Frugal Home Repairs
Posted on April 19, 2008
Filed Under frugal living |
The back of my house has a porch that was made into a utility room. The water heater is out there as well as the pressure tank and it is the entrance from the driveway into the kitchen. You can see in the picture where the wall on either side of the door is sagging towards the middle.
When I bought the house, the door jamb had old termite damage and over the last year it has gotten progressively worse. The door was just hanging there from the roof and not really supported on the bottom at all. The old owners had put aluminum flashing on the floor and the bottom of the jamb so that you couldn’t see the damage.
In the last storm we had, the wind whipped the door open and the wall on either side was separating so that the door would no longer close at all. Like it or not, it was time to do something about it. I really did not want to spend my entire emergency fund plus to have the repairs made so I asked my neighbor if he would like a side job.
Good Neighbors and Frugal Repairs
Next thing I know he and his father were waist deep in rotten boards and flooring. They had to pull the floor up back to the second floor joist and they cut the wall out 3 feet high. I am seeing dollars signs floating before my eyes. I guess they must have seen the shock setting in because they sent me off to the local building supply for a sheet of OSB board.
Six hours later, I had a floor again and a wall but no door. The old screen door was damaged beyond repair and would need to be replaced. I brought home the new storm door, exterior paint and some wood putty yesterday. I got the door on sale for 50% off and was determined to put it up myself.
Well, that didn’t quite work out but my neighbor must have heard the power tools going and came over to help me set the door in place. It turns out that the door wasn’t a standard size so I had to cut 7 inches off the bottom. One of the most aggravating things about old houses is that NOTHING is a standard size.
The door came out looking awesome! It still needs another coat of paint on the walls and door frame but overall, you would never know that the entire bottom half of both side walls was replaced.
Total Cost
All in all, it was a very frugal project. The wall & floor repair cost me $12.59 for the OSB board and they wouldn’t take anything for labor. The door cost me $98 and the paint was $14.99. I forced the neighbor to take a hundred dollars today for helping me as he is not working right now so all together the project cost me $225.58.
If I had had a contractor come in to do the repairs, it would have cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $1500-$2000. The door and wall look awesome and I won’t have to worry about the door blowing open.
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Wow, what a great job. That looks awesome. You have wonderful neighbors. The cost is amazing. Our windows (10 of them) look like the first door and need to be replaced. They are HUGE so we have been putting it off until we have some more money saved up. We do have a lot of light in the house though so that saves us on electricity for lights.
You have great neighbors; for him to not want to accept money even if he’s not working shows what a kind heart he has. Good for you for going as DIY as you possibly could have.
[...] It’s been a busy week here on the farm and I have been working on the yard, garden and some home improvements. [...]
I guess the lesson I learned with this project is to check with friends and neighbors for things I cannot do myself. They often have the knowledge to do things I can’t do and are glad to have a bit of a side job.