Money Is Rushing Out!!!

Well, today I met with the contractor for the first time in person.  I had used my realtor for the recommendation several weeks ago, and the Company had put a bid in (which I accepted), but I had never had the pleasure of meeting the gentlemen until today.

But first!  I have working feverishly at my OTHER job (yes, who flips a house with a full-time job?!), and I only had 30 hours home in 14 days!!! So last night and today I shopped aggressively, making last-minute and quick-minute decisions as far as tile and paint colors.  As mentioned in a previous post, sometimes having 30 minutes to make a decision is way easier than having two hours to shop.  So I was in, out, in, out, using Lowe's and Menard's for the paint and tile!

Yet I had myself in a pickle.  I had church, lunch after church, shopping, a contractor meeting, and a two-hour drive to work to get done today!  And I didn't want to backtrack.  So I used my lil' car and filled it up with tile.  BAD decision.  Like horrendously bad decision.  It held the load, but I was pretty sure I broke a spring while at Mom and Dad's for lunch.

NOTE:  Do not put hundreds of pounds of tile into a Hyundai Elantra!  You have been warned!

I may have caused damage to my car!!!  Way too much tile in the back!!!

Ok, back to the contractor!  I met the two gentlemen and was pleasantly pleased with their demeanor, kindness, and persona.  They are obviously knowledgeable of the trade, not afraid to get their hands dirty, yet reasonable.  We clicked right away.  Hopefully just two honest parties wanting to keep the other happy.

As I said to the gentlemen as I agreed to the final bid, "I think a good business decision is one where both parties are happy.  You get to do what you do best and get paid for it, and I get to pay you and be pleased with your work."

Now let's hope their work is great!

The final bid to the work I agreed to came in around $7500.  The original bid was around $13,500, but I cut out a lot of stuff that I could do.  And with some surprises (more later), I decided to cut out a couple more items in order to reallocated funds to those surprises!

One of those pesky surprises was the Master Bath tub.  When I first purchased the house, it was obvious that the previous owners had done something crazy with the tub.  Upon further efforts at cleaning, we concluded that they used the tub to wash the paint from the purple bedroom.  It also appears that they did not wash the tub afterwards, OR that the tub would not drain (incredibly likely considering the foot-long hairball I pulled out of the drain last week) fully.  Either way, all efforts were null and void.

My mom and I tried liquid bleach cleaners.  Nope.  Powder comet.  Nope.  Sanding with wire wool.  Nope.  Sanding with a wire brush on the end of a drill.  Nope.  Scraping with a razor blade.  Nope.  Scraping with a screwdriver.  Nope.  Goof Off.  Nope.

I mean, this stuff was stuck on stuck.  It had permeated into the pores of the fiberglass and simply would not leave...even with sanding.  And it was unfortunate, too!  The contractor said it would add about $1200 to the total cost.  $1200!!!  With the bid at $7500 (before the $1200), this was a huge 16% increase!  Aghhhhh!!!

It's so frustrating.  Like beyond frustrating.  The tub itself is fine.  It holds water.  It drains.  It does exactly what it's supposed to do.  It's rigid.  It's 100% functional.  And 100% the bane of any woman that stands inside it.

Ask me how I know!

Ok, so I put a post out there on Facebook about renting the house for $1000/month.  I said it would be available around August 15.  Well, I had a tremendous response!  And one of those responses was REALLY adamant about seeing it!  She asked to come over TODAY, but I said it's not ready.  She said she didn't care.  Hmm.

I really said it's in rough shape, but she said her fiance was in town, and they would "see through" all of the work being done.  Ummm, I don't think you realize just how much work is being done, girl!!!

Well, she won.  I agreed to show her the home today.  And one of the questions was, "What are you going to do with the Master Bath tub"?  No shame!  It was poignant.  And it was actually then and there that I realized that I was going to have to replace it.  The contractor had left 30 minutes prior with the tub being up in the air, but this solidified the decision.  I had a young woman that wanted a clean tub.  She didn't care about functionality.  She cared about pride and feeling clean.

Listen, I get it!  But aghhhhhhhh!!!  $1200 gone!  Just like that!  Those are the parts that hurt in a flip.  Just like with the smaller amount of $654 with the A-coil due to a simple drain pan, this bath tub replacement was due to a stain!  A stinkin' stain, I say!  Grr.

Beyond frustrating.  $2000 gone!  POOF!!!

I needed to head to work for a ridiculous 4:50 A.M. wake-up call, but the work that needed done!!!  So I kept on stalling the drive...again...and again...

We tried to prep the house for the contractor (he really appreciated that, he said), so that he would have an easier time in his work.  I am all about keeping my contractor happy!  So part of that was removing the dishwasher so that the could tile underneath.  While we had it out, I went ahead and replaced the inlet valve.  So hopefully that fixes that!  A $30 fix that I won't know if it works for another several days when I hook it back up!

