Checking back in after a couple years. Is Denver still exploding?

Does it still take 5 hours to get to Vail on a Friday during ski season?

yukmonkey said:

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Checking back in after a couple years. Is Denver still exploding?

Does it still take 5 hours to get to Vail on a Friday during ski season?

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Isn't everywhere exploding? 10,000 Americans are born every day; they have to go somewhere.

But in all seriousness, I'm in commercial construction, and it hasn't slowed down one bit. We've continued to have healthy appreciation year over year for our house.

We just moved to the area this past Feb. We both work downtown and our commute from SW Lakewood (near 470 and 70) is about 20 min in the morning and 30 in the evening. Also being on that side of town and near so many of the highways, makes for easy access to most areas.

Curious what people think. Denver and mountain real estate markets due for a correction? It amazes me what mountain property lists for - doesn't seem remotely sustainable.

I can't speak to Denver real estate but I live in the mountains about 20 minutes west of Vail. The issue is that there is just not a lot of land available around the desirable areas. That may seem odd but most of the land is protected or privately owned. The market did take a pretty good hit in 2008 but it roared back.

I have 7 acres that I want to build on but the cost to build is really what's astronomical here.

I will say there is a big difference if you live in Texas to here in that my property taxes are dramatically lower as is my homeowners insurance which allowed for a bigger home budget and more money going to the mortgage (yes I know there is state income tax here).

Schall 02 said:

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Curious what people think. Denver and mountain real estate markets due for a correction? It amazes me what mountain property lists for - doesn't seem remotely sustainable.

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It's def. slowed down. My neighbor bought new in 2013 for $xx and sold in 2016 for 31% increase. That second owner sold this summer for 7% increase, so that's an indicator.

In yalls experience, does mountain real estate suffer more during an economic slowdown? Seems like 2nd homes or rentals (which I presume a lit of mountain properties are) would lose value quicker.

If I recall correctly, my aunt mentioned their Vail condo took a lot longer to reach pre-2008 value than their littleton home did.

Generally speaking, they are the first/fastest on the way down and take longer to recover.

Makes sense.

Everyone ready for the first snow of the season? Just moved here 3 months ago... besides blowing out the sprinklers, is there anything else you typically do to "winterize" your home and cars? Figured I'd want to get the winter grade antifreeze eventually.

This is the tease that happens every year. It always snows about this time in October and then next thing you know it will be November haven't snowed since.

Nothing really to do except make sure you don't have a hose hooked up to a hose bib or it will freeze. As long as there's no hose on it you're good.

Still too early for true snow tires if you do that. I always make sure I have extra supplies in the car in case I get stuck behind a wreck for a while.

You don't need to blow out entire sprinkler system for these first few freezes. It's not cold long enough to freeze anything underground. However, I would drain the backfow preventor for this one, since it's below freezing for 24hrs and down in the teens tonight. You will still need to water your grass for 4-6 weeks, so if you blow it out now, you either turn it back on tomorrow or manually water until thanksgiving.

Having a hose hooked up to a bib is fine, just make sure the hose doesn't have water in it.. so take off the sprayer if it has one. But emptying the hose, curling it up and putting in garage during a freeze will extend its life for sure.

Make sure you throw your ice scraper and extra jacket/gloves in your vehicle. Top off your wiper fluid and make sure your wipers work well.

The first snow is almost always October, and this is the worse one I've seen in my 8 years. It's typically a mid 20 degree freeze with a dusting overnight that is gone by morning, which is not cold enough to do anything at all to sprinklers.

[Cross posted. Any thoughts appreciated.]

We are in month 10 of a major home remodel, and our contractor's multiple efforts to get the new ceiling drywall right have failed. Despite repeated attempts to repair cracks that have appeared, today's cold weather blast brought them all out. The rest of the remodel is almost complete, so to say we're beside ourselves is an understatement.

I am confident my contractor will do the right thing, but I am at the point where I want a 3rd party to evaluate the situation and say definitively what needs to happen. Here's my question: who can I call to do that?

We're in metro Denver. I'm not looking for a specific name (unless you have one), but moreso a direction for what type of expert I can call.

TIA

Schall 02 said:

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[Cross posted. Any thoughts appreciated.]

We are in month 10 of a major home remodel, and our contractor's multiple efforts to get the new ceiling drywall right have failed. Despite repeated attempts to repair cracks that have appeared, today's cold weather blast brought them all out. The rest of the remodel is almost complete, so to say we're beside ourselves is an understatement.

I am confident my contractor will do the right thing, but I am at the point where I want a 3rd party to evaluate the situation and say definitively what needs to happen. Here's my question: who can I call to do that?

We're in metro Denver. I'm not looking for a specific name (unless you have one), but moreso a direction for what type of expert I can call.

TIA

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I would think a home inspector would be knowledgeable enough to know if the cracks are something that need attention. End of the day, cracks from a bad drywall job have no long term issues. If the cracks are resulting from your home shifting/settling, that could be a different story.

It's a brand new ceiling that is cracking.

