From reading Kristen's posts, you may think that we're crazy. We're maybe only a little bit crazy.
First off, the inspector was great and came up with a to-do list, but this house is fundamentally solid.
During the year after I graduated from college, I lived in Menlo Park, CA, in an honest-to-God dump. The house was originally a very small cottage; a porch had been closed in to create a dining room... with a 6 1/2 foot ceiling. The kitchen had rodent issues when we moved in, largely due to the former residents but also due to the open hole to the dirt under the kitchen sink for the plumbing. In my room, downstairs, a vine was growing in from the outside into my closet, and the floor in a couple of places was, um, soft. The windows were single pane and insulation was probably non-existent, which meant we paid, thanks to Enron (this was the winter of 2000-01), upwards of $300/month for four hours a day of 60-degree heat.
By comparison, our new house was built to spec by the owner from whom we're buying. There were no corners cut. The structural floor is a central joist, with 2 x 6 tongue-and-groove, old-growth fir "car decking" running out to the poured concrete perimeter foundation. It's a 54-year old place, but you can jump around in the middle of the living room and nothing shakes. The walls are thick drywall, not plaster and lath.
In short, they don't build them like this anymore. There isn't a piece of particle board or LP-board siding in sight.
And while the owner may not have watched the Style Network (she couldn't - there's no cable installed), she plowed her money into the important stuff. The roof was done only a few years ago. There are already storm windows. The siding is low-maintenance vinyl, in an inoffensive yellow. There's no asbestos; either it was abated or was never installed.
Sure, there's some work to do, but we're knocking out all the biggest stuff right away. We're painting the first weekend. We weren't planning on a new kitchen right away, but now we'll have one - and a new water heater to boot. All that's wet from the slow leak is getting repaired, no problem. Electrical will be done too, and upgraded to 200 amps - I could run a fusion reactor.
I feel like I'm buying an awesome set of projects! My new-used chop saw is already excited.
First off, the inspector was great and came up with a to-do list, but this house is fundamentally solid.
During the year after I graduated from college, I lived in Menlo Park, CA, in an honest-to-God dump. The house was originally a very small cottage; a porch had been closed in to create a dining room... with a 6 1/2 foot ceiling. The kitchen had rodent issues when we moved in, largely due to the former residents but also due to the open hole to the dirt under the kitchen sink for the plumbing. In my room, downstairs, a vine was growing in from the outside into my closet, and the floor in a couple of places was, um, soft. The windows were single pane and insulation was probably non-existent, which meant we paid, thanks to Enron (this was the winter of 2000-01), upwards of $300/month for four hours a day of 60-degree heat.
By comparison, our new house was built to spec by the owner from whom we're buying. There were no corners cut. The structural floor is a central joist, with 2 x 6 tongue-and-groove, old-growth fir "car decking" running out to the poured concrete perimeter foundation. It's a 54-year old place, but you can jump around in the middle of the living room and nothing shakes. The walls are thick drywall, not plaster and lath.
In short, they don't build them like this anymore. There isn't a piece of particle board or LP-board siding in sight.
And while the owner may not have watched the Style Network (she couldn't - there's no cable installed), she plowed her money into the important stuff. The roof was done only a few years ago. There are already storm windows. The siding is low-maintenance vinyl, in an inoffensive yellow. There's no asbestos; either it was abated or was never installed.
Sure, there's some work to do, but we're knocking out all the biggest stuff right away. We're painting the first weekend. We weren't planning on a new kitchen right away, but now we'll have one - and a new water heater to boot. All that's wet from the slow leak is getting repaired, no problem. Electrical will be done too, and upgraded to 200 amps - I could run a fusion reactor.
I feel like I'm buying an awesome set of projects! My new-used chop saw is already excited.
posted by Kristen & Evan | 11:09 PM
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