A House in Midlife Crisis

Isn't home ownership so much fun?

Don't take this wrong.  I love my house; we all love our house.  It sits nicely in the outer suburbs of Philly -- close enough to easily get to Philly, Baltimore or points between -- far enough to be away from the crowds and the noise.

This house, however, was 30 years old when we bought it and is now just over 40.  We've sort of developed a love-hate relationship with it.

First thing to go ... the deck rail.  I guess standards were a little less stringent back in the 60s and a 45-foot rail sitting on an angle was aesthetically beautiful, but not very utilitarian -- especially when it's supported only by nails.  After my wife fell ten feet and shattered the bones in her right foot, I replaced the section of the rail that gave out (fortified it with 8" and 10" bolts, of course.  Last year, we caved in and replaced the entire deck.

Next was the kitchen. Not so much in need of repair, but quite outdated.  How's this sound? ...

·    a combination electric range/microwave (the microwave gave out first, so had to retrofit a new one into the unit,

·    indoor-outdoor carpet flooring,

·    veneer cabinets and Formica(r) counters.

Kitchen refacing, new appliances and floor set us back a few bucks.

Next was the tornado of 2002.  An F0, but enough to knock down several trees and weaken many others.  We'll be cleaning up branches and trees for the next ten or twenty years.

Next comes the swimming pool.  I love our swimming pool.  Learned how to maintain it myself.  First thing I learned is that the pool service guys know less about how to care for a pool than anybody who makes a small effort to learn about it.

First thing to go was the coping and tiles.  They were just beginning to separate when we moved in, and the tiles were dropping one by one.  Of course by the time we were ready to do the repair we needed to replace the coping, tiles rails and walkways.  Not long after, the filter started showing its age.  I was able to keep it going for another three years by rigging and "hick-fixing" until we replaced it.  Two years later, we had to replace the heater.

I was able to replace floors, fixtures and lighting in two bathrooms and two halls as well.  Time to breathe now?  Not really.  In the past month, we needed repair on our furnace.  Next we needed to repair connections in our electric meter housing.  Replacing the housing completely is now in the job jar.

Our latest headache is the 40 year old copper tubing, which is beginning to verdigris and spring very tiny, hard to locate and hard to reach leaks.  Never a better time for this than when your children and grandchildren are staying with us for the holidays.

Tomorrow, I get to spend the day cutting through the floor under my kitchen sink and replacing a 20' section of pipe.  Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Now that my bitching is done, I do need to point out a few things...

1.   I really do love this house.

2.   I really do enjoy doing most of these repairs myself.  There's a sense of pride when the job is done -- and done right.  There's also a sense of satisfaction that I saved a boatload of money over what it would have cost for a contractor to do the job.

Next on the list ...

·    New driveway (about 200 feet long),

·    New roof, and coming in about ten years

·    New septic system or connection to the town sewage system.

Lucky me!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!