Buying our first house

[HBHoss]

Congrats on the house I added on to my house a year or so ago and took the popcorn off the ceiling to match the extension. I like it a lot more without the popcorn. It's easy to do. I used a spray bottle of water and sprayed an area until it was wet then came back and used a 4" scraper and sprayed the area again as I scraped. It's a little messy but came off easy. Once it was done and dry, I sprayed texture on the ceiling and painted. Good, bad, or indifferent, it's all yours now to do what you want. It's a good feeling.

 

[springer]

Congrats on the home. I have been in mine for 17 years and still working on it . Seems like I finish one thing and the room I did a few years ago need attention as the SWMBO points out. I think she owns stock in Benj.Moore.

 

[Laurel]

I just got back from the inspection. It went swimmingly, the house is in great shape! Looks like we'll be getting started in 2 weeks!

This is going to be the longest 2 weeks of my life!

 

[bob1852]

This is going to be the longest 2 weeks of my life!

good luck with the new place! I'm supposed to close in 2 weeks (selling; not buying) and I agree about the longest 2 week thing!

Thankfully it'll be a brew weekend and hopefully take my mind off of it

 

[Ecnerwal]

Good luck with it. I've spent far too much of the last several months on a tub replacement - old steel tub, rusted through. Upon urging, looked into the "go over the tub" products, laughed my behind off at what a load of crap those were, and spent about 1/10 the price on a new tub and surround (not made of chintzy thin plastic backed up by rusting tub), but also spent a good deal of time doing what needs done in that case - removing walls, fixing plumbing (which would have needed it anyway), cutting tile with a diamond blade in my angle grinder, etc.

On the epoxy floor, I'd avoid the chips. Those are a "dirt hiding" trick, and are far too effective as a "dropped hardware hiding" trick. You practically have to feel to find a lost screw. Plain white is best, a very light gray if you can't deal with a white floor (yup, it shows the dirt, and no, I don't mind if it does, because I can actually see a lot better with all the extra light that reflects off the white floor). I guess if you want the texture they can give, use white epoxy and white chips.

If you have the headroom and don't mind the look, a dropped ceiling may be the easiest way to kiss the popcorn goodbye.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

That is good news, not only that you got a house you like but a bank would give out a loan.
May I recommend not changing too much right now, give yourself a year and stash some cash. Then start working on things that really bug you. You know like an ice cold draft that appears during winter through your bathroom. Or leak from the roof into the kitchen.
I'm all for getting rid of the carpet and putting in affordable wood floors though, it just makes it liveable.
Hey, crack open a homebrew for us after the signing and then get to work. Best of luck.

 

[Joe C]

Congrats, that really is great. I hope soon I will be able to do the same.

 

[zoebisch01]

You guys should try a 130 year old fixer upper

 

[Laurel]

The kegerator is on the top of my list of things to bring to the new house before work commences, though I just realized that I could bring a keg and a picnic tap and stick it in the empty refrigerator after I take out some shelves. That may be my plan! It'll be a nectarine blonde fueled paint job!

 

[monty73741]

couple of tips from a realtor
home warranty (fixes most stuff)
buy a wagner paint sprayer...paint crew.....not the cheapo sprayer
look for non profits that take in building materials...
i save 10,000 on my kitchen doing that.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Congrats, it's such a great thing.
We've been in our house 2 years now and have redone the kitchen cabinets, hardwood and carpet in the basement, painted all the rooms of course, random stuff outside, and the list just grows way faster than it shrinks. We have windows, front deck, back patio,adding a garage bay and mud room, and fencing in the back yard on the list still. After the fence, I gotta put my foot down for my garage bay!

 

[david_42]

When you start remodeling: try doing one project at a time. Yes, it makes the whole re-model take forever, but by tackling the easiest one first (probably one of the bathrooms) you build up your tolerance to insanity.

I somewhat regret not replacing the carpet before moving in here, because I don't have the money right now to do it. On the other hand, one of my previous greyhounds was a carpet-digger and there are holes going down to the sub-flooring all over.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Congrats!!!

 

[Laurel]

We recently worked out logistics, and we're going to have to do all of the projects at once.

The kitchen is going to get new cabinets, and we're going to tear out a pantry and put in an island, so the floor has to go in when the cabinets go in (to account for any differences in size/shape of cabinets) and the ceiling is going to have to be patched where that pantry comes out. The bathrooms shouldn't be too expensive, and they're going to get tile, so we may go after those first!

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

We recently worked out logistics, and we're going to have to do all of the projects at once.

The kitchen is going to get new cabinets, and we're going to tear out a pantry and put in an island, so the floor has to go in when the cabinets go in (to account for any differences in size/shape of cabinets) and the ceiling is going to have to be patched where that pantry comes out. The bathrooms shouldn't be too expensive, and they're going to get tile, so we may go after those first!

Unless it's a total dump at the moment, I would suggest trying to live in it a while before making any major alterations. It's surprising how long good ideas about the plan of the house take to ferment. The Kitchen, in particular is a large expense, and if you don't give it some time you may come to regret your layout in years to come.....Just a suggestion based on my own experiences.

