Buying a house in Pleasantville, NY!

rrmorton · Post by **rrmorton** » Sun May 02, 2010 2:31 am

Kelric wrote:
rrmorton wrote:But Kate won't be a baby forever (she turns one on Saturday!) so that'll get easier over time.
Holy crap. I would have said she was like three or four months old.

Testify.

She seemed to enjoy her birthday cake.

whispa · Post by **whispa** » Sun May 02, 2010 5:07 pm

Congrats! Welcome to Westchester neighbor

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Sun May 02, 2010 9:37 pm

The Meal wrote:Wow, I almost piped up earlier today about getting a Neuton electric mower for the lawn care. It must be a sign, as they're on sale on woot right now:
http://www.woot.com/" target="_blank

I'd recommend grabbing an extra battery (from the Neuton site) or two depending on the size of the lawn. Great mowers!

I second that, I got mine off of woot last year when I bought my new home. It does a great job, and this last week I just got my backyard done (well the grass and the bark area, trees and plants coming later)
" target="_blank

Anyways, while it's a nice lawnmower, it's not great for big yards. The mowing lanes are small, and if you don't "overbite" you'll get the mohawk effect. I'd recommend a gas mower or if you can find/afford a bigger battery mower.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Sun May 02, 2010 9:38 pm

Oh, and more importantly, beautiful house. I would love to live there myself.

Grundbegriff · Post by **Grundbegriff** » Sun May 02, 2010 9:52 pm

Love the half-timbered and stone look!

What are those little doo-dads along the roofline in this photo?

rrmorton · Post by **rrmorton** » Sun May 02, 2010 10:04 pm

I was curious about that myself. Those are ice-breakers designed to prevent large sheets of ice from sliding loose from the slate shingles and crashing down.

Grundbegriff · Post by **Grundbegriff** » Sun May 02, 2010 10:08 pm

Ahhh. Make sense.

Lovely place.

Freezer-TPF- · Post by **Freezer-TPF-** » Mon May 03, 2010 11:58 am

rrmorton wrote:I was curious about that myself. Those are ice-breakers designed to prevent large sheets of ice from sliding loose from the slate shingles and crashing down.

Yep. Ice pachinko!

That's a lovely house, actually exactly the sort of house my wife wants. Therefore, I can never, ever show her this thread.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Mon May 03, 2010 12:55 pm

Smoove_B wrote:That house is a real beaut. I always thought Tudor-style homes were secret nerd fortresses -- mostly because they remind me of Old Timey England, which of course means there are numerous secret passages and a dungeon. And what self respecting D&D nerd wouldn't like those?

This is so true and I thought I was the only one who thought that. When I was little, we used to go to my Grandmother's closest friends house. A very wealthy lady with a massive tudor style mansion. It had towers with crenelates, a large archway leading up to the door (no moat though) and the dark basement even had a full suit of armor in it! It was the ultimate nerd castle.

rrmorton · Post by **rrmorton** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 6:32 pm

It's official! We're home owners.

We move in next Wednesday. Right now we're absolutely drowning in our To Do list. It's totally insane but we're really excited to settle into our new home. We went to the walk-through a couple days ago and got a nice reminder about why we signed up for all this stress and turmoil in the first place. The house is wonderful. No cold feet, thankfully.

Henceforth, all my rants and witticisms will be transmitted to you via Verizon FIOS rather than Time Warner's Roadrunner. Hope y'all are cool with that.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 6:51 pm

Awesome! Congratulations!

Now isn't about time you get out there and cut that grass?

rrmorton · Post by **rrmorton** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 7:03 pm

Actually, yes!

Any advice on what kind of mower I should get? I'm still looking at the battery powered Neutons. Should I go for it?

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 7:11 pm

rrmorton wrote:Actually, yes!

Any advice on what kind of mower I should get? I'm still looking at the battery powered Neutons. Should I go for it?

My father-in-law bought a Toro and it's evidently guaranteed to start on the first pull for something like 5 years. Based on recent experience with my Ariens, I think next time I'll buy a Toro (though, granted, my Ariens is more than 5 years old. It has other issues that annoy me, however).

That's the only mower I've ever owned, however. I used to use my dad's mower quite a bit, which I believe was a Snapper, but that was 20+ years ago. I have no experience with alternative-fuel mowers, just gas.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 7:15 pm

Congrats on buying at the bottom of the market.

I don't think the name on the mower matters as much as the name on the engine. I like Briggs & Stratton small engines. My Craftsman is going strong after 5 years; its predecessor, the Home Depot house brand (Murray?), lasted 15. Both had B&S engines.

