Rental properties.  Some swear by the investment; others swear off, due to the horror stories.  Fred and I found ourselves landlords by path of least resistance.  When we were in the very first months of dating, we were both house hunting, and since it was too early to know whether “We” would continue as such (for those who were there, no comments necessary regarding our on-and-off history), we both went ahead and settled on houses of our own.  One month and two miles apart. 

So when we DID finally get it together and get married, we owned one more house than we needed.  The market was still on the rise, and we’d realized a tremendous value increase in my townhome.  We decided to hold onto it and rent it for the foreseeable future.  We screened potential renters for a few months (I’ll post THAT whole experience separately), landed with our current renters who just signed on for a 5th year this spring, and never looked back.

Until Baltimore County Council Bill 87-07.  We heard it was coming and received notice in the mail just before leaving for an oversees vacation a few weeks ago.  By July 1, 2008, all landlords of single-to-six-dwelling housing units must now apply for a LICENSE to rent property in our county. (Apartment complexes already had separate legal requirements on the books.)

Why?  Well the up-side is that the Council is trying to address the “slum-lord” mentality in some areas of our county.  With aging structures, some renters are living in substandard conditions. 

The down side is that landlords like Fred and me - with our 1989-built townhome - are lumped into a new requirement that costs us an extra $200+ every three years, from now on. 

Don’t get me wrong: we fully support requiring landlords to maintain reasonable living conditions for their tenants.  We just believe that the existing rental laws already covered those sufficiently.  In fact, rental laws in Maryland prior to this bill were already MORE in favor of the renters than of the landlords.  For our part, because we love having good renters, we provide them with rent-breaks and upgrades to the home every year they re-sign.

So getting the notice that we had to apply for a “rental license” by July 1 or face $1000 a day (yes, three zeros) fines for failure to comply was a bit of a slap in the face.  We try really hard to be superb landlords - we even give Christmas gifts each year (and last year added a wedding gift on that occasion)!  But we, like the aparently-heartless-ghetto-lords in our county, now have to apply for, and then reapply every three years for, a rental housing license.

Obtaining or renewing a license requires a home inspection (this year’s cost: $150) which is a very quick check on the electrical, plumbing, appliances, smoke detectors, window/door function, and general safety items in the home.  Our inspection (last Wed.) lasted 15 minutes.  Easy money for our inspector, no?  The county also charges an additional license application fee ($50 this year for our single-dwelling); requires the inclusion of photos of the front and rear of the house; and requires completion of an application that also addresses items like lead paint abatement (which doesn’t apply at all in our case).

For us, it’s an extra hassle and an extra expense.  I drove the application packet to the county court house on Thursday because I wasn’t willing to risk a “lost in the mail” situation.  But OF COURSE we passed the inspection and have everything in order.

It’s sad that the county has to mitigate potential retaliation by landlords upon their renters for reporting unliveable or unsafe conditions.  If we were failing to maintain our house, our renters would be completely within their rights to report us.  But we would never get there.  Instead, we now have this additional expense to maintaining the property; and that expense is going to get passed on to our renters.  We’re not interested in losing money just to hold onto a second house we will never otherwise need.

The good news, for any of you who are in our situation and haven’t gotten through the process yet, is that I was able to handle the whole matter in four days.  (And I’m happy to answer questions for any others of you who are down to the last minute with this requirement, since I’ve been through it.) 

But the negative side is that it makes leasing a property in our county more work and more expensive.  We’re not charging our renters for my time running around to get the application ready and submitted, but I’m sure other landlords are figuring that in, too.  In an area that’s already very costly, it adds to the living expense for renters.  With the prices on everything else going up right now, it’s a shame that this expense is added this year, too.

What do you think?  Should all landlords be held to an inspection/rental licensing requirement with their county?  Or should the system work to handle actual problem situations, case by case?

This week’s Before and After is brought to you from our deck.  Several weeks ago, Kim power washed the deck to remove dirt and grime and return the deck to its original yellow shade.  On Memorial Day weekend, we put two coats of stain/sealer on the deck.  The whole project took us more than 24 (wo)man-hours, not including Kim’s prep work getting the deck ready (which was probably another 10-12 hours in itself).

Overall, we’re happy with how the deck turned out (and it’s beading water when it rains, which is great).   We have a couple of complaints with the stain/sealer we used, and some lessons learned on paint sprayers and pump sprayers, both the subjects of later posts.  For now, we’re basking in the enjoyment of having the deck returned to a usable state.  We eat nearly every meal outside between the late Spring and early Fall.  It’s a wonderful space, and it’s WAY easier to clean up after the twins.  Now, if we could just get it to stop raining for a few more days so we could actually enjoy it.

OK, without further ado, here’s the pictures:

Before (that’s our boys playing ):

After:

Now it’s your turn!  Link in a Before and After project from your own site.  (If you use our autolinker, please consider including a link on your site to ours on your Before and After post or in the sidebar…Thanks!)

