Sunday, 9. August 2009
Backsplash wall before.
- Backsplash wall after
Took another two days to replace the 1960’s contact paper on the shelves, clear out more stuff from the shelves, figure out a place for the microwave which turned out to be too big to fit under the cabinet left of the sink like I wanted to, but it fit on the right side of the sink, and a few other small things.
Moved a small 1960’s era table and two 1970’s era chairs from my back room (the junk room) to the kitchen, so now it is a proper eat-in kitchen complete with a walk-in pantry 
I think it will show a lot better when I list the house.
My dogs hate it. Before, I had a carpet runner between the back door and the archway to the living room. Now, it’s all clean, slick, shiny vinyl flooring… walking on it is no problem. But if they try to run on it to go scare some poor squirrel out of the backyard, barking all the way, they slip-and-slide and loose all grip on the flooring. It’s actually very funny… think a drunk trying to walk on a ice skating rink Poor pups!! It’s hysterical watching Binkie get halfway across the kitchen, then back up, and go through the living room, office, bathroom, and master bedroom, circling all the way around the house, to get out the back door! I keep telling him if he would just WALK instead of RUN across the floor, he could save himself some time! Coco’s like 15 years old, so she pretty much never runs… the floor doesn’t challenge her at all, yet she also walks around because she just doesn’t like the way it feels on her paws, best I can figure. Lassie the Cat isn’t real fond of it either… but Lassie almost never goes through the kitchen anyway, preferring to get out through my bedroom window Boy is he going to be pissed when I close that down for the winter!
Reminds me, that’s another thing to add to the “to do” list: Fix the doggie door, so it will securely latch.
Pantry wall before
Pantry wall after
All told, not including the break one weekend for another yard sale, it took eight days to get the kitchen into shape.
My total expenses were $69.72, for new electrical outlets and light switch, ice maker hookup and water line cap, white paint, PineSol (used the whole bottle!), contact paper, painter’s tape, and new door handle for the back door.
The “before” pictures, sigh…scary stuff…be afraid, be very afraid. The “after” photos I made using the very nifty featured called “Make Panoramic Photo” in Vista’s “Windows Live Photo Gallery” program. You take a bunch of different photos, and it will “stich” them together, to make a panoramic photo. It actually works quiet good, although some of the alignments are a bit off – honestly, my wall’s not split like it shows in a few of these. But I thought they gave a much better idea of the finished kitchen. Well, almost finished… I still have to clean the ceiling, mop & shine the floor, replace a light switch, a few minor things that I’m not worried about right this instance. Anyway, here they are, enjoy!
Orange wall, before.
Orange wall, after.
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Thursday, 6. August 2009
I’m approaching the kitchen one wall at a time. Yesterday was the backsplash wall, today is the oven wall… meaning, the wall where the oven and my half-size dishwasher are. Also known as the Orange wall
I’m also rearranging the appliances, to make room for a table so my kitchen can be a proper “eat-in” kitchen. It always was meant to be, but I never eat in the kitchen, I eat on the couch watching TV like most Americans do! So years ago, I moved the fridge to the pantry wall, installed additional cabinets, tons of shelving, and added a half-size dishwasher. I now have to basically undo everything I did eight-ten years ago, so the kitchen will show better.
Orange wall before
Besides, it’s cluttered as all hell. Honestly, it’s not quite as bad as this photo shows… well, not normally… anyway, I pulled the dishwasher and oven out, and finished laying the floor under where the oven was, a reflooring project I started using 12 inch square stick-on floor tiles but never finished. I also had to replace two floor tiles by the door that had torn up.
Orange Wall in Progress
Took shelves down, patched holes, resurfaced the wall next to the oven where the tiles had fallen down some years ago…what a BITCH that was!! Ended up having to sand it down and layer it back up with spackling paste in like 20 very thin layers!
Washed the wall That orange is brighter now, yes indeedy!