Biyobi · Post by **Biyobi** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 7:34 pm

Kraken wrote:Congrats on buying at the bottom of the market.

I don't think the name on the mower matters as much as the name on the engine. I like Briggs & Stratton small engines. My Craftsman is going strong after 5 years; its predecessor, the Home Depot house brand (Murray?), lasted 15. Both had B&S engines.

That's quite a coincidence. My BS engine has been running strong for 40 years now!

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 9:14 pm

Biyobi wrote:
Kraken wrote:Congrats on buying at the bottom of the market.

I don't think the name on the mower matters as much as the name on the engine. I like Briggs & Stratton small engines. My Craftsman is going strong after 5 years; its predecessor, the Home Depot house brand (Murray?), lasted 15. Both had B&S engines.
That's quite a coincidence. My BS engine has been running strong for 40 years now!

The Murray's engine was still going strong when the rest of it wore out. I only ever had it tuned once.

If you do buy a gasoline mower, change the oil annually.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 9:17 pm

Kraken wrote:If you do buy a gasoline mower, change the oil annually.

Change it? Into what?

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 9:46 pm

rrmorton wrote:Actually, yes!

Any advice on what kind of mower I should get? I'm still looking at the battery powered Neutons. Should I go for it?

YES, they're great, just like I said before I think (it's been 3 months) they are not as wide as normal mowers so you'll be making extra trips across the yard. Other than that, great mower

ohbalto · Post by **ohbalto** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 10:15 pm

Congratulations, neighbor(ish) person!

Captain Caveman · Post by **Captain Caveman** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 10:54 pm

Congrats!! Have you sold your Manhattan apartment? If not, I'll buy it for $100. Take the deal before I change my mind!

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 10:55 pm

Captain Caveman wrote:Congrats!! Have you sold your Manhattan apartment? If not, I'll buy it for $100. Take the deal before I change my mind!

$105.

Captain Caveman · Post by **Captain Caveman** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 10:56 pm

Kelric wrote:
Captain Caveman wrote:Congrats!! Have you sold your Manhattan apartment? If not, I'll buy it for $100. Take the deal before I change my mind!
$105.

$105 plus a drunken BJ.

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 10:58 pm

Captain Caveman wrote:
Kelric wrote:
Captain Caveman wrote:Congrats!! Have you sold your Manhattan apartment? If not, I'll buy it for $100. Take the deal before I change my mind!
$105.
$105 plus a drunken BJ.

$106!

rrmorton · Post by **rrmorton** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 11:01 pm

I think I'm gonna take the plunge on a new CE6 Neuton. They happen to be $50 off right now so that helps. Ken, do you have the trimmer/edger attachment?

rrmorton · Post by **rrmorton** » Fri Aug 13, 2010 11:37 pm

Thanks, Noah! No, the apartment hasn't sold yet which is turning into a pretty stressful situation. We do have one offer on the table and I really hope we'll reach an agreement soon. So far I haven't had to stoop to sexual favors, but I wouldn't rule it out. Unless it's with Kelric.

Meanwhile we're dealing with the added costs and stressful logistics of keeping the apartment attractively staged with furniture after we move. Aerobed to the rescue!

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Sat Aug 14, 2010 1:44 am

rrmorton wrote: So far I haven't had to stoop to sexual favors, but I wouldn't rule it out. Unless it's with Kelric.

Sorry Rob, you just aren't my type. I prefer brunettes with a full head of hair.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Sat Aug 14, 2010 10:42 am

rrmorton wrote:I think I'm gonna take the plunge on a new CE6 Neuton. They happen to be $50 off right now so that helps. Ken, do you have the trimmer/edger attachment?

nope, but that's kinda cool. I think I have the CE5 newton, don't think I have a spot to add attachments. I'm not sure how effective that would be, you can't really angle or get to hard places. I'd probably just buy a $100 weedwacker at lowes/home depot instead.

rrmorton · Post by **rrmorton** » Sat Aug 14, 2010 12:40 pm

Yeah, I decided to pass on it for now until I mow a few times and see what my exact needs will be. I can always pick one up later.

I'M SO EXCITED TO MOW THE LAWN! I miss the smell of fresh cut grass on sweaty legs.

We're taking the girls on a drive to see the new house in a few minutes. Amelia's only been once, the first time we saw it and Kate's never seen it before. We're gonna have a picnic on the living room floor, maybe kick a soccer ball around in the back yard for a while. Finally, the fun part.

Freezer-TPF- · Post by **Freezer-TPF-** » Sat Aug 14, 2010 2:16 pm

What if Kate vetoes the whole deal? Then what?

