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You will still own the land but I would think 400k should be doable. Try chuub not only are they awesome but they are named after an erect penis.
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May 9, 2016 19:16
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newts posted:Hey all, I have a question about home insurance... Did you get an appraisal at any point? If not, get an appraisal. It should tell you what your house and your land are worth separately, then if you feel like the house is underinsured you can give it to your insurance company and ask them about buying more coverage.
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May 9, 2016 19:28
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LogisticEarth posted:Maybe it's an east coast or older home/poorer family thing, but a 2,000 sqft house could easily be 4-bed, 2-bath, etc. Which is fine and definitely not "small" for a family of five. Both my parents grew up in homes that were between 1200-1700 sqft, with their parents, two siblings, and intermittently uncle's and/or grandparents. VendaGoat posted:This.... 
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May 9, 2016 19:33
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I find 2500 sq feet to work out nicely for three kids. That gives me one spare bedroom for guests and three upstairs bathrooms. I can do three baths simultaneously.
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May 9, 2016 19:42
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newts posted:Hey all, I have a question about home insurance... If you haven't tried chubb yet give them a shot, they might be willing to insure for more. Also you can get an umbrella policy (and you should anyway because you have a lot of value for people to go after if something bad happens).
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May 9, 2016 19:58
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Sorry to start the house-size debate again  The house is actually 1,835 sq ft. It's a 3 bedroom with 1.5 bathrooms. I think it's pretty small, especially for the price we're paying, but we wouldn't be buying it if we didn't think it would work for us. We won't have a mortgage because we are making quite a bit of profit on selling our current house, plus borrowing a lot of money from our families, plus we never spend money on anything but kids and food so have saved a lot. We tried buying with a traditional mortgage, but always lost the houses we wanted, so did an all cash purchase and got the house. We will get an appraisal done, that's a good idea! But would that necessarily reflect the cost to rebuild? Seems silly to hire a contractor to give us an estimate on rebuilding the house, but maybe we'll have to do that. Eta: Good point on the umbrella coverage. We have a lot right now, but will see about bumping it up.
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May 9, 2016 20:04
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If it has a basement, the 2k figure might not include a basement, finished or not. I had a friend who moved to texas from illinois and he was having trouble figuring out why the homes there were listed as larger than his illinois house, but seemed smaller. Well, pretty much every house in illinois has an extra 40-50% in unlisted finished square feet if you have a finished basement. edit: my house in illinois with 2500 above grade finished square feet and 1100 below grade finished square feet was valued at $190k last year. I live in a nicer, but not extraordinary neighborhood and just have a builder grade finishes for the most part.
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May 10, 2016 00:33
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My 3 bedroom 1.5 bath house is 1188 square feet. It's in a neighborhood full of similarly-sized houses full of families with two, three, and four kids. Whether a house "seems small" has as much to do with perceptions as square feet, and then another aspect is how well the house was laid out for usability. A lot of houses are poorly designed and waste a lot of square footage on poo poo like hallways. Some people have formal dining rooms, others don't. Staircases consume square footage too. If you have a laundry room in your home instead of hookups in the garage that can be another hundred square feet. Etc. etc. Lots of people feel more comfortable with more space, that's fine. Where folks take issue is when we're living very reasonably in 1200 square feet and someone pops in to declare that they "need" twice as much space. "Need" is a loaded word. Americans are generally massively wasteful, some of us are acutely aware of that wastefulness, and it's not a terrible thing to remind people - politely - that the standard American perception of what we "need" is actually grossly conspicuous luxury compared to how most of humanity lives, including in other developed countries. Especially in BFC, because one of the persistent problems that people have with regards to managing their financing, is being unable to clearly delineate between actual needs, and luxuries.
