Sabby Ann

After looking at our crumbling driveway for four years, we’re just about ready to have it replaced. We’ve been holding off doing vinyl siding on the garage, for fear that it would get damaged when we remove the driveway, but new siding and a new driveway would go a long way towards improving the appearance of our house. Plus, the driveway would be a huge detriment when we eventually try to sell the house.

We’ve been thinking of attempting the driveway as a DIY project. Remove the old pavement (there’s so much alligator-cracking that the driveway peels up in softball-sized chunks), dig down to put a gravel base, form it, and then pour the new concrete.

If we did the driveway ourselves, we would rent a skid steer (”bobcat”) for $300/day. It would probably take us 2 days to remove the pavement, excavating down to a depth of 11″ below finish grade (5.5″ gravel + 5.5″ concrete). The tricky part would be figuring out how to dispose of the concrete, asphalt, and dirt. Most places prefer the concrete & asphalt to be separated. Concrete is easy to get rid of, and there’s usually just a flat fee per truckload. For asphalt, the truck is usually weighed and then you pay by the ton. I would guess that we have around 40 tons of asphalt to get rid of.  I haven’t called for current pricing, but at the absolute low end it would be at least $5/ton to get rid of it (so $200, but it could be much more). We would also need to hire a dump truck & driver (since neither of us has a CDL to drive a dump truck), and that would be at least a few hundred dollars per day. For a 1-day job, it would cost us at least $800, but most likely around $1000. If it took 2 days, we’d be looking at $1300-1500, to cover the second day of equipment/truck rental.

Once we get the old pavement removed, we would set up some string lines and start placing gravel (likely 21AA crushed concrete) for a base under the driveway. The absolute minimum that I’d place would be 3″, but ideally I’d like it to be 5.5″ thick. 21AA weighs approximately 2600 lbs/cyd, so we would need  almost 40 tons of gravel. The cost through the local landscape supply place is $12/ton (plus delivery/tax). The stone base would be $500 in materials, and I think I could negotiate a delivery charge of $100-150. However, I suspect I could get it from the local concrete crushing company for much cheaper, perhaps half? They don’t usually deliver to residential, but at 40 tons that would be a full load or two (depending on their truck capacity), so they might.

We would again have to rent a skid steer to spread the gravel ($300), and then a vibratory compactor to thoroughly compact it. We could do it with a plate compactor ($70/day), but a roller ($200) would be so much easier & quicker. Including the cost of the stone, it would be around $1000 to place the base.

Once that’s complete, we would need to buy some 2×6’s($50) to form the new driveway. Then we’d be ready for concrete. At 4″ thick (which is the standard thickness for a residential driveway), it would require 20 cyds of concrete ($2000). If we go to 5.5″ or 6″ thick (desirable for heavy campers & trucks), it would be $3000 for the concrete.  There would be an additional $100 in rentals (for bull floats, vibrating screed, etc.) for finishing the concrete. I would consider paying a couple of experienced laborers to come and help finish the concrete. $500 would be enough to cover the labor for two guys (and I might be able to eliminate the equipment rental, if they have their own tools), and that would probably be well worth it. So the concrete portion would cost $2600-3700, depending on thickness.

Estimated total cost, for our driveway (DIY):
$1500, Removal
+ $1000, 21AA Base
+ $2600, 4″ Concrete  OR $3700, 6″ Concrete
= $ 5100 - $6200

So far I’ve only received one estimate, but I plan to post another entry once I’ve had a few contractors out to bid the job. I’m leaning towards having a contractor come in to handle the removal, and then doing the prep work and concrete finishing ourselves (with the help of a few hired hands). It’ll be slightly more to hire out the removal, but it’ll make it so much easier!

We have had a large maple tree about 10′ behind our garage. Over the years it has obviously had some decay/damage, and if it were ever to come down it would damage either our house, garage, or the neighborhood power lines (that run through the back yard).

I suppose that should be reason enough to have the tree removed, but my biggest motivation for taking it down was to get rid of those darn whirly-birds (officially called samaras or maple keys, but also known as helicopters)… and allow my garden to be in full sunlight for most of the day!

I called around for estimates, and was shocked at the cost! Because of the tree’s location relative to the garage, house, and power lines, we wanted to hire licensed (and insured!) professionals. The first company that came out wanted $1875 (or $1750 cash), and offered an additional $300 discount if they left all the wood. The second company came in with an estimate of $1250. I put out a referral request on Facebook, and got a few recommendations - including a company that came in at $675.

