The Money Pit

This is my blog as I gradually get my money pit of a home into liveable condition.  I hope to be able to figure out how to put up pictures over time.  The house, itself, is a money pit, but the individual unpleasant surprises are, each, a pit of their own.  So, in the interest of chronicling the home's transformation, and as a salute to all money pit owners, past and present, I am going to tell my rather lengthy, rather dramatic story, here. 

I just bought a house.  It needed work and I knew that.  I took it into consideration when I made the offer.  I didn't get a steal on the property, but I feel I got a fair price.  The main thing to me was the location:  within walking distance of my old house.  That way, my son can walk to and from without a lot of drama.

Other aspects of the location are appealing as well.  It backs up to a ravine, undeveloped woods and a view of a creek.  From the back of the house, it's a perfectly tranquil setting.  It's also on a cul-de-sac.

The house itself was built in the mid 1970s.  It probably hasn't been updated much since then.  So, I knew this was going to be an adventure.

The shame of it is that the house I'm leaving is pretty much perfect.  It's well appointed.  The previous owner updated the whole thing.  It's got oak trim and 6 panel doors and a country style motif.  I like to say that this style is perpetually one generation out of date.  It never looks too dated, but it never looks like it's the most contemporary decor.  In its own way, it's understated and timeless, and won't leave you redecorating every 10 years.

Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong in the past 10 years in my old house did.  The refrigerator, built-in microwave, dishwasher, and air conditioner all went on the fritz.  So, the few things that weren't new when we moved in are pretty much all new, now.  And the very few things that needed an update, like the sink and the front door, got updated over time as well.  Thanks to a cat with an aversion to the litterbox, every piece of carpet in the house was replaced, too.

I even added a huge new deck where a rotting, tiny deck had been.  Although I didn't do much landscaping, I did have half a dozen really large trees removed from the property.

So, I leave a house that's pretty close to good as new.  If I had to guess, I put over $20,000 into the old house in the past 10 years, and it was in pretty darned good shape when we moved in.

The new house?  It needs a little updating.

As anybody who has ever bought a house that needed "a little updating" can tell you, it doesn't take long in a house to realize that the place needs a lot more work than you thought at first.

This will be my home for at least the next 10 years.  I want it to be comfortable and a source of pride and enjoyment.  So, it's going to be a project.

The toughest question at first was simply where to start.  There's so much that's wrong or in need of repair or update in the house.  Thinking about it was actually depressing.  Pretty much anything in the house that isn't broken is unstylish.  There is nearly no room in the house that doesn't need SOMETHING, and in most of the rooms, they need a very substantial something.

The entire house has very dark, brown trim and wood.  The windows and doors almost all need adjustment or replacement.  The flooring is bad in more than half the house.  They did bizarre things to it architecturally.

On the bright side, it has some great features.  It's 3 houses away from the old house.  The back yard is every bit as serene and beautiful as I thought it would be.  The house is on a cul-de-sac, so no real traffic out front.  Oddly, the house is built back behind what I would think is the build line which gives the house extra privacy and an extra large front yard. 

The house is also very large.  It has good bones.  It's structurally sound and frankly, it's not that bad.  Lots of people live in houses in worse condition and if I didn't change anything, I could probably invite folks to the house without worrying about being too embarassed by the condition. 

It's also big.  It was listed at over 2,700 square feet and it looks like every square inch of that.  It's got both formal and informal dining areas and two living areas.  It also has 5 bedrooms, 4 of which are nice sized and one of which is modest, but not ridiculously small.

On top of all that, I got the house for what I think was a good price (in line with a few foreclosures in the area), and with a 30 year 4.625% fixed VA loan and zero down with seller paying all closing costs. 

So, there's a lot of reason to be happy.  It just needs work.

The very first thing I noticed was that the doors needed to be replaced.  The door between the living room and garage wasn't even an exterior door.  It was an interior door.  (No insulation, lightweight, would offer no protection in the event of a fire in the garage.)  Modern codes require a steel door there. 

The back door has a large window in the upper half.  That's a big theft risk.  So, I want that replaced with a steel door as well.  The basement has a walk-out and it looks like at one time there was a moisture problem down there.  The bottom of the door is rotted and there's a half-window. 

So, total of 3 steel doors.  The front door is actually in really good shape.  It has side windows to the left and right, which I'm not a big fan of, but for the mean time, it's something I can live with.  The door is a very dark wood tone, though.  So, I will probably do something about that. 

The toughest part of living in a money pit / house that needs work, is that it's overwhelming.  Every day you see something that needs fixed and most days the stuff doesn't get fixed.  It wears you down.

I'm trying to focus.  The place needs new paint, trim, wood, windows, flooring and a few architectural changes plus an entirely new kitchen.  Yeah, did I mention it needs work? 

The very first project is the living room.  It was long and narrow:  about 25 x 12.  It was separated by a non-load-bearing wall from the informal dining area which is another 20 x 12.  Then, the galley kitchen and the formal dining room.

I figured I wanted at least one room in the house that was "finished" and that I would feel good about.  No way I could have felt good with the living room the way it started.

