The Not-So-Pretty Improvements

Much to my dismay, not every aspect of home ownership consists of choosing paint colors and furniture pieces.  Sometimes it requires repairing or replacing broken appliances, "winterizing" a home or simple maintenance and upkeep.

During our home inspection, a few minor issues were uncovered.  They weren't deal-breakers, but they pretty much required immediate attention and take up a big chunk of our decorating budget.

Here are some of the items we'll need to tackle as soon as we close on the house:

• The oven needs to be replaced.  The stove top works, but not the *oven itself.  (*Funny story:  The house we currently rent also has a broken oven.  We never replaced it, because we figured that wherever we moved to next would have a working oven and then we'd be stuck with two.  So, for the past three years, I've been living without a real oven and I didn't even have to.  If only I had a crystal ball!)
• The dishwasher is ancient (you'll see that "ancient" is a running theme here).  We tested it during the inspection and it did work, but when I say it's ancient, I mean, it's ancient.  We'd like to replace it at the same time that we replace the oven.
• The electric service in the home needs to be upgraded.  It's currently at 100 amps and we think we'd like to upgrade to 200 amps, because we heard that the difference in cost between upgrading to 150 and 200 amps is negligible.
• The hot water heater is ancient (and leaking).  It's original to the house and desperately needs to be replaced.  We really don't want a flooded basement as soon as we move-in.
• The oil burner is ancient (and very slow to respond).  This is also original to the house and desperately needs to be replaced.  Unfortunately, this is a big-ticket item. 

The kicker here is that the house currently runs on oil.  After extensive research, we decided to convert from oil to gas, since it usually winds up being cheaper in the long run to heat the home and we also prefer gas cooking.  In our area, there is a 9-12 week waiting period for the gas conversion to be completed.  This means that we have to wait until after the gas conversion is completed to purchase the new gas stove, furnace and hot water heater, which also means we'll likely hold off on replacing the dishwasher, too (matching appliances?).  It looks like the only thing we can do as soon as we move in is upgrade the electrical service.

I'm sure we'll be plenty busy with painting and unpacking, so it won't be too bad, but it just looks like I'll have to go a few more months without a working oven!