Wow. I realize I haven't really talked about myself that much.
First off, Mrs LMNO and I have bought a new house – new condo, but it's bigger, and a new construction. And there are a lot of interesting problems a new construction has that an existing place doesn't. Like an expectation things will be done right the first time.
Secondly, Frost Heaves are on the verge of releasing a new EP. Release party is Nov 2. It's really good shit. Soon after that, my remixes will be hitting the interwebs. PM me if you want a hard copy of the CD (or come to the release show. Actually, just come to the release show. Daniel Ouillete and the Sharp Lads will be there. It's gonna be awesome).
Thirdly, I went to the doctor, and she told me I have liquid grease running through my veins and my blood pressure should have blown a gasket in my brain by now. So, I have increased the amount of PILLZ HERE by about 935% and have stopped using salt. Yesterday, the dok said I'm almost human. Which is nice.
I think there's more, but those are the big ones.
Missed this the first time around
the new construction thing. I've had so many friends bit in the ass by that... "I'm going to buy a newly-built house to avoid all the problems of an old house" and then three years later after all their walls cracked, and they had to replace the plumbing and fireplace and sue the builder (who tried to disappear out of state) they're selling the fucker and buying a 100-year-old house.
I'd buy something built up through 1950, no newer though. I grew up in a house built in 1968, fucker was shot through with black mold.
Some friends of mine have got a new build as part of a housing scheme in London.
The actual place is lovely. The apartment is amazing for the money they've paid for it, they have rooms! Plural! And its all great.
The trouble is with other people. They've been there just over a year, and the internet companies still don't accept that the place exists. They are supposed to pay for electricity and gas on a meter, but the meter readers rely on GPS to find the place, and it hasn't been updated, so they got a series of angry letters demanding they comply ... when the guy never showed up and in fact went to an old abandoned sewage works as that's where the postcode used to cover.
The worst are the other tenants of the complex, who seem to continually be breaking doors, throwing garbage around, and otherwise be drunken assholes. Not sure I could have remained as calm as him if half the stories he's told me are true.
First, yay and good luck!
Second, Yay!
Third, almost human is as good as it gets.
Speaking as someone who has cowboyed most of the trades on a building site, I'd say new build can be awesome but only if you do it yourself or via private contractors you know you can trust. There are so many shortcuts available these days and, with a commercial developer, you can rest assured no corner will be left uncut.
This is exactly what SuuBF warned me about when I mentioned in all of my cosmopolitan metropolitan city girl glam that I would rather live in a high rise condo in Manhattan or Providence than out in the country. The first thing he said was, "You better make sure it wasn't built in the last 10 years if you expect it to take on the next hurricane." He grew up in a stone house that belonged to one of the Remingtons in upstate New York built in the 1830s, so I can see his concern. Even in my new apartment, which is much nicer and almost condo-like compared to my old unit, the renovations versus the old set up are having issues. It sure is shiny though.
You'll get through it, and probably learn a great deal about construction in the process.
As for the blood pressure issues, yikes, dude! My dad's been dealing with that crap for the last decade. My best advice to you is don't be stubborn like he is, take your meds, watch your diet, and stay as active as possible.
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on October 21, 2013, 12:18:33 PM
Speaking as someone who has cowboyed most of the trades on a building site, I'd say new build can be awesome but only if you do it yourself or via private contractors you know you can trust. There are so many shortcuts available these days and, with a commercial developer, you can rest assured no corner will be left uncut.
See that bold? That's actually the motto of more than a few firms I've dealt with.
Not even joking.
Is a brick house made in the early 70's good?
It's mighty mighty.
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on October 21, 2013, 04:41:41 PM
It's mighty mighty.
*lets it all hang out*
(Fuck you guys, it's MY office)
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on October 21, 2013, 12:18:33 PM
Speaking as someone who has cowboyed most of the trades on a building site, I'd say new build can be awesome but only if you do it yourself or via private contractors you know you can trust. There are so many shortcuts available these days and, with a commercial developer, you can rest assured no corner will be left uncut.
Oh hell yes. I would custom-build a home with a reputable builder, but there is no fucking way I would buy in a development, especially in Portland where the building code department is as twisted as a ten-ply rope. They actively solicit bribes, and have been known to both ignore building laws that were voted in (such as height restrictions and off-street parking) and to temporarily change building code in an area for long enough for a development to be put in, and then change them back. Recently they let a whole bunch of developments go in on a floodplain and FEMA was like OH HELL NO. I don't know what's going on with that now. There's a whole bunch of stuff that's gone in in the East Delta area (I'll let you guess why it's called "Delta") that are clearly a bad idea and going to get flooded out, but developers don't care and neither do the city officials they bribed to get permits for it.
Quote from: Not Your Nigel on October 21, 2013, 04:59:18 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on October 21, 2013, 12:18:33 PM
Speaking as someone who has cowboyed most of the trades on a building site, I'd say new build can be awesome but only if you do it yourself or via private contractors you know you can trust. There are so many shortcuts available these days and, with a commercial developer, you can rest assured no corner will be left uncut.
