Ever get discouraged?

[jharkin]

Funny thing... When I first joined OHW many moons ago I remember being so excited to share about our "new" old house that really only need some paint to move in.

Oh how wrong we where....

You all know the story. Replacing rotten sills, redoing bad renovations of previous owners... tracking down mysterious electrical gremlins.... Waking up in the middle of the night to leaking plumbing.... Reglazing windows... patching rotten sills...You name it we've done it.

A labor of love but we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, where we would want to get to, or at least where we would leave it off for the next family - the house is too small for our growing family so we know certain large projects are not worth starting since we may not stay long enough to enjoy them.


The problem is that lately Ive been feeling frustrated... It feels like in the last year or so new problems are turning up faster than I can fix the old ones. After years of no issues we lost two large trees last year, one of which did that big garage damage. Now that the garage is fixed its obvious how bad the house needs to be painted and that made me look closely and find a lot more window sill rot.

The new roof on the garage also make it apparent that the roof on the house doesn't have more than 5-10 years left in it, tops.

Ice continues to be an issue. I did some insulating and venting improvements to try and cut down the ice dams but they keep coming back each year and I am getting really good at patching water damage in the ceiling

Loosing two trees has me eying the rest every windstorm and there are at least two more I think are risky.

We *had* dealt with the rotten sill, but then we had a new carpenter ant infestation a few years back during a wicked wet spring and now I have new rot issues to resolve.

I just discovered that the new back door we installed in 2010 is now rotting from the inside(????) - in the lower panels and where the mullion meets the bottom rail. But not the bottom rail itself - that's solid. doesn't make any sense... Of course its out of warranty, and I did everything right (5 coats of oil primer and paint etc) but it still rotted. (we where new owners back then, I didn't know any better or I would have gotten a salvage door rather than new)

Every time I fix one plumbing problem a new one shows up. Over the holidays the main city water shutoff valve started leaking (corrosion)...

The lawn is a mess... We had bad grub issues two summers ago that killed half the front lawn. Got that dealt with and was reseeding but then we had a record drought last year and all the new seed died off and the lawn looks even worse now. All the seed and fertilizer in the world does nothing when you get no rain for months...




Just feeling the frustration right now. I was hoping to concentrate all our time and budget this year on dong the exterior repaint right but now there are a half dozen other crisis issues popping up fighting for resources.

/rant off


Anyone else ever feel this way?

[Mick_VT]

I absolutely go through some periods like this Jeremy. Especially if the work I need to do is a rework of that which I did before. I look at the front of my house that took a couple of years of hard labor to strip and repaint and realize that it will need a freshen up very soon. I look at the shutters that took 40 hours a piece to rebuild that the paint is now peeling on (admittedly 9 years was a good run) but I don't have the enthusiasm of the first time I redid them. The list of wants and needs on the place never gets shorter. The house adds its needs, my creative mind and ideas add the wants.

I think the key is to get pleasure from the doing and not focus so much on the what needs to be done. Select jobs that satisfy as well as those that are urgent or needy.

Not sure if that helps, just my morning ruminations on the topic

[Sow's Ear Mal]

I hear ya. We need that hidden cache of treasure that the internet says in in the walls of all old houses. I am near burn-out here too, and I know that if I could afford to hire some professionals to do some of the dirty work I'd be in a happier place. It wears on you to do it all yourself. Here's hoping the problems taper off soon, and you can once again revel in the process. Cheers, Mal

[Ober51]

Only every day. I feel like an emotional teenager again. If I think about the house in totality, it is overwhelming. Despite knowing this, I do it often. If I think about doing this money pit as a task list, it becomes more manageable.

That being said, I'd probably do it again.

[eclecticcottage]

Yup. By the time we renoed and rented the Old House I had a real love hate relationship with it. When we bought it, it was a challenge, it was fun, it was OURS (we were in our very early 20's). 15 years of "did they really do that" and "why is that happening, we FIXED it already I thought" later, it wasn't fun and I was ready for it to be done. Which is why we then gutted it to the studs in anticipation of fixing everything for the last darn time and making it a rental for the income (we had already bought the Cottage at that point). Of course as soon as the last drywall was down a friend called and asked if it was still available-they lost their lease and JUST got custody of their niece and needed a place asap. So it went back together a little quicker than anticipated, and although most everything was fixed not everything was gotten to the way we planned. They bought it anyway last year though, knowing exactly what was done and what wasn't. I still drive by it, and while I love it, I am 100% glad it's not mine anymore!

The Cottage has been an experiance. It's newer than the Old House by 30 years but wasn't built to be a full time house. It was a flip at one point. We recently had a difficulty with a bad contractor (not the one on the Bungalow Project). It's been more fun because imperfection is acceptable now. I call it "cottage character" (not anything that could be damaging, but the wonky trim a PO did, the kind of bad drywall patches, the mismatched wood in the kitchen, those I'm not sweating). I'm ready to be done for a while though, and it seems that's never possible.

The Bungalow Project has been different. It's exciting, fun, terrifying, frustrating-but I can lock the door and go home and leave whatever is going on behind if needed. I think the Projects (assuming there is one after this one, which is the plan) will be much more fun for that reason. I get everything done, fresh and "new" and then sell it. There isn't that "but I painted that already" factor, even if it's been 10 years, that your home gets.

