The Joy Of Home Ownership
When my wife and I moved to Roanoke in the late fall of 2002, we were faced with a real challenge finding a home. Searching for a house involved driving roughly 1200 miles back and forth from Lockport, NY, and we made the trip twice before we found something we could agree on. There normally aren’t very many homes on the market that time of year, so our choices were pretty limited to begin with. We also knew that I was going to start a business, so we needed to find something that we could manage comfortably on one income for a couple of years.
My wife had never set foot in Roanoke when we decided to move here, but she was immediately taken with the charm of the older neighborhoods. During our brief marriage, we had already moved from a brand new house to an older one, then to another brand new one. It was only fitting that we should go for another older home this time around. We focused our search on South Roanoke, and one of the first things we learned was that many of the older homes that look so beautiful from the street are actually pretty crappy when you step inside.
After checking out every home that was available in our price range, we came back for a second look at the least objectionable one we had seen. While most of the homes in the area were built between 1920 and 1950, this one was built on an infill lot in 1970. It lacked any of the charm or character of the older homes, but it did have modern plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems. It also had hardwood floors throughout, and a more livable floorplan than many of the older homes. Even with all of those things in it’s favor, it was still a crappy house.
We were running out of time, so we settled on the crappy house and told ourselves it was only a temporary situation. Five and half years later, we’re still here in our temporary house. One of the things we hadn’t realized when we bought the place was how incredibly convenient the location was going to be. From our front door, it’s a two block walk to the Post Office, Tinnell’s, Anthony’s, or Fork in the Alley. We can drive straight down Jefferson Street and be in the heart of downtown Roanoke in under 5 minutes. Our son attends the new Honeytree at Riverwalk, which is a 90 second drive away. There are three playgrounds within 200 yards, and in another few years Robert will be able to walk to Crystal Spring Elementary. If we ever do leave, it’s going to be hard to find a better location.
We knew the house needed some work before we moved in, and I’ve been able to do a great deal of it myself. Fresh paint throughout was the easiest part, and it also makes the most noticeable difference without having to spend a lot of cash. I removed a wall between the living room and family room, and I’ve installed new crown molding in several rooms. With help from a friend, I built and installed new bookcases in the living room, and have made a number of other minor cosmetic improvements.
The house still had it’s original single pane windows when we bought it, and they were in terrible condition. We looked at several options to repair or replace them, and none of our choices were very appealing. Vinyl replacements were cheap and energy efficient, but they looked like hell. We finally chose aluminum clad wooden double pane replacement windows from Pella. They look nearly authentic, and have all the features of modern windows. The only downside was that even installing them by myself, the cost was over $13K.
When we bought the house, half of the small backyard was decked over, and the structure of the deck was attached to a rotting wooden retaining wall. I demolished the old decking myself, and it took a 30 yard dumpster to haul it away. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do about the old retaining wall, so we lived with it for a couple of years, even as it listed about 15 degrees. Perhaps the oddest feature of the property was a cinderblock well house in the backyard that predated the house by several decades. It was roughly 10 feet square, and built on a concrete slab. It took me two full days with a rented jackhammer to demolish it, and another 30 yard dumpster to haul it away.
Once the backyard was fully exposed, we realized that we had some serious grading and drainage issues. This eventually required regrading of most the yard, and the installation of several underground drain lines to divert water away from the house. During this process, we learned that the asphalt driveway was about 30 feet longer than we realized, and the previous owners had simply covered it up with a thin layer of soil. By the time we had this buried section of driveway broken up and hauled away, the total grading tab was nearly $4K.
After Robert was born, we realized that we needed to do something to get the back yard into safe and usable condition. The wooden retaining wall was listing even more severely by now, and the fence only remained standing by sheer willpower. We also needed to replace a section of the original deck. The final tab for these items was just over $13K.
Today we’re having a new heat pump installed. We have a gas furnace that’s still in pretty good shape, but the AC is shot. Apparently the heat pump with the gas furnace will give us the best combination of comfort and efficiency. I’m anxious to see if our utility bills are really any lower than before.
Until this morning, I had never stopped up to add up everything we’ve spent on this temporary house, but the major projects alone are over $35K. If I had receipts for all of the trips to Home Depot and Sherwin Williams, I’m sure it’s at least $40K. We still need a new kitchen, and a new roof, and a larger master bath would be nice. The sad part is that the wear and tear caused by two dogs and a toddler means that most of the painting work I did early in the process already needs to be redone, and that’s pretty disheartening. After everything we’ve been through, it’s still a crappy house.