The Shed Post

This past Friday evening with the help of my neighbor and his son the shed was completed (with the exception of a few shelves to put up inside.)

I roughed out the location of the new shed a few weeks ago, and after talking with a number of people with differing opinions on how to build a foundation I started getting things together.

At first I thought of having the front left post (the closest post in the picture above.) as the guidepost and having the wooden platform rest 5" above the ground.  After doing the line measurements that had a bunch of dirt having to come out of the rear right corner I changed the line measurements up to 9".  

Dave Sabat and I finalized the platform:

Yes, it looks like a huge palette.

After the foundation was verified level, I started the actual shed construction.  I was able to get the below completed by myself in a few hours:

Then Friday evening my neighbor and his son came over and we put the doors and roof on.  Its all waterproof since it rained that night and the shed was dry.

Now I can start moving things around and out of the utility room and the old shed.

Sorry for the rambling nature of the post.  Last night was quite the bachelor party for a friend of mine.

Rainwater Collection

The Cape St. Claire Garden Club [Link] sponsored a Rainbarrel Drive, and I got a nice large collection tub for $95.00. 

This works out rather well since the downspout in the back spills out right onto the patio stones.

As you can see, not optimal.
So, I got two cinderblocks, one from the backyard I had found and one my neighbor gave me.  I measured the spout and marked where I wanted to cut and used my electric Dremel to slice right through the metal.

I also shifted the support brace up to stabilize the downspout.  Then I crimped the 4 corners of the spout (to mount the curved flow out.)

So, that with the cinderblocks completed my 'site prep' for the raincatcher, and then I mounted it and ran some water from the roof gutter down and verified it worked.  The finished product will now do a number of things:

1. Prevent erosion at the base of my foundation/patio.
2. Prevent icing during the winter as I go out to get wood.
3. Give me a place to dump water from my dehumidifiers.
4. Provide water when I want to water deck/patio plants. 

The final product:

Depending on how the water weight stabilizes the barrel, I may think about putting a band around it to bind it to the house structure somehow, but I think its going to be fine.

Plan on posting a few more of the projects I've been doing, just been busy DOING and not typing.

Of course, lesson learned.  The woman who sold me the barrel mentioned olives...so I did a search online for olive barrels and found: http://www.epcontainers.net/id1.html.  Now price is $29.50/ea, and $32.00 shipping, and to cut the top, put a screen in and a faucet.  Yes, cheaper..and I'm sure I could find a local supplier from Baltimore.

Progress towards...

Past weekend and week have seen me keeping busy on many fronts with the house.  I got one of the 3 piles of brush cut-down, with branches in one pile, leafy brush in another and was able to mow the back some.  This included getting rid of some of the ivy growing along the ground on the edge of the property.  I need to define the backyard before it defines me!

I got some tiki torches for the patio and filled them up and test burned them.  They look good and will provide needed light in that area since I don't have any electric lights outside on the patio.  I did go up to the attic today and found what I believe is the junction box for some flood lights, there is a corroded floodlight connection on the corner I'll need to eventually get around to replacing/positioning.   I'd like to get one on the corner near the driveway and also mount an infra-red camera.

Monday the front entryway light burned out.  I went to replace it and upon prying the door hinge an inch the entire door tack-weld delaminated from the housing.  I replaced the lamp and decided to order a night lamp (I had been looking at replacements since February.)

Came up with:  http://www.affordablelamps.com/kic-49304azt.html which has a great look, and I may eventually shift the front post light to the same style.

Painting in the 'master' bedroom is coming along.  I've done 3 walls base layer, I want to get the last wall completed and then start to even out the rest of the walls.  I only bought 1 quart of paint to do the work and things are going well, just need to be miserly.  (This last wall is the wall with the door and the closet, so going to be using a lot less paint!!!)

Since Memorial Day is coming up I opened up my 'wish list' of furniture and went shopping to the Room Store.  For a bedroom set, I ordered http://www.roomstore.com/bedroom-furniture/bedroom/package-specials/carmel-ii-5-pc-queen-bedroom/1535326.aspx, Queen bed with a rather pricey mattress (posterpedic, etc.) the dresser withOUT the mirror (yes, looks nice, but for 150.00 I can walk into the bathroom.) and a nightstand.  For the living room I ordered: http://www.roomstore.com/living-room-furniture/upholstery/package-specials/jeffery-ii-5-pc-living-room/1440909.aspx, With a sofa, the large single chair and the 3 tables it should fit nicely into the living room area.   All for ~$3300.  A co-worker told me he also has had the Jeffery LR set and had fairly good reviews for it.