Since the third company (Stewarts Tree Service) came highly recommended by a coworker, and they were (by far!) the cheapest, we went with them. I verified their insurance coverage, and about a week and a half later they came to cut down the tree. They decided to do it by climbing, which was fun to watch.

Eric took the day off work, and set up his camera to take pictures at regular intervals while they were working. Here’s the footage (uploaded to YouTube):

Tree Removal Time-Lapse

Eric’s usually pretty good about helping out to finish the numerous projects that I tend to start. However, the work is completed on his timeline… which means most of these projects drag on a bit longer than I had intended. And yes, I know I could hire a contractor to get things done - but that added cost would mean I’d be limited to only one project every few years. 

Over the past few months, as I’ve been making a list of all the things I’d eventually like to change in the house, remodeling the kitchen has become a high priority. Enough so that I’m more than willing to bribe  offer an incentive to my husband for a timely completion.

The big question is what would be an appropriate bribe incentive, and what sort of timeline should be established?  A vacation with a destination of his choosing? Sony Playstation3? A new big-screen TV? A new camera lens? 

It’s really a win-win situation… especially if he picks an incentive that I can enjoy too.  ;)

Everybody knows those neighbors. You know, the ones with three or four cars parked in the front of the house, and with at least one of ‘em up on blocks. The ones with an overgrown weed-filled front yard. The ones with trash piled up, clearly visible from the road. 

It’s official: we are definitely those neighbors. Minus the graveyard of vehicles, that is. 

I went for a walk on Saturday, and discovered that our neighbors have a sheet of plywood propped up against the fence. It looks a bit out of place, and I stared at it for a minute or so as I walked by. Then it dawned on me… it was placed just so to hide the pile of old siding & gutters garbage piled underneath a tree on our side of the fence. I guess the waist-high weeds growing around the garbage bags just weren’t cutting it.

My goal is to renovate the kitchen next summer, and I think I’ve finally convinced Eric that it makes sense to go ahead with it instead of postponing for a few more years.  I hate the cabinets we have now (in fact, they are identical to the cabinets we had in our apartment.

Every winter I battle it out with the mice, who have decided that they like living in a particular kitchen cabinet. Just when I think the last of the holes is plugged, they chew a new hole! The dog and cat spend hours pacing and sniffing at the cabinet, providing solid confirmation that the mice have returned.

Then comes the inevitable war - I empty out everything that had been stored in that cabinet, throwing away food-stuffs and thoroughly bleaching everything else. We bait the cabinet with peanut butter and sunflower seeds and whatever else we can find, and place several live traps… and then we wait. For days, weeks, months. Whatever it takes. And all the meanwhile, the contents of that cabinet are living on the kitchen table, the countertops, on the fridge - wherever I can find an empty space!

I can barely fit everything when the mice are away! The fine china resides permanently in the living room. We have several small kitchen appliances and cooking stuff that are stashed in boxes in the bedroom closets, and rarely get used, because we simply don’t have the space in the kitchen. I desperately need more storage space, especially in the kitchen!

Plus, it’s rather annoying to spend hours cleaning and disinfecting everything, a few times a year, whenever the mice return.

Nearly three years after it was first conceived, the brick paver patio project is finally coming to be. Most of the soil is silty-clay, so the plan is to remove about 5″ in depth. I’m going to put back 4″ of 21AA stone (21AA denotes the gradation, and basically means that everything will be smaller than 1.5″), an inch of sand, and then lay the pavers. 

I went back and forth on the type of aggregate, debating whether to use just crushed gravel, limestone, or crushed concrete. My summer construction jobs have given me some experience working with a variety of materials, so I decided that 21AA crushed concrete would be the best product for the money. It tends to clump together (the crushed cement pieces “stick” to each other with humidity), but it’s relatively cheap and should perform reasonably well. I would definitely prefer limestone or natural stone (granite), but it just wasn’t worth the premium (it costs about about 40-45% more). 

The patio will be approximately 500 SFT in size, so I calculated out the materials that we’ll need: 
- 6.5 CYD of aggregate base   [500 SFT x (4"/12") x (1 YD/27 SFT)]
- 1.6 CYD of sand    [500 SFT x (1"/12") x (1 YD/27 SFT)]
- 500 SFT of brick pavers

Except I forgot one crucial thing. The volume of the stone and sand is the calculated “compacted in place” (CIP) quantity. Landscape supply places sell it loose. They actually sell it by the ton, not by the yard, but that’s a pretty easy conversion (roughly 2600 Lbs/Cyd). Anyways, it works out that 1 Cyd of loose 21AA crushed concrete is only 0.7 Cyd when compacted in place. Ooops! 

