patrick.net

Patrick says

view of ocean

Get a place on a lake. It's wonderful in the summer, but in winter, it's just a flat surface where the wind blows.

Lakes are only available in the north, or you'll be next to an artificial one in the south. Artificial lakes suck, they are just mud pits. During winter, go south, or literally anywhere else. If you intend to close the house down, you'll have to learn how to entirely drain pipes and cut off power which isn't that difficult, but you do NOT want to fuck that up. Not only will you blow out the pipes of any water, you also cut off the water supply, because if you make a mistake, and pipe bursts, it's going to be a swimming pool when you return.

richwicks says

Lakes are only available in the north, or you'll be next to an artificial one in the south. Artificial lakes suck, they are just mud pits.

You have must not have seen Virginia's Smith Mountain Lake, Lake Gaston, or Kerr/Buggs Island Lake. These are very large reservoirs (ie, 50,000 acres and over 800 mile coastline) with very clean water and good fishing, skiing, etc.

B.A.C.A.H. says

Booger, thank you for pointing out my use of a local catchword-buzzword from the 1960's-70's.

Don't know where you're from, but in LA, above ground hard sided pools (membrane in round sheet metal frame) were in the 70s, and still can be known as "Doughboys."

RC2006 says

What nobody wants secret bunker? Lol

My dream house I'll never afford is an iceberg house. I'm retiring some day on mountain ridge land, so I picture one, maybe 2 below ground levels, with a relatively small unassuming looking surface building, probably made to blend in with the color and profile of the hills, instead of rectilinear. I'd want shit-tons of storage, at least 2 work spaces, one for cars and heavy work like metal and wood and auto shop, another for art and electronics type work.

I'd have at least 2 areas as autonomous as I can from the house at large, to facilitate AirBNB income stream. My own living and working quarters, plus the rest of the 23 acres, would be private from the rental parts. I'd put in adequate data cables and conduits from the beginning to minimize work and disruption when upgrading/adding/expanding device count. Same with outdoors around it, trench in conduits and pipes anticipating where they'll be useful one time initially, and not dig shit up again and again as it gets developed over the years.

Patrick says

Also big legal liability for swimming pools. If you don't fence it in and some kid drowns, you are screwed.

Yup, it's considered an attractive nuisance, and the fence is hedging your bets that the kid won't get in, and you'll be shielded if he does and drowns provided the fence and gate meet certain requirements. Some jurisdictions go further requiring a wave alarm also.

Tenpoundbass says

the Land lady's boyfriend, knocked out all of the internal walls and ceiling,

My old giant asshole neighbor redid the interior of his house to make a tiny baby room when his wife was expecting. (She divorced his ass before the kid was one, he got to keep the house SHE grew up in, wtf!) Anyway, he was telling this boastful and self-aggrandizing story of all the big work he was doing on his house. He was talking about removing the interior walls and I was all whoa aren't some of them load-bearing? He was all NO, in a singsong way before continuing his story. A few sentences later, "And the WEIRDEST thing, the whole ceiling started coming down! But, those walls weren't load bearing!"



HeadSet says

although the view, breezes and ambiance were excellent, the saltwater air corroded practically anything metal.

Can confirm. Had a longtime customer who lived RIGHT on the Strand in Redondo Beach. 6 lane road, 50 foot bluff, 200-ish yards of sand, and there was the ocean with steady wind blowing salt spray in. He ALWAYS parked on the away side of the street where his house or apt was. ALL the chrome plating was bulging with underlying corrosion and metal surfaces on the driver side of his car were rusting, or if not steel, showing salt bloom. The passenger side was shiny with regular washing and waxing.

That wind can be relentless and brutal off the water, making it hard to stay outside for more than a few minutes. Same with the desert.

mell says

Community pools (and sports/tennis courts) are great, but they come with HOA fees. Totally worth it in our case,

I'd avoid most HOAs like the plague, for my lifestyle.

zzyzzx says

Patrick says

Also big legal liability for swimming pools. If you don't fence it in and some kid drowns, you are screwed.

Normal even in northern Florida:

Shit, that’s to keep the gators out.

My ideal house is surrounded by 20 acres of property I own on a South Pacific island. It's a small island that tourists don't visit. Completely self-sustaining. I have my own well, and house runs on a combination of solar and propane(found on the island). We have crops, livestock, and my extended family lives on the property in their own homes. The house is more of a construct to keep out rain, mostly open to the outdoors. Inland so you can't see it from the ocean(no beachfront thanks). Everything is built using native materials, all natural.

