So I bought a new house and it has come with some surprises!

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by MikeN

Very nasty, and very cool man, when is it on TV? haha

but I am impressed...what was the total investment in that? seems like the repairs would be in the 100K+ range.

Not sure I follow? Are you asking how much have I spent so far doing these fixes? If so, it is just north of a 1/4 of your estimate to do all of this so far.

• new bathroom
• all new windows
• new exterior doors
• sub panel to garage
• framing and insulation in great room
• remove wall downstairs
• new carpet downstairs
• new paint downstairs
• new furnace hot water tank
• new shingles
• new front boardwalk
• new grass area in back
• new fridge
• new to us stove and dishwasher
• new paint in bedroom
• new vanity

When you are not paying for labour it can make your dollar go further It pays to pick up some tool and do it yourself.

[AcGold]

That's an insane story. I get grumpy if there's socks on the floor that should be in the hamper. Think I would lose my mind being in a house like that for 5 minutes.

[cupraisedn89]

Damn I just read this while thread. Surferguy this is awesome! The transition is looking amazing and the money you've saved doing it...

[Thor]

I love to see reno's then I get sad realizing how little I know about home renovation and how I have to hire people to do this stuff.

Great job dude, keep the updates coming!

[indes]

Wow! Im paying 7000$ in labour for 1300 sq. Ft. Of flooring right now

[surferguy]

The battles slowly continues on.

Since my last update two months ago I have achieved success in two more rooms.

The second bedroom and the kitchen. Just paint for the most part but enough to make it look acceptable until we decide (afford) to take out the main wall. Until then here is another set of pictures.

Bedroom before:















After:







In the end it is mostly just a fun paint job. It is just nice not to look at the exposed windows and no baseboards.

Next up: Kitchen Update

[surferguy]

The Kitchen:

Again mostly paint. The windows needed to be trimmed out and a lot of mudding done to get it back to decently smooth walls. I also did the baseboards.

Eventually I will remove the wall the cabinets are on and completely change the layout of the room/entire house. For now - fun paint jobs.

BEFORE:













AFTER:









This wall is chalk board paint and the painter is a stencil I built.

I also built the crash cart with my father in the first "after picture." It still needs a couple of drawers added on the bottom as well as a wooden shelf for the recycle boxes to sit on - the current spruce plywood isn't up to my standards lol!. Now that the kitchen is done this will be my next job to tackle.

That is all for this room! The next room I will work on will be the great room. Ill start with the same fixes as the last two rooms, then once the house is complete I will come back to work on the great room. Lots of ideas for this space. It will go well beyond a simple paint job. Excited for this project!


One last image:

The boardwalk in the snow!


Cheers

[Hockeyguy15]

With all the beans you are buying you should add TP to that list!

[nik-]

Is that boardwalk just a deathtrap in the winter? It looks like it would be slippery.

[Simon96Taco]

You do some great work. Inspires me to get some done on my own place!

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

With all the beans you are buying you should add TP to that list!

Done!

Originally Posted by nik-

Is that boardwalk just a deathtrap in the winter? It looks like it would be slippery.

Not at all.

[nik-]

I wish I had the guts to do some of these things myself. I'm too worried about screwing it up. Even painting I'm worried that there will be lines and such.

[Madman]

I really like the lines you did in the bedroom.

How did you keep everything straight and parallel?

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by Madman

I really like the lines you did in the bedroom.

How did you keep everything straight and parallel?

Ruler and a chalk line. Then taped the chalk lines.

[Nyah]

Now I want a giant chalk board wall in my house...

[cam_wmh]

Great read & impressive work!!

[rohara66]

Edmonton = No Good!!!

[Locke]

Good Lord, where do you find the time and energy? I get home from work and I'm basically a zombie.

I love the chalkboard idea. Thats awesome.

[Huntingwhale]

My buddy and his wife run a day home and in one of the small nooks they put that chalkboard paint up for all the kids' activities and such. It's so freakin' cool that I would do that in my house if I could.

[red sky]

Looks great Dion.