I'm still up in the air about going out and getting some sofa's/love seats for the media room.  I'm up in the air between some reclining seats at LA-Z-Boy that will be around $1100/w the fabric I'd probably want, or going to Value City Furniture and finding something I like for $599.  I'll be getting most likely 2 reclining sofa's, and yes, I can wait, but looking at the options and getting it DONE will make me feel that much more 'complete' as a homeowner.

Special thanks to Dave for helping me move some old bookcases and a dresser from my mom's house!

Field Work!

Been doing a lot of 'little things' that are leading up to a big thing.  I've been clearing a lot of the brush on the sides of the property line, and I've 'discovered' (I kinda figured it was there, but it was surprising to see the condition.) of a path that goes from the shed in the back up to the back porch area. 

Over last week and this past weekend I cleared the path and cut/hacked and shoveled vines/trees/bushes that had taken it over.  There is still work to be done and I hope to have 'before/after' pictures up shortly.

I've also made some decisions and removed a mulberry? tree from the far back yard that was entangled w/the grape vines, it doesn't belong where it was, and I want to clear that small area up and make it into a peaceful 'remote' place to sit and be surrounded by nature.  Funny how cutting a tree down will lead to that.

I went and bought some 4x4's and 2x4's and built a wood rack using a design that Dave Sabat uses in his backyard.  Felt good getting it setup so I can finally finish moving the wood from its 'pile' and into an organized area, especially in preps for wintertime.  I do NOT want to be crawling all over the backyard in potentially icy/snowy conditions trying to load wood every few hours.

Have a few more things I've purchased, another set of drapery rods for the dining room that will match the other set I have, some blackout film to put on the windows in the media room to cut down on the light coming in (along with the shear red/velour drapes I hung a few weeks ago) should make a big difference (and look FANTASTIC.)

A few things.   I am away for the week, but in the mean time I'm finally getting sometime to put up some pre/post pictures of the roof/gutter work I had done two weeks ago.  Also, show some pictures of the old shed.  This shed is the NEXT PROJECT I will be focusing on.

As you can see, the old roof did not have any drastic indication (from the front) that it needed replacing.  You can see that the gutter ran the whole length of the house with only 1 spout on the front and one at the back.  (This was changed to having 4 spouts for each corner.  [You can see the ladder and tape in the window for the painting I'm also doing, that's for another post!]

The back of the roof has more indication that something needed to be done:

As you can see, the gutter was starting to come away from the fascia and the shingles were growing moss.  As I think I mentioned in my last post I had gotten some estimates and decided on a roofing company out of Odenton, MD.  They came over on a Friday, and in a day changed the above to:

The shingles are 'brighter' and match the shutter blue/gray look very well.  They also cut into the chimney for new flashing that makes it look QUITE smart.

As you can see, the gutters are looking good, they also did some great work around the vent pipes (not shown.) 

The only thing of note was that in front of the bay window there was a bit of fascia & soffit that were rotting.  They repaired both for ~$200.  The company worked quickly, brought their own dumpster (which they left for the night and let me put some of my other larger trash items in...no charge!)

So, pleased so far, and it has rained a few times since then and haven't had any issues.

Next up, the shed.

 As I start to reach out into the backyard and do work, it has become apparent that I will be needing a functional storage space for my yard care equipment now rather than later.  This will also be a great time to learn some of the finer points of construction/tool usage.

A Gambel Roof-style 8x8 Shed.<- this website has a few free plans for sheds.  Some are no longer functional, but I think I'll be able to use these specific plans to show the housing community/commission my plans on the replacement.  The county requires permits for anything over 64 sq. ft.  I have to verify what the current shed size is, it looks 10x10, and if it is, I may just rebuild it, I'm still 'digging' into the shed to get the equipment/bags of things out. 

Anyway, the shed truly needs replacing as can be seen below.  I'll be posting more on this as I get into it.

A new roof incoming!

After reviewing 3 different quotes for roofing and gutter replacement I went with Fichtner Services out of Odenton, MD.  With two co-workers recommendation, plus an Angie's List high score/good reviews it overcame the ~$200 more they wanted to charge for the gutters.  The roof replace was pretty much the same on all three quotes.

Fichtner does both GAF and Certainteed shingles, I read a bunch of reviews of both and they appear to push GAF more, (one of the other companies recommended Certainteed above GAF.)  As long as the warranty is good, and the shingles work...I'll be happy.  From what I read online they both make good products, its more the people who put it on and how well that is done.

