The Super Official Homeowners Thread

[Apoc]

We'll file all this under deferred maintenance. 

We overspent for a "desirable" Seattle neighborhood in 2014. The market was just starting to heat up, so bidding warns were a guarantee and sellers didn't have to do a whole lot for a house with the right specs. Except for the lawn, which was work, we've largely ignored the outside on account of spending another $50k on the inside (including rewiring whole house). We'll probably make a move in the next few years and the market has softened more towards sanity (relatively speaking), so some missing shingles has me considering the whole thing. 

The roof supposedly had a decade when we bought it, but recent wind storms have forced our hand. There are actually quite a few loose shingles and the gutters need to be fully replaced. They don't even make these rivets joint corners anymore. You can see why. We'd end up with more modern/smaller gutters, which puts us into redoing the fascia. Then, there's the gable boards that sit in water right on the shingles. They need to be properly flashed, so they're either cut back or fully replaced... which also might be getting us into new roof territory.

THEN, we gotta fix the fur on our house. I'm thinking power wash, but what happens next really depends on what the paint looks like after. I'd like the washed brick look - it'd be awesome if it just needed some sort of sealer after the wash. Worst case, I guess it's getting repainted white. To do it right, means to do everything. We either take care of it, or we argue with buyers about how much it'd cost. It's hard to say we'd see every dollar back, but I'd rather do it on my own time vs. when I'm trying to buy another house. If we go overseas, I'd also like to know shit is sorted before we go as we'd likely rent the house. 

I have no idea what some of this shit cost. I'm hoping we can just bring things up to snuff for less than it cost to rewire this house. We'll see.

[WRXtranceformed]

Ahh man, I hate to be there bearer of bad news but that all in bill would be a hefty one. And it's not work you can really do (ie. Want to do, knowing you) on your own. I would think bare minimum you're going to have to replace the shingles if you can get away with just that before you sell the house. Water damage is just not something you want to deal with

[HAULN-SS]

Looks like a pretty cut up roof. For reference i paid 6 grand for 23 square, with one gable, two valleys, and a hip roof around about half the house. 30 year architectural shingle.

[.RJ]

Over/under at $15k for everything.

[JPolen01]

Over/under at $15k for everything.

Over

[D_Eclipse9916]

Over/under at $15k for everything.

I am betting closer to $3-40k to get everything fixed.   

Without intimate knowledge of the Seattle market, I think he will do just fine throwing that money at it.  It will be worth it to not deal with the hassle of selling a house/renting out the house.

[.RJ]

Roof shingles ($6-8k), pressure washing ($1-2k), gutters & trim ($2-3k), paint ($2-3k).

I could be way off.

[JPolen01]

A fair amount of that trim under the gutters looks rotten. That could be expensive.

[JustinG]

$1-2k for pressure washing.....bruh

Ours was like $200, vinyl siding ftw.

[JPolen01]

$1-2k for pressure washing.....bruh

Ours was like $200, vinyl siding ftw.

Not really a comparison, but you know this. Pressure washing 85 years worth of layers of paint is going to take some time.

[JustinG]

Yea I know. Just crazy the expense added by owning an old house.

[WRXtranceformed]

Over/under at $15k for everything.

I am betting closer to $3-40k to get everything fixed.   

Without intimate knowledge of the Seattle market, I think he will do just fine throwing that money at it.  It will be worth it to not deal with the hassle of selling a house/renting out the house.

DJ is closer to the mark of what I was thinking.  That rotten wood all has to be cut out, replaced and painted, plus the gutters, fascia, along with the powerwashing and then whatever you're going to do to it to make it look good.

[ViPER1313]

$1-2k for pressure washing.....bruh

Ours was like $200, vinyl siding ftw.

Not really a comparison, but you know this. Pressure washing 85 years worth of layers of paint is going to take some time.

That is one I would do myself. It’s really not time consuming or strenuous. I also find it deeply satisfying.

[.RJ]

If we're into rotten wood repair, then that's going to add $10k to the cost. But Chris not living on the east coast they dont have humidity or bugs so I didnt factor that in.

