Fidalgo Fixer - Month Four Update

I finally have an update on the Fidalgo Fixer, and there is not too much to report for in the past four months. As you remember, we purchased this home and closed at the beginning of December. We moved into the studio and pay interest only for the first year of the construction loan. While we want to get done soon, our holding costs are negligible. At $600 a month, that is what we were paying for (discounted) rent before.

The month of December was a lot of planning and preparation, and finding out there was more work needed than we expected. There are lots of curve balls in a 1936 house with multiple additions. I met with five different foundation specialists, all with a different solutions. My favorite was the zero dollar bid and the idea that the back addition was built not level, that everything was done settling, and that raising the back of the house up by 4" could cause more harm than good. So I went with that guy. We did a lot of demo (though the house was mostly demoed) and added some more framing, though it needs more.

In January the electrical started, and then the plumbing. Usually that order is reversed - the hard pipe first before the flexible wire, but it worked. Both of these subs were great and very professional. This was a productive month, we also had a new gas furnace and ducting installed.

The last of the framing, the stuff we couldn't do on our own like adding new headers over every window, was completed in the beginning of February. Then on February 12, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. The little guy came early and we didn't have subs lined up, so we just enjoyed our new family time. Then we got the insulation guy out and approval to cover.

It's March now and we are still fighting with our drywall guy to get him to come back out to finish. I found him on Thumbtack, and though he wasn't my first choice in candidates, everyone else was too busy or never got back to me. The guy has $4000 (40% of the total bid to drywall and paint a 1380 sf house), and we have drywall hung. We are still waiting for the tape and mud crew to show up. And then paint. And for him to clean up his mess. I'm not sure if we will ever see him again, and right now we are just waiting for him to come back. Sigh.

I'm excited for the finishes. Next is the flooring, and we got luxury vinyl planks from Home Depot. 3500 lbs of material was just delivered! We have a guy that will level and prep the floors for $1 / sf and install for $2 / sf. In our garage, we are storing the kitchen cabinets from www.thertastore.com (we got aspen white for 20% off - they always have sales), and the interior doors from Home Depot. We still need to get countertops, appliances, trim, and tile work figured out. That should complete the house, except for a closet door, and getting the plumber and electrician back out for their trim work

This is definitely a huge learning experience for me. I'm not sure I'm qualified as a GC for this project, but all the real ones were too busy, so here we are. We are in the frustrated phase being stalled by this drywall guy, and so close to being complete, but I know it will be worth it. Words of encouragement are appreciated as we push towards the finish. I'll keep you posted with future (and hopefully timely) progress!