Oh hell yes. I would custom-build a home with a reputable builder, but there is no fucking way I would buy in a development, especially in Portland where the building code department is as twisted as a ten-ply rope. They actively solicit bribes, and have been known to both ignore building laws that were voted in (such as height restrictions and off-street parking) and to temporarily change building code in an area for long enough for a development to be put in, and then change them back. Recently they let a whole bunch of developments go in on a floodplain and FEMA was like OH HELL NO. I don't know what's going on with that now. There's a whole bunch of stuff that's gone in in the East Delta area (I'll let you guess why it's called "Delta") that are clearly a bad idea and going to get flooded out, but developers don't care and neither do the city officials they bribed to get permits for it.
Out here, you don't buy a house newer than 1972.
They're all stick & stucco pieces of shit, and the developers just cheerfully IGNORE the building codes, because they more or less own the local governments.
And if you try to custom-build without using one of the Big Three, at least inside the greater Tucson area itself, expect permit issues, inspectors coming by every day, etc, until you run out of money.
Quote from: Dirty Old Uncle Roger on October 21, 2013, 05:02:17 PM
Quote from: Not Your Nigel on October 21, 2013, 04:59:18 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on October 21, 2013, 12:18:33 PM
Speaking as someone who has cowboyed most of the trades on a building site, I'd say new build can be awesome but only if you do it yourself or via private contractors you know you can trust. There are so many shortcuts available these days and, with a commercial developer, you can rest assured no corner will be left uncut.
Oh hell yes. I would custom-build a home with a reputable builder, but there is no fucking way I would buy in a development, especially in Portland where the building code department is as twisted as a ten-ply rope. They actively solicit bribes, and have been known to both ignore building laws that were voted in (such as height restrictions and off-street parking) and to temporarily change building code in an area for long enough for a development to be put in, and then change them back. Recently they let a whole bunch of developments go in on a floodplain and FEMA was like OH HELL NO. I don't know what's going on with that now. There's a whole bunch of stuff that's gone in in the East Delta area (I'll let you guess why it's called "Delta") that are clearly a bad idea and going to get flooded out, but developers don't care and neither do the city officials they bribed to get permits for it.
Out here, you don't buy a house newer than 1972.
They're all stick & stucco pieces of shit, and the developers just cheerfully IGNORE the building codes, because they more or less own the local governments.
And if you try to custom-build without using one of the Big Three, at least inside the greater Tucson area itself, expect permit issues, inspectors coming by every day, etc, until you run out of money.
I ran into that last bit here, too, which is why my remodel project stalled out so badly. Motherfuckers. I'd clean out the whole city government with turpentine if I could. Ratfuckers, all of them.
Quote from: Mr. Bear on October 21, 2013, 04:41:19 PM
Is a brick house made in the early 70's good?
A brick house made in the early 70's survived that blizzard in the late 70's that no one in Boston has ever forgotten about. You're good.
The problem with "old houses in Boston" is that they're either about a million dollars, or they are also fairly fucked, from those tight victorian rooms/no hallways, to stairs that can't fit anything larger than single bag of groceries (let alone a boxspring mattress), to grandfathered structural elements that aren't up to code because there was no "code" when they were built, to the weirdest electric set up ever (ever taken off a light fixture and only seen THREE BLACK WIRES?).
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on October 22, 2013, 01:04:09 PM
The problem with "old houses in Boston" is that they're either about a million dollars, or they are also fairly fucked, from those tight victorian rooms/no hallways, to stairs that can't fit anything larger than single bag of groceries (let alone a boxspring mattress), to grandfathered structural elements that aren't up to code because there was no "code" when they were built, to the weirdest electric set up ever (ever taken off a light fixture and only seen THREE BLACK WIRES?).
Yep.
Providence isn't exactly any younger. Though the majority of the houses on the West Side where I live are tenements built when the mills actually were functioning. They used to not have plumbing and were often built from kits. If you get in a 6 family house like I'm in and have a bathroom bigger than a coat closet, that means it was probably built in the 30s. My bathroom is about 4ft wide, cut off 2' where the tub is. My tub isn't full sized, either.
When we were trying to fix the thermostat in the last unit, there was one wire. We have switches that go to nothing and we have to screw in the lightbulb over the bathroom mirror to light it, because we can't find the switch for it.
In old houses, this is called, "charm."
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on October 22, 2013, 01:04:09 PM
The problem with "old houses in Boston" is that they're either about a million dollars, or they are also fairly fucked, from those tight victorian rooms/no hallways, to stairs that can't fit anything larger than single bag of groceries (let alone a boxspring mattress), to grandfathered structural elements that aren't up to code because there was no "code" when they were built, to the weirdest electric set up ever (ever taken off a light fixture and only seen THREE BLACK WIRES?).
I have; my whole house needs rewiring, which is a serious drawback of old houses. I hear what you're saying about Victorian architecture. Pretty to look at, inconvenient as hell to love in. And even if you could remodel, in a lot of cases it would be more or less a sin.
I'm fond of the Craftsman era, but in older cities that were mostly developed before the turn of the 20th century they can be hard to find.