As Houses Age
#21
Our house was built in 1965. We bought it 9 years ago. Still had the original light fixtures. And some of the original plumbing fixtures. At some point, both bathroom floors were upgraded. Siding was added and a new roof installed.

Replaced the water heater, water softener, all the light fixtures, all the faucets, all the flooring, front door, back door, garage door opener, and countertops(raised to make room for dishwasher).

Replaced the AC condenser three years ago and will replace the 15(?) year old furnace/A coil next week(cracked heat exchanger).

Have painted the kitchen cabs---original to house and in better condition than new crap. Took out the old(original) pergola and built a new patio cover(translucent plastic roofing panels).

Several more things on the list, mostly small stuff now. Roof should last 5+ years more.

Figure about the time I get everything done, it will be time to start over---or I croak.
Big Grin
Reply
#22
Not really house related but this morning the Keurig coffee maker "retired" itself.  I checked the old file of product instructions and found it was bought in 2011 so I guess I got my money out of it.  New one will be here Monday.  It never stops!


Big Grin
Mike


If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room!

But not today...
Reply
#23
I read that water heaters should be replaced every 8 to 10 years that the newer ones are more efficient and the older ones lose efficiency due to corrosion.

Hot water heaters are consumable items.

Metal roofs (both shingle type and barn style) have life spans in excess of 50 years (vs. 15 to 25 years for asphalt).  Metal roofs cost about 20% more than asphalt.  I wish I knew that when I had my roof installed.

None of the wall outlets in my house (built in 1953) were grounded.  I replaced all of them a few years back.

My rear deck, which lasted 60 years was built from Douglas Fir; I replaced it stick by stick with pressure treated. (If I tore it down I would not have been able to get a permit for this deck, so "repair" was the only option.)  All but 6 feet or so of  ledger board have been replaced.  

I need to replace the bleeder valves for the hot water heat as the screw heads are all stripped.  They cost about $6.00 each and I hope after replacing the 20 or so valves I don't have any leaks.  

One vendor suggests using teflon tape; the other suggests plumbers grease.  I've had better luck with the grease and I think I will use that.

On the plus side the materials in my house are superior to the newer houses.  The floor joists (over the basement) are all 3" x 8" (code calls for 2" x 8") so my floors feel really solid.  

The concrete is "hardened concrete" (whatever that is) but even the strongest of the .22 caliber nails will not penetrate the concrete and I burn out a carbide bit with just 2 or three holes.

So older is sometimes better.

I would loathe to buy a house built in the 1970s when homosote was considered an acceptable sheathing material and aluminum wiring was starting to be installed.

But a house built in the 40s, 50s, and 60s could be a good deal.
No animals were injured or killed in the production of this post.
Reply
#24
(04-28-2017, 09:54 AM)gMike Wrote: Not really house related but this morning the Keurig coffee maker "retired" itself.  I checked the old file of product instructions and found it was bought in 2011 so I guess I got my money out of it.  New one will be here Monday.  It never stops!


Big Grin

My daughter "cooked" the microwave day before yesterday.  Seems setting the timer for 20 minutes and hitting the high button instead of timer makes a microwave melt
Phydeaux said "Loving your enemy and doing good for those that hurt you does not preclude killing them if they make that necessary."


Phil Thien

women have trouble understanding Trump's MAGA theme because they had so little involvement in making America great the first time around.

Reply
#25
(04-28-2017, 09:54 AM)gMike Wrote: Not really house related but this morning the Keurig coffee maker "retired" itself.  I checked the old file of product instructions and found it was bought in 2011 so I guess I got my money out of it.  New one will be here Monday.  It never stops!


Big Grin



         This is one time where i go against my advise.... Pay for the extended warranty for a keurig where ever you buy it if you are buying rhe new 2.0 versions. They fail exceedingly fast. Ours lasted 2 months before the screen started to go then just quit so it went in for exchange at sams. Bought one for my parents for christmas and its already starting to die. 
       Our old keurig is still going strong though. It has the grey insert in it and is only for iced tea bags. We drink allot of tea here cause its very hot here. I still keep looking for a commercial iced tea maker though. 


          Our house was built in 1960 and never again will we buy an old house unless its dirt dirt cheap because it will need a total gut a redo because of poor construction methods back then, poor floorplan and old everything.
Reply
#26
(04-28-2017, 12:12 PM)Robert Adam Wrote:           Our house was built in 1960 and never again will we buy an old house unless its dirt dirt cheap because it will need a total gut a redo because of poor construction methods back then, poor floorplan and old everything.

Seems strange to think of a 1960's house as "old", but I guess it is 57 years old.

My "old house" form the 1930's is still mostly original.  Most of the appliances are at least 30 years old.

Maybe they don't make them like they used to.
Reply
#27
Not so much "they don't make them as they used to" as survivor bias (though I won't argue with the solder). 

Appliances survive on a curve. Most die within 5 years. Of the ones that survive, most die in 10. And then 20. Then 40. So if you have a survivor from the 60s - it'll go to the end of time because it's one of the lucky ones.

In 40 years, people will be saying the same stuff about appliances made in 2000.
Computer geek and amateur woodworker.
Reply
#28
(04-30-2017, 11:36 AM)abernat Wrote: Not so much "they don't make them as they used to" as survivor bias (though I won't argue with the solder). 

Appliances survive on a curve. Most die within 5 years. Of the ones that survive, most die in 10. And then 20. Then 40. So if you have a survivor from the 60s - it'll go to the end of time because it's one of the lucky ones.

In 40 years, people will be saying the same stuff about appliances made in 2000.

My parents moved from the Bronx to Long Island in 1956.  They remodeled the kitchin in the 70's and that old refrigerator went to the basement to for extra capacity.  

When they sold the house in 2000 that refrigerator was still working in the basement.  It was 44 years in their house and probably 5 years in their apartment.  

By contrast I bought a GE washing machine that failed after 5 years, and the repairman said that it did not pay to repair it.  He said on average the washing machines were lasting 7 years.  Sad.

I just bought a Kenmore washer; I am reluctant to replace my dryer because the new one will only last 7 years and this one came with the house and I've run it for 20 years--it might be 30 or more years old.
No animals were injured or killed in the production of this post.
Reply
#29
Always fixing or replacing. That's a for sure.
Back in the 80's did a remodel in our house. Put in a GE drop in style range with a digital control and readout. Pretty nice in the day, but got it on some closeout deal for same as a regular style. Anyway, that control started to malfunction and do crazy stuff after about 2 years and they wanted just about the price I paid for the whole unit just to get a new circuit board for it. And to buy a new drop in style range they really had a guy over the barrel. So knowing nothing, I took it all apart, pulled the circuit board off, grabbed my soldering gun and just remelted or resoldered every soldered connection I could find. Put it back together and its still working today. It was pure luck I guess, but sure saved me a lot of money for the couple hours spent.
Reply
#30
(04-28-2017, 11:39 AM)Bob10 Wrote: My daughter "cooked" the microwave day before yesterday.  Seems setting the timer for 20 minutes and hitting the high button instead of timer makes a microwave melt

 I always time my homemade soup in a bowl at 2:22. It's easier to just press the 2 three times than look for other numbers.

 That afternoon, just before I went outside for a few minutes, I decided to heat some soup so it would be ready when I got back, but I didn't notice I had accidentally hit 22:22. 
 
 That gave me something to do that afternoon.  
Smirk
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

Product Recommendations

Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.