Any ideas on how to clean a ceiling? Mine is, no joke, dusty!! And of course, it being a kitchen, much dusty-steam has settled on the
ceiling. Really don’t want to repaint it… although I probably should consider repainting the ceiling solid white *sigh*
Got the fridge pulled away from wall and ready to move into place.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave the shelves up above the stove like I originally planned… seems my fridge is a bit wider than the original fridge,
and, in fact, wider than I realized… only way to keep the shelves was to move the bracket over about 8 inches towards the cabinets…and
then the door to the cabinet would bump into the edge of the shelves!! Sure, could move the right side bracket, then cut the shelves to fit,
but screw it, too much work Keep it open looking this way… hang some picture above the stove, or a big fun 50’s-60’s style clock (no
doubt I can find something funky at goodwill) over the oven.
Besides, turns out the shelves were too high for the microwave, I couldn’t reach it once on the shelf, not being freakishly tall or anything
Orange Wall Done
The silver with the orange and the black trim really pops, don’t you think?
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Wednesday, 5. August 2009
So there I was in Home Depot, looking at paints, I wanted to find some more of the primer I used on the kitchen countertop, so I could paint
the kitchen tile, make it look better. It’s pretty grungy green, after all, not to mention there’s holes where the insulation was blown
in, mis-matched tiles, cracked tiles, even missing tiles. I found a box of those god-awful plastic 1950s tiles in the basement, but they
were the frosted green that was originally used in the bathroom, not the matte lime-ish green that was used in the kitchen. I did use them anyway to replace the missing tiles and the tiles that had been drilled through when the insulation was done, plus some of the cracked ones. Of
course, it doesn’t match… but still, was better than nothing.
Still, got to thinking, someone walking in considering buying the house, wouldn’t like to see mismatched kitchen tiles… after all, we
DO spend a lot of time in the kitchen!
Kitchen wall after repair, before cover
Anyway, the primer product specifically designed to be used on formica, ceramic tile, and other super-smooth surfaces, is still being
manufactured. Unfortunately, of course, it’s gone drastically up in price since I bought it oh, nearly 10 years ago! $26 for a single
quart!! Which would be enough – just barely – but I also need to buy paint, and then the sealer to use after painting, and of course, the sealer spray is $16.95 a can, and I know I would need at least 3 cans, having used the stuff on the countertop before… and of course, a roll of painter’s tape at $3.96. Plus paint…I’m looking at $75 or more just to make the tile look somewhat better in the kitchen!
Sigh.
Kitchen backsplash in progress
I asked if they still sell stick-on cover-up tiles… these are aluminum squares painted different colors, or just brushed aluminum.
I’ve seen them before on DIY channel… you use 2-way tape to stick them on. Not elegant, but would look better. I remember looking at
them before, almost bought them before actually. But apparently they are no longer manufacturered. However, they could special-order me a new product called “Smart Tile” – it’s a vinyl/gell-like tile that also uses two-way tape or construction glue. And it’s thicker, about 1/8″, so it’ll hide cracks and stuff. He showed me this brochure,
asked how much, and he said $9.95 a box. I was like SOLD!! They look fantastic, and had all kinds of different styles! Could order them and be here within 3 days! I then asked him how many boxes do I need to cover about 24 square feet… I’m figuring probably two or three, since most ceramic tile comes in 10 or 12 square foot boxes. He then
tells me I would need TWENTY FOUR BOXES. WHAT?!? That’s over $230!!! Apparently they come in a box of FOUR
TILES. Just four! You gotta be kidding me!! I could retile the entire area with ceramic or some of those cool new glass tiles for less than $75!! Sure, it’d be a major friggin hassle, requiring some major demolition pulling all the old tiles off, ripping out the sheetrock and replacing it with wonderboard substrate, got plenty of mortar and grout left over from the bathroom… it’d only take me oh, 2 or 3 weeks… but it could be done. Thanks, but no thanks.
kitchen backsplash done
So off I go, wandering around home depot, just browsing, kinda getting a little stressed and a lot bummed out. I really do NOT want to show the kitchen looking the way it does, the kitchen is SO important when showing a house. Figured I’d go home and check online for something, some sort of idea.
And then I came across the perfect idea. Sitting right there on the shelf, just staring at me, calling my name, “Here is the answer, look here at me!”
Contact paper.
Not just any contact paper, but METALLIC contact paper. In brushed stainless steel. $9.95 a 24-square-foot roll. And EXACTLY
one roll left.
Glory Be!
