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First Home, Many Projects

864K views 260 replies 27 participants last post by  Fishinbo 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm 22yrs old, and my wife and I just bought a house. It was built in 1977, all brick. Has a nice front and back yard, and so far the wife and I are painted all the rooms. Here is a list:

Painting:
[x] Living Room - Navy Blue / White Crown Molding / Lime Green accents (ex: candle holders/picture frames)
[x] Master Bedroom - Hot Pink / White Crown Molding (Unfinished) / Black accents
[x] My Man Cave - Red / White Crown Molding (Unfinished) / White & Black accents
Friend's Room - San Diego Charger Blue (that's what he calls it)
Kitchen - Light Brown / White Crown Molding / Brown Accents

Frontyard:
Expand the driveway - Only 1 car port, would like to have a wide driveway to park cars without a hassle
Solar Panel Lights - The small ones just to light up the drive way / walk way
White Picket Fence (Maybe)
2 car garage - I've never seen a 2 car garage in NC, and I'd like one if possible.

Backyard:
Privacy Fence - Would have to talk to neighbors, and don't know if I'd DIY on that one, ha.
Porch
Outside Bar
Solar Panel Lights

Inside:
Our kitchen area is like a small rectangle, and it doesn't make sense, the sink and dishwasher are across the room from each other, so the wife and I are thinking about knocking out the wall that separates the kitchen and dinning room, then expanding the kitchen cabinets and moving the dishwasher next to the sink and what not. She also wants like a breakfast counter type deal. We're having a Home Depot guy come Sunday morning to give us an estimate on how much it would cost.

---

Master Bedroom:





Man Cave:
Here is my unfinished Man Cave that the wife help paint and setup. Forgive me for the iPhone pictures, can't find my camera still.

Entrance:


I'll probably have a workout machine in the corner:


Can't really put anything in that corner:


This is where the 32" that is on the floor will be mounted:


This is the new 27" iMac that I just bought:


This is where my couch is going:
 
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#67 ·
Well, that's a heck of a lot better. Now by the time you get all the improvements done you should have it down to $60 or so.

You might as well have the $500 a year in your pocket as the utility company! :thumbsup:
 
#70 · (Edited)


I was thinking putting a double wooden seater in front of my living room windows (left, first windows), build a deck in the back from where the patio roof starts to about where the dryer vent is near the gate, replace the sliding glass door with patio doors, extend the shed to about a size and a half or two sizes bigger than it originally is so I can start my future motorcycle in it. I also want gutters since the neighbor told us it floods on his and our front pourches.



We have a 40"-42" inch TV, but I'm debating to get a 73" to fill the living room or get a projector and have a screen drop down when we want to watch TV. Which route should I go?



See the wall to the left? We want to either take it completely out to open the kitchen to dining room or just cut a huge opening in and make like a bar top counter out of it. That way it can be an open environment when we have people over. It's also Marie and the dishwasher is on the far right side of the sink, next to the door opening (can't see it in the picture), so we want the dishwasher next to the sink, and put the fridge where te dishwasher is.
 
#73 · (Edited)
Yes, I live in NC. The $264.75 bill (our first for the house) I used 658KWh and I paid $55.41 for 22 days. This month is $107.19, I used 800KWh and paid $68.13 for 30 days. I can't seem to find out what I'm paying per KWh. Mine is electric, I'm trying to see how old it is, and also trying to figure out how to lower it. I see a knob that had <- O and S -> on it. But, while looking at the water heater, I seen the hose exit for the dryer.



I'm kind of curious how dirty it is inside, and if it's even sealed off. Can anyone tell me what to look for or where I can get that dryer hose door cover?

As for the dark blue, we love it. We're still looking for ways to fill the room up, thinking about getting a new couch like a sectional, possible brown. Wife says the tan looks dirty when it's not. Also thinking about getting a projector or just a 73"inch TV. Maybe the people of DIY Chatroom can help me decide! The room doesn't feel smaller, feels empty, but thats because all we have is a couch and TV, ha.
 
#75 ·
You smelled gas? Most heaters will smell funny when you first turn them on for the year. Do you have natural gas, oil or propane? Natural gas is oderless so I believe they put a sulfur smell in it so its smells like rotten eggs. You can smell propane. Oil has a completely different smell. If you think you have a gas leak, you need to get out and call someone. Don't turn on any switches either do do anything that can cause a spark.
 
#76 ·
What he said!!! ^^^^ Most utility companies will send out someone at no cost to inspect potential leaks.

You should also call an HVAC company to "service" (basically clean and inspect) the furnace and replace the filter. Should be $70-$100 if nothing's broken. This will give you peace of mind and your furnace will run more efficiently, saving you utility dollars. It's a good idea to have the service done every year in the northern U.S. - maybe every other year in your area.

RST
 
#77 ·
Maybe it was just a weird smell. I was just searching online and everyone was calling it gas smell. It did go away, so I'm just making sure it was because of first time turning it on. I'm on natural gas, I believe since I don't have a propane tank for sure. Does anyone know any good sites for nice small house projects? House still looks plain to us inside and outside.
 
#85 ·
the professional way would be to install a couple ethernet receptacles (Lowes might have these) - one in the living room and one in the man cave. wiring these using a standard ethernet cable is fairly straight forward... You would then just run a jumper from your router to the new wall receptacle and then in the living room plug the tv into it's own receptacle...
 
#89 ·
I'll be putting the smart house networking aside right now. Got a huge problem, we have 2 puppies that are almost house trained, but it seems their piss has ate away the glue under our plastic tiles and are lifting up, so now I have a new project and would like to lay down wooden floors, how would I do so?
 
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