The best thing about owning a house...

[amdskip]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
It always bugged me when I lived in an apartment and saw all the little things I WANTED to fix but couldn't. Now that I got a house, I can just go and do it. Money permitting of course. I just redid the electrical in my place, and it's awesome. The next major project is to get insulation in, but I'll have to hire someone to do that. There's no insulation in any of my walls, so I'll just have them poke holes in through the outside, blow it in, and stucco patch over it. This winter I'll probably roll more insulation into the attic myself though.

<-- has a long list of projects to do now

You should blow insulation into your attic before winter. It will make a very nice difference. Blown covers everything better and fits around randomly sized objects much better.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: DaWhim
I like the mobility with renting.

I do too....but it gets old after a while...especially now since rent is going up everywhere.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: amdskip
You should blow insulation into your attic before winter. It will make a very nice difference. Blown covers everything better and fits around randomly sized objects much better.

I already have about 6" of blown in. I was going to get some rolls to go above that. I did the electrical first because it was a ton easier to run wire through empty walls

 

[Red Squirrel]

I recently became a home owner myself and been reading up a lot on DIY stuff especially electrical. It's an older house and the electrical is half decent (I've seen worse) but some things needed fixing which I did. Also got electricians to check a few things out and show me stuff at the same time.

My next thing to venture is plumbing as most of the pipes are corroding and will need to be changed soon enough before I get problems, such as finding out my server is in 3 feet of water. plumbing scares me more then electrical though, an electrical mistake will trip a breaker or produce sparks and potential fire right in front of me, a plumbing mistake will flood a basement days or even months later, when I'm not there. At least when you flip the breaker and everything works, you know you're good. Unless there's something really stupid like a bad ground or very loose wires, or anything against code like a hidden jbox.

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: amdskip
http://picasaweb.google.com/sk...ss#5357807637176989442

I'm in the middle of a kitchen project. Always looking for volunteers to help me.

good stuff man! looks like you did a LOT by yourself. kudos.

wish I'd documented all my work too. just as a memory of how it looked before, and during

 

[swbsam]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: DaWhim
I like the mobility with renting.

I do too....but it gets old after a while...especially now since rent is going up everywhere.

My wife argued very much in favor of mobility and renting, but with our rent already at $1825 and only rising in NYC, the stability of a mortgage is a wonderful thing. If we want to move we can always rent out our place and benefit from the instability of rent

And here's the thing about high-rent areas: Landlords will always try to screw you over, even during a rough economy. Year to year rent increases will rarely be fair, so moving out is often the only option.. Moving every year SUCKS. I hate how 2 months out of every year was wasted on moving and unpacking.. Hell, we moved into our new home with some boxes that weren't even unpacked from our last move.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Originally posted by: Aharami

Originally posted by: amdskip
http://picasaweb.google.com/sk...ss#5357807637176989442

I'm in the middle of a kitchen project. Always looking for volunteers to help me.

good stuff man! looks like you did a LOT by yourself. kudos.

wish I'd documented all my work too. just as a memory of how it looked before, and during

Yeah before/during/after are always great.

I am doing the same for my house: http://gal.redsquirrel.me/?level=collection&id=7

Most of the stuff I'm doing at this point is demolition and cleaning though. The big stuff like the kitchen and washroom is being done by contractors. Sometimes it's just worth getting professionals to do some of the bigger, more tedious stuff.

 

[Paperdoc]

First, congrats to OP and many others for learning and doing all those things so quickly! I got the handyman gene from my father, who certainly taught and encouraged me how things work, and how to fix. There's a humorous family tale of my dismantling an alarm clock at age 5 to see how it works. Moreover, I've kept on learning and increasing my own range of things I can tackle. It is amazing how much money you save by DIY, if you can do it properly.

Another really important thing to learn (as many here show they have) is to recognize one's limits and know when to call in the pro's. Then stay out of their way while they work - no over-the-shoulder supervision!

 

[swbsam]

Originally posted by: Paperdoc
First, congrats to OP and many others for learning and doing all those things so quickly! I got the handyman gene from my father, who certainly taught and encouraged me how things work, and how to fix. There's a humorous family tale of my dismantling an alarm clock at age 5 to see how it works. Moreover, I've kept on learning and increasing my own range of things I can tackle. It is amazing how much money you save by DIY, if you can do it properly.

Another really important thing to learn (as many here show they have) is to recognize one's limits and know when to call in the pro's. Then stay out of their way while they work - no over-the-shoulder supervision!