Colors, I was shown the below as my options:

I went with Pewter Grey, the swatch under the 'red' shingle.   It is very similar to the 2nd from the top in the first column, but less blue.   I'm getting a full pull-off, with new underlayment plus "Weather Watch" leak barrier for the first 3'.  There was a coupon on Angie's List for $250 off, but the sales person said it was supposed to be for only roofs over a certain size.  I called him on it and he said he'd upgrade my downspouts (yeah I'm sure I just said that...) from 2x3" to 3x4" and all in all I was fine with that.

The work is scheduled for tomorrow (Friday 4/20) so I will take a few pictures before/during/after.  Weather is supposed to be great for the work.  Even though it is a lot of money, I am looking forward to getting the roof off the 'list of concerns'.  (and here's to it staying off it for many years!)

On other projects, I've taped up the main bedroom, bought paint so I should be having the bedroom done soon.  I also got a new wheelbarrow wheel plus some seeds/seed starter kits to get a few flowers/plants germinating.

Really want to think about taking that wall down in the bedroom.  It will be a 'major task' but I think getting it done sooner than later.

Deck lighting

Got home from my trip to Boston yesterday, and after getting home from work today and getting some sleep, I went out shopping for a new round of things that need to get looked at!

Last week I had removed the old, non-working back light off my kitchen.

 

As you can see, rusted, pitted and also...not very attractive.  One of the things that having a house does make you develop is a personal sense of style.  I've always been attracted to Frank Lloyd Wright's work, and its associated Prairie-style.   I found Hampton Bay Mission Hills Wall-Mount 1-Light Outdoor Oil Rubbed Chestnut Lantern which, while expensive, fits the decor I want.  

The previous fitting wasn't connected to a junction box, so I used some un-used washers & metal screws to dig into the white plastic mount.  I was more concerned with how the power leads were going to be connected then with measurements at this time.

But it screwed in tightly, which fit the bill.  The mounting screws (the long silver screws to the left and right in the picture above) are too long for the mounting counter-screw (pretty faux-bronzed screw cap that will attach the light to the bracket.) so I had to dust out the Dremel tool and cut off about 1/2" from both screws.

Afterwards, this was the result:

As you can see, the lantern look is GREAT!  The mounting panel is NOT even though, so tomorrow I will remove the lamp and shift the bracket up about 1" to center the light on the white panel.

I also got another estimate on the roof.  I'll make my decision tomorrow.  I decided to sign up for Angie's List for this month since I'm going to be looking at both roofing & heat pump installations, the discounts it gives plus the reviews are worth it in the short-term.

Tomorrow, look for some work in coaxial cabling in the basement.

The little things...

I've been going through the boxes from the move, slowly putting books up on the bookshelves and starting to think of the 'bigger things' such as painting, electronics placement, etc.

While I do that I have also been trying to get some of the little things cleared up:

a) The hall light is a pendant style that hangs low enough that when you open the hallway closet, the door hits it as it swings open.  Not something I liked, and the look of the light isn't my style:

So I removed it and replaced it with Commercial Electric Rustic Iron 2-Light Semi-Flushmount from Home Depot.  Higher, has two bulbs vice one and is definitely more my style.

b) The hall closet door was rotated incorrectly:

 The 'stop' for the mechanism is facing the doorframe when it should be facing the hallway.  (so that when you push the door closed, it rides the curve of the deadlatch and eventually engages the fitting in the frame.)  I started to take the whole device apart, when I saw that I could rotate the latch mechanism 360 degrees.  Something is fishy with it, but for now I just rotated it so that it works and I'll dig into the door at a later date.

c) The wood stove.  My dad came over this weekend and took a closer look at the wood stove.  There was some build-up of creosote at the back of the stove.  The chimney had been checked clean by the home inspector, but as we chipped away at the creosote, we discovered that it was caked into the back and bottom of my Resolute stove.  We ended up having to pull the whole stove away from the flue pipe and chip/vacuum all the way to the bottom of the 'plenum' at the back.  The previous owners had obviously not been using the stove correctly for quite some time and when they could no longer use it correctly, were just using it with the flue fully open as a small wood fireplace.   Here is a picture of the creosote we removed!

Also a fair amount was vacuumed up.  We dug down until we found clean metal and had a fire to check the stove out.   Dad spent some good time showing me how to correctly operate the stove and we dug around the Internet until I found an owners manual for further reading later. 

I also troubleshot the refrigerator's dispenser panel, bought a new circuit board..but it wasn't the issue.  So, still working on that.  (the fridge's lock button will not unlock so I can't use the dispenser for water or ice.)

I did get the long window of the dining room covered with some new drapes.  That, plus new shower head for the upstairs bathroom and some raking of the front yard and clearing of twigs/fallen branches made for a busy couple of hours today.   I did also start to look at the outside light for the kitchen, but it appears there are other issues.  The switch only shows .2V AC when I turn the switch, I took a look inside the switch box and I don't think the switch is wired correctly.  I'll leave that for next week most likely (also take a look at a new light?)

