Why not buy your first house at 56 years old

[Beck Water]

2 hours ago, boyst said:

Everyone + @Draconator

 

If you havent had your ac serviced yet this year do it. And ask them to blow out your dryer vent. It makes things so much more efficient and reduces fire risk. If you've never done or just moved into a house do it.

 

Dryer vent stories.

 

My kid and her BF living in their first apartment.  Visiting us.  Tells me they don't dry jeans in the dryer that came with the apartment because "it takes too long and uses too much power".  Was surprised how fast her jeans dried in our (decade old) dryer.

 

I suggest they call the landlord and request that the dryer vent hose be cleaned.  Turned out it was jammed full of lint, almost impacted.  Airflow doubled once it was cleaned.  Now their jeans dry!  Huh.

 

Our friend is a landlord - rents 3 properties.  She's a mech E and a bugger for maintenance, does everything by the book.  Manual says pull the fridge out and vacuum the coils every year, that's what happens.  Always thought her kid wasn't paying much attention.  Welp, kid now renting a house in college.  Landlord just moved to another city and decided to rent his house instead of selling it.  Turns out kid knows way more about home maintenance than her new landlord does!  She's been soaking it all up, all along.

 

Dryer wasn't working well.  Landlord: "It's old.  That's just what happens when dryers get old".  Kid pulled the dryer out, noticed the hose was crimped, uncrimped it.  Still not working well.  Took the hose off the fitting through the house wall, found it was packed full of lint, cleaned that all out.  Dryer works now!  Huh.

 

@boyst right about fire risk, according to NFPA, dryer fires cause 13,000+ home fires a year and the cause of 1/3 of them is "failure to clean".

 

Edited June 30, 2023 by Beck Water

[stuvian]

wishing you happiness as a homeowner. In Canada's real estate casino, I live in a very pricey market and have never owned a home

[ExiledInIllinois]

Flush your hot water tank every 6 months. Really...

 

https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/plumbing/how-to-flush-water-heater/

 

 

 

@BringBackFergy

@Mike in Horseheads

@Gugny

@SWATeam

[Augie]

27 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

Dryer vent stories.

 

My kid and her BF living in their first apartment.  Visiting us.  Tells me they don't dry jeans in the dryer that came with the apartment because "it takes too long and uses too much power".  Was surprised how fast her jeans dried in our (decade old) dryer.

 

I suggest they call the landlord and request that the dryer vent hose be cleaned.  Turned out it was jammed full of lint, almost impacted.  Airflow doubled once it was cleaned.  Now their jeans dry!  Huh.

 

Our friend is a landlord - rents 3 properties.  She's a mech E and a bugger for maintenance, does everything by the book.  Manual says pull the fridge out and vacuum the coils every year, that's what happens.  Always thought her kid wasn't paying much attention.  Welp, kid now renting a house in college.  Landlord just moved to another city and decided to rent his house instead of selling it.  Turns out kid knows way more about home maintenance than her new landlord does!  She's been soaking it all up, all along.

 

Dryer wasn't working well.  Landlord: "It's old.  That's just what happens when dryers get old".  Kid pulled the dryer out, noticed the hose was crimped, uncrimped it.  Still not working well.  Took the hose off the fitting through the house wall, found it was packed full of lint, cleaned that all out.  Dryer works now!  Huh.

 

@boyst right about fire risk, according to NFPA, dryer fires cause 13,000+ home fires a year and the cause of 1/3 of them is "failure to clean".

 

 

We rented a townhouse to our son and DIL for a while. They wanted to replace the dryer because it wasn’t getting the job done. We had a guy come and clean the vent and they couldn’t believe the difference! We thought our house was just fine, but we had him out regardless. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

3 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

We rented a townhouse to our son and DIL for a while. They wanted to replace the dryer because it wasn’t getting the job done. We had a guy come and clean the vent and they couldn’t believe the difference! We thought our house was just fine, but we had him out regardless. 

Modern dryers will shut down and warn ⚠️ you. Replaced a 20 year old dryer in 2016, LG, it will do that if there's blockage. 

 

Anyway... Real fire 🔥 risk!

[Augie]

2 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Modern dryers will shut down and warn ⚠️ you. Replaced a 20 year old dryer in 2016, LG, it will do that if there's blockage. 

 

Anyway... Real fire 🔥 risk!

 

Since we are already on a tangent, we got a new washer/dryer set when we moved over a year ago. The delivery guys came, set it up and said it had to run a cycle, so he started them. The wife went up to work with non-stop calls scheduled, and I went to walk the dogs. 

 

TWENTY MINUTES LATER, I walk into the brand new house at the time. I don’t even know where a towel is, but these guys hooked the water up to the washing machine without putting the hose into the drain. It flooded the first floor. They tried to drag out the insurance claim, but eventually paid. Oops! 

[Fr. Jerk]

It's not a race. Congrats, mane. 

Edited June 30, 2023 by The Jerk

[Draconator]

My wife and I decided on one thing. 

 

We're never moving again. Moving blows. The end result is worth it though. 

[Punching Bag]

4 minutes ago, Draconator said:

My wife and I decided on one thing. 

 

We're never moving again. Moving blows. The end result is worth it though. 