For the last 5 months, the four of us here at OPC have been working on (and writing about) our home improvements and community activites.  Each day we work & write, we take for granted the safe homes and community we live in, the amazing U.S. infrastructure that provides us food, water, and power, and the awesome blessing it is to live in a free society where we’re afforded the many rights we enjoy.

Two days a year, Veterans Day and Memorial Day, we in the U.S. have an oppportunity as communities and a nation to take a step back and remember that all that we enjoy is not free.  It is paid for by others… those who give up the pursuit of happiness to pursue happiness for the rest of us.

We’d like to take time out today to thank each of you who are serving or have served in our unformed services.  We’d also like to thank those family members who have carried the burden of deceased or severly wounded loved ones.  You have given selflessly so that the rest of us can go about our lives, often without a thought of the price that has been paid.  You are to be commended for your service.

If anyone out there today is thinking of how you might give back, consider donating to an organization that serves American Veterans and their families.  This year, we’ve decided to support AMVETS.  (You can make an online donation to AMVETS here).  You can also Google “American Veteran Charities” and find other organizations to support.  Also, remember to thank veterans and their families for their service.  A word of appreciation goes a long way - especially if it comes from many of us.

Finally, as I was penning this post I ran across this letter from Abraham Lincoln to a woman whose five sons were killed during the Civil War.  I found his words to be very powerful and appropos to today’s celebration of the accomplishments of those who have gone before us.

God Bless!

Photo by StuSeeger.

Congratulations to Anne S. who was the 114 entry into the Malibu Solar Lamp Giveaway Contest. Anne wins a set of 2 premium solar accent lights! (For those interested, we decided to pick this winner using an online random number generator. Anne’s number was the first pulled).

We’re going to run another giveaway next week for a gift card to Home Depot. The contest rules will favor regular readers & commenters, so that even if a few online sites pick up the contest, our blog friends and regular readers have the best shot at winning!

Last night I took back the broken Melnor AquaTimer Duo.  I bought that timer last fall and it failed in about a week.  (If you’ve been following along, recall that this timer was the second Melnor Duo that failed).  Last night, I finally remembered to take the unit back to big orange.  I found the receipt but the box is ancient history.

The Melnor purchase was more than 90 days old. In fact, it was more than 8 months old, but Home Depot still issued me a store credit for the full purchase price of $42.  (Store credit is as good as cash to us).  They did ask for my drivers license, something other stores, including Target, have started doing to thwart return fraud. 

Most of the time, the big boys of home improvement take a lot of flak for not having products stocked, not having quality customer service, or being overpriced.  In the returns area, Home Depot really shines… if not only because if they didn’t, everyone would shop at Lowes.

What do you think?  Have you had a return experience that really stands out (good or bad)?

Image by Neubie.

P.S.  There’s still more time to enter the Malibu Solar Lamps Giveaway…  In case anyone has been watching the entry total and was as shocked as we were: the giveaway was picked up by a few online sweepstakes sites that have been funneling visitors here by the hundreds.  Unfortunately, most of them are just leaving a comment and heading on their way…

This issue has been the subject of much debate in our homeowners association lately, and I thought I’d post it here to get your take. Our current HOA guidelines require that all decks in the community be painted / stained in natural wood tones.  Newer composite materials are acceptable as long as they meet this guideline.  As with most communities with covenants, homeowners must submit proposed changes to the exteriors of their homes to an architectural committee.

As I mentioned in a prior post, the architectural committee that was just elected in our community has taken a more active approach in enforcing the community’s covenants.  About 15 houses in the community have porches or decks that are at least partly white (railings, or in some cases, the whole structure). Most of them didn’t realize they needed approval from the HOA to make changes to the exterior of their homes.  None of them realized that white was not an approved color for decks.  (And one claims that she had approval to build her deck… and I tend to believe her).

Our community is set in the woods.  Almost every home in the community backs to treed areas.  Some back up right to the state park.  I believe that the idea behind the rule was to make decks and porches “blend in” to the surroundings.  Of course, this rule was created in 1983, before newer composite materials came into style.  Now, white decks and railings are commonplace in newer communities in our area.   In some cases, contractors will only install a white railing if certain composite materials are used for the floor boards.  (This is apparently because the matching composite color is not manufactured for the railings).

The folks in violation of the covenants we’re given 30 days notice to remove or paint their white decks and railings.  Those who aren’t in compliance within 30 days will have the HOA will file a lien against their property.  Several of the folks that were cited are starting a petition to change the deck color rule to allow “natural wood tones or white.”  After thinking about this for a few weeks, I think this is the right move for the community - not because I want to change every rule that folks accidentally violate, but because many homeowners would like to install newer, composite decks with white railings or floor boards.  These decks look nice, add value to their properties, and thereby add value to all properties in the community.

What do You Think?  Would you vote for a change in the rule to allow white decks?  Have you found yourself on the wrong side of an HOA rule before?  What did you do?

Photo: Shadow on Deck by JasperYue.

