Which home improvement would you make first?
Hi,my name is Anne,I did the following:
Q&A: Which home improvement would you make first?
We have a garage behind our house that floods when it rains. This is ruining the drywall, and possibly causing some other problems. We need to install a french drain, and it isn’t going to be cheap. The other home improvement we need to make is replacing our fence. The fence we currently have is falling apart. It will cost the same to replace the fence as it would to install the french drain. The fence is something noticeable. If we were to sell the house, people would be able to see that we have a nice, new fence. The french drains would not be noticeable. Which home improvement should we make first? There’s a small chance we could be moving out of this house in the next 2 or 3 years. Thanks.
The following is the answer:
Answer by Bob
Get the drain 1st. water damage is NEVER good. Wet drywall can mold. (make people sick) The fence can be removed/repaired if new owners wanted to.
Answer by redwormchuck
Taking care of a flooding problem I would put ahead of a fence or fence drain. I would fix that first and then move on to the fence.
Answer by Ed M
Fix the water problem first before more damage occurs. Fence is cosmetic. Also failure to disclose known defects can cause major legal problems after home is sold.
Answer by Brad
The french drain because it is ruining your garage from the rain water. The fence is just cosmetic. I would do some research on the net about french drains they are pretty easy to install. Is the water maybe running down the gravel drive into the garage when it rains? My buddy had this problem and we put a perf drain in front of his garage doors under the gravel and ran it off into his side yard problem fixed for 300 dollars with a trencher rental.
Answer by rockpolisherc
Most definately take care of the flooding problem first. Drywall will mildew, rot away, and you will not be able to hide it, let alone the fact that it will only get worse and could make you very sick just being in the area of it. Fence is actually very cheap to do yourself. Hope depot will guide you through the simple process of doing it correctly. French drains can be expensive, however depending on how big it needs to be determines the amount of time and money you would have to spend. Is it something you could do yourself prehaps ?
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