Contact paper. Wonderful, fully-washable, fully-water-proof, super-thin so no need to replace the countertop trim edge or wall
edging, inexpensive, practically indestructible contact paper.
So off I went to the cashier hugging that precious roll of metallic brushed stainless steel contact paper, gleefully checked out, got
home, and attacked the kitchen.
Fortunately, I happen to have plenty of TSP (a very weak acid-wash solution), which is perfect for cleaning the grunge off the tile and
smoothing out the surface just a wee bit. Even though it is more work, I cut the contact paper into tile-sized squares, so I can better conform to the texture of the tile (plus makes it easier if a piece needs to be replaced).
well, I still must clean the countertop
I must admit I was a bit nervous when I put the first few squares on… wasn’t sure how it would look, I’ve always wanted to replace the
tile with stainless steal to keep in that 1950s “Diner” look and feel of the kitchen. But the nerves were unnecessary. I really like the way it looks. It went on super-easy, and although there are a few rough patches because the tile beneath is dinged here and there, it just actually adds to the character. I’ll have to buy another roll next time I go to town, as one roll wasn’t quite enough.
I really like the way it looks
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Tuesday, 4. August 2009
Now that I decided to try to sell my house, I really have my work cut out for me. I mean really. I’ve lived here for ten years, which means I have ten years of clutter to get rid of, ten years of accumulated minor repairs and cleaning and long-delayed painting to do, ten years of projects started but never finished to complete.
It’s a huge project, especially if I am to get this house listed within 4 weeks, which is the timeline I’ve given myself. I want to list it before labor day.
I’ve never actually sold a house before, but I’ve seen enough shows on HGTV to know I need to make the house look as good as possible, and to maximize my sales price, I need to get as much actual work done as possible.
To make it even more challenging, as if selling a house isn’t a challenge enough, I have zero money to spend and pretty much have to do all the work alone, by myself, while also working as many extra hours as I can to get as much money together as I can to either pay the past-due mortgage payments, or put aside to move once the house is sold. Or foreclosed upon. I will use some of the money from the yard sales towards necessary items for repairing and repainting the house, I figure at best, I’ll have about $300 to spend. So a tight budget both time-wise and financially.
On the plus side, it’s good exercise Anyway, after doing a really hard look around my house, leaving the rose-colored glasses in the trash, here’s my list of things to do to get the house ready to sell. Be afraid, be very afraid *grins*
In the kitchen:
- Repair broken wall tile – it’s “Tri-Bond” plastic tile that was installed in 1958. It’s cracked, broken, missing, and just plain grungy. I can’t replace it all – I looked into that ten years ago, and it would require pretty much gutting the walls. The plastic tile was mortared directly onto the sheetrock with this rubber stuff, anytime you attempt to remove it, the sheetrock comes off with it. done.
- Finish recovering the kitchen floor (started 8 years ago) done.
- Replace several out-of-code electrical outlets. The house was wired for electricity in 1928, quite a few of the existing outlets and light switches are the original ones installed in 1928, made from “BakeLite” plastic. Very nifty, very unsafe. Fortunately, most of knob-and-tube wiring was replaced in 1956 (don’t ask why they didn’t replace the outlets and switches at the same time), I replaced the remaining 1928 wiring in the house about nine years ago.
- Install a GFCI
- Rearrange appliances done.
- Remove shelves, patch walls, repaint done.
- Declutter and clean done.
- Replace the shelf lining on every cabinet shelf (it’s Con-Tact paper installed approximately mid 1960s).
- Replace the door handle on back door done.
- Clean the ceiling – since I don’t have a proper exhuast fan, dust-laden steam has accumulated on the ceiling.
- Figure seven days of work.
- Added and done: Put shelves up in pantry to make it a proper pantry.
In the living room:
- Get rid of futon that is acting as a couch – it’s just too big, looks sloppy done.
- Rearrange furniture done.
- Patch walls, repaint three walls and the ceiling done.
- Remove the almost-room-sized carpet remnant (it’s fugly, to say the least, but works for me) done.
- Clean and oil the gorgeous 100 year old solid oak flooring that is under that fugly carpet done.
- Get rid of the big dresser I have the TV on, repurpose smaller wood shelving as a TV stand. Will look better, take up less space
- Remove shelves behind front door currently housing my DVDs done.