A hose bib is born

One of the comments that my house inspector made was that he was unable to verify the front hose bib (external spigot) since the compression knob had rusted away.  I wasn't concerned about that line item since I figured I'd look into it when I bought the house.

Well, I got to looking at it:

And decided that it would make a good project to take care of.  When I started manipulating the compression fitting, and its associated internal shut-off valve I was unable to fully stop the water flow after breaking the seal. (e.g. the fittings both external and internal were old.)  I could have replaced the compression fittings, but for a few reasons below, I decided to replace the whole 'kit and kaboodle'.

I hate compression fittings as shut-off valves.  To me, (and this is the Navy talking) a valve should identify at a glance, if its open/closed and for shut-off valves, be something you can use quickly.  Compression fittings are neither of these things; however, they are cheaper and they work for most things.  As you can see from the below picture of the internal setup (after removing the dry-wall box that had been around it):

Trying to turn that knob was difficult in the box it had been in, and using a wrench in the 'box' had been even more so and all I could see was shearing the valve stem so I wasn't too keen on pushing things to the limit.

So, I removed the old piping in the above picture keeping the elbow joint near the main 1' line for the house (after shutting water off at the pressure tank, and shutting off the valve to the water treatment plant. [yes, two valve protection...the Navy rears its head...again.])

There was a clay-like piping tape around the old pipe.  Friends had been concerned for asbestos, I have ordered a test kit, since all the cold pipe in the house seems to have this tape around it, I used gloves, full body protection and an asbestos certified respirator while doing this work. After I removed the tape, I double-bagged it and will ship that along when the kit arrives.

I had a false start after soldering a threaded end to a measured piece of copper pipe and pushing that through to the inside, the length was good, but the 90 degree copper fitting was tight, and then trying to solder it would have blown hot sparks into the spaces between the walls...not something I wanted to do. (In the below pictures you can see some scorch marks which provided ample warning.)

So I built the entire copper tubing setup, this time with a ball valve as the shut-off and left a long copper pipe outside to cut last.

This did involve me going the the local hardware store twice to get tools I'll be using a lot: a drywall saw, a hacksaw for confined spaces, and a heat protective cloth.  As you can see, the ball valve shows, without a doubt, that the piping is closed.  (Also, I continued the previous installs slightly downward angle to provide a natural drain for when the pipe is winterized.)

At this point, I re-pressurized the house system, (I made a soapy mixture and sprayed it on the pipe fittings to see if any bubbles formed while the system was pressurizing.)  Everything to the shut-off valve was good/no leaks, so I opened the valve and saw out the basement window the pipe shooting water out, so I felt pretty good that things were secure.  I had opened a few faucets inside the house while draining the system, so closed them after verifying waterflow (and pushing out any air in the system.)

Next, I cut the above pipe to size, and put a threaded connector on it (so I can replace the hose bib at a later date as needed.)

Applied a few loops of teflon tape, threaded the hose bib on and...

And the final result!

I also used some hole compound to secure the inside/outside cracks to keep out the bugs.  The piping will get another box around it once I've figured out my paint scheme for the room and have moved into drywall mode.  All in all, a good education, and no leaks.

I need to start taking pictures...

If this blog is going to be of any use to me or anyone else, I am going to need to start taking pictures while I'm in the yard, in a room so that things are easier to explain and people can go "Oh, that's much better!"

So far, I found a switch in the hall closet that goes into the attic, use..unknown.  My first guess is an attic fan.  There is also an old antenna cable that goes downstairs.  When the roof gets re-done I'll be having that removed.  I'm thinking of driving around the Cape today to see if any houses are getting new roofs.  I'll do other searches, but figure seeing people in action is the best advertising.  A co-worker strongly recommended I go with 'Rip-Off' (searching for rip-off and roofing comes up with a lot of complaints, so I tried 'Tear Off' and that seemed to have what I wanted.) and 'Architectural Shingles'.

It is amazing to me how much You-Tube allows you to look and explore and learn concerns such as proper nail placement, shingle placement and such.  I don't plan on doing the roof myself, but I want to at least go up and look at it and feel like the roof has been done properly.

Also, my refridgerators 'lock/unlock' for the dispenser in the door doesn't want to unlock, I've unplugged the fridge, and pressed it down for 3 seconds per the manual/online guidance, to no avail.  Well, that's something else to explore.

Busy week, ending in nirvana

Over the past week, with a busy work schedule, software upgrades that had issues and boxes getting packed I missed out on posting some of the events.

