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!!!

Thanks, Ma and Pa!!!

I think nearly everyone can recognize a good thing when they see it.  And one of those "good things" is taking something that looks like junk and making it new.  It's what I love to do, and most people can respect the efforts, too!

Well, I'm not the only one who gets the credit!!!  I have been working my full-time job like mad lately, and I haven't had much time at the foreclosure house!  Well, that didn't stop the work from being done!

Mom and Dad have GRACIOUSLY picked up the slack!  Part of it is the giving nature of awesome parents, and part of it is probably their personal desire (ok, Dad omitted!  ha!) to see tremendous results, too!

There is just something beautiful about Before and After photos and seeing junk turned into jewels!

So today, while I was away, Mom and Dad completed several tasks!!!

--clean kitchen walls
--clean garage entry door
--clean living room walls
--clean entry walls
--clean front door just for looks
--power wash deck

This was actually the text I received from Mom after the work today!  Of course, I was MORE than happy to treat them to dinner when back in town.

The 2nd bedroom before Mom's touch.

The 2nd bedroom before Mom's touch!

And After!  No more border!  And ready for paint!  Don't even ask me what they did to the walls.  I have NO idea.

The garage entry door Before Mom's touch...

And After!  What a difference!

It's awesome to have the support of truly amazing parents, and I recognize that I could not do these houses without them!  The walls are not prepped for paint, and the deck has been TREMENDOUSLY transformed and is ready for stain!

Dad says he doesn't enjoy these Before and After photos like I do, but, Pa, how can you say no to what you did today?!  Thanks for the four hours of power-washing!  The deck looks great!!!

The deck Before...

During!  Look at that beautiful wood!

The "new deck!"

What a transformation!  The black mildew is gone!

I love the color of the "wet wood" look so much that I plan to put a clear stain on it.  Why try to change the color when the natural look looks so great?!  What a transformation!  Nice work, Pa!  Go ahead and act like you don't seeing these pictures!  :)

The deck Before tree trimming and power-washing!

And After!  Ready for some beautiful stain!

The deck Before Pa power-washed...

And After!  Ready for some stain!

The deck now sees sun!

Thanks, Mom and Dad!  The meal is no way enough to say thanks!  You two are truly amazing in your support of us children!  I couldn't do it without you.

Day Five: The Forest is Officially Gone!!!

Dad and I met back up at the house again today to tackle a few projects.  I was hoping to have a plumber come out to turn the water on, and he still had a small electrical project to tackle.  "Small."  ha!  We should know better by now.

But first!  The tree trimming company showed up before me!  Dad had arrived a bit before 9:00 this morning, and I was showing right on time, and he let me know that the tree guys were there!  Woo hoo!!!  I was hoping they would take all of the wood in the back since we added to it, and what I witnessed was just a wonderful crew at work.

I take pride in what I do.  I was raised that a man's name is on his work.  Whatever you do, your name is attached.  So I seek to the the right thing even when it's hard.  Well, this company showed up, and the crew went straight to work.  He chose to stay on the street rather than back up to the pile in the backyard (I was not expecting that at all).  But he said his truck would hit my front tree, and he didn't want to do any damage.  With the neighbor's yard being used if he DID drive through it, I was quite happy with his decision!

And I watched four hard-working workers walk back and forth from the street to the backyard, hauling brush and branches with every pass.  It was work!  But Dad and I watched as they cleared out the yard, branch by branch.  We tried to wonder how much it was costing me per branch ($1 a branch?!), but regardless, they had that backyard cleared out of large branches in about 30 minutes.  Of course, I wondered if they would clean up the yard, and I have nothing but good things to say about their work.  They literally worked WITH each other, one guy raking, the other guy scooping up every leaf and twig into a trashcan!

I mean, they were METICULOUS!  I took such joy out of watching them work.  THIS is how crews should be!  THIS is how teamwork should be!  THIS is how professionalism should be!  They had my yard in tip-top shape in about 45 minutes!  The good news is that the branches and brush are now 100% gone!!!  What a great feeling!!!  It came a day later than expected, but what a great feeling!

I paid the gentleman his $200, and I commented on the work ethic of his crew.  I know when to call someone out on a job well-done.  "And, sir, your workers did an absolutely wonderful job of cleaning up the yard.  THANK YOU."

With the branches gone, Dad and I were able to clean up the rest of the yard now.  You could walk in the backyard!!!  We actually found quite a bit of surprise stumps and volunteer trees in the fenceline and around the deck.  They were now more visible with all of the branches gone.  But some of them were so big that I had to get the chainsaw back out!!!  I cleared off several more little stumps!  This backyard was just untouched!

Looking in from the gate.  The branches are gone!  Hopefully grass will grow here now that this area can receive sun for the first time in years!

