Thursday, December 27, 2007

Flip This House, without the drama.

Sooo......it has been along time since I have done a blog....or wanted to. But, Philomath, which is a town and the sole term used to describe my life, and Em's heartburn, over the past few months is starting to come together. We bought the house in late August, but didn't really get moving on the renovation until John and Jenn came back and kicked us out of their house, where we were quite comfortable mind you, in early November.

Em and I, with the occasional help of my parents, who must be getting very bored at home to come up and scrub the grime off of cabinets, have spent most of November and December renovating the 1800 sq ft house. Here is the deal between Em and I: if Em works at the hospital, I go to Philomath. On her days off, I either stay in Eugene and we work on Mist, which is rare, or she gets the joy of working on philomath on her days off. Lucky her.

Here is a quick summary of the work we completed.

First, there was the 30 yard dumpster of stuff that had to be hauled out of the house. Being a foreclosure house, the previous owner didn't exactly steam clean the carpets for the new owners, rather he left his food in the fridge and drug razor next to the bed.

Then I demolished some outdoor structures that look horrible and unsafe and spent some time on the yard. This was still in August.

Then the real work got started. I fixed some ceiling and wall cracks, and then Em and I painted the entire house. Funny how it only took two sentences to describe, but two weeks to accomplish. We had carpet installed and added a gas fireplace.

Before:
Living Room

After:
Living Room

We tiled the kitchen counter and my mom scrubbed the grim from the cabinets and touched up the finish. I tiled the main bathroom (floor, tub, and countertop) and Em painted the vanity and added new hardware.

Main Bath Before:
Main Bath

Main Bath After:
Main Bath

We loved the bamboo in our Mist house, so my parents, Em and I added bamboo flooring to the dining room, kitchen, and breakfast area.

Kitchen Before:
Kitchen

Kitchen After:
Kitchen

There are, of course, more rooms and pics not to be included. Your welcome.

Ohh, my thoughts on working on houses. So far the worst day of working on house....out in the driving rain with one foot in a 3 foot deep trench full of mud was marginally better then the average day at the office. So for the most part, it is good.

Sooo....we are not done yet. I am still working on the Master Bath, more of the same there. And then, with the help of my father, we are tacking the dirty job of trying to add a foundation to a small "mom-in-law" unit on the property....then, we'll sell the SOB....we hope.