A project

[MO_cows]

In the little town we live close to, more than 1 out of 10 homes is in foreclosure. Every block has empty houses with notices in the window. Not mcmansions, either, modest older homes. They have been selling so cheap it is unreal. So my dad took a wild hair and bought one, a 1950's ranch. We helped him fix it up. Here are some before and afters.

The original hardwood floors were beyond refinishing. There had been paint slopped all over the woodwork.

We replaced baseboards with new, many were missing anyway, got the paint off the rest of the woodwork, painted and put down a laminate floor.

The bathroom was already mostly gutted. The toilet had a crack, we think it froze. So we put in tile and new fixtures.

The kitchen cabinets were good, just needed cleaned. There was a closet that had been turned into a refrigerator alcove, badly, so we took it out.

We patched the ceiling and floor where the closet was, added tile backsplash, painted, etc. Countertop is ugly but it was almost new so we left it for now.

The house has a covered patio out back, nice place to have a BBQ and keeps some of the afternoon sun off the house as it's the west side. Also has a big fenced back yard.

All in all it turned out to make a comfortable home, way cheaper than you could buy a single wide. Makes me want to try another one to flip but prices are still so depressed I don't quite have the guts.
Anyway, that's what we have been up to.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice work turning that around!

 

[Ryder]

You made it pretty.
Congratulations on a job well done.

 

[MO_cows]

Thanks! We drove past this house every day, the front yard was always neat as a pin and it was kind of a shock to see how tore up it was inside. The neighbors said they hauled away several dumpsters full after the house got foreclosed. Don't judge a book by its cover I guess. Doing most of the work ourselves saved a lot of money, had new carpet laid in all the bedrooms, a friend did the tiling and we did the rest ourselves. But there was a few times if I wondered if I would be able to get up off the floor after working down low for hours at a time.

 

[Jogeephus]

Nice job! I took on the renovation of a house once and I know how tedius it is but its worth it in the end. Means a lot more when you do it yourself.

 

[cow pollinater]

Looks fantastic. I've tried to do that a few times and I've realized that I don't have the patience or the skill so I can only admire with envy. :lol:

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

You did a good job. I'm in the mortgage business and I see lots of before and after deals and you guys should be proud.

Now go do one and flip if for a profit! You've got the talent, use it.

 

[Cattleman200]

Looks like an outstanding job ! Congrats!


Circle H Ranch

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Very nice!! Y'all did a good job. I love seeing these kinds of things.

Katherine

 

[James T]

Good work!!! I've done this before as well and learned the key was keeping your costs down (do the labor yourself when you can) while applying as much lipstick on the house as possible. You did a very nice turn around!

 

[bigbull338]

yall did a great job reworking that house an fixing it up.my nephew in law does the samething.he buys houses fixes them up an rents them out.

 

[melking]

Yes, the key is a quick turfn with minimal expense. The mistake most newer investors make is that they fix it like they were going to live in it instead of just fixing it so it is livable.

 

[MichelCleark]

Nice and creative work.. I did a wooden flooring into my kitchen room but I could not get such finish because I finished my work in a small time. Well, you did an excellent job. I really appreciate your work.

 

[TexasBred]

You did a good job. I'm in the mortgage business and I see lots of before and after deals and you guys should be proud.

Now go do one and flip if for a profit! You've got the talent, use it.

That will be the problem. With 1 in 10 in foreclosure doesn't sound like a good place for a speculator in the real estate market unless maybe you want to own a bunch of rent properties.

 

[Arkansas]

In the little town we live close to, more than 1 out of 10 homes is in foreclosure. Every block has empty houses with notices in the window. Not mcmansions, either, modest older homes. They have been selling so cheap it is unreal. So my dad took a wild hair and bought one, a 1950's ranch. We helped him fix it up. Here are some before and afters.

The original hardwood floors were beyond refinishing. There had been paint slopped all over the woodwork.

We replaced baseboards with new, many were missing anyway, got the paint off the rest of the woodwork, painted and put down a laminate floor.

The bathroom was already mostly gutted. The toilet had a crack, we think it froze. So we put in tile and new fixtures.

The kitchen cabinets were good, just needed cleaned. There was a closet that had been turned into a refrigerator alcove, badly, so we took it out.

We patched the ceiling and floor where the closet was, added tile backsplash, painted, etc. Countertop is ugly but it was almost new so we left it for now.

The house has a covered patio out back, nice place to have a BBQ and keeps some of the afternoon sun off the house as it's the west side. Also has a big fenced back yard.

All in all it turned out to make a comfortable home, way cheaper than you could buy a single wide. Makes me want to try another one to flip but prices are still so depressed I don't quite have the guts.
Anyway, that's what we have been up to.

I do Construction work and additions on the side, looks gr8. Should had kept the hardwood unless it was more then 1/4 wear on it. Which seeing how there is some finish still on it would had been fine. As for the paint you can take a finishing knife and tape it to a broom stick and it will take most of the paint up. Then sand it with 40 grit then around a 60 or 80 then eventually 120 and finally finishing up with 200+ grit paper. You can get a sander or rent one for about 100 bucks for the day. You can take the finish off completly with the 40 grit as long as the paint isnt bad after using finishing knife then once thats done switch over to 120 and sand out imperfections. Make sure you use a good sealer, true hardwood floors add quit a bit valor to the house. So always try to save if possiable.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Your Dad must be thrilled. Looks great.
While we were at the NY State Fair, 4 nephews, a niece & two kids from Rhode Island arrived at my house from Thurs night to Monday night - and showed up at the NYSF twice. Unknown to us, they had been planning to redo the bathroom. Brought a trailer with everything they needed & all their tools.
Totally gutted - floor, ceiling, walls, toilet, tub - everything gone, insulated & replaced. Put in a walk in shower (for us old folks), tile - and replumbed the whole basement! They worked their hiney's off but had a ball.

 

[Aaron]

Very nice job!

 

[MO_cows]

Jeanne - what a nice thing for them to do, and they must be pretty darn skilled to get it done so fast!

Thanks all, it tickles me to see my dad own real estate, finally. It took him until his 70's but by golly he did it and without borrowing. It was a family project. Dad, me, hubby, our son and a sister in law did everything but the tile. My stepdad did that.

Those floors were beyond re-finishing. One, there was a pizzing dog in that house and there were lots of black spots that went deep. Two, they were warped from the 93 flood. The sanding that shows in the before pics was to take out the high spots. Three, they are late 50's hardwood, all short pieces and not as nice to begin with as the older floors you see from turn of the century and before.

 

[Arkansas]

Jeanne - what a nice thing for them to do, and they must be pretty darn skilled to get it done so fast!

Thanks all, it tickles me to see my dad own real estate, finally. It took him until his 70's but by golly he did it and without borrowing. It was a family project. Dad, me, hubby, our son and a sister in law did everything but the tile. My stepdad did that.

Those floors were beyond re-finishing. One, there was a pizzing dog in that house and there were lots of black spots that went deep. Two, they were warped from the 93 flood. The sanding that shows in the before pics was to take out the high spots. Three, they are late 50's hardwood, all short pieces and not as nice to begin with as the older floors you see from turn of the century and before.

O sorry didnt know they had been submerged and cat/dog piss will ruin them. Anytime any wood has been submerged its no good to refinish. Because mold builds up on the underside and releases mold spurs through out the years. Same with cat/dog piss.. Couldnt see that from picture, look like someone had tried sanding but you cant really tell how something looks in a picture