The things they don't teach you when you buy a house.

So, here in NJ we just went through a week's worth of heavy rain due to Tropical Storm Ophelia. In my basement, are most of my utilities. Heater, Hot water heater, Washer and Dryer. We got some water in the basement and I started to smell something that reminded me of urine, so I thought not much of it other than thinking some critter must have gotten in and peed and the water brought the smell back.

So today, I am in and out of the basement doing some work on my latest boat and that included varnishing some wood. At the same time I am doing my weekly laundry. Down in the basement the smell of urine had gone and was replaced with that of death. The more I worked and moved around, the more I realized it was coming from around the washer and dryer.

Well, I found a well cooked bird in the vent from the dryer at 10p last night. There was no way I could just leave it till morning. I can only assume it got into the vent to get away from all the rain and met it's demise in a most grisly fashion.

The things they don't teach you when you buy a house.

Learn how to paint - inside and outside - my house is 23 years old and some rooms have been painted 3X and are due to be painted soon.  Why? I live with Martha Stewart and she updates.  Invest in good tools, sticks, pans; crappy tools makes the job suck.

I was painting (staining) my cedar siding 2 weeks ago and realized it's the 4th time I've done that - fun, fun, fun.  

My mom always said; your house is a full time hobby.  

You want to be careful to protect your orifices.  In the case of a dryer vent, a screen of some sort is essential.  You really don't want small creatures up in there and making a home.   And yes, due to lint accumulation, you'll need to clean it occasionally.

Yes, houses don't come with a manual unfortunately. That's wild about the bird. My biggest lesson? Keep water away. Water destroys whatever it touches. With a 100-plus-year-old house, it can be a battle.

SoonToBeDatsun240ZGuy said:

Learn how to paint - inside and outside - my house is 23 years old and some rooms have been painted 3X and are due to be painted soon.  Why? I live with Martha Stewart and she updates.  Invest in good tools, sticks, pans; crappy tools makes the job suck.

I was painting (staining) my cedar siding 2 weeks ago and realized it's the 4th time I've done that - fun, fun, fun.  

My mom always said; your house is a full time hobby.  

I have painted my walls so many times for my own Martha Stewart my rooms are getting smaller. 

Old houses are neither square nor plumb, so everything must be customized.

Just because you think you know a cheater way to fix something, it's already been done sketchier than you could ever imagine. 

Custom windows means custom headaches. 

In reply to mad_machine :

That's pretty wild. 

My thing would be just like project cars, everything will cost 3x more than you expect and take 3x longer. 

I suspect we have a massive repair bill coming for our house next year. Our big bay window in the dining area, on the outside, some of the wood is starting to look a bit rotted from wind/water.......we had a termite inspect a few years ago, so I don't think it's that. I'm just hoping it's the surface boards, and not anything underneath, because I can quickly see that hitting many thousands of dollars. 

SoonToBeDatsun240ZGuy said:

Learn how to paint - inside and outside - my house is 23 years old and some rooms have been painted 3X and are due to be painted soon.  Why? I live with Martha Stewart and she updates.  Invest in good tools, sticks, pans; crappy tools makes the job suck.

I was painting (staining) my cedar siding 2 weeks ago and realized it's the 4th time I've done that - fun, fun, fun.  

My mom always said; your house is a full time hobby.  

Consider investing in a paint sprayer now.  Bought one (HVLP from Rockler) when we painted our bedroom last year.  Painted the whole bedroom (beadboard) in <8 hours.  Painting with brush or roller would have been 4-6 hours per coat, and it would have needed at least 3.  

I'm in a 972 sq. ft. cottage/cabin because that's all SWMBO and I need. I'm the one who has to maintain it. And where we are squirrels, mice, bugs, etc. want to be inside as much as we do.

TR7 said:

SoonToBeDatsun240ZGuy said:

Learn how to paint - inside and outside - my house is 23 years old and some rooms have been painted 3X and are due to be painted soon.  Why? I live with Martha Stewart and she updates.  Invest in good tools, sticks, pans; crappy tools makes the job suck.

I have painted my walls so many times for my own Martha Stewart my rooms are getting smaller. 

See, this is why you ALWAYS paint your walls in a very neutral white / off-white with white trim.  I guarantee you're going to get tired of that trendy accent color.

New throw pillows are cheap.  Painting is a PITA.

When you consider expanding your home to make room for growing extended family, don't. Either buy a new house or lock them out. 

There is a reason why plumbers make the big bucks. 

I have become a rain water drainage expert.

I spent two years obsessing with how rain water flowed around our house (we live on a steep hill). Any heavy downpour sent me to the windows to make sure water was moving and not pooling near the house. Last year the city finally raised the sunken granite curbs on our street and added catch basins near my driveway. Now I am finally free of the constant fear of flooding. The sheer volume of water that gets discharged through my storm water gully is insane now thanks to the proper catch basin on the street, but now I understand why our yard looked like a water fall sometimes.

z31maniac said:

In reply to mad_machine :

.......we had a termite inspect a few years ago, so I don't think it's that. 