This deck will be super cute!  Small yet totally functional.  AND the sun now shines on it!  Just needs power-washed and stained!

The branches are gone!  The deck is visible!  The Japanese Maple is beautiful!

It's nice to look out and see no branches hanging over the deck.

With the stumps all removed, I mowed the yard!  The house is now going to become a home!  The wild yard is going to be tamed!

The yard is mowed!

We also noticed a ridiculous amount of untouched growth between the two fence lines with a neighbor.  A push mower fits quite easily between the two fences (just two passes), but it was obvious neither owner cared.  The poison ivy, volunteer trees, and weeds had grown so out of control that it was now impassable.  So we chopped down the trees in both fences and mowed the little strip.  C'mon, humans!  It's not THAT hard to have a beautiful yard!

Hopefully the tenant carries on the pride in keeping a decent yard.

With the yard wrapped up (and what a difference from a week ago!), we started to head back inside.  But not before we got a little bold.  My plumber was not able to show up today, so Dad and I took it upon ourselves to turn on the water to the house.  I showed Dad the large area in the crawlspace that I had seen when I did the initial walk-through that I thought would have a huge leak from the main line.  I then figured that the house had not been winterized right away, so I would probably have frozen pipes elsewhere.  I budgeted $2000 for the plumbing repairs in the home.

We opened up the manhole cover (oddly enough with the specialized tool found in the bushes of the front yard!).  I will be keeping that!  And wouldn't you know it, the arrow pointed to the house...right inline with the pipe.  I could scarce believe my eyes!  "Dad, the water is already on!!!"  I had him verify, but sure enough, the water was already on to the house.  Wait a second!  This meant that my huge fear of the main line being broken was...unfounded!!!  This meant that the main supply line was working!

I found the water shut-off valve in the house (at the crawlspace entrance) and slowly turned it on.  We had already done our walk-through to make sure that all of my plumbing shut-off valves were in the closed position.  I turned the water on.  The water pressurized, then seemed to stop.  Excellent!

Well, mostly.  As we navigated the house for leaks (bathroom ok, second bathroom ok, kitchen faucet ok!), I heard a sound.  Hmm.  Where?  I traced it down to the bottom of the dishwasher.  Agh!!!  I had had a previous experience very similar to this with the house in Rochester.  I took off the bottom cover, and sure enough, water was just pouring out the bottom of the dishwasher.  I quickly ran and turned off the water to the whole house.

Upon further verification, I traced the leak down to the inlet valve.  I was hoping it just needed a new washer.  Unfortunately, this afternoon after grabbing a new washer, I would learn that the supply was good, but the inlet valve itself was completely cracked.  I couldn't see the crack since it was behind the mounting plate, but once I removed the valve from the plate, it was instantly obvious.  It likely froze in the winter.  I this identical situation with a previous home, too!  When turned on, the water leaked from there.  But wow, did it leak!  It was like turning on a hose!  We had a mess to sop up.

But the rest of the house was holding the water fine!  And since the dishwasher had its own cut-off valve, I was able to leave the water on!  What a tremendous feeling!!!  The rest of the house was good to go!  I was ecstatic!  Especially after prepping for $2000 in plumbing repairs, I was just simply ecstatic!  Here's to hoping it's a simple $30 inlet valve fix!

I was hoping this supply line just needed a new washer.  Unfortunately, the entire inlet valve was cracked through the plastic.  A $30 fix (hopefully).

Well, the rest of the day was not so enjoyable.  Dad had a very small wiring job.  The light above the kitchen sink did not work.  We learned that the previous owner had a bar light there.  Once that stopped working, he/she simply hung a lamp fixture to the bar light.  Literally.  Tied a knot with the cord.  They then strung that plug-in down to the receptacle.  Rigging at its best.

The old bar light now had a lamp fixture tied to it.  Unbelievable.

It simply amazes me just what people do in a house.

It was obvious the previous owner didn't understand electricity, either.  This was their way of grounding the Romex wire.  Just screw it into wood, right?!

So Dad and I were simply going to change out those two fixtures for a new one.  Project complete in about 20 minutes.  Or so we thought.

Well, as I dismantled the two lights, I quickly learned that something was askew.  The Romex wire coming out of the wall above the sink was taped up.  And I mean taped up.  About 8 inches of tape.  And it had a protrustion.  I knew instantly what that meant.  The wire to the light was cut short, so instead of running new, they just added 8 inches of extension to the wire.  Breaking electrical code.  Against my Dad's work ethic.  And against mine, as well.  We had to replace it.

So the question we faced was...does the wire pull easily?  Could we tie a new wire onto the old wire and pull it through the wall?  The answer was a resounding no!  The wire wouldn't budge.  It almost felt as if it were stapled into the studs.  We have faced that problem before.