Thanks, and congrats to you as well!

With technicians, I agree - I absolutely hate how people hover over me at work when I'm doing something, so I return the same courtesy to technicians. Once I know that I can trust them (which is done before they get the job), I leave them the hell alone (other than the occasional water/soda/beer offer.. Yes, I offer them beer, no one has accepted though!). I go to a different room even, and leave my things out as normal. If they steal $50 I know not to hire them the next time, after all. Then I give them a huge tip after there first job.. It saves me quite a bit of money in the long run.

For example, the electrician who installed my air conditioner (rewiring electricity) seemed like an honest and competent fellow, charged me only $75 for the job, a fair rate. I gave him $125. This week I needed another conversion done, but this job required wires to be replaced and over 100' of new wiring. Most estimates were in the $500+ range, his was $400. I asked for $325 since money's a little tight and he agreed saying "you're a good guy who left me alone while I did my work, so sure... And, don't worry, I won't cheap out either."

How often do you hear that?

 

[SearchMaster]

I did a full bathroom remodel a year and a half ago (or so). I tore everything down (mostly) to the studs, moved a toilet, replaced the door and trim, installed all new shower hardware, and replaced all the valves. None of it was "hard", though it was certainly a lot of work. I took my time on it so I wouldn't pressure myself.

I figure I saved myself thousands of dollars and got it just the way I wanted it. I made a lot of mistakes but the only regret I have is not redoing all of the walls; I tried to save some of the drywall but it ended up not looking as good as it would have if I had just redone it all (a couple of spots from the old drywall didn't patch well).

Originally posted by: Sea Moose
i cant stand "do it yourself" types

When you're willing to charge the same hourly rate that I charge myself, then I'll hire you . Though I wouldn't do HVAC myself unless it was just moving a vent over a little ways (which I have done).

And to the OP, the one thing I will caution you about is that it can get overwhelming. There's ALWAYS something to do, I'm sure my to-do list could have 50 things on it easily. You have to prioritize.

 

[Raduque]

Originally posted by: swbsam
I've learned how to change a lock (first it took me 2 frustrating hours, now it takes me 10 minutes),]

That's funny. I've never owned a house (and never will), and the first time I changed a lock it took me about 5 minutes.

 

[swbsam]

Originally posted by: Raduque

Originally posted by: swbsam
I've learned how to change a lock (first it took me 2 frustrating hours, now it takes me 10 minutes),]

That's funny. I've never owned a house (and never will), and the first time I changed a lock it took me about 5 minutes.

The reason it took 2 hours was because I bought the wrong cylinder and assume that they were all the same.. I kept trying to make it fit and, of course, it wouldn't. A stupid, ignorant mistake that I would have known had I installed locks before.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: Raduque

Originally posted by: swbsam
I've learned how to change a lock (first it took me 2 frustrating hours, now it takes me 10 minutes),]

That's funny. I've never owned a house (and never will), and the first time I changed a lock it took me about 5 minutes.

I changed all the locks in my house in about a half hour when I moved in.

 

[SP33Demon]

It's always nice to know how to do those things (Dremel and drill are my best friends).

 

[ViviTheMage]

Makes you feel butch? haha

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: Aharami

Originally posted by: Sea Moose

i cant stand "do it yourself" types. because usually when people fuck up, they call in contractors to fix and then proceed to whine about price. you might be an exception to the rule, but if you need advice, my area is HVAC.

igas and rubicon are people you should speak to as well

hah you'll hate me. I'd rather try it once and fuck it up than go directly to a contractor. But one thing I will not touch is anything related to gas. Obviously big things like fixing the AC unit...i wont try myself

HVAC stuff is easy. The contractors don't want you to know that. If you have a set of gauges the rest is a breeze. They don't want you to know that the outside unit you just had installed only cost them $800 and probably less than 2 hours to install....yet your bill is $2500. I do all my own HVAC stuff and will be completely replacing both the units in my house this winter. I will be doing a quality level on the job you just cannot get from a contractor because they won't put in that kind of time and you wouldn't want to pay for it if they did. Luckily for me my buddy is an HVAC contractor and I have access to all the components and supplies that are not allowed to be sold to the public....and I get them at wholesale too.

At least here if you take a special class as a homeowner you can get a voucher that allows you to buy the equipment and supplies to do your own install.

 

[kranky]

I let my wife quit her job so she could do all that. And she's great at it. Better than I would be.