Thank God I'm a Country Girl

So you know the name "Daryl"?  Well, if you live in the country you say it with a twang and it comes out as "Derl", right?  Well my plumber is actually named "Derl".  His parents must have been so country that they just spelled that shit out phonetically.  I love it!  He's a really sweet guy though.  Takes his job very seriously and explains things to me very thoroughly.  We're going shopping together today at Home Depot.  That's a site to see.  I went shopping with my fishing buddy electrician last week.  I love how, as a girl, I can go from stilettos and mini skirt to steel toed boots and ripped up jeans.....and still look great in both, I might add!  I sometimes wear the stilettos to Home Depot just for fun though.  And then I load that wood all up in my truck myself, stilettos and all.  It's too funny to watch all the men in the parking lot.  Some of them are clearly ready to leave but they stay in their trucks just to watch the show.  If only I knew at a younger age how much power woman hold in this world....

I love this old house so much.  There are always new discoveries - some good, some bad.  For example, when we pulled up the bathroom floor a couple of days ago we realized it's a miracle that whoever sat in the tub last didn't fall through the floor and end up in the middle of the kitchen. 

Just kidding.....

We've since re-enforced the whole floor and made it way more structurally stable.  And we've made a new layout plan for the bathroom at least 3 times now but I think we've hit the jackpot.  This new layout will make it easier for the plumber (which saves me money) and will accommodate the larger of the two pedestal tubs I have.  The good find occurred  today after we ( and by "we" I actually mean my contractor....I'm still in a skirt as we speak) tore down moldy drywall where the kitchen shower used to be and found an old staircase.  The house must have had an addition added to it but surely not long after it was originally built because the outside stucco and inside construction all match.  It's hard to say if it was a fire escape or an inside staircase but I love it.  I want to keep it and turn into shelves or something.  I'm thinking about it.  I have to keep it.  I don't want to cover it up with drywall.  It's way too unique and full of character to cover up.  God knows how long it's been hidden behind the wall.  Decades, I'm sure.  They are where I plan to put the main floor laundry room so I think shelving is appropriate.  But I may come up with a more creative idea over time. 

 

Anyway, things are progressing well.  There is still more demolition to be done but at least we are also starting to build things too.  I made my first mortgage payment yesterday which is a stark reminder that I better get moving.  I don't have time, or money, to sit around.  Off to Home Depot with Derl now....

Week Two Down - Big Progress

I am so excited.  I hired this amazing contractor who is totally on the same page as I am.  I seem to be attracting those who "get me" these days.  We have come up with some amazing ideas together.  He demolished the bathroom this week and we came up with a brilliant expansion plan for it.  Then I came up with a great idea on how to create more hall space and then together we decided it would be so cool if we could salvage the old pedistole tub, paint and refinish it and re-install it so that we could maintain the feel of the old house.  Of course, the pedistole tub was not actually in the bathroom.  There is currently one in the basement and one in the sunroom. Neither are functioning, of course, but they are there, full of soul.  I will actually refurbish both of them and sell the second on Kijiji or perhaps keep it for my next flip....which I found on MLS yesterday, by the way, but I don't have the funds to buy it.  I suppose if it's in the cards for me it will still be on the market when I am finished this one, right?

The main bath.  It actually may even look better like this!

 

Ripped out a closet to create more hall space around the expanded bathroom.

The reason I love this contractor so much is that he sees things the same way I do.  Just because I am flipping the house does not mean I want to skimp on things.  I always renovate the house as if it were going to be my home.  I do not cut corners or use cheap materials especially when it comes to structural stuff.  I am also the most non-thriftiest shopper in the world so it's nice when the "experts" working with me are conscientious of how I am spending my money.  The tub was a perfect example of an idea that will save me money but that will also be the perfect fit for the house.  He also thinks I can keep the original baseboards.  I'm not totally sold on that although I love the character that they bring.  I just need to find someone who can sandblast the 100 years of paint colours off of them so I can restore them to the beauties they once were.  This will also save a lot of wall patching if I can keep them. 