[Sijray21]

I do love these arbitrary estimates though.

[.RJ]

FWIW, I priced all of this stuff out on the house we walked away from last year.

Seller didnt want to fix any of it so we said bye felicia

Chris may have to pay the Amazon tax tho

[WRXtranceformed]

If we're into rotten wood repair, then that's going to add $10k to the cost.  But Chris not living on the east coast they dont have humidity or bugs so I didnt factor that in.

You can see the rot in his pictures.  It's not climate specific; wood just rots over time from the rain.  I helped two friends start a replacement window startup in Charlotte and every single wood window frame rots even if it's been maintained with regular painting every 2-3 years.  

With a house that old, I would always assume 50-70% higher cost than what you would expect to see because you don't know how long it's been like that and what other damage is "unseen". His one saving grace is that his roof isn't that big.

[ScottyB]

You can see the rot in his pictures. 

its not the end of the world for sure, but yeah there might be wood repair that needs to happen further back under the trim. nothing out of the ordinary for old homes but the millwork required to properly match trim decor will require a skilled eye and time, both of which cost money.

definitely take time to get a thorough estimate on that wood work, which will require getting up on the roof and doing some digging with a pick and possibly yanking trim to see how deep the damage goes. if they half ass the estimate its gonna be a nasty surprise later.

[JPolen01]

 But Chris not living on the east coast they dont have bugs 

Wait, are you telling me that I can simply move to the west coast to avoid all bugs? My whole life is a lie!!!

[Apoc]

Context: Skilled labor is in pretty short supply around here, or at least it was when our house was rewired. Our electrician at the time said he couldn't afford to pay the going rate for journeyman electricians due to supply/demand, so jobs took longer than they really needed to. We landed on the house upgrade because we got some architects and a contractor-friend in our house to price stuff. To redo the half-finished basement into a master suite would be $100k-$200k and to blow the roof to expand our top floor (currently just one bedroom and attic space - no running water) was $250k-$500k plus moving out for six months. For those prices, we said it'd be a lot easier to spend money on a different house.

So I've already had a roofer out here to look at things. He said the shingles are in decent shape, there is only one layer, and the ridges are all crack-free, so there's likely no need to do the whole roof at this point. He said if they did, it's probably in the $15k-$20k range depending on materials. Fuck me. I'm not interested in that, especially since he said patching was likely pretty easy. Roof work would include cutting back the wood sitting on shingles and putting proper flashing in there. He said with a proper wash and repaint, most of the wood would be fine. They're gonna price the work and let me know. I've got two more roofers coming out over the next week.

Gutters are gonna be a full replace and I'm operating under the assumption all fascia around gutters will need to go too. I had a gutter company out here a few years ago and they said matching the size of our current gutters wasn't really possible, so be prepared for that. Given the condition, I think it's just better to re-board everything to match the new gutters. I've got a general contractor who does work for us 1-2x/year and is super reasonable; he said he could do all the carpentry no problem.

I've got a house painter coming this afternoon. Power washing and repainting is really common around here because of house ages, so this job probably wouldn't ve complicated for them. I have considered doing that part myself, but I'm concerned about effective cleanup. That one garage corner/downspout is losing mortar between the bricks, so I'm also worried about doing some real damage if I try to DIY. My guess is I'll also have to find someone to chip our bad mortar and replace it before any paint goes on.

I did some research on a Facebook group for parents in my area. Based on everything I've seen, I don't think we're getting out of this for under $40k. That's a bummer, but I don't want this to be a sticking point if/when we do decide to sell. We're at ~50% equity, so we have options on how to finance this. I want to better understand total cost and Trump tax changes before I make a decision there.

If I had to guess, $40k of work probably nets us $20k-$30k. I rarely make home decisions about return on investment and I'm not trying to buy a 50 year roof to move a year later. I think this work has to happen one way or the other, for the benefit of the house, so that (almost) helps grasp the bill. I feel like when we actually sell this house, we'll have dumped six figures in. That sucks, but we're looking at a 45% appreciation in four years so I guess that's money well spent.