Things I'd do differently..

[oldfart]

Well folks had a moment here while supper is cookin' and I just thought I'd drop a line. Anyways, I got to thinkin' about things I'd do differently...as concerns remodeling/repairing these homes. Now I've puddy much rebuilt this ole 1970s.w. but if I could do it all over agin here's some things I'd do different. When I redid the bathroom I should'a made it bigger. I wish I'd have knocked out the wall between it and the middle bedroom and made it 2 or 3 ft, wider. Heck, all the interior walls were gone..should'a done it. Instead the middle bedroom was downsized ands made into a water-closet. Great idea but it could have been smaller. Does provide excellent storage however. (lots of wire shelving in there now) I wish I'd have used more Pex. I only used it for the run to the kitchen. CPVC everywhere else. The Pex was easier/faster and probably cheaper in the long run, even with the horribly expensive fittings. I also wish I'd have installed a handicap/high toilet. I re-installed the old (20yr. old) Sahara toilet. I keep waiting for this thing to die..but it still works perfect and I'm a parsimmonious man. But the new high ones are better and I've seen some ya could flush a crockadile down without clogging!! This one chokes on anything but Scotts toilet paper...and it's like sitting right on the floor! Also, wish I'd have made the doorway 50in. wide and put in a folding door. I'm too cheap to buy another door (this one's a 36in.) and hits the toilet when it swings in...right in your way. Reversing it just clutters up the hallway. (sighhh..) Well, that's just thoughts on the bathroom..nor the rest of the house. Audie....the oldfart.

[oldfart]

When I gutted the hallway and ceiling why didn't I run the wiring for a back porch light and mebbe a shut-off switch/kill for the furnace??? (like all the newer homes) I dunno. It would have been so easy then. A light in the middle of the hallway wired to use from either end (2-way lighting) would have saved a LOT of banged toes. Arrrgh! I wish I'd have moved the electrical panel from the end of the home to the side wall where it would be easy to replace the main feed. Now it'll be a real p.i.t.a when/if that needs done. The end of the home sits right down almost ON the ground. I wish I'd have moved the furnace ANYWHERE but where it is now. To an outside wall, at the livingroom end..anywhere but in the middle of the hallway. It makes a choke-point right there..can't make the hallway any wider than the furnace allows. Between the furnace and the outside wall it's only 32in. wide...better lay off the Big Macs! Ohhh..wish I'd have installed wider rear door. (the one on the home...mine is plenty wide I'll have to turn sideways to git out of this 30in. doorway! That 32in. front door only should'a been updated to at least a 36/40in. door. Wait till they try to bring my new recliner thru there!!!! Well I'm sure I'll come up with some more. What about ya'll? Any keen hindsights? Audie..the Oldfart..

[Groo]

pocket doors might have been a good solution to what you did.

I don't like the high toilets for 2 reasons.
1. my leg(s) falls asleep on an extended stay.
2. bringing your knees up higher, helps things empty easier, for fewer extended stays with a low seat.

that said; a new low, super flusher would be nice.

[Greg]

Audie, write these things down and when you do the NEXT one you will know what to change!!! Greg

[oldfart]

Well now Groo ya might have a point about the high hooters. Beins as how I'm 6ft. 3 I think the added height would be easier to git off of the seat. I'll use the handicap one in at work tonight when I read the new Guns&Ammo an get back to ya! An Greg...never..ever..again. I think I've been working on this project for about 5yrs. now and I'm still not done. Anyways, I just thought of something else! When I had the new plywood and luan (sp.?) all down I picked up enough Armstrong floor tiles and got to work. I read the instructions and their #1 recommendation was to roll a coat of primer on all the new wood before laying down the tile. The primer seals the wood and gives an excellent bond. I didn't do it. Too much twaddlin' around and I've done it my way for 20yrs. !! Yeah..should'a done it. See, after a while them tiles shrink..or that floor expands. The first 6 months the floor looked perfect. Now I can see tiny gaps between the tiles. Just tiny ones...but I can see them. A base-coat of white primer and you'd never see it. Arrrgh! Well, gotta run. Nobody else has any hindsight regrets eh? Audie..the Oldfart.

[simonmorrison23]

well, as for me, i love the conventional stuff that's going around. i can't see myself using some mod stuff insie the house. unless, i am the one who modded it to fit me.

[WildIrish]

I have regrets about some things the previous owner of our MH did...does that count? If so....

I wish the exterior spigot shut-off valve was up here in the house, instead of in the crawlspace. Yesterday, I just got home from a miserable, exhausting day out of town, only to learn there was a freeze warning for that night. So I had to climb down into that crawlspace and nearly break both wrists turning that tight @#$% off. Being I have fibromyalgia, was aching like crazy, and had just driven a long way in 50+ mph winds in a rented car with alignment so bad that it pulled to the left continually...let's just say a visit to the crawlspace was not very pleasant.

I wish they would have bought decent carpet, instead of this junk with the loops instead of actual pile. Or at least put padding under said carpet.

And I wish they had told their daughter, the 11-year-old Hannah Banana Montana fan, "No, we're not going to paint 2 of your bedroom walls a garish purple, and the other two walls the color of calamine lotion, to match the Hannah Banana Montana logo. We also aren't going to paint your closet white, then put splotches of those colors all over the walls and shelves. You'll outgrow your bad taste in TV, music, and home decor, and it will cost us too much money to repaint this monstrosity when you're a teen wondering, 'What was I thinking?!?"

Is this what you're looking for, Audie?

[Greg S]

I have been doing a complete inside and out reno on my mid seventies single wide for the past year and have no regrets except one. I did far too much work making it the way I would want it rather than keeping it simple for resale which was my plan from the beginning.

[Lorne]

" keeping it simple for resale" is always my problem.
I always have to sit back and ask, would this mod hurt a resale?
The wife helps me in these decisions cause she thinks simple. Not simple minded.

The way that housing sales are going ,we'll probably be here until the END.