Building a new house and shop (6 Viewers)

[knuckle47]

I have only one other person I know that did something like that…built with his own cash flow..he living there now over 25 years with only property taxes and insurance as his primary housing expense. My company has had a contract we signed 6 months before pandemia….

In the three years that have passed, while we could have dropped it, we’d lose the opportunity for future business now which makes up for the craziness. Ate a load of crap so to speak for some time during that phase

 

[1911]

Mrs. 1911's latest find: Sub-Zero matching fridge and freezer. These are the built-in cabinet style, with dual compressors. Older models but in perfect working order. She got both of these for $700 from another tear-down in a neighboring county. The equivalent new models cost $10,000 each! These things weigh 400 lbs. each; guess who had to move them? My weight lifting (especially the dead lifts) has finally paid off.

The wood cabinet panels are replaceable/paintable. Only the fridge will fit in the new cabinets, but it will be a perfect fit. The freezer will go nearby either in the pantry or the garage.

Meanwhile, cabinet painting and staining is continuing, you can see more kitchen drawers painted in the family room behind the fridges.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

$700 is a ****in steal. The Mrs deserves a night on the town for finding that.

 

[1911]

$700 is a ****in steal. The Mrs deserves a night on the town for finding that.

You bet, she's already had one! The owner of the tear-down wanted way more but settled for that after she offered him 500 to come and get them the next day (he wanted them gone). She finds these things mostly on facebook marketplace. She is a thrifty Scot and has always been good with money. Here she is when we were first married; she took an old hand-me-down free couch and sewed new cushions for it. We had better furniture than most students.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Great find on the sub zeros. We've had them in our last 4 houses. Always had the 4' combination but always wanted the two 3' units side by side. They will last forever and, if they do break, you can actually get them repaired; although we've never had to repair one, knock on wood. I would have bought those just for my shop!

 

[knuckle47]

As mentioned…a **** steal! A friend has the 3’ side by side….$18,000.00 by the time they were done with cabinetry. Yesterday I moved my “sub-zero” from the house garage 140’ across the rocks to the pole barn…first time in 50 years something was easy to do. It’s really just an extra GE refrigerator

You guys made an excellent score

 

[1911]

Great find on the sub zeros. We've had them in our last 4 houses. Always had the 4' combination but always wanted the two 3' units side by side. They will last forever and, if they do break, you can actually get them repaired; although we've never had to repair one, knock on wood. I would have bought those just for my shop!

You can tell by the weight of them, that they use thicker steel for the cabinet and much thicker/sturdier plastic for the shelves and drawers than any previous fridge and freezer we have had.

As mentioned…a **** steal! A friend has the 3’ side by side….$18,000.00 by the time they were done with cabinetry. Yesterday I moved my “sub-zero” from the house garage 140’ across the rocks to the pole barn…first time in 50 years something was easy to do. It’s really just an extra GE refrigerator

View attachment 3730370

You guys made an excellent score

A tractor with a front-end loader is useful for so many things! I'm sure I'll be using mine to shuffle bulky/heavy items from storage in the shop to the house.

 

[knuckle47]

@1911. I have lived here now for 46 years…. I have the tractor for 2…. I have needed this thing for such a long time … for 44 years of winter, when we had 2-3’ of snow, I would go outside every few hours and drive up and down the road to pack down the accumulated snow so we could get out to the main road. Last year..no snow!

Granted it’s a 1947..but that’s me….born either 50 years too late or 50 years to early…of course now that I am older…it’s leaning g more towards 50 years too early. Hell, I’d be 21 again !!

 

[WarDamnEagle]

You can tell by the weight of them, that they use thicker steel for the cabinet and much thicker/sturdier plastic for the shelves and drawers than any previous fridge and freezer we have had.

Assuming you have never had one before, you will be quite surprised by how well they keep food. When you shut the door the unit pulls a vacuum on the interior. You'll find the freezer impossible to open after you shut the door for the first 30 seconds or so. We are big Wolf and Sub Zero fans. Thankfully our retirement home had everything we wanted already except for the Wolf M series double oven. As fate would have it though, the Dacor unit that was in the house wasn't working so that was an easy decision. The owners had recently changed out the range to the Wolf 6 burner so that unit was brand new when we moved in. The 4' Sub Zero is 20 years old on the other hand but operates like a new unit.

 

[1911]

Assuming you have never had one before, you will be quite surprised by how well they keep food. When you shut the door the unit pulls a vacuum on the interior. You'll find the freezer impossible to open after you shut the door for the first 30 seconds or so. We are big Wolf and Sub Zero fans. Thankfully our retirement home had everything we wanted already except for the Wolf M series double oven. As fate would have it though, the Dacor unit that was in the house wasn't working so that was an easy decision. The owners had recently changed out the range to the Wolf 6 burner so that unit was brand new when we moved in. The 4' Sub Zero is 20 years old on the other hand but operates like a new unit.