ForcedTQ says

Shit, that’s to keep the gators out.

I always thought they were for skeeters?

HeadSet says

the saltwater air corroded practically anything metal. Bicycles, cars, tools, and even metal poles or other parts of the house seriously rusted.

I can vouch for that given my beach front condo in Maui. The lani/patio is about 15 steps from the water. You have to keep up with the corrosion. Eats TVs, light fixtures, on and on.

Given what I've seen at families properties in S. Texas on the Gulf of Mexico where it's much worse (due to more humidity?) I would expect Florida to be way worse.

Maybe someone from FL could tell me if that pool screen is for skeeters?

just_passing_through says

Maybe someone from FL could tell me if that pool screen is for skeeters?

"It's Florida, Jake". Those are electrified fences to keep the nude, nymphomaniac flesh eaters out. Works for gators, too.

ForcedTQ says

The house I bought has a screened in patio, a bird cage sorta like that. Only it's flat and doesn't have that dome roof portion.
No pool though!

Just had to replace the screen door, and frame door jamb.

just_passing_through says

Maybe someone from FL could tell me if that pool screen is for skeeters?

My Uncle's house in Orlando didn't have any of that. Just a normal fence.

Ceffer says

just_passing_through says

Maybe someone from FL could tell me if that pool screen is for skeeters?

I think they are for skeeters mostly and not wandering kids.

The screen room around the pool (thought it was glass this whole time which makes sense in a cold climate) is not only good for mosquitoes if those are a local problem, but DUCKS. If they decide to chill in your pool for just a few, you'll be left with nasty DUCK SHIT making your pool unusable for days, if not provoke a Caddyshack level cleaning event.

My first job in high school was weekend janitor at a chain of preschools. One had a duck in a small fenced area, and I was occasionally tasked with dumping and rinsing the kiddie pool. DAMN that was a fetid sulfurous hell-stank collector! The boss proceeded to get mad at me because the water stank up the whole driveway as it ran deeper and deeper into the property. He didn't say to put the water anywhere else, and there was literally no other option unless his penny-pinching ass were to produce a trash pump and 100' of discharge hose. Still got all mad and flexed on me over it. I quit soon, having aged out of the role anyway. My brother also worked there for a stint, and we called that stanky creature The Fuck.

The Screens keep out mosquitos, they legally count as a barrier against wandering kids, AND they keep the leaves out the pool.

Satan loves the smell of fried skeeters and children in the morning on the electrified patios. They have potential for Globalist shrines.

Automan Empire says

If they decide to chill in your pool for just a few, you'll be left with nasty DUCK SHIT making your pool unusable for days, if not provoke a Caddyshack level cleaning event.

If you chlorinate properly shit isn't an issue. Assume everyone pisses and sharts in your pool. My pool is crystal clear. If there are 5-10 young boys in your pool, they for sure are pissing in it. Adult women who are too lazy to go inside piss in your pool. The Caddy Shack scene was dramatized. There's generally as much chlorine in public water as there is in a pool and you drink that. So yeah, swimming in a properly chlorinated pool is no biggie even if there's a turd.

Automan Empire says

if those are a local problem, but DUCKS. If they decide to chill in your pool for just a few, you'll be left with nasty DUCK SHIT making your pool unusable for days

The Ducks and Pigeons seem to be disappearing from South Florida, I'm seeing less and less of them.
My guess they are ending up on the dinner plate of our diverse foreign imports, that don't see them as any different, than that fowl carcass in the styro crate, at the grocery store.

Tenpoundbass says

The Ducks and Pigeons seem to be disappearing from South Florida, I'm seeing less and less of them.

Do you think this may be related to the global insect-die-off?

If it’s less than $5M in the Bay Area, be ready to compromise.

Tenpoundbass says

Automan Empire says

if those are a local problem, but DUCKS. If they decide to chill in your pool for just a few, you'll be left with nasty DUCK SHIT making your pool unusable for days

The Ducks and Pigeons seem to be disappearing from South Florida, I'm seeing less and less of them.
My guess they are ending up on the dinner plate of our diverse foreign imports, that don't see them as any different, than that fowl carcass in the styro crate, at the grocery store.

Are they building houses like mad in that part of Florida?