It's nearly unfathomable to imagine the amount of water that comes out of a simple crack like this until you've seen it.  It's like turning on a hose under your dishwasher.  The water accumulates so quickly!

The old inlet valve had a massive crack!

The dishwasher is out!  Bye-bye, old linoleum!

The area underneath the dishwasher.  It all gets replaced with new tile!

Next we removed the bathroom mirrors and light fixtures.  I had debated on leaving the vanity lights, but a quick stop by the Habitat for Humanity Restore (used items) changed that in a hurry!  I scored a beautiful fixture for $1.99 and another one for $9.99!  These fixtures go for $75-100 apiece!  Woo hoo!!!  These bathrooms are going to look super cute.  I love that.  A great find!  And with the mirror down, you could see just how filthy the walls actually were.  Ew!

Bye, bye, mirror and vanity light!  The Main Bathroom.

Bye, bye, mirror and vanity light!  The Master Bathroom.

Can you see where the mirror was?!  Gross!  This is the Main Bathroom.

And then we decided to take off all the return-air vents.  My, oh, my, what a project that ended up being.  Not that it's a surprise at all, but the filth behind the vents was just ridiculous.  Of course, most home-owners probably don't clean their vents ever (I sure don't), but this was probably moreso a combination of poor cleaning INSIDE the home that led to the atrocious filth of the vents.  When you don't dust or vacuum, well, the house gets dusty!  And that dust gets sucked into the vents!

The first vent cover removed.  My, oh, my what lies in there?!

After removing the first vent cover, here is what I faced.  So gross.

And when you don't have proper airflow in the ductwork, that dust just sits there and doesn't make it to the furnace filter!  And the dust adds up year over year.  And when you have a child that treats the return-air vent like a mail slot, well, all bets are off.

After removing yet another cover!

The vent in the hallway.  Just ridiculous.

The "simple" process of cleaning the vents took over an hour!  I used a shop-vac that kept on clogging on Monopoly money, real coins, broken glass, actual mail, and lots and lots of dust!  The broken glass was likely from the hallway fixture that had no glass!  Either way, it was just laborious...and gross.

The vent was full of everything you could imagine!  (But thankfully no pet hair!).

The vent in the living room.

This will no longer be in your lungs!!!

The Monopoly money vent after being cleaned!  Notice the spots from sticky coins!  Gross!

I then vacuumed out the various items in the A/C-furnace closet.  So filthy!

Toys and dust everywhere you looked!  Likely years of accumulation.

The family of four that walked through earlier had mentioned that the house smelled of being musty and full of moisture.  Yes, I'm sure it DID smell of both!  The house still had plenty of black mold in the bathrooms, AND it had air that was passing over these nasty vents!  Every ounce of air passed over this filth before it came out cold overhead!  "Yes, sir, this house DOES smell!"

So gross.

The time kept ticking, and I needed to head south, so I called it a day.  The contractor starts Tuesday morning!  It's been a (not so) long time coming for the big work to start, but I'm ready!  I really think this house is going to transform!  And I can't wait!  Here's to hoping for a beautiful flip!

On a totally unrelated note, about 25 miles south of this house, on my drive, I looked at the window and couldn't believe my eyes!  I quickly pulled off the Interstate and drove as close as I could!  Then I watched a GORGEOUS funnel cloud just whipping around, sometimes tightly, sometimes loosely.  I had front-row seats in the middle of nowhere for about 11 minutes of this beaut.

So gorgeous.  A welcome stop.

The gracious finale.

How fun!!!  It was so mesmerizing.

A wildly busy yet productive day.  When I return in five days, I am hoping to come back to a transformed home!

Bye, Bye, Algae!!!

I am still on the road for work, but that didn't prevent Dad from working his tail off!

I was surprised to see a text today that he was power-washing the house!  That was definitely on the list of things to do, and even the contractor put a bid on the job...for a whopping $732.70!  The house was just downright filthy, probably moreso that most houses that receive rain on the siding every now and again.  With all of the brush and trees blocking the rain from hitting the rain, the house just accumulated tons of dirt in the grooves of the vinyl siding where the rain would never wash it off.

And then there was the north side!  Just like any house or tree, the algae grew where the sun didn't shine!  And this house was just COVERED in algae on the north sides of the house.  Dad took it upon himself to fix that!

He did the north sides of the house siding, the gutters all around, the soffit, and the facia!

And, WOW!, what a difference!!!

The house was just filthy on the north side.

The north side of the house was covered in green algae.  Before...

I had started last week but ran out of time.  But look at that difference!

And After!  Looks like new!

Thanks, Pa!  The house looks like new!

More money saved, and a previously-ugly house that looks beautiful now!  Curb appeal is everything!  First impressions DO matter!  And the house looks soooooooooo much better now!  Great job, Dad!

A New A-Coil...and Water Heater?

My HVAC guy came over to install my new A-coil today.  I was originally slated for last Thursday...then Friday...then Saturday...my parents told him not to come on Sunday...so he finally came back on Monday.  Long story short, since my house is empty, he takes care of the "inhabited" ones, as he called them.  I get it.  But we were left in the dark those days!  I kept expecting an install!

