Starting Over

Well, here I am again. After 2 renovations with Matt, I'm starting out on my own with a new house. I swear the last renovation had nothing to do with our break-up. (Ok, maybe a little). 

I recently purchased this vintage little gem in the historic Murray Hill neighborhood in Jacksonville, FL. Built in 1950, it's a classic example of a vintage mid-century ranch with french cottage accents. I think it has a lot of potential to really play it up. The bones are solid. It just needs a little love.

This is long term project, so stay tuned. It's gonna be fun. 

Before Pics: These are from the MLS listing before I moved in. Cute, right?

                                                                     

       

  

Day 8

The crew has decided it is too pretty outside today to work. They dropped off the tile at 1:00 and are playing hooky. I, however, am left to play in the renovation dust.

P.S. I would like to thank my wonderful partner, Matt for staying out of town during the worst phase of the renovation. I am so glad you have not had to tolerate the jackhammers, chisels, hammers, dust, debris, farts, burps, belly rubs, ass cracks, blocked driveways, footprints, smudges, barking, overflowing trash cans, chemical smells, peeling paper, flying plastic, paint drips, and the overall emotional rollercoaster ride of seeing your home destroyed by strangers. This is so much easier when only one of us is freaking out.

Day 5:

We decided since we were killing the evil garden wallpaper, we might as well get rid of kilt on the bathroom walls as well. They were distracting, to say the least. Who puts plaid on a wall?

Fortunately we were unable to save the bathroom mirror. So now we have to redo the entire bathroom. Damn.





                                                                                                 

Day 4:

               



Kill it. Kill it before it grows!












1982 called and they want their wallpaper back. Luckily, Pat Sullivan from Wallpaper Plus has come to my rescue. The atrocity that has plagued me with nightmares since moving in is being removed today. He says it will take a day and a half to property exorcise my kitchen of this evil print wallpaper.

 I suspect this paper will not go quietly into the night. Pat said one of the best ways to remove is stubborn wallpaper is to spray it either Downey fabric softener or vinegar. If you have paper like mine, a combination of holy water and Napalm is the better option.

Day 3

The plastic comes down and our new textured ceilings are revealed. Eddie did a wonderful job and finished on time. I am cautiously optimistic this renovation wont result in a nervous breakdown.

They even cleaned up the mess. I highly recommend these guys. At least until I get the bill.

Burning Down The House

Lucky for us, burning some debris is permitted in our neighborhood. Some of the termite infested wood from the bathroom made it's way into our burn pile, along with tons of yard debris I have been cleaning out of the yard. Some lessons learned about burning debris the hard way:

Check with local fire department on burning restrictions and rules. Make sure there are no burn bans in the area.

Place your burn pile as far away from home and other structures as possible.

Look UP! Don't place your fire under phone, cable, or electrical wires.

Do Not use a 5 gallon container of gasoline to start your fire. When it starts, it will flash and pop. You could lose your eyebrows really fast and the neighbors may think there was a terrorist attack in your yard.

Have a water source handy!!!!

Don't burn on a windy day. Santa Ana wind conditions is not the best time to burn your wood.

Be prepared to console your neighbor when you burn down his favorite tree. (Sorry, Mr. Jones.)

Have your cell phone in your hand or close by to call 911.

The Pressure Got To Me

Last weekend I got a new toy. A Task Force 1600 PSI 1.5 GPM Electric Pressure Washer. 

Powerful cleaning for the powerful woman that hates to clean! It's less than $100.00 at Lowe's, packs a pocketful of punch, and is sooo easy to use. It's a point and shoot time saving scrubbing powerhouse with almost no kickback. I spent all day Sunday shooting off 50 years of pollution, grime, pollen and dirt from my sidewalks.

It cleaned out all the roots in the cracks of the sidewalk better than chemicals and scraped fingertips ever could. And the fire ants absolutely hated it. Which is just a bonus! I didn't realize how dirty my concrete was until I cleaned off the filth. My only regret is that I didn't get a more powerful one. HA!

