What do you do when their isn't enough money for house repairs?

**Dancing Lotus** · 07-19-2008, 08:32 AM

Nothing new to add. Just fix the roof yourself until you have saved then money. Thats what we are doing. Dh has repaired to spots already this year, no problem not a leak yet.

**smk0817** · 07-19-2008, 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by warramra

When wood stoves are installed, they remove the dampers which are in perfectly good condition. If you can find someone who does this kind of work you can probably get it pretty cheaply, even installed.

This is what we did and it saved us lots of $. I think they ended up charging us $50 to put a "new" one in. Definitely something to check into.

**my4littlebuffaloes** · 07-20-2008, 09:14 PM

Thanks for all the replies and the input. It all really helped! My dh is very handy, so that helps. He found a place online that he can order the damper from (it actually goes on top of the whole chimney Rachel) and we can rent a longer ladder for $31. The total for the whole thing will be around $200 which is what we have saved for it.

As for the roof, dh had told me before that there was really no way to patch it, so it was good to hear that can be done. So I asked him about it and he said he could do it. But rooted nomad - the plywood underneath is rotting and it is spongie when you step on it. Basically we have 2 roofs and the upper roof's downspout was spitting out right on this spot on the lower roof. We have since put an extension on the spout to take it all the way to the gutters and had a fan going in the attic a lot last summer which helped dry it out, but still the whole thing needs to be replaced.

We contacted 1 roofer and he wasn't willing to let us rip it off, we had looked into that ourselves. I think we will contact other places though and see if we can find one that is willing.

I know the driveway will have to wait a little longer. Thanks again for all the great advice.

**ladykemma2** · 07-21-2008, 04:53 PM

my two cents: don't forget a budget item for "home repairs and maintenance" . generally 1-5 percent of the value of your home.

my home is worth 110,000. i sock away 300 a month for home repair.

110,000 x 3% = 3300/12 = 275

**Greebo** · 07-21-2008, 07:42 PM

Originally Posted by ladykemma2

my two cents: don't forget a budget item for "home repairs and maintenance" . generally 1-5 percent of the value of your home.

my home is worth 110,000. i sock away 300 a month for home repair.

110,000 x 3% = 3300/12 = 275

Excellent point - and I'd say that the percentage should equal the age of your home, divided by 5.
1-5 Yrs Old: 1%
6-10: 2%
11-15: 3%
16-20: 4%
20+: 5%

Cause when that furnace dies in your 30 year old house, 1% probably won't cut it unless you have a $300,000 house.

**TheRootedNomad** · 07-21-2008, 08:44 PM

I'm sorry to hear that the wood is rotted. That is a bummer. Plywood has gotten pretty pricey and you will need to clear a bigger section to patch it.

As for the one guy not wanting to let you rip it, most of them probably will tell you no. Your looking for an older roofer who has a good word of mouth reputation in the area. My father was still roofing a couple of years ago (and still incredibly fast with the shingles) at 70. He could still rip them too if he had to but had always preferred to pay older teenagers (and early twentysomethings) to rip and load the roof so he could sheath and shingle. He took several jobs after he hit 50 where he let the homeowner rip. Several of the other guys we know in the line that "don't" go down to the corner for cheap "illegal immigrant" help will let the homeowner rip as well. Again word of mouth is probably a better bet than the yellow pages as far as finding a roofer goes.

....there's also always the possibility of DH finding someone else who has done a couple to give him a hand with starting and the trim and doing it himself. If you've got only a slight pitch (4/12) or so a handy guy can usually do it themselves if someone gets them started and does or shows them the edges and cutouts.

Hope some more of that is helpful.

**Wendy99** · 07-22-2008, 10:46 PM

Originally Posted by Greebo

Excellent point - and I'd say that the percentage should equal the age of your home, divided by 5.
1-5 Yrs Old: 1%
6-10: 2%
11-15: 3%
16-20: 4%
20+: 5%

Cause when that furnace dies in your 30 year old house, 1% probably won't cut it unless you have a $300,000 house.

So is this the amount you would keep in a separate account for these expenses and then just top it up as necessary? I couldn't afford as much as is suggested here (although I agree with it!!). But I'll have to figure out something once we have a proper long term EF. Always something!!

**Greebo** · 07-23-2008, 06:02 AM

Originally Posted by Wendy99

So is this the amount you would keep in a separate account for these expenses and then just top it up as necessary? I couldn't afford as much as is suggested here (although I agree with it!!). But I'll have to figure out something once we have a proper long term EF. Always something!!

I dunno about those exact numbers - 5% on a 30 year old, 400k house is a LOT of money - 20 grand to be exact. That's in the "homeowners insurance should pay for THAT damage" range I'm thinking - or in the "this is renovation not repair" category.

The main point is - older homes need more love and care. Our specific goal for the home repair fund right now is $3,000 - putting about $150 per month towards it I think. (I've gotten up 3 times to look at our white board and I'm not getting up again!

)

As for affording it - just figure out how much you can sock away each month and do it. Put it in an account that earns interest with all the other sinking funds and forget its there and track the #'s on paper.

**ladykemma2** · 07-23-2008, 09:25 AM

Originally Posted by Wendy99

So is this the amount you would keep in a separate account for these expenses and then just top it up as necessary? I couldn't afford as much as is suggested here (although I agree with it!!). But I'll have to figure out something once we have a proper long term EF. Always something!!

no, it's part of your budget now, unless you are in snowball mode.

**ladykemma2** · 07-23-2008, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by Greebo

I dunno about those exact numbers - 5% on a 30 year old, 400k house is a LOT of money - 20 grand to be exact. That's in the "homeowners insurance should pay for THAT damage" range I'm thinking - or in the "this is renovation not repair" category.

The main point is - older homes need more love and care. Our specific goal for the home repair fund right now is $3,000 - putting about $150 per month towards it I think. (I've gotten up 3 times to look at our white board and I'm not getting up again!

)

As for affording it - just figure out how much you can sock away each month and do it. Put it in an account that earns interest with all the other sinking funds and forget its there and track the #'s on paper.

i agree that 20 grand is too much.

i do not agree that insurance should pay for it. it seems something breaks or falls off daily or all the appliances broke ths year. these are not insurance issues. my home needed a new roof and paint recently, again, not insurance issues.

righ now i have been forewarned that the a/c is on its last legs. this 5-10k expense is not an insurance issue.

i figure if i have 10 grand it's enough, by end of next year, then i will start funding for a new car.