So, the kitchen is still under demolition.  It's been a big job.  One that I will complete myself next week.  Then we will work on new drywall, flooring and new cabinets to be ordered for the kitchen. I'm still ripping up subfloor so I haven't figured out if there is hardwood under the kitchen subfloor or not.  I'm keeping that as a surprise for myself.  It's fun to have new surprises each week. I'm optimistic that there is indeed hardwood under the two layers of subfloor.  We'll see.

My amazing electrician has removed all the old knob and tube wiring and we went on a shopping spree together at Home Depot today for all the new stuff we'll need.  This man is a genius.  Sometimes when I speak with him I become impatient and finish his sentences.  There is something to be learned from this man - to slow down - but I still struggle with that.  He basically works so that he can go fishing the other 1/2 of his life.  He seems so simple but he is a very clever man and I've never met a more meticulous electrician.  He is clean, organized and knows his trade like no body's business.  He too came up with a brilliant idea for me.  This is a secret so don't tell anyone.  You see the house was running on a very small fuse panel and was mostly knob and tube with a little bit of new wiring having been added over the years.  There are several issues with this.  First, it is next to impossible to get insurance if your house has knob and tube.  Second, if you upgrade your electrical panel you will likely need an inspection by the electrical authority = $$.  Third, when running completely new wiring through a house you are supposed to notify Hydro Ottawa and they charge upwards of $1500 just to shut your power down and turn it back on.  Literally a 60 second job.  So here are my solutions to all my problems.....well let's skip number one because I think my insurance agent reads my blog.  Number two was simple.  My electrician did a job not too long ago where he took out a slightly used breaker panel which just happens to be the size I need.  So we will install that used breaker panel in the basement, re-wire the whole house properly and pretend it was there before I bought the house. I mean, how is anyone going to find out?  The man who owned the house died a couple of weeks ago and he has probably lived there for the past 35 plus years so it's my word against the dead guys.  No disrespect.  From what I am told by all of my new neighbours, the man lived a nice long life.   Third, the electrician is going to do the job "live" so that I don't have to involve Hydro Ottawa and use up my budget on useless bureaucracy.  Apparently Hydro Ottawa used to do this for free until, I guess, they realized they could capitalize on this.  I don't blame them really.  Business is business. 

I am so excited.  Did I mention that already?  Everyone involved in the project, the whole neighbourhood where I purchased the house and all of my friends and co-workers are so supportive and amazing to work with. 

I can't wait to see this place when it's finished.  The thing I am most excited about is my beautiful staircase.  Small things excite me in life.  I am going to paint it chocolate brown and white.  It will look something like this:

 

Isn't that rich?  I love it.  My woodwork is way more intricate than this sample but you get the idea. 

 

Life is made up of small pleasures. Happiness is made up of those tiny successes. The big ones come too infrequently. And if you don’t collect all these tiny successes, the big ones don’t really mean anything. ~ Norman Lear 

Sooooooo Happy

The great wall came down today.  At one time the house was functioning as a duplex - probably not very successfully.  It's way too small to a be a real duplex so today I tore down the wall that enclosed the staircase and that concealed the most stunning old railing I've ever seen.  The house seems almost double in size with that staircase opened up.  It's amazing what an open concept does.  The space feels so much bigger now...and brighter.  The wall came down a lot easier that those damn floor tiles.  Thank God for that! 

 

 

 

I was so excited today when that wall came down.  I feel like we're making progress.  "We" meaning me and my infamous neighbor who has never let me step foot in that house alone to date.  We entertain each other with jokes and sing random songs together.  I have a big amp set up there with my iPod hooked up but he hasn't heard of any band since The Beatles.  I try to limit the Tupac and Biggie Smalls and keep it pretty mellow for the guy but he never complains.  Today we started singing "Downtown" by Petula Clark - probably the only common song we know.  Unfortunately the only word in the whole song I know is "Downtown" so it grew old pretty quick.  But I must have sang that word at least 100 times in the 2 hours we worked.  Again, he never complained.  We should really record this whole shit show because it's rather entertaining I'm sure.

 

When we were about to leave I noticed an old piece of linoleum flooring visible under the subfloor so I pulled it up with the crow bar and discovered......wait for it.......hardwood floor, that based on the newspaper layer covering it, has been hiding under there since 1964!  Jackpot!  So subfloor is coming up tonight. 

