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Old 08-08-2010, 08:07 PM
 
68 posts, read 552,773 times
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Husband and I are trying to prioritize a list of home projects - we've been in our house 3 months and have done a ridiculous amount of stuff (some unexpected and necessary) but it's pushed us to the brink of emotional madness, not to mention set us off course for the things we thought we could accomplish this summer.

Being realistic and planning our budget is key, but it's always easy to overestimate and assume brilliance when you make your own list.

Here are some of the top things we hope to do over the next year. Can someone offer some insight as far as to what order they'd do them in?

--Pellet Stove (purchase and installation). Ideally I'd love this for this winter; however we have oil heat so it's not like we'd freeze to death. We live in the Northeast).

--Replace roof (slated for spring 2011?)

--Install electric garage door opener (manually opening right now :/ )

--Replace 2-3 windows

--Have current grassy area in front of 3 bay garage paved/stoned

--Make screened in porch from very badly worn concrete slab out back

--Wallboard/shelving units in garage

--Get inground pool working (this will take time - need to check pump, pipes, clean water, buy cover, etc). We thought of tackling this over the course of next summer...


We're estimaing all of these projects combined will cost us somewhere around $15K - most of this we can manage ourselves, with the exception of the driveway and pellet stove


OK, so how insane are we?
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Old 08-08-2010, 09:08 PM
 
Location: Jacksonville, FL
11,120 posts, read 10,668,910 times
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A lot of this seems to be cosmetic and vanity work. Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling you vain, I'm just not sure what other word to use here. lol

I would start with the inside and work my way out.

Assuming the reason for replacing the windows is because of leaks and not due to just not liking them, I'd start there. A leaky window can add up on the heat bill fast.

Next, I'd go with the pellet stove. It will be a lot cheaper to run over the winter than your oil furnace, and you'll need the savings from looking at your list

If you know for sure that you need a new roof (and can afford it), get it replaced. If it's already bad, think how bad it will be after a few good New England snow storms.

Is the garage the main entrance/egress point of the house? If so, get that opener put in. No sense in throwing out your back opening the garage with all that landscape work coming up. Oh, and get the garage organized while you're at it. One good weekend in a garage can do wonders, trust me. One of my favorite jobs in garage organization, and I've got it down to a science. (if by wallboard you mean drywall - as in the garage is unfinished, it may take more than a weekend, but you may as well get it done before the snow flies).

You won't get much more use out of a screened porch this year, so you may as well put that off to next spring. Same with the pool. And with all the other projects, I'd say the grassy area can wait as well.

Disclaimer: all opinions are my own, and may not mesh with others. lol
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Old 08-09-2010, 05:42 AM
 
Location: Morristown, TN
1,753 posts, read 4,241,643 times
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Depends on how worn the need-tos are.

For me, windows, garage door and stove would be before THIS winter. All could have a bearing on your winter utility bills. Well, depending on the garage door it may not, but it'd sure suck to have to get out to open it in the snow

Shelving units are one of those, it's winter and i'm going out of my mind things. Buy the stuff and have it on hand- do it when you're housebound or just bored this winter.

Roof in the spring, followed by the pool. Doing the porch before the pool just means you'll be sitting on it, looking at your non-functioning pool and wishing it were open. lol

Paving and porch in fall, when it's a bit cooler for these intensive projects.

That's how I'd do it, anyways.
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Old 08-09-2010, 07:38 AM
 
Location: Johns Creek, GA
17,447 posts, read 65,798,103 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JimRom View Post
A lot of this seems to be cosmetic and vanity work. Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling you vain, I'm just not sure what other word to use here. lol

I would start with the inside and work my way out.

That first statement I totaly agree with- it's cosmetic/upgrade type options.
The second statement I totally disagree. What good does it do to do stuff on an interior when it's not protected with a good roof?
Why do you think the first thing to be done on a house after framing is the roof?
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Old 08-09-2010, 08:12 AM
 
Location: Jacksonville, FL
11,120 posts, read 10,668,910 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by K'ledgeBldr View Post
That first statement I totaly agree with- it's cosmetic/upgrade type options.
The second statement I totally disagree. What good does it do to do stuff on an interior when it's not protected with a good roof?
Why do you think the first thing to be done on a house after framing is the roof?
Good point. However, since they were talking about putting the roof off until spring, I assumed that as of now it isn't leaking. Therefore, I'd say go with the things you notice most often, which are the items inside the house and the items that affect the utilities.
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Old 08-09-2010, 08:30 AM
 
Location: Central Fl
2,903 posts, read 12,514,516 times
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The glaring thing that stuck out to me was the roof question. Without knowing the condition, the question cannot be answered.

