Home Improvement is a subject that seems to get all the neighbors talking at once. I think it's because we have at least the fact that we're home owners in common. When we get together with our friends and neighbors, there's always a couple homes with on-going projects. There's also the general complaint about the person whose property always looks ready for the Better Homes front cover. But what I've been noticing more, however, is the casual tone some people take when talking about home improvements- as if they just woke up one morning and decided to redo the driveway and re-design their landscaping. Ho hum, no big deal.
But it is a big deal for us! We're now in the 4th year of talks about getting central air-conditioning. It took us at least 2 years to plan for and complete our new kitchen. We created a huge garden in our backyard, that I now despise (poor planning.) And I know we need a new roof, new windows, and we need to do something about our crumbling driveway. Home-ownership can really suck the joy out of actually living in a home.
I wonder how other people decide when to replace things like a roof or windows. These are things that are still functioning, but maybe not so pretty and might fall apart in the next month or year or decade. And how do people prioritize? Does air conditioning trump ugly roof with lichen(?) growing ontop? We don't use our chimney, but they say it needs a new crown. Do we spend the money for the sake of keeping it "healthy?"
[Sigh.] So many projects, so little time and money. Thoughts?
6 comments:
i've been hearing a lot of people talking about home repairs/maintenance lately. and everyone seems to have the same sort of concerns. makes me glad that i dont' have to deal with that. but then again, i've been up since 5am b/c some crazy girl has been screaming (i mean screaming at the top of her lungs) at some asshole who seems to think a friend of hers is a lesbian when she's not. apparently he turns things around a lot like that just to make her upset.
anyways.. from my professional experience, if you need a new roof for whatever reason, you should tackle that first. that's when i would suggest maybe adding that bathroom to your bedroom while you're at it. and while you're in construction, be sure to prep out the addition for central air. there's no point in doing a new driveway if you're going to be in construction, too, so maybe wait on that.
sounds like my neighbor has given up yelling at her friend. hoorah!!
i'm thinking soiree on july 25. thoughts?
ugh! home improvements are seriously a pain, aren't they?! yeah, i know you've talked about central air for some time now...might make the summers more bearable and everyone less cranky. on the other hand, if you need a new roof now or new windows now, then i'd say go with the needs over the wants/wishful thinkings. will ugly lichen on the roof actually cause leakage or damage? will not getting a new crown on the chimney lead to a leak?
yeah, we've been trying to get a roof vent put in for the last 2 summers to release some of the hot air in the summer. that hasn't happened yet. we've also been trying to get a central humidifier, but that hasn't happened either. landscaping is something i hate maintaining. i wish the previous owners hadn't done so much in the front of the house. we even totally got rid of all of the other vegetation in the backyard becuase of all the mosquitoes it attracted! there's still this bamboo that can't be stopped. too bad. seriously, i'm in agreement with you...so many projects, so little time and money.
good luck!
THis post put a big frownie face on me. I seriously want to put a torch to our place. But whatever, it's a place to live. I've basically given up. I have no motivation whatsoever. Arnold just laughs when I kick a cabinet or complain about something. So basically, I have no edifying or interesting thoughts about home improvement. Except that I don't think it's possible to NOT have home improvements, even with a brand new construction home.
I was going to say a/c first, but roof and windows may end up saving you money with energy saved and possible tax credit. Plus, this summer has been quite slow in coming. We are looking into repointing and other masonry work that will cost a huge chunk of change. It will be shared, since it's a condo, but getting anything done with everyone's agreement is a royal pain in the B-hind. :(
sorry, can't really help you here. but this is why we opted for a condo association. that's the benefit of living in an HOA. on the other hand, we are going to have to pay for water damage incurred on someone else's home. theory is that if it happens to our home someday, the rest of the community will chip in to pay for those repairs as well. no free lunch i suppose.
Yikes. I think it just takes a lot of time, patience, and grinding it out. My home owner friends say the rule of thumb is plan for everything to take 1.5x more times and cost 1.5x more than originally planned/estimated. We live in a condo and therefore don't have to worry about the garden, roof, driveway, etc. Our hefty little monthly HOA check goes to the association that supposedly manages all these things for us.
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