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After weeks of slaving to make this place liveable, it was nice to come home after a long hard day of work to the first day of the painters being here, and this.
They uncovered some real gems, like for example this wallpaper hidden underneath a layer of sheetrock. I mean, if you don't like the wallpaper, why not just throw up a new wall over it?
He did suck. He was like Mr. Magoo. Couldn't see anything, and on several occasions, even though I had no idea what I was looking for, I had to point things out for him.Inspector Magoo: "Looks like the ventilation for the septic tank should be right out here somewhere, but I don't see it. We need to investigate that."Otis: (pointing 2 feet from us) "Isn't that it?"Inspector Magoo: "Oh. Yeah."
Should I raise this with my attorney maybe? It's not the end of the world, and it's an upgrade, at least from an aesthetic perspective, that my wife and I were planning to do anyway. So this won't kill us.For the record, the first ballpark estimate I got, just over the phone, was about $2800. Yeah I'd rather have that money in my pocket, but if it's something that adds to the house, and maybe we can get another estimate a little lower, I don't mind spending 2500 bucks or so to make the house look nicer.
In other words, yeah, let's just throw more money out the window. At this point, why not.
Call the inspection company. Use your big booming lawyer voice, and ask them WTF was mr magoo doing and how is something like this overlooked?Gllll psssssss. And your realtor sucked too btw, no way something like that should be missed.
Most definitely go after the inspector...in fact, I would seriously consider filing a claim with the State Attorney General if you get no satisfaction with him. That to me sounds like a definite code violation (in MI I believe anything over 30" needs a railing) that he should have made note of and had the sellers fix prior to your purchase, or in the least, he should have made you and the sellers aware of it, and you and the sellers could have negotiated a remedy prior to the sale.When I had my home built five years ago, I had to go that route unfortunately to get my Builder to come back and fix a broken sewer pipe to my septic (after numerous phone calls and dead-ends trying to be reasonable with the guy- they broke it backfilling my basement). Threatening his license made him respond very quickly.Should I raise this with my attorney maybe? It's not the end of the world, and it's an upgrade, at least from an aesthetic perspective, that my wife and I were planning to do anyway. So this won't kill us.For the record, the first ballpark estimate I got, just over the phone, was about $2800. Yeah I'd rather have that money in my pocket, but if it's something that adds to the house, and maybe we can get another estimate a little lower, I don't mind spending 2500 bucks or so to make the house look nicer.
Welcome to Long Island, Caps.We picked a nice town and great location, and got one of the cheaper houses in the immediate vicinity. There's a reason this house was on the market for like 6 months. Or, apparently, lots and lots of reasons...
ahh...was thinking it was a legal thingETA: maybe i was rightTold me what? That my insurance company was a stickler for safety issues? I'm not sure that it's even legally required, it may just be a requirement of my insurance company.
That's just it, I don't think it is. My guess is it's just something the insurance company wants us to do. I suppose I could tell them to pound sand and get a different insurance company. But over a couple thousand bucks and something we were gonna do anyway at some point, just doesn't seem worth the trouble.ahh...was thinking it was a legal thingTold me what? That my insurance company was a stickler for safety issues? I'm not sure that it's even legally required, it may just be a requirement of my insurance company.
At least this guy gets it....
The only thing that could make this thread better is if you actually had to remove wallpaper.Those previous owners knew what they were doing....taking down wallpaper is a #####...i'd slap sheetrock on it any dayAfter weeks of slaving to make this place liveable, it was nice to come home after a long hard day of work to the first day of the painters being here, and this.
They uncovered some real gems, like for example this wallpaper hidden underneath a layer of sheetrock. I mean, if you don't like the wallpaper, why not just throw up a new wall over it?
It's a code violation. No question. The things is, the owner could have remedied the situation with an ugly pressure treated railing at very little expense. You don't have much ground asking for a fancy railing that you'd want. Probably more of a hassle than it's worth to run everything down.That's just it, I don't think it is. My guess is it's just something the insurance company wants us to do. I suppose I could tell them to pound sand and get a different insurance company. But over a couple thousand bucks and something we were gonna do anyway at some point, just doesn't seem worth the trouble.ahh...was thinking it was a legal thingTold me what? That my insurance company was a stickler for safety issues? I'm not sure that it's even legally required, it may just be a requirement of my insurance company.
