Fixing a Leaky Claw Foot Tub

After moving all of our stuff into the house I was in dire need of a hot shower. I turned on the faucet to my claw foot tub to find two disparaging facts. One there is no hot water and two my tub is leaking. The hot water issue I was able to deal with by getting Washington Gas to turn my gas back on (not sure why they shut it off and neither are they). The leaky tub issue was mitigated with a drip pan until I was able to get over to the hardware store and pick up some plumbers tape. Turns out the plumber that installed the tub didn’t use any tape to secure the connections. Now the water is hot and the bathroom floor is bone dry.

Washington History - House Reports

So I haven’t made it over to the Recorder of Deeds or the Office of the Surveyor yet, but I did contact Kelsey & Associates, Inc. for a free estimate. The company produces a historical report of your house which includes information about the construction, the architect, the block and the neighborhood. I submitted their online form and provided them with the information I currently have (the names of the last three owners). The house was just renovated and flipped to me, but the owner before that bought the place in 1975 and owned it until it was foreclosed on in February of 2009. I also know the name of the owner that sold the house in 1975, but not when they purchased the home.

After looking at the free sample histories on their site I was interested to find out how much it all cost. The samples looked really great and thorough.

Sample House Histories
712 East Capitol Street, N.E., Washington, DC (2 mb)
2436 Eutaw Place, Reservoir Hill, Baltimore City (6 mb)

I just received a response from Kelsey & Associates, Inc.:

“I know your block well, and believe there is much to uncover. We complete the extensive research phase using deeds, census, city directories permits, and other sources to compose the written history, fully cited. One of our latest abilities is to attempt to locate living relatives of the early owners - ones that usually have family photographs and stories about the house that rarely if ever make it into the public archives. It's quite amazing what level of detail is now available through various subscription services such as the Washington Post, etc.

We would be happy to research and write your house history for $600. It takes about 5-6 weeks for completion”.

I would love to get such a detailed history about my house and block, but I’m not sure I want to pay $600 right now. Maybe I can see how hard it is to do some of my own research first.

One Project Closer - $100 HD Giveaway

One Project Closer is at it again with another giveaway. Go check it out if you’re still trying to figure out what to get dear old dad for father's day. This time it’s a $100 gift certificate for HD. We all know we can easily spend a hundred bucks at the big orange depot.

http://www.oneprojectcloser.com/giveaways/100-home-depot-gift-card-for-fathers-day/

Time for a Little History

Now that I’m the owner of a 1919 D.C. row house I’ve become a bit interested in discovering the history of the house. I think I’m going to try and make my way down to the district’s deeds and surveyor's office and see what I can find out.

Recorder of Deeds 515 D Street, NW Washington DC 20001 (202) 727-5374

Office of the Surveyor 941 North Capitol Street, NE, Suite 2700 Washington, DC 20002 (202) 442-4566

I’m also interested in maintaining the original features of the house and came across and interesting site that has lots of useful info for old home owners. The National Parks Services Historic Preservation Internship Training Program provides a series of Preservation Briefs that provide guidance on preserving, rehabilitating and restoring historic buildings.

Insurance Appraisal vs Home Appraisal

So I signed up for homeowners insurance at the time of my purchase and while I was arranging everything I asked if they wanted or needed a copy of the home appraisal. They said there would be no need they trusted me as a long time valued customer blah blah blah (I have my auto insurance, checking and savings accounts and a credit card with them).

Then last week I got a call from an insurance appraisal company asking to arrange a time to see the place in order to validate the information I provided for my homeowners insurance. I'm a bit confused and offer to send my appraisal over in an attempt to have one less thing for me to do, but no they require this additional appraisal. At least I don't have to directly pay for it, but still I have to make my house available to someone to walk through, measure, check boxes and jot down notes. If I was this insurance company I would save myself some money and use the home appraisal.

Its a No Go on the Half Bath

So I've been getting central air conditioning estimates from several vendors, but I'm not ready to make a decision on that so I will have a follow up post on that. The downside of this process besides the high cost of the estimates is that it has come to my attention that I wont be able to add a half bath to the main floor. The space I was planning on using is too small to meet code. This means we will have to start thinking about adding a basement bathroom. Possibly using a Saniflo macerating system. I'm still exploring other options, but as far as I can tell from the internets this is one of the best options if I don't want to rip open my concrete floor.

Save on Your Electric Bill Go Green with Wind Power

If you live in Maryland or DC you can go 50% or 100% wind power and save money. Clean Currents is a clean energy broker/aggregator and they offer the Chesapeake Green (C-Green) program. It’s a new carbon neutral electricity option for people in the Chesapeake region. C-Green combines standard electricity from the Mid Atlantic grid (the PJM grid) with Renewable Energy Credits (“RECs” or “green tags”) from wind farms situated across the United States, bundled together and supplied by Washington Gas Energy Services, a licensed retail energy supplier in MD and DC. This bundled product helps fight global warming by offsetting the carbon emissions from your electricity use with clean, renewable wind power.

Chesapeake Green current rates are lower than Pepco AND BGE's Summer rates!

All you need is your Pepco or BGE account number! (Note: If you don't know your account number, you can find out by calling Pepco at 202-833-7500 or BGE at 1-800-685-0123.)