Good to know. This is our first one ever.

 

[ZackR]

When you shut the door the unit pulls a vacuum on the interior.

Interesting - the little Dometic absorption unit in my truck camper does the same thing (on the freezer part). I literally cannot open the door 30 seconds after closing it.

 

[knuckle47]

My brother had an older sub-zero in his previous home …likely a 4 footer as well and loved it until the serviceman told him it he needed a new $4700 compressor. Got it repaired and moved ….i don’t think it was the refrigerators fault he moved though. My daughter and son-in-law just re-did their house and the appliances were over 65k and …had to be ordered 6 months in advance. Neither of them really cook at all….takeout

I grew up with a 1950’s small white refrigerator with the tiny freezer door on the top,,,,maybe a Kelvinator? My grandfather always yelled when we opened the door and stood there looking. I could never understand why he believed it was tons of money escaping in cold air. My friend who is about 8 years older than I (80?) has this same mentality

The last refrigerator we bought here had that yellow energy sticker that said it was maybe $50 a year to operate…so at $1.00 a week, I leave the door open while I stare inside looking for something when he’s here…he gets visibly nervous…

 

[1911]

My daughter and son-in-law just re-did their house and the appliances were over 65k and …had to be ordered 6 months in advance. Neither of them really cook at all….takeout

Pretty sure that this exactly describes the two different households that we bought the Thermador ovens and the Wolf gas range from - both look pretty much unused.

 

[knuckle47]

@1911. My friend move into a Hurricane Sandy tear down on the water in Tom’s River. It was built with Thermador appliances. That stove is HUGE. Gotta be 7’ long. My wife looked it up and shut down her iPad…. Of course, the house is raised up 10 feet for flood zone laws and has an elevator in his 6 car garage to the living floors. We’re unimportant folk…. We climb those ridiculously steep stairs usually carrying a cake a bottles booze

 

[BadReligion]

Mrs. 1911's latest find: Sub-Zero matching fridge and freezer. These are the built-in cabinet style, with dual compressors. Older models but in perfect working order. She got both of these for $700 from another tear-down in a neighboring county. The equivalent new models cost $10,000 each! These things weigh 400 lbs. each; guess who had to move them? My weight lifting (especially the dead lifts) has finally paid off.

The wood cabinet panels are replaceable/paintable. Only the fridge will fit in the new cabinets, but it will be a perfect fit. The freezer will go nearby either in the pantry or the garage.

View attachment 3729776

Meanwhile, cabinet painting and staining is continuing, you can see more kitchen drawers painted in the family room behind the fridges.

That is crazy! Between the fridge/freeze and the range she found, that is like $25k is savings. She definitely earned a purse/shoes/watch/gun...of her choice for those finds. I tried to find something in the local classifieds but no luck. Had to order a new SubZero 42" fridge/freezer. Not too much more than a KitchenAid 42", but comforting knowing it should be trouble free for 20+ years and the compressors are easily rebuildable. I'm over throw away 10 year appliances.

 

[knuckle47]

@BadReligion @1911 my wife and I have lived in our house now 45 years..over that time we have had several replacement appliances and quickly became friendly with a local repair guy who frequented our washer/dryer/refrigerator over these 4+ decades. 30 years ago he said “ when you go to replace these machines don’t buy those new fancy pedestal washers and dryers as they are made with cheap plastic parts. That $1500 dryer will last 6 or 7 years and cost a fortune to repair out of warranty. No different for the washers.” He told us “ buy some cheap machine that has the cycles you want and don’t spend more than $400.00. It too will last 6 or 7 years” REMEMBER that was in 1994

Now my wife loves the look of those machines and their spiffy colors but we bought a cheap white Maytag for $397 at Lowe’s and THAT lasted about 12 years. That damn Amana dryer is now 25 years old and only needed a drum bushing and drive belt after it started squeaking. Our repair friend has now retired we know him and his wife THAT long.

Last year I had to replace the washer. Went to Lowe’s and bought some $800.00 GE washer…the NOISIEST freakin washing machine I have ever heard. We hate it. Sadly, until that breaks..she washes clothes when there’s nothing on TV, it grunts and grinds thru every cycle except spin. Additionally that has the highest speed spinning drum I have ever seen. Like a modern centrifuge.

My wife still wants a pedestal base washer and dryer… given my Land Cruiser needs, I may just have to cave to be fair….but get the extended warranty

The moral of this ….who knows. So much stuff is disposable junk these days. My grandmother’s Kenmore washer was 45 years old when she sold her house in 1992 and it went with the house. The dryer was a clothes line

 

[BadReligion]

@BadReligion @1911 my wife and I have lived in our house now 45 years..over that time we have had several replacement appliances and quickly became friendly with a local repair guy who frequented our washer/dryer/refrigerator over these 4+ decades. 30 years ago he said “ when you go to replace these machines don’t buy those new fancy pedestal washers and dryers as they are made with cheap plastic parts. That $1500 dryer will last 6 or 7 years and cost a fortune to repair out of warranty. No different for the washers.” He told us “ buy some cheap machine that has the cycles you want and don’t spend more than $400.00. It too will last 6 or 7 years” REMEMBER that was in 1994

Now my wife loves the look of those machines and their spiffy colors but we bought a cheap white Maytag for $397 at Lowe’s and THAT lasted about 12 years. That damn Amana dryer is now 25 years old and only needed a drum bushing and drive belt after it started squeaking. Our repair friend has now retired we know him and his wife THAT long.