I was born and raised just outside Baltimore, Maryland and continue to live nearby. Two years ago I was married to my beautiful wife Jocie (short for Jocelyn) and we purchased our first home. It’s an end unit, town home built in 1985. The house wasn’t in bad shape but we wanted to make it our own.

Growing up, my step-father was a very handy guy. I helped him with projects ranging from building a gazebo to laying shingle on the roof. It seemed like he was always planning something. And he was generous enough to teach me a few things along the way.

Now I look around my home and see projects that I can do rather than hiring someone. I like the work and being able to shape my home. I take a lot of pride from finishing a project. Some major milestones include remodeling my kitchen and master bathroom. I’ll write about them one of these days. We’ve painted just about every wall in our home and the hope to lay hardwood floors this summer(2008).

Some of the other things I love include listening to music (U2), playing Ultimate Frisbee, video games and technology in general.

I really enjoy blogging about my home improvement experiences. And I’ve gained plenty of know-how, discovered creative solutions and avoided many problems from reading about other peoples home projects. A couple blogs I really enjoy reading are Homeowner’s Blog by Paul and The Box House by Joanne.

Feel free to shoot me an email or leave a comment. I always enjoy the feedback. Hope to see you around.

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Hi! That’s me over on the right. I’m a 28-year-old home improvement nut living in the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland. I’m very happily married to Kim, and we’ve twin sons, H & J. (initials only online to protect their identity). We live in a traditional, 2-story, rectangular colonial - the kind they built by the thousands in the 1980s. We love our house, and will probably stay here for at least 10 more years (or until the projects run out, whichever comes first).

I’m the one who’s really into the construction and materials side of home improvement. I get jazzed up doing projects like framing up walls, pouring self leveling mortar, or power washing a deck. Fortunately, our house needs a lot of that, and it’s where my limited home improvement talent lies. I could look at a color fan all day and all I’d see is a disorganized rainbow. Do the blue and yellow go together? I’m not sure - that’s why we’ve got Kim and Jocie.

As far as hobbies - well, there’s blogging, and working on the house, and blogging, and technology, and blogging. You get the idea. I’m a programmer by trade, so I take care of all the programming on this site. My day job can be pretty demanding, and this is a nice way to get away from it all and do something that’s pure fun. (And, I’m learning PHP and Cascading Stylesheets - you can’t go wrong with that!)

I really enjoy the community aspect of blogging. It’s great that I can meet people like Andy at Build a Better Bungalow, who at the time of my writing is working on a basement in Chicago - 1000 miles away from us - and is facing the same challenges in refinishing his basement. Jennifer, Lisa Rae, modernemama, Amalie - all people I would have never met if it weren’t for the online community we’ve got here. I love stopping by your sites - please keep them up!

You’ll see me around the house-blogosphere - always posting as Fred or Fred@OPC or something like that. I’m glad you stopped by! Come back again soon.

At some point during the winter, my lawn mower quit working. I would yank on the pull cord but to no avail. And so I began my Saturday determined to try everything I could before taking it to a repair center. Todd has a great post on maintaining a John Deere X300 over at Home Construction Improvement. His post reminded me of all the things I should have been doing anyway.

Lawn Mower Maintenance

FYI: I have a Craftsman rotary lawn mower with a 6.75Hp Briggs & Stratton engine. Mower model number 917.370721.

1. Inspect the air filter. Some mower filters are little foam squares. I’ve heard you can simply wash these and pop them back in. My mower had a paper filter. It was really dirty and in need of replacement. The correct filter for my mower was Craftsman item #33644.

2. Check out the spark plug. The spark plug on my mower is in front and has a spark plug wire connected that simply unsnaps. Unscrew the plug and have a look. A burnt out spark plug is easily spotted by the scorch marks. My plug was recently replaced and looked like it was still in good shape. It was manufactured by Champion item #J19LM.

3. Remove the old gas. The gas in the tank was from last season. I had added stabilizer but wanted to eliminate all potential problems. Over time gas will degrade and lose combustion. Stabilizer works to slow the oxidation process and keep gas fresh. All it takes is adding a little stabilizer when you fill up your gas can. As a precaution, I siphoned out the old gas (and later added new gas). Don’t do it the old fashion way! I speak from experience. Use a siphon like this.

4. Change the oil. It’s important to have an empty gas tank so you don’t flood the engine. All I had to do was tip my mower on its side and let the old oil pour out. Then, I added new oil till I reached the full level on the dip-stick. I used SAE30. Colder climates should use 10W-5. Also, my mower doesn’t have an oil filter to change.

5. Clean up the mower. I removed some grass and leaves from the underside and some more from the mower deck. I also removed the blade to sharpen it. I used a simple file but would recommend a grinder. Using a file is time consuming. Make sure you sharpen evenly to keep the blade balanced. Unbalanced blades become problematic down the road.

After all this I decided to give it a try. I was a little shocked when it started right up. Next, I happily mowed my front yard.

What do you think? What maintenance does your mower need?
Image courtesy of Sa’ d Khorsid.