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May 10, 2016 00:34
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Leperflesh posted:My 3 bedroom 1.5 bath house is 1188 square feet. It's in a neighborhood full of similarly-sized houses full of families with two, three, and four kids. Whether a house "seems small" has as much to do with perceptions as square feet, and then another aspect is how well the house was laid out for usability. A lot of houses are poorly designed and waste a lot of square footage on poo poo like hallways. Some people have formal dining rooms, others don't. Staircases consume square footage too. If you have a laundry room in your home instead of hookups in the garage that can be another hundred square feet. Etc. etc. I want to bone this post and give it a diamond ring. VendaGoat fucked around with this message at 03:11 on May 10, 2016 |
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May 10, 2016 03:06
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OSU_Matthew posted:Anybody here planted a tree and had success with it/any advice they could pass on? The most important thing when planting trees is not to plant them too deep. That's probably the biggest mistake people make. That and over-watering. Don't suffocate or drown your tree. Be aware that fall is usually when trees are planted. Planting trees in hot summer weather is asking for trouble. Summer weather is very stressful for plants, and a stressed tree attracts opportunistic insects. Here's what I do: 1. Dig out an area twice as wide as the pot it came in. Don't dig any deeper than the pot it came in unless you have really terrible dirt - but make sure whatever level you end up with doesn't put the tree any lower in the ground than it is in the pot. If you aren't sure, you can lightly brush some dirt away from the base of the trunk and look for where it just starts to flare outward (toward roots). That's usually where the dirt level should be. 2. Pick out large rocks from the dirt around the hole if feeling ambitious. 3. Tilt the pot on its side and gently roll it back and forth while loosening the pot away from the dirt/rootball mass. 4. Put the dirt/rootball mass in the middle of the hole. If it was extremely root bound, you might want to unravel some of the roots a tiny bit - but the goal is to disturb the roots as little as possible, so don't go overboard. Definitely don't separate all of the roots from the dirt (I have really met people who thought that's how you plant things). 5. Fill in around it. If you want to get fancy, you can mix nicer dirt into the dirt you dug out before backfilling, but it isn't necessary. Pick trees that will grow in the type of dirt you have and they'll be fine. 6. I don't stake them, except for one ginkgo tree that had clearly been staked at the nursery and was flopping over. If you absolutely must stake a tree, don't use supports that will cut into the bark, and try to remove the supports as soon as possible. Young trees should be motivated to develop a strong trunk and root system to keep themselves upright. 7. Mulch around the tree with a mulch that helps keep in moisture (like wood chips) but don't pile it up against the trunk. Keep mulch about 2 inches or so away from the tree trunk. 8. If you have deer and they're likely to eat your tree, put up a fence around it until it's more established. If you have rodents that like to gnaw on things at ground level (like shrews or rats), put a guard around the base of the tree. 9. Water deeply, regularly (ideally in the morning) until it's established (the first few weeks), depending on weather and the needs of the tree. After it's established, you'll need to train the tree to be low maintenance, so you'll gradually taper down your watering to once every week. Focus on watering deeply, not just sprinkling it for a few minutes, and don't drown it. Trees generally want moist soil, not soggy soil, so don't flood it. Never raise the height of the soil around a tree after you've planted it. If you want a raised bed there, raise the soil level now, not later. Many trees will suffocate if you change the amount of dirt sitting on top of their roots later. Edit: Good clarifications from LogisticEarth! LogisticEarth posted:This is all pretty good advice but I'd elaborate slightly on two points: Zanthia fucked around with this message at 00:46 on May 22, 2016 |
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May 10, 2016 07:27
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newts posted:Sorry to start the house-size debate again It won't really be that accurate of an estimate for the rebuild cost, it's just going to be a ballpark figure. The only reason you're getting it is to A) check to see whether the insurance company's estimate of the rebuild cost is reasonable and B) if it's not reasonable then you have something to show them. You could probably just call them up and be like "we think our house would cost more to rebuild than what you've insured us for", they'll probably be happy to bump up your coverage. But it's probable that your coverage is already reasonable
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May 10, 2016 08:38
