Living vicariously through my neighbors

[auntie]

My neighbors are at it again. Remodeling. 

They gutted the place before they moved in 5 years ago- new roof, new windows, new kitchen, new baths, replaced much of the sheetrock and moulding. Plus paint and custom window treatments. Once the moved in, they pulled out all the landscaping and added gorgeous hardscaping and trendy landscaping front and back and sides. I live on a nice cul de sac, but for what they dropped, they could have bought bigger, newer and fancier. The DH is in the trades and most of his crews spoke Polish, like him, so I imagine some courtesy was offered in terms of prices but still.

The house is gorgeous, but seriously over-improved for the neighborhood. Earlier this summer they started an addition over the garage which had a dormered space. They added a full second floor which fits in beautifully with the original design. Today I saw a crew removing the stone facade on the front and laying tar paper on the entire front. I'm dying to see where they go with this. New, better stone? Brick? Stucco? Gold leaf? 

Can't wait to see. It's like being on the set of some HGTV project that has no budget.

[pitterwoo]

wow

[ktzmoh]

wouldn't it be nice to have no budget like that?!

How I wish really nice hardscaping was in our budget. Post a pic, i want to be a looky-loo!

[IIOY]

So jealous. Given that we need to replace our siding, I would love to be able to do this.

Our neighbor across the street often leaves her front door open and I always ogle her beautiful wooden staircase with an Oriental runner. I have been doing some preliminary research into switching our stairway to wood and the cost is massive. Everyone says the same thing: we should have done it when we built. Gee, thanks.

[auntie]

Looks like they're preparing for some sort of "mud" application. That probably rules out siding. And gold leaf.

In other news, the master gardener lady who was widowed two years ago has some sort of crew with a masonry saw doing something to her driveway. Hmmmm. She gutted her place when she and her late DH moved in about 8 years ago and has created a magazine worthy garden. Once the other folks did their hardscaping project, she did a similar one at her place. Hers sort of doesn't go with the cottage garden that surrounds her house. But it does look expensive.

And I'm sitting here feeling smug because DS and I managed to spread the last of the 6 yds of mulch taking over the driveway since school got out. I must have no standards.

[ktzmoh]

Darn, I was pulling for the gold leaf. Or maybe a marble facade.

The two houses that sold on our street last month are undergoing some pretty hefty renovations too. I'm dying to know what they are doing and wondering how in the heck they can afford to buy so much higher than we did and still have the cash to gut their places before moving in.

When it comes to life in general, sometimes I really thing DH and I are doing it wrong.

[auntie]

I kind of feel sorry for these two homeowners. Neither is the original builder of the homes from 28 years ago. When the homes were built, theirs were level 3 premium lots. They're not especially big for the community, but they backed up to a tiny bit of farmland that was usually planted as pumpkins or corn. My house is on a level 2 premium for side and a couple old trees. The owner of the lot refused to sell when the houses went in, so the development sort of formed a horseshoe around him and the local vet's office. Fast forward to about 5 years ago and the farmer's estate sold the property to a developer of a 55+ community, so now they get to look at the garage doors of the olds.

[pitterwoo]

Jul 31, 2013 11:53:46 GMT -5 ktzmoh said:

When it comes to life in general, sometimes I really thing DH and I are doing it wrong.

This, always so much this.  I have no idea where that wrong turn was.  (huh)

[IIOY]

Jul 31, 2013 11:53:46 GMT -5 ktzmoh said:

Darn, I was pulling for the gold leaf. Or maybe a marble facade.

The two houses that sold on our street last month are undergoing some pretty hefty renovations too. I'm dying to know what they are doing and wondering how in the heck they can afford to buy so much higher than we did and still have the cash to gut their places before moving in.

When it comes to life in general, sometimes I really thing DH and I are doing it wrong.

H and I have had this discussion a thousand times.

@merida, I'm in PA. Odds are we won't do anything in the short term since it's not in the budget at the prices we are hearing, but I'm happy to take contact info!

[lys]

If you do not have to pay for labor, your money goes a L_O_N_G way. 

It is fairly common here for co-workers to just help each other with projects with no pay involved. (weekends) .  I know several people who have plumbers, electricians and builders within their extended family.  They have homes that make you drool.

Even their building materials were purchased at cost with  professional/builder discount.

[auntie]

lys

That's what I was assuming. But this seems a little beyond that. He does have a lot of work done on weekends, for instance the framing and the interior finish work were done of weekends. But the siding and roofing were done mid-week. Plus, I don't see the owner MIA on weekends when he might be working on other people's homes.

He's from Poland and has been in this country for about 10-15 years according to his DD who graduated with DS. She and her little sister were ELL students in the early grades. I wonder if he has sponsored others coming to this country and the construction work is some sort of pay back.

Master gardener lady's project seems to involve a EPHenry paver skirt along her driveway that turns into a 5' wide walkway along the side of the house.

Rain here today, sand was delivered to the house today. The plot thickens. I really need to sneak out for a PIP.

[adhdfashion]

Aug 1, 2013 17:16:09 GMT -5 lys said:

If you do not have to pay for labor, your money goes a L_O_N_G way. 

It is fairly common here for co-workers to just help each other with projects with no pay involved. (weekends) .  I know several people who have plumbers, electricians and builders within their extended family.  They have homes that make you drool.

Even their building materials were purchased at cost with  professional/builder discount.

Word!
From the lady with the marble bathroom. I couldn't of afforded.. without my little brother homey hook up. He owns a tile biz and is a GC.

[jhawks482]

We need some pics! sounds interesting!
I can somewhat relate to them, though, we've done a TON of work on our house (not remodeling though, our house is new) and still have plans to install hardwoods throughout. Our neighborhood is a step above what I'd consider a "starter home" neighborhood, but that isn't really stopping us from doing exactly what we want here, and not worrying about whether we are outdoing our house for the neighborhood that it's in. Could we move to a more luxurious home that already has the high-end stuff? Maybe. But our house is modest and perfect for us, size wise, and I think anything bigger would just be wasted space. So we just do what we love in a house that's perfect for us, and plan to enjoy it for a long time. I also think that the pride we have in our home (exterior wise) reflects in the other homes in the neighborhood, as others try to plant more trees and do other improvements. Anyway... I rambled there quite a bit, lol. Just thinking that maybe there is a reason behind all their home improvements!