And the best part is, with a little bit of practice, I will be able to write my name in the snow better than Matt.

Keeping it on the Down Lowe's

matt ordered all the supplies he would need to renovate the bathroom in September. (And I suspect a few other things as well based on the credit card statement I just saw). he told Lowe's to keep everything together and deliver all at once when the order was complete. And here we are, almost the third week of October and the order still hasn't arrived. It seems the tile and all the tiling supplies have been lost in a renovator black hole somewhere in the universe.



Lesson 12: Special orders will NOT arrive on time, no matter what they tell you. Don't expect it, don't count on it, don't cry over it. Nothing can be done about it.








And of course, it's the next step in the bathroom renovation process, so nothing else can proceed until the tile comes in. In the mean time, I am forced to share My bathroom with matt. I won't go into it here, suffice it to say that couples should always, always, always have separate bathrooms.

Lesson 13: Keeping a sense of humor is essential.

Divine Intervention

I witness a Miracle on Monday. It was small and went unnoticed by millions, but it was a Miracle non the less! matt and I went into Lowe's to see if they could match the exterior paint color from a small sample we pulled off the house. They couldn't, of course, but that's not the Miracle. After walking around and pricing some items for an hour, we managed to walk out of Lowe's WITHOUT SPENDING ONE DIME!!! Unheard of. I swear, I heard a chorus of angels singing as we returned to the Jeep with no push cart full of drywall or plants or paints or doors or floors or tile or anything else!
I was filled with the Spirit. I might have even started talking in tongues.

But, matt could feel the pull of Lowe's credit card succubus. During dinner, he suggested we return to Lowe's to pick up the mulch I want for next weekend. But I held strong! I would not allow so much as one penny to defile the Miracle.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

While Matt was in the attic, he discovered a couple of broken support beams. He says one that is supposed to be holding up the roof is split in two. He suspects it was hurricane damage. It could have been either from Ike or Rita. I think when they replaced the roof after Rita, they just did a patch job and ignored the bigger damage. But this was before I owned the home. I seriously doubt my insurance will cover it now. And it is something we can't fix or afford to have fixed. Luckily, there is no immediate danger of the roof collapsing in on us. So I defer to the great wisdom of Sergeant Schultz, "I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know  nothing"


Lesson 11: Get a home inspection before purchasing house and after every hurricane! Just because it looks ok, doesn't mean it is. Insurance adjusters, previous owners, and contractors will miss damage they can't easily see.

Weekends are for Working

Working a full time job through the week is no excuse for resting on the weekends. It's Saturday, and I was  up at 6:30 this morning setting up the yard sale. Getting rid of mostly Matt's old tools that he swore he had to replace with shiny new ones. Also selling the lights, switches, ceiling fans we just replaced in the house. Hoping to make back some of the money we just spent on the new stuff.


So I sit here in my garage pricing, haggling, tagging, organizing, praying for customers to come buy our extra stuff. 

Lesson 10: Garage sales are great if you live in the city, not so great if you live in a remote location out in the country.

On the upside, Matt got the new exhaust fan and shower light installed this weekend and is almost done sheet rocking and green boarding the shower walls.

Room for Renovation

Can someone tell me why a man with a 15x25 foot recently organized work shed complete with tools has to cut sheet rock in the living room using a box cutter against my beautiful antique buffet? 
Because he is a man. That's why.



Lesson #9-Use your space wisely. All spaces are up for grabs during renovations.








Tip: Each person living in home should select one small area to keep free of all renovation debris, tools, clutter, supplies, etc. 

Utility Room Not User Friendly

I started on the utility room yesterday. I immediately made a mistake. I was peeling off the vinyl backsplash so that I could paint instead. The plan was to paint the side walls and just tile the back wall to save on costs. Come to find out, not only can you tile over the vinyl, but the backsplash is attached all the way down behind the counter. So, right at the edge, pieces of vinyl are sticking up that can't be removed without removing the cabinet. Looks like I will be tiling the side walls after all.

