Alrighty...so I've been absent from BP for quite a bit a few weeks now because work and this project have been keeping me way more than busy. This post will probably be a lengthy one since there's a lot to update on.
So contractors get in there March 28 to get started on the demo and concrete work.
During demo we discover a few jems...of course this is to be expected right? What are they exactly you ask? Well...
Under the deck in the backyard there is a hugh concrete slab. We'd have to break it up and then reseed the backyard. At the time this was a possibility...but as you read on you'll realize I think this is being delayed for a bit.
This of course is the easy thing! We also discover that while the knob and tube was already upgraded that there are no ground wires anywhere in the house. On top of that they only used 14 gauge wire in the kitchen. So what's this mean? We get to rewire the whole house! That was definitely something I was looking forward to.
Oh but wait...that's not all! The soft landing on the stairs to the second floor...it's not just a piece of subflooring that needs to be replaced...the entire landing box needs to be rebuilt because the joists are actually rotted out. (The one joist actually came off when the subflooring was being pulled up! Excellent!)
So that's the only issue with the floor I had right? Nope not even close. We notice that the back part of the kitchen has a slope to it...and when we look more closely we realize the back 4 feet of the house aren't actually over the basement...peculiar right? So we need to find out what's causing this but it's not over the basement...which means there's something else...and the only way to get to it is to take the floor up. Well we were going to do this anyway to put the hardybacker down for the new tiles, so it's just a few extra pieces of plywood to replace the subfloor...no big deal...except wait...there's actually 5 floors in the kitchen! Yup that's right it was 3 inches thick of flooring...before you even got to the sub floor. Sweet I just gained a few extra inches of ceiling height! But hold the party...we still have to see why the floor is sloping...cut into the sub floor and what do we find? Nothing! Well that's only partially true...There was part of a floor joist there...just not all of it...and the stone foundation wall...wasn't actually siting on a concrete slab...just dirt...and part of the wall started to crumble causing what floor joist there were remaining to splinter and crack. Hurray for a kitchen with a 2 inch drop in it!
Oh by the way did I mention the load bearing wall in the basement that had been cut 18 inches from the ground? I didn't...oh good let me tell that story too! Well actually not much of a story here...I'm doing a walk through with the contractor to look at the basement after the walls had been parged...and I asked when they would be coming back to do the floor where the washer and dryer will be going...We talked about how to replace the crappy mechanicals that were there and where they'd get run and putting cement board up behind it and as we're looking at the wall that's there...the contractor realizes it's actually the load bearing wall supporting the butler staircase to the kitchen from the second floor. So this means we have to now dig a footer into the basement in order to re-support these walls.
Few...I think I'm in the clear...
Haha...just kidding...wouldn't that be nice...
The sub-floor in the bathroom has a soft spot in it...and what's this...there's no subfloor underneath the bathtub? Imagine a tenant taking a shower and all of a sudden they find themselves in the livingroom on the couch...I wish it was because they learned how to apparate...but no this would be a result of the bathtub falling through the floor.
So...there has to be some good news here right...Sorta...maybe... we have to run all new electrical and pull down the ceilings now...so installing recessed lighting all throughout the first floor is a no brainer at this point. Also since the ceiling was out they were actually able to reinforce the tub from underneath so that the whole bathroom didn't need to be gutted.
So here we are...demo started...and a bunch more problems that we need to fix...my budget just got completely blown out of the water with another $8500 in work that needs to be done.
So for the past two weeks we've been rewiring the house...pouring the new front patio...get a visit from the city inspector...who for the most part is pleased with the work we've done minus a few little things here and there.
I swing down to the property today to check in on the progress and snap a few pictures of the work they've been doing so far. Thinking this was going to be a painless and quick visit just to check in on the progress of how things were going. I mean what more could possibly happen right?
Haha...if only that were the case...
So the morning starts of with me forgetting my checkbook at home (an hour away) and having to call the contractor and ask if they'll take a starter check issued by the bank...he says no problem...but by the way someone kicked in your basement windows last night...doesn't look like they stole anything but would you like us to file a police report...I tell him I'm 15 minutes away and to hold on until I can get there to assess what's going on.
Good news is (and for the record this is the last bit of good news, so if you're looking for a happy ending I suggest you just stop reading here)...nothing was taken and the glass can be fixed pretty cheaply. Someone must just be cranky I'm trying to improve home values in the area or something.
As we're walking through the house for the GC to explain and show what they've got going on...he points out a joist in the ceiling in the kitchen that is rotted...huh...this is odd...but we thought there might have been a water stain on the ceiling...so maybe there is a water problem somewhere?
We go to the bedroom that's above the kitchen and he points out that the flashing was actually installed before the window was put in...so there's actually a gap between the window and the house for water to get in...So you'd think we found the problem right? Well you'd only be half correct. The window is in the middle of the room, the soft spot on the floor where the joist is rotted out is on the corner of the room...the house is sloped that direction so how could the water have gotten there to cause so much damage. Well...lets go up on the roof and see what's going on!
Apparently my neighbor's drain spout was clogged and there was a pool of water just sitting on the back corner of their roof where our two houses meet. We managed to unclog the spout pretty quickly and get the water to flow through...but now we need to find out how the water got into my house in the first place.