 

[user 574]

Unless it's a total dump at the moment, I would suggest trying to live in it a while before making any major alterations. It's surprising how long good ideas about the plan of the house take to ferment. The Kitchen, in particular is a large expense, and if you don't give it some time you may come to regret your layout in years to come.....Just a suggestion based on my own experiences.

+1. We waited almost a year before gutting our 1981 style kitchen and changed ceiling's, blast out walls, cabinet design etc. And we have no regrets. Initial plans we would have smacked ourselves in the forehead if we went through with them. Work on the other things that don't take too much thought and $ first.

 

[Laurel]

ahahha, well, we don't have much if any spare money for the time being. It'll probably be late next spring to early summer before we can get started on anything like that, so we'll have some time to let the ideas mellow and integrate. Everything works and it's clean, so we're going to give it some time!

 

[Ecnerwal]

Write down all the stuff you think needs to be done before you move in.

After a month, write down what you think needs to be done.

Prioritize these lists.

Keep doing that every month (and save them all), and what needs (and if you work it over, how it needs or what it needs to look like) will become clear.

Of course, there is the danger of getting used to various annoying parts and living with them, never realizing how much they really annoy unless/until you finally do something to fix them - but hopefully those will at least be high on the initial lists - which is why you save them all for your reviews.

 

[zachatola]

SWMBO and I also just bought our first place (2 months give or take ago). Its a great feeling to sit back and look around and think....this is MY house, not a rental. But then again on the flip side you get the " #$*@*( toilet, stop running...... oh wait, this is MY problem now". LOL

Really though, it is way cool and once i get my garage all cleaned out i might actually be able to brew in there. LOL Congrats on the new place, there a lot of work, but worth it all.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Its a great feeling to sit back and look around and think....this is MY house, not a rental..

Hehe. I was looking at a house recently for my step daughter. It was a real fixer upper that had apparently been bought by someone, started on to a small degree, and they musta lost it really quick. On a sheet of new drywall in the only room that he had started, he had written in big black sharpie letters "This is MY house!".......I felt bad for this person.

 

[zachatola]

Dang, that would be bad. I looked at a couple of houses that were foreclosures and a couple of them were TRASHED, like lets throw a raging party the last night trashed. Wasn't really wanting to do cleanup as soon as i bought my house. LOL

 

[Chriso]

Congrats to you, Laurel! (Sorry so late, I never check General Chit CHat!)

I'm 16 months in on my first home, and I hate it. I mean, I love all the extra space. But we've already filled each and every last corner, nook, and cranny with a bunch of CRAP! Plus, SWMBO doesn't do kitchen work, or lawn work, or cleaning work, so basically I have 2400 sq ft to clean, by myself, plus a corner lot - HEAVILY landscaped by the previous owner - to maintain.

Whatever you do, DONT plant a bunch of bushes. Evil f'ers.

But I know that you and HWMO are gonna LOVE having some space to breathe. Hope moving goes swell! (And you can change my oil any day. Really, please. I'll pay you in beer. Ever since my old roommate stole all my tools, I've been takin' it to the Quick Lube whenever I finally remember that oil has to be CHANGED in those guldarn car thingies.)

 

[bob1852]

update? How's the economic crash affecting this? it's screwing up my house sale

best of luck to ya!

 

[Laurel]

We had no problems with financing. We bought well within our preapproval limit, and both have impeccable credit. We got an awesome interest rate also.

We closed yesterday and got the keys last night. We slept on the floor because we're not officially moving until Sunday, the 5th. I've started taking down light fixtures to get the house ready to paint. There is one lamp in particular that I'm amazed at every time I see it. It's SO hideous I can't imagine anyone ever wanting it, alas it's there. I took it down and took a photo of it with my cell phone this morning. You can see our awesome linoleum floor in the background, and no, that's not black, that's brown.

 

[Chriso]

We did that the 1st night in the house, too. A blanket, 2 pillows, and the bedroom floor

Say what you like, *I* think that lamp is AWESOME.

You should give us the highlight reel! I can't wait to see your favorite parts of the house!

 

[Laurel]

I have some shots of it, but my card reader is at the apartment, and we don't have internet access til friday, so it'll be at least tomorrow afternoon before I'm able to get anything up. I have a million things that I want to do in the yard, but it's like the worst time of year to do any of that! We'll have to focus on "inside projects" for the next few months. And we have plenty of those!

 

[Joker]

For the popcorn ceiling, plastic off the floor and and the walls up to the ceiling and tape it securely all the way around. Then go out and get your garden hose with a squeeze type nozzel on it and mist the ceiling in the room you will be working in. If it has been painted a few times mist it a second time and let is sit for a few minutes. Get some sheetrock benches or saw horses to make getting around easier. If you wet the ceiling correctly you can take a 10" sheetrock and scrape the popcorn off. It will come off very easily, if it doesn't wet it again.

Once all the popcorn is down let the ceiling dry over night and go rent a sheetrock screw gun and rescrew all the sheet rock back tight. Basically put a screw by every nail or screw currently there.

Next either you retape all joints and spot all the nails or have a drywall contractor do it. If you take these steps you can put whatever texture finish on it you like. I like a nice knockdown finish myself.

Yes I have done this more times then I care to remember.