I’ve heard that there are lists of the most stressful things that a person can go through. The top three things all involve the death of a loved one. The fourth thing?
Buying a house.
We bought our house about 19 years ago when it was a little less than a year old. It was probably the most stressful thing that we’d ever done together as a spousal unit. Getting a loan was stressful because we didn’t have the 20% down payment and we thought that that would be a dealbreaker but… no. The mortgage broker asked me what I made and Maribou what she made and crowed and did some quick math on a calculator and told us that we qualified for about twice what she and I had hammered down was our maximum price. “But we only have about $5000 for a down payment!”, we protested and he laughed. “Save it! Buy some furniture instead!”
In that moment, I knew that we were in a bubble and that it was going to pop any day.
But we hemmed and hawed and figured out that we were qualified for house loan and then we started looking and OH MY GOSH HOUSES WERE SO EXPENSIVE. We finally found one that was nice, with a deck, and was walking distance from Maribou’s job and a light driving distance from mine. And it was $20,000 more than our desired price! Holy cow, I walked out of there feeling so ripped off… but Maribou was happy with it, and I was happy with it, I guess. It was about 4 times bigger than our first apartment and twice as big as our previous apartment and we couldn’t believe that we had so much room to play with. So many walls that could handle a bookcase! We could sit at the table! We could cook at the stove! WE COULD HAVE COMPANY!
And, as the years passed, we filled the walls with bookcases and got to a place where we couldn’t believe we ever thought the house was huge. But we had a deck. And a 20 year roof.
Well, we had a windstorm back in December that was absolutely awful and, wouldn’t you know it, a 20-year roof is good for about 20 years. A little less if you have a windstorm from heck.
And so we (okay, Maribou) had to deal with getting roofers to come over and give us an estimate and to have insurance give us a much smaller estimate. Maribou did the admirable job of not only coordinating everything but actually getting these two people to talk to each other in a three-way call instead of using Maribou as a go-between.
The roofers told us “take down your pictures on the wall, take down mirrors, anything that dangles loosely”. I figured that they were saying that as some sort of legal liability thing. You know, like the disclaimer before Jackass. But we took the art down anyway and got ready for them to do their thing.
Holy cow, they weren’t kidding. It sounded like a bunch of 5 year olds were handed hammers and 2x4s and asked to share their best impression of what roofers would sound like. The house rattled and shook, the cats were terrified, they had to wheel in a dumpster to have a place to throw away the old roof before putting on the new roof… all sorts of “holy cow, I never knew that home ownership was so very complicated”.
And they finished up exactly one day before the snowstorm rolled in yesterday. The roof handled it like a champ.
And that’s as much excitement as I need for the next 19ish years.
As such, this weekend will be spent under a quiet roof.
So… what’s on your docket?
(Featured image is a roof. Photo taken by the author.)
How long is the new one good for?Report
So far, two days.
They say it’s another 20 year one.Report
I got a midterm next week, so it’s study time.Report
Stuck at home because of the storm – the roads here look dire, and campus is closed (they even told us not to do virtual classes over Zoom, out of concern people would lose power – I did not but I gather a number of people in North Texas did). So I’ve got some research reading to do and maybe also I relax a little. I had exams scheduled (first of the semester) for yesterday and today, so the first part of next week is giving those, meaning no course prep…Report
Our roads were undrivable Wednesday, the main arteries were okay yesterday, and today there really wasn’t a problem except on the shady side streets. Good luck! If you’re a day behind us, things should start clearing up for you guys this weekend.Report
Roads were okay this afternoon to go out and pick up a pizza, but I’d definitely not want to be walking or driving after the sun went down and the slush re-frozeReport
See, here’s the thing about being retired. On the weekend the grocery and the bicycle trails are much more crowded. Otherwise, they’re just days.Report
Saturday, slide my car to the grocery store and pharmacy. Sunday, slide my car to church. Monday should be in the 40’s.Report
We’ve been in this house for 20+ years and have replaced the roof no fewer than three times. The hail storms in this state ain’t no joke! This last time included structural repairs to a part of the roof that was slumping, probably due to snow load over the decades, and removing a chimney for an old cast-iron stove which used to be in the basement and patching the hole left behind, and replacing the gutters which had been damaged by a falling tree and by ice forming in the trough (the last replacement was shoddy, frankly). Insurance paid for the lot. It was surprisingly difficult to find a contracting company willing to open up the roof and do the structural repairs, but we lucked out in that the one we found offered to do everything.
Next up is deciding if we want to shell out the big bucks for new siding (one end of the house is cedar and the birds LOVE IT) or repaint everything…and the driveway desperately needs graded and proper drainage established…and the water heater is overdue for replacement…and the HVAC is due for service…and I’d really love to run a dedicated circuit for the computers…Report
“What’s he doing?”
“I dunno, he doesn’t seem like he’s actually even playing the game…”
“He’s hiding off in a remote corner, and trying to pretend like we don’t exist…”
“… we’re going to lose, aren’t we?”
“Yeah. Bet if we bum rush him, we’ll lose less?”
“… yeah.”
This weekend is learning what that feels like, from the other side.Report
Sitting here contemplating firing my kitchen contractor. It’s kind of been a disaster from the start, and now his attendance has become somewhat intermittent. So, I got that going for me.
Gonna go jam with a friend tomorrow.Report
We’re at 16.5 yrs and looking for an opportunistic hail storm…
I’m the kinda guy who will overcomplicate the process by thinking, If we rip the roof off, why not put in those attic dormers we’ve always wanted? And metal, why not a metal roof. Wait, can we do Spanish tiles? Did those Tesla Solar roof tiles ever go live? No, I got it, SLATE!
In the end? Probably asphalt shingles exactly the same as what we have now.Report
It’s a long weekend for me, as Sunday is Waitangi Day, but only plans are to rest. I got my booster this morning, so I want to make sure I have time to take it easy.Report
Oooh, congrats! Have a low-key weekend, then a low-key two weeks, THEN GO NUTSOReport
Notice: Cheez-its have a puffed Cheez-it now. “Cheez-it Puff’d”, they’re called.
Imagine, if you will, Kellogg’s Corn Pops. But instead of being lightly sweetened, they’re lightly cheesed.
If that sounds awesome to you, you will love them.Report