What Have You Done That Has >"TOTALLY CHANGED"< Your Home?

[MossRoad]

Paid it off in 1995. I'll never look at it the same way!

 

[MossRoad]

Paid it off in 1995. I'll never look at it the same way!

But seriously, when we bought it, there was ZERO drywall or plaster in the house. Each room had a mixture of cheap paneling, rough plywood used as paneling, vertical board paneling, and no less than 3 different types of paneling in each room! Not one room matched itself, let alone any of the other rooms.

I gutted most of it, dry walled, new trim, and painted before we moved in.

Outside was wood shingle siding. Had foam board insulation and vinyl siding installed, had the wood windows cased in aluminum, and a new roof installed.

I had Triple trac aluminum storm windows custom made to size and installed them myself.

Woodburner in the basement to heat the entire house.

I removed the wall-to-wall carpet and found nice wood floors. Didn't need any refinishing, just a good wash.

We painted the kitchen wood paneling and installed nice tile backsplashes.

Bathroom was 50's era plastic tile all walls and ceiling. Grays and greens. Very dated. In great shape, though. We had the tub reglazed, and the asked the same company about glazing plastic tile. They'd never tried it before. So wife picked a nice light color with tiny color specs and it turned out great! No one could ever tell it was old plastic tile. Put in a new wood-look floor, single sheet vinyl that cannot leak. Really made it pop.

Last year I built a 24 x 24 addition to the back of our garage. First time for that. Did it all myself. Had wife, daughter and son-in-law for my concrete crew while I drove the tractor to bucket the cement from the truck around to the back. They weren't happy. Had to do it 3 weekends in a row. Put up the walls and trusses by myself. A friend helped with the wall and roof sheathing. Shingled it and sided it all by myself, too. Great feeling of accomplishment.

All-in-all, very happy with the house. But this was over a 25 year span.

 

[CADplans]

Each room had a mixture of cheap paneling, rough plywood used as paneling, vertical board paneling, and no less than 3 different types of paneling in each room! Not one room matched itself, let alone any of the other rooms.

When we bought the home we are in now, my wife was stuck with the job of finding a house,,
She told the realtor,,, "NO CHEAP PANELING!!"

They looked at over 200 homes that were for sale, EVERY home had cheap paneling,,
I thought the realtor was gonna pull his hair out,,

Interest was 18%, no one else was buying homes, so he kept trying, until they found the right one,,
it was the first one with no cheap paneling,,,

 

[MossRoad]

When we bought the home we are in now, my wife was stuck with the job of finding a house,,
She told the realtor,,, "NO CHEAP PANELING!!"

They looked at over 200 homes that were for sale, EVERY home had cheap paneling,,
I thought the realtor was gonna pull his hair out,,

Interest was 18%, no one else was buying homes, so he kept trying, until they found the right one,,
it was the first one with no cheap paneling,,,

The guy that we bought the house from was the salvage king. Can't blame him. He had 4 daughters!

The weirdest thing I found was this:
We bought the house. A week or so after we took possession, I was mowing the lawn with my dad's riding mower. I went driving by the front of the house admiring my new purchase. Turned around at the end of the yard and came riding back. Something about the front of the house looked off. Turned around and rode back looking at the house. Couldn't put my finger on it. Turned around again and something told me to count the windows... one, two, three windows. Still couldn't figure it out. Turned around and counted them again... one, two, three windows.

Wait a minute. There's only 2 rooms with 1 window each... WHAT???? Got off the tractor and ran up to the windows and looked inside. Looking in the middle one, there was what appeared to be a walled off 16 square foot room. No doors! I half expected to see someone's dead grandmother in a rocking chair!

Ran into the house and could only find 2 windows. Turns out for some reason, he walled off a portion of the bedroom behind that cheap wood paneling. For the life of me, I could not figure out why. I got a crowbar and tore off the paneling. To this day I cannot figure out why he did that! When I gutted that room, I ended up making a pretty nice big closet for the kid. It had a window for natural light. Very nice.

 

[dodge man]

We have lived here about 25 years. The three biggest were build a 28’x30’ shop, a major remodel, and paved the driveway. We now need to do a minor remodel.

 

[CalG]

Got a Wife ...My home is "TOTALLY CHANGED"

KIDS will be a big one for sure!

 

[ericm979]

Replacing the lousy prefab fireplace that made the house colder when used with an EPA zero clearance stove. Not only did it let us get rid of the ugly fake rock surround that took up too much floor space, we can use the firewood that our land generates to warm the house.

Second would be replacing the poor quality windows with good ones with many more that open, and the fixed skylights with remote control opening skylights. We run the AC a lot less in the summer now that the house ventilates much better.

 

[CADplans]

Second would be replacing the poor quality windows with good ones with many more that open,

About 5 to 7 years ago, a county guy came around looking at the homes,,
He told me that soon, we would be REQUIRED to replace our windows,
since our windows were made before some date, I think it was 1980.

I chuckled under my breath, and he left. I have about the highest quality wood window in my home that money could buy,,
We have zero drafts when the wind blows,,

I never heard from the county again,,
Some time in 2020, I read an article about how there were payoffs in Washington to PUSH the requirement for new windows.
In many cases, people had their windows replaced with LESS efficient "new" windows.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Added 9" insulation batts (R30) in attic. Comfort has become more important with age.
For us this was one of the most noticable long term improvements.
Sure makes a difference in heating and cooling. Obviously the inspector signed off house for occupancy minus code required amount of insulation in attic.

 

[CADplans]

Added 9" insulation batts (R30) in attic. Comfort has become more important with age.
For us this was one of the most noticable long term improvements.
Sure makes a difference in heating and cooling. Obviously the inspector signed off house for occupancy minus code required amount of insulation in attic.

The guy that built my home (about 1978) installed 3.5" insulation in the attic,,
Then, he found out he needed more insulation.
Luckily, he was a big drinker,,
He had a insulation installation company come out to add more, and he had been drinking when they arrived,,

The installer asked him how much insulation to add,,

HE SAID,, "Add 2 feet!!"

They did,, my attic looks like some sort of a cotton candy machine, the insulation is so deep, you would have a hard time getting through the stuff.
I have that much, and this is a mild climate area,,