the neighborhood goings on. My house would be cuter with one, too.
7. Something else that I can't remember now.
A side note: I was doing house research this weekend and found the obit for a 92 year old woman who was born in my house. Makes me sad I found out about her from a news article about her passing. I would have liked to invite her over and visited.
Some options are to:
1. Paint the whole house and replace some siding (who is burrowing in my siding? Do I really want to know?)
2. Replace my three garage doors (two of which are broken) and the painted FOAM filled support beams-- part of the previous owners Walmart crafty repairs. God I love them for the humor aspect when I am not cranky about their workmanship. Foil. Foam. Empty paper towel rolls. Why buy it when you have perfectly good repair materials laying about the house, preferably from the garbage or burn pile?
3. Foundation work. Add support to the basement and stabilize the south wall which has a bit of a tilt. Should my house move like I live on the train tracks when youth are running rampant on the main floor? Granted they are boys, but still.
4. Move my fridge to the kitchen. Yeah, a novel concept... it is currently in the mud room. This job involves electricians, and they never come cheap.
5. Build out a two level studio/guest house into the loft and main floor of the garage. This might be a weeeee bit more than $10K. BUT it could be an income generator down the road.
6. Build a porch. I have always wanted a porch to sit on and narrate the neighborhood goings on. My house would be cuter with one, too.
7. Something else that I can't remember now.
A side note: I was doing house research this weekend and found the obit for a 92 year old woman who was born in my house. Makes me sad I found out about her from a news article about her passing. I would have liked to invite her over and visited.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
