Best part of all of this hassle, fun, stress, - my wife loves the house.
Good bones, just needed some touches, some love, some updates...as they all do.
The husband was the DIY guy...some of it is pretty random and wtf? did you do here, but a few things like the LED down lights in front room and kitchen (I have more for the other rooms), some improvements in the bathrooms and kitchen, upgraded interior doors, impact windows throughout and a paver patio in great shape around the pool were really nice to have already in place. Things we either didn't have or had to install at our old house.
Unfortunately the husband passed away, which is why there were selling to downsize and the lack of maintenance and dad care was absent for quite a few months. Inspection went pretty well. The old cast iron pipes were a noted issue, so that was a first week repair job. Big hole in the front yard to fix a collapsed spot from the bathroom pipes, then they had to cut through the foundation and under the island in the kitchen to fix a spot there and we had the laundry and kitchen pipes relined after seeing the issues on the inspection camera.
There had been a water leak at some point, so most of the house was terrazzo, the kitchen island was tile with a border and the front room was ugly, low grade laminate. The baseboards had been removed, so that gap and old caulking didn't enhance the look lol, but made it easy to see if there was any water damage or mold present up the drywall or along the studs. Moisture test was within spec.
The roof was good, but I sealed up a few cracked tiles before the rainy season. Sprinkler system needs work. The indexing valve is leaking, numerous heads in different zones are broken and there are areas that don't seem to get any water and another zone that works perfect but there is only dirt because it is shaded by a tree. lol
Fresh ceiling and wall paint throughout. What a difference! It was so grimy and dingy looking. New smoke detectors throughout.
Replaced the mirrors and installed new taps in both bathrooms. Fixed a leak in the kitchen sink drain. After the house leak with the old owners, they ran the water lines through the attic to the bathrooms and laundry. Buuutt they did not feed the taps on the exterior of the house. There were only 2 fresh water taps for the entire exterior of the house and they were only 15 feet apart. The plumber came in to braze a leak in the copper pipe from the tankless hot water heater, so I asked him to extend one tap so it was closer to the driveway so that I could wash the trucks more easily.
As I started laying the floors and got ready to expand into the front room, the shower pan in the master leaked thru the wall and flowed into the main room. Oh s##t!
Called the plumber as the time, effort and knowledge was more than I could deal with after starting a new job as well. The wife luckily found the same wall tile, and a nice tile for the shower pan. They had us back to waterproofed and usability with a new membrane in about 1 week.
Changed out a few outlets and all outlet and switch plates were renewed. The wife decided she wanted 1 accent wall in the dining room and a small wall with new shelves and brackets in the kitchen to have the same wall paper to add some pop. She ended up installing that all herself and did a great job! I was initially resistant, but it looks good now and wtf am I thinking I could actually change her mind about it. hah Hung the front room curtains.
We ordered a new impact front door that took a couple weeks to get sorted with delivery, installed and inspected by the city so that we could get a reduction on our homeowners insurance now that all openings are impact/wind rated. Keypad entry lock installed. Painted as well. Pressure washed the pool paver deck, which was shocking how bad it really was. Then sealed it. Always yard work and multiple bulk trash days to get rid of some of the leftover junk left behind.
Did end up installing the baseboards around the house, buuuut when they had the leak and removed the old ones, because it was on top of the previous flooring that was taller than what I installed, the floor to molding gap is still there. So I am going to have to custom fill that gap or remove and replace all the door trim moldings on both sides of the door to make them longer. Time vs effort vs expense to get that sorted. Haven't decided yet.
Ripped out the master closet and went with a an idea my wife found on TikTok haha. Basically renewed 2 closets for more hanging and shelve space and had to repair a large 3x3 patch in the master wall that was behind their bed at first looks and did not reveal itself until closing. Looks good as new now!
I guess we need some pics after that long essay.
Nice to catch up on here a bit. Definitely some threads to read and see that some of you old boys are still doing around here...busting balls and telling lies. lol