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Leperflesh posted:My 3 bedroom 1.5 bath house is 1188 square feet. It's in a neighborhood full of similarly-sized houses full of families with two, three, and four kids. Whether a house "seems small" has as much to do with perceptions as square feet, and then another aspect is how well the house was laid out for usability. A lot of houses are poorly designed and waste a lot of square footage on poo poo like hallways. Some people have formal dining rooms, others don't. Staircases consume square footage too. If you have a laundry room in your home instead of hookups in the garage that can be another hundred square feet. Etc. etc. I'm in a similar boat; we have a 3 bed 2.5 bath house that's 1500 sqft and it feels enormous. The entire neighborhood is full of people with similar floor plans who either have a bunch of young children or who had a bunch of kids 20 years ago. No basements, either; this is one of those areas where the ground is tough enough to make basements cost-prohibitive. Laundry hookups in the garage, storage areas under stairwells, and an open layout can create a lot of space. I think that your comments on layout are spot on; one house can feel much more cramped than another with the same square footage. I've seen plenty of houses that had an extra 200-500 sqft but felt cramped thanks to garbage layouts. We saw one house where the first floor was basically one long wraparound hallway around a stairwell, with the hallway ending in a combo living room / kitchen, divided by one of those little bar/slit walls. It was so lovely. The realtor tried to pretend that the hallway is part of the living room by sticking a couch in the hallway portion, but it just made it hard to walk around and probably had the effect of making things feel even more cramped. That feeling of being cramped even in a lot of actual floor space was especially bad for houses built in the 50s and 60s; people back then just loved clearly-defined rooms separated by thick walls. And they also loved narrow kitchens (which makes sense if you think that only one person is ever supposed be in there). Our house is cheaper to keep warm/cool than those other houses despite feeling bigger.
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May 10, 2016 09:04
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I love clearly defined rooms and we have a center hall colonial, but different strokes for different folks I guess.
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May 10, 2016 11:56
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The changing definition of small is bizarre, growing up with 5 siblings in a 2 bedroom house seemed normal to me back in ancient times, that's how everyone else seemed to group up as well. I'm guessing you'd get shipped off to Guantanamo Bay for daring to do such a horrible thing to children in 2016.
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May 10, 2016 17:02
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Pryor on Fire posted:The changing definition of small is bizarre, growing up with 5 siblings in a 2 bedroom house seemed normal to me back in ancient times, that's how everyone else seemed to group up as well. I'm guessing you'd get shipped off to Guantanamo Bay for daring to do such a horrible thing to children in 2016. I don't think that's what anyone's saying when they describe it as 'small', they're obviously talking about themselves and how they feel. The biggest space I lived in growing up in a 6 family household was in a <1500 sqft 2 bedroom 1 bath bungalow (I'm not clear on the square footage, but there was a finished family room in the basement). My room barely fit my twin bed and is about the same size as my mom's current walk in closet. Smallest was a single bedroom that barely fit a full sized bed in a house my parents and I shared with 2 other families (one family per bedroom), the house had a tiny shared living space (about the size of a bedroom) and a small kitchen and one bathroom. I think it was fine and I have very fond memories and love for both houses. I still think the largest is small for me now and I like my 2200 sqft house that we're growing into, with a large spacious home office and exercise space, a place for my family/friends to stay over (multiple times on a monthly basis), and a spacious bedroom for me and my children. There's no 'need' involved, it's just a preference.  But then growing up, I always knew we were poorer than almost all other families, and most of my classmates lived 1 bedroom per child with a guest room, so that's always seen as the norm for me.edit grammar/wording Rurutia fucked around with this message at 17:47 on May 10, 2016 |
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May 10, 2016 17:36
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Zanthia posted:(Tree tips) This is all pretty good advice but I'd elaborate slightly on two points: 1) It's hard to know what "too deep" is if you don't know what you're looking for. What is key is to keep the "root flare" slightly above ground and not covered by mulch. The root flare is just as it sounds: the part of the trunk where it starts to flare out into the roots. You don't want to bury that. 2) When unpacking balled or potted trees, you want to watch out for girdling. This can happen if the roots have started to grow in a circle or spiral in the pot. Just gently splay them out so they're not wrapping around the trunk. If you don't do this, they can actually "strangle" the tree in the long run. LogisticEarth fucked around with this message at 17:48 on May 10, 2016 |
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May 10, 2016 17:40
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We just switched insurances. The new agency called me up yesterday about sending out someone to do an inside and outside inspection tomorrow. Our last company did not do this, relying on on drive by inspections. Are there things in my house I should be concerned with for this? I am getting a slight level of anxiety from this.
