Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[CleverNickName]

Make sure to confirm how long the warranty on the roof replacement lasts. I had a leak a few years back, and was relieved to find that the warranty on the roof repair the sellers had done was still in effect (albeit just barely).

Oh I had a headache with my recent replacement too. The chimney meets at three points on the roof which is no bueno. The crew didnt properly flash it and I got some water on the wall but spotted it soon enough. They did fix it and repaint my wall. The contractor covers this kind of thing for 10 years.

Oh the roof was a mess, y'all. It still had the original roof in place, buried underneath two layers of composite shingles. And if that sounds bad, you don't know the half of it: this house was built in 1896! The original roof was cedar shake built over lathe, and I don't want to deal with the potential nightmare of having to replace it in a few years. So the seller agreed to do a full rip-and-replace, all the way down to the rafters, and rebuild it with proper decking, insulation, membrane, and all. And since they're going that far, I also want them to take the abandoned brick chimney down to below the roof line. It's probably a $50k job.

I don't want to talk smack about the house, though. She's an old girl, but she's got good bones: the foundation was built properly back in the day, and the whole structure has settled less than a quarter-inch in the last 130 years. It's all sturdy, solid-wood construction with plaster and lathe, no particle board or gluon. The house had been updated several times over the decades (centuries?), too, most recently in 2011 when a 930ft² addition was added. To meet permit requirements for the new structure, they had to bring everything up to code so the iron water plumbing was all redone with PEX, the cast iron sewer plumbing was all replaced with PVC, the asbestos siding was removed, and the old "knob and tube" wiring was replaced with code-compliant NMB wiring.

There are a couple of other concessions that we are still haggling about. They are going to need an electrician; one of the outlets in the kitchen isn't grounded, and other outlet doesn't work at all, and they daisy-chained three GFI outlets together for some reason. The wall-to-wall carpet in the upstairs bedrooms wasn't installed properly so it's all worn and wrinkled and loose; it's got to go. And those window AC units and baseboard heaters are getting replaced with a more efficient four-zone heat pump system.

But we love the house, we love the kooky wall angles and classical moldings and antique leaded glass windows and all of the other little "they don't build them like that anymore" touches. She's an antique, she's one of a kind, and thanks to the unstable economy the seller is highly-motivated. (It also helps that I'm a civil engineer and a construction inspector--both the seller's agent and the inspector groaned audibly when they read my business card.)

 

[Staffan]

Not sure if I want to know what rule 34 is either.

If it exists there is... an adult version of it.

I believe the first published observation of the rule was a cartoon that showed a young man looking at a computer screen, exasperatedly exclaiming "Calvin and Hobbes!?!"

 

[payn]

Oh the roof was a mess, y'all. It still had the original roof in place, buried underneath two layers of composite shingles. And if that sounds bad, you don't know the half of it: this house was built in 1896! The original roof was cedar shake built over lathe, and I don't want to deal with the potential nightmare of having to replace it in a few years. So the seller agreed to do a full rip-and-replace, all the way down to the rafters, and rebuild it with proper decking, insulation, membrane, and all. And since they're going that far, I also want them to take the abandoned brick chimney down to below the roof line. It's probably a $50k job.

I don't want to talk smack about the house, though. She's an old girl, but she's got good bones: the foundation was built properly back in the day, and the whole structure has settled less than a quarter-inch in the last 130 years. It's all sturdy, solid-wood construction with plaster and lathe, no particle board or gluon. The house had been updated several times over the decades (centuries?), too, most recently in 2011 when a 930ft² addition was added. To meet permit requirements for the new structure, they had to bring everything up to code so the iron water plumbing was all redone with PEX, the cast iron sewer plumbing was all replaced with PVC, the asbestos siding was removed, and the old "knob and tube" wiring was replaced with code-compliant NMB wiring.

There are a couple of other concessions that we are still haggling about. They are going to need an electrician; one of the outlets in the kitchen isn't grounded, and other outlet doesn't work at all, and they daisy-chained three GFI outlets together for some reason. The wall-to-wall carpet in the upstairs bedrooms wasn't installed properly so it's all worn and wrinkled and loose; it's got to go. And those window AC units and baseboard heaters are getting replaced with a more efficient four-zone heat pump system.

