Beyond Blue Home Improvement Thread

[geoff]

Hi everyone. I'm Geoff and have been a dedicated Volunteer on the forums for 13 years. I am proud to have stopped some of the stigmas that are associated with mental health as well as doing my best to help others too

Before my health went south I was a builder in all aspects of home construction and renovation. If you don't have a handyman around I hope I can offer you some tips that may be of help. I have had many years of experience in home renovation and will do my best to help you out if you are stuck and need some advice

I hope my experience may be of help to the people on Beyond Blue and make their life a little bit better. Even if you need help with the most basic painting job or putting up a shelf I can help there too with some tips

I will do my best to get back to anyone that has a question when I can as this is social yet important thread

Geoff

[Guest_1584]

Hi geoff and everyone,

Well l wish you were here then mate and thanks very much for that.

But yeahhh, l'm afraid l'm back to thoughts of moving this last few days sooooo, anything big is back on the shelf again for now until l figure out what l'm doing.

l'd so love to do this whole house and make it back to what l know it can be. But it's weird, everyone else just sees an ugly lost cause duckling but in a beautiful spot . But it's always really obvious that they just don't and can't see how beautiful this old ugly duckling could be again, and just by going over it with fairly basic stuff too, l can never believe they don't see it. l'd love to finish it.

lt's all about the sums though if l so sell and move l'm afraid sooooo, back to on hold. For now there's some stuff l've started that l'll finish butttt, the rest , l'm gonna have to make up my mind first now. bugger.

Thanks again

rx

[blondguy]

Hey RX

Geoff....sorry to jump in..

RX...I know you are a tradie and you love your home...and good on you!

We have spoken before about your wonderful property. I am so tired of 'others' saying to me....'why dont you get a bigger house...a better house'..etc etc

If you can hang on to your home its well worth the time not to force a decision. Of course there are dollars involved but could you do a section of the house at a time? Just asking

I know you are tired of opinions...I understand. If you could find a way to hang in there it sounds like a plan

Unless you are in a 'corner' to sell...dont. Haste makes waste....

From what you have said for ages your home and your aspect is no 'Ugly Duckling' 🙂

Just my humble 2cents if thats okay....I hope your daughter is doing well too RX

My kind thoughts

Paul

[geoff]

Hi RX, Paul has given you some great advice as usual.

I wonder how many times this has happened to me and I'm afraid my parents told my wife and I this, how wrong they were, they were the ones who made the mistake.

They didn't know how beautiful this place we wanted to renovate would look like, they cost us lots of money, we knew how great the house would look, unfortunately they didn't have the confidence with us.

They believed it would cost too much money and that we weren't capable of renovating the house, how wrong they were.

Their decision made us change our lives and then I wouldn't have been convinced into going into pubs where I was assaulted, we would be renovating the house we always wanted to do and then we could move forward.

I know money is always a problem but think about what will the property be worth in 10 years time.

RX do what you want to do otherwise you won't be happy.

Please get back to me.

Geoff.

[Guest_1584]

Gday guys and thanks as always.

But sorry nah l must've done a pretty crap job explaining myself but no , selling this place isn't about money , although the rates and water are ridiculous for the area, but nah l got the house very cheap and if l stayed l'd actually be set up very nicely in a few years.especially finishing the place off. There isn't actually that much money needed to finish it either , mainly just labor,lt's not that .

The reason l'm tossing up about moving is that although l'm in a nice spot, l don't like the town itself much , that's the issue with it.

As far as any reno's go , thing is , if l decide to sell the house soon l'd be better to just leave it as it is you see, because as is , after costs , l'd only just break even anyway right now.

lf l finished it of properly first and then sold it , yeah l'd do ok out of it , but that's a 3 or 4 yr job and the problem is l dunno if l wanna stay here that long.

so that's the dilemma .

God that's such a shame Geoff yeah mate you guys should've just done it anyway.. But l hear you loud and clear. l find that often even the real estate agents can't actually envision what a property can could be once again. Strange. isn't it. l can look at any house and see it back as a swan in seconds. Love doing that actually

But anyway yeah , so if l sell l don't wanna spend any more money on this one that's all. Well actually if l sell l could just do a quick cosmetic reno , that'd probably get me a better price for sure but not sure how much. So l'm getting the agents out soon , try and get some sell price idea and that'll help me figure it out once l get a few numbers.

rx

[Guest_1584]

Ps and that's great advice Geoff , do what you wanna do or otherwise you won't be happy , thanks mate l fully agree.

