New House.. New ‘Honey Do’ List

NOTE This is a Word Press Archive Post: Some of my posts from my original blog on WordPress have not been completely vetted for errors on this site. I am actively working, albeit slowly, on verifying these posts. Some may contain either missing images or broken links. Please bear with me while this transition is taking place.

My wife and I recently purchased a new house… the first for either of us. We are super excited, and have many plans to alter the inside and out to ‘make it our own’. I have started a ‘Honey Do List’, named because it is the list of things your SO asks “Honey, can you do this?”.So I’m planning on keeping a blog to journal the items and projects that get accomplished and the woes and successes that brings.  Feel free to follow along the journey and comment any suggestions you might provide, or questions for your own projects.

I may also add more detailed pictures to the items below on some of the more interesting projects. Ask me for pictures if you are particularly interested in more detail.

I will also add the entire Honey Do list (To be converted from WP) “Honey Do List” for reference, and update it with links to finished project list.

(if “COST/SAVED/TIME/DIFF” is not listed, it was free and took very little time. Saved is an estimate of how much it would have cost if it was not DIY)

Total spent so far including all parts, a new extension ladder, garage door opener etc… ~$800-1000

WEEK 1:

• Moved in… (it’s good to own an Avalanche with a hitch)
  • COST/SAVED/TIME/DIFF: $160/$400/4days/Moderate to Strenuous
  • Cost of trailer was $60 for the day… but owner will be doing some work on my hitch for free, so.. bonus!   Money saved on hiring movers was probably on the low side.. but this is what it cost me to get movers for my Mom in NH.
  • Moving just stinks in general… but we did it quickly took all weekend and a few extra trips during the week after work.
  • We bought a dolly that converts to a cart as well, $50 well spent, helped move 5 times what I could each trip to the truck. It is now hanging on my garage wall for when I need to move heavy stuff around the shop we are going to build in the new house.
• Cleaned out all rain gutters and leaf traps.
  • the house has downspouts that go directly into the septic system, and several were filled and causing water to flow out onto the ground at the side of the house.
• Fixed stair railing pulled apart during move in.
  • COST/SAVED/TIME/DIFF:  FREE/$50/20min/Moderate
  • took a little bit of doing since the single nail used to hold this together originally was in an awkward spot to pull out.  answer: vice grips on the nail from backside, and hammer the back of the vice grips… (with some protection to the wood so it doesn’t get scrapped up.)
  • Wood glue on both rail and post, then two 1 1/2” finish nails bottom and side to secure.
• Replaced drain plugs in both tubs, which were broken, with the cool toggle type. Push once to plug, push again to drain.
  • COST/SAVED/TIME/DIFF:  $15/$50/5min/EASY

WEEK 2:

• Adjusted lazy-Susan in kitchen so that it would not rub on lower corner when spun.
• Disconnected garage door opener wall switch so that the short somewhere between the switch and opener would not open the door randomly. ( need to re-wire this permanently though)
• Fireplace dog bolted in – why? removed bolts to clean easier.
• Chop firewood for drying in racks
• Closed all heating ducts in unused rooms *this is a great idea… if you have rooms you don’t regularly use. Close the registers in these rooms (as long as they don’t have thermostats in them) so that the majority of heated air goes to other rooms, then close the door. This will heat the other rooms faster, and cuts down on cost.
• Readjust programmable thermostat to better align to our schedule. *Good to do this too.. setting: *Awake - 68°->Leave 62°->Return 68°->Sleep 62° (rinse-n-repeat) *I might drop the Awake part on weekdays.. since we are only awake at home for 1.5hrs.. hardly time to heat the house.

WEEK 3:

• Install garage door opener (90% done)
  • 
  • COST/SAVED/TIME/DIFF:  $200/$100/2hr/Moderate
    • $180 for garage door opener
    • $20 for 2x4 & 1x4 bracing
    • saved ~$100 in labor
  • Needed to make bracing for the opener to hang from since the ceiling is double height in the garage.
• Install new keyless entry locks
  • 
  • COST/SAVED/TIME/DIFF:  $270/$200/1hr/Moderate due to new lock hole drilled
    • New locks x2 = $220
    • rekeying x4 = $50
  • Very cool.. we have keyless entry on all doors now! We had to install new locks anyway.. so go big.
  • Had to drill out two of the existing doors to expand the holes to proper size. This required two pieces of scrap wood to both give a place for the centering bit of the hole saw to bite into, as well as protect the faces of the door.
  • Took apart all four locks and removed the barrels (part the key goes in) and took to a lock smith to get them all keyed to same key. This actually saved me $200!  ($50/lock if they had to do it)
• Assemble treadmill *COST/SAVED/TIME/DIFF:  FREE/$50/15min/EASY *Free because of work exercise equipment benefits
• Leaking guest toilet
  • COST/SAVED/TIME/DIFF:  $5/$50/5min/EASY
  • This toilet’s tank was slowly emptying and the tank would fill back up every hour or so. I shut off the water to see how fast it was leaking, and it was using about 10gal/day!
  • Just needed to replace the flapper (round rubber seal that swings down when the tank fills up) very easy job.
• Leaking guest tub
  • COST/SAVED/TIME/DIFF:  $15/$50/15min/moderate due to confidence
  • 
  • this was new to me… replacing the ‘cassette’ in a shower, better understood as the valve in that type of fixture. very easy to do, but made me nervous. Since there is not shutoff at the fixture, like under a sink, you need to shut off water to the house. If I screwed this up… no water to the house till I can get a plumber out to fix it.