Suzanne O’Connor’s Bargains LA

New Home Repairs and Dilemas 12/30/2009

This week….

The additional weight of the new porcelain tile and vintage stove caused concern for our contractor. He crawled under the house to make sure it could support the extra weight. He decided we needed to add extra supports to the joists of the floor to secure and support the additional weight.

The new height of the kitchen floor (tile plus Wonderboard added 1 full inch) is making it difficult to buy a new dishwasher. The standard height of a dishwasher runs 33 ½-34 inches. I only have 32 ½ inches. This makes it harder to find a deal at my favorite appliance discounter, The Weiler Group in Chatsworth.  I have only been able to find 3 models that come in my size and they didn’t have any in. So I am gonna give them week before I go out and buy from the big retailers.

Counter space is also an issue. We are working on coming up with creative ways to increase counter space. The bread maker, the knife block and breadbasket will all be stored inside the cabinets. A new built in cutting board is being put in and cabinet between the stove & refrigerator will be added. If you have any ideas… please send them in!

50 years of contact paper have been peeled out of the kitchen cabinets. OY! The last layer proved too difficult and I am just gonna have to paper over it.

The new house is buzzing with contactors and workman:
-The exterior of the house is being patched & painted. 
-Termites damaged an exterior column and after basic repairs our contractor re-stucco’d it to match the 80 year old stucco and got it painted so you can’t tell there was any repair work done. Sweet!
-The roof is currently being re-roofed with new Spanish tile.

-The chimney has come down and is starting to be re-built. Scary!

-The windows have been repaired from the previous owner’s dog damage.
- A new back door is being put in and a new threshold is being put in.
- One new storage shed has already arrived from Tuff Shed. Another one is on the way.
- Hubby and cable guys are starting to set up our new wireless computer network.
- Our hard wood flooring contractor, Blake’s Floors has sanded, patched cracks and
stained our floors. 4-coats of Polyurethane are currently being done. 1200 sq ft of white
oak hard wood floors redone for $2200…. A very good price.

Hubby is also buying stuff. New office = new office stuff. Another vintage tanker desk and table plus an upright file cabinet. We are on the hunt! Thankfully we don’t need any new electronics… yet.

The work continues as the bank account dwindles.