Day Nine: Time to Start Checking Off Boxes

Today was supposed to be a day of wrapping up numerous little projects.  The really big projects have been completed in the previous weeks (outside of some frontyard landscaping), and now it's time to get this house ready for a tenant.  The details are what matter when it comes to finding the right tenant.

But not before a little Cracker Barrel breakfast with my dad and brother!  Boy, I tell you, that sure gets you filled up to work!  My brother came over to pick up the big root from last night.  I told my sister she would have something to burn in her firepit I made her.  :)  We also cut a lock that was left on my garage door (to prevent thieves, I guess).  Of course, after that was done, we realized that the garage door sensors didn't work.  One would light up, the other would stay off (another project!).  That would have to wait.  Because...

The large root from last night!  That's now gone!

First on my list (THE project that I needed to get done this trip) was re-doing the bathtubs.  As you may remember, both bathtubs needed some patch work.  The main bath used to have some sort of handicap-assist bar in the back of the tub, and the owners simply drilled three holes directly through the fiberglass.  The master bath had a large gouge with a previous repair that I sanded off last week.  I was THRILLED to find that it was a gouge and not a hole.  But all these needed fixed.

I had picked up a bathtub repair kit from Lowe's, and it sounded simple enough.  Take the white log of putty and cut off however much you need.  Then take the brown log and cut off however much to match the color of the tub.  Easy, right?  Mix 'em together, patch the hole, and voila!  20 minutes tops according to the box.

Well, that part is true!!!  It's because the stuff dries in 5 minutes!!!  And oh, the horrendous, powerful, caustic smell!!!  It smelled...dangerous?  It was such strong stuff.  The good news is that the product is sooooooooo easy to use.  The bad news is that I should have used way more white.  The product started to set up so fast or else I may have given it a second-go.  But alas, the tubs are fixed.  Seriously, this stuff is impressive.  It hardens so quick, and it's easy to maneuver in the five minutes you have beforehand.

I just wish I had mixed the colors better.  Oh well, live and learn.  The most important thing is that the tubs are fixed and ready to be used.  The aggravating disappointment that I have to get over is that I could have had what looked like a new tub!  It just won't anymore...my patch job is so dark!!!

Oh well.  I'm learning.

Other projects today included cleaning out the bathroom sink faucets.  Plenty of lime/calcium/unknown had accumulated in each faucet.  The streams are so much better now.  Another project was tackling the programmable thermostat that I had purchased.  Well, that didn't go so well.  We took off the old thermostat and had quite a mess of wires that we didn't think lined up to well to the new one, so we tabled that until tomorrow when we can research it better.

We installed an icemaker line which was a project that I was thrilled to get out of the way.  This home has never had an icemaker in the fridge in its entire 34 years!  I figured it was the least I could do to attract a tenant.  That was a simple project of drilling two holes in the ground and running the line in the crawlspace.  An excellent investment, if you ask me.


The line is run!  Just need a refrigerator now!

Now...about that crawlspace.  I have now been down there a handful of times, and I noticed one time that a wire was just laying there...exposing the three wires of the Romex.  Well, Dad suggested that I test it to see if it was live.  Fair.  So I took a tester down there while doing the icemaker line to see.  Wire One.  Dead.  Wire Two Dead.  Wire Three.  BEEP BEEP BEEP!  Whoa.  Are you kidding me?!  I instantly treated that wire with just a little bit more respect.  It's actually kind of scary to think about.  The wire is caked in mud.  It's obvious that my crawlspace used to sit under water.  I have crawled/walked past that wire numerous times.  It was a (deadly) accident just waiting to happen.

I put three wire nuts on the end of the wires and stapled the wire to the floor joists.  Let's get this danger out of the way.  !!!

Now...here's what else I discovered in the crawlspace:  leaking water.  It was leaking so bad that I thought it was a running sink that had a leaky pipe.  Well, I traced the leak to right below the heat pump!  I mean, water was just a'drippin' off of this thing.  From the floorboards, from the metal vents.  It was just "pouring" down.  Sigh.  Time to go figure out why.  I also took note that the drain line for the unit was separated, too.

I tell you, you can learn so much about a home from being in a crawlspace.  It's like the heart and soul of a home.  Here you find out about foundation problems, mold, electrical issues, plumbing issues, venting issues, heating/cooling issues.  It's a GREAT way to get to know a house.  Nothing is hidden down here.  I hopped down in here when I first looked at the home, but obviously these items were missed!

We traced the leak upstairs (a new project now) to coming from inside the heat pump unit itself.  I found a steady water leak just dripping from inside the metal housing.  Not good.  But we could never figure out why.  I learned a great deal about air-conditioning/evaporator coils today, too!  The water just beads down the evaporator coil.  And I could see it!  It's like watching water drops run down a window while it rains.  They were many and constant.  The confusing part is that the unit would not leak with the bottom cover off.  But whenever we put up the last housing cover on, it would leak.  Agh, we would have to research that one.

Dad wrapped up most of the electrical today.  New receptacles, some lamp wire replaced that we found in the wall last time (instead of Romex...sigh), new cover plates, new switches.  This house was just a wee bit needy...but not really huge projects.

I replaced the numerous burnt-out bulbs throughout the home (I think nine?).

I also added some door threshhold to an area that did not have it.  Who updated this house anyway?!  So many small shortcuts.  It's a little bit fulfilling knowing that I am getting this house to the way it SHOULD be...but it's also quite frustrating to see sooooooooo many shortcuts in one home.  Do the job right.

Before...

After!

I also had a wild idea of replacing handles in my main bath in order to get rid of the 86-year-old woman look.  This bathroom just screams 1980's.  I don't like it.  I tore down the gold towel rack and toilet paper holder.  I'll be replacing those, for sure.  As with most halfway-done jobs in this house, the previous owners installed wood covers rather than place anchors in the wall in order to have something to screw into.  I want them gone, but then I'll have to paint the whole bathroom!  I'll just paint the covers.

I can't stand gold!

I took out the porcelain flower handles and replaced with more modern silver.  I like it, although I wish the vanity was white!!!  It needs painted (grr!).  I replaced a toilet seat, as well.

The handles don't exactly say "young couple."

I wanted to update them to attract the most-common tenant here:  a young family!

The new...and the old.

Voila!

It's amazing what small changes can do.  I just wish this was bright white!  Agh!

The new white seat.  It was definitely needed.

I also went through the home and chose which air vents needed replaced.  Moisture had obviously been a problem before, and several were rusty and/or dirty.  I bought bright white ones to replace them...but we'll tackle that tomorrow.

A typical vent in the house...

Replaced with new.  These small touches make TREMENDOUS differences.  I don't have a before pic of this one, but I wish it did!  It's the first item you see when you walk in the front door!

Finally, towards the end of the day, Dad decided to tackle the garage door sensors.  We have concluded that it's either a bad wire or a bad sensor.  Dad thinks it's the sensor.  We'll do some research tonight to find out.  While he worked on that, I wanted to conquer pulling the weeds out of the white rock.  A simple project that I was able to knock out in about 15-20 minutes.  Another item to check off the list.

The ivy now officially gone.

We called it a night.  But what a day.  The projects are starting to wrap up!  It's so good to be making solid progress...but it seems the more we get done, the more projects we find!  That is not too fun.

But we're getting there.  Little by little, this house is getting ready for that first tenant!!!  And I feel like the more I do, the higher the rent can be.