Sumter House Rehab--info and a few ??'s (Columbia, Myrtle Beach: new home, neighborhoods)

[danheit]

I just figured that I would throw this out there. I am intending on purchasing a specific home in downtown Sumter in the historic district (on the N. side of Liberty), and am gonna have lots of questions. I will also try to use this as a progress/build thread as I go along just for those that may be interested in seeing what is going on. Don't wanna give out too many specifics on the address of the home, simply b/c the last home that I (and my wife) had my heart set on buying, I procrastinated being that it had been on the market for over a year, and the day I went to make an offer (less than full price), somebody else put in a full price offer. What's the luck of that!
So here's some of the generalities on the house I am looking at: Built in 1909, located on a "pretty" street, with other recently (in the past 20 years) renovated historical homes, well kept area, very close to my work and down town (not that down town has anything to offer, but it is at least close!). Home is 3 bedrooms and 1 full bath with a large living room, large formal dining room, good sized bedrooms, big kitchen, large laundry room, nice wrap around porch with ceiling fans, and huge screened in back porch. House also has a delapidated storage building out back. All together the home has about 1800 Heated Square Feet. Now here's the kicker.... I went into the attic, and the attic has nearly 20' ceilings, and is one big open space with very few intrusions from support posts, and already has 3 windows already in it. To me, this is the perfect master suite! Couldn't ask for anything better than 1800 square feet worth of master bedroom, bath and closet! Outside of the home has vinyl siding covering the original wood siding, so I have no idea what lies underneath, but for the time being, it will stay until I am ready to tackle something like that. The metal roof needs replaced, or at least repaired immediately. There are 2 leak spots in the ceiling, one in the living room, the other in the dining room. They could very easily be from water getting in around the chimney, but that is up to a professional to tell me. This home has amazing potential, and will be purchased for dirt cheap, so I can't seem to see TOO much of a downside. Don't get me wrong, there is A LOT of work that needs done, but it will be liveable within about a month (needs bathroom and kitchen gutted and re-done, as well as 5 new windows and 2 exterior doors replaced), but I can live with that. Now here's my main issue...I leave for the police academy May 31st and won't have any time to work on the house except for weekends until I get out of the academy on Aug 7th. However, my family still lives in Myrtle Beach, and I am currently commuting back and forth from the beach every day right now. It's certainly getting kinda old. My wife wants to be able to move right up as soon as I get out of the academy so that we can all be a little more like a family again. We may be living in some sub-standard living conditions for a little while, but I think we can make it. Now, here are those pesky questions I was advertising in the title to this thread:
Who is a good foundation repair company? That is the first thing that needs done before anything else. I need the entire house leveled out, and I need at least one sill plate replaced due to termite damage.
Who is a good plumber in Sumter to check out what I have and give an estimate on replacing/repairing the existing stuff?
Who is a good A/C guy?
I need a metal roof guy.
Any help you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated!

[Ceezer]

For A/C, call Boykin Heating & Cooling. Top notch fellas.

How long do you intend on living in this house? Just keep in mind that if you plan on relocating a few years down the road the area around Liberty isn't exactly what I'd call a "seller's neighborhood". I think that's why these homes are going for dirt cheap, because people have a hard time getting buyers in these neighborhoods.

[DanaSQ]

I just dealt with 2 A/C companies (more actually, but these 2 both came highly recommended) - Boykin & Hattfield. I have to say, Hattfield won me over - they were just as knowledgeable as Boykin, also been around for quite some time, and Lee Hattfield was willing to give me a written estimate with several different options, priced accordingly. EXCELLENT customer service & follow up, he'll be doing the work on replacing our existing HVAC unit.
Get estimates from both, but make sure Boykin gives you a WRITTEN estimate. They'd only give me a very general ballpark figure - I didn't care for that.

Here's who I've got for Roofing: Bubba Lee 803-934-6909 - he was recommended to me as one of the best roofers around.
For Siding & Windows, Chuck Brown 803-968-7890. Both guys came highly recommended from someone (very fussy) who'd hired them for work on their house.

Good luck on getting the house - get a good home inspector! - Kevin Watford with HouseMasters was wonderful & very thorough on our house.

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

I like Boykin. Briggs Air is one to avoid.

I know good general contracting, vinyl siding/gutter, and painting people in Sumter, but, unfortunately, no roofers, foundation repair, or plumbing guys come to mind...

Good luck! I always like to see some of those homes getting taken care of.

[Ceezer]

I don't mean to hijack your thread, Dan, but my wife wanted me to ask...

Y'all have any recommendations on general contractors, or kitchen people?

We incurred some water damage a year ago (dishwasher line broke and leaked under our kitchen flooring while we were away for a weekend). I have replaced all the cabinets (even the uppers, to match) and replaced/repaired much of the subflooring, but these days time is at a (very high) premium. We've been at a stall for months because we either didn't have the time or didn't have the money. Now that my wife has finished school and is nursing she wants to just bring in a contractor to finish it so we can get it done and out of our hair...

It's not hard work (leveling the floor, moving a wall up, etc) but as I mentioned in my shed thread, doing it myself could stretch the job out for months as I'm always gone for work or my daughter's activities. At this point, I'm tired of looking at half-finished projects and am giving in to the Mrs...

[Eastovertheriver]

Ceezer, I have dealt with water issues before. I had to re-sub/re-wood my own kitchen floor (thanx to Pex plumbing failures). Mold was the bigger issue though, had to rip out some insulation and drywall. I am a licensed contractor, so call me if you need some advice or an estimate (they are both free).
Greg 803 719-2688, Columbiashandyman.com

[LexingtonDad]

Anybody got a recommendation for a HVAC company in the Columbia/Lexington area? We just bought our new home in August and haven't looked into that yet.