[phil]

quote " The lawn is a mess... We had bad grub issues two summers ago that killed half the front lawn. Got that dealt with and was reseeding but then we had a record drought last year and all the new seed died off and the lawn looks even worse now. All the seed and fertilizer in the world does nothing when you get no rain for months..."

last year the crows ate my lawn. the city did some roadwork and put down some turf and I think it came from that but who knows really..

This year I pulled up what was left of the grass and planted clover in the fall. It was starting to take in patches and this year Ill try to pull out any grass I can and probably re-seed the clover.. the seeds are expensive , about 100 bucks for a pound or so but they are tiny seeds.

anyway the story is that the grubs dont' like clover. It's also actually good for the soil. evidently it also does better in drought situations like we've had the last few summers. they usually put some clover in grass seed and my neighbor said they are coming out with newer formulations with more clover to combat the grubs but I figure Ill just see how I do with clover rather than grass. If nothing else it might make the grubs leave my lot.

I tore into my living room in summertime. I ripped the walls apart and insulated, drywalled and now I am finishing the drywall with plans to sand the floors, take the tile off the hall and the fireplace and the paint off the window frames. I've stripped the rest of the woodowork and it is awaiting refinishing and replacement.. so I had to downsize living space and couldn't have too many guests over for Christmas. I'm looking forward to getting things back to normal but it some days I can't wait just to put things away. Once I paint it'll be inspiring but the stage I am at now - drywalling can get a bit hard to take.

sometimes the setbacks are my fault for being fussy. Yesterday I decided a switch for the lights was in a bad spot because If I want to frame that door with casings, the switch was too close to the jamb. It took me most of a day to move it over and patch the wall but at least now I don't' have to keep looking at it like it was a mistake. it's a doorway with no door and I don't' know if it ever had casings but since Ill have to refit all the trim I'm considering adding casings. if not then it won't hurt to have moved the switch. deciding I wanted to do rounded corners near my bay windows extended me about another week or two.. again I am glad to have it the way I want but things like this just jump in the way of completion and once I start thinking well it would be better if I did this.. then my perceived schedule changes.
I find not having too many timelines helps. so does discussing the projects with my girlfriend who has been so patient with my addiction to reno's.. Its those promises that cause the stress more than the work.

[1918ColonialRevival]

Oh yes - it happens all the time. We've been in a holding pattern for a few years now when it comes to serious work simply because the cost of materials and everything else has skyrocketed in almost 8 years we've owned our house, yet our pay from our "day jobs" has remained stagnant.

I'm finally about to get started again after about 4 years of being idle on all but the most urgent items.

To those of you talking about plumbing issues. Do yourself a favor and start from scratch - otherwise you'll be continually chasing problems and slowly driving yourself insane. Ours was such a piecemeal job done by several of the local drunks that one day I just decided to rip it out and replace it all one bathroom at a time. The supply lines for two of the bathrooms were a combination of galvanized, copper, and PVC. I replaced it all with 3/4" copper and I'm not the least bit sorry I did. The waste lines were replaced with 4" PVC. Although I like cast iron better because you can't hear the water draining through it, I didn't feel that it warranted the extra trouble.

[phil]

I agree about replacing piping, at least if you have an issue dont' be afraid to cut the section you have issues with as replacement is often easier than repair especially with lots of troublesome threaded connections.
Im surprised you picked copper over Pex. do you use the newer no lead solder or the older leaded solder? I did a bit with copper and then tried using pex. early plastic plumbing fittings had some issues but i think pex is pretty reloable and it won't easily crack if it freezes but some still like using copper. I'm not bad at soldering but I find the no lead solder frustrating. Pex tends to bend all over so its more difficult to plumb a house so it can drain itself if for example the furnace breaks in cold weather. some worry about the lead from the solder.

[JacquieJet]

We are still fairly new to the old house world, but still, I can understand your frustration. Sometimes, when it rains, it pours, you know? Things have a way of building up, both in reality and on your mind.
Best thing we did here was make a list of all the repairs that need to happen, and then whenever we accomplish a task we check it off. Sounds silly but it has really helped to put our progress in perspective and gives us a sense of accomplishment, that at least we are moving in the right direction.

[1918ColonialRevival]

Im surprised you picked copper over Pex. do you use the newer no lead solder or the older leaded solder? I did a bit with copper and then tried using pex. early plastic plumbing fittings had some issues but i think pex is pretty reloable and it won't easily crack if it freezes but some still like using copper. I'm not bad at soldering but I find the no lead solder frustrating. Pex tends to bend all over so its more difficult to plumb a house so it can drain itself if for example the furnace breaks in cold weather. some worry about the lead from the solder.

The main reason I didn't use PEX is because the jury's still out on life expectancy. It's easier to work with than copper and will likely last as long, but I'm always a little leery of things that are somewhat new. With copper I know I can do it once and be done. In the US, PEX has only been in use for pressurized water supplies for maybe about 15 years.

I use lead-free solder on potable water piping. I haven't had any issues with it - you just have to make sure your fittings are clean and fluxed good before soldering. That said, I DON'T like lead-free solder for electronic use. I stick to 60/40 for that.