Our money pit

Well, we have thrown more money into our house again this weekend. Somewhat out of need more than want. We had a toilet begin leaking several months ago, being the handy house-husband that I am, I tried to fix it myself. Needless to say after two fixes, it broke for good this past Friday. What should have been about a two hour fix turned into a three day ordeal, invloving more than four trips to the local Home Depot. The only good thing that came out of it was the credit card deal for purchases of more than $299 have a one year no interest and no payment set-up. It frustrated me to have to make that many trips to the store too!

Did I mention the letter that we got from the city we live in telling us that are in "violation of code 986- for cracked and peeling paint on our house". We were given a deadline for beginning work May 31 and finish by August 31. If this doesn't happen they want to take us to municipal court. Yeah, we aren't going to make it. We wrote a letter to ask for an extention on the time table. What a bunch of >>>> I knew when we bought the house that we needed to paint the blasted thing. Now I just want to drag my heels because someone has forced a deadline on me!

Ah, much better after the vent....and a margarita....

[Auspicious]

This is why I fear buying. You can't just call the landlord.

Of course I also fear not buying, but most of those fears are financial. Overall, be glad you own a house, Matt. Leaky toilets suck, but at least it's your leaky toilet.

8)

[Meenah]

Now I feel like I need to go outside and check my house!!!! Think I'll make a margarita first. Now is the time to all any and all friends in the same boat as you and have a house apinting party.
Luanne

[SueC]

That's crazy Matt! How could they expect you to comply with such a deadline? Do you live in a historic neighborhood? We do and can also be "cited" for such a violation but I've never heard of a deadline such as that being imposed!

No historic neighborhood, just too many city council folk with time on their hands!!

I am really not too worried about it, if they press us, I will walk outside with my paint roller and paint the spots that need it. Of course my house will most likely look worse but the cracks and peels will be covered!!
I have come to the conclusion that I am about to get some exterior house painting experience. We have had some estimates and they have ranged from $3900 to about $2000. Yeah, not paying that. The house is only 24' x 48'. How hard can it be, really??!! I am excited, but nervous, because if it sucks....no one to blame but me!! Wish me luck, I will keep everyone posted!

Luanne, I have already "recruited" family and a couple friends, thanks for the idea!!

[PrincessFiona]

No historic neighborhood, just too many city council folk with time on their hands!!

Ugh...that makes me nuts FOR you!!!!

Matt...I'm with you there on the whole 'fix it yourself' thing. Of course, when I utter "how hard can it be?" I usually end up finding out

I say go and get a sander and sand down the peeling areas first....at least you'll be able then to comply with the May 31 begin date, right A month or so later, prime the outside.....then a month or so later pick some paint and paint it.

What an incredible pain! That is the thing about home ownership that is so different than renting...we used to be able to call the maintenance people in anytime there was a problem...now, it's all on us. Neither Thomas or I are talented at home repairs, so when my dad comes, we usually put him to work for the whole week 8)

kris

[mommax3]

Matt,

I spent two summers during college working for an outdoor painting company, so I have some tips for you. Don't worry about a sander -- get a handheld scraper and scrape the worst parts. If you aren't sure if a section needs scraping, run the scraper over it once or twice -- if nothing peels off, go to another section. If you have a LARGE section of cracked and peeling paint, it might be worth renting a power sprayer to save time and effort.

Try not to paint on humid days, esp. if you are doing more than one coat of paint. CHECK FOR WASP'S NESTS BEFORE YOU GET STARTED! Don't go up high on a ladder if you are by yourself, and don't forget sunscreen on your ears and the back of your neck!

I hope it will go quickly.

Sally

[PrincessFiona]

oops

Sorry for the bad advice there about sanding...see..I told you that I usually find out how "hard it is" once I get started...probably because I don't have a clue of what I'm doing and so I make more work for myself.

kris

[Meenah]

Check out the cost of siding, I don't know what it runs, but may be worth it in the long run.
Luanne

Thanks for the great tips!

Luanne, I have checked on siding, we had to replace all the windows in this house and got a couple estimates on siding at the same time. For the time that we are going to be here, it just isn't something that we can afford right now. Most estimates were between $5K to $7500....except that one for about $14K...needless to say after I picked myself up from the floor I was ready to start painting!!

Sally, DW has a residency mate's fiance who recently purchased a power sprayer and a paint sprayer and has graciously offered to let us borrow them. Whooo-hooo!! I even offered to pay him a "rental" rate.

I will let you know how it goes!!

The replaced toilet is beautiful and fully functional (with no leaks!!!!!!! )

[Meenah]

Wow, I didn't know siding was so expensive. I have a power sprayer that I have never used, if your friends offer falls through, I'll UPS mine to you.
Luanne

[PrincessFiona]

money pit

Matt,

Whatever happened about the whole paint the house thing? Did you guys miss the deadline for 'starting'?

kris

Yep....but I broke out my writing skills and sent them a letter asking for different timetable to work with. They called back the day that they got the letter and told us that was fine, they also told me that they sent out over 160 letters in the community. We aren't able to start work right now due to there not being an income! (other than vacation pay/sick pay) Gretchen has taken full advantage of FMLA and we are about to being living on our saved pennies!

This has all the makings for one of those times that our debt load could get another boost in the wrong direction!! But at least it appears there will be no court appearance needed!

[peggyfromwastate]

Hey Matt- that's great that you're in contact with the city people about it! sounds like they may be willing to work with you? Out here, when we get a notice that something has to be done by such and such a date, if we haven't done it the city sends out workers to do it, and then we will get the bill. They won't do that to you, will they? That would really really be awful.

Good luck---

Thank goodness that doesn't happen, as far as I know!

We have a "paint party" planned for mid-July! Right when it gets nice and hot! But, it should be done easily by Sept 1st!! Hooray!