With the work of true professionals I am now in my home. Closing was, in all actuality a breeze. Mary Kay noticed an issue two days prior with the closing costs, and instead of owing about $500, I ended up receiving $180 at closing. It was a tiring day, not much sleep, but once I got into the house I moved a few things in and took a nap in a sleeping bag downstairs.

With the help of many friends and the support of others who couldn't make it, we moved this lone soul in about 4 hours, including travel time. And, believe me, I have plenty of stuff. It was pretty touching to see so many surrounding me in love to help in this endeavor.

Body aches, but is refreshed in the quiet of a house turning into a home. There are things that will need to get organized first before I start the longer term projects. I have the new washer and dryer coming this week, I will want to have a new water heater purchased and get it connected to the plumbing as well as a utility sink bought and installed.

hehe...Home Stretch

Well, checked with my bank to see if the rates had changed any, they hadn't so I'm sticking with the 3.5% interest rate with .5 discount point.  They also notified me that all the associated paperwork is now with the closing agency, so things are definitely progressing well.

Need to send out another email to those friends who've indicated they'll be available to help and start to nail down the particulars of who/what/when/where.  Shouldn't be that difficult.

The apartment is definitely getting into 'move mode'.  I still have some things in the kitchen to pack and some minor furniture shelving to take apart, and clothing but a lot of stuff is ready.

Did have some concerns when I looked at the power panel and the tandem breakers that were installed as part of the home inspection, but I reached out to a number of people, including the home inspector himself and they allayed my fears.

Also, scheduled to stop service at my apartment at the end of the month and start my service on the day of closing.

A brief visit...and focusing!

This past Saturday I went and took a look at the house with Mary Kay.  I got the times wrong for our meeting, so instead of being 10 minutes early, I was 20 minutes late!  I did a quick walk-around and took the pictures (that I probably should have taken in February.) of the utility room, electric panel, and wood stove.

As you remember from my last post, I scheduled a new washer and dryer to be delivered after I move in, looking in the utility room, it appears that there may not be room for both of them side-by-side.  (27" width each, 54" total.) You make the call:

A few things that make me NOT worry about this:

1. The water heater is old, its positioned oddly in the room.
2. There is no utility sink in the room at all, something I want for washing pets/cleaning paint brushes, etc.
3. If I need, I can stack them, it will fit. (not a preferred solution)

So, I'm am debating doing some plumbing on the Sunday I move in, move (or buy a new one) the water heater, and measure out a space for that utility sink.  The sink of course would require hot/cold and drain connection.

By the way, plans, ideas, as I said in the beginning, the blog will be covering all of my ideas, even those that don't come to fruition.  To me its important to have a list of ideas for the home I'm moving into, so that as I walk around stores I can let things 'speak to me' about how they may apply to those plans.

One of the reasons I went to the house was also to get an idea of what models the kitchen appliances were, as well as the wood stove.

You can't see the side, but it says 'Resolute'.  The internet says Vermont Castings Resolute, came out in the 80's, a few entries on Ebay for ~$1200.  It definitely requires upkeep, but back at the house inspection my dad took a look and said the seals looked good.  I'm going to have to scrub-brush this stove, and repaint it.  Luckily, step-dad has some unused high-temp black spraypaint he never used for their wood stove.  When I have this stove out, I'll definitely have to clean the back fireplace stone.  Looks bad, and I'd want to have it clean if I ever used the fireplace as a fireplace again.  I do want to use the woodstove once this season.  Use up some of the old wood outside and get a feel for it. 

As I said with the plans, I've started a notebook with all the things I see needing to be done, wanting to be done in a nice list.  I'm also realizing that I'm going to geek out with things like the electric panel, piping and the 'systems' of the house.  I want to have everything labeled and a notebook w/schematics of each system.  (Yes, my Navy training makes this a 'have to have' comfort item.  Plus, in my opinion, its a smart thing to have.)

Oh, and Mary Kay let me know that the pest control treatment that was needed was accomplished and we saw that a new threshold had been installed downstairs.  So, pretty much everything has been done on the sellers part, and now I need to see if anyone is waiting on ME!

Moving along...and Home Depot

Well things are still chugging away.  The owner of the house has reported back an electrical receipt showing work on the houses main electrical panel.  There is also a charge for a fluorescent tube fixture and two T8s, which I seriously hope doesn't mean that they replaced the inset light fixture over the kitchen sink that had a light bulb out with a new fixture...  I'm heading over tomorrow to take some pictures and get some measurements of a few things.  (Also get the model numbers of the equipment in the kitchen.)