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May 11, 2016 02:39
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couldcareless posted:We just switched insurances. The new agency called me up yesterday about sending out someone to do an inside and outside inspection tomorrow. Our last company did not do this, relying on on drive by inspections.
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May 11, 2016 04:32
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I just bought 30 led light bulbs. This only covers my vanity lighting in the bathrooms. It is the last of the CFLs remaining in the house though If anyone is looking for good led bulbs Walmart has the basic 60w for sub $3, top rated on the wirecutter.
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May 12, 2016 05:14
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Also why the gently caress is it so hard to get a contractor to call you back to get an estimate? I've worked with you before and want to give you thousands of dollars, just give me a date and a number!
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May 12, 2016 05:15
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couldcareless posted:We just switched insurances. The new agency called me up yesterday about sending out someone to do an inside and outside inspection tomorrow. Our last company did not do this, relying on on drive by inspections. Make sure your smoke detectors are installed correctly and that you also have a carbon monoxide detector. My insurance agent told me when I switched providers recently that the new one basically only sent out the inspector to see those.
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May 12, 2016 05:23
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FCKGW posted:I just bought 30 led light bulbs. This only covers my vanity lighting in the bathrooms. It is the last of the CFLs remaining in the house though I bought similar LED lights from Lowes last year, $12 for a 6 pack. They also had 40 watt equivalent bulbs if you need those.
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May 12, 2016 15:05
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FCKGW posted:Also why the gently caress is it so hard to get a contractor to call you back to get an estimate? I've worked with you before and want to give you thousands of dollars, just give me a date and a number! If you figure it out please tell me. I am trying to get estimates for a new roof, likely $10,000+. I've called 5 places and so far only ONE has followed through with a bid.
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May 12, 2016 16:29
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Maybe they're actually fronts for laundering money? When you think about it, that would probably be a good vehicle for it, you don't need an office or anything to work out of, and blowing thousands of dollars for very little result is just how everyone expects home work/repair to go. 
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May 12, 2016 16:43
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Economic Sinkhole posted:If you figure it out please tell me. I am trying to get estimates for a new roof, likely $10,000+. I've called 5 places and so far only ONE has followed through with a bid. The economy and especially housing is back to booming for now. Don't worry, those same contractors will be falling all over themselves to kiss your rear end in 3 years when the economy takes an inevitable turn downwards.
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May 12, 2016 16:44
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Droo posted:The economy and especially housing is back to booming for now. Don't worry, those same contractors will be falling all over themselves to kiss your rear end in 3 years when the economy takes an inevitable turn downwards. This may be the case. I'm having trouble with a concrete guy who did some work for my house back in 2011. dude was on it the same day no problem. Now it's pulling teeth trying to get him out to do a $3k job.
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May 12, 2016 18:11
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I bought a bunch of LEDs recently too, but for bathroom vanities it felt like a bank of 40 W bulbs was super bright. The bulbs originally in there were 60W equivalent CFLs. Anywhere that you have a 60W bulb, it's worth trying a 40W. They're much cheaper and if you have a whole bunch of them in one place then it's not going to make much difference
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May 12, 2016 19:18
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Is the general consensus that we should start replacing all CFL's with LED's preemptively, or just upon burnout? I have a few LED's but most of my bulbs are ~3yo CFL's. I picked color temp and wattage as appropriate for my various uses at the time.
