The Home Ownership Thread

[Harold falcon]

I respect that Piob. I just honestly enjoy doing those manual labour kinds of things. It's very zen-like for me to concentrate on those simple tasks, especially after spending all week dealing with rapists and drug dealers and other victims of society.

 

[Piobaire]



I respect that Piob. I just honestly enjoy doing those manual labour kinds of things. It's very zen-like for me to concentrate on those simple tasks, especially after spending all week dealing with rapists and drug dealers and other victims of society.

I get that too. I know folks like that but it's just not me. I need home to be lotus land to compensate for my crazy **** ass job.

 

[Joffrey]

By the way where does one buy and store ramps for their car??

 

[Harold falcon]

By the way where does one buy and store ramps for their car??

In one's garage. Prop them up against the wall.

 

[Ataturk]

I don't like the ramps. Never could get them to stay in place when you drive up on them.

A good floor jack can be had for a hundred bucks or so.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

I enjoyed working on classic cars, but honestly find new cars to be a chore, I am in the boat of ppl who prefer to bring it in for service. The house I enjoy, maybe there will be a time when I don't, but at the moment I do. Most of the projects I do or think of doing I can do at the price of material, which saves thousands on some jobs.

 

[Thomas]



In one's garage. Prop them up against the wall.

I have these Blitz ramps with rubber blocks on the bottom so they never move, and thankfully they have a gentle grade so even the low-profile cars don't hit them.

Hilariously enough, for the Jeep I just roll under it, and on the Miata I can get to the oil filter through the pass. wheel well and the drain plug from the side. The wagon has a hilariously long oil change interval, given how much it's driven.

...

BTW: broke the torsion spring on the garage door this morning. Debating whether to do it myself or pay someone to deal with the *danger* aspect of it.

 

[otc]

I have no desire to own anytime soon.

But I do this kind of **** to my rental...I've repainted everything except the bedroom, put in faucets that I like better, replaced and patched bad stretches of drywall.

Some of this stuff could be solved by calling the maintenance guy...He's great and all, but he does a real ****** job on the finishing work. Anything that involves paint or drywall...I'd rather do myself and have look nice.

For a minute there after havey's post, I was even considering tearing out the tile in my bathroom and putting in some radiant floor (although those pads may not fit right). I hate the baseboard heater in there since it always gets dirty and the moisture combined with heat leads to cracked pain and rust where it meats the wall. One of the tiles broke in half, so I could fix that AND get rid of the heater in one go.
Probably slightly too much work to be doing in a rental though since this is probably my last year in it (and the baseboard heater has a built in thermostat knob...so I would have to mount a new thermostat somewhere in the bathroom)

 

[upthewazzu]

I bought a house 3.5 years ago, mostly because I wanted a yard and a garage. I lived in apartments for 8 years prior to that (3.5 years in college, and another 4.5 in private sector) and just never got a good vibe. I hated living next to other people and their particular habits. I refied in September to 3.5% and pay about the same in mortgage as I did in rent, except my house is 2000sq ft and my apt was ~1200sq ft (with no yard or garage). It can get expensive if you want to add a bunch of customizations but honestly I'm only 30 so I feel like I can wait on those things for my next house.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

I think my only reason for owning over renting is the ability to customize without having to pass anything by a landlord. Still generally restrained to doing something that the general public will enjoy, or a least those who would be interested in your home, but it opens up a lot of possibilities.

I had the chance to check out a clients home recently that was done as their last home, they really went wild and It is awesome! I think I would enjoy the opportunity to do the same thing.

 

[jgold47]



I have these Blitz ramps with rubber blocks on the bottom so they never move, and thankfully they have a gentle grade so even the low-profile cars don't hit them.
Hilariously enough, for the Jeep I just roll under it, and on the Miata I can get to the oil filter through the pass. wheel well and the drain plug from the side. The wagon has a hilariously long oil change interval, given how much it's driven.
...
BTW: broke the torsion spring on the garage door this morning. Debating whether to do it myself or pay someone to deal with the *danger* aspect of it.

The ramps are handy for basic stuff. By basic I mean you dont have to take the wheels off. all of my BMW's have a center jack point, so I can get the whole front and up on stands pretty easily, but my wifes Jeep doesnt and I have to jack it up from the side, so the ramps are great.

For extra credit, who has ever tried a 4 wheel ramp? I really want to, especially doing driveline refreshes on AWD cars with a transfer case and rear diff, but I always chicken out at the thought of trying to time the ramps just right.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

There are many things I would like to do or have done, but none of it is priority for me. I am rarely home. My place is to hang my hat more or less. I would rather spend my money I things I enjoy more. My girlfriend lives with me now, so in a couple of years when I build some more equity I think I am going to get a bigger place.

 

[gomestar]

i can't wait to have a place of my own. Hopefully it'll be crappy but fairly cheap, and then I'll gut the interior and the wife can re-design it all.

 

[otc]

Swapped out my showerhead, not sure I am completely happy.

I had a Speakman Hotel (with flow restrictor removed) that I had gotten cheap and it was great but it was too big (I am tall and the extra 2 inches or so of length meant it hit my head all of the time) and it wasn't quite the same as the classic speakman anystream I lusted after.

Got a good deal on the Anystream Classic (looks like it has been discontinued and replaced with a new model with a different handle design and no center screw). I removed the flow restrictor and installed it last night. I think the recent decline in pressure that I have felt in my building has made this showerhead less impressive. I was able to find a setting I like that compares to the old head, but the tightest fine jet spray setting puts out a pretty lackluster amount of water and the wide open "flood" setting just falls straight down from the head...zero angled spray coming out.

The setting I found is basically comparable to the old head...but I was looking for a real improvement (and the other settings seem less than useful)

 

[Connemara]

My dad flips a house every year or two and showed me his latest project a few months back. It went from a hoarder's den (literally; they filled many dumpsters with trash) to a beautiful new house. Poured a new foundation, spray foam insulation, everything new in the kitchen, knocked down some walls, central heat/air, etc. I couldn't believe the difference.

Stuff like that has given me a new appreciation for homeownership and maintenance. I think I'll look to buy something within the next 5 years.