We walked through a few houses lately. Now I know that I don't want anyone going through my house and making judgments how how things are done, but the reality is I have that every month with an inspector in rental houses.
It has made me take a closer look at a house before we make an offer. I know this is a bad idea for 2 reasons. Whoever installed the furnace used the space between the joists for the cold air return. Seems like a good idea except it is flammable. Then they actually have electrical wires running through the "duct". If there is an electrical fire and the furnace kicks in, it would act like a flame thrower into the rest of the house. May look neat and nice but that would have to be torn out and redone.
I am not sure how long this flooring has been in this house but they did not lock the ends and a piece is missing. That would require a new floor. There is a difference in laminate flooring some stays locked and some, well you get what you pay for.
Hmm. why would you have 4 registers in a row?? Well if you break the one that fits and you know where to buy smaller ones, maybe you just fill in as you go. That is thinking outside the box. A little looking and I found there were originally wooden registers. Break one and do the best you can right? Maybe just set a chair over it.
Ah yes. If you need an outside electrical outlet, you can drill a hole through the window sash, drape a wire in front of the window and attach a box to the window frame. Outside loose hanging electrical wires that are rated interior, yea that works for a while, but the whole idea is a little odd.
Ok, toilet paper holder screwed to the window trim is interesting. To make it better, when the old one breaks don't remove it just put another one beside it. It gives the house that look that says, "I care"
Wouldn't you love to get up in the middle of the night and walk off the edge of this stair well. Absolutely no railing of any kind. That is a liability law suit just waiting to happen. That trip ( hows that for a play on words) to the bathroom in the middle of the night could be a life changing experience. A step into air in the dark is something you would remember for the rest of your life.
If you look at the vent on this water heater you can see that the vent runs lower as it gets farther from the water heater. How much natural gas and carbon monoxide does one want in their house. For myself I prefer none but I realize different people want different things. Maybe a little carbon monoxide or natural gas makes you feel you are living on the edge. Gives just the right amount of a rush from danger. "Wow, ain't that somthin, we woke up again this morning!"
One man kept trying to convince me to buy his house. We were over $20,000 apart in price, but he was an optimist. He did lower his price by $15000 but then raised it back up a ways. I don't know if you can see the walls in the stairway. They are bubbling out. First off I don't like 2 story houses. Second I don't like houses where all the plaster is bad. I just wanted to get out of there. Wouldn't have looked at all if we didn't own the house beside it. Oh and I had the feeling I was going to break through a couple of the steps, No thanks.
Ah, here is a lovely fix to an original hard wood floor. A piece of plywood to fill an old furnace vent. To make it look more original, always look for an old piece with some paint spots on it and the look of having been left outside for a couple of years and then stored in a shed for another decade. Personally I think it still looks odd even with all that.
Someone went to a lot of work here. Plumbing the gas line around the water heater so it lies almost flush. Problem is all that work and it is not code. There needs to be a drip pipe. It will have to be taken out and replumbed. Such meticulous work all for nothing because it was not done the right way.
You realize that joist is compromised right? Termites have damaged several joists. The owner thought he could replace the joists if I would write him a check for the house. He wanted to sell the house that day. I tried to convince him to put it on Zillow, or Craigslist, or call a realtor. "No I just want to sell it now." Well my friend I ain't buying, I ain't buying today, I ain't buying tomorrow, I ain't buying at any time in the near future unless your asking price is cut in half. This house has issues that need to be fixed.
I was driving through a store parking lot this week when a man I know walked over to stop me. He asked me if I still did some preaching. I said "yea, on occasion."
He said, 'Take a look at the parable of the prodigal son sometime."
I cut him off and said "we have called it the parable of the prodigal son but it is about the elder son."
"Oh you know that! You need to preach on that!"
"I have on several occasions, don't know if anyone is listening"
He said "we in the church are too much like the elder son. What would have happened if that younger son had met his brother before the father saw him? The elder brother would have sent him away"
My point is this, I see a lot of odd things in houses and I calculate what it will take to fix them to "normal" People don't need to fit our definition of "normal" They need to fit God's definition of "a child of God". I know that God's definition is not the same as mine. What I think is the right way to live and interact with others is not always God's way. In Jesus' parable the elder son who thought he was doing everything the father wanted, won't come into the feast. The feast symbolized eternal life. The one who thought he was good and normal didn't go in. The one who ran away and lived an "odd" life for a while was at the feast because the father loved him as much as he loved the "obedient" conforming son.
Maybe not quite fitting in and not quite being "normal" isn't such a bad thing as long as you are a child of God.
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