A roof leak can cause thousands of dollars of damage. 90% of home problems stem from water intrusion for many different sources. A dry house is a good house, IMHO.

The other thing you might want to consider down the road is the wisdom of putting a screened in porch over a badly worn concrete slab. Fix or replace the slab before you build anything on it. If you do replace it, you are then free to adjust the size, etc......

Frank
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Old 08-09-2010, 09:00 AM
 
Location: Philaburbia
41,885 posts, read 74,952,198 times
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If the roof is leaking or is threatening to leak, do that immediately.

I'd replace as many windows as I could or as needed before winter.
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Old 08-09-2010, 09:20 AM
 
Location: NJ
17,574 posts, read 46,060,080 times
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I would knock off as many easier things as fast I as I could. So for me that would be:

Garage door opener
Windows
Grassy area
Shelving units

These should all be fairly cheap and fast.
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Old 08-09-2010, 09:52 AM
 
Location: Johns Creek, GA
17,447 posts, read 65,798,103 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JimRom View Post
Good point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by faithfulFrank View Post
The glaring thing that stuck out to me was the roof question. Without knowing the condition, the question cannot be answered.

A roof leak can cause thousands of dollars of damage. 90% of home problems stem from water intrusion for many different sources. A dry house is a good house, IMHO.Frank
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81 View Post
If the roof is leaking or is threatening to leak, do that immediately.

I think the general agreement is- protect the investment first, or there will be no reason for up-grades and lipstick!
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Old 08-09-2010, 11:02 AM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,707 posts, read 79,581,771 times
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There are always delays and surprises, so you are right to try to prioritize. The first thing to do is to seperate necessary from nice. Some things are critical and other would simply be nice additions.


--Pellet Stove (purchase and installation). Ideally I'd love this for this winter; however we have oil heat so it's not like we'd freeze to death. We live in the Northeast).

Realistically you will not save the cost of installation, purchase maintenance and buying pellets for many many years, that it as long as the price of pellets does not shoot up again. I would think that this can wait.

--Replace roof (slated for spring 2011?)

This is critical. if it is leaking now, fix it now. If it is worn but not yet leaking, fix it as soon as possible. You do nto want to wait until it starts leaking and rots out part of your house, causes mold to grow, or ruins the insulation. Get it fixed before it is a problem.

On the other hand, if you are just replacing the roof becasue you do not like the color . . . what is wrong with you? Learn to like the color and send me the $5,000 - $8,000 that you were going to spend. Or give it to a charity to feed people.

--Install electric garage door opener (manually opening right now :/ )

Not important. You can open your garage by hand. Exercise is good for you. However this is a relatively easy and inexpensive job. Still I would give it low priority unless you are handicapped or really old and opening the garage door for yourself causes you pain.

--Replace 2-3 windows

Why? If they are leaky they can often be repaired. Howevr if thye are beyond repair then this shodl be a pretty high prioirty. There is not much savings between new windows and old windows as long as the old windows ar enot leaky. If they leak, then there is a huge savings with new windows.

--Have current grassy area in front of 3 bay garage paved/stoned

This could be pretty important. If it gets all muddy, it can be awful are certain times of the year. I like grassy areas so unless you want to play basketball or rollerskate, you may want to consider turfblock pavers. This provides a solid sruface to drive on and lets grass grow through. Needs a lot of maintenance though, expensive too.

--Make screened in porch from very badly worn concrete slab out back

How does concrete become badly worn from foot traffic? Maybe the concrete was defective to begin with and needs to be replaced. However I would be more inclined to put a screened in Gazebo in the back yard. You can even get some that have solid clear panels that go inside the screens and a firepit or stove inside. This lets you enjoy the gazebo even in the winter.

--Wallboard/shelving units in garage

I prefer the modular plastic shelving. It is more flexible and allows you to reconfigure after you discover a more practical layout. It is really cheap, quite strong, and you just pick it out, buy it and assemble in minutes.

To me this is a very impotant item and one that I would do right after the roof. THe reason is that the time you spend looking for tools and other things could be spent doing projects and this could advance the other items more quickly.


--Get inground pool working (this will take time - need to check pump, pipes, clean water, buy cover, etc). We thought of tackling this over the course of next summer...

THis can wait, but be certain that the pipes are winterized. If they are not, or if they were ot in the past, the may crack or be cracked. In which case you are looking at digging them up and replacing them. We pay $300 each year to have the pool winterized. It is expensive, but far cheaper than replacing even one pipe.

By the way, I highly recomment the salt water chlorinaters. Ours works great and with a good filter system and a robot vacuum thingy, the pool is almost maintenaince free. Ours was made by a company called Aqualogic, but I suspect that they are all pretty much alike.
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