July 31, 201410 yr ^^Wow, Ram, that's amazing. Love what you did with the bathroom and kitchen. And that view is fantastic!
July 31, 201410 yr ^^I only had to re-do plumbing in certain spots where the pipes had frozen and burst (in exterior walls). The rest were in good shape, and luckily the water heater, mechanical, and electrical had all been upgraded around 2002 and worked perfectly. I poked around the house a lot prior to purchasing it and figured I wouldn't need to go the route of the renovation loan because I didn't need/want to do that much work to it. If it had needed electrical or mechanical repairs I would have definitely gone that route, though. I just did the standard HomePath loan. The no PMI on these loans is great. ^ Thanks, the bathroom and kitchen were almost all from Ikea, which made it super cheap. It's cheaper than the standard Home Depot cabinets, which look way too traditional for me. If you’ve ever done an Ikea kitchen, literally EVERYTHING comes flat pack and in 1000 pieces. It took days of crawling around with a drill and Allen wrench to build just the base cabinets. I guess that’s why it’s cheaper than the other big box choices.
July 31, 201410 yr Yeah, the no PMI thing is a nice feature. I'm redoing the entire kitchen from scratch, so I need the renovation mortgage.
August 2, 201410 yr Ram23[/member] Nice. Love the bathroom floors. Are they heated? They are not. This is the second bathroom and it's on the top floor of the house, which I basically never use. It serves two bedrooms up there, 1 of which is an office I never use and the other is a guest bedroom. The master bath is actually on the lowest floor, which opens up to the back yard because of the way the lot slopes. It works perfectly fine and actually has some nice fixtures (was redone in 2002) but it is hideous. I don't even want to show it here. I'll probably get around to replacing the vanity, tile, paint, etc. this winter. The floor in the master is actually heated, so I may end up keeping it.
August 3, 201410 yr Ram23[/member] Nice. Love the bathroom floors. Are they heated? They are not. This is the second bathroom and it's on the top floor of the house, which I basically never use. It serves two bedrooms up there, 1 of which is an office I never use and the other is a guest bedroom. The master bath is actually on the lowest floor, which opens up to the back yard because of the way the lot slopes. It works perfectly fine and actually has some nice fixtures (was redone in 2002) but it is hideous. I don't even want to show it here. I'll probably get around to replacing the vanity, tile, paint, etc. this winter. The floor in the master is actually heated, so I may end up keeping it. Heated floors is everything. I don't know how I lived without them. When I renovated my bathroom, my ex though that "heated floors" was unnecessary and a waste of money. On a cold morning, you appreciate those toasty floors. In the brownstone I have them in the foyer, the bathrooms and garden entry and it makes a world of difference.
August 4, 201410 yr First I would NEVER recommend doing your first restoration of a 5000 sq ft house. In spite of people saying "I will live there forever" most people don't. Large houses take longer to do, and cost far more money than you will ever expect . Home inspectors will cover the basics; Roof conditions, electrical, HVAC stuff like that. They are not structural engineers and can't determine "potential issues". If you are in a position to pay cash for the house, you should know that the bank wants to get rid of it. Typically if a house is listed at 30K I'll offer 7500.00 and go up to 10K. The longer a bank holds, the more it costs them. The yard mowing, the guys who will have to keep coming out and boarding it. Do not let the Realtor fool you in to thinking a foreclosures is a "great deal". Often you are better off to pay more for a "habitable house" or one that hasn't been updated. So many foreclosures were redone at the real estate boom and the work was slip shod. Look for city orders that may be against the house. I know people who have bought condemned homes ( that you would not assume were condemned) and have spent years fighting the city to save them. A restoration is expensive, plain and simple. You need to get someone whose done restoration to advise you as to what you need. This should NOT be the contractor you hire. You want to do your homework, understand the code requirements and prepare a bid specs of what YOU want and actually need. Do not let the contractor tell you what you need. 3 bids a must, License and insurance must be checked and you want a "no sub clause" on things like the roof. Many roof contractors hire subs who are not contractors, have no insurance, often have illegal workers who are not experienced. If that "illegal" worker falls off your roof, guess who gets sued? You do and you will probably lose your house. I require in some trades that all workers must provide US ID and must be minimally proficient in English (communication is a safety issue). Painting contractors must be EPA certified and must follow lead safe procedure's. If they don't you could find a stop work order on your house, and you do not want the EPA opening a can of worms If they find asbestos add 40K for additional abatement My general rule of thumb, Get the outside envelope done first. Roof/gutters/downspouts. Window rebuild/storms and tuck-pointing or siding repairs..THEN do the inside. The pretty stuff comes dead last after the insulation, HVAC, electrical, plumbing. 70-125 dollars a sq foot is not uncommon in a typical restoration, (not the crap that "flippers" do and call restoration), if you are hiring most things out. YOU want to do it right the first time. Better to buy a house with period light fixtures, mantels and staircase in good shape and maybe pay more that a "bargain" basket case that will require you to go out and buy VERY expensive salvage to complete it. Again I would NEVER recommend anyone buy a 5000 sq ft home their first time out, because you will be looking for a marriage counselor or a divorce attorney before you ever get done. I deal with the aftermath of restoration gone wrong every day and its not pretty!
December 19, 201410 yr Anyone know where I can buy used radiators in Cleveland? Try http://www.clevelandhabitat.org/80-2/
December 22, 201410 yr Anyone know where I can buy used radiators in Cleveland? Try http://www.clevelandhabitat.org/80-2/ No dice, thanks though. Looks like I will need to try some scrap yards.
December 22, 201410 yr Try some of the antique places on Lorain. They had a lot of old house things, windows,doors, etc
March 23, 20178 yr I'm looking to install a security system in a 7-unit apartment building in Over-the-Rhine. Any advice on security companies/services? Is it worth getting video cameras?
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