After much Strum und Drang, we decided on the "All Electric" house that the sellers dropped the price on rather than doing the roof themselves.
Which *I* think is a Good Thing, because I know we'll get a better job doing it through our 'family connections' than hiring Joe Schmo Roofing Company.
The listing agent sent us a quote for the job and it was $5700. I showed it to our in-law, and had to help him off the ground after his laughter subsided.
A more realistic quote using "30 Year High Impact" shingles, along with the proper weather proofing, underlayment, new flashing, "other" repair, etc is closer to $9200.
You gets what you pays for!
And the fence quote came in lower than expected. The "Fence Guy", who it turns out is a Master Carpenter and Finish Guy, came by yesterday afternoon and explained things to my wife. Afterwards, he, I and our in-law sat around doing the "Three Guys After Work BS Thing" talking about construction, motorcycles, family, and all manner of other Guy Stuff that the wimmens don't get, but allow the guys to do as it keeps us happy, healthy, and sane.
Turns out when the fence was put in back in 1970 something, they didn't set the posts in the concrete properly, the water puddled at the base of the post, and over half the posts have rotted out at the ground level. The individual fence panels are still about 80% "good", and will only need some new slats in spots.
So, we'll get ALL new, properly set posts, panels repairs "As Required", and a new, double-wide gate and posts, hinges and hardware for about $1200, a bunch less than all new everything.
The double wide gate is a nod to the future, as it will let the "Tree Guy" get his bucket truck back there the next time we need a couple of the big trees trimmed. It costs significantly less to get a big tree trimmed if he can get his truck to it, rather than having to climb. He said what he can do in one day with his truck, would take several days if he has to climb.
Escrow should close November 6th, as planned, and the fence and tree guys will be there the next day to knock out their work, weather permitting.
The roof will be the next major project, but we don't know the weather that far out. They won't do it in the rain or snow, or below a certain temperature . As the materials get a bit weird if you install them when it's below a certain temperature, and possibly will never seal correctly, they just won't do it below "X degrees".
And then there's the washer and dryer, a snow blower ( I am NOT shoveling snow!), window coverings, and a bunch of misc work to things like ALL the sink drains in the house, some Formica (remember that stuff?) damage on the kitchen cabinets, a completely missing lower hinge assembly on the kitchen cab under the sink, and I'm sure more little things than I know about now.
The tower and antenna can wait until spring. I can always operate with my Elecraft K2 and either my BuddiPole/BuddiStick, or my "big" vertical/SGC-230 combination and one of my other rigs.
Satellite operations from DN70kn are also a definite possibility in the next couple of months. And I could also do DN70jp here in Bellvue if I got motivated enough.
So, the last i's have been crossed and t's dotted in the offer/acceptance chain.
Next stop......close of escrow!
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<i>The Fisher Saga</i> Continues - Act III -
Been working on this post since right after Thanksgiving. I'm making very good progress on the Fisher, and will most likely power it up...
Make sure the double wide gate is large enough to get the crane in to erect the tower and place the antennas. :)
ReplyDeleteX2 an ounce of prevention and planning is worth a pound of cure.
DeleteIt will be big enough to get a full-sized "dualie" with a bucket on it in the back yard.
DeleteOur in-law has a "real" construction crane that's big enought to set tower sections and the antenna from the street.
All power and telephone/cable lines are buried in this neighborhood, so no worries about overhead wires, just trees.
Whacking back the big old dead/dying cottonwood will open up a lot of space to swing a beam!
Hoping the stress factor of the past few months will ebb. Still to come, survive the move in and wife's feng shui.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how it could be worse than the last few weeks before we moved. We were at each others throats half the time, not speaking for a quarter of time, and civil the remaining quarter.
DeleteShe would have really been freaked if it wasn't for our gracious in-laws renting us this place inexpensively, and giving us priceless guidance on damage assessments, and good workmen to do the repairs.
She wanted a 99% "turn key" house, and that just wasn't going to happen in our price range and the area she wanted.
Our in-law tells us we could easily flip the place next summer for $450k~$465k.
