BiggerPockets

Dirty Old Man House 6

Wednesday, May 09

Ok guys, haven't updated in a bit..that's my fault.  We're moving along pretty good.  I'll be honest, I can type all day, but I don't enjoy transferring photos to drop box.  Then downloading to my computer.  Then uploading to  Bigger Pockets My Photos.  Is there a better way?  It takes me forever, and is the reason my updates suck.  On to the job...

We're moving along very nicely..Framing was finished and all rough ins completed.  Here are a few pics of the roughs:

This is the kitchen. Here you can see electric wired in and plumbing for kitchen sink roughed in also. To the left is a lower window that will feature some cabinets and a desk.  Gonna look great when done!

Here is the other side of the galley kitchen. This wall will have built in fridge, pantry cabinet, built in oven and microwave, and a little slice of countertop as well.

We passed all our rough in inspections on the first go around. We then called in for our framing inspection.  Happily, we passed that on the first go around as well, and got the insulation going.   It only took a day to insulate, but unfortunately, it took the inspector a few days to get back out there...

Here is a pic of the kitchen looking into the breakfast area and out over the stairs leading to the basement.  

Here is a pic of the master suite upstairs insulated.  Sheetrock was stacked everywhere at this point.  Inspector didn't make it out until the following Monday, so we had to push back sheetrock guys...they were supposed to start over the weekend  :( 

While the subs were roughing all the mechanicals, I decided to have a few guys tackle the stucco outside. When I pulled off the aluminum siding, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I found awesome looking old stucco that gave the house a great tudor look. I need an artisan to go in and restore it. Also, there was siding pulled off other parts of the house with no stucco underneath it. So there, I had a decision to make....add wood siding or add stucco---after I saw this guy's work there was no question. Man, I think his stucco work is gorgeous..what do yall think??

Here we are starting to make the pattern..

See what we're trying to do now??

Like I said, I believe this guy is a true stucco craftsman...

Here it is primed up...

I'm pretty happy.  Old restored stucco is on top.  Newly added stucco design is on bottom.  I think it looks fantastic!  At this point, I also finished trimming out the boxing and added some moldings.  You can see some crown in this photo under the boxing. 

Here's a few pics of another area where we had to add stucco/trim...

Questions? Comments? Advice? Any and all is welcome :)

Dirty Old Man House 5

Tuesday, March 13

Whoops! It's been too long for an update...well the house is done and sold!!!

nah just kiddin..hasn't been that long, has it?  :)

Sorry for the delay on updates, but I've been staying busy.  Also, this is a very old home (almost 100 years), so I had to wait for an engineer to come out there and sign off on a few framing changes. 

Besides a few small framing changes here and there, however, the floorplan is set.  Plumbing rough in is finished, HVAC should be done tmrw, and electric should be done in a few days.  Once these things are all done, it really is difficult to make floorplan changes..although I did sneak in 2 small changes this weekend..whoops!  At the last minute, I found a great way to add a coat closet at the front and a linen closet for the hall bath without interfering too much with the flow of the house!  Never can have enough storage :)

Since the last update, the new roof is on.  I decided to add boxing over the edge.  This overhang will really give the home more character and pop!  Here the guys are doing the roof and adding boxing. You can see the overhang on the front gable. Doesn't that look so much better than how it was before!?!

Probably not the best angle, but this shows the overhang on side gable as well...sorry not a great photographer!...but just wait until that stucco and woodwork is done..it'll really pop then! 

New shingles on..and a mess in the front yard...those dumpster companies sure were slow for us that day!

The landscapers have done an incredible job cleaning up the backyard..I think the backyard and deck will really help sell this house...hoping for grass on the back part of the yard behind the retaining wall by the time it's on the market..I can sod the front..here the guys are working on the retaining wall..

Retaining wall finished! 

I decided to move the back door to the breakfast area, since I moved the stairs down to the basement right where the old backdoor was.  Since I was having to demo the brick, I decided it was worth it to make a real big deck with french doors!  Here's the french doors installed and the beginnings of a gorgeous craftsman style deck!

Here are the stairs going down to the basement...While the brick mason was opening up the doorway for the french doors, he also opened a few spots for small windows in the basement..it's gonna look great down there!

I always like to update and modernize these old historic homes while still retaining some original charming features. I am a sucker for a beautiful clawfoot tub. This one is huge..over six feet long. This is how real tubs are packaged!  The master bath is going to be gorgeous with this tub starring as the main attraction..wait til I post those pics  :)

Below is a pic of another home just about finished. A parter I met through Bigger Pockets and I did this one together--how cool is that?!! It's in the same neighborhood just a few blocks down the road. It was a 2 bed, 1 bath bungalow originally built in 1926. I'm very proud of this gorgeous craftsman beauty now...it features 5 beds, 3 baths, study area and media room! Check out the amazing addition!!

Ok ya'll..stay tuned for more updates..I'm going to make an effort to do much better at keeping yall informed..

Questions, comments, advice..any and all is welcome :)

Dirty Old Man House 4

Friday, February 10

Ok this Dirty Old Man is getting cleaned up, and soon will be a refined gentleman  :)   Yesterday we continued framing and opening up walls...it's really coming along nicely.  I had one awesome surprise tody and then one not so great surprise...it happens  :)

1st surprise: Check out the stucco/wood work below..it really gives this house some character.  It was uncovered when we removed the old siding.  I was planning on replacing siding, but now that I have some tudor charm, I'm going to break off any weak crumbling stucco, and reskim, then paint...This will look awesome (and is cheaper than replacing siding)!!