I felt rather dumb when I realized the error. Engineers almost always pay for the CIP quantity, and contractor’s always convert it when they order from the gravel pits… I totally forgot about that conversion, even though I’ve  calculated it out dozens of times on homework assignments, exams, and projects. 

I did realize it BEFORE placing the order. Unfortunately, the additional quantity meant that the landscape supply place wasn’t able to deliver it all in a single load. They have relatively small trucks, and we need more than they can carry… which means a second $38 delivery fee for the rest of the stone.

Last night, after finding the animal tracks in the attic, we purchased a larger Havahart live trap (sized for opossums, raccoons, cats, and armadillos!). I was still thinking that we had a possum living in the attic, so we baited the trap with apple slices and wet cat food. 

This morning, the trap hadn’t been triggered, and the food appeared untouched.  I posted a link to the paw(hand?) print photos on my Facebook and Twitter accounts, and a few friends commented that our unwanted visitor was most likely a raccoon, not a possum. Armed with a can of tuna fish, Eric headed back into the attic to re-bait the trap. 

We then left for a meeting with wedding photography clients. When we returned, Eric noticed this: 

Although the siding wasn’t quite finished along the front of the house, the soffit vent was fully installed. The soffit is the underside of the roof “overhang”, and there were vented vinyl pieces along the entire length. That is, until Mr. Raccoon fell through…

The soffit vent pretty much just snaps together, and it looks like our attic visitor got a little too close to the edges. Several pieces fell onto the ground, and there were a few more suspended in place. There were also muddy prints on the trim around the top of the door, where the raccoon broke through.

We’re not sure if he actually fell out, or if he just broke through and then “caught” himself on the trim/door. I think tonight we’ll be on high alert again, listening for things that go thump in the attic…

In the three years since we moved in, we’ve had our share of unwanted visitors. A handful of mice (some of which moved in before we did!), a few chipmunks (kinda cute, but they needed to go!), carpenter ants (I think they’re all gone!), some birds, and perhaps one or two of the human variety!  ;)  

Unfortunately, we seem to have some new house guests. In the evenings, when we’re sitting on the couch or laying in bed, we can hear thumping sounds coming from the attic. Eric occassionally hears a high-pitched squealing noise as well, also from the attic. 

Initially I thought it might be a few rogue chipmunks, since we’d recently found a stash of seeds in the spare room (which is presently accessible to both the attic and the crawlspace). Last night the noises seemed especially loud and thumpy, as if there was more weight being thrown around than a chipmunk would have. 

Eric placed a live trap in the attic last night, with some peanut butter as bait. By morning the trap had been set off, but with nothing inside. I went up in the attic this afternoon to see if it had been triggered, and instead found some paw prints. 

Whatever it is, it’s sure not a chipmunk, or even a squirrel!  My initial thought would be perhaps an opossum, since we see plenty of them running across the road in the middle of the night! I don’t know what possum tracks or paw prints look like (and I haven’t spent much time comparing these to images online), but they definitely have a distinct “hand print” look to them. 

I guess it’s off to Home Depot to buy a larger animal trap!

This is a follow-up to a previous blog post, Can We Refinance. 

President Obama’s homeowner rescue/bailout plan was announced several weeks ago, but very little information has been released since then. I’ve tried calling our mortgage bank to find out eligibility information and program details, but so far haven’t been able to find out much. Initially the customer service reps said to call back mid-March, then late March, now it’s early April… but it does sound like they are getting closer to hammering out a plan & process with Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac though. 

I’ve been compiling a list of questions about the Home Affordable Refinance program, to help us determine whether 1.) we can even qualify; and 2.) whether it’s financially feasible or worthwhile to pursue a refinance. 

Most of these answers were found in this publication, which applies to loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae. 

1. Does the refinance apply only to the first mortgage?  Yes, 2nd mortgages are not eligible. 
    
2. If we have two mortgages, and are not currently paying mortgage insurance (aka PMI), will we be required to take out mortgage insurance? No. If you aren’t paying PMI currently, you won’t be required to take it out. If you are paying PMI, you will keep your existing policy. 
    
3. If we have two mortgages, can we roll the second mortgage into the first?  No, only first mortgages can be refinanced. Second mortgages and HELOC can not be refinanced as part of this program. There is no “cash out” component, with the exception of limited closing costs. 
    
4. How will the current value of the home be determined? (independent appraisal, assessed value, etc.)  Lenders can use “whatever means they deem acceptable” to assess current market values. A full appraisal will be required if the LTV approaches or exceeds 95%. Still waiting to find out additional information. 
    
