Wallpaper Woes

My hands hurt so badly I really don't feel up to typing this so it will be short and sweet tonight...scraping wallpaper (that is PAINTED on in two wallpaper layers) is not an easy removal process...

Before (imagine wallpaper layers painted over, though I know this picture looks very good compared to what it looked like in person):

Day One (Just one wall, two layers of wallpaper and the two layers of wallpaper border gone (on one wall) but in need of the glue and backing removed):

Day 2 (Today, glue and backing removed as well as a bit of the 3rd layer of wallpaper as well as the two wallpaper borders):

My Dad was horrified yesterday when he saw me removing that first layer of wallpaper...I said "what do you think". He looked it disgustingly and said "I think it was better before" LOL bless his heart he just couldn't see past the ugliness..but I'm glad I did it, as it was very dirty under the edges of the paper at the top of the baseboards where it overlapped, the paper was painted and there were holes underneath the paper...it's a work in progress.

My goal is to have all wallpaper removed and holes patched and everything CLEAN before moving in. Once it's clean, I can always take my time painting and texturing after I'm there. As long as I can keep a little kitty out of the paint...and the best pic of all is Mietta at the new house:

The Biggest Issue Thus Far

Bathroom, before photos...doesn't look too bad, really. The surprise is underneath:

Now what it looks like once removing the 2 layers of vinyl floor to reveal the hardwood...

Since I've pulled up the layers of bathroom vinyl flooring, I had some unpleasant surprises. There was a patched area under the left corner of the bathtub and the hardwood was crumbling due to it's poor condition.

Over around the toilet, the floor was extremely weak and also had water damage. I had my handyman look at it and give me some quotes on the repairs. As I kept thinking about that floor and the fact I needed some other floor surface on it, my mind kept going to tiling it. I really would love to have that a tile floor for several reasons...one it keeps water out of the subfloor, two it's attractive, three it's easy to keep clean and four it adds instant value to the property.

After alot of thought, I called my handyman last night and asked him instead of repairing the two issues, how much he would charge to remove the existing hardwood and replace with a smaller thickness of plywood to allow room for me to tile the floor. The original quote for the repairs was $350 but to do the entire floor? $400! And, that includes adding shut off valves to the toilet, hot and cold water supplies for the sink, removing the old vanity and toilet to make way for new ones.  

This floor change will allow me to lay the tile (which I can do myself, as I've done that before) and then it will be much more or near level with the floor that goes into the hallway. If need be I can use a landing strip there to offset the difference. Now, I don't have to try to graduate the decline to the hall which would be very tedious and time consuming...plus I have a level clean surface in which to do my tile project for only $50 more. I'm so glad I thought it through before he got started!! The carpentry work begins tomorrow!! :)

Going Tankless Possibly!

The past couple of days I've dealt with plumbing and electrical issues. The electric was turned on and the air conditioner didn't work. The water was turned on and no water came out. Soooooo....a call to a local handyman I'd used in the past and $55 later, the water was working and the AC was working....I was very happy with those prices! Evidently the AC had sat so long unused, there was a blockage in it that was fixed very easily. As for the water, I didn't know the previous owner had been out to the property and had left the water on during some pre-purchase plumbing work. So, when the utility company came out to turn it on (as I requested), they turned it off instead! LOL oh well it's all on now.

The water heater however is very very VERY old and very disgusting...it will need to be replaced no matter what as it's an old unit that's in the physical shape of a washer or dryer. Once the water was turned on, there was a small leak at the washer's cold water supply where someone tapped into it for an ice maker in a refrigerator plus the water heater once I cut it on at the circuit breaker had a small leak in the bottom of it as well. The $55 fee my handyman charged me fixed the AC, the cold water leak and got the water "on", as well as gave me quotes for the new water heater including putting it in a different room.

I'm very seriously considering getting a tankless water heater. These are more expensive on the front end but save lots of money long term, uses less energy and it will come with a tax credit. It's something I really want to do not only for those reasons but it will also take up less space in a small home, as it just hangs on the wall. I'm trying to think long term and do things as I want them from the beginning....and take my time with it, as I can. My handyman tells me the water heater will be fine to use as it for a couple months but to keep an eye on it as it's a very very slow leak.

And, yes, I know everything is very very dirty....the cleaning began today on the house as I finally have water in there. Future pictures will start looking more sanitary lol

But, I'm really excited about the tankless water heater...instead of that ugly cylinder taking up an entire corner of my laundry room, imagine this on the wall instead:

So much to think about and decide...and so much money needed. This is going to be a long slow process but one that I'm very excited about and ready for :)
Rhonda

How It Began

After being divorced in early 2010, I moved into an apartment complex. For several reasons I felt like this was the best place for me at the time. It was around other people (close but not too close) and it was very near my work. Fast forward through alot of trials and tribulations and suddenly I found myself realizing that a house payment would actually be cheaper than my rent, I could have my own place, I wouldn't have to worry about confidential things being left in an apartment where the staff come and go as they please without warning, and most importantly, I would get away from the issues that have been arising as some less than ideal people were moving into the complex.

One afternoon I decided to play around with the idea of buying a house and began looking at realty websites. In doing that, I found a house that was ADORABLE. I decided to drive out to look at the exterior and then the following day I could contact a lending agent to see what I could qualify for. On the way to that house, another one caught my eye. There was a for sale by owner sign in the front yard, had a cozy little vintage feeling to it, and somehow I just had a nostalgic feeling when I looked at it. I called the number on the sign to find out pricing and more information about it after I returned home. While the house I went to look at was a beautiful, move in ready, bungalow style house...the other one had my attention because I could take it and make it into what the other one was...and then some because it had more character as well. When I called the sellers, they told me the price and that it was in need of desperate attention as it had been a rental property for several years and then had sat empty for a year. The sellers are a super nice couple and honestly I couldn't have found anyone better to work with, as they've been so relaxed and laid back during this process. I truly feel blessed to have had this house and those people put into my path. They told me I could go out and look at it the following day....so here's what it looked like that day- July 24th:

This house is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath cottage style house built in 1959. It's in an older, established neighborhood. It has a sweet dining room, kitchen, large living room and a laundry room. The interior (not counting the garage) is a little less than 900 square feet. There's a nice porch on the front and a large detached garage to the right in the back. The acreage is less than 1/2 an acre.

As far as the outside of the property and the first exterior task, there were briar bushes with vines full of briars that trailed onto and around the wrought iron handrails and decorative trim, across the steps and up the side of the house.  Those are completely gone now as seen here:

So far so good...every day there's progress and one less thing to do each and every time something is completed. My cottage adventure has begun....can't wait to see how it ends :)
Rhonda