Anybody else terrible at home repairs?

[hatt]

Originally Posted by Chris142
I didn't want the pool either. I got outvoted by the ladies.

You're going to have to put your foot down. Some things have to be completed before doing frivolous things. Some friends of mine went through the same stuff fixing up an old place. They were trying to live in this place, for weeks, with kids, when the kitchen and laundry room couldn't be used for various reasons. I come over to see what was going on and they we're sticking tile down in the entry and decorating and running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. I couldn't believe it. I gave him a short list of stuff to complete while I went to Home Depot to get some sink drain parts. Had the kitchen cleared out and going, along with getting the washer and dryer going, in a few hours. I never went back to that house.

 

[Rolla07]

Wow...rules for an existing above ground pool to have fence around it...i have an old inground and its a PITA. but i dont like giving up lol..i suppose you dont have a fence around ur property?I put up my own fence since I have young kids and it freaks me out. My house is 1982 and always something to be done on it...gota pay the cost sometimes to own a house.

 

[Skippy722]

Depends what it is... when my furnace control board failed I replaced that myself. I also replaced a few rotted deck boards myself. But I hired a handyman to come remove an antenna, repair my furnace exhaust and repair the boot around the sewer vent on the roof. $80 well spent on that.

 

[HangFire]

T111 siding, huh? Did you read the info packet that came with it?

Just curious, you know, because I have... and I have yet to see it used correctly, anywhere, at any time. And always after 10 years the bottom edge has drawn damp and started rotting.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted by HangFire
T111 siding, huh? Did you read the info packet that came with it?

Just curious, you know, because I have... and I have yet to see it used correctly, anywhere, at any time. And always after 10 years the bottom edge has drawn damp and started rotting.


He's in the one area it might hold up!

 

[clinebarger]

I hate doing it....That's for sure.

My house was moved to it's current location in 1970, But the house itself was built in 1929.
It had a 4 screw-in fuse panel & cloth covered 2-wire romex & 2 unfused legs pulled off the back for a 220 air conditioner. I'm surprised the house didn't burn down before it was condemned in 1990.
Ran all new electrical with a huge industrial panel (125amp main) that sits right under the meter on the East outside wall. 10/3 to all outlets & 12/3 to all light fixtures. Cost @3,000 dollars in 1992. Still works fantastic today!

Owning a old home is a challenge, Just remember.....It's YOURS which fewer & fewer people can say that these days! A lot of folks are drowning in mortgage debt or they rent. I put back @$500 toward repairs/upgrades a month & it works out well.

 

[bbhero]

10/3 to your outlets.... Wow that's heavy gauge wire for outlets... You pulling some serious amps on those outlets I guess

I have seen 14/3 in many, many spec built homes... My step father ran 12 gauge wire to all of his outlets in the house he built in 93/94...

 

[JustinH]

I thought the original post was a joke or parody, it read exactly like one.

Well here is the bright side, you own a house in California outright.

Now get to work on it. Even though it sounds like a pain, the code man may have saved your family's life with that fuse box and pennies glued to it.

 

[KD0AXS]

Once you're finished with all of these things, you can expect the tax assessor to show up and say these required improvements have increased the property value so your taxes will be going up.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

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


That's the first thing that came to my mind. His home is an eyesore and neighbors & city can see it plain-as-day ..... so they react to it in a negative way.
The city often turns their back on some violations, if your entire property is clean, neat and quiet. I suspect Chris' isn't.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by eljefino
When it rains it pours! Did you make a neighbor mad or something?


That's the first thing that came to my mind. His home is an eyesore and neighbors & city can see it plain-as-day ..... so they react to it in a negative way.
The city often turns their back on some violations, if your entire property is clean, neat and quiet. I suspect Chris' isn't.


Its not trashy at all. Since we moved in we hauled off all the junk,junk cars,planted trees etc. Can't do much about the weeds till they die. Wacking them when they are Alive does not work.

Some of the places I pass to get home are an eyesore for sure.

 

[Chris142]

As you can see I'm the last house on the road. No neighbors close enough to be a bother. Nobody See's us except friends.

 

[HangFire]

Perhaps triple 7's post was inartfully worded. I'm guessing many in the neighborhood had a lot of run-ins with various kinds of enforcement; now they want the new owner to tow the line; or sell to someone who will.

 

[wtd]

I'm there with you. I can fix quite a few things on vehicles but on houses, I'm pretty clueless. I can do basic stuff. My house which my ex-wife and I bought new in 1992 needs a lot of work. I have lived with my fiancee since 2007 so my house sat empty quite a bit though I let several friends of mine over the years live there after they were in the process of divorces.

Obviously I have neglected stuff over the years since I wasn't living there and now I'm going to have to pay for it. It needs a new roof and the masonite siding in the back is in very bad shape as is the fireplace casing that is made out of the same stuff. There were no building codes in the town I lived in back when the house was built so there is no black paper under the shingles and there is no flashing around the fireplace casing which has rotted some of the deck boards of the roof and has rotted the end of one of the rafters.

This is all stuff that I cannot do myself and is going to cost a ton of money to fix which I don't have at the moment. It's paid off but I almost wish that I would have gotten rid of it years ago.

 

[zrxkawboy]

I hear ya. I've become better at home repairs over the years, but I'm sure no expert, and I certainly don't enjoy most of it.

 

[clinebarger]

Originally Posted by bbhero
10/3 to your outlets.... Wow that's heavy gauge wire for outlets... You pulling some serious amps on those outlets I guess

I have seen 14/3 in many, many spec built homes... My step father ran 12 gauge wire to all of his outlets in the house he built in 93/94...



Nah....I don't pull a lot of amperage through the outlets, That's just what my electrician had.....He was a industrial/commercial electrician
I also have 20 amp outlets that I have no need for.

 

[JHZR2]

Terrible at home repairs? No.

Do they take 2-5x longer than they should? Yes (car work too). Maybe I'm too careful or something.

I'm surprised a temporary inflatable pool caused all this. Must be a million of those things out there. Problem now is that they got a glimpse into your world. No turning back.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by JustinH
I thought the original post was a joke or parody, it read exactly like one.

That was my thought!

Not sure who you peeved off, but it sure sounds like you managed to.

I don't like working on my house, but I've given up since it's not worth repairing anyhow. I've tackled a few things but it's not uncommon for it to go sideways. I've refused to touch the furnace though, that thing has to work through the winter and it's just too important to leave it to myself otherwise.

 

[greenjp]

Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by JustinH
I thought the original post was a joke or parody, it read exactly like one.

That was my thought!

Me three. It read like some homeowner nightmare version of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie..."

I am a pretty good home repair guy, to the point where I've been getting enlisted by relatives to assist with jobs. I always tell them, I'll research the job, bring all my tools, and do my best but the end result might not be as aesthetically pleasing as a pro would do and there are no warranties. Fortunately I haven't had any call backs

Just this past weekend I finished up a floor repair in my MIL's house. 10 or so years ago some contractor hacks remodeled a bathroom, put the flooring in incorrectly, and improperly installed a toilet resulting in a leak and rotted subfloor. Pulled up the affected section, sistered & braced the joists, reinstalled appropriate plywood and Ditra underlayment, correctly installed a new toilet drain, tiled, and set the new toilet. Probably saved her a couple grand. I also installed a bunch of new lights in her garage and basement that an electrician had quoted her $2k for. Took me about $250 in materials.

jeff

 

[DoubleWasp]

Home repairs seriously make me feel mentally disabled sometimes. I do what I can and hire out the rest.