I'm always a bit puzzled by houses in areas with cold weather that don't have closets right by the front door...

Although many have mud rooms coming in from the garage??

quote:

Originally posted by rontuner:
I'm always a bit puzzled by houses in areas with cold weather that don't have closets right by the front

I’ve noticed this. Even CA houses always have a “front hall closet.”

No one typically uses the front door - they all come in through the garage (generally that means your mud room where the washer/dryer is will be a disaster of coats, backpacks, shoes, etc.) That said, we've had an antique brass coat tree by our front door for guest coats for years - works very well.

My initial thoughts are that I like it much better than the milquetoast house (but not nearly as much as Dean St - that house is magical!). Definitely appears to be repairing some water damage in the basement- maybe a water pipe blew or something like that. They could also have discovered mold behind the drywall from dampness in a previous inspection - since the house has been on the market for a while, it wouldn't surprise me. Also guessing it's located on a fairly busy street - I can see a guardrail and kinda hefty power poles out the windows so that is probably not just a quiet residential street there. The one bathroom looks pretty tight in the photo (where the toilet is right next to the sliding shower door).

Also, and while this may seem dumb after 20 years it gets annoying, from someone who lives at XXXX Hendricks Station Rd, it's a long-arse address to write on things and half the time, it doesn't fit within the number of characters you are allotted in an address field LOL.

On the other hand, I love the exterior and the landscaping and there is really not much that seems to desperately need updated inside either. It's actually quite lovely -- a refreshing change from the "crazy Cleveland carpet colors" trend. I might consider refreshing the cabinets at some point because that's a lot of heavy oak. And if the fridge isn't included, I'd consider getting a cabinet depth fridge because that one seems to protrude a lot.

quote:

discovered mold behind the drywall

How does that happen without actually removing the drywall? IOW how do you test for or confirm the presence of mold without being able to conduct a visual inspection?

You can test for it - there are tests kind of like radon tests though I don't think they are all that accurate when the mold is inside the walls since it detects spores.

You can also smell it. And if I smelled it, I would tell my home inspector to pay special attention to that room. And he can use a moisture meter to detect moisture in the drywall. And if you find moist drywall, you tell the sellers to rip it out and find out why it's wet.

Is that a dog door in the wall to the left of the french doors??? If so, maybe this *is* meant to be your house! And if not, what is it????

Only other thing that sticks out to me is the odd placement of the heat vent right under the sidelight next to the front door. It prevents you from putting a wide doormat-type rug across the width of the door/sidelight that is right up against the door. Again, though, everyone probably uses the garage as the main entrance so probably no big deal. Just struck me as a weird place to put a vent.

Saw that square thing on the wall also. There's a photo of that area from the outside (seen through a window from an adjoining room), and the square thing can be seen there also.



Before I saw the outside pic, I thought it was a heater of some sort for that sun room.

Now I'm guessing dog door.

I'm guessing an electric heater boost for that room... might be a cold spot!

I think it's a dog door, which would save me the trouble of putting one in.

That said, I would not be surprised to learn that the big room with all the windows needs additional heat.

I would bet on a water issue. Why else - just the bottom portion of the drywall being replaced? Sockets seem to be placed with water in mind.

quote:

Originally posted by kluurs:

I'd want to strip off some of the drywall to look at the wiring. It was done by an amateur, probably the homeowner.

How do I know this? Some of the receptacles were mounted to the right of the stud, some to the left. Professional electricians never do this. Right handed electricians install boxes on the right side, left handed electricians on the left side.

It has to do with which hand they use to hold the hammer.

So are any of these details dealbreakers for you Steve? When did you say you were going out there visit?

Not dealbreakers so far but there are questions.

In order to go through with a purchase I'd have to get a satisfactory answer as to why they removed the drywall in the basement and what they did to fix whatever the problem was. A warranty wouldn't hurt - I understand that leaking basement issues can be $$$ to fix.

I'd also want a licensed electrician to open up the electrical boxes and verify they are wired correctly.

We leave 10/15.

ooh, I do like that last house! My money is on dog door, not space heater. The kitchen looks good, a nice size and plenty of countertop space. My parents' kitchen was similar, and my dad built a shelving unit thing that they would place on the peninsula during holidays or parties. It was basic, a backboard and one deep shelf about a foot or so up from the bottom. It served to block the chaos of the kitchen behind it, and they could put plates, silverware, decorations, etc., on the shelf and food buffet-style on the counter in front of it. I wish I had a picture, it was really a brilliant idea.

I also really like that there is a soaker bathtub with jets, but the bathtub isn't one of those gigantic platform things that takes up half the bathroom and is impossible to get in/out of. I also like that it has a real step-in shower, and at least some of the rooms have ceiling fans.

Given that I think it's a doggy door, I also wonder if they have one of those electric fence thingies, since the yard itself isn't fenced. (That seems to be a midwestern thing, the unfenced yard.)

I also like the front porch, even if it is small. I've always loved front porches.

Kim and her MIL went to an open house at the Brownhelm Station house today. She said that it's a really nice house, stuck in the 90's despite a lot of recent work. MBR not real big but the rest of the house felt spacious. She really liked the sunroom, and the whole house had a very sturdy feel to it.

They did have a flood in the basement about a year ago. Power went out and the sump overflowed. Explains the drywall but not necessarily the ceiling tile unless it started to mold for some reason. Points out the need for a generator, which I am considering anyway.