All Forum Posts by: Don Meinke

Does have wood trim,,,and a sculptured brown carpet of 90 era

It is upper end for the town its in.  probably go for 150-160 K

Unfortunately my sister and I inherited our parents home.  it was built in 1990 and it a medium size ranch style.  Some walls are original off white,,some have been repainted lavender and blue.

My sister just wants to paint off white,,,like a dover white and call it a day.  MY info says that would be a major mistake and buyers wont like it.  My kids say greys are the new neutral,,,others have said you need blue grey tones,,,grey is out.

HOW DO YOU GET THE COLORS RIGHT FOR SELLING PURPOSES???  What colors sells best?

Long story short,,,be careful.  I wasnt, was told cant be in laminate backing.  Wasnt a little bit either.  All came about AFTER I was trying to sand some residue that stuck to unfinished hardwood underneath.  Found out AFTER I got sick in about 10 minutes later that it tested VERY high in asbestoes and I got asbestoes acute poisoning.  Felt bad, like an elephant on my chest for several weeks thereafter.  One morning woke up feeling fine.

NOW having said that,,,test it,,,easy, take a small bottle of it to people who specalize in removal,,,,they charged like 22 bucks to send it to lab and lab fee.

BUT leaving hardwood under tile is a no-no as it is not stable,,,so claim the experts.  And I am told you need 1 1/2 total inches of underlayment on big joists (not over spanned) spaced closely.

On floor above I removed short pieces of hardwood to expose terrible condition  inch bye subfloor,,large holes,large areas of no support.  I tore ALL out down to floor joists.  Put back 3/4 cdx and blocked joints between joists,,,then put 3/4 T&G over that.  I guess they make a redi floor or some such,,,my store didnt carry that.  Stagger all joints not to fall on same lines as below.  Start laying from opposite corner does that. Bottom layer runs underneath all walls. I just cut it off close as possible with circle saw and spliced on and supported all

Its easy to dispose of bad stuff here yet,,,thats why it should be disposed now if possible and in making your floor solid.Double bagged is all required and hauled directly to landfill with appointment. A blue tarp under the trailer load of stuff and fold ends together and tape in a tight bun.  I have had the landfill workers standing in the crap unloading,,,but they arent too bright.

Hope this works out well for you but covering it with anything may come back to haunt you.  

shower, hands down.

IF pex is allowed it is hands down easiest cheapest way to go and best hands down.  Next would be CPVC.  Either is extremely user friendly and you will be a do-it-yourself expert in no time.  But I am a 40 year veteran of diy,,,,I prefer to make my own mistakes compared to buying inferior workmanship,,,which is common here.

I recently cut every little bit of galvanized pipe out of an 80 year old house and replaced with pex.  Bending is you biggest issue.  Either support as you go so NO kinks on a gradual turn which works great in basements and crawl spaces.  IF you have to make a right angle use a brass insert fitting and bend the corner quick.  IF flow is a concern upsize.  Dont bother trying those bend support things in box stores as they are junk.  Make it look all pretty and think of your runs,,manifold if needed and each faucet has own run AND shut off

Here it was needed cause it was throwing lots of rust and grit into aerators and cartridges as well as the old interfered in  NEW electrical box install (AND every scrap of wire inside the house,,,,anywhere(That was a bigger project but very doable and much less expensive than a pro install.  )  MY electrician says he doesnt like to run new wire in old houses as it takes too much time and that job does not require a rocket scientist therefore he says you get the wires run I will hook them up.  End cost was a few hundred which included the new box which wasnt in the orig bid of 4 to 5 K jut for ceiling lights and wall outlets

But to make a long story short could not be happier with pex and have another house getting same treatment(as soon as I get my roofs all done,,,and a basement step project).  I am getting too old for all this and working 2 jobs so little time to 'play' in the water.  But its on my bucket list.  My motto---"IF you cant do it yourself,,,,IT doesnt need doing!!!"

MOST important issue is whether it is on city water and sewer.  If not the envirnmental regs are stiff,,,licensing,,,operator on board etc.

NEXT issue is age of homes in park.  'here' they closed all the old parks they could find an excuse to,,,and cleaned half or more of the homes out of the remaining ones,,,which are STILL half empty after 10 years or more.  No one seems interested in mobile homes these days.  More public assisted housing for the less income residents cuts into what this segment used to take care of.

Returns are good to great in this investment BUT risk and long term may be limited.  Rents increase,,,values increase as a whole.

Expect to wrassle with 3 times the tenants non paying-eviction even tho you would think it wouldnt happen with THEIR own homes.

Other issue to watch is if you have personal property taxes on the homes,,,are they being paid on time or at all?  HERE they made it the court owners cost to pay these when home owners disappeared and abandoned their junked out trash dumps.  Some of those amounted to thousands of dollars.  Been there done that!!!  Then guess who pays to demo and haul away???