House Stuff

I am pretty sore all over. I thought I would show the progress we have made in prepping our house for renters. I met with a property manager who surveyed the house to assess what we can get. I told him of a few projects we still have to finish, and that we are leaving nice stainless steel appliances and a nice GE washer and dryer, and he is confident we can get $1450 which is pretty much our mortgage. Made us feel a little better about the transition.

He offered to have his contractors come do my projects for me and gave me a list of pricing for each. The prices were reasonable, but with encouragement from my very independent and skillful neighbor who does EVERYTHING while her husband is overseas, I decided to take on some of them myself. I pulled all the weeds in the front garden and scraped out as much of the white rock I could, to lay down mulch and plant these nice chinese holly shrubs. I bought these ferns which I think add to the appeal of the front of the house.

Before

After

I already replaced the front light fixture, and FINALLY affixed our address to the house lol. For 3 years we've allowed deliveries to rely on the addresses around us lol.

Then I removed the sink vanity downstairs...that was hard. I turned off the water supply to both valves. That vanity top was really glued/caulked into the wall. I used a pry-bar and flathead screwdriver and eventually got it out, but with much damage to the drywall. I took out the mirror, disconnected the sink, and had John carefully lift that HEAVY vanity top to put in the garage and take to the dump. Then I pulled out the actual cabinet, which was harder than I thought (it was almost exactly the length of the wall, so it was crammed in).



I worried about the drywall damage, but looked up DIY videos on youtube and decided to try these steel plates that can mend sheetrock holes. I also bought a big tub of joint compound. Those mending things are amazing. I first sanded down the area, there was a big hole on this side:





Then I placed some joint compound in the hole, covered it with the steel plate, attached to mesh/netting. It had an adhesive side, so I made sure it was flush with the wall, and applied the compound to the outside. Let dry overnight, sand, repeat. For the money and work, they are well-worth it compared to replacing a huge piece of sheetrock.

Then I picked a darker tan color to paint the bathroom, and am finishing my second coat today. We took out the old baseboards and quarter-round and bought new ones. We are currently waiting to hear back from people about extending the woodfloors into the bathroom, as we have a lot of leftover wood. Once that is in, we can add the final touches---I found this small vanity and sink for $34 at Home Depot! Still looking for a nice mirror though.

John wanted to spend more money, but I convinced him $34 was the way to go--especially for a downstairs halfbath, and especially for renters.

I know the color seems dark, but that light in there is so bright, it works. I think once we have the sink and mirror and flooring put in, it will look great



Then we had my brother James' friend Bryan (who has his own Landscaping company at age 20!) come over to maintain our yard, as our lawnmower stopped working as I was cutting the grass...he and his co-worker did a great job--lined up the lawn/driveway, weedwhacked around the house too! Today he came and repaired the back deck (from dog damage), and power-washed it, so he can re-stain it tomorrow. All for a very good price, plus the price of supplies of course. He also powerwashed the front of the house which looks nice and clean and white now. :) We have hired him to do our lawns twice a month, up until we have renters in november, to whom we will also recommend his services.



Everything's powerwashed and clean!

He's going to re-stain it tomorrow. I think it will look great.
Anyway, it's not all finished yet, but the house is coming together. Our next big thing is painting the rest of the house..what a tiring task. How will I do it while keeping L + O away from it, and keep them from breathing in the fumes? We'll make it work. I hope it will pay off. Once I complete the bathroom, I will take more pics. I am pretty proud that I was able to do a lot more on my own, and for less money. It makes me want to do more things (more personalized) to our next house.

More checks marked off on the list :)