1) The door going from the house into the garage had a kitty door on it. Our cats are way too sheltered to be allowed in the garage. (Battery acid, pesticide, the car, an opening and closing garage door, etc.) We knew we'd have to get a new door to replace that one.
Photo from inspector. The kitty door actually creates a fire hazard too, according to inspection.
2) Our garage doors are two separate doors. The one on the right was not working.
3) The microwave (built-in) was not working. And by "built-in," I mean there was a space in the cabinet for the microwave to go with a plug in the back. That whole experience deserves its own post though. Trying to replace that microwave may be the closest I've gotten so far to going into the fetal position and staying there.
From the original ad for the house. Perfectly fine looking microwave. Perfectly not warming anything.
4) The water heater was on its last leg. It still worked, but not optimally and could go down at any moment.
Photo from inspector. Super retro, huh? There were rust stains and water leaks on the sides of the heater.
5) There were little things too: debris in the gutter, a downspout that sprayed onto the deck, a light fixture with a shattered bulb in it, etc.
6) We also knew we'd have to get the locks changed (that's apparently a thing with a new house because you never know how many spare keys are floating around out there) and hire a lawn company, since we had no mower.
I dove right into research. I joined Angie's List and Consumer Reports. My Google Docs were impressive. Lists of handymen, lawn companies, remodeling companies, garage door companies, locksmiths, plumbers, etc. My iPhone quickly added apps for Home Depot and Lowe's. Magazines stacked up.
And it became immediately clear that we had no idea what we were doing with this house.
However, the thing to know about me is that, even without prior experience, general knowledge or common sense, I still think I (meaning Shoe) can do anything myself. All I need is a book or a YouTube video or a little bit of research, right? Thank god for Shoe. And the internet.
1) I quickly learned that replacing a door was not as simple as unscrewing the old one and putting the new one in. With a steel door (all doors to the outside should be steel for fire and safety reasons), you need to replace the frame too. So we hired a handyman I found on Angie's List. When I saw him replace the door (about a thirty minute process that involved removing the frame, lots of hammering and more), I was so glad we didn't do it ourselves.
2) We decided to hold off on the garage door since we only have one car. This was fine for awhile, until the other door broke too. Now it warrants its own post.
3) As stated, the microwave was a nightmare. NIGHTMARE. It will also have its own post.
4) We bought a new water heater at Lowe's - a Whirlpool, which is a brand that's really well-rated online. We used Lowe's installation services - which basically means Lowe's acts as a middle-man between you and a plumbing service. This costs a lot, but Shoe insisted since our water heater was gas and errors with gas can have serious consequences. Things to know about water heaters: gallon size, gas or electric and city codes. You're going to need to install a pan underneath it in case it leaks and you'll likely need new connection pipes, especially if it's in the shape ours was. The water heater took about an hour to install and it passed city code. Our water is so warm now. It's great.
5) The handyman took care of the gutter debris too. I'd love to get a ladder that's tall enough for us to handle that stuff but Shoe's not big on heights. The downspout issue was solved by an extender piece purchased at Lowe's. And the bulb was easily replaced.
6) The locksmith came over and changed all of our locks, leaving us with four copies of keys. We had one small issue - our handle lock on our patio door wasn't working so he couldn't do that one. I ended up doing it myself later, which I will try to remember to blog about. And I hired a mowing company to come every other Monday.
That's it for the overall start-out post. Individual chaos coming soon.
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