Welcome to Dobby!

Hi all, thought I'd share our kitchen remodel. It's definitely been an adventure over the past two months but we can definitely see the finish line.

When we purchased the home, the wife and I knew we'd want to redo the kitchen and floors. Although usable, we felt the kitchen was very poorly laid. A large chunk of one corner was taken up by a double oven, the cabinets were old and required you to open a door and then slide out a drawer. The fridge was also a massive eye sore.

The floors were darker vinyl, though not certain we felt it was definitely on the cheaper side. The house was purchased and sold by a flipper prior to the previous owners. We knew we'd want to swap it out for something a little nicer.

We found a local construction & remodeling company, but we were responsible for coming up with the design & layout of the kitchen. Our first step was to come up with a mood board to figure out color scheme, materials, colors etc. This was definitely a fun part. A big change is having a p... Read More

For any gardeners out there, any recommendations for what to do with the rest of my green tomatoes that won't have time to ripen?

My washer gives me an error. What can it be?

Luke (Connal) just joined Dobby to lead our offline and field marketing efforts. Luke is a Georgetown Econ grad and originally from Connecticut. Luke is launching some local community and neighborhood focused marketing! And it will involve our homeowners and service pros. Stay tuned! And welcome Luke!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-connal

Saw this in my Facebook feed and thought you’d find this interesting:

Home Buyer: I want a house built after 1980.

Me: Actually, you don't.

Let me explain.

Newer isn't always better, and this picture sums it up pretty well. The quality of modern lumber is simply far inferior to the quality of lumber they were using to build homes in the early and mid-20th century. Wood quality began dropping on a serious scale in the 1980s due to old-growth timber being almost completely depleted.

Most wood used today is grown very fast - not only can you visibly see the difference in quality, but the newer lumber is more prone to rotting due to a lack of heartwood. Slow growth wood yields much more heartwood, which is the longest lasting part of the tree, whereas sap wood (new growth wood) will rot very quickly. Modern lumber is also a lot more prone to termite damage as it is softer and easier to consume whereas old lumber is extremely resinous and naturally termite resistant. A good rule - as long as the... Read More