Bristow, VA

When bathrooms are put into places they are not intended there might not be room to do certain things, like shower doors.

This shower opening is so narrow that a sliding door might leave too small an opening (15") for some people to fit through.

The alternative to a door is a curtain.

When a curtain is employed, it must be situated so that it actually seals the opening all around. If not, it can leak.

Hardwood floors do not handle constant wetness well. And it takes a while for what you see in this photo to happen.

I noticed the floor before I entered the bathroom. It was cleverly hidden under many bathroom rugs, which you can see in the foreground. The bulge under the rugs and the toilet listing like the Titanic was a sure give away.

When I first entered the bathroom I had not yet seen the decorator's touch on the walls. Or the constantly leaking "shower" tube coming out of the wall. Continual splatter from that will also damage a floor.

This toilet has been lifted up so high the wax donut (which seals the gap between the toilet and the toilet flange) has opened up and there has been leaking around the toilet base as well. It is only 6" or so from the shower.

All in all, this "bathroom" was a mess.

My recommendation: When there is a bathroom in spots that don't look right, they probably are not right. And often that portends problems down the road. This "bathroom" is curtains...

Well, you just don't see this every day.

I know I don't.

So what do you do when your shower tiles are coming loose and water is leaking behind?

How about some vinyl wallpaper?

It's waterproof, stylish and easy to install.

And, let the decorator in you come out! Pick something that compliments the personality of your home, or what's on sale at the local discount store. And add a splash of color!

You can't go wrong with lavender.

These shower tiles are literally held in place by that wallpaper! There are spots where they are loose and if you push on them they crunch.

What you cannot see in this photo is the steady stream of water coming out of that designer shower head. And it's splattering all over the hardwood flooring.

This is a bathroom created out of what I think used to be a laundry room. It's so hard to tell these days where things used to be in relation to what is there now.

People are getting so creative. It's really hard to tell.

To top it off, this "bathroom" did not have a vent fan.

I cringe to think what is going on inside the walls. The corner to the left of this photo abuts a "bedroom" behind (I say bedroom because the wall between it and the family room is a vertical mattress and a curtain which, lately, seems to define a bedroom). The one real wall of that bedroom is demonstrating a growth that looks suspiciously like black mold, possibly stachybotrous. That was hard to tell too - there were so many different black colors. And a LOT of growth.

My recommendation: When you see something you don't see every day, stop, enjoy the moment, and relish the idea that your horizon may have been expanded. But don't smell the roses too much - there may be mold in the air.

If you are a resident of Bristow, Virginia's community of Braemar, you still have time to get up those holiday lights and participate in the holiday home decoration contest. It's all about decorating the front facing exterior of your home with holidays lights and decorations.

Winners will be chosen in the following categories:

GRISWOLD (Most Outrageous)

TRADITIONAL (a.k.a. Home Sweet Home)

BEST OVERALL

There will be winners chosen in each Braemar subassociation, in each of the three categories. You've got until December 12th & 13th to get the decorations up. And as of Thanksgiving weekend, it's good to see so many partcipating. Braemar is sure to become the most festive neighborhood in the Linton Hall corridor this year.

On a home inspection last week the house had a newly finished basement. It was supposedly finished by a Class A contractor, who is also an investor. The common term would be flipper.

The Realtor told me this particular investor has flipped many houses in the area.

Let's call him "Flipper." Flipper is not using a Realtor - he's selling it himself!

Among other things in the basement, there were many "clues" that the electrical alone was not professional, not to code and done without a permit. Alright, they weren't clues, they were obviously unprofessional installations!

For example:

~~ The entire basement was wired off of the original 15 amp breaker left by the builder to service the light in the furnace room. That includes ALL the new receptacles on the wall, and the one switch for ALL the lights in the basement.

~~ The GFI in the bathroom was made for a 20 amp circuit (How can you tell? Beside the vertical opening for the plug is a horizontal opening, FYI) and when it tripped the light and fan in the bathroom and the light in the furnace room turned off.