5. Is the loan-to-value (LTV) cap of 105% calculated based on the first mortgage only, or on the sum of both mortgages? The 105% limit applies only to the first mortgage. If the 2nd mortgage or HELOC puts the LTV greater than 105%, it doesn’t matter for the purposes of the refinance. 
    
6. What will the interest rate be? It will be a fixed rate, based on market rates. 
    
7. Will the refinance interest rate be fixed through the end of the program, or will it fluctuate with market rates?  It will fluctuate based on market rates, and will be locked in at the time of refinancing. 
    
8. Will we be required to get a 15-year fixed loan?  I read some literature indicating that they are pushing homeowners to move to “more stable” products - so interest-only will move to fully amortized loans, ARMs will become fixed rate mortgages, 30-year loans will become 15-year loans, etc. I don’t know the details yet. 
    
9. How much will it cost (appraisal, closing fees, etc.)?  Unknown at this time. 

For now I’m still waiting to see what information will be released in the upcoming weeks. It looks like my initial concerns about having to bring several thousand dollars to closing are no longer an issue (since the LTV amount is calculated based only on the first mortgage, and will exclude the amount owed on the 2nd), but we will need to crunch some numbers based on estimated up-front refinance costs, available interest rates, and whether the new loan will be a 30-year or 15-year fixed.

We would be able to reduce our payment by around $150/mo (assuming an interest rate in the 5% - 5.5% range)… but if we’re required to move to a 15-year loan, our payments would actually INCREASE by $225/mo. A higher monthly payment wouldn’t necessarily preclude us from refinancing, but it’s certainly a consideration.

We have two big home-renovation projects planned for this summer: finish installing new vinyl siding on the house & garage, and create a brick-paver patio in the backyard. Although we have a list of other projects on the wish list, we’re only going to tackle those that we can pay for using cash… so the others will have to wait until another year. 

The siding project is actually a carryover from last year, so a substantial portion of the work is already complete. Some trim (mostly around windows and a door) needs to be completed on the house, the soffit vent needs to be installed, and the south side of the house needs to sided. We haven’t started on the garage yet, but we’ll need to remove the old aluminum siding, replace several boards damaged by water and moisture (we may need to remove the big garage door to do so!), hang Tyvek, do the flashing & trim around windows/doors, and then install the new siding. 

We purchased an aluminum brake (a device used to bend long strips of aluminum into L-shaped flashing that goes around each window & door), and we also bought enough materials to complete the entire project. Unfortunately, we’ve “wasted” quite a bit of siding and trim (mostly due to bad cuts, especially around windows and doors) - probably an entire box or more! Although we bought plenty of extras, I think we’re going to be short still…

I think the cost to finish this project should be relatively minimal. I’m anticipating that we will need to purchase box of siding, a box of vinyl trim, and another roll of aluminum. I’m hoping that we’ll have enough Tyvek to finish the garage, but it’s possible we’ll need to buy another roll of that as well. The old asbestos siding (Transite) needs to be properly disposed of, the side door to the garage needs to be replaced, and we need to install several new light fixtures (six in total!).  I’d been hoping to find some exterior wall-mount lights on sale, but so far I haven’t seen any great deals. 

Probably the single biggest expense related to the siding will be new gutters. We’re definitely going with seamless (which means we’ll need to hire someone to extrude them!), and based on the estimates we received last fall I’m guessing it’ll be around $1000.  

Scrap metal values for aluminum have dropped significantly (60%) in the past few months, which means we won’t be able to recoup much when we take it to Haggerty Metals to be recycled.  It’s still worthwhile though (especially since it reduces the amount of waste we need to pay to haul away).

The second project is the brick paver patio, and I think it’ll be a lot of work… but it’ll definitely have a big impact! Unilock is having their big inventory liquidation sale at the end of April, so I intend to buy the pavers then, but I suspect the patio won’t be complete until late summer. We need to re-grade the area (roughly 500 SFT) to create positive drainage, place and compact the base, and then lay all the brick pavers. We’ll need geotextile fabric underneath, edging to keep the pavers in place, and some specialty sand used for leveling and for in between the bricks. We’ll probably also waterproof the concrete foundation blocks along the back side of the house, since it’ll be much more difficult to do once the patio is complete (it would pretty much require ripping it out). Depending on how quickly we’re able to complete the project (and hence, how many days we’ll need to rent the vibratory plate compactor for!), and what sort of deals we’re able to get on materials, we should be able to complete the patio for  around $1500. 

I’m just hoping there’ll be enough left in the budget for me to purchase a hammock!  Me lounging in the hammock, enjoying the warm weather, a good book, and a fruity drink… while Eric grills some steaks on our new patio…  ;)