Another one gets it...It's a code violation. No question. The things is, the owner could have remedied the situation with an ugly pressure treated railing at very little expense. You don't have much ground asking for a fancy railing that you'd want. Probably more of a hassle than it's worth to run everything down.That's just it, I don't think it is. My guess is it's just something the insurance company wants us to do. I suppose I could tell them to pound sand and get a different insurance company. But over a couple thousand bucks and something we were gonna do anyway at some point, just doesn't seem worth the trouble.ahh...was thinking it was a legal thingTold me what? That my insurance company was a stickler for safety issues? I'm not sure that it's even legally required, it may just be a requirement of my insurance company.
she's developing a taste for your money very quickly
Exactly. The other option they offered in the letter is boarding up the door. They even included a picture of what would be acceptable in that sense. It looks like something out of the weather channel when the big storm is coming. Hello no. I'm not busting my balls working on this house and spending all this loot to look like I live in a trailer park.Who do I make the 2k check out to? I can't write it fast enough.It's a code violation. No question. The things is, the owner could have remedied the situation with an ugly pressure treated railing at very little expense. You don't have much ground asking for a fancy railing that you'd want. Probably more of a hassle than it's worth to run everything down.That's just it, I don't think it is. My guess is it's just something the insurance company wants us to do. I suppose I could tell them to pound sand and get a different insurance company. But over a couple thousand bucks and something we were gonna do anyway at some point, just doesn't seem worth the trouble.ahh...was thinking it was a legal thingTold me what? That my insurance company was a stickler for safety issues? I'm not sure that it's even legally required, it may just be a requirement of my insurance company.
Otis is the type who likes to do things backwards, like having landscapers fix up his yard really nice then have a herd of patio guys stampede all over the new lawn.Now, if Otis is doing it himself, I'm guessing it's not all that hard, but... well, you know
- I just assumed Otis was the type that loved to take care of it himself.
Are you sure it goes with the rest of your house?
They are thermostats, not boobies.I have a boner.Oh yeah, got both thermostats up and running on this too. They only control the heat in our house (until I eventually get some central air or somesuch nonsense installed), and I have them off now, but they were working great up until the time that I shut them down for the summer. Also had those enabled via iPhone. I have two of these.bumpity. I'm curious about this too...The thermostat sounds like the most useful thing - how is that working out for you? Which brand, cost, etc?Link
There's more to it than that, since I also have a server set up and HomeSeer software (www.homeseer.com) set up to control/program all the home automation tasks, and also I've been using their HSTouch software to separately design interfaces for the iPhones (and later our iPad). I'm pretty sure there is a "basic" way to use these Kwikset locks (Schlage makes a similar one) without all this hands-on software setup, but I'm just not sure how that works.
Just put the board up, have them come sign off on it, then take it down. Pimp out your railing later.Exactly. The other option they offered in the letter is boarding up the door. They even included a picture of what would be acceptable in that sense. It looks like something out of the weather channel when the big storm is coming. Hello no. I'm not busting my balls working on this house and spending all this loot to look like I live in a trailer park.Who do I make the 2k check out to? I can't write it fast enough.It's a code violation. No question. The things is, the owner could have remedied the situation with an ugly pressure treated railing at very little expense. You don't have much ground asking for a fancy railing that you'd want. Probably more of a hassle than it's worth to run everything down.That's just it, I don't think it is. My guess is it's just something the insurance company wants us to do. I suppose I could tell them to pound sand and get a different insurance company. But over a couple thousand bucks and something we were gonna do anyway at some point, just doesn't seem worth the trouble.ahh...was thinking it was a legal thingTold me what? That my insurance company was a stickler for safety issues? I'm not sure that it's even legally required, it may just be a requirement of my insurance company.
Yes, but that would have made sense.
Yeah, I have no idea what the hell this means. Seriously.
I plan on doing this later in the year. We are about 1/2 through the kitchen remodeling (painting, light fixtures, granite countertops, sink, appliances, and faucet).After that we will have pretty much redone everything to our house (internally), so I figured why not do crown molding. I've got a miter saw and router so I may even try to make my own design.
After weeks of slaving to make this place liveable, it was nice to come home after a long hard day of work to the first day of the painters being here, and this.
They uncovered some real gems, like for example this wallpaper hidden underneath a layer of sheetrock. I mean, if you don't like the wallpaper, why not just throw up a new wall over it?
Nice.