What's this mean? Well of course it means taking the flooring out of the second floor bedroom and opening up the wall to fix the window. Great I say thanks to the GC for the walk through...snap my pictures and head off to Lowes to order my interior and exterior doors as well as cabinets for the kitchen...since we're hoping to have that cleaned up by early next week and start laying tile.
I'm on my way home on the bridge when the GC calls me and says "Are you still in the area?" and of course I tell him I'm on my way home and about to cross over the bridge. He says...can you come back? I"m like oh crap now what...
Well apparently they started ripping out the dry wall and tearing up the floor to get to the root cause of the water problem while I was at Lowe's. After all these guys were supposed to be done 4/15 and here we are 4/14 and still doing demo work. Not their fault as we've had lots of surprises...but they're definitely ready to move onto their next job.
Well wouldn't you know...there was 4 layers of drywall in the kitchen on the back wall and two layers of foam insulation. We're actually talking about 3+ inches of drywall. It was actually helping hold the house up...because when they took out the last of the pieces one of the studs actually came off with the drywall. But wait that's not all folks! You can see through the wall in the upstairs bedroom! I know what you're thinking...I've inhaled so much saw dust that I've developed a superpower and I can now see through walls...but sadly this is not true. The water damage from the roof and the window have together actually completely rotted away parts of the shething. The GC actually showed me all the massive wasp/hornets nests that were inside the wall in the bedroom. Pretty neat stuff huh?
Oh but what's this...the windows are framed by 1x3's and only heald in place by two nails each...huh...that sounds like a pretty good thing to me right?
EEEERRRR - Wrong again! Need to take the windows out and completely reframe the windows...but since there's actually no load bearing post on the back corner of the house, due to it literally having completely rotted away...we're not just going to remove the window on the back of the house...we're going to remove the entire wall and have to reframe the back side of the house so that you know...the house doesn't collapse and all.
No idea what this is going to cost to fix yet...and of course we had to tear the laminate flooring up in the bedroom because if we could see that the subfloor was rotted out from looking up at it in the kitchen ceiling that we would probably need to trash the laminate in there too.
So now I'm going to need to put down a new floor in that bedroom...and I hate when flooring doesn't match...so I'm really struggling between keeping the flooring on the second floor...or just replacing it in that one room. Decision...decisions...decision.
Anyway...that's the end of today's escapades...
Needless to say we're still about 2-3 weeks away from being able to complete the house...
So what started out as a $10k budget and 2 week time frame is now north of $35k and is turning out to be closer to 5-6 weeks. Of course if we had known about a lot of this stuff up front we would have approached the whole project differently and the timeline would have been closer to 3-4 week from the start rather than the 5-6 weeks we're at now.
Anyway...I figured I was long over due for an update on this...since I promised to chronicle how this BRRRR was going.
I guess that the one final strand of hope is that win this extra work being done...I'm anticipating an appraisal closer to $100k which means I'll be able to refinance at $70k...I imagine there's still more things we'll find so while I'll be able to get most of my money back out on this one...some of it will have to stay in the deal. For a first time project...that's not a terrible thing I guess...and since we're already making so many upgrades and changes...I shouldn't have repair bills be very high...unless of course I get a tenant from...well you know what I mean... If I'm lucky I'll be able to recoup my costs in 3 years and that still wont be too bad given many people make 20% down payments if purchasing traditionally...and then often need to make repairs on top of that.
Work should be a little less crazy in the up coming week or two, so I hope to be able to provide another update next Thursday at the latest when I get back down to the property to check on the progress again...in the mean time...here are some more pictures I took today of the progress that's been made. By the way these are in order of my walk through...so you'll get to see things as I did.
Windows kicked in last night. and new cement patio
Ceiling removed in the living room. Those recessed lights are just in that location temporarily so that the room has some light to it. When it's all done there will be several more and put in better locations. You can also see the wall in the back left that was demoed due to a leaking wax ring in the bathroom. ( I didn't even mention that above...)
So this wall in the dining rom was actually 1/3 lathe and plaster, 1/3 drywall, and 1/3 chicken wire, rebar, and cement...GC says that's a first for him. #Winning
Recessed lighting in the dinning room is going to look awesome.
The guys working their way through the subflooring removal in the kitchen.
Notice how there is all that drywall in the ground? Yeah there are supposed to be floor joists there...this is the back part of the kitchen where the foundation needed to be fixed.
This is the corner in the bedroom above the kitchen that is showing the signed of water damage. More to come of that later.
Removed the trim and doors upstairs.
These next few shots are just of the concrete work in the basement. They still need to drylock the walls once everything is cleaned out and completed, so it's still only part way completed.
This is the cement pad that was poured where the load bearing wall had been cut in the basement and is where the washer and dryer will end up.
The beautiful (high hint of sarcasm) cement patio that was found under the deck in the back yard.
Now at this point I've left for the day to go to Lowes...the rest of these pictures are what I find when I get called back.
Apparently BP forums doesn't like pictures taken vertically...but you can actually see all the layers of drywall that they pulled away in the corner near the door. Also...we're pretty sure that those lighter colors on the sheathing are actually termite damage...yippee!
While it's not quite as obvious from this picture...you can actually see daylight coming in on the left side of the wall.
Bye bye laminate flooring. My bank account misses you already.
Again BP doesn't like vertical pictures...But if you were to look at this in it's normal orientation...you'd notice the wood starts half way up the wall in that corner...it's supposed to be in the whole picture.