Clark the fliphouse

Clark: Week 10

If you’re new to my weekly progress posts, Clark is my first ever flip house (named for the street that he’s on). Check out my previous posts here. Excuse me, how did week 10 happen?? Big things are happening, just not as quick as I want (of course). We were originally scrambling to get the house listed for Monday (then put the finishing touches on that week before the open house), but we're further away than we had hoped and it's not worth killing ourselves over. One more week won't bust our budget, but it will give me a few moments to breathe between paint touch-ups, landscaping, and finishing touches.

It's become standard out at Clark for each week to start with some unexpected challenges. This week, it was the deck. again.

deck before

I know I mentioned the deterioration that I discovered last week, but it got worse when my contractors came to fix it. The more they took apart, the more wood rot they found. Naturally this also quadrupled the cost I was anticipating spending on the deck.

deck rot before

Lucky for me (and Clark), I picked some good contractors and they repaired/rebuilt this guy in just a day. One day people! And under budget to boot!

deck accomplished

Now I can give a huge sigh of relief that I don't have to worry about this little porch anymore. If this is the worst surprise expense on this flip, I'm considering it a win!

As the porch was happening on one side of the house, other things were happening on the