Lifestyle upgrades

The neighbors can be the worst. We had two that were fighting in our subdivision. It started when one did not like that the other ran a small consulting business from their home and might have one or two cars occasionally parked in front of the house. So the neighbor they were complaining about saw a new dormer on the complainer's house and no building permit posted. Called the gubmint agency (in NC a stickler for accuracy and fussy about it). Oh, my the trouble they were in. And on and on.

We not only have to deal with building permeits but Certificates of Appropriateness due to the historic designation of our neighborhood. Of course, our house is non-historic but it does not matter.

We didn’t add a room and the stuff we did I don’t see how anyone would know what the inside looked like before. Our handyman worked for 4 months fixing the house with my husband. If he had gotten hurt our homeowners insurance would have covered it.

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry

If he had gotten hurt our homeowners insurance would have covered it.

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That's a good way to get your policy cancelled, get your property blacklisted with other insurers, and if the injuries are serious you better hope you have an umbrella policy.

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Originally Posted by sweetana3

We not only have to deal with building permeits but Certificates of Appropriateness due to the historic designation of our neighborhood. Of course, our house is non-historic but it does not matter.

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I'm for that! I love homes and neighborhoods that have been preserved for historic reasons. One of my favorite towns, Ocean Grove, NJ is a historic landmark town so there are a lot of restrictions about what you can and can't do, but in some ways I don't think they go far enough. You have this beautiful little Victorian charmer from the street and then you walk inside and it looks like a Joanna Gaines makeover. So disheartening. At least they've kept the front-facing garages at bay.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

Upgrade 2: Magic shower: When we bought this Hermann house it came with a shower apparatus that is truly the best shower I’ve ever had in my life, and it makes me sad to think I’m almost 65 years old before I got this fabulous magic shower that works in any situation. It is so fabulous that I quacked on and on about it! That promoted DH to Search out and buy the same apparatus for our city house. Cost was a couple hundred bucks and a day of his time to install.

Photos

Magic shower moves up for tall people, down for short people, Can be rotated into several fixed positions, and showerhead can be removed for a handheld access. Here is a photo of the magic shower upside down
Attachment 2752

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I don't know about the "magic shower" as a name (don't google that with safe search off), as I tend to see that marketed as a handicapped shower (good for those in wheelchairs, as well, etc).

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Originally Posted by Gardnr

2 years ago we spent the money on a gas line into the kitchen and a gas stove/electric oven combo. i can SIMMER now! My flattop would not simmer.....the lowest heat would boil. I couldn't do anything long-cooking well at all and who wants to stand at the stove to make a fabulous pot of soup or sauce that is best made with 4-5h of simmering.

LOVE my gas stove:)

I think the benefit of buying our 4ever home when we were 30yo is that it's been little bites along the way. 1 thing at a time for cash so nothing was huge or traumatic. If I look around at all we've done it's actually a lot but 1 bite at a time....it was easy.

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I’m glad you mention this because I am toying with the idea of maybe using an electric stove when we rennovate our Hermann house. We have gas to the house, but I have been using The electric flat top stove and it seems OK. I mean it’s not as flexible as a gas stove but it sure is easier to clean. Before the stove which is admittedly not new (it’s an old kitchen) , I just remember my mothers flat top stove from the mid-70s; it took forever to heat up, it was ridiculous. I swore I would never have one of those.

But I will likely stick with gas stove.

I've had gas heat, and--as I've mentioned--I'd rather not have it again. Every time I start to get complacent, I read about another gas-related or pipeline incident. Kablooey! I don't want to worry about explosions or carbon monoxide at this point. I'm very happy with electricity. Unfortunately, the condo I occasionally contemplate buying has natural gas heat...

I've never had a stove that took too long to heat up; I can't even imagine that. If I really needed an instant-on element, I'd get an induction burner or cooktop. At this point, I hardly use my stove anyway.

Personally, I'm eagerly looking forward to any or all lifestyle upgrades. :welcome:

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

I just remember my mothers flat top stove from the mid-70s; it took forever to heat up, it was ridiculous. I swore I would never have one of those. But I will likely stick with gas stove.

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YES! Our glass top took forever to heat up. And then it stayed hot for a long time so a risk if anyone but the 2 of us was in the kitchen.

I LOVE my gas!

I love gas, too. We have electric in G.I. and gas lines are not doable unless you do propane. I don't miss the gas as much as I thought I would, but I still miss it.

I am the opposite - was glad to get off gas and go with a glasstop that is easy to clean. If it were cost effective I would ditch my gas hot water heater too.