Anybody else terrible at home repairs?

[Chris142]

We inhearated my mom's house when she passed. Seemed like a good choice to move in and make it our own since it was paid off

It needs some work. My dad never fixed things and mom didn't have the money to do it after he passed. Now it's up to me to make it nice.

Started with a pool my wife had to have. One of those above ground cheapies from Kmart. Put that up.Had a water truck fill it. Wife is happy.

Then we got a letter from code enforcement that says we need a 5ft fence around the the pool. I had no idea that I needed a fence around it! Ok so we bought poles,wood and I put up a fence by myself. Even dug holes in the rocks for the poles.

Well I guess my eye isn't as perfect as I thought and my fence goes up and down because the ground isn't level.

Guess I can cut the tops off with my left handed circular saw! I had no idea there was such a thing as a left handed saw! I'm right handed.

Then our insurance company shows up! The code enforcement guy must have called them out? They want a self closing gate for the pool area too.

Then they said we need siding and a roof! Ya they are bad and I had plans to get all that done but not in the next 60 days!
Got prices for that stuff and can't afford it. So we took out a loan. But that took 6 months.

the loan place sent an inspector out and he red flagged my 40a fuse box!

Now I have to get that replaced before we do the roof or siding. Not only replaced but moved to a different location.
Requires a permit from the county and getting the electric company to turn the power off then on after the new panel is in.

So we are stuck waiting on permits,returned phone calls etc

So I try putting up the T111 siding. I measure 2x cut 3x and its still too short! Threw the left handed skill saw into the trash as well as the T111 I ruined.

Then the fire marshal shows up! Wants the weeds Wacked 100ft from the house. Fortunately I had been working on that but not no 100ft. Went around back with the Wacker and it threw a rock which broke a window!

The ins guy comes back that same day to ask us what the hold up is and See's the broken window we had not cleaned up yet. Looked at it then me and just left.

I feel like I'm being hit from every direction! So today I decided to put new screen material in the screens for my garage windows. Has not had those in at least 30 years!

Bought the stuff. Girl at Lowes tells me how to do that. I bought just enough screen to do 2 screens.Ya sure. I get one side done and the other side is too short! So I have to "waste" a little bit which now means another trip back to Lowes to buy more screen stuff. Fought one screen for an hour. 45 min on the 2nd one after going after more screen.

I can do brakes,suspension and I really enjoy AC repairs but this house stuff,cutting wood etc is for the birds.

 

[NormanBuntz]

Have you ever seen the movie Money Pit? Just tell everyone it'll be "two weeks."

 

[atikovi]

Do some more A/C jobs and hire people to do stuff you can't do or don't enjoy doing.

 

[eljefino]

When it rains it pours! Did you make a neighbor mad or something?

Why don't you deflate the pool so it doesn't exist for the time being?

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by eljefino
When it rains it pours! Did you make a neighbor mad or something?

Why don't you deflate the pool so it doesn't exist for the time being?

I dont have any neighbors really. I'm the last house on a dirt road. No babies are around to drown. The pool is a real problem to fill and the water truck guy retired. I can't fill it from my well.

 

[Mr Nice]

Sounds like your city inspectors are behind on their monthly quotas for residential fines....

 

[Fawteen]

You didn't do your homework on local codes, enforcement and insurance regulations.

 

[hatt]

Focus on one project. Complete project. Focus on next project. Repeat until done. Neglected houses are a lot work. And don't do stuff like putting in pools when the house is falling down.

 

[MasterSolenoid]

Two steps forward / one step back.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by Fawteen
You didn't do your homework on local codes, enforcement and insurance regulations.

I had no idea they would require a fence for a small above ground pool. An in ground ya I could see that.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by hatt
. And don't do stuff like putting in pools when the house is falling down.

Do you want to tell that to the crazy lady that's going through the "change" that she can't have her pool when its 105 outside?

 

[user52165]

Is that a 40 amp fuse box for your house? Total? Not a breaker box?

If so, your inspector did you a big favor.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by user52165
Is that a 40 amp fuse box for your house? Total? Not a breaker box?

If so, your inspector did you a big favor.

Ya. Even has screw in fuses. Its amazing that it never burned down because my dad had put pennies under every blown fuse.

 

[doitmyself]

But, it looks so easy on television. Some day you will look back and laugh.....or cry.

 

[JC1]

Originally Posted by atikovi
Do some more A/C jobs and hire people to do stuff you can't do or don't enjoy doing.


+1 on this.

I do a lot of the repairs on my house myself. It can be a pain, but I enjoy doing it since I know how things are put together. I also do a lot of the repairs on my vehicles. Some times it seems like all I am doing is fixing a vehicle or a house. It's summer in Canada, so it's the best time to do that.

I never want a pool. They are expensive to maintain and too many liability issues that you need to be concerned with. If that house is that old, I'm sure most of the things in it will need to be addressed. Unfortunately, once you put up that pool it started many headaches for you.

 

[Chris142]

I didn't want the pool either. I got outvoted by the ladies.

 

[Lolvoguy]

I hear ya op, my parents are getting up there in age, and their house is in desperate need of upgrades/repairs.
My dad was never much of a handyman, so he just let things slide.
Now mom has had to hire indy repairmen to do some work. Luckily they found a very reasonable guy for a fraction of the big companies.

Personally I've never done anything in terms of home repair maintenance...and that includes mowing a lawn.
As for auto repairs/maint. I'm all for it!
Overall, I'm perfectly fine with this. It all seems to balance out in the end.

Originally Posted by JC1
I never want a pool. They are expensive to maintain and too many liability issues that you need to be concerned with. If that house is that old, I'm sure most of the things in it will need to be addressed. Unfortunately, once you put up that pool it started many headaches for you.

Growing up in the 80's on the prairies, all the middle class-upper class families had them.
My brothers father in law hated theirs (despite all us kids loving it). He addressed all the issues with ownership and constantly complained about it.
They had the in-ground type with diving board, concrete etc.

But as a kid, they were fantastic!

 

[JTK]

I'm with ya Chris.

It's rare any of my DIY home or auto projects go as planned.

 

[Mr_Joe]

Good luck, I also vote no pool until the important stuff is fixed. I held the pool idea at bay here, WI. The Y is 5 miles away, 2 pools there.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted by hatt
Focus on one project. Complete project. Focus on next project. Repeat until done. Neglected houses are a lot work. And don't do stuff like putting in pools when the house is falling down.


This!!!