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May 12, 2016 19:31
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SiGmA_X posted:Is the general consensus that we should start replacing all CFL's with LED's preemptively, or just upon burnout? I have a few LED's but most of my bulbs are ~3yo CFL's. I picked color temp and wattage as appropriate for my various uses at the time. Just on burnout, but if you have a light bar in the bathroom with 2 burnt out CFLs and 6 working CFLs then you might want to just replace all of them with LEDs for the sake of aesthetics
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May 12, 2016 19:37
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SiGmA_X posted:Is the general consensus that we should start replacing all CFL's with LED's preemptively, or just upon burnout? I have a few LED's but most of my bulbs are ~3yo CFL's. I picked color temp and wattage as appropriate for my various uses at the time. I only did it because I was buying a new house and didn't want to have to get the ladder out all the time to replace lights in high fixtures. I bought better LED bulbs for the fan in the living room because it has 18-foot ceilings and the fan is 10 feet in the air. I wouldn't recommend replacing them all unless you still have incandescent bulbs that are wasting money and generating heat.
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May 12, 2016 19:39
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That sounds logical to me. Speaking of ladders, any good deals on little giant 22's lately? Or recommended knockoffs? E: answer my own question. Knockoffs are Chinese vs American and do not have as many locking pins, and only cost ~15% less. Groupon has a 22 Little Giant for 195 shipped currently. SiGmA_X fucked around with this message at 20:27 on May 12, 2016 |
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May 12, 2016 20:05
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Economic Sinkhole posted:If you figure it out please tell me. I am trying to get estimates for a new roof, likely $10,000+. I've called 5 places and so far only ONE has followed through with a bid. edit: maybe they just caulked it and were making sure the caulk held. If so, it's held for 2 years, so good job to them.
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May 13, 2016 04:15
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I also bought a 3-way LED for this awesome old lamp that I have, it had a 50/100/150W incandescent bulb and I replaced it with a 30/60/100W equivalent LED bulb (which is really 5/9/20 Watts). It looks exactly the same as the old bulb but is just a tiny bit dimmer. It's the primary source of light in my living room and it's great, gives the room a nice cozy feeling but at 1/10th of the power and with almost none of the heat.
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May 13, 2016 09:02
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Elephanthead posted:It is much cheaper to have a truckload delivered. This reminds me I need a landscaper. Maybe it's regional differences, but mulch is like $45 a yard delivered, whereas Lowe's 2-cubic-foot bags are $45 a yard ($27 a yard during sales). This discounts the cost of fuel, time, and Ibuprofen, of course, but to some people (my inlaws with a trailer, for instance), these things aren't "real costs."
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May 13, 2016 17:53
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So my buddy was talking home automation last night. He's going with Wink stuff, it seems excessively consumer to me - but kind of cool. What do Goons like? Any suggested resources to read?
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May 13, 2016 18:01
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Wink is junk and is going out of business. SmartThings sucks too, everything is hosted on their servers which go down all the time. There isn't a great easy automation solution right now. If you are a nerd you can set up some pretty cool stuff with the likes of OpenHAB or my preference, HomeSeer. The Home Automation subreddit is fairly good if you want more info about something. The main thing I've learned it to try to think about specific things you want to automate and get stuff to solve those issues rather than try to do a more top-down, "automate everything" approach.
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May 13, 2016 18:11
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uwaeve posted:Maybe it's regional differences, but mulch is like $45 a yard delivered, whereas Lowe's 2-cubic-foot bags are $45 a yard ($27 a yard during sales). This discounts the cost of fuel, time, and Ibuprofen, of course, but to some people (my inlaws with a trailer, for instance), these things aren't "real costs." Yeah it's almost as if free delivery makes stuff cheaper!
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May 13, 2016 18:50
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https://twitter.com/nice_mustard/status/731162248295657472
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May 13, 2016 19:05
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http://www.dontevenreply.com/view.php?post=104
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May 13, 2016 19:10
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moana posted:Refinishing hardwood isn't all that difficult or expensive, if that's what you want to do. If it's a small job you can easily DIY it through tutorials online (I did my last house and it was kinda fun) Finally took a peak under the carpet, and the wood is already finished.  Why did the previous owners decide that having carpet in the hall and NOT the bedrooms made sense?
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May 13, 2016 20:01
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