Day 21 Brown vs Gray

Brown or Gray? Which one should we choose?

I think today is the first day nobody has been at the house. Tomorrow is our inspection for the 2nd draw.  We are ahead of schedule. The siding and framing of the master bath was scheduled for saturday and replacing a couple more boards on the front porch.

Day 21 Plan for the week:  Inspection, painting to begin on outside of house and garage, roof garage, drywall and texture inside, install tub/shower combo in bathroom 1.

Day 19 Busy as Bees

It's hard to see but there are honey bees in the tree.  Our tree company is planning on relocating them for us!

From our perspective, the best way for us to start this business is with a fix and flip hard money loan.  Our first house had such a big profit margin that the whole project was funded this way.  In that scenerio, the points and closing costs, along with the interest only were all absorbed into the loan and we still made a profit.

For this house, the budget and loan are a little more strict.  If we wanted to put only 5,000 more into the house, the money out of our pockets

Day 19 Progress: On monday we will be 37% done with the house in 21 days!  The hard money lender will come to house and review the work schedule with Brooke and Bill.  If he's satisfied with the progress the lender transfers the next draw into our account.  The draws are divided into 4 parts, the 1st draw you get at closing, the 2nd and 3rd are when the work is 33% done, and the last is when you list it.  Planning the work and payments to the contractors is important when you don't have all the cash upfront.  It is a great way to start building your business.

Day 18 7am bathroom meeting

I asked Brooke, my business partner and Bill, our contractor and her husband, to meet about the bathroom. I can't get the idea that our original plan can't be executed and that the bathroom will be smaller.  For a master bath, it needs to be extra special.  We all gathered at the house and tried to come up with better solutions.  In the end, the bigger door opening and newer fixtures and the tile will have to be the wow factors for this bath.  The unknown costs that arise with a hundred year old house are a given.

Day 18 Progress:  Doors for garage are done, roof 1/4 shingled, upstairs prepped for drywall to start next week, kitchen cabinets sanded.

Day 17 Dean the doorman

I picked up the door from Dean today.  He did a great job.  He wasn't the friendliest at first, but he actually smiled when I paid him.  You can tell he loves what he does.  I told him to stop by the house and take a look if he got a chance.  I doubt he will.

Day 17 Progress: Plumber started removing the master bathroom, roof has all the repairs done and the flashing and shingles are going on, garage doors being constructed today.

Day 20 Where is Tad?

Can you find the man in the tree?

Day 20 Progress: It took 8 hours to get down 2 trees and get the dead wood out of this one.

Day 16 Roof Inspection

The roof inspection is done and the roof is on fire!, well not really but the workers are! It's so hot out there and yet they are rockin the work!

Day 15 Plumber's But...

The master bedroom needs an updated master bath.  The plan called for adding a double sink, a shower room with 2 shower heads, a separate toilet closet.  Not a bad plan, until our plumber looked under the floor at the plumbing past.  Nothing haunts you like the ghost of plumbing past.  The toilet drains are not up to code.  Nothing bugs me more than not having a job done right.  Nothing is more satisfying than having the means and the courage to do the job right.  Shame on all those plumbers past who do a half-assed job (hehe). With all the fancy stuff we planned AND bringing the drains up to code, the quote came in over the ballpark for us.  Sad that the dream master bath will be scaled back, Happy that the new owners will have the best plumbing ever.  But ohhh if I ever run into one of those plumbers of past, I promise a wedge-y to remember.

Day 15 Progress:  New bath plan, decide on tree trimmer and plan for yard, dumpster switch

Day 11

The sage and the bug bombs were done yesterday.  Clean up inside and out.  Some days appear as if the progress is slower, but each little bit helps.  In this 97 degree weather, it is a wonder we are able to get our workers to be here at all!  Being dirty and hot is not a  fun way to spend the day.

Day 11 Progress: Roof cleanup continues, inside completely clean and ready for the new stuff to start.  Plumbing quotes and tree quotes are coming in.  

Day 14 Kitchen hardware

I was right again, the hardware for the cabinets is going to look awesome. I took some time to clean them up today.

Day 13 The crooked door and Master carpenter.

The roofer was there today clearing some last minute things up. I went to check out doorknobs since I didn't get that done yesterday. On a whim, I made a phone call to uncle Benny's and he gave me the name of a local master carpenter to fix the pantry door. Someone had put cardboard into one of the panels and painted it. Only In a small town can you find a retired master carpenter working out of his garage on a Saturday, willing to repair a hundred year old door. And for $45 bucks. I know a new door is cheap but this old door is so crooked that just the labor to try and fit a new door would cost more. And besides its more fun finding a gem like Dean than the trouble and cursing to fit an old crooked door.

Day 12 4:00 Friday

To do list, get a mailbox, numbers for house, outdoor light fixture and evaluate doorknobs.

