So...

[sapphirehart]

I remember when Terry and I lived in his grandmother's old house after we first were married.  The windows were oversized, school house style with wooden frames.  We replaced all seven of the windows with double insulated glass with metal frames to get the house "winterized".    All of them were floor to ceiling custom size except the kitchen window over the sink.  It was still a custom size but it was only half the height.  We spent a small fortune on each of the windows and that was eighteen years ago.  Thankfully, Terry and his father were able to do all the labor themselves.

I feel your pain.

[Gamplayerx]

Yeah.  I had budgeted a maximum of $5000 for the windows.  I'll have to make that $1200 up somewhere.  I just don't know where.  I wonder how hard it is to install carpet yourself.  Hmm.  Maybe we should tile - I know how to tile.  People like tiled bedrooms, right?  But that's pricier.  Maybe laminate.  How hard could that be?

Do you think it would look really crappy to have hardwood in the hall and then pergo in the bedrooms?  Now that I think about it, I wonder how expensive it would be to pergo the entire basement instead of recarpeting.  Carpeting is probably the cheapest.  I think. 

Google confirms that carpeting is the cheapest.  Darn.

Nevermind me, I'm just musing.

[Gamplayerx]

This house is starting to get me down.  I'm sure I mentioned that our well failed and that we had to get a new well drilled (which was the beginning of the end).  Well, it still has yet to pass health department inspection.  So, the well company came out yesterday and chlorinated the well for the third time.  And today, joy of joys! it seems that the chlorine has eaten through the pipes.  So far, we've sprung 4 leaks.  There's chlorinated water everywhere, lots of stuff is ruined, the house reeks and we're going to have to replace at least most of the pipes in the house.

I must've done something bad in a previous life.

[BigDun]

Ouch. Can't you hold the company that dug the well accountable for putting in such a high concentration of chlorine?

[Gamplayerx]

I don't know.  I'm totally out of my element with all this house stuff.  I'm so disheartened.  I have no idea how much pipes cost to replace, but I certainly didn't budget for it.

On the plus side, the painters are done.  And only $1,375 over budget.    And the windows are being installed on the 5th.  My husband has decided that we can install carpet ourselves.

[dazie]

That sucks.  I wish I knew more about home repair.

Make sure you get those kneepad things if you install the carpet yourselves.

[Gamplayerx]

I need to make friends with some plumbers and contractors and electricians and generally handy people with lots of time on their hands. 

[ReBurn]

I don't know.  I'm totally out of my element with all this house stuff.  I'm so disheartened.  I have no idea how much pipes cost to replace, but I certainly didn't budget for it.

On the plus side, the painters are done.  And only $1,375 over budget.    And the windows are being installed on the 5th.  My husband has decided that we can install carpet ourselves.

I tried that once.  Never again.

[Bennyhana]

I don't know.  I'm totally out of my element with all this house stuff.  I'm so disheartened.  I have no idea how much pipes cost to replace, but I certainly didn't budget for it.

On the plus side, the painters are done.  And only $1,375 over budget.    And the windows are being installed on the 5th.  My husband has decided that we can install carpet ourselves.

Does it have to be carpet?  Is there nothing else you can put there?  Tile?  Laminate floor?  Paint the plywood subfloor?  Print out pictures of carpet and glue them down?

[Gamplayerx]

It doesn't HAVE to be carpet except I've totally blown the budget with all this other stuff and carpet's cheap.

[Bennyhana]

It doesn't HAVE to be carpet except I've totally blown the budget with all this other stuff and carpet's cheap.

Please don't take this the wrong way.   Carpet may be cheap the first time, but when you realize that you need to buy more carpet and actually pay someone to come in and lay it down, you may change your mind.  Of course, carpet is way easier to undo than tile or printed pictures of carpet, so it may still be the way to go.

[Beefy]

Sorry you're going through all this, Gamperooni.  I hope it is all completed quickly and successfully.

[BigDun]

If you wanted to go with a laminate wood flooring, I would let you borrow my miter saw. We got it specifically to install the flooring in the bathroom of our last house. It makes the job pretty easy and quick.

I would even deliver it.

[Alice]

You need to find someone to sue for something.  Like McDonalds for drinking their coffee and burning your tongue.  You guys should go out walking when it's icy and slip on someone's unsalted sidewalk.  You'd make a lot of money.

[Jessie]

That is seriously sucky.

[Gamplayerx]

It doesn't HAVE to be carpet except I've totally blown the budget with all this other stuff and carpet's cheap.

Please don't take this the wrong way.   Carpet may be cheap the first time, but when you realize that you need to buy more carpet and actually pay someone to come in and lay it down, you may change your mind.  Of course, carpet is way easier to undo than tile or printed pictures of carpet, so it may still be the way to go.

He's installed carpet before - he used to work in construction way back when.  He swears he can do it.  I have my doubts, but we'll start off with the smallest room and see how that goes.  If it sucks, it shouldn't be too much to start over, that room is only like 8 x 10.  I'm still going to get installation estimates, though.

Thanks for that, Beefaroni. 

Thanks for the offer, CD - I'm pretty sure we have a miter saw, but we have hardwood floors upstairs and I think it would look weird to go to pergo - not to mention that I really like carpeting in bedrooms.

Alice, haha!  (although, I am tempted)

Thanks, Jessie.  It certainly is.

On the good news from the home front, between mopping up chlorine water today, we did install a new ceiling fan in the foyer (it's so pretty!) and the towel and toilet paper bars in the basement bath.  And no more new leaks have cropped up, so there is some positive progress.

[dazie]

After you get all this done you're not going to want to move!

[Bennyhana]

It doesn't HAVE to be carpet except I've totally blown the budget with all this other stuff and carpet's cheap.

Please don't take this the wrong way.   Carpet may be cheap the first time, but when you realize that you need to buy more carpet and actually pay someone to come in and lay it down, you may change your mind.  Of course, carpet is way easier to undo than tile or printed pictures of carpet, so it may still be the way to go.

He's installed carpet before - he used to work in construction way back when.  He swears he can do it. 

Oh.  Well, if he's done it before AND wants to do it again, it'll be fine.  Most people I've talked to who have tried it react more like ReBurn.

[Gamplayerx]

After you get all this done you're not going to want to move!

Oh, trust me.  I will still want to move.  But hopefully, I'll be moving with more cash in my pocket than I'm expending getting this money pit ready for sale.

[Gamplayerx]

Oh, great.  Master plumber Grumpus has now decided that he can replace the pipes himself.     I've known him for 16 years and in all that time, he has never once plumbed.

[Bennyhana]

Oh, great.  Master plumber Grumpus has now decided that he can replace the pipes himself.     I've known him for 16 years and in all that time, he has never once plumbed.

What kind of pipes are they?  Copper?  Steel?  PVC?  Just replacing pipes that are already there isn't too hard.

[Gamplayerx]

Copper.

I think he really just wants an excuse to buy a blow torch.

[dazie]

Plumbing is difficult, but not as difficult as electrical IMO.  I suggest a good "How to install plumbing" book.

[Bennyhana]

Copper.

I think he really just wants an excuse to buy a blow torch.

So, was the chlorine eating through the pipes or through the solder joints?

[Gamplayerx]

Copper.

I think he really just wants an excuse to buy a blow torch.

So, was the chlorine eating through the pipes or through the solder joints?

The pipes.