And all of the existing ceiling drywall in the house (that's 40 years old) is fine.

Read back through this and your post on the HI board.

If it was in Highlands Ranch or Erie I would be concerned about settling.

Then I saw you removed some interior structure. Did they maybe take out a supporting joist? Seems like you have sagging in there somewhere. Can you post photos?

We think we've determined that improper mud and/or tape was used. A structural engineer signed off on the ceiling framing that was added when the chimney was removed.

agdaddy04 said:

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Everyone ready for the first snow of the season? Just moved here 3 months ago... besides blowing out the sprinklers, is there anything else you typically do to "winterize" your home and cars? Figured I'd want to get the winter grade antifreeze eventually.

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If you plan to go to the mountains at all during the winter make sure you don't have any water in your wiper fluid reservoir. Make sure to fill it up with fluid that won't freeze. It really sucks when you try to spray/wipe your windshield and instead you just get a smeared muddy mess with zero visibility going down I-70.

I really like the Rain-x all season washer fluid. It's about $3 a gallon at Walmart.

Snow tires are advised in the winter also. I have a set in storage that I will put back on the Prius when winter gets going. For a 4x4 truck you just need a good all terrain tire.

Anyone have good recipe for green chili? We're having a chili cook off in a couple of weeks at work and since we just moved up here I'm only used to Texas Chili which is obviously much different. Looks like mainly hatch and pork?

agdaddy04 said:

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Anyone have good recipe for green chili? We're having a chili cook off in a couple of weeks at work and since we just moved up here I'm only used to Texas Chili which is obviously much different. Looks like mainly hatch and pork?

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I have to abstain from chili cook off's at work because I get triggered by all the "chili" with beans in it.

Seriously though, I really love green chili.

I dont have a recipe per se, I cook mine by feel but it'd be something like this:

2-3 pound pork shoulder cut into small cubes
2 tomatillos
2 jalapenos
4-6 hatch chiles (King Soopers usually has hot and mild. I do 2 hot and the rest mild for my family. Ive also used the frozen hatch chiles you can find in the freezer section when it's not fresh chile season)
1 tomato
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 Tablespoon Goya adobo seasoning
4-6 cups chicken stock

I core all the chiles. Halve all the vegetables and chiles and toss with vegetable oil and salt. Roast in a 450 degree oven until everything gets a nice char. Throw everything in a bowl with some plastic wrap on top while you cook the pork.

I toss the pork with about 1/4 cup of flour and maybe a teaspoon of goya adobo. Brown that in batches. Some add the flour later in a slurry or just straight to the pot, but I've found this brings a lot of flavor and still thickens nicely.

Peel the skin off the hatch chiles as best you can after the've cooled bit in the bowl (i have been lazy and skipped this step and its fine). Dump everything in a blender or food processor and pulse it till its chunky. Definitely dont puree it.

Dump everything back in the dutch oven and cook for an hour or two until it's as thick as youd like and the pork is tender. Season to your liking with salt and pepper.

You could make this spicier with more hot hatch chiles and/or not taking out any of the ribs and seeds. You could also throw a serrano or two in the mix.

We dont really care for cilantro so if its cooked for a meal I serve it with limes, sour cream, and some chopped italian parsley. But mostly it gets frozen and used for breakfast burritos and green chile huevos.

Good morning,

Any Denver Ags with contacts at PDC Energy in Denver? I applied to a job on their website about a week ago that looks like a good fit. I'm interested in learning more about company culture and the position they have posted.

How about this October snow.

Pretty crazy for our first winter. Wife has an appointment down in Lone Tree this morning. Had to drive in from Erie. Pretty impressed with how clear the roads were.

I will say I'm glad I put some Blizzaks on her car Saturday.

I hope it quits soon. Im not cancelling my Sunday tee time.......yet

Yea the last two storms cancelled both October tournaments we had scheduled at work.

Heavy stuff isn't supposed to hit until 2-8 tonight. Evening rush hour is going to be a mess.

The Pilot said:

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Heavy stuff isn't supposed to hit until 2-8 tonight. Evening rush hour is going to be a mess.

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Granted, I left early at about 1pm, but there was literally no one on the roads Tuesday afternoon Sun was out and roads were dry. Quickest commute I've ever had, actually got to speed the whole way home hah.

Yesterday was just about as good, I left about 3:15. Snow does random things to commutes.

TxAggie-12 said:

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Good morning,

Any Denver Ags with contacts at PDC Energy in Denver? I applied to a job on their website about a week ago that looks like a good fit. I'm interested in learning more about company culture and the position they have posted.

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What position did you apply for?

I have a contact in the land department. I'm a Landman, and I worked a few projects for them (one of which was in house). It's a good company.

They're in the process of acquiring SRC Energy (they called it a merger, but it's basically an acquisition), and they also laid off quite a few people in June (I think 15-20% of staff).

I applied to the Midstream Commercial Development Rep position. Can I send you an email? I'd like to ask you a few more questions about your experience there if you don't mind.

What's your email address?

Email is txaggie.210 at gmail