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Sat Aug 14, 2010 5:39 pm

rrmorton wrote:I'M SO EXCITED TO MOW THE LAWN! I miss the smell of fresh cut grass on sweaty legs.

If you lived closer, you could come mow mine. I f'ing hate it with a white-hot passion. I've raised a trio of slaves who can take over for me eventually, but they're not ripe yet.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Sat Aug 14, 2010 5:57 pm

Odin wrote:
rrmorton wrote:I'M SO EXCITED TO MOW THE LAWN! I miss the smell of fresh cut grass on sweaty legs.
If you lived closer, you could come mow mine. I f'ing hate it with a white-hot passion. I've raised a trio of slaves who can take over for me eventually, but they're not ripe yet.

I'm always relieved when it goes dormant in July. I haven't had to mow mine in over a month. I don't understand the neighbors who defy the watering ban so that they have to pay someone to come and cut it for them regularly.

I don't mind mowing my small yard once in a while. Now raking...raking is a different story. Every fall I eye our huge shade trees with murderous intent.

DD* · Post by DD* » Sun Aug 15, 2010 10:19 am

I will take the opposite tack on landscaping - I love it. I've got nearly 2000 sq ft of flower beds around my house, and I enjoy maintaining it. I've got some big plans for both the front and back of the house but they are currently stymied by the evil Captain Finance - curses!

Mulch and landscape stone is your friend. I spend about $2K for 13 tons of stone a few years back; moved it all by wheelbarrow (now that was backbreaking work!) but it really looks nice and keeps the weeds down to a minimum.

Good luck on the new digs!

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:07 am

I'll take raking over mowing any day.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Sun Aug 15, 2010 12:08 pm

Odin wrote:
rrmorton wrote:I miss the smell of fresh cut grass on sweaty legs.
If you lived closer, you could come smell mine.

mortoned

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Sun Aug 15, 2010 3:21 pm

Kelric wrote:I'll take raking over mowing any day.

Mowing the lawn takes 30-45 minutes every other week, with time off during July and August.

Raking takes at least two 8-hour days. Even after compacting the leaves with my lawnmower, I fill 15-20 bags. The actual raking isn't so onerous, it's the bagging that does you in.

Eightball · Post by **Eightball** » Sun Aug 15, 2010 4:24 pm

rrmorton wrote:I'M SO EXCITED TO MOW THE LAWN! I miss the smell of fresh cut grass on sweaty legs.

Not to jump your thread, but we bought our first single family home last month (we are waiting to move in next week, as we gave our contractor a month for renovations). I've been mowing the lawn (not a huge lawn, about 1/3 of an acre), every weekend, and I really find it relaxing.

Plus I have one of those Toro personal pace mowers (motorized, propelling itself only as fast as you push it..it's pretty slick), and that makes it simple.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Sun Aug 15, 2010 5:13 pm

My childhood has ruined me for mowing lawns. We lived on a farm with a huge lawn, probably an acre or two. Even with the ride-on mower, it took easily a full day with all the edging, and it took even longer if the ride-on wasn't running and you had to do it with the push mower.

I now hate mowing the lawn, even small lawns.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Sun Aug 15, 2010 6:26 pm

Yeah, I despise mowing my lawn. It's about 1/3 acre, but it takes me a good 2 hrs start to finish, and that's just too much time out of my day to be wandering around my yard pushing a mower. Oh, and trimming takes me another 30-45 minutes, on the rare occasion that I bother to do it. Gah - hate it. I got my first MP3 player recently which makes it a tad more bearable, but I still hate it.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sun Aug 15, 2010 7:57 pm

1/3 of a acre 2 hours? Good lord. I think Trent has close to 2 acres he mows in 2 hours. Then again..he is Trent Steel.

I have about an acre and it takes me an hour. If it looks unruly, I'll bust out the weed whacker for another 20 minutes ever few weeks.

For the most part, I look forward to that hour of iPod+Riding Tractor goodness. I guess after working as a landscaper for a few summers in college, anything less than 7 hours behind a mower is a short shift.

On Topic: Congrats on the house - don't forget to sage the corners to get rid of the prior owner's latent evil.

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Sun Aug 15, 2010 8:15 pm

I have a small figure 8 lawn that still takes me 15 minutes to mow and rake. But that's with a push-mower though and a bad attitude. It'd take me a couple of days of mowing for 2 acres!!

But, otoh, I would have to spring for a riding mower with all the bells and whistles and that could be cool in itself. Or so it would seem.

Great house, I should add, looks beautiful. Well-done.