~~ The voltage drop in the basement, with nothing plugged in, was over 20% with impedance registering well over 2 Ohms. My meter only goes to 2 Ohms, and 20% voltage drop, so it all could have been 77 for all I know. Not to get technical, but that means something -- like the connections, or quality of product, or wiring job, or cables inside the wall, or something is causing the electricity which flows through the basement to resist its flow or meet something which impedes its flow. Remember, alternating current (AC) comes to the house, flows around the house, and exits again. It wants to flow freely, without resistance.

~~ The voltage throughout the basement registered less than 100 volts. My meter has a light which indicates LESS than 100, so I don't know how low it was. But, on a 120 volt receptacle you really would like it close to 120!

~~ All the wiring in the bathroom (fan, light and GFI) all met in a huge spaghetti mess behind the bathroom wall. It was not in a box and I could not find a ground line. All that could be the subject of another blog by itself!

~~ An old junction box in the ceiling was half covered with drywall, including one of the screws.

~~ Another old junction box was just hanging by its cables.

~~ The two new cable TV jacks were completely filled when they spray painted the walls.

~~ The dryer receptacle was stuck out 1/2" from the wall without a cover plate.

And that's all just the electrical for the basement! It does not include the new electrical in the rest of the house!

It also does not include the HVAC or plumbing for the basement...

And when presented with the contract addendum from the buyer's Realtor, what did Flipper do? He struck all the items from the list! He said, "Your inspector doesn't know what he is talking about and is only trying to scare your buyer. His report is

NONSENSE."

He said other things too which indicate he might not have a "Class A" contractor's license from Virginia, or the United States, but we'll let that go. He also could not find the permits he supposedly pulled to do the work. Surprise, surprise, surprise!!

My recommendation: When you have a flipped house with a newly finished basement, before you go any further, ask to see the county-issued occupancy permits for any new work, or look for the new sticker on the panel box door. If there aren't any, instead of a pro you might be dealing with, well, do I really need to say it?

What I Discovered Living in Bristow, VA

My husband and I have been life long Northern Virginia residents. We were both raised in Fairfax, VA. With the Washington, DC suburbs being so transient, we are not surprised that we don't run into my people FROM Northern Virginia.

We lived in Fairfax County our entire lives, until we decided to buy a single family home. At the time (the peak of the real estate market) our house buying dollars went much further in Prince William County versus the location of Centreville we were currently enjoying. So we investigated Bristow, VA. It was close to Manassas Regional Airport--a great thing for my flying enthusiast husband. It was also conveniently located to Routes 66, 29 & 28.

Our Bristow home, located in the popular neighborhood of Braemar, was built in 2004, and we moved in the day after Christmas. I will never forget that because the news coverage regarding the tsunami in Thailand had the movers enthralled around our TV. I suggested we pack that first, since we were paying these guys by the hour.

The first thing we noticed in moving to Bristow, VA was the wildlife. Growing up in Fairfax, we ocassionally saw a critter, but nothing like out here. The first week in the house there was a fox on our front lawn. We routinely saw bunnies and deer in our yard. I even saw a snake while mowing the lawn. (It was a baby garden snake.). Raccoons were also seen on our property. It was really neat to be able to hear owls at night, and crickets. They seemed so loud to me that I had trouble sleeping that first summer.

Then, one Christmas Day, we looked out in our backyard and saw a wild turkey. Seeing that thing fly to a branch about 40 feet up was hysterical. It looked like it was really a struggle for it. A graceful bird it was not. It was yet another first in our Bristow residency.

Braemar, and surrounding Bristow, has built up more in the past five years, but we still see our critters. No longer any fox, but definitely deer, raccoons and bunnies. Still hear the owls too. That's the nice thing about living on the suburban edge of rural. You get the wildlife attractions and are still able to have a modest sized lawn and closeness to shops. I love it here in Bristow!