<p>“Right now I am working with retired and/or currently unemployed men in the neighborhood and a couple of unemployed college grads and crossing my fingers.”</p>
<p>In Calif…if a project costs more than $500…you are supposed to use licensed people.</p>
<p>“edit: the painter is the only one who has been on the job from the beginning of the project. We just had eggs and toast for breakfast.”</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Yes on the vents.</p>
<p>Contractor’s grade paint was probably included to keep the quote lower, on first appearance. Our contractor (for other work) is the sort who, if he says he’ll be there on Monday, we now know to look for him later in the week. But, he’s an old friend, with a house key. Once, he showed up as promised and I was speechless. Once.</p>
<p>I do the painting (I’m the mom) because I am a picture-straightener sort. And, the quotes here are outrageous. The work a painter did on the front door faded after a few seasons (faces the sun.) When I redid it- same BM paint- why oh why has it now lasted perfectly for 3 years? (Maybe because I spoke nicely to it, as I worked?)</p>
<p>^^I live in the country. very very rural. phase II of this project is unpermited and unlicensed. That is not unusual around here. It is probably not really legal and might be a problem if we ever wanted to sell. It may mean the children get less than market value when they try to unload it… if it has any market value at all, which I doubt. At a party on the weekend some other renovators and H and I were talking about kinds and costs of insulation and someone asked if we wouldn’t make it up with resale value and all the old house people were ROFLOL</p>
<p>Lookingforward…:)</p>
<p>Alh…you would be in big trouble around here…</p>
<p>dstark: the hvac was not functional? ever? the house inspection didn’t show this? or maybe you passed on an inspection because you knew you wanted the property and could handle this sort of surprise?</p>
<p>I think if I could have afforded restoration contractors of the very best reputation and been willing to wait for them to have time to do my project - I might not have had to fire anyone. Since I have spent double the projected budget and double the projected time, that probably would have been the way to go… in retrospect. However, my new bff, the architect, doubts it though and he did a huge restoration himself locally. He let his contractors go and finished the work himself. He says he has never lived in an area where he, too, had this contractor problem.</p>
<p>The original goal was to keep this very low budget since we didn’t think it had any resale value. It was the cheap alternative to buying “in town” Probably people laugh at us behind our backs. But lots of our friends helped out with the early physical labor so they kind of deserve their fun.</p>
<p>edit: lookingforward wrote:
I think this quote probably is the best quote ever… and applies to anything and everything. You could write a book and this would be the opening line.</p>
<p>I often find myself wondering, WWMD? What would Martha Stewart do? Pay for the best, pay a lower cost, do it herself?</p>
<p>^^I like that.</p>
<p>What I wonder is: WWEWD - What would Edith Wharton do?
Would she and Henry James approve of my decorating?
Would they take me away on a road trip till it was all done?</p>
<p>Would she take charge of the contractors? :)</p>
<p>
Painters have a special discount on the paint, they may not want to share that with the owner, so, you just want to specify the grade and the brand of the paint and ask for a quote, labor and material. The interior paint cost difference is very minor, unless it is elastromatic for the stucco.</p>
<p>Painting contractors quotes vary a lot, you may get one for $10K another for $3K, you have to know what they do and judge it yourself. DIY is the best, but gets the worst results.</p>
<p>^^you are right. I talked them into the contractors discount at the paint store because I have bought so much. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>LOL - I disagree. Lookingforward probably can’t find anyone to do what she is doing at any price. Unless I give her my painter’s phone number.:)</p>
<p>Alh…never functional…well a couple of rooms had heat…the downstairs never. </p>
<p>Now I talk to the neighbors…and they say, “Yeah, the heating system never seemed to work right.”</p>
<p>But nobody figured it out so far…and what did these neighbors do…install fireplace inserts instead of looking at their heating systems.</p>
<p>I did have the heating system looked at before I bought the place…and I was told there were minor issues. :eek:.</p>
<p>Yeah…my project is close to double what I thought it would cost. We keep adding things…and some stuff is more expensive.</p>
<p>I did not want to spend this amount because of the real estate market…even though I might die in this place…But then I started talking to some neighbors and they have upgraded the units…so now i join the ranks of spending too much…:)</p>
<p>The biggest thing I could change would be to rip up the siding on the outside where the living room is and replace it with wall to wall doors. </p>
<p>It would open things up. Great views. That would be awesome…and there would be a huge payback…it would be so worth it…</p>