The second surprise I sorta knew was coming. The house has the old one and a half inch wide strips of oak hard wood floors..I love them, and they're not the easiest to find anymore. They've been preserved under carpet for years, and with some sanding, will come out beautifully!  Unfortunately, due to the roof leaking for the past few years, certain corners of a few rooms are rotted BAD.. I'll have to do my best to replace, and feather them in to make it look natural. It'll still look great, and I just hope we can keep most of the wood still. That'll save some on the budget :)

Other than that, the stairway going up is rebuilt and is now wide enough and has the appropriate slope to meet code.  I decided to keep the hallway wall open to the stairs instead of rebuilding, in order to keep the house feeling open and fresh.  I also have put a few arches throughout the house to mimic the front door. 

We also added a 1/2 bath under these stairs that will be perfect for entertaining.

I've been having some trouble locating a great place for the stairs that lead down to the basement. I didn't want to keep them under the main stairs because there were main beams and girders that would've been a pain (and expensive) to move to give the appropriate head clearance (80 inches here)...Also, I'm only finishing off the back 1/3 of the basement, so I wanted to move the basement stairway to the back of the house.  I had it planned out before so that it was jutting out into the breakfast area, along the back wall of the house.  It just looked strange, but I was able to keep the backdoor in place. I really hate having to fill in brick on old houses as sometimes it just doesn't look quite right. Anyways, I finally relented yesterday after talking to an interior designer who is absolutely correct. I'm moving the stairs to the old area where with the back door.  This area is more or less dead space anyways. Now I'll just add french doors to the back deck off the breakfast area. It will be a better. bigger, and more attractive space for sure--I'll just have to figure out how to make the bricks look good on the outside.  :)  Below is a pic where the stairs will go.  This space previously was a laundry room/walkway to back door.  Now that I'm moving laundry to upstairs by the master bedroom, this space will best be served as the stairway!  You can see a bit of the windows on the right.  This is the breakfast area off the kitchen, that will get the french doors.  :)

Questions, comments, thoughts, advice? Any and all is welcome :)

Dirty Old Man House 3

Tuesday, February 07

Well, demo is just about finished.  The lumber order arrives tomorrow morning, and we can start framing!  The framing is broken down as follows:

1.  There is some serious rotted wood from an old neglected roof (and neglected house in general).  Water damage seeps down to the basement.  I need to support the structure of the house with good, solid wood.  Some sheathing and 2x4's will need to be replaced as well. 

2.  I'm making framing changes to make the home more livable, functional, and be a little more open.  I'm still keeping the formal dining room, but will open up the kitchen to a rear area that can be served as the breakfast room. There will be a small granite breakfast bar between the two areas that will serve as a counter, but also make it feel more open. This is the kitchen currenlty.  At the end of the galley will be an exit to the back deck on the left, and to the right will be the breakfast area. 

The stairs have to be reframed since they are not to code anymore.  By redoing them, and relocating the basement stairway to the back of the house, I'm able to add a 1/2 bath under the stairway.  Before, the hallway looked very narrow and boxed in.  I plan on not walling up the stairs on one side.  It'll look much more open with just pickets going up the one side. 

These are currently my stairs to the second floor.....

After waterproofing, I'll be framing up a bonus area and a study/5th bedroom in the basement. 

I'm adding a few arches to mimic the front door arch. 

There is a side porch that was closed in.  I am fixing the foundation under this porch with joists, and then opening it up to make it part of the living room.  This was that area a few days ago...

Most of the window headers are not to code and have to be replaced with 2x8's. 

I'm vaulting the ceilings upstairs, which will require a lot of wood!  :)

On an awesome, happy ending, I'm thrilled with the back yard...

thoughts, tips, questions, advice?? any and all is welcome.. :)

Dirty Old Man House 2

Tuesday, January 31

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OK, i think i figured out how to post pics to a blog...

Anyways, after a few delays, we closed yesterday...Started cleaning up all trash, debris, and brush this morning. Should be 4 to 5 30-yard dumpsters between trash in the yard and in the basement. The floorplan is very boxy and closed off, so I plan to gut and open that up, as well as make some room location changes.

The house itself has great space.  It's currently a 6 bed, 2 bath home with a full unfinished basement.  The staircase is narrow and steep so I have to change that and widen it to 36 inches.  I'll keep yall updated if anyone wants..

The Dirty Old Man -- Post #1

Thursday, January 19

Ok gang, I have let this blog go.... :( 

I apologize for my apathy, but I do really, really hate computers. People seemed to enjoy my blog, and I somewhat enjoyed it as well, so I'm going to try and give back. Experts may learn nothing from my blog (although I could make an argument that we're all constantly learning, and some knowledge can always be gained....but that's another issue)....Beginners seemed to really groove with my blog when I was doing it back in the day..so here's my new year's resolution to get it back on track :)

BTW, I don't believe in New Year's resolutions..if you wanna change your  life, don't wait til new years...DO IT TODAY!  I guess that's why I decided to start this on Jan 19...random...

Anywhoo, I will try my best to catalog a house I'm working on picking up. I'll show you the ups, the downs (yes, there's both), and some photos along the way. I will never share a location or my numbers--it's just the way I am so please don't ask again.  

BTW, if and when people ask (bc I know they will), we can all just say, "dude, refer to The Dirty Old Man House #1!!.  So again, I'll repeat it in case you missed it...I won't share location or numbers.  OK, now that we have that settled.  I have a property I won at auction and am set to close in a week.  BC I can't refer to the address, I named it the "Dirty Old Man" house..it's a dirty old stinky house with a lot of life left..just needs a bath and some new clothes...you get it....ok. 

Stay tuned for details....  :)