 

 

 

Phase II demolition complete.  Phase III and IV require the tearing out of the small makeshift kitchen on the second floor and all the baseboards.  Phase IV is the sun room demolition which I don't even want to think about right now.  One thing at a time.

One Week Down.....Many More to go!

If I ever lay ceramic tile in a house I will choose the largest tiles possible so that the poor bastard that has to rip them up 100 years from now won't have to do it one square inch at a time!  That has been my week.  I have been ripping up ceramic floor tile, one tile at a time.  It's kind of therapeutic until I get to a spot where the tile layer decided to dump on extra glue.  I thought that demolition would be a good way to get pent up frustrations out but frankly it quite often increases my frustration.  When that happens I just move onto something else and come back to it later. 

I listed the appliances on kijiji but my patience are thin for that kind of stuff.  You want it or not?  I'm practically giving them away so stop asking me so many questions and just take the damn things if you want them.  I'm about to carry them out to the end of the laneway myself and stick a "FREE" sign on them.

Asbestos removal guys were in yesterday so we are free and clear of that stuff.  And my contractor is coming Monday or Tuesday to go over what I need done.  It always looks worse before it looks better.  There are times I look at it and think "what the hell have I done?" but then I just start to laugh because that is what I say about most of the things in my life and somehow my life has turned out awesome so far.  I am most likely way in over my head here but I'm 100% sure I'll figure it all out and everything will be fine because as my favorite saying goes "Everything works out in the end, and if it's not working out, then it's not the end." 

I have met most of my neighbours.  To the right there is an old Chinese woman who doesn't speak a word of English; however, I think I got it across that I am Natalie and I bought the house next door.  She smiles and nods at me so I think we're cool.  The neighbor to the left is awesome.  She is just thrilled I'm not a slum lord.  I took her and her boyfriend on a tour and they are cheering me on the whole way. 

A dear friend of mine has been helping with the demolition.  He is an old German man who lives on my street.  Since I moved in I have never taken my garbage out or shoveled my own laneway.  He insists on "taking care" of me.  He slaves away at the house with me everyday.  He talks a lot but I am wearing a mask most of the time so I can't really respond anyway.  Actually, we are kind of funny together.  He is a hard worker, that's for sure.  I'd say I give him a run for his money though.  I always like to find a fast way to do things so when we have to dump our pile of ripped up tile into the dumpster he complains it's too heavy.  I say there is no way I'm picking up those tiles by hand and throwing them in the bin so we heave that wheel barrow over the edge of the bin on three and every time we're done he tells me to straighten out his back so I jab my knee into his spine and pull on both shoulders and we're off to the races again.  He tells me I have particularly big biceps for a woman.  I suppose I do.  We got into a deep discussion yesterday about drinking alcohol.  I don't drink at all so I gave him my long list of reasons why.  When I was speaking I said "....if I really wanted a treat, I'd drink chocolate milk" and lo and behold the man who doesn't eat about 4/7 nights a week because he can't afford it showed up with 1L of chocolate milk for me today.  Too cute!

Anyway, if I didn't have big biceps before I sure will after all of this!  Next week I'm hoping to get the two walls down that need to come down while the contractor does the bathroom renovations.  Windows need to be ordered and kitchen re-drywalled and measured for new cabinets.  That's the plan.....but then, life never goes as planned. 

Holy Flip, Here She Goes Again

Well, today my flip house is officially mine.  Keys are in hand and I have been physically in the dwelling twice today wandering through scheming up various plans.  I can't remember the last time I had to fight so hard for something.  I'm not sure what that means but I am optimistic that this whole process, at the very least, will be one hell of a good time.  I will admit that I had a moment of fear, which is very rare for me, when I entered for the second time today.  This time was different because I was alone and not trying to convince someone how great it was going to be.  Instead, this time, I visually scanned every baseboard, flicked on every light switch, looked in every closet, ran my hands along every wall and up and down every railing, opened the cabinets (only to be ripped out tomorrow), breathed in the scent of the old beauty, and sat staring into the space for at least 30 minutes.  I think to really know what a house needs you need to "live" in it for a bit.  And by that I don't mean you actually have to move your stuff in and live there but you have to feel it, walk in it's shoes for a bit.  So I stood there just soaking the place in.  It's got soul.  I'll give it that much.  But I knew that the minute I walked in. That's what sold me on it - soul.  I love old homes.  There is a certain feel to them that you don't find in new homes.  I hope to preserve some of that even after it's renovated. 

