So Much To Do...

This will probably be an ongoing post as the projects mount up. There is so much that Bethany and I have to do to make this house our own, but even before that it's a question of maintenance and efficiency. Over the past few days I've done a little bit of the things that I've needed to but have just been putting off. For one thing I called and researched Plumbers after logging onto and getting a subscription to Angie's List, at angieslist.com. In addition to that I actually hired one for less than two hours and found out that the Plumbers are much more expensive than any other profession on this planet. I also got an HVAC guy to come out who was familliar with this house's heating system and got him to go over our options for a new heating system so our bills wouldn't be so astronomical. We've got more than a few options and all of them seem to be more expensive than any of the ones I could think of. Regardless, I think it was helpful to speak with someone who would be able to give us some direction. On the HVAC front Bethany and I would like to be as efficient as possible. we don't really want to do some half-ass job of heating and cooling our house. Right now the furnace is under the house and is just hanging beneath the utilty closet; It's huge, enormous about 85,000 btu and has been there since the early 70's. The furnace normally has a life expectancy of about 25 years, so we're well overdue for a new heating system. People have told me many things about the heating and the one thing that I know the most about is what to do before we do the heating; Insulation. We've got to place insulation under the floor in the house. Before we do any of that we're going to have to place a vapor barrier on the ground beneath the house in the crawl space; which I am not looking forward to and working my procrastination on. But alas; I'm going to have to do it sooner or later and it might as well be sooner and get it done and done right than later just trying to get it done because I'm miserable doing it in the cold and damp air of the fall. Regardless, I've still got the furnace to worry about. Grrrr. Well, the one thing that actually did get completed was the work of the Plumber. Mr. Plumber man fixed a couple of leaks, one in the shower (he charged me $30 for a part that probably retails for about $5) fixed the shower head in the front bathroom; I thought it was a diverter valve, but it was only the shower head itself which was dirty and corroded and finally he fixed the leak on the side of the house which entailed cutting out a bad piece of PVC and replacing it with a patch. All of that cost about $300 and took about an 90 minutes to do... With that said I can't wait to find out what a new furnace will cost...

Is This What Homeownership Is?

Everywhere I look, I keep finding things to do. I can't be in this house wihtout noticing something that needs to be fixed, replaced, or removed completely. This is seriously stressful, I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I didn't understand the value of money and how little we have. I feel like we got into this house by the skin of our teeth and now here we are in it, unpacked and everything but not able to figure out what we should do now and what we should put off until we have more money. I think Bethany feels the same way.

Yesterday I called out sick, because I was really sick and thought I needed to rest and get better so I could go in on Friday I couldn't relax because I knew there was a ton of work to be done. So there was this leak in the shower and a leak outside close to the side yard spigot so I decided to call someone to take a look at it and fix it. But who? Who should I call? The previous owner was really good and gave us the list of contractors she used before she moved to Portland Maine but somehow never used a plumber after 19 years here. No wonder there are leaks. So I called some friends, my Realtor that sold us this place and the neighbors who may have advice; then I signed up with Angie's list; a friend told me about the site. I thought it would be a good thing to do since we've never done anything like this before, and it was; I found out how much a plumber costs. The advice he gave me was worth it, barely but he fixed three problems for me and gave me all kinds of answers to all of my problems, I guess that's what you get for spending close to $300 for two hours of work, which by the way, is making me reconsider my current career.

There is so much to do and so little time or money to do it. Grrr, I'm so glad I don't have any kids right now; I would be pulling my hair out.