 

We recently had a major remodeling done and found boxes unopened from my wife's packing 28 years ago (I was working on the road.  She actually packed the U-Haul and drove from our old house and unpacked herself).  I guess there was nothing we needed in those boxes but some of the dry goods packed in jars were still good.

[Draconator]

My 23 yr old stepdaughter is hella smart, and I am grateful for that. We were going to set up a dining room in one of the downstairs bedrooms that don't have doors. Just like the previous owner and previous owners before them. 

 

She says, "You don't use your dining room table except for putting mail and packages on it. You use it to eat on maybe twice a year. Why don't we just make it into Ken's office?"

 

The end result:

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TDl0wQoyHXY2NRi1lhYJgPa-XmjDHxvV?usp=sharing

[TheCockSportif]

38 minutes ago, Draconator said:

My 23 yr old stepdaughter is hella smart, and I am grateful for that. We were going to set up a dining room in one of the downstairs bedrooms that don't have doors. Just like the previous owner and previous owners before them. 

 

She says, "You don't use your dining room table except for putting mail and packages on it. You use it to eat on maybe twice a year. Why don't we just make it into Ken's office?"

 

The end result:

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TDl0wQoyHXY2NRi1lhYJgPa-XmjDHxvV?usp=sharing

Your office has all of the necessary elements.  Well done!

[boyst]

A couple other things I thought about today talking about home buying with our friends over at the pool

 

Get an arborist to come assess the trees on your property if there is ANY chance they could fall on your house or destroy anything. You're liable if you neglect dead or diseased trees. The arborists give free estimates. Ask them for a detailed report of the trees including tree health if nothing else than for a record.

 

Your crawl space, if you have one needs a vapor barrier. It's a must. And cheap.

 

Start setting aside $200+ a month if possible to fix things that you'll need to fix. If you can only do a lesser amount - do it. The fridge will go out a week after the disposal goes out but right before some siding blows off in a windstorm. You'll need the ability to absorb that kind of hit and realize that you just fixed the disposal (no biggie) but now have to flip between a fridge repair or replacement and your siding. 

[Draconator]

3 hours ago, boyst said:

A couple other things I thought about today talking about home buying with our friends over at the pool

 

Get an arborist to come assess the trees on your property if there is ANY chance they could fall on your house or destroy anything. You're liable if you neglect dead or diseased trees. The arborists give free estimates. Ask them for a detailed report of the trees including tree health if nothing else than for a record.

 

Your crawl space, if you have one needs a vapor barrier. It's a must. And cheap.

 

Start setting aside $200+ a month if possible to fix things that you'll need to fix. If you can only do a lesser amount - do it. The fridge will go out a week after the disposal goes out but right before some siding blows off in a windstorm. You'll need the ability to absorb that kind of hit and realize that you just fixed the disposal (no biggie) but now have to flip between a fridge repair or replacement and your siding. 

I'm a certified Master Gardner from the University of California. There are at least 10 pine trees that need to come down. The thing is a couple of them are right on power lines. So I'm looking at over $10,000 to take those trees down professionally. Good thing I'm consulting. 

[Gugny]

1 hour ago, Draconator said:

I'm a certified Master Gardner from the University of California. There are at least 10 pine trees that need to come down. The thing is a couple of them are right on power lines. So I'm looking at over $10,000 to take those trees down professionally. Good thing I'm consulting. 

A master gardener AND a master baiter??  You are well-rounded!!

[Draconator]

21 minutes ago, Gugny said:

A master gardener AND a master baiter??  You are well-rounded!!

If I'm such a master, why does my wife insist on me adressing her by "your majesty"?

Edited July 3, 2023 by Draconator

[Westside]

On 6/25/2023 at 11:50 PM, Draconator said:

Ok. The back story. 

 

I'm bipolar. Diagnosed and all that. Not a big secret as my life is pretty much an open book. Back in my 20's, 30's, and early 40's, any income I had went to bars, dinners, etc. Rent and such be damned! (Such as the life of one with Bipolar). 

 

Fast forward to the mid-'40s, and I found a psychiatrist who authorized a medication I was aware of that had good success with others with the same diagnosis. Now 8 years on that medication, and I could actually pay rent and the like. Not only that, but I can actually hold down a good job for more than 3 months at a time. 

 

So yeah. My wonderful wife and I are buying our first house together. She is a previous homeowner with her prior husband. But for me? First-time homebuyer. No time like the present yo. 

That is so awesome! I’m so happy you found some medication to help you with your illness. 
Congratulations on your first home! 

[boyst]

8 hours ago, Draconator said:

I'm a certified Master Gardner from the University of California. There are at least 10 pine trees that need to come down. The thing is a couple of them are right on power lines. So I'm looking at over $10,000 to take those trees down professionally. Good thing I'm consulting. 

 

8 hours ago, Draconator said:

I'm a certified Master Gardner from the University of California. There are at least 10 pine trees that need to come down. The thing is a couple of them are right on power lines. So I'm looking at over $10,000 to take those trees down professionally. Good thing I'm consulting. 

that's impressive. not many people know what it takes to be a master gardener through the state uni.

 

thanks for the volunteering and work you do to educate young ag.