The whole thing leading up to closing was a complete shit show.  I was assigned the worst underwriter ever at MCAP who made me jump through hoops to get my financing which resulted in a legal mess.  My mortgage broker sent me a text the day before closing that said "I think I am more excited than you to close this deal and have it finally over with."  First, the owner of the house died two days after I bought it.  We were notified that there may be a delay in closing due to the reading of the will, etc.  Ultimately, there ended up being no delay on their end.  But then MCAP requested so many documents from me that they didn't have financing in place for me on the day of closing so we then had to request a delay in closing by 4 business days.  On the fourth business day financing was still not in place and the vendor was threating to sue me for breach of contract.  That particular day was a tad stressful but I was laughing again by the following day so not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.  With the help of many people pulling off last minute stunts we pulled it together and I got the keys Friday June 6th.  Exactly one week later than the planned closing date.

Lesson number one:  when you request additional financing on your new mortgage for renovations the maximum that they will give you is the lesser of 20% of the purchase price of the home or $40,000.

Lesson number two: the money is held in trust with your lawyer until the renovations are completed and someone has come to assess that you actually did the work you said you were going to do.

Lesson number three:  if you work with me in any way be prepared for things not to be normal.

Lesson number two - Are you for real!?!?!?!?  I asked for the money because I don't have the money.  So today I spent most of the day searching high and low for $40,000 to pay for the necessary renovations, which, by the way, is a very tight budget for the amount of work that needs to be done to this house.  However, miracles tend to happen daily in my life so I am not too worried about it......yet.

So what's the plan, then?

• Gut the kitchen and install all new cabinets, countertops and appliances.  Rip out the random shower that's in the kitchen and possibly create a main floor laundry room.  Add an island in the kitchen
• Refinish all hardwood floors and rip up tiles and linoleum that covers some of that hardwood
• Replace fuse panel with 100 amp breaker panel and re-wire entire house
• Construct main floor powder room where a random toilet sits in the middle of the hallway
• Replace all windows
• Knock down wall that encloses the staircase and main entrance wall to create a more open concept
• Rip the second floor sunroom right off the house
• Gut main bathroom upstairs and tear out linen closet to create a larger bathroom
• Return master bedroom to a bedroom.  It's currently a half-assed kitchenette
• Replace all wood trim/moldings/baseboards/window casings
• Clean up the basement and outdoor shed
• All new light fixtures
• All new door hardware and some new doors]
• New plumbing throughout
• Rip up back yard fence and garden and create interlock patio (optional....only if money available)

 

My lovely kitchen.  But it's a good size.  I have lots to work with.                

 

The upstairs main bathroom.  It's missing a toilet.  That is randomly placed in a room of it's own in the hallway.  But I will rip out this bathroom and re-create it entirely so the toilet fits in the bathroom

The third bedroom.  Jackpot.  I found hardwood underneath!

Upstairs hallway. I LOVE the banister.

The second floor sunroom was a good idea but it resembles the Crazy Crooked Kitchen at the Museum of Science & Technology at the moment.  Not worth salvaging.  Just going to rip it off and drop it directly in the dumpster that will be below.

 This is a random shower in the kitchen.  This section may end up as main floor laundry. Rotary phone still works though ;)

Here's the powder room.  Just a toilet - no walls, no door.  Just a toilet.  BYOTP by the looks of it too.

Here is the dining room which I will make living space because the kitchen is an eat in kitchen.  No need for a formal dining room.

Living room.  I <3 this room.

 

Main bathroom part II - a toilet.  Again, all by it's lonesome.

 

 

                                                     Bedroom. Almost perfect just as is.



I will renovate this house as quickly as possible and then list it.  I suspect this will be sometime in August 2014.  Not an ideal time to sell.  Therefore, I plan to list it for just 2 weeks.  If it does not sell for the price I want I will move into it for the fall/winter and list it May 1, 2015.  Let's pray for a quick sale in August because moving is just another additional expense!

Game on!