Yesterday after doing some laundry, I draped a towel over the cats pen to dry. This towel is normally folded up and set up on one side of the pen for the Rainey to lay on while the stove is running. Later, I noticed Rainey had pulled the towel for better padding made herself comfortable. You can tell in the pictures that I disturbed her sleep :)
Looking at the last picture, you can see a bit of drywall work that I have finally started to cover the full length hole between the living room and the stairway. I had a partial piece of sheet rock leaned up against the lower portion to keep the cats from using it as well as to keep the cold air from the A/C going to the lower portion of the house. That piece of sheet rock was not used as it was a different thickness from the rest of the wall. A couple of months ago I tore out the arch in the doorway.Then someone came in to add the outlet you can see as well as to upgrade the outlet in the stairs (from 2 wire to 3 wire). The green piece is leftover from another project. I still have one piece of sheet rock to go in the stairs - the very top piece that I can't reach to screw in. Plus, cover up the studs that can still be seen, but I'm leaving those openings. Wish I could have kept the opening on the left to make it more balanced, but an electrical wire goes from the basement to the attic thru that section at a diagonal, so that was not to be.
Goodness knows how long it will take me to finish this up as it only took 6-7 years just to get this far :)
Yes, Rainey looks so disturbed!
That's quite a color scheme you have going with your collection of sheet rock.
It's too bad you were just loafing for 6-7 years - lol. You are making progress. It was a huge undertaking that you took upon yourself when you bought that house. It is probably well that you didn't have a total understanding of what was to come when you did that.
; )
Posted by: Cop Car | May 30, 2021 at 09:02 AM
Well, I have been loafing for the last couple of years. Everything that HAD to be done was completed, the rest is just getting areas cleaned up/finished, or whims.
I still want to replace the ceilings on the main floor and put in sheet rock instead of acoustic tiles, but I will have to hire someone for that. Also will need to hire someone to put in more lighting in parts of the basement. However, those are wants not needs so if they never get done, I'm okay with that too.
Would have been nice if they hadn't lied to me when I specifically asked about heating costs per year (they left that blank on the fact sheet) - I came to understand quite quickly that they gave me a monthly cost not a yearly cost. I had thought that it was fairly well insulated when they said $1,000 - $1,200. Ah well, I knew there would be plenty of work on a 50 year old house - and of course things wear out that were fine before (garage door for example).
Posted by: bogie | May 31, 2021 at 04:59 AM
Sheet rock - yeah, I have parts and pieces left from the bathroom and basement (green), so for smaller areas use that. Actually, most of that sheet rock are new pieces I bought a couple of weeks ago.
Posted by: bogie | May 31, 2021 at 05:02 AM
I'm surprised that someone didn't require the house be brought up to code. I had to add blown insulation to the outside walls on Vesta when I sold it in 1995(?) It seems there may have been another item or two; but, since I had fixed it up pretty well before Mom moved in, maybe not. I'm thinking it was the mortgage holder that required the insulation. I know I paid a small amount for insurance that the new owner could collect on if anything went wrong with the mechanical/plumbing/electrical systems during her first year as owner.
It also seems to me that there was a thing or two that had to be done on Sunrise, but I don't really recall, nor do I recall if I gave the new owner insurance. Your dad was out of town for a few weeks in 2002 and told me to sell that (his) house as he was going out the door to the airport. I had replaced the upstairs vinyl flooring, painted the basement (even the dark room and shop - including all ceilings), carpeted the basement rec room, and done other upkeep, as a present to HH during the 1 1/2 years that his house stood vacant.
Posted by: Cop Car | May 31, 2021 at 08:40 AM
I had no mortgage, so a bank couldn't require any work. The buyer can request updates before they pay a price - usually based on a house inspection and perceived worth.
Banks usually only require updates for safety (porch / stair railing, electrical etc.) and insurables (such as mold or electrical). They also require the house be worth more than they provide a mortgage for - I think it is somewhere around 20% over the mortgage amount.
Towns and such don't care as those houses are grandfathered. Okay, they care a little, as in you can't live in a condemned house, but not much more than that. Perhaps it is slightly different in big cities too.
Naturally I can only speak to NH property since I've never bought a house anywhere else.
Posted by: bogie | June 06, 2021 at 04:43 AM
Good points, of course, Bogie. That's the price of buying a house without financing. (The girls are the only household in our family with a mortgage, unless your Aunt H has one on their apartment.)
I've bought/built & sold houses in Kansas, Florida, and (with your assistance) New Mexico. Your dad and I have bought/built (& sold 2 of) 3 houses in Kansas and 1 in the State of Washington. I've sold (as executor) 2 houses in Missouri. In the 1990s, I felt as though I should have been a Realtor.
Posted by: Cop Car | June 06, 2021 at 09:34 AM