Import

Thanks, that is just the type of information I was looking for.

It looks like I have two options - replace the glass or get someone to hang and finish a slab door.

You are right, if I could get a door to just waltz up here and throw itself into the hinges, I would be happiest ;-)

It's a pain, the one I have still works, it just looks really really ghetto.

Hi,

Can anyone detail the steps for the cheapest, easiest way to get and hang a replacement entry door. I need to replace my front door, replace rather than refinish because the glass is badly cracked. I want to do this (obviously!) as cheaply as possible, while still having a nice door which would fit in in our suburban neighborhood.

Everywhere I look online I get confused. What does the frame refer to in pre-hung doors? Currently the hinges are attached to a wooden frame which I don't want to replace. If I bought a used or scratch and dent door and hoped to just get it hung on the same hinges, say by a local handyman (or ourselves) would I be asking for trouble?

Ideally I want to buy a door and get it installed in one hit but have no idea where to go. I don't want to pay Home Depot prices.

Would appreciate any help!

Thanks...

Thanks all for the well thought out replies! Much appreciated.

I did find the exploded view online along with the correct part... I decided to go the DIY route, the part is only about $75. If for whatever reason it doesn't work out I'll turn to Craigslist :-)

Not sure if this is the right forum but I wanted to get some opinions.

Our double wall oven is original to the house, it's a GE circa 1993. It still looks OK and ran OK too once we adjusted temperatures and cooking times to the fact that the top oven ran about 200 degrees too cold and the bottom oven about 100 degrees too hot.

Then yesterday I managed to break the bottom oven temperature sensor ( which was already damaged) off completely - result an oven which cooks at maximum temp so is unusable. When I checked the top oven it didn't have a temperature sensor any more either. It doesn't cook hot enough to bake anything.

My husband wants to replace the oven completely. My problem is this: we were planning a kitchen upgrade with more upscale appliances for the future, but right now we don't have the budget for the kind of oven I had wanted. If we buy an oven now, we would pay approx $1500 for something essentially the same as the one we have (if it worked!). I would just want to replace it again when we do upgrade the kitchen.

I am thinking it is probably worth repairing. To fix it am thinking we would need new sensors and possibly the electronics behind the thermostat. How much would I expect to pay for labor for an oven repair and can anyone recommend someone honest and reliable? We live in Katy.

Or, is this a simple job we could do ourselves? The parts seem to available online and I am handy with a screwdriver if it was just a case of pulling the oven out and plugging something in.

Thanks for your help!

When we bought our house, we first put in a serious offer on another house. We had exactly the same problems as you. They said they were entertaining a higher offer but wouldn't give our realtor any details so we could counter offer, were evasive and then finally stopped answering voice mails. Our realtor found out that their realtor was notorious for only selling to her own clients, so that she could get the full 6% fee. We never knew whether the sellers had even been told of our offer.

If you are really serious about the house, it was suggested to us that we could go there, knock on the door and politely strike up a conversation: "I noticed you were selling your house? Wow, beautiful area, I love your yard, you must have had so many offers?" to get the real story.

(*edit: whoops, forgot it was a foreclosure..*)

Then again, when we bought this house, there were 4 other offers. We never doubted that there were, the realtors and sellers story never changed and they never asked for a counter-offer. We did have to pay asking price but no more (and it was totally worth it :-)

Thanks for the rapid replies!

The gap doesn't bother me, actually I quite like it, my only concern was that it gets clogged up with leaves. I didn't want to leave it not knowing what it was, like when I had water dripping from an A/C overflow for several months... and then through the ceiling.

I guess I will get a termite inspection, hopefully only for peace of mind :-)

As for the tree, I am thinking it is an oak of some kind. I will try getting it watered. You got me wondering more about those roots, though. I am guessing if they go under the house they could in time damage the slab? I have another tree, closer to the house, which has a huge root running along the surface of the lawn until about 3ft short of the house. My concern is what happens if it keeps going...

We recently bought our first house (1993 vintage), we are new to all this and I have a few questions for anyone who can answer :-)

First, what is the purpose of the 1 inch gap between the house and the concrete patio out back? Is it some kind of drain, and does it matter if it gets filled with (mostly organic) material?

Also, when we bought the house the inspection found termites, which the sellers got treated. Should we be getting a yearly termite inspection and how likely is it that the termites will come back?

Last question: We have a large tree in the yard which looks like it is sending up shoots all over. I have no idea what kind of a tree it is, but there are what looks like roots coming up all over the lawn with leaves growing off them. Any way to stop this without cutting down the tree? If need be I could post photos later.

Thanks in advance!

We moved to Katy from The Woodlands 18 months ago. At that time the shopping just didn't compare, there was nothing like Market Street for example.

Things are changing very fast - there are upmarket shopping developments going up all over. Right now, Memorial City Mall as mentioned is about 20 minutes on the I-10, or Macy's, Sears and Dillards are also at West Oaks Mall if those are the stores you prefer.

Thanks for the info, I called him and he is coming out next week.

Dunno if he does Katy but I have used him for years and he does service West Memorial. Classic Irrigation Systems-- Marc Thelus 713-551-9265. Very reasonable

Can anybody recommend a good sprinkler repair person in the Katy area, who is knowledgeable and doesn't charge the earth?

I have tried to troubleshoot the problem myself but it is a wierd one...

I know right now I have no need of irrigation but just in case we get a late dry spell... I don't have time to get out there with the hosepipe.

Thanks!

