a New Home

digitS'

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I would love to have a new home.

I've been following @MontyJ 's & @dewdropsinwv 's remodeling. Wow!

My ideas relate to the thread I started on privacy. It amounts to starting with a structure that is essentially a single large room. The concept comes from those people who convert old buildings into apartments. But, old is what I'm trying to get away from ...

This home was built in 1901. It had a major remodel about 25 years later, I'd guess. Then another remodel/addition in the 1960's. The remodel/repairs I had done 4 years ago were minor but expensive!

What I would give for a new house ... the computer just went to sleep while I sat here dreaming ...

DW says she loves this house! The flooring should be replaced throughout. Then what? It will never be level. Between what was built in the 1920's & 1960's will never line up! It all drives me nutz!

A new home exterior could be as simple or complex as desired. It doesn't need to be a simple box but it need not be large. The need is to leave the interior open, with no or few feet of bearing wall.

This relates to privacy: central to the home is the bathroom. There might be two but it complicates. Okay, central bath with all (or nearly) utilities in those walls. The utility room is on one side of one of those walls. The kitchen is on one side, another.

The other two bathroom walls could have the closets for an entranceway and a bedroom. That central bath is a unit on all sides of its walls (even ceiling and floor).

Remodels at some future date is fairly simple but thorough for these areas that require the most frequent repairs and change - utility room, kitchen and bathroom. Take it all out, put all new in.

You can imagine how this works for someone converting a downtown loft into an apartment but it could work for any home. Central to life in that home would be that central bathroom. Would the residents be comfortable with it? Will I ever get DW outta this ramshackle old house?

Steve
 

baymule

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Building a house where you are is way different from where I am. Our double wide is set on concrete blocks, about three feet off the ground. It is skirted, meaning it is enclosed with crawl space doors on the ends. Simple. In your part of the country, freeze upheaval would probably knock it off the blocks. Haha, you yearn for s new home, I would like to know how living with a basement feels like.
 

thistlebloom

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I'm okay with my home, even though originally I wanted an old farmhouse with a wrap around porch and a basement. DH thought that would be a nightmare, coming from a major, major fixer upper like we did. He wanted nothing to do with anything old that would need constant repairs.

He liked this place the minute he saw it because nothing needed replacing.
But we are getting to that replacing part soon. The windows are losing their seal and starting to fog in between the panes, we've had two pipe leaks in the walls in each bathroom. Can't wait for the next malfunction.

I understand your desire for simplicity Steve. The older I get the more basic I want things. And I know dh was right in not giving in to my unrealistic vision of the house I wanted.

I'd still like a basement though.
 

Chickie'sMomaInNH

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in NH we need to have under any garage/mobile/trailer homes a frost wall for any new installations being done. i have seen some really old trailer homes placed on top of a garage/basement and most stick out like a sore thumb since they are mostly single wide homes.

after this past Tuesday, my sister may get her wish of rebuilding her home. the house burned and it doesn't seem like there would be much to salvage besides the foundation. and even that has water damage from all the water the firefighters used to get it put out.
 

digitS'

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I like basements.

But, I don't like the stairs leading to mine!

They are so steep that the guy who showed us the house 20 years ago had to descend them backwards! As tho they were a ladder ... :rolleyes:

Steve
 

digitS'

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@Chickie'sMomaInNH maybe you can follow your sister's progress and report on that for us.

It is sad to have to start from nothing.

It doesn't sound like the furnishings are left!

Steve
 

so lucky

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When we bought this house 23 years ago, it was ideal for our purposes. I still had one child at home; DH's two kids spent weekends here. He has always seemed to resent buying a house, and his brother who is a prick quickly pointed out all the things that was wrong with the house. Now all this time later, DH wants to move, rather than fix what's wrong. I don't know. Either would be a major undertaking, not good for a person with low energy, and a mate with OCD tendencies.
 

digitS'

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I've just been leveling my washer. I'm unable to get it "right" because the utility room floor is not level and someone thought that a utility room was a good place for carpeting o_O. So. I put a somewhat waterproof pad with plywood and vinyl flooring just under the machines and over the carpet, which was new. Shoulda ripped the carpet out :(.

Ripping out the carpet won't level the floor, of course. And, the 1960's add-on began in the utility room :confused:. So, there are like 3 angles to that floor :eek:.

Steve
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