So to see if we had at least a LITTLE bit of hope, I climbed up into the sultry attic.  Sure enough, I found the wire that came up from the switch and that went to the fixture.  The problem was that neither budged.  At all.  The wire was stapled to the studs!

Also, it was probably 130 degrees in the attic.

Well, we needed parts, so we headed into town to get parts for the electrical project and for the dishwasher.  We used that as a time to break for lunch.

Once back at the house, we formed a plan.  Because we couldn't run new Romex through the walls easily, we would mount a junction box up in the attic.  I would then take the old wire from the switch to the junction box.  I would then take a new wire from the junction box and feed it down through the studs and out the wall to the fixture.  Feeding this new wire proved very tricky, but we finally succeeded.

Dad then mounted a slick, new recessed light above the sink, and voila!  We had a new fixture!  I bought another LED light, and it provided a great light over the sink.  The whole story is fairly short, but it was a royal pain!  That tiny little 20-minute project took us a few hours (with travel, buying parts, etc.)!!!  And it was HOT in that attic!  I was only up there for 15 minutes for the last install (I was up there a couple of times before that to get a gameplan), but that was plenty long.  You could easily get in a world of hurt in that heat.  Pretty unsafe.

But we had a light!!!

The problematic install was finally complete.  A very nice recessed light which puts out a great deal of light above the sink.

This afternoon I also found the reason for the clog in the Master Bathroom tub.  Mom had tried to clean up the stains in the tub earlier in the week, but she couldn't get the bath tub to drain after she filled it with water.  The following day, however, the water was gone.  So it drained SLOWLY.  Very slowly.  Well, I couldn't stick a drain clog removal tool down the drain itself, so I decided to take off the plunger and pull the drain block out to see if we could figure out what was causing the blockage.

My, oh, my.  Words just can't describe what I saw really.  I literally pulled out ONE FOOT of hair blockage!!!  As for how it was between the drain lever and the drain itself is beyond me.  I don't know that I will ever figure that one out.  But I definitely found the blockage!  So gross!  I had purchased a new drain lever (the old one was broke), a drain hair cover (a novel idea), and a new drain linkage set.  But I figured if the hair was all removed, the old one was still in great shape and set to the proper depth.  So I ripped all of the old hair off and re-used the piece!

The mess of hair after I pulled out the blockage from the drain lever.

The foot-long clog!  So gross!

Literally a foot of hair!!!

Before...

And After!

The tub drains perfectly now!  This house just had no maintenance!

We also tried to set the closet doors in the bedrooms back in place.  This was a $666 repair from the contractor that I was elated to be able to complete ourselves.  I still need more parts, as a couple of the doors are kind of falling apart at the hardware areas, but the job looks manageable.  Hopefully I can have those doors fixed for less than $10!  One of the doors in the smaller bedrooms is completely missing, though.  So I will have the contractor replace that.

We found the closet doors!  This saves me $222.

Unfortunately, the other two doors need some work where the hardware mounts.  But it's doable.  I'll save $444 by being able to use these two closet door sets!

Dad was understandably ready to call it a day after the light fixture since we had had a very laborious week!  But quite a tremendously productive week!  He needed to head home to take care of his OWN home (mowing and tilling).  But what a week!  The house is taking shape!  Most of the rest of the jobs are going to be handed over to a contractor (paint, floors, bathroom remodels).  I really feel like I am over the hump!  And that is AMAZING considering we are only five days into the "flip!"

Before he left, though, I had him to a simple fix to a broken receptacle I had found.  He is good!

The broken receptacle in a bedroom.  A quick fix.

Because I wanted to get some more work done, I pulled out the power washer and power-washed the front of the house.  I was only going to do the front sidewalk area, but I saw instant results, and it's hard to stop.  So I did the front walkway, the front porch, and the entire front windows!  I did the gutters, too.  I wanted to keep going around to do the north side of the house (so much algae there), but I was ready to call it a week, too.  Besides, there is always tomorrow!

The algae by the front sidewalk.

The algae is gone!

The entryway Before...

More clean and welcoming!  No more algae!

The gutters cleaned up nicely, too!  Notice the left (before) and right (after!).

Before and After in one picture!

I started on the north side of the house but was ready to call it a day myself.  Tomorrow is another day!

So I called it a day.  But another great day.  The electrical is basically wrapped up outside of installing the new light fixtures when the painters are done.  This house is going to be beautiful!

Aggghhhh!!!  I was called at 7:40 P.M. this evening to be advised of a trip I have tomorrow.  I have been working on-call this week without getting called, but I wasn't ready for such short notice!  Tomorrow is definitely off as far as the house goes!  Back to the OTHER work reality!