I think (I don't actually live there) that Cinco Ranch is like The Woodlands - if you live there you get access to all the different pools, amenities etc (they also have a waterpark and beach club), not just the one for that neighborhood like elsewhere. I am pretty sure you would have access to more than 3 pools.

Were the cheaper Kelliwood subdivisions like Kelliwood Gardens, Terrace, Place also built by Kickerillo?

I know Kickerillo builds have a spotty reputation. If he did build these subdivisions, are these cheaper houses likely to be the ones people complain about in general?

Compared to houses of the same age and size in Cinco Ranch, houses in these subdivisions seem like a good deal.

Please enlighten me!

Um... Tee box???

(Probably not worthy of living within 10 miles of a golf course )

Thanks, you made some very good points... definately worth thinking about. And my next question was going to be about those stray golf balls :-)

I really like the idea of living in a house backing onto a golf course. Although I am sure you can point out lots of disadvantages

The things is we don't play golf. Never have and probably never will.

So is it worth buying a golf course home? Do you have to like golf?

I am assuming you pay extra in HOA fees etc for the priviledge? And if we lived in one would we feel the odd ones out among the neighbors?

Wow! So many posts! But I did figure it would be a popular topic

Thanks everyone especially those who actually have some firsthand knowledge of the subdivision

I will have to take another drive around and look at the houses with alleyways as opposed to those with driveways. I think I would prefer a driveway but DH and I would differ on that as he hates seeing garages at the front of a house.

Apart from the lack of sidewalks (also a minus with us) and the debate about the high schools (but don't all high schools have some drug activity?) it is all sounding good. We are big fans of the established look, would probably prefer to do upgrades to an older house with some character than settle for cookie-cutter modern, and it seems like we can get a lot more value there for our money...

We are not in a position to buy yet (the small matter of 9 months to go on our lease here) but we like to be prepared - and this is looking like a winner so far. I appreciate all the comments.

Doh'!

Well, that is lame they stole the name, I bet the one in Katy has no trees, that is what I hate about new neighborhoods.

That also explains why she said 280K, she will have no problem finding a home in that range!

Actually I know Nottingham Forest - some parts of Nottingham Country have a very similar feel, at least from driving around there. The houses look a similar age and size and there are plenty of trees.

Not everything in Katy ISD is new and I doubt they "stole" the name, I was actually wondering if it was the same group that initially did both subdivisions.

I like Nottingham Forest but for the sake of an extra 10 minutes on the I-10, I would prefer to save that extra 200K for other things...

I am interested in finding out about Nottingham Country.

What is the history of this subdivision? Who were the builders? General quality of the houses?

Are there "good" areas and "not so good" areas?

Is there any sense of community and if so what is it like?

What is the culture of the area - mostly older people/teenagers/young families/a mixture?

I know it is a large subdivision so probably quite varied - so tell me all you can!

For info, we have a young family and are attracted by the established feel of the neighborhood and proximity to amenities. We are not looking to buy until well into next year but our budget will be probably up to around 280K.

Thanks for any info!

There are new stone clad neighborhood signs going up on and around Westgreen.

The signs themselves look fine - but they are placed parallel with the road instead of perpendicular. So you can't actually read them driving along the road unless you happen to look to the side while level with one.

Did somebody muck up?

Just pondering too, but I'd say if it's truly surrounded by much greater values then the old saying. "a rising tide lifts all ships" would probably apply but on the other hand the KB would likely have a negative impact on the others too to a smaller extent, especially if the KBs nabe starts looking ratty and become largely rentals (no offense) over time.

That makes sense. The subdivision is very mixed ethnically which I guess *some* would see as a minus. But actually so far most of the families moving in seem to be very "respectable" and many seem to have bought the houses with the thought of getting a lot of house for the money and then making upgrades. There are plenty of nice cars and landscaping and swimming pools going in which would suggest they haven't overextended just to get something to impress their friends iykwim.

With people in who care about their environment the subdivision could actually look OK over time. Although (no offense to KB homeowners) with many of the houses there will never be any hiding the fact that they are big cheap square boxes with absolutely no architectural merit.

(And no offense about the rentals I personally would not want to live in a largely rental neighborhood either)

let me guess, Westgreen Park?? do I get a cookie

A whole box of cookies

Now I would have thought that the resale value of the surrounding homes would have dipped - but a friend argued that maybe the opposite is true - that once those nasty KB flags go down this subdivision might appreciate because of the area.

I am curious if anyone has witnessed the effect of a cheaper subdivision going up in an area previously reserved for much more expensive ones? Is the value of the cheaper houses likely to go up over time because of the area? Or will the value of the more expensive houses likely go down substantially?

I have just moved into a rental home in a new KB Homes subdivision. Prices for sale are advertised as 130s to 170s. Most of the other subdivisions in the area are a lot more expensive than this one...

We directly overlook the back yards of the $400-700 K homes in the next door gated community *and* get a free view of their lake. I keep thinking that the people in those houses can't be real happy about the situation - and I also wonder if there was anything they could have done about it?

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories...63&hbx=e_du

Maybe I'm ignorant, but I didn't know KB Homes made houses in that price range? Would you buy a KB home in that price range?

Thanks! Good to know :-)

Schools are not an issue right now, we are hoping only to rent for another year and our kids are still too young.

Diversity is also not a negative for us as long as the area is safe.

Anybody have any information about the 77450 zip code just west of Barker reservoir? I think it is Katy area but not actually Katy. All the online mapping tools show a route into town along the I-10 and Beltway 8 but it seems to me it might be quicker along Westpark Tollway. There are a few homes in that area in our price range.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, they are a great help!