Princess OTW examines the grapes brix during a break in our house hunting. The hunt for a new house in Napa has proved interesting and educational. I am well versed in all the quirks of English housing but I am a confessed novice at the mysteries of American housing. It is initially difficult to see past the relative feeling of flimsiness that houses here seem to engender so I have to remind myself that weather conditions mean that here in California it is not necessary to live in a triple insulated bunker...luckily. I have found a property that seems to fill most of my criteria...house, guest house, land and room for radical rebuilding.....now I just need owners to realise that prices have dropped rather rapidly lately! I will probably put a formal offer in later this week after I get some advice on well etc....a well!...what the hell is that all about?
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
Juicy.
Princess OTW examines the grapes brix during a break in our house hunting. The hunt for a new house in Napa has proved interesting and educational. I am well versed in all the quirks of English housing but I am a confessed novice at the mysteries of American housing. It is initially difficult to see past the relative feeling of flimsiness that houses here seem to engender so I have to remind myself that weather conditions mean that here in California it is not necessary to live in a triple insulated bunker...luckily. I have found a property that seems to fill most of my criteria...house, guest house, land and room for radical rebuilding.....now I just need owners to realise that prices have dropped rather rapidly lately! I will probably put a formal offer in later this week after I get some advice on well etc....a well!...what the hell is that all about?
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5 comments:
Some of the flimsiness is flex disguised. Masonry tumbles and crashes down (smacking you on the head) during an earthquake unless a huge amount of re-bar is installed during construction, but wood moves and flexes.
So you also need to check and be sure the sills are bolted into the foundation (one 3/4" bolt ever 2-feet or so) so it doesn't move off the foundation.
I crawled around underneath my folks' house with my dad several years back, with an angle drill, a concrete-bit, and a wrench. Old concrete gets tougher and harder as it ages.
So many things require a survey - and don't forget termites...
Earthquakes,termites!...fire,pestilence and flood?....to think I lose sleep over a bit of damp back home.
do you have enough wood for the winter, oh wait a minute, you don't live in utar do you?????
Sounds like a nice property.
California is mild weather so I would imagine the house is built with lots of windows.
Good luck!
An earthquake is just an underground thunderstorm. ;-) Where to put the moat is the big question?
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