FiOS scheduled to be shifted on moving day, calling this early allowed me to lock-in a person to be there.  BG&E I still haven't told, but as the place has electrical now, I will hopefully just have to shift my account number to a different address.  Insurance Agent took a look this past week at the house and I got the estimate for that bill.  (Funny how I want to pay it off, but that it will be part of 'closing costs' and most (if not all) will be taken care of by the seller & Navy Federal.)  I've notified the Postal Service and some of my magazine subscriptions (okay, just National Geographic, but that is my only subscription.)

Packing is going well.  This coming week I'll move into the computer/den room and get more books packed and tables dismantled.  Looking at 21 days until I close and yes, I will be ready early, but each thing off the list means a little less stress for me and gets me to sleep easier.

Priced out and purchased a washer & dryer.  Going with an LG model from Home Depot, was able to find a discount plus they have free home delivery.  I used to go to Home Depot to pick up one or two minor things because 99% of the stuff there was 'Not Applicable' to my living conditions.  Now, when I go there, I see options...Best Buy for home-owners.

Finalizing concessions, VA Appraisal and less than a month away!

Well, VA loans accept only 4% of the home price for seller assistance, so $10,600 is the maximum.  This was communicated to the seller and the concessions were that he'd up the assistance to the maximum, I took the downstairs shower issue off the 'concern' list, and he's going to have a registered electrician & carpenter work on the issues found during the home inspection.  I figure getting another $600 in concessions, and when I pull that shower stall out of the bathroom I can put it up on craigslist or whatever and get $200-$300 for it I'll be happy.

I also received the VA appraisal.  There were no 'issues/concerns' noted and they appraised the house for about $40,000 more than I'm buying it for, so that's instant equity plus a GREEN light for things to move ahead. 

Many of my friends & family will be coming to help me with this move, and I think its going to end up going quickly and becoming more of a party. (A Good Thing!)  I've already started to think of food/drink options.

I am also getting into 'paint mode' since I don't want a lot of furniture/boxes upstairs until I paint, I want to spend some of the week I'm off work priming/painting.  Of course, this means picking a palette.  I'm thinking of getting peoples opinions while the move is going on.  I have a number of colors pictured for some of the rooms, but for the Living Room & Dining...the Rec Room things are still fluid.

To assist in this I've downloaded the Behr Paints app from the Android Market, and also I have played with the Sherman-Williams website Color Visualizer. (this lets you upload photos, and paint them.)

Coming up...time to start looking at shifting electric billing, my Verizon FiOS (scheduling install for the weekend I move!) and starting to line-up the address change.

Concessions?

Well, yesterday I started the ball rolling with getting my insurance agent out to the house to do a look-see and develop an insurance premium for the home.  Contacted Mary Kay and she and the agent will coordinate to get out together.  I informed the bank and they just need to know who the agent is and the policy number once its been set-up.

I also dropped the apartment termination letter off and next/last month of rent off.

Today, Mary Kay sent me an email letting me know the seller was willing to offer a concession about the downstairs bathroom shower stall.  (Was mounted incorrectly, leaked, and wasted space in the small space anyway!  I've been reading http://blog.diynetwork.com/tool-tips/2012/01/12/emily-winters-bathroom-renovation-day-3/ and her associated blog www.merrypad.com and well, I think once the house gets painted, organized and all large projects have been done, that I could work on doing this as a project.

Anyway, have to see how this butts up against my closing costs, he can't give me more than I'll be paying for closing, and also Navy Federal is offering $2500 closing costs help as well, it would be kinda funny (and awesome) not to have to pay much.  Just have to see.

And yes, I realize that a DIY project is not something lightly to enter, but also I think when I put my mind to something, I can get it done.

Apartment Exit Strategy

The apartments I live in sent me notification of the end-of-lease was coming up in March, offering to extend the lease another year, or going to month-to-month and the associated costs of each, also let me know that written notification would be needed if I was leaving at the end of the Lease.

Found this http://ohmyapt.apartmentratings.com/lease-termination.html at Apartment Ratings.com that, while I've written them before, just puts everything together you should need in writing the letter.  I spent some time and wrote up the letter, printed it up and signed it.  (Made a copy of course for my records.)  I will drop it off later today with my last rent check.  I also spent some time at the ratings website and gave them a positive review.

