dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
774

Krish
@146.115.21.x

Krish

Anon

So we are getting our first home

We finally got a house in a very good location . If you think the real estate mantra -- location, location, location -- it is ideal . .... BUT -
The house has some problems.

First the good --
Roof is good (10 year)
Heating system is good
Remodeled kitchen with new appliances
Beautiful unfinished attic (the wood looks solid)

Now the bad ---

Most (10 double hung + 1 Casement) windows are rotten . This per se is not a big problem but I am wondering if there is possible rot beyond that (Inspector does not think so but cannot promise)

A few of the wood shingle sidings are rotted (just a layer touching ground on one side) -- again , not a big problem but is there something hidden ?

HVAC Ducts -- In basement , the HVAC ducts are routed through concrete floor. These need to be routed through wall or ceiling.

Older bathroom

Ugly plywood wall in lower level which we plan to replace with drywall

There are other problems like no landscaping, faded paint , old carpet (with hardwood under) etc. which are cosmetic.

We are getting it for at least 40 - 50 K lower compared to similar properties .. probably even more considering the location (cul-de-sac, near schools, near public transport, corner lot, enough land for expansion/landscaping)

I am a bit handy ... did not get a chance to work on home much but I enjoy working with tools, electrical, wood etc. Hopefully I will able to save some labor.

I know we will need to spend some money and we are ready for it. We are even planning for an addition (bumping out living room adding about 100 sft and adding a bath in lower level laundry room). I am budgeting about 80 - 90 K for all work including addition .. wondering if it is too low. We are in Boston suburb

What is bugging me most is the rotted windows .... I am wondering how much the bad rot might have spread inside and trying to assess worst case scenario . Any help is very appreciated.

If it helps, the house has wood shingles siding and siding are mostly good except for a layer where it is touching ground. The paint has faded but not something like blistering or peeling.

robbin
Mod
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX

robbin

Mod

Pictures would help for advise specific to your new, used home.
psiu
join:2004-01-20
Farmington, MI

psiu to Krish

Member

to Krish
Worst case would probably involve mold + structural repair, having to open things up for treatment, etc etc.

$90K is probably low, especially since that is a pricey area.

Good thing is a lot of stuff you can do yourself. Bad thing, it takes longer, you will make mistakes at times and have to redo.

Make sure the house is livable WITHOUT the addition. (edit: I mean size wise, not related to the other issues per se)

We bought a house this spring. A lot of our work is things like drainage and long term oriented landscaping goals to make it easier to maintain while still relatively attractive. In the meantime, yard is not the best looking (though from the street it is acceptable for the neighborhood). Working on gutters, gutter guards, rain barrels, underground drains, landscaping at house itself (dirt piled high, plants piled high, poor drainage, etc).

Getting the electrical fixed up to a level of "not burning it all down around us" seems to be a priority as well.

We have in slab ductwork, will likely replace when we replace furnace (20+ years old) but we will ride that as long as we can. Worked on attic ventilation, had some slight mold/mildew creeping in up there, poor ventilation up there.

Cosmetic items in the rooms, like chintzy wood paneling is something that will be amongst the last things to go.

If you don't have (young) kids it should be absolute CAKE though! :P

(if you have teens, it should be like free slave labor, correct?!)

[we have a soon to be 4 year old and soon to be 1 year old, they are extremely helpful!]

GOOD LUCK! /nelson laugh
66860111 (banned)
join:2014-04-28

66860111 (banned) to Krish

Member

to Krish
I'm in the Boston area as well. On the ugly plywood wall you might want to just drywall over it. Removing it might lead to other repairs to get it up to code. Does the bathroom lower level mean the basement or first floor? The living room expansion is hard to guess without seeing stuff. Do you have a land survey to provide to the city with your permit application? That's the first step. You have to prove to the city that you own the land and the addition complies with the setbacks. Estimate about $1,500 to $2,000 for that survey. Then you have an engineer or designer who makes the plans for the addition. Add another $1,000 to $2,000. The city may require you to have the drawings stamped so add another $500 to $1,000. The permit will be a few hundred depending on the project cost but guess like $500 to $700. Now the cost of the actual addition will depend on the level of quality and finish you want.

Krish
@76.19.42.x

Krish

Anon

Thanks for the great replies.

