Home ownership

Looking at houses to buy, and a couple of my wishlist items include a half bath or more in additon to a full bath, and a dishwasher.

If i had to sacrifice one or the other, and there was room to add whatever wasn't currently included, which should I look to have done?

In other words, is it cheaper/easier to add a half bath (toilet/sink) or a dishwasher?

That's a big fat "it depends".

It's GOTTA be the dishwasher... the dw operates off of the existing sink for drainage and water source, so it will have to be located near the main sink.

A bathroom, even a half bath, requires sewage access and water and drain access for the sink so it would need to be located near a sewage downpipe from an upstairs location or they would need to Crack open the Foundation... is it a raised Foundation?

It could depend I suppose, but adding a dishwasher is going to generally be a lot cheaper. I added a dishwasher in our house myself and it wasn't *that* big a job. (dw where there was none - included cutting out cabinets adding electrical and plumbing)

Dishwasher is an easy add. Just remove the lower cabinet next to the sink (or two, depending on size) and install dishwasher. Reduces your cabinet space, but it's a really minor job. I've done it myself, and I am no contractor. I had to remove two cabinets, and find one that matched to fill the extra space, which made it a slightly bigger job, but the hardest part was finding a cabinet the right size that matched the door-style on the other cabinets. I didn't even have to remove the counter-tops, though the research I'd done said that was often needed.

microbet typing at same time as me. I didn't have to add electrical, as there was already an outlet under the sink, and the only plumbing I had to do tied in to the sink plumbing.

From the pic, it looks like there is some slope this way (ie, toward the street and not toward the fence in the pic). If so, you may be able to put a French drain there if there is an area to run the water to. Same goes if it drains the other way, ie toward the fence, and there is an area for the water to drain into.

Where does that water come from other than straight down? It looks like the roof slopes to the front and back so you don't get water there running off the roof. Does water from the fence area run into that area where the water is standing? Where are the sandbags being placed? On the sidewalk or ???

Our dw went at the end next to a wall, so I had to open the wall it ended at to support the countertop. Also not a big deal, especially since I totally half-assed closing the wall up.

Gotta raise the ground level a bit so it can slope and drain and maybe even a trench/drain in that area depending on what happens with the ground level behind the fence. Standing water against the house is not good.

As far as I can tell, the source of the water is the awning on the nook window at the top of the picture. Both roof slopes are in the direction of the picture, ie, away is toward the back yard and behind is toward the street so the awning is the only thing dropping water straight down. Seems like in the near term, building up to get the standing water away from the wall is going to be the best route and then in the springtime, I think a French drain toward the street might be the way to go. ugh

Thanks for the insight. I suspected the dishwasher was an easier add, but glad to get some input from those with experience.

By the way, the housing market still sucks, especially in Ohio. Last 2 houses I put offers in at 20k over list and there were several offers over me both times.

offTop

every post above is not wrong
is the house slab on grade or basement?
makes a difference understanding water tolerance

first find the source and attempt to prevent it
next seek local remediation

looks to be coming from beyond the gate on the back side of your property?
can you post pics of the view from there?

visible low spot under the door with a strange elevation change
notice a patch at the wall bottom running towards the garage
sidewalk appears recent with standing water on both sides

probably not the first time
guess that once was a patio
shedding water from house towards the side and back neighbor

fence on the right sucking up extra moisture so something's new
wouldn't be surprised if next door was also recently sold and has a backyard full of fresh sod contributing to your mud

we should all follow redeyes example here
need more housing advice written this way
iambic pentameter gto

life is not a test drive

Some people never get that message and never make the commitment and therefore continue to test drive until the day they die.

The best I've ever heard was by Laurie Anderson that wrote:

You know that little clock... the one on your VCR, the one that's always blinking twelve noon because you never figured out how to get in there and change it... so it's always the same time, just the way it came from the factory.

Good morning.
Good night.
Same time tomorrow.
We're in record.

so here are the question: is time long or is it wide?

I reckon he should just concrete the entire thing and make sure it slopes away from the house and then have a drain running along the side of the fence to a stormwater pit or wherever it is currently being discharged to

i would check for rot before he adds any layers, don't want to do that pour and then find out it needs to be torn up to replace sections of the wall 5 years later

How often does it rain there? Didn't you move to where it rains like 3 times every 2 years?

That's also a consideration tbh, central valley CA. Something like 13"/yr but this is supposed to be an el nino year and last year was insane, something something climate change

May not need it then in the imminent future given we are apparently going back to La Nina

Could be the angle of the photo but that path isn't sloped back down towards the house is it?

If the land slopes back towards the house and that isn't possible you really need to run a grate and channel along the entire path either right next to the house or on the other side of the path (preferred). But then again if it doesn't rain much where you are then it isn't a big problem.

what the worry is, the wicking of the moister up into the wall... normally a home is built upon a foundation and the walls/plaster don't come into contact with sustained moister, least there be wicking of some kind.
I am not saying that this is happening, I just don't see the normal separation at the foundation where it comes into contact with the walls... maybe water intrusion is why someone built that curb along the alcove in front of the water heater closet.

I'm pretty sure that's stucco, not plaster. Still, a definite grading and/or drainage problem.

We still have contact with the previous owner to hand off mail in particular...some items slip through the forwarding crack. Will ask about details and go from there...in the meantime, got some sand and topsoil to build up around the wall + some sandbags if it gets worse. Problem is, of course, putting dirt against the wall has its own issues.

Another issue is just behind where I took the photo from, there is an electrical box in the ground, so sinking a pipe for a French drain, for instance, may not be that simple

between modesto and bakersfield stretches the largest clay deposit in the state
might as well be gortex
water refuses to move through it
you have a lot of that right in your backyard

those soils were once seabed sediment
infinite fish bits float down and settle
before ocean weight from above crush them to dust like extras in 'the collapse of the titan'

imagine a velvet comforter rumpled upward at the feet of saint andres while he rolls over dreaming of snowy mountains
still confusing them with his grey-haired de madre from south of the border
somehow probably all his fault

snow covered nevada results above the foothills
only for infinite raindrops to wash it back down
eroded dirt blends with clay to become the most fertile soil in the world