- Fix front door, it is starting to fall off the hinges (it is original door!)
- Finish the front window replacement – replaced the window five years ago, but never finished putting the molding up around it nor did I finish staining, varnishing and painting it.
- Rehang the doorbell
- Rehang the smoke detector
- General cleaning done.
- Figure two days actually took 8 days.
In the office/small bedroom:
The house is considered a three bedroom house, however, I converted the small front-facing bedroom to an office. Since I already decluttered in here just before I decided to sell the house, there’s not too much to do, fortunately.
- Pull the carpet out – carpet in here was installed in 1984, and it’s threadbare, to say the least.
- Oil the gorgeous solid oak hardwood floors laying beneath that threadbare carpeting
- Rehang the original door
- Stain the built-in shelves
- General cleaning.
- Not going to repaint the office, instead, I will offer whoever buys the house the option of my leaving this room as an office (the desk and far wall shelves are all built-in, the desk is just plain gorgeous if I don’t say so myself, considering I built it myself!) or converting it back to a bedroom. If the potential buyers want it converted back to a bedroom, I will remove all the built-ins, patch everything, and repaint, before closing.
- Figure two days of work
The Bathroom:
I started to remodel the bathroom almost immediately after I bought the house ten years ago. As is, obviously, normal for me, it’s a project that was never finished. It is, fortunately, almost done.
- Finish hanging the remaining two rows of ceramic tile on the wall
- Finish patching where the new wonderboard and the ceiling meet
- Grout tile
- Grout marble floor
- Paint walls, ceiling
- Hang remaining molding
- Stain the bifold doors
- Install locks on bifold doors
- Stain threshhold
- Hang medicine cabinet
- Hang towel rack
- Buy and hang mirror
- Install the new wall light that I bought a decade ago but never installed
- GFC was installed by electrician but has never worked properly. Need to get it fixed.
- Declutter and general cleaning
- Figure three days of work
The Master Bedroom
- Rearrange furniture done.
- Get rid of ugly, falling-apart dresser, repurpose the white cabinets I pulled from the kitchen as a dresser not doing.
- General cleaning and decluttering done.
- Repaint entire room
- Check the CO detector – it’s ten years old, probably should replace
- Install smoke detector
- Pretty it up, so it looks more like a bedroom and less like a place I read books and watch TV
- Sew new curtains.
- Figure just one day
The Utility Room:
- Remove the broken linoleum flooring, it’s all loose and chipped. Then just paint the concrete floor that will be exposed once the linoleum has been removed done.
- Clean the walls, if that doesn’t do the trick, repaint the room. Total hassle, hope it is not necessary done. Cleaning alone worked.
- Replace the lock on the back door
- General cleaning and decluttering done.
The Back Room
- Get rid of the piece-meal carpeting that is back there. There is a bunch of various shapes and colors of carpet scraps on the floor, all mismatched and loose. done.
- TSP the floor, paint the floor (it’s concrete) done.
- Patch all the screw holes from the dozens of bookshelves I used to have hung there back when I used the room as a bookstore. Huge project done.
- Clean, declutter done.
- Paint walls, ceiling done.
- Clean windows
- Replace glass in small window (broken)
- Clean the thermal curtains, consider just removing them for showing house. done.
- Figure two days took 8 days! Ack!.
- Added: Fix doggie door so it will latch securely
- Added: Fix the HUGE crack in the floor that I discovered when I removed the carpeting. done.
- Added: Recaulk all the windows done.
- Added: Repair/replace south windowsill that has dry-rot. done.
- Added: Repair broken wall panel below south window. done.
Upstairs:
Upstairs is a large attic that was converted to a large room in 1956, then remodeled/finished in 1978. I actually have barely used the room at all during the ten years I’ve lived here… it’s been kinda the junk room, and occasional spare bedroom for drunk friends needing a place to crash However, it was occupied by the ex-boyfriend’s 16-year-old son three summers ago, and he did a real number on the room. We let him put a small window air conditioning unit in the window so he could stay cool … well, he tilted the back of the unit “up” so that the cold air would hit him on the floor… he broke the 40-year-old cast-iron bedframe at one point, so the mattress was laying directly on the floor because I refused to buy a new bedframe. Well, when he moved the AC unit, all the condensation started pouring down the wall and floor, instead of out the back of the unit and outside as the unit was designed. This resulted in some serious water damage – I had to pull out an entire section of wall, floor, and carpeting that still needs to be replaced.