It had dark panelling wainscoting and wallpaper that was original to the house.  The carpet was entirely too dark and it was both faded and stained.  A thorough cleaning took care of the staining, but not the fading. 

I was on the fence as to whether or not to just live with it until finances would make it easier to switch over when I noticed that the place might be dramatically improved if the wall separating the informal dining room from the living room came out.

That wall made the informal dining area sort of claustrophobic and dark.  It also separated the kitchen area from the living room area, completely.  I hope to entertain in the house and since the kitchen is the main place to congregate for folks who don't know where else to go, I didn't want it to be isolated from the living room (which is the main place to congregate for folks who know where to go.)

There were a couple of catches to the whole deal.  The first is that taking out the wall and replacing the carpet were basically two sides of the same coin.  If you did one, you may as well do the other.

The second is that there were wires, switches, thermostats, etc., mounted on and in the wall.

I vacillated on the decision a bit longer and had my guys prep the rest of the room.

They tore down the dark panel wainscot and when they did, they found an area that had moisture problems in the past and had rotted. 

Money Pit #1:  the rotted wall.

Fortunately, I actually own a company that fixes water damaged houses.  Go figure.  We tested to see if the water problem was current or whether this was something from 30 years ago that had long since been fixed.  After investigating, it was clear that the moisture problem was REALLY old.  They took care of it by putting gutters up on the permiter of the flat roof.

But still, it left the issue of a rotted wall.  The siding would have to come off.  The sill plate and the floor sheathing would have to be replaced as well as one stud and the exterior sheathing.

Not the hugest project and frankly, it turned out beautifully, but these money pits are... well... the pits.  Whenever you open up a wall or pull back a carpet, you're probably going to find something in a house that's almost 40 years old.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.  Most people's homes have really nasty things wrong with them.  Folks just don't know it.  Trust me... I know... I own a company that fixes screwed up houses.

Well, once that was done, we also pulled back enough of the carpet to reveal stains that probably came from a pet at some point in time.  So, the carpet was gone.  That made my decision for me on the wall, too.  It may as well go, too.

In for a penny, in for a pound.  We took out the wall.

The difference was amazing, though.  Brightened up the entire area and gave it a more contemporary look.  Not quite a great room:  it's too narrow for that, but clearly the heart of the home.

I was overjoyed.  Until the next day when I got home and the temps inside were 100 degrees +. 

Money Pit #2:  something went haywire on the furnace, almost certainly because we took the thermostat off the wall and set it on the floor, disrupting the wires that led to the thermostat.

I disconnected all the wires:  the furnace still ran.  I went downstairs and flipped off the switch on the furnace.  It still ran.  I killed the circuit breaker.  It's off, now.  I probably won't need a furnace for another 7 months or so.  That's probably how long it'll take me to afford to get this one fixed or replaced.  The thing is 16 years old, though.  I was sort of expecting to have to deal with it sometime.  I don't know that the furnace is beyond repair, but it's unwelcome news, to say the least.

I sure hope the A/C still works.  I WILL call out somebody to get that going if it isn't working.

Money Pit #3:  the dishwasher doesn't really work.  It starts... it just doesn't stop.  Ever.  I have a dishwasher at work that we've used maybe twice in the past 4 years.  I'll have it put in, instead. It still has the protective plastic coating on the front of the door.

Money Pit #4:  the old occupants left a washer and dryer.  I think the washer mostly works, but I could swear the spin cycle left the clothes overly damp.  I know the dryer doesn't work, though.  Tried it and it sounded like a broken cement mixer and left the clothes still damp after an hour. 

Not only did they leave a washer and dryer, they left 2 of each, none of which work.  I really, really didn't want to have to spend money on a washer and dryer, but here I go.

Money Pit #5:  the avacado kitchen sink and leaking faucet.  I replaced the sink with an inexpensive stainless one and the faucet with one that didn't leak. 

Money Pit #6:  I need a TV for the house and was driving down the road when a local store was blowing out some Samsung 46" LED TVs for $800.  That's a pretty good price.  So, I bought it... one day before being given my old 52" LED.  So, now I have two badass TVs.  I can't afford cable, but I own two badass TVs.  I also get my awesome old surround sound stereo.

Money Pit #7:  I HAVE NO FURNITURE.  I bought a 4 piece living room set (upholstered, sofa, loveseat, chair and ottoman) from Sam's club online, but lord only knows when it'll arrive.  The room won't be ready for a while, anyway.  So, no need to go nuts.  So long as it arrives when promised (they said 4-5 weeks), I'll be happy.  I have that and two twin beds.  One for me, one for my son.  That's it. 

At this point, I think I can make do, but I need dressers for our clothes.  I'm thinking of springing for closet organizers since the house is full of pretty large closets.  No walk-ins, but the big wide ones. 

So, that brings the first entry of the Money Pit Blog to a close.  You don't even want to know about the projects I haven't mentioned that are coming later on down the road.  Even if you did, I don't want to think about them, yet.  I'm depressed enough as it is.