Sam's Blog

Checking out the house...

I got off work at noon today so we could go over and met the inspectors at the house. The house is about 10-years old but in excellent condition. It has a cedar shake roof which, like several houses on the cul de sac, has been very well maintained and treated. The inspectors indicated that we'd get another 15-20 years out of it if we treat it every 5-7 years. He was surprised at the thickness of the shake too. He said too many builders use the cheap stuff that only lasts 15-years. He was also very happy that the original LP siding had been removed and replaced with fiber cement siding that was recently painted. We won't have to paint again for 10-15 years (cement fiber doesn't shrink and expand so the paint doesn't peel like it does on wood siding). The only thing we have to do on the outside is replace a poorly installed side light, do a little landscaping, get some of the pine bark away from the house (needs to be below the siding), and fix the gate on the fence - all easy stuff...

Inside the house was in very good shape too for a 10-year old house. That's because the floors were recently refinished, the downstairs walls recently painted, and, I believe, the carpets are relatively new. So, the only things to do inside are: replace a toilet seal, do a little repair on a couple of the kitchen cabinets, and replace the a couple of the bathroom sinks (they're the standard metal ones that come with the house - the overflow is welded to the sink, which causes rust more easily). We probably need to seal or replace a couple of broken bathroom sink tiles. Finally, we're probably going to replace the linoleum in the laundry room with tile before we move in...

The garage is in good shape. We'll probably texture and paint it before moving stuff in. The ceilings in the garage are very high so I'm probably going to install some overhead storage. The Furnace is Lennox and in very good condition. There is a good airflow return system too. The water heater is only 40-gallons and is the original one. So, although it is in very good condition, we'll probably replace it with a larger one within 2-years. Some of the insulation below the house (in the crawlspace) has fallen down but is dry and in good condition. We'll have the owner get it back up....

I learned a lot from the inspectors. They really knew their stuff (they even fixed a few things while they were there - things we thought were broken...). This is the 3rd house that we bought and these inspectors were, by far, more thorough, helpful, and knowledgeable than the others that we dealt with. They even had their workstation set up in the back of their van. So, they wrote up their report - with color pictures and everything - and provided a copy to both us and our realtor. I am very impressed...

Afterwards, we went to BJ's Barbeque for dinner. We heard about this place from our house cleaner. She told Lisa that it was the perfect place for kids - and for mom and dad. Outside, it resembled a little diner. We were a little skeptical. Inside, it looked like a little diner - except that it had a 20x20 area in the back for kids. Little tables, a couple of toys, crayons and paper, and a TV set on cartoons. The kids loved it. There was also a 55-inch TV in the back set on ESPN. Dad loved it. They had beer and wine. Mom loved it. They had the typical kids menus and barbeque menu. I got a ribeye. Lisa got a top sirloin. Good food, good drink, and entertainment for the kids...we'll be back.

posted by Sam @ 8:21 PM