'Aint gonna happen, but it put her mind at ease that we aren't going to lose our shirts buying this house.
I lost track. The electric place is the one you said you bought about a week ago? I remember you talking about running gas to it. Or did I miss something?
ReplyDeleteRegardless - congrats on getting it finalized and just that much closer!
Yep, it's the one I posted pix of a while back. We were hesitant over the "ALL Electric" aspect, and it will cost more to heat, BUT....location, location, location!
DeleteWe don't know for sure if it has a gas line running from the street to the house or not. All the local energy company (Excel) told us was they had no record of billing for it.
DUH! No sh1t, Sherlock!
Good News! Happy that you're finally on the home stretch.
ReplyDeleteAll the utilities here are underground, and PG&E will come out (for free) and mark where the lines are on the property if you are doing anything that may impact the lines. Does the gas co there do that?
I'm sure they do, or will, Brig.
DeleteWhat's the number to call before you dig? 611 or something?
Here ya go...
Deletehttps://www.fcgov.com/utilities/safety-and-security/locate-underground-utilities
Thank you, ma'am!
DeleteWe'll worry about that after we take possession. The house has an electric stove, and we both hate electric stoves.
Plus I'd like to add a heater to the garage.
My wife and I prefer a gas cook top. If I was in an all electric neighborhood as I was about 20 years ago, I would put in a propane tank and have it piped into the house if it is allowed by the local zoning authority.
DeleteI either make stuff raw, or burn it on an electric!
DeleteThat is Good News. Happy happy!
ReplyDeleteYep....now just waiting for the clock to run out, and the crews to get to work!
DeleteCan you not push the date back? We originally were set for the 18th (today) but the buyer had business out of town so we moved it up to the 4th (two weeks ago). This house is unoccupied so that shouldn't be a problem though you may have other reasons to wait.
DeleteWe can't legally start any work until the house is in our name. We can stay here as long as we want, so it's no problem. I don't see why we'd want to push the date back.....
DeleteYea! And I'd recommend pulling every plate off every switch and plug and checking the tension on the nuts holding the wired to the switches and plugs. I did that here, and found 30% were loose!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, NFO....I hadn't thought of that. I noticed some new switches and outlets since we first looked at the place, and considering the "quality" of some of the work I've seen there (FLEX hose for a sink drain? WTF!), it's probably a good idea to just spend a Saturday or Sunday checking that stuff.
DeleteWhat you may find is "push to connect" wiring done on some or all of those outlets. Don't do this. Remove the wires and put them under the screws. Those spring bar connections get weak and loose due to heat cycling. Those things can get warm with poor connections. I've heard that house fires have occurred due to this system. Some areas have banned using them by code revision, apparently. You should be good to go with the screw connections. That is direct to the plug contacts.
DeleteRegarding flex drain hoses, you may find you can't eliminate them without considerable rework of the p-trap setup. Typically, they are used in rework situations that left a new sink bowl or cabinet offset a bit from the original drain. Getting all that perfectly lined up is difficult, if not impossible, unless replacing with identical items, and THAT is unlikely.
Yeah, I've NEVER used the 'push in' part of an outlet. I always wrap the wire around the screw and tighten it down.
DeleteHadn't thought about the misalignment of the drain stuff. I'll start on the one that looks easiest and go from there. The flex hose was only used on one of the drains. The rest had regular, but corroded, P-Traps on them.
Get some overboots to go over your shoes for a quick run into deep snow. 1-2 sizes bigger than your shoes. Zip or buckle up. Snow brushes for all your cars. Stock up on WW fluid, and keep them full in the winter! If your blades aren't new, replace them all.
ReplyDeletePut new blades on the Jeep before I drove it out here, and put new blades on the wife's car last week.
DeleteGot a smoking deal on washer fluid, so I have 5 gallons. Snow brushes are in both cars.
She bought a couple of pairs of good boots, and I'll get some soon.
I was planning on getting a pair of the big, clunky, metal-buckle overboots like I had in grade school...