I'm happy to just get involved in little projects at the house, so the above list is mine for today.

Day 12 Progress; dumpster full, roof demo done, inside demo done and clean, bids in from plumbers, electricians, and tree trimmers.

Weekly meeting; new dumpster coming Monday 20yd, roof inspection Monday, roof done this week and ready for hard money 2nd draw inspection next Friday, tree trimmer to get all dead branches and two trees down, mulch from trees for landscaping, plumbers bid a bit high but re-evaluate and negotiate a couple items, home depot bulk bid reviewed and discussed for changes, new doors in kitchen?, master shower plan, garage plan. Ahead of schedule and moving fast!

Day 10 Ghost Stories

So Brooke heard that one of the workers arrived first yesterday to open the house and heard someone upstairs.  Nobody was up there.  The doors were locked, I know because I was the last one in the house and locked it up last night.

Now this is the same worker who heard some stuff in the last house.  Only Brooke heard something too one night.  She went there alone to clean up and when she opened the door she heard some sweeping.  We joked that Bessy, the old owner was just helping her out.

I plan on doing some research to find who lived in the house.  Brooke plans on saging the place.  Not a bad idea.  We should make it a practice to clean the energy out of all the houses for a fresh start.

But ghost stories are right up my alley.  I went to the house last night to take some pictures.  I was hoping to hear or see something, but I didn't.

Day 10 Progress:  Roof shingles completely gone, half of roof re-tarped, basement door trim finished, house cabinets, bath fixtures dumped.

Below is my inspiration for the barn and house.  Dark Brown with white trim.  But with a orange-red door. for the garage and front door.    

Day 9 Shingles are everywhere!

Don't worry it's not contagious.  Just messy.  Many OLD houses out here in CO have these wooden shake shingles.  They are just messy to remove, hard to upkeep and ugly after 100 years.   The old wooden shakes were typically western red cedar and possess a low ignition temperature of approximately 378 degrees.  Cigarettes are about 550 degrees!  

Don't get me wrong, I love shake and today's manufacturers of shake shingles for siding and roofs are fire rated, R rated, impact rated and just architecturally pleasing. The new roofs of today are clean and easy to repair while certainly functional.  

Day 9 Progress: more roof down, garage secured, kitchen cabinets out, bulk order to HD for bid

Below garage before........................and garage now!

 

FYI some light reading....Quirky little word detective says this about shingles:

Perhaps Santa will bring us some chips.

Dear Word Detective: I cannot find the origin of the word "shingles" as it is used in the medical sense. It is the zoster virus, and called "chicken pox" in children. In adults, they call it "shingles," and I am crazy to know how that came to be. Help! -- Ivy.

Good question. And what, if anything, does the disease "shingles" have to do with the sort of shingles on your roof? And why, while we're at it, did the guys who fixed our roof last week replace gray shingles with lime green shingles, making our roof look as though it had been hit by a large guacamole meteorite?  OK, that's probably one of those unanswerable puzzles, but we can start with the other two.

There are actually three separate "shingle" words in English ("shingles," the disease, occurs only in the plural form).

The "roof tile" sort of "shingle" derives from the Latin "scindula," a late form of "scandula," which meant "roof tile." That's not a terribly exciting derivation, but "scandula" did probably come from the verb "scandere," meaning "to ascend" and from which, in fact, we also got "ascend" and "descend." Roof shingles, if properly installed (ahem), appear to "ascend" the roof in neat little rows.

The second sort of "shingle" is less often heard and means "loose pebbles or small stones on a seashore or beach." This "shingle" is a collective noun, the singular form referring to an aggregation of such stones, not the individual stones themselves. This "shingle" is also sometimes used to mean just "pebbly beach," and is thought to derive from one of the Scandinavian languages, possibly the Norwegian "singl," meaning "gravel."

"Shingles," the disease, is indeed caused by the zoster virus, which also causes chicken pox, and "shingles" is usually caused by reactivation of the virus in someone, usually an adult who has already had chicken pox as a child. Shingles is an extremely painful disease, causing a blistering rash, usually on the chest and/or back, and can last for months. The name "shingles" derives from the Latin "cingulum," meaning "girdle," referring to the fact that the painful rash of shingles can encircle the sufferer's torso like a girdle.

While we're on the subject, "chicken pox" has nothing to do with chickens, although there is some uncertainty about the origin of the name. It may be that "chicken" was meant in the sense of "mild or harmless" as compared to deadly smallpox, but some sources posit that the resemblance of the bumpy rash to chickpeas under the skin gave the disease its name

Day 8 Monday morning...

 Monday is back and the work is progressing.  A new door to the basement is a preview to the barn style doors for the garage/carport.  These will really add character to the outside of the house. 


 Day 8 Progress: new basement door, porch finished, awning down, closet framed this weekend! 

Pink it is!