Last year I had to replace the washer. Went to Lowe’s and bought some $800.00 GE washer…the NOISIEST freakin washing machine I have ever heard. We hate it. Sadly, until that breaks..she washes clothes when there’s nothing on TV, it grunts and grinds thru every cycle except spin. Additionally that has the highest speed spinning drum I have ever seen. Like a modern centrifuge.

My wife still wants a pedestal base washer and dryer… given my Land Cruiser needs, I may just have to cave to be fair….but get the extended warranty

The moral of this ….who knows. So much stuff is disposable junk these days. My grandmother’s Kenmore washer was 45 years old when she sold her house in 1992 and it went with the house. The dryer was a clothes line

My parent's Maytag washer/dryer is older than me and both still work, and I'm not exactly young. The more fancy electronics, cycles, features, etc, the more that can go wrong. There is something to be said for old school mechanical only appliances.

 

[1911]

That is crazy! Between the fridge/freeze and the range she found, that is like $25k is savings. She definitely earned a purse/shoes/watch/gun...of her choice for those finds. I tried to find something in the local classifieds but no luck. Had to order a new SubZero 42" fridge/freezer. Not too much more than a KitchenAid 42", but comforting knowing it should be trouble free for 20+ years and the compressors are easily rebuildable. I'm over throw away 10 year appliances.

There was a time when KitchenAid was an upper tier brand for appliances. 35 years ago, we bought a house that had an older KitchenAid dishwasher in it, and that thing was great while it lasted. All of the tub and inside of the door was covered in really heavy porcelain. When it finally died, we spent more money than necessary to buy a new KitchenAid, but the new one was nowhere near the quality of the old one. We've had at least two KitchenAid fridges since then (still have one now) and they're OK but nothing special.

The mrs. favorite dishwashers have been Bosch for the last 10-12 years. She's going to have two of them in her new kitchen; I'll probably end up buying those new for her.

 

[1911]

@BadReligion @1911 my wife and I have lived in our house now 45 years..over that time we have had several replacement appliances and quickly became friendly with a local repair guy who frequented our washer/dryer/refrigerator over these 4+ decades. 30 years ago he said “ when you go to replace these machines don’t buy those new fancy pedestal washers and dryers as they are made with cheap plastic parts. That $1500 dryer will last 6 or 7 years and cost a fortune to repair out of warranty. No different for the washers.” He told us “ buy some cheap machine that has the cycles you want and don’t spend more than $400.00. It too will last 6 or 7 years” REMEMBER that was in 1994

Now my wife loves the look of those machines and their spiffy colors but we bought a cheap white Maytag for $397 at Lowe’s and THAT lasted about 12 years. That damn Amana dryer is now 25 years old and only needed a drum bushing and drive belt after it started squeaking. Our repair friend has now retired we know him and his wife THAT long.

Last year I had to replace the washer. Went to Lowe’s and bought some $800.00 GE washer…the NOISIEST freakin washing machine I have ever heard. We hate it. Sadly, until that breaks..she washes clothes when there’s nothing on TV, it grunts and grinds thru every cycle except spin. Additionally that has the highest speed spinning drum I have ever seen. Like a modern centrifuge.

My wife still wants a pedestal base washer and dryer… given my Land Cruiser needs, I may just have to cave to be fair….but get the extended warranty

The moral of this ….who knows. So much stuff is disposable junk these days. My grandmother’s Kenmore washer was 45 years old when she sold her house in 1992 and it went with the house. The dryer was a clothes line

My parent's Maytag washer/dryer is older than me and both still work, and I'm not exactly young. The more fancy electronics, cycles, features, etc, the more that can go wrong. There is something to be said for old school mechanical only appliances.

Over the years I have of necessity become a decent washer/dryer repairman. Kenmore used to be my brand of choice, but personally I think their day has passed. The one thing I think I do know, is that the LG and Samsung brands are pretty much disposable junk, mostly because of the cheap electronics. Lately I have been more enamored of Speed Queen, and that is what we have switched over to now. They seem to be better built (they have longer warranties also), not very many models, parts readily available, etc. Time will tell but we like them so far. Not much experience with Maytag for whatever reason (never owned one); maybe we should look at those also.

 

[thatcabledude]

Y’all have me over here looking at my 10yo “fancy” Samsung like