Home Repairs Pt 2

Followup from this morning's post:

The window guy came and gave me an estimate. I wanted to replace 11 windows, including the window that contains the air conditioner, but that was a no-go. Window World can't make a window that will hold the air conditioner, no way no how, as they say. So I ordered 10 windows. Nick the window guy says the air conditioner is too tall to fit a window opening because the lower sash won't open high enough and there's not much that can be done about that, except to buy a new, shorter a/c unit, and the unit I have now is just four years old, so no. Not going to replace it. Still, a lot of cold air can leak through that window, through and around the a/c, and I need to do something about it.

The awnings on the front of the house have to come down, and I'm not going to pay to re-install them onto the house. Anyway, I may not need the awnings. The new windows are double-pane "low-e" windows with argon gas inside them, so they don't transmit much heat through the glass. They should be a lot better at keeping heat inside the house in winter than the old single-pane casement windows.

Total damages so far: $8294 for ten windows. They'll take down the awnings and dispose of them. I'll take down the Venetian blinds and probably won't put them back up. I have curtains on the inside walls and I can close the curtains at night for privacy. The curtains I have now don't close all the way, so I'll have to buy new curtains.

I have a feeling that I'm just getting started on this money-spending adventure. Already this year I've paid for a new sliding patio door ($2430) and a new electric garage door ($1895). This adventure reminds me of that 1986 movie named The Money Pit, with Tom Hanks and Shelly Long. Yes, it was about a home they bought.

I just happened to think: will these improvements make the real estate tax I pay twice a year go up? I mean, will it go up more than it usually goes up when I do nothing to improve the house? That would be just perfect.