While the coldest (and snowiest) winter I can remember probably has another month to live, now's the time to start making phone calls.
Major house projects, in order of priority (for me, anyway; Rich disagrees):
1. Sidewalks, concrete work, masonry, tree removal. I'll be sad to see those trees go, but go they must. They're old and I fear another icy winter will do us all in. Besides, the township is repaving in the neighborhood this summer ... can't hurt the curb appeal. Not that we're moving anytime soon, promise.
2. Windows. It's possible this is a tie with No. 1. I'm ready for those energy bills to take a dip.
3. Gutters. This one's relatively easy and clearly cheaper than the others, and I foresee this one being done rather quickly.
4. The porch. Ah, the porch: That one's tied with the windows. After that, we can tile, paint, etc. Kittehs should be excited.
Yeah, yeah, we know -- "welcome to homeownership!"
We're under no delusion that buying an 85-year-old house would be easy ... then again, that's probably why we did it.
I need a vacation just thinking about it.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Window Shopping
We’re going to need new windows.
Don’t worry, nothing broke. We bought our abode knowing that the windows were as old as the hills, and that it was only a matter of time until we would have to replace them. Whether we do it in phases or all at once remains to be seen. We got one estimate to do the whole house and it was some unseemly number like $15,000. Now, I’m sure that was high and we could do much better. We could probably do the whole house for less than $10,000.
My question is when should we do it?
One couple we’re friends put new windows in as they bought the house. They pay the cost each month, just like having a bigger mortgage for as long as it takes to pay off. My first thought was to wait until January 2012 and then take out a home equity loan to do the windows and put a half-bathroom in the alcove at the top of our staircase. That way, we could use this next year to save up our money and replenish the bank account in the year after we depleted it to buy said alcove, staircase and aged windows.
What do you guys think?
We’ve already gotten through half of a rough winter, so I don’t feel like there’s any particular hurry there. Although, admittedly, I hate that our oil-burning furnace costs us a vicious fortune. It burns 6 gallons a day, or so I’m told by an oil company lady. At $3.50 per gallon, that’s $21 a day in oil, not counting the cost of transforming the oil into heat. But I digress.
Would you do the windows sooner or later? Do them in phases or all at once? Do it as its own project? Or wrap into a bigger house project, say during the summer 2012?
Don’t worry, nothing broke. We bought our abode knowing that the windows were as old as the hills, and that it was only a matter of time until we would have to replace them. Whether we do it in phases or all at once remains to be seen. We got one estimate to do the whole house and it was some unseemly number like $15,000. Now, I’m sure that was high and we could do much better. We could probably do the whole house for less than $10,000.
My question is when should we do it?
One couple we’re friends put new windows in as they bought the house. They pay the cost each month, just like having a bigger mortgage for as long as it takes to pay off. My first thought was to wait until January 2012 and then take out a home equity loan to do the windows and put a half-bathroom in the alcove at the top of our staircase. That way, we could use this next year to save up our money and replenish the bank account in the year after we depleted it to buy said alcove, staircase and aged windows.
What do you guys think?
We’ve already gotten through half of a rough winter, so I don’t feel like there’s any particular hurry there. Although, admittedly, I hate that our oil-burning furnace costs us a vicious fortune. It burns 6 gallons a day, or so I’m told by an oil company lady. At $3.50 per gallon, that’s $21 a day in oil, not counting the cost of transforming the oil into heat. But I digress.
Would you do the windows sooner or later? Do them in phases or all at once? Do it as its own project? Or wrap into a bigger house project, say during the summer 2012?
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Gotta Do the To-Do
Our Bob Vila to-do list is growing.
We’ve got a bunch of little things that need to be done, but we’re not doing them. So I thought putting a public list of them out there would help motivate us:
- Go over a water stain in the living room with ceiling paint.
- Finally paint the ceiling in the stairwell and paint over the wall where the movers scratched off the paint.
- Put the leaning bookcase in the dining room.
- Paint the master bedroom.
- Cover the big air conditioner and use heat-wrap on living room and master bedroom windows to seal in, duh, heat.
Geez, I’m tired just thinking about this.
Maybe writing this out was a bad idea?
We’ve got a bunch of little things that need to be done, but we’re not doing them. So I thought putting a public list of them out there would help motivate us:
- Go over a water stain in the living room with ceiling paint.
- Finally paint the ceiling in the stairwell and paint over the wall where the movers scratched off the paint.
- Put the leaning bookcase in the dining room.
- Paint the master bedroom.
- Cover the big air conditioner and use heat-wrap on living room and master bedroom windows to seal in, duh, heat.