A few clarifications --

I mistyped about rotted window frame --- it is the window sills which are rotted. It does not look rotted but you know it when you poke. Inspector says it might be cheaper to replace with vinyl windows

The house is live able with minor cosmetics (like refinish hardwood floor, some paint, a good cleaning) and a big ticket item of updating the bath room. This is big ticket since we plan to switch the toilet and sink ... I am budgeting 10K For bathroom remodel (new tub, toilet, sink ) -- I plan to do tile, vinyl floor and paint myself. We will do these before move in to avoid hassles/dirt etc.

As for the windows, if I do those in phases (couple of windows now, couple in next spring) is there a way I can arrest the rot so that there is no further damage ? May be injecting some chemical in the sills and jambs ?

It is a 1968 house -- some lead might be there but I think 1968 is more or less safe.

psiu, yes we have a teenager -- may be some free labor

I will try to post some pictures later today evening.
66860111 (banned)
join:2014-04-28

66860111 (banned) to Krish

Member

to Krish
You might want to look into the MassSave program. They offer 0% interest for 7 years on replacement windows. You can actually make money off that deal! Not to mention they'll air seal free which will save you a lot of cash. If you need insulation they do that and pay for 75% of it up to $2,000 per year plus you can finance the rest with the 0% loan. Lots of other things you can do with the 0% loan and MassSave. The free home energy audit they do will come with some free LED bulbs, eco power strips, and a dozen or so CFL's all for free.

»www.masssave.com/

cableties
Premium Member
join:2005-01-27

cableties to Krish

Premium Member

to Krish
First and foremost, plan what you are going to need repaired first.

Windows sills typically rot it not maintained and poor water management. If the windows don't leak and thermally good, a sill can be replaced and flashed properly (although installing replacement windows is expensive, a good installer will do water membrane, flashing and sealing prior to installing and flashing, then caulking. If no insect damage, rot might be isolated.
Inspectors are NOT engineers or carpenters. Do yourself a favor and get several estimates by recommended window installers. IMHO, vinyl windows are junk. A good wood window might just need new panes and caulking/flashing. And then there are aesthetics, historical, age of home...

(E.G. I have some trim under windows that is foot off ground. Moisture from mulch and rains that drip from copper roof-no gutter over this bumpout-have the wood rotting. Where I live, association paints exterior. Their "contractor" painted over this for years. I have to repair this fall...might get cheaper vinyl replacements ONLY because I don't want to spend more than I need to. Then use PVC lumber instead of wood. Not staying here another year so...who knows.)

I post about this site (finehomebuilding dot com) much and feel like a poster boy. But they have great advice, tips, magazine and videos (subscription req). I've learned much from it. I am not a contractor. I am a picky, sweat-equity opportunist.
psiu
join:2004-01-20
Farmington, MI

psiu to Krish

Member

to Krish
Also, for sure, look into the local utility, your local city etc, community aid type programs. Generally all sorts of things as someone noted above, thermal imaging, energy efficiency to even free or discounted thermal improvements, to things like appliance rebates all the way to outright free appliances, and other things like the no interest programs. Some of those may have a time frame, or be a lien that is called into play when the property changes hands. There can be income requirements, it can be worth checking, depending on how many earners vs family size it can be surprising what qualifies.

Apparently, it turns out, we are poor. :P

We ended up buying ourselves a medium size dry erase board and hanging it in the hallway. Writing down relatively near future projects on it to work on, trying to keep "open" projects to a minimum. Because it does get tempting when a project turns into a pile of suck to move onto the next one
psiu

psiu to Krish

Member

to Krish
Also, our house was built in 1968 evidently. That just means the builders were HIIIIIIIIIIIGH as hell, dude!

--goes back to look at the wiring, plumbing, everything and wonder wtf they were smoking...
Dodge
Premium Member
join:2002-11-27

Dodge to Krish

Premium Member

to Krish
We just got our first house last November. I had similar thought process to you (except for an addition) and let me tell you one thing, I was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Here are a few things that I found out the hard way:

-Whatever your inspector found, you'll find more later, especially in "hidden" systems like plumbing and electrical.
-However long you think something will take for you to do it yourself, it will take much longer. You need to consider how much time do you have to work on the house vs how much is actually needed in the house. Every project you will start, will open a proverbial can of worms, resulting in a lot more time spent than you originally had planned for.
-DIY projects require tools, lots and lots of tools. Do you have any? I went from having one toolbox in the apartment, to a garage full of random things.
-there is a reason why most professionals have helpers. A lot of DIY will either require someone from you family to help you (even it's along the "hold this" lines, not to be confused with "hold my beer and watch this"), or a lot of creative thinking.
-things will break at the worst possible moments and emergency calls to professionals cost A LOT! Personally I never want to call a plumber at 3 am on a Sunday or an electrician at 11pm on a Saturday ever again (yes this happened, and it was super expensive)
- Remodeling could be stressful as hell, DIY or pros, just different stress. It becomes even more stressful if you haven't planned for something. For example you gut your bathroom for remodel just to find out that your pipes are leaking all over the place and you have a small forest worth of mold.
- Murphy's laws apply to remodeling.
66860111 (banned)
join:2014-04-28

66860111 (banned) to Krish

Member

to Krish
A friend wanted to get solar panels. They offer them for $0 on lease so it should cost $0 out of pocket. They said his service panel was old and they wouldn't install the panels until he replaced it. He calls someone to get a quote. They open the panel and take the cover off it to look closer. It was raining outside and there was water leaking into the panel. The ballpark was $1,400 to $1,600 originally over the phone before the guy came and seen the job. After digging around there was no proper ground and lots of water damage. The quote came in at $2,300.

Our home inspector didn't catch a lot of stuff like the deck was built with 2x6's which spanned 14 feet. We've since had it rebuilt and they used 2x10's. It was very unsafe before!
averagedude
join:2002-01-30
San Diego, CA

averagedude to Krish

Member

to Krish
Please remember to factor in how much stress these DIY projects will have on your relationship with your significant other and family.

When a simple project gets complicated and costly tempers go up and feelings get hurt.

It is not always just about dollars and how long the project will take.
iknow_t
join:2012-05-03

iknow_t to Krish

Member

to Krish
said by Krish :

Now the bad ---

Most (10 double hung + 1 Casement) windows are rotten . This per se is not a big problem but I am wondering if there is possible rot beyond that (Inspector does not think so but cannot promise)

HVAC Ducts -- In basement , the HVAC ducts are routed through concrete floor. These need to be routed through wall or ceiling.

Who said that?? also, it would be a lot of work to change that.. as far as the wood goes, there is a product for repairing rotted wood, maybe a type of liquid glue, I forgot the name, then after that, fill the wood with bondo, and paint it. done..

Krish
@76.19.42.x

Krish

Anon

The inspector advised to seal the ducts in concrete and add new ducts through wall or ceiling . The reason he said -- ducts in concrete will eventually rot and absorb molds, radon and what not and pass those to upper level bedrooms
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44 to Krish

Premium Member

to Krish
Your house sounds similiar to when i purchased mine but not the hvac ducts. Anyway first on my list was the wooden shingles i decided to replace with all vinyl siding. When i removed them i found out the entire gable on the house was eaton away by fire ants. As bad as that sounds it really wasnt that bad. I just got to learn real fast what i was in for. As mentioned expect a lot of surprises. I never regretted buying it tho. I did learn really fast tho the importance of doing the little things first and tackle the other stuff later. I still have some of them dreams on my to do list even now 20 years later. I also still now 20 years later find some surprises. Like somewhere along the line someone decided to discard a shit load of asbestos shingles in the eve of the cubby hole of the house. Just found that one 2 weeks ago.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to 66860111

Premium Member

to 66860111
said by 66860111:

Our home inspector didn't catch a lot of stuff like the deck was built with 2x6's which spanned 14 feet. We've since had it rebuilt and they used 2x10's. It was very unsafe before!

After seeing what I see every year on the news when using the deck season kicks into gear. I honestly think there is one outdoor home accessory that it is never wrong to overbuild and that is a the deck.
66860111 (banned)
join:2014-04-28

66860111 (banned)

Member

said by Kearnstd:

said by 66860111:

Our home inspector didn't catch a lot of stuff like the deck was built with 2x6's which spanned 14 feet. We've since had it rebuilt and they used 2x10's. It was very unsafe before!

After seeing what I see every year on the news when using the deck season kicks into gear. I honestly think there is one outdoor home accessory that it is never wrong to overbuild and that is a the deck.

I agree. The new deck can support the weight of a fully loaded SUV driving on it if we want.