Akela

Thank you all so much for the replies and suggestions! I didn't realize that so many people considered vinyl replacement windows to be tacky -- not a Houstonian, I thought they looked rather neat! The reason why I'm considering replacing the old ones are that over 40 years old, they are single-paned and extremely energy inefficient. The foundation has shifted so there are cracks between the house and the frame in a couple of places, some window panes are cracked and there's what looks like a bullet hole (but probably just a rock chip) in one of them. But you're right, it's a huge outlay of money. Gwilson: nothing much is wrong with the electric box per se, but the house inspector recommended that it should be replaced eventually. And thanks for offering to recommend some cheaper window dealers, I'd appreciate any suggestions. The $7,000 quote was from Patrick Kingsbury; the ones from Home Depot and Sears came in much higher. Do you say you wouldn't go for vinyl windows? Would your first choice be aluminum windows then? The garage doors are decrepit but work fine, except that there's no garage door opener. I don't have the name of the company who did the garage doors; is it possible to get a generic one? From your analysis, it looks like I should leave the electric and the garage doors alone for now and focus on painting, fixing the driveway and doing the landscaping. One thing about the house that I really regret not noticing is its considerable foundation tilt (3.5 inches.) Foundation was repaired three years ago with a lifetime warranty, but the tilt isn't going anywhere Oh well. Akela

I bought a house in Westbury (zip code 77096) a year ago. The house is a bit of a fixer-upper and I've already put $15,000 into it, including new carpet, appliances, drywall, doors and hardwood floors. The areas that still need improvement are: vinyl replacement windows ($7,000) -- have ugly insecure aluminum ones now, and they are not energy efficient the driveway (it's really uneven because of tree roots; $2,000?) new paint -- the old color is quite ugly ($2,500) garage doors -- really old ($?) the electric box ($2,000) My budget is not large, and if I go for the windows there's nothing else I can do for a year or so. I'm really tempted to do the windows first, not only because of the energy efficiency, but also because of noise concerns. Another consideration is that I might need to relocate in a couple of years, so it's partly the question of which renovations would have the most impact on the resale value of the house. So how would you proceed if you were in my shoes? Thanks a lot for your attention, Akela

This is what I'm thinking, too... The area has not flooded in a hundred years, so the possibility is remote. So we are leaning towards getting the insurance just to be on the safe side, anyway. Thanks to everybody for your advice, folks!

Hello Everybody, I am buying a house in Westbury, closing next week. The house is not in the 100-year flood plain, but I am a bit worried about not getting flood insurance for it. What's your opinion -- will it flood when we least expect it, or should we be OK without flood insurance? Thanks a lot, Akela