<p>But I am in a HOA…and all the view units would have to do this or the place would look weird …and it is not going to happen…</p>
<p>The place was built in the 80’s and I don’t think enough people can afford to rip up the siding and replace the siding with glass doors. I never here any talk about this.</p>
<p>^^ In my old house, I did everything myself. Removing the wall paper, patching the plaster, fill the cracks, sand, prime, paint…everything. it was hard work and I slept on mattresses for over 6 mo. I do work in the evenings, often times to the midnight. Even with taping and tarping, I got myself into a mess. The floor was a mess as well. I ended up carpeted over it so I don’t have to look at it anymore. The cost is cheap, but the results are 6 mo. of hard labor.</p>
<p>Should I know a reliable painter, he may be able to do it in two weeks.</p>
<p>The house I just painted inside and out, we did it with 4 painters in 4 days.</p>
<p>post 30^^are you saying none of these units have had functional hvac since they were built in the 80’s? ? ?</p>
<p>I am sorry you can’t do the wall to wall doors - :(</p>
<h1>31 we did our last old house, 18th c, pretty much all ourselves. It does become a value judgment. imo If you are self-employed and have a higher hourly wage than the painter, probably it makes sense not to do it yourself. Or if you just can’t acquire the expertise no matter how hard you try.</h1>
<p>But I can tell reading lookingforward that she is an expert and probably no one can out paint her in her particular house. I know people like this. I wish I was a person like this</p>
<p>Thanks…me too on the doors…</p>
<p>Well…I haven’t talked to everybody…but everybody I have talked to has heating issues…and the selling brokers lives in the complex…I think they knew this…or should have known this. I asked the seller’s brokers point blank, “Are there any issues with this complex I should know about?”.</p>
<p>And the answer was no…</p>
<p>The brokers are very nice…I like them…and I am giving them the benefit of the doubt.</p>
<p>I do not have the ability like lookingforward or artloversplus to do the work myself…It would be a nice skill to have.</p>
<p>Ha. You have to get in touch with the Zen thing about home projects. Sometimes, the repetitive nature is calming and allows much side thought. Other times, it’s a mind-meld with the thing you are working on, some recognition of its beauty and its needs. Oh, pretty faucet, I’ll fix that booboo. I’ll restore you to your deserved glory. </p>
<p>I’m both serious and kidding- I wish we had the funds to pay someone really great. And then hire a fabulous caterer and throw an elaborate party. Where I live, the interesting thing is that so many great, old homes were lived in by widows, who are only slowly moving on. So, everyone has things to fix- avocado kitchen applicances, old leak stains, peeling paint. So, no one is embarrased to be in mid-project, for years. </p>
<p>Btw, my grandmother was a general contractor, but worked on building, not maintenance.</p>
<p>ps. alh- my skills are limted. I just act like I know what I’m doing. And, I can curse a blue streak, too. And, DH is nice enough to take over some projects when I completely break down. I never want to paint a small, windowless bathroom again.</p>
<p>Interior painting isn’t difficult and doesn’t require much skill–it’s just sooo tedious!</p>
<p>My painting contractor, who just painted the exterior of my home and a few rooms of the interior, gave me a great tip for painting the bathrooms: he suggested using an exterior paint when painting the interior bathrooms because it was more resistant to mold.</p>
<p>lookingforward…Interesting…how many people in your grandmother’s generation were general contractors?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I am not only going to die in this place, I’ve figured out it is legal be buried on the property and have already told the kids I’m going to be haunting it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Love this 
I am always very bonded with my houses and feel like they are alive… maybe you too?</p>
<p>edit:dstark: re. the hvac - unbelievable - or at least it should be unbelievable. and illustrates why I don’t really think permits, licensing, etc all that useful…
unless you live someplace where there are actual consequences like fines</p>
<p>edit:
omg it never occurred to me - yet that being mid-project for years was reason for embarrassment. Maybe because close friends have been working on a collapsing plaster wall in their upstairs hall since before they had a baby and that baby is now in kindergarten. They have heavy plastic sheeting covering it so the baby isn’t exposed to any unnecessary plaster dust. When we go to dinner at their house they ask us to stay after to marvel at the progress because they do get that no one else is all that interested. :)</p>
<p>No, no, and no on the exterior paint indoors!!! You never know WHAT was added to it to make it mold-resistant. Remember pressure-treated lumber? Arsenic compounds? Get your bathroom ventilation in order, and you will have zero mold problems.</p>
<p>Dstark, HOAs suck. Look up Nana Wall. My dream. :)</p>