Turning a House into a Home Part 4

We finally got the power turned on at our house today. It has been a long drawn-out process that was much impeded by red-tape. And then they didn't put a work order into their system after saying it was there to actually get a crew out until yesterday. 

While the rains last week finally cooled it off it has been HOT working on the house, and humid. And there is a limited amount that can be accomplished without things like power tools, which require power. 

And apparently you can't get electricity turned on without a licensed electrician, then the State inspector and then the power company's approval which took three weeks and then they didn't turn in the paperwork! I called and was told nothing was done and we needed papers from those three people and I about had a coronary. Thankfully after multiple calls and time spent on hold I found someone who knew about the paperwork. Then all I had to do was ask - again for it to be turned on. At least they came out the next day. 

 

A quick recap - its almost time for before and after pictures!

The master bedroom has been painted, walls and ceiling

We now have the hallway and the three bedrooms painted and all that is left to do in them is to lay the floor. Now that we have power we can start on that. 

The laminate flooring in the master bath being removed.

Once Blair removed (in some places chipping off dime size pieces at a time, thanks babe!) the old laminate flooring in the two bathrooms, my brother was able to fix the plumbing on the sink in the master bath, install a new toilet and move the old one into the hall bathroom. 

New toilet and flooring in the master bath

Then my dad and uncle laid new laminate and we started painting the walls white in the bathroom.

We might have half the house completely done by the end of this week now that we have power!

Demolition Day Two (Turning a House into a Home Part 3)

Day two of utter destruction closed with all popcorn ceilings stripped down (full tutorial coming tomorrow) and carpet removed from the bedrooms, the kitchen laminate ripped up. Basically anything that could be taken up or down is now out of the house, except for the bathrooms and we are ready to start making it our own.

Working on ceiling

Ripping up carpet in the bedrooms

Finishing touches in the dining room

Carpet is out

Removing the tacking

Removing final shelves left in the house by the previous owners

Checking the state of the slab in the living room

There is some scaling, and cracks

Office is clear

Baby's room is ready to go

This will mean multiple trips to the dump

Chipping up the kitchen flooring

Will have to work on removing the glue in the kitchen once we have power

Demolition Day One (Turning a House into a Home Part 2)

Needless to say, this house needs a LOT of work. But that is one of the main reasons we bought it. It was bringing down the value of the entire neighborhood and the people who were looking at it were making my mom nervous the lower the price got (there is a big meth problem in our area :/ )

So we bought the house. (Yay! I love fixer uppers, that makes them more yours when all is said and done.)

Unfortunately I am on pelvic rest for the last two months of my pregnancy due to low lying placenta so I can't do anything to help in the house itself except stay out of the way and snap a few pictures because the before and after shots are going to be AMAZING and I can't wait to show them to you!

I've spent most of my time doing laundry, and making sure that there is frosty iced tea and good lunches available for everyone doing the actual work. My brother and sister-in-law have been down helping out a lot as well.

The day after we closed this is what happened:

Blair smashed the tile out of the entryway

Ashley apparently Hulk-stomped tile out!

Proud of their work

Countertops are gone and the rotting drywall ripped out

What was the laundry area is now demolished

This lovely mess is why it is great my brother worked as a plumber for 4 years

Backsplash being ripped off

And sometimes chiseled off...

Hall bathroom vanity gone 

Master bath vanity gone...

The thing Blair hated most about the house getting torn down. 

Piece by piece...

Removing popcorn ceiling - a tutorial coming later

Ashley did most of it

It is messy work.

Progress on the terrible faux brick wall 

Piles of fake brick

Now the "built in" shelves

And the end of day one

Turning a House into a Home Part 1

We bought a house! (as in my parents have decided to invest in a property and we will be renting from them, totally the same thing)

It is a total fixer-upper.

The entryway and view into the kitchen

Entryway if you look to your right, total 70's living room

Ahh, the kitchen, a leak in the roof has been rotting out the insulation and drywall behind the sink for years

The sink and counter, check out that backsplash

No idea why they thought the addition of 12" wide counter would be helpful

Three different colors and types of counter top, all in one shot

No stove

Full view of the kitchen from the dining room

The dining room, the sliding doors lead into a breezeway with a crooked floor

living room area

custom shelving, yay?

The rest of the living area

living/dining/kitchen view

The three different tile and vinyl flooring that meet, not including the awesome floors in the bathroom 

Hallway to the bedrooms

The hall bathroom

What will be an office

end of the hall/entry to the master bedroom

Loving the floors 

Master bedroom

Master bath, there is SO MUCH ROOM

It's like a spa

Everyone wants one of these 

Baby's room!

Looks perfect for a little boy

We closed on the house the Friday before Labor day and spent the weekend in DEMOLITION MODE. Pictures of that process will be coming soon!