During the last week, there has been a lot of activity around the old homestead. By “old homestead” I am referring to my childhood home which I am preparing for sale following the death of my father last month. I have spent more than half of my entire refurbishment budget to replace the old driveway and to waterproof a portion of the front of the house. The waterproofing was necessary as there is evidence of water damage in the basement which may not be so easy to disguise. Rather than try to mask the problem, I had it fixed and can offer potential buyers assurances that there is no longer an issue. The downside is that there is now a significant amount of landscaping to be done where the yard was dug up to apply the membrane to the foundation. Landscaping was not part of my original budget.
The driveway was another problem that could have deterred potential buyers. The old driveway might have lost me the same amount of money in a sale that it cost me to have a new one put in. The only return that I expect on the investment is an easier sale closer to my asking price. Another side benefit was the entertainment value of the interaction between a next door neighbour and the contractors. From the day that the old driveway was removed to the day the forms were put down, the neighbour was outside with his survey and tape measure. The day of the pour, he seemed to be constantly harassing the work crew. I understand his frustration with the mess and the inevitable damage to the edge of his lawn, but I grew up next to this guy. Surely he realizes that after all is said and done, I will make sure his property is restored even if the cement contractor doesn’t.
With the driveway dug up, I had an opportunity to make an upgrade that I hadn’t been planning on. The garage was built back in 1973 or 74 and my father did the electrical himself. A single 15 amp circuit was plenty at that time and more than enough for what my folks used the garage for. However, being a woodworker (a hobby that has now been on hold for half a decade since we moved into a house with no garage), I know that a single circuit is not enough for the average hobbyist. So I dug a trench and ran some 8 gauge wire in conduit to the garage. Whoever buys the house will have the option of keeping the single circuit as is or installing a new 40 amp service in the garage. I went through the frustration of having to cut a patio in my first house in order to run electrical out the the garage. The previous owner told me after that he wished he had run the wire before having his patio put in. So did I. Being in that position now, I figured that for 200 bucks, I could save the next guy the same sort of frustration. Plus I removed the potential for losing a sale because of an inadequately wired garage.
It’s been an emotional week. Over the past five years, my dad had a lot of work done to the house and the property– some good, some not so good. He spent a LOT of money– some wisely, some not so wisely. The waterproofing and driveway were significant investments, and I really don’t think he could have afforded them on a fixed income and dwindling savings. Some of that “not so wise” spending was coming back to haunt him. Obviously, I had the work done to sell the property, but I know that he would have been impressed with the improvements I’ve made. Believe me, I wish he was still around to enjoy them.
This week, I will be getting back to the painting inside. I want to try to finish the inside of the house in the next couple of weeks so I can work on the outside during the early part of May and get the house on the market before June. That’s the plan anyway.