Thankfully, the installation went as planned.  Only the A-coil was replaced (due to the leaking drain pan), but while they were doing that new installation, I had them re-route the refrigerant line and drain line so that a filter could be slid in and out easily.  For whatever reason, the previous installer covered up the filter installation area!  You had to bend the filter in order to get it in and out!  C'mon, folks!  That is just crazy!

I also had them put in a condensation trap.  I learned all about these with the "yellow house."  This house didn't have one.  Basically, it prevents the A/C from pulling in outside humid air into the A-coil.  It only pulls in air from the house (and through the filter).  The air is cooler, less humid, and cleaner.  Why I have to fix "professional's" jobs is beyond me.

I purchased this condensation trap to prevent humid air from being sucked into the unit from outside.  The original never had one installed.

But the install went great.  AND the cost came in much lower than expected!  The installer was able to trap and use the five pounds of freon from last week ($200), and with the purchase price a bit lower than he expected (I was quoted at $600 last week for the A-coil), the total replacement cost with the freon was $654.98!  I was again ecstatic!  Yes, I was terribly frustrated that I had to replace the A-coil at all, but getting a new one for $454.98 that should last another 15-25 years is just wonderful.  I appreciate the integrity of my installer SO MUCH.  He passed on the savings to me when he could have just kept the higher price that he quoted.  THANK YOU, Shane.

The new A-coil is in!  And working great!  Notice the hole in the middle of the floor there in front.  That was the old drain to the crawlspace that blocked the installation of the furnace filter!  But now that the lines are re-routed to the left, a home-owner can put in a new filter regularly!

I was on the road during all of this, and Dad was handling the opening of the house for the installers.  Well, last week, after we turned the water on, he figured out that one of the heating elements on the water heater was bad.  So he was going to drain the water from the tank and install a new one while the A-coil was being replaced.

The old heating element.  Should just be a 20-minute fix, right?  Oh, but wait...

But he had a problem.  The tank wouldn't drain.  Of course, that didn't surprise me one bit after I had seen all of the gobbledygook in the water lines when I changed out the shut-off valves last Thursday.  I knew that the bottom of the tank was just covered in more of the calcium chunks, preventing him from draining the tank.

After removing the drain, it was readily apparent exactly WHY the tank wouldn't drain.  More calcium deposits just like in the shut-off valves in the rest of the house!

I was informed that the tank was a 1993, and we then assumed that it came original with the house.  Again, all of this was done via texts.  But I was given the model and serial numbers to verify.  I had some time to kill, so I plugged away at the numbers.  Hmm.  The model number didn't match up to anything.  It was a text from Dad, so I asked for pictures instead.  Sure enough, the model number was missing a number.  Yet the serial number (used for dating) showed a newer style.  Hmm.

A 1993, you say?

So I plugged away some more.  I asked not just for the model or serial number but for the ENTIRE tag.  And that's when I knew that this wasn't an old unit at all.  The tag was the newer style, AND the tag had a smartphone bar code in the bottom right!  Smart phones (let alone cell phones!) didn't exist in the early 1990's!  What did I have here?

After dating it, I was shocked to see that I had a 2013 model on my hands.  "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Dad!!!  Hold the truck!"  I was told that they were cutting it out, replacing the shut-off valve, and I had no idea what was happening to the unit.  Being rolled out?  Dropped from the kitchen to the garage since it's junk anyway?

The water heater is out!  Was any damage done?!

The HVAC guy was already asking if his friend could have it for scrap.

"Just wait!!!  The unit is NOT from 1993!  It's from 2013!!!"

Thankfully, I was informed that the unit was cared for in its handling from the laundry room to the garage.  In other words, it would still be usable if we could get the gunk out.  So after some research, it looks like one just needs to tank off the drain valve and rinse out all of the gunk!

I asked Dad if he would be willing to do that since I didn't want the chunks of calcium to dry in there if they were in a pasty form from being in the water all this time.  He obliged.  And after doing so, he said chunk after chunk came pouring out.  The opening clogged, and he had to break them up, but a white mess came pouring out.  Aha!  Perfect!

So this tank just might be usable after all!  I'll do another thorough cleaning when I get back home (probably with two people so we can swirl the tank), add a $5 new drain valve as I'm sure the other one has chunks inside it), and get that new heating element installed!  With new pipes and a shut-off valve above it, I might be in it for $25?  That sure beats $450!  And the tank should last at least another five years!

With it out, though, I'll let the contractor put new flooring into the kitchen next week.  His job will be easier with no circle cuts, and the flooring will look better, too!

So a new A-coil (which Dad said is working wonderfully), the ability to slide furnace filters in and out, and a scare with the water heater which looks like it is manageable.  Yet another productive day.

The house is getting closer to being finished!!!  That HVAC fix was HUGE!!!