But why would you just willingly fork over a decent amount of money without even making a phone call to the inspector? I'm guessing that even with a minimal amount badgering you could get him to recoup at least a portion of your costs to fix it - if not the whole thing. OtisTM is the biggest Shovel-Ready project our economy has seen since the Great Depression.
You'll have to help christen it this summer.
One day I got a free wallpaper world map. Real big, National Geographic, 3 panels, etc. I was very excited to put this map up in my office. I always thought it would be cool to have a big world map. The instructions sounded simple enough, but mentioned the wall should not have any ripples or anything. After inspection, I noticed a slight wave in the wallpaper. The wallpaper was also kinda strange, so I made the decision to pull the wallpaper down and prime the wall to give the map a nice clean surface to stick to. I've always wanted one of these big maps so I wanted to do it right.After weeks of slaving to make this place liveable, it was nice to come home after a long hard day of work to the first day of the painters being here, and this.
They uncovered some real gems, like for example this wallpaper hidden underneath a layer of sheetrock. I mean, if you don't like the wallpaper, why not just throw up a new wall over it?
Will do. Let's get me, Sonny, and some of your hot barflys together for a pants-optional cornhole.You'll have to help christen it this summer.
That's an awesome job. I can barely hammer a nail - I have a lot of respect for those kind of projects.
Nice. I have the S-330, same one but in stainless. Absolutely love it. Thing feels like a Panzer tank.
After weeks of slaving to make this place liveable, it was nice to come home after a long hard day of work to the first day of the painters being here, and this.
They uncovered some real gems, like for example this wallpaper hidden underneath a layer of sheetrock. I mean, if you don't like the wallpaper, why not just throw up a new wall over it?
Otis and Pickles: Leading Parallel Lives
Stupid question -- really gonna do the crown molding yourself? I wonder if I can do this... What's up with the ziploc full of money in the last pic?One day I got a free wallpaper world map. Real big, National Geographic, 3 panels, etc. I was very excited to put this map up in my office. I always thought it would be cool to have a big world map. The instructions sounded simple enough, but mentioned the wall should not have any ripples or anything. After inspection, I noticed a slight wave in the wallpaper. The wallpaper was also kinda strange, so I made the decision to pull the wallpaper down and prime the wall to give the map a nice clean surface to stick to. I've always wanted one of these big maps so I wanted to do it right.After weeks of slaving to make this place liveable, it was nice to come home after a long hard day of work to the first day of the painters being here, and this.
They uncovered some real gems, like for example this wallpaper hidden underneath a layer of sheetrock. I mean, if you don't like the wallpaper, why not just throw up a new wall over it?
My house was built in 1960. Oops.
From the second I started pulling back that wallpaper, things escalated. Apparently, you can just stack up wallpaper on top of old wallpaper. There were flowers, stripes, a world map (seriously, I saved a piece), and various strange patterns from the 4 decades of remodels. 6 or more layers later, I found some strange wood panel. This was nice wayerhouser paneling, stuff you don't see anymore. But I wasn't about to have one lone wood panel wall, so I pulled that down too.
Under that, was some tar paper, then, the foundation. This was when I first learned that my house doesn't have an ounce of insulation in it.
The project spun out of control from there. I ended up removing three of the walls, re-framing the walls, running new electrical (there was only one outlet before), sealing the foundation, insulating, hanging sheetrock and painting. I'm poor, so I refuse to pay people for this kind of stuff. When re-framing the walls, I moved one wall back 2 feet and eliminated some odd cavity they builder had left behind. I had never done any of this stuff before, so it was only natural that I would take on these projects and they would consume 6 months of my nights and weekends.
Since I had moved the wall, I decided that I needed to build myself a built in bookshelf to fill the space. Why? I have no idea. This cost me another 3 or so months of weekends of fumbling my way around. I read on the internet that when painting bookshelves, you need to be wary of blocking, so I put 4 thin coats of high gloss enamel on each individual piece of this giant bookshelf. Do you know how stupid this is?
It did all turn out. It's my favorite room in the house. The map is on the wall. But listen to the Drifter. Do not pull back walls in old houses unless you want to invest time or money.
Here are some pictures of this project start to finish:
Office Remodel
It may be one of the easiest things you do. Seriously.Otis and Pickles: Leading Parallel Lives
From what I remember about dealing with a house inspector 10 years ago, they're not liable for anything they miss. You basically pay them a couple of hundred bucks and hope for the best.
Lol