Problem is l'm not sure what l wanna do. Bugger.

lf l liked this town better , l'd just stay here . Dunno if the towns gonna get any better though , as we were saying in my thread you know , it's about life. Great house here, nice spot , pretty shyt town though so a pretty shyt life.

lt could come good here , l dunno , it hasn't been long. But l'd hate to sit here another 5yrs hoping it does but only to turn around then and still be unhappy here. If l was still 21 l wouldn't care haha.. wouldn't we all eh.

rx

[Elizabeth CP]

You're situation with your house reminded me of the situation we had with my FILs house. It needed selling. He was in a nursing home & needed to sell. Real estates valued it extremely low because it looked really run down. My In-lawes had both been really unwell for years so unable to look after the house.

Tradies in the family said sell as is.It will cost too much. Their estimates were over the top. My son (who is stubborn & no MI so can stand up to anyone) came up with his own plan for cosmetic & essential improvements. All flooring was ripped up & floorboards varnished so prospective buyer could see the floor was in good condition. Walls painted white to make it look clean & bright. Kitchen & bathroom were just cleaned because it would cost too much to change & everyone has their own taste. Laundry cupboard/sink replaced because they looked so bad they screamed out this home is in really bad condition. It cost a couple of thousand dollars & lots of hard work but the sale price was close to $100000 more than original estimate because the buyer could see the potential. Getting advice from an estate agent is a good idea although you may need a few different companies as not all give good advice from my experience. Then do what you feel is right. You know what you are capable of & what you can afford in terms of time, energy & money. Good luck

[geoff]

Hello RX, doesn't that annoy you, but are there any big projects being done by the council or someone else that may change the population in the town, so will it improve in the next 10 years, if so then you're sitting on a gold-mine.

The other option is the next town you want to settle in, is it going to be any better than where you are now.

I often hear what people say in their town they are living in and it's always 'I want to get out of here' so they move but are worse off?

It's not an easy decision.

Sorry I will continue.

Thanks for getting back to us RX.

Geoff.

[Guest_1584]

Yeah see Elizabeth l could do that , dunno , still tossing it all up anyway.

lt's amazing what some light cosmetics can do isn't it.

Gday Geoff and thanks mate yeah , real true. But anyway nah if l moved it'd be to a much bigger town, small city , heaps going on so on that alone hopefully it'd change a lot of things.. This place is tiny .l'm also too close to ex , so d is 18, next year, no need, the ex thing really grinds at me too.

But nope no projects coming that l know of.

rx

[geoff]

Hi Elizabeth, sometimes people with no imagination just say 'sell' because they don't want to spend any money, don't know what to do or just don't care.

I remember the property we lived on had to be sold (divorce)and I was living in it alone due to depression, one real estate agent who I had been doing work for, maintenance for all their properties for 10 years, quoted it a third of the price we got, but he said it was a good price.

I dropped them as agents straight away, he wanted it sold quickly for his commission.

Your son was very smart and well done to him, he had the foresight, so don't let any real estate agent try and con you into believing your property is worth half the price.

Put the price you want on the property if you want to sell, someone will come along and see the potential or perhaps an investor.

One thing you shouldn't do is go back and look at the house you've sold.

Did your son do all the work, if so he's clever.

Geoff.

[blondguy]

Hey Geoff....just a WARNING for people handling treated pine

I keep forgetting to mention that most of the Bunnings staff near me wear gloves when handling treated pine

The Copper Arsenic preservative (which is a carcinogen) can cause blistering and a severe burning rash which I have had twice after handling this evil product....god knows how much of this crap has been absorbed into my system

Oh...wearing a dust mask is crucial when cutting treated pine too.

Like cigarettes there should be a Health Warning tagged to it. I think the cigarettes would be a healthier option

Thanks Geoff....Great thread by the way 🙂

Paul