I also started getting responses back from some of my friends about helping me move.  Looks like its a go for that, so I took a look at Penske and U-Haul.  I've used both before, never having any real issues with both.  When I moved down from Delaware I paid for movers and completely filled their 16' truck, plus had like 3-4 car loads of stuff left over.  This time I'm looking for something in the 20's range.  Penske for the area only had 12', 16' and 26' trucks.  The 26' was actually cheaper at $59.95/day + .99 a mile.  I'm going to be moving about 70 miles.  U-Haul had a wider range of trucks, so I went with a 24' U-Haul for $39.95 plus 1.29/mile, basically both services are going to cost around the same, I went with the basic insurance, two trolley's a few blankets and I think I should have plenty of room without there being a lot of empty space for things to potentially shift around.

Pay last rent at apartments;
Type up lease termination letter;
Arrange moving truck;
Scheduled a week off in March from work.

Hurrah, more things crossed-off, means getting to sleep easier hopefully!

Home Inspection

Last week I had my home inspection, pest inspection, water inspection and because Navy Federal & the VA had their acts together, my VA appraisal all happened on the same day.

My dad came down to visit, so the house was full of people as we explored, dug and I started to learn about this house o'hopefully mine.

The pest inspection revealed some evidence of termites near the house (at some old fencing) so they were going to request a 'termite treatment' be done, (and from what I understand it will be mandatory for VA acceptance.)  Everything else looked fine with that. ($65.00 for this.)

The water inspector took some time to show me how the water treatment system worked.  (The house is on well water, but does have a public sewer connection.)  Most, if not all of the houses in Cape St. Claire require some sort of conditioning, this houses had 'the full system' with salt/conditioner/two iron tanks and aerator.  I learned a lot from him and really appreciated the time/effort he spent in giving me a run down on usage of the system.  He grabbed his tests and then headed out. ($116.00 for the test.)

VA appraiser had been there for some time already, so I only got a chance to talk with him for a moment, he said he still had to look at the 'comps', I don't think he wanted to give me any word for or against, but he didn't seem to have any major concerns that I could tell.  Still waiting to hear back on that...and the cost was $400 but handled by Navy Federal out of my account directly to the VA.

Home inspector was great.  Mary Kay says he's a retired architect and he was personable, and appeared knowledgeable.  The binder of standards he gave me with his write up is/has/will be helpful as I go through the process of making this property my own.  Some concerns that were brought up were that the basement bathroom shower was mounted ~1" off the floor (looked like on 2x4s) and that it leaked when the shower was run.  The electrical panel had some double-taps (multiple lines going into a single breaker), an ungrounded plug in the basement, a light out in the kitchen, and that the roof was, while in good condition internally, was at the end of its useful life and would require replacing this year.  There was also some wood rot in the downstairs door threshold to the porch.  (Cost ~$365.00)

Mary Kay and I talked about what we were going to submit back to the seller as 'needed to be fixed/contingent', and I decided the electric work, and the bathroom / doorway wood rot were of primary concern.  The roof replacement I'd rather pay for myself and can be done this Spring.  (I wasn't going to ask them to replace a roof in questionable weather of February/March, while trying to keep that March 23rd closing date in mind.)  That's going to the seller and we will have to see how they respond.

I was tempted to just have them work on the electrical, I'd pull that shower stall out and fix it up right w/Dave & Meghan's help, make the whole corner a shower instead of worrying about the work being done, but Mary Kay said we'd stipulate licensed contractor work for the electrical/plumbing/carpetry.  (She's pretty great, earning her commission...that I don't pay!)

We got the water inspection report back within a day as well, and it passed the extended VA requirements with flying colors.  So, that's been sent to Navy Federal and hopefully I should hear back from them on if they need any more required documentation.

Things on the horizon:
a) Contact insurance agent for home insurance;
b) Start getting more boxes from mom & step-dads (I had them store most of the boxes from my move last year.);
c) pack;
d) coordinate friends/family/strangers to help me move the weekend of March 24-25th;
e) yeah, and get a moving truck.
f) hear back about the repairs.

So, like...a lot of stuff.

Hi.  Going to use this blog to help me get my thoughts in order and show my thoughts in purchasing a house, moving in, getting it setup, maintaining it, and the DIY aspect of seeing something you want to improve and doing it.  And yes, I'll reveal when I throw in the towel...if that happens.

So, since moving back down to Maryland from Delaware in March 2011 I have known I was going to buy a house.  My friends Meghan & Dave (and Rithy & Lauren) both had used Mary Kay Shina www.marykayshina.com as their Realtor, so while I had contacted her when I was moving down to DE, the timing was WAY off for me to even think of finding a house, closing and moving down here within the time-limit I had then (about 2 weeks between my company saying 'yes, you're moving' to 'you need to be there'.  So, I've been living in Jessup, MD for the past year, about 3 miles from work.