Sunday my girls started sanding the kitchen cabinet doors.  Don't cha know that under 2 layers of paint was of course pink paint.  Pink certainly isn't a popular choice today for kitchen designs.  But I wonder, was that the only choice?  Kinda like the olive green or goldenrod kitchen appliance choices or blue bathroom toilets? 

About.com writes, The right feng shui color use can bring a strong shift of energy into your environment. Pink color is the universal color of Love, which makes it a perfect feng shui color to soothe the energy. Its gentle and delicate feng shui vibrations have a proven soothing effect on one's behavior. You could almost say that, as a feng shui color, Pink literally soothes the heart and fills it with love!
The first house we were going to buy had exterior pink paint.  I don't have an old picture of it, I don't think but here it is newly painted.  The owners have done a great job.  We named PinkHouseGirls after this house and the fact the every house we look at seems to have incorporated the color pink in some way.

If pink truely is the color of love, I know we put alot of pink back into the houses we fix.

Day 6 Sorry Grandma

I would say that most old styles are pretty cool, except this one.  I have never seen this, but apparently everyone that's been in the house so far has said, oh yeah, my grandma's house had that, or I used to live in a house with one of those.  The web is pretty resourceful except when it comes to finding what this is.  I'll just call it what it is, an ugly plastic dirty plate that covered a hole in the wall.  Sorry grandma.
Day 6 Progress:  I didn't go to the house today, but someone was definitely at work!  The master bedroom closet is now framed.  It is so big, any woman would love it, the closet that is.

Day 7 All Inclusive where I get to drive everyone nuts

Flipping houses offers me all the things I like to do in a lump project.  Shopping for new things while trying to get them at a good discount.  Designing old with the new to make a place more functional yet stylish.  Recycling (I drive my boyfriend nuts with this) the old things like kitchen hardware, metal sinks, old doorknobs, or just taking those things we are not re-using to local places like Goodwill, Restore, or my all time favorite Uncle Benny's!  (I drive my kids nuts with wanting to go there just to look).  Blogging about the little funny things that happen during a project. Being an owner and boss of everyone (just kidding, I say that kinda stuff to make our workers laugh or drive them nuts.  I think I'm funny.)   Making Money, which is always a plus. So I guess I've found something that I love doing while driving everyone else nuts.  Life is good.  Now if we can just add some of the elements of this kitchen to ours, it will be great!

Day 7 Progress: I remeasured the kitchen space so we can get the cabinets on the Home Depot bulk order.  Both Home Depot and Lowes will give you discounts on a contractors bulk order if it's over a certain amount. We got all of our kitchen appliances for the last house for about 2,100 bucks by doing this.  They are all new with warranties and the new home owners can move into a complete package. I also took down the cabinet doors so I can just sand and paint them separately.  My girls want a project to do, so I am giving them this one.

Lights!

 Here is the view from the front door. We need a light for this room that will really stand out. So many choices! 

  

Day 4 It should be Illegal...

Look at the porch columns! It's going to be so nice.  

The brown house with the mango door is the inspiration for the porch columns.  I love the colors too.  We are deciding between this mango or an orange door with the brown paint!

 

I am highly convinced that paint should only be sold to a professional.  Case in point, look at the house next door.  Green with green trim.  Really? I guess it will only make ours look even better.

Day 4 Progress: 2nd floor ceilings 1/2 demo, porch columns and floor build, all inside demo clean up.

Day 5 1978 Grease vs 1897 Grease

According to the records from Larimer County, this house was built in 1897.  81 years later the movie Grease was filmed.  115 years later I am removing grease from the house's kitchen cabinet latches that I so desperately want to keep. It is the inspiration for the kitchen design.  I am trying so hard to figure out why I do things like this.  I like the latches, I like the movie Grease.  I do not like the 115 years of grease and paint built up on these handles.  I can't find a connection between the two greases except the dates have the same numbers.  Is that enough to justify this tedious job?  Apparently so because all I can think about is how great these will look when I'm done.  So I'll just enjoy my OCD-ness about these fabulous latches and throw on the movie while I clean the grease off.   "Your the one that I want....."

Day 5 Progress: New 30 yd dumpster delivered, 20 yd picked up already, permit for roof, roof demo, inside carpets 2nd floor out, porch columns and porch floor done, kitchen cabinet salvage, 4:00 walk through update and happy hour!


Week 1 plans discussed: concerns about kitchen cabinets, discussed plans for lower cabinets, style, tile floor designs, main bath insert 2 piece verses 1 piece, master bath shower 2 shower heads verses 1, sink re-positioned to other wall, discussed sliding barn doors for bath and shower, barn door build and design, basement door rebuild, closet design, sanding floors with a dark stain finish, 2nd floor carpet verses painting floor, trees down and trimmed and mulch used for yard.  Making 2nd door in master bedroom a window.