Also, I started taping off the trim and cabinets to paint. I went to tape off the ceiling, grabbed my trusty ladder and drug it in the house. When I tried to stand it up, it wouldn't fit! The ladder is taller than my ceiling! And the step ladder is way too short. I need to either grow a couple of feet or get a ladder that fits my house.

Lesson #8- Have the right tools for the job before taking it on.

Trash or Treasure?

Funny thing, one of our biggest problems so far is in finding a way to dispose of the construction debris. The wood we can burn in the back yard. But our trash company wont pick up tile, drywall and other debris. Not to mention the rusty 4 foot x 4 foot heavy metal school lockers that were in the work shed.We were going to rent a dumpster, but that cost 600.00. Everyone we talked to suggested taking the stuff to the landfill ourselves. They only charge 27.00 a truckload. But, I think when they say truck load, they mean pick up truck. not uhaul. We would tow it ourselves on a rented low boy, but I don't have a hitch on the back of my Jeep. I think we may have to break it up and hide it in with our regular trash. haha. Lesson #7-know in advance how you are going to dispose of demolition debris.

Tip: Craig's List and yard sales are a great way to dispose of a lot of unwanted items.

I listed the metal lockers on Craig's List and by the end of the day had 3 replies. The next morning they were gone. I imagine this will also work well with toilets, tubs, cabinets, etc. Just be careful for the scammers. There are quite a few on Craig's List

Bathroom or Bucket?

Matt has started deconstruction on the bathroom now. And surprisingly, we are having more problems. lol. He found extensive termite damage to the linen closet. Enough that he will have to replace most of the 2x4s, shelves, and drywall in the closet and tub. We have called orkin to come out and inspect to see if the termites are still there. I can only hope the previous owners took care of the termites, but left the damage for us to fix.

Yesterday Matt removed the faucets and shower head and the wall they were attached to. And for some reason added valves to the pipes in the closet behind it. He says it will be easier to shut the water off at the shower if there is a problem than all the water in the house. It kind of makes sense. But while he was sautering on the new valves he charred the support 2x4s. So now it smells like the house caught on fire. He says that wont be a problem later. And there are nasty char marks on the wood. Lesson #6- Sauter away from wooden structures supports.

Good thing we have two bathrooms, or he would be doing all his business outside. He still may before this is all over with.

Why Renovating Bugs Me

Matt and I have loosely divided responsibilities in the effort. I am responsible for most of the landscaping, curb appeal, and painting and limited assistance in deconstruction and reconstruction. Matt is responsible for plumbing, electrical, drywall, construction, demolition (which he is really good at, lol) and we share in the design ideas. Lesson #2-Dividing the labor helps, but don't expect each other to work at the same pace. We will see how it goes.

Last week, Matt ordered most of the supplies for one of the bathrooms. But in order to do the bathroom, he claimed he needed to clean out and organize the work shed first. Of course this led to him finding rotten wood in the support structure and termites. So before anything else can be done, he replaced the back wall of the work shed. We weren't expecting that! 

Lesson #3 -you will find termite damage in Texas when you see wood. My boss told me there are two kinds of houses in texas, those that have had termites and those that will have termites. uggg.

While he was replacing the damaged back wall, he found the back corner of the roof was rotting away and several shingles needed replacing. And the gutters were hung incorrectly. But it's just a work shed, so those renovations are on hold. Lesson #4-when renovating you will find unexpected problems that will cost you time and money to fix, so Prioritize.

Last weekend, I spent all of my free daylight hours either in lowes or cleaning out the front gardens for replanting. And in doing so, realized the exterior of house has some cracks in the brick that will require sealing and painting and the shutters need to be replaced with something not so black!

As Matt was installing new ceiling fans/lights in the living room and dining room. We took out the gaudy ceiling fan that was centered between the living room and dining room. This of course has left us with a nice square hole in the middle of the ceiling which will have to closed and painted. Which means the entire ceiling will probably have to be painted as well. arrrgggg! Lesson #5-removing one thing will lead to having to fix something else even bigger.