- Finish replacing wall sheetrock
- Finish replacing carpeting and padding
- Repaint as needed
- Replace broken glass in window that he broke done.
- Replace window screens that he knocked out
- Replace insulation in the wall where it was water damaged (soaking wet insulation was removed at time of incident)
- Replace ceiling light fixture that he broke
- Replace smoke detector, it no longer works
- Tighten the handrail on the stairs, it’s become somewhat loose
- Cleaning and decluttering, as needed
- Figure five days
The Basement:
The basement is more of a root cellar than a proper basement, it’s small, only about 8′x8′, enough room for furnace, water heater, and some storage. When the house was built in 1904 or 1910 (not entirely sure, both numbers show on various paperwork) the original foundation was done by rough pouring concrete using dirt berms as a “mold” instead of plywood framing as we do now, which means the interior-facing surface is rough and uneven, with up to a one inch difference in depth. In 1958, the owners at the time had the house lifted and the foundation replaced, and they refaced the interior of that one wall by simply mortaring on another layer of cement, about 3/4″ thick. No adhesive used, no lathe, nothing. Over time, that refacing has flaked off, re-exposing the original interior of the wall. The exterior side of the foundation has never been sealed, which was never a problem as we really don’t get much rain here… never a problem until this summer. We’ve had a ridiculous amount of rain this year, the foundation has been seeping water through it into the basement. Not a major problem, as structurally it’s still sound, but it means I have work to do.
- Call Mark – a structural engineer friend – and have him inspect the foundation, double-check that the water issue this summer hasn’t caused any structural issues (I’m sure it hasn’t, but having a proper structural inspection won’t hurt, and he’ll do it for a home-cooked meal!) done. Good news, house is structurally sound!
- Seal the exterior of the foundation all around the house
- Added: Knock out old, loose mortar in cracks from improper/badly done repair job done probably in the 1950s and remortar the foundation cracks.
- Remove the remaining sections of the interior mortar refacing, then reface it properly
- Fix broken window
- Replace the window well (clean it out too, as it is leaf-cluttered)
- Patch hole in heat duct leading to master bedroom done.
- Rehang the duct leading to the office/bedroom that has fallen can’t be fixed
.
- Consider painting the floor, or the walls, with sealant (ask Mark about this also)
- Fix crack in stairwell (not a structural issue, as it’s just stucco) done.
- Replace the one wooden step that has cracked (but still sound, just looks bad) done.
- Declutter and clean
- Figure four days
The Garage of Doom:
- Get rid of all the crap left behind by the ex-boyfriend that is still in there done!!!!
- Get rid of all my own junk that has accumulated mostly done.
- Get garage door realligned so it closes properly
- Fix garage door lock
- Figure one day, plus one or two yard sales just for the stuff in here ended up having eight weekend’s worth of yard sales.
The Potter’s Shed:
- Fix two broken windows
- Fix door so it closes properly
- Clean and declutter
- Figure one day
- Added: Repaint around the windows and along the ground, as paint has chipped away due to weather damage.
The Exterior:
- High-pressure wash the exterior, clean the windows
- Install gutters. I have no gutters. Got quote of $680 for gutters – OUCH! Need to price materials and talk someone into helping me hang the gutters myself. Got Mark to help me, have it half done.
- Fix the one steel siding panel on the front porch that has fallen
- Finish the exterior molding of the front window that I replaced
- Mow, rake, clean up done, but thanks to storms, needs to be raked again!
- The privacy fence is falling down. I don’t have the money to fix it properly, but need to look into some sort of repairing. Front fence done, still need to do south yard fence.
- Figure four days
Well, not too intimidating… I am lucky that I’m such a pack-rat, I have most of the materials and tools already that I need to get this all done. And when I’m being honest with myself, I realize this is all stuff that I would need to do anyway should I continue to live here – or frankly, should have already done!
How the hell I’m going to get it all done by myself with no money in four weeks … but I’ll get it done. Somehow.
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