That's what we have here. It has a little sand in it, so not too terrible, but it still sucks to dig it. I have buckets and buckets of stones that I dig up and will use somewhere, and I've given away piles of rocks that came out, also. The pickaxe is the key, use it to break up the ground, then scoop with the shovel. Don't try to break ground with a shovel.
Ok. I'm beginning to understand that I might not have the skills that I think I do. Without getting into my situation; what's the BEST things to be able to do on your 1st home?
That depends so much on the age and current condition of the home (and major components, roof, appliances, HVAC, etc.,) as well as geographic location and time if year.
Maintenance items. That stuff you need to do monthly or annually will kill your wallet if you pay for it to be done. Clean gutters, power wash your house, HVAC filter changes, water filter changes, lawn care and yearly seeding. Light plumbing repairs, like toilet repairs and drain snaking. Painting and small drywall repairs, like filling nail holes or minor damage. Use YouTube to learn the more difficult stuff. You can learn to diagnose and repair washer, dryer, stove, dishwasher, all of those pretty easily. If it needs to be done, someone has put a YouTube video up of how to do it.
There's DIY upgrades. Then there's maintenance. Master the maintenance that pops up first. When you buy a first home, there are stars in your eyes. Maintenance stuff probably hasn't popped up yet, seasonal stuff as well. You start thinking about flooring, kitchen counters, and light fixture upgrades. Maybe you even get started on that stuff. Then the project takes longer, because you have an old house where things are rotten in hidden places and the floors aren't perfectly square, so you spend some time learning how to do The Upgrade while also fixing the weird things you came across when you ripped out the thing. Suddenly there's a dead patch in the lawn you gotta figure out. Oops a leak. Where's the filters? Why is this alarm going off? Oh that thing gets so dirty so fast. The gutters are full. This toilet is slow. Now you have a baby, and the AC went out in the summer. Now all this same stuff is happening and you have an infant in the middle. Welcome to home ownership. Most of the costs involved aren't sexy. Getting quotes for a privacy fence was eye opening. But, a landlord would never let me have my awesome ducks or garden, or paint shit Chicago Skyline blue, or whatever makes your heart swell. Its all yours. The whole big, happy mess.
Also, I'm NOT shy about asking the techs who come to fix my shit what they are doing and how. I have learned a lot of plumbing that way. We have had a lot of small and big repairs done by our local plumbing biz, and I am better at fixing the small stuff because they are happy to talk to me about it.
Learn to inspect your house and property. Look for shit that is starting to go wrong before it’s bad enough to tell you. Exterior things like caulking around windows, water drainage, material wear (wood rot), access holes into your house (cable feeds, dryer vents, other things that can deteriorate and let in weather or critters).
We've had a couple dryer vent conversations here. It would be the one of first things I looked at, considering how often they're neglected, and how severe the consequences can be.
Water damage is about the sum total of everything you need to watch for around the house. AC going out has nothing on tearing floors up.
Hell yes. We had a repair company here for something I couldn't fix on our washer. While he was here, I asked about something going on with our stove. He took a look at it, and in less than five minutes determined the problem. He even showed me what he was looking for in case it ever happened again and left it for me to fix. I ordered a $12.00 part and fixed it in a minute. Never be afraid to ask questions.
All these house hunter and home DIY shows make people excited to make the plunge into what seems like a simple project at first. Reality can be so different that a simple how-to YT. I have a couple family members who do the DIY home Reno projects at a legit level, rewiring houses and removing walls type stuff. Some are faster than others. It is so inspiring, what they have done! I learned the hard way though, that I do not have the ability to finish a full multi day Reno project like them. I can do it with gardening and I can complete small home projects like replacing a light fixture, rewiring some outlets, replacing a wax ring for the toilet, etc. Once you've been in the house for awhile, you'll settle into some kind of routine and see how much time and energy you have for the extras.
I do most my own work, I will frame, hang board(not mud), electrical, plumbing. I just laid my first room of tile, this was the hardest thing I have done. Tiny ass room took me an embarrassingly long time.
Hey everybody, I'm researching replacing my rain gutters, and I am fairly sure I can do it. My question is, can I replace the gutters without having to replace or mess with the roof drip edge that bends down over the top of the fascia* - because our roof is relatively new and it doesn't really need to be replaced. *I think that's the right term.
Fascia is the term! You don't have to replace the drip edge. You may end up nailing through it as you secure the gutter, it really just depends on how far down the drip edge extends. You can definitely do the gutters. However, I usually just pay for a team to do it, because guttering is super inexpensive here. Maybe get a quote and see? It might surprise you. However it goes, best of luck!
And if you get the guys that do the gutters they come continuous, so that means not every 10ft you have a seem.
From the time we moved into this house 23 years ago, I have hated this border and wallpaper: But never felt motivated enough to try and peel it off, fearing it would be a huge pain in the ass. Happily, it wasn’t, and it came off easily with warm water and a putty knife. Now it’s time to film in some holes ( fucking plaster and lath ) then paint before carpeting. It was gonna be a display room/ office but now it’s looking more like office only. Either way, it’s back to the 90’s for that cutesy border and paper combo.
Some people shouldn't be allowed access to tools. This is the wife's grandfather's door. I also had to fix their ceiling fan because I made the mistake of pulling the chain for the light, rather than unscrew the exposed bulb, and the pull switch was broken.