Around December of 2011 I contacted Mary Kay again and we started talking about when to start searching.  I had already throughout the year been using iPad apps such as Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com to take a look at what I liked, what I didn't and regions I could afford.  I'm 45, single and a military veteran, while not having much in savings, I also don't have a lot of debt. I contacted my bank (Navy Federal) and had them run some pre-qualification numbers on my income, situation and they said I could afford roughly $420,000.  Of course, that was a bit over-the-top in my reckoning, and felt that ~$250k seemed to be a good price point to aim for.

So, about a week into 2012, Mary Kay and I got together with a list of properties in Cape St. Claire that were within my price range.  During this time by the way, I had gotten a cold, so we cut the day short and just saw these in Cape St. Claire and dropped the ones in the Arnold, MD. region.

Cape St. Claire was someplace I had passed years and years ago when I used to go visit my grandparents on the Eastern Shore of MD.  Wasn't very familiar with it, but Dave & Meghan lived there, their daughter Keely is my god-daughter and being close to them would be a BIG PLUS.  (Also, they are knowledgeable DIY'ers.)  The area seemed quaint, semi-quiet and being near Annapolis, MD. was close enough to malls, shopping & historical areas that I like to have around.

Okay, so the 3 places I saw that day in January...2 were nominal, and one was just bad.  And by the next Monday, the two that were nominal were off-the-market/under contract.  So, Mary Kay and I spent much of January and part of February searching houses.  Finally, on a Saturday I had extended my reach to Glen Burnie, seen a few places I liked...and there was one house in Cape St. Claire that had been on the market for a while.

Oh, before I forget, by this point, a friend of mine from work's husband and told me about www.franklmls.com  which gives a LOT of great information on one website, lets you see more of the MLS pictures available than realtor.com/zillow/trulia did and was up-to-date as part of the MLS system, not requiring someone else to update things like I believe Zillow/Trulia sometimes needs.  Highly recommend it, lets you see maps/crime data/pictures/tax rates/and a lot of 'behind the scenes' realtor stuff.  I'd say that site enhanced my understanding of the whole process, it was slightly odd to have to search by zip codes, but you could setup searches and expect daily reports, which I really liked.  (All this, by just putting in your email, no spam, no calls from realtors, just my email and when I'm done I can just remove my name.  Very nice.)

So, houses up in Glen Burnie...made some nice impressions on me...but when I went to the house in Cape St. Claire...I knew it was the place.  Split-foyer w/988 sq. ft footprint, 9000 sq. ft yard, backed onto woods, had been recently renovated, new kitchen, new hardwood floors, 4 bedroom, 2 bath, wood-stove insert/fireplace, stone porch and wood deck, for ~$280k.  There was one big thing that I think had kept it on the market for over 100 days.  No Central Air Conditioning.  It uses electric base-board heating units as well.  So, the house has no furnace and no cooling except 3 window units.

Well, my mom and my step-father still live in the house I grew up in up in Owings Mills, MD.  They had recently (5-6 years ago?) purchased Central A/C for the house, so I knew it could be done for '$5-6k' where my mom said their rancher house was less.  (The basement obviously wasn't ducted for A/C since it wasn't needed.)  I figure (and still figure...) that I should be able to get A/C in the house and only worry about the 'upper floor'.

So, I talk with my Mary Kay, give her the thumbs up, and contact Navy Federal to start getting pre-approval for a VA Loan.  Many reasons I went with a VA Loan:

• No Down Payment Required
• No PMI (Mortgage Insurance)
• Rates are as competitive as non-VA loans.

Navy Federal handled all of the transaction over the phone on a Sunday, even calling me back to get more information (unfortunately I was still sick, so had gone to bed and missed their call.) and by Monday I had a pre-approval letter on its way.  I met with Mary Kay at her office that Tuesday, and we signed papers for an offer.  (without getting into details, I offered less, plus requested closing costs help.)

By the next day, the seller had replied with a requested increase in sales price but accepted the closing costs help.  The increase wasn't bad, and so I said yes...what followed then was a bunch of pdf's, emails and phone calls.  Still have the home inspection, the VA appraisal, other inspections and then the bank ordered titling/certfications to do, but I had a signed contract!

So, now the bank offered me some great rates.  3.65%, 3.5% and even 3.375% with various discount points and origination fees.  I locked in the 3.5% rate to get the ball rolling and I think I can still re-lock a new rate as long as its offered and within 7 days of my closing.   

Oh, closing is scheduled for March 23, 2012.

My apartment lease ends...March 31, 2012.  If this all works out, it will save me from having to go month-to-month at the apartment (at an increase of like $200/month on my $1250/month rent already.) As you can see, I already pay pretty much a mortgage payment anyway, and a few hundred dollars more for home insurance/taxes isn't going to break me.