Geez, I’m tired just thinking about this.
Maybe writing this out was a bad idea?
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
A Moment of Seriousness
It’s been suggested, er, required, that I post more blogs this year. Especially since this blog was originally my idea, but my blushing bride has done all the work to date.
So I’d like to kick off my 2011 blogging with a quick recap of 2010, the busiest year of Bich’s life. You already know about the house (Brooke’s pictures don’t do all her hard work justice; this place is really looking good) and you likely know how much we love food and wine.
So I’m going to take a few minutes to talk about something serious that happened in my life. First, some background. When I started my new job in 2008 as a financial journalist, I was more than a bit bummed to be leaving the world of newspapers. As one friend said, the journalism was the same, but the new place would be a job. Newspapers are a way of life. That all led to a rather difficult transition period for me. I struggled for the first few months with that, but got lucky that somebody took me under their wing. That guy, David, became a true mentor and a friend.
David died Oct. 23.
It was my first adult experience with death - and in the true circle of life came just days before the birth of my best friend's son. Yes, I’d lost grandparents, as we all have, but this was different. I understand some of you have dealt with deaths even closer to home. Two of my closest friends are under 35 years old and have already lost a parent each. It’s a pain I can’t conceive, and never want to.
Still, I was beside myself after David died, and I had only known him for two-plus years. I couldn’t imagine going to work every day and not being able to do the things we did everyday. Quoting Family Guy. Testing the other’s ability to recall arcane trivia, either sporting or historical in nature. (Editor’s note: David could remember more than I’ll ever forget. The guy had the best memory of anyone I’ve ever known.) Me actually having to take the other side of the “Red Sox suck” argument. David loved his BoSox but, man, was he always dour on their chances.
Anyway, after David died, I was given his job. Two years after I made the biggest professional transition of my life, I was assuming a job of quasi-supervisory work. I got a fancy title and all the responsibility that came with it. I’ll save you the boring details of my daily routine, but suffice it to say, I’m working harder than I ever have.
So I’d like to kick off my 2011 blogging with a quick recap of 2010, the busiest year of Bich’s life. You already know about the house (Brooke’s pictures don’t do all her hard work justice; this place is really looking good) and you likely know how much we love food and wine.
So I’m going to take a few minutes to talk about something serious that happened in my life. First, some background. When I started my new job in 2008 as a financial journalist, I was more than a bit bummed to be leaving the world of newspapers. As one friend said, the journalism was the same, but the new place would be a job. Newspapers are a way of life. That all led to a rather difficult transition period for me. I struggled for the first few months with that, but got lucky that somebody took me under their wing. That guy, David, became a true mentor and a friend.
David died Oct. 23.
It was my first adult experience with death - and in the true circle of life came just days before the birth of my best friend's son. Yes, I’d lost grandparents, as we all have, but this was different. I understand some of you have dealt with deaths even closer to home. Two of my closest friends are under 35 years old and have already lost a parent each. It’s a pain I can’t conceive, and never want to.
Still, I was beside myself after David died, and I had only known him for two-plus years. I couldn’t imagine going to work every day and not being able to do the things we did everyday. Quoting Family Guy. Testing the other’s ability to recall arcane trivia, either sporting or historical in nature. (Editor’s note: David could remember more than I’ll ever forget. The guy had the best memory of anyone I’ve ever known.) Me actually having to take the other side of the “Red Sox suck” argument. David loved his BoSox but, man, was he always dour on their chances.
Anyway, after David died, I was given his job. Two years after I made the biggest professional transition of my life, I was assuming a job of quasi-supervisory work. I got a fancy title and all the responsibility that came with it. I’ll save you the boring details of my daily routine, but suffice it to say, I’m working harder than I ever have.
I have questions constantly, the kind of questions that only David could answer.
David built my publication into something pretty impressive. It’s a national leader in what it does, all on the backs of four reporters, including me, and a few data folks. We do things that the industry we cover has come to rely on – and we do it really, really well. Much of that is because of ideas, creativity and leadership that my friend showed.
A lot of people have told me I’m the right guy to follow David. I hope that’s true, because David left really big shoes to fill.
I’ll do my best not to trip while wearing them.
David built my publication into something pretty impressive. It’s a national leader in what it does, all on the backs of four reporters, including me, and a few data folks. We do things that the industry we cover has come to rely on – and we do it really, really well. Much of that is because of ideas, creativity and leadership that my friend showed.
A lot of people have told me I’m the right guy to follow David. I hope that’s true, because David left really big shoes to fill.
I’ll do my best not to trip while wearing them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)