Not sure if I'd trust a termite to offer an honest appraisal of the condition of the wood in your house, just sayin..

/dadJokes

We had a problem with squirrels getting into the subfloor under a room at our house that's (rather bizarrely) poking off the main house about 20ft in the air.  I sealed it off after I got them out.  I thought.  A few days later, my wife was complaining about a smell when the heat came on.  I pretended I couldn't smell it until it couldn't be denied.

Conveniently (and extremely fortunately), a service had been done on my HVAC that required cutting into the plenum and patching over the hole.  And that's how I found the dead squirrel that had managed to get into a duct and make its way down 2 stories to meet its final day against the AC evaporator.

I didn't throw up but it was close.

RevRico said:

Old houses are neither square nor plumb, so everything must be customized.

It's not just old houses.  A lot depends on the quality of the framing and the plaster/sheetrock work.  My house was built in 2000, and the things I learned whilst installing crown molding!

In reply to Duke :

Nope, not going to happen with my wife.  

Painted our foyer green - 10 minutes later she felt it was the wrong green.  I was calm and said to got get another gallon.

In reply to QuasiMofo (John Brown) :

In the market I'm in, finding a bigger home is next to impossible. So, locking them out will be the solution then. 

Duke said:

TR7 said:

SoonToBeDatsun240ZGuy said:

Learn how to paint - inside and outside - my house is 23 years old and some rooms have been painted 3X and are due to be painted soon.  Why? I live with Martha Stewart and she updates.  Invest in good tools, sticks, pans; crappy tools makes the job suck.

I have painted my walls so many times for my own Martha Stewart my rooms are getting smaller. 

See, this is why you ALWAYS paint your walls in a very neutral white / off-white with white trim.  I guarantee you're going to get tired of that trendy accent color.

New throw pillows are cheap.  Painting is a PITA.

 

My ex-wife wanted to repaint so much I finally just said, "I'm not doing this again. If you want to repaint for the 4th time in 15 months, call a friend."

With my fiance and in our current house, we use accents and art on the walls vs repainting or shiplap or whatever is trendy at the moment. 

They didn't teach me that the sound of dripping water would cause PTSD levels of anxiety on finding the 'new' source. 

Also, that five years for appliances (or 20 years for roofs, septic, etc.) timeline seems to go by quicker every year.... 

SV reX said:

There is a reason why plumbers make the big bucks. 

This.  It's probably at the top of the list of things I won't touch.  

Building on that, when you find a plumber, electrician, handyman, etc. that you like - save their number in your phone.  Send as much business to them as you can.  Trust me, these are the people to stay in good graces with.  Our local plumber has been awesome.  Guy is a saint and has been beyond fair.  When gives me a quote, he presents the "bells and whistles" price and the "that will do" price.  I haven't always gone with the cheaper.  

Scotty Con Queso said:

SV reX said:

There is a reason why plumbers make the big bucks. 

This.  It's probably at the top of the list of things I won't touch.  

Building on that, when you find a plumber, electrician, handyman, etc. that you like - save their number in your phone.  Send as much business to them as you can.  Trust me, these are the people to stay in good graces with.  Our local plumber has been awesome.  Guy is a saint and has been beyond fair.  When gives me a quote, he presents the "bells and whistles" price and the "that will do" price.  I haven't always gone with the cheaper.  

I don't do any house stuff. I don't have the skill, knowledge, or tools. I find quality pros, don't haggle on price and let them do their work. Everytime I call them back, I'm always treated well and get more quality work. 

I don't even ask for the "that will do" price. I just say what's the best job we can do so this will last a long time. 

For example, a few years ago after a bunch of winter weather, downed tree limbs, and a new housing edition being built close by, we were having a bad problem with mice. The cat loved slowly torturing them to death, but they are disgusting little creatures. At first I called a typical exterminator. Didn't help at all. Then I found a different company, as opposed to using poison, the put a few traps in the attic and then completely seal the outside of the house. 

They came back to check the trap every week for 5 weeks. The last 2 weeks there none. And they even made a follow up visit to make sure they hadn't missed sealing anything up on the outside of the house. At first, the $1500 seemed expensive. 3 years later and no rodents since, it was a bargain.

paint would not have helped with the rain getting into the basement, it was seeping under the door from the wind pushing it past the seal, It was not a lot, a thin film of water about 5 feet square, just enough to make me think that was the source of the smell.

I do have a vent flap, but it is deep behind a bush, when I went to look at it today, you can see where the plastic is starting the crack and fall apart. I miss the metal ones my parent's house had.

z31maniac said: I don't do any house stuff.

A strong argument for apartment living. /dad joke

In reply to SoonToBeDatsun240ZGuy :

A man's home is his hassle