But we love the house, we love the kooky wall angles and classical moldings and antique leaded glass windows and all of the other little "they don't build them like that anymore" touches. She's an antique, she's one of a kind, and thanks to the unstable economy the seller is highly-motivated. (It also helps that I'm a civil engineer and a construction inspector--both the seller's agent and the inspector groaned audibly when they read my business card.)

Before my trusty 50's rambler im in now, my ex wife and I had a 1902 built Victorian. It had charm for days and most of it was well kept. Love those style of houses. Sounds like everything that would set off my alarm bells is covered here. The roof is the most important so if thats a done deal great. The electrical sounds like it could be an easy job and not the worst thing to get stuck with.

Keep us updated!

 

[dragoner]

If it exists there is... an adult version of it.

Gross.

I am the scarecrow without a brain, I just don't want to know. People ruin everything.

 

[Scribe]

(It also helps that I'm a civil engineer and a construction inspector--both the seller's agent and the inspector groaned audibly when they read my business card.)

I hope you got a good internal smile out of that.

"No actually, you cannot pull one over on me."

 

[dragoner]

Before my trusty 50's rambler im in now, my ex wife and I had a 1902 built Victorian. It had charm for days and most of it was well kept. Love those style of houses. Sounds like everything that would set off my alarm bells is covered here. The roof is the most important so if thats a done deal great. The electrical sounds like it could be an easy job and not the worst thing to get stuck with.

I used to make a decent living updating these houses in the San Francisco Bay Area, even got in the newspaper; house lifted and moved a Julia Morgan in Berkeley that had slid 15 feet across the property line. Prairie Schoolhouses with rot in their walls because Frank Lloyd Wright hated exposed gutters. Bought a old craftsman bungalow in Oakland that was virtually untouched, walls of madrone built ins, unpainted. Funny thing about the asbestos remediation, better to leave it in place and seal it with a primer sealer, old knob and tube electrical too, asbestos wrapped wire, actually great for what it was. The real problem were the remodels before the 80's using general breakers that wouldn't trip, and sub 70C romex that would burn them down.

I used to like peeling the newspaper wallpaper backing from turn of the century houses and drying them, to read at lunch. Big new houses for 6k, and 20 different makes of automobiles.

 

[CleverNickName]

I hope you got a good internal smile out of that.

"No actually, you cannot pull one over on me."

It gave me a great sense of satisfaction, for sure. "This," I thought to myself, "This is the moment I've trained for."

I know I'm not infallible; I'm sure they could still pull one over on me if they really wanted to. But I think that everyone in that moment understood: I would make it very difficult and expensive for them to try.

I showed up with my CSE kit, for crying out loud. "I hope you don't mind if I join you in the crawlspace," I said with a smile, pulling out my air quality monitor.

 

[Scribe]

It gave me a great sense of satisfaction, for sure. "This," I thought to myself, "This is the moment I've trained for."

I know I'm not infallible; I'm sure they could still pull one over on me if they really wanted to. But I think that everyone in that moment understood: I would make it very difficult and expensive for them to try.

I showed up with my CSE kit, for crying out loud. "I hop you don't mind if I join you in the crawlspace," I said with a smile, pulling out my air quality monitor.

Way better than me. I was a dumb kid who knew nothing and I'm still paying for the things I didn't know about.

 

[CleverNickName]

Way better than me. I was a dumb kid who knew nothing and I'm still paying for the things I didn't know about.

Yeah, I'm sure there will be a bit of that for me, too. But it's a very old house; most of the "big things" that could go wrong, like settlement or flooding or ground movement, have already happened as much as they're going to. Between the utility upgrades and the new roof, I think it's gonna be a good investment.

I'd like to make some efficiency upgrades in the coming years, like insulating the exterior walls and flooring in the older structure, replacing the furnace with a heat pump, getting newer kitchen appliances, that sort of thing. But that's gonna be down the road a bit.

Still waiting to see the footage from the sewer scope, and still waiting for the results from the radon test. But so far, all things are Go.

 

[Alzrius]

Still waiting to see the footage from the sewer scope, and still waiting for the results from the radon test. But so far, all things are Go.

That reminds me: make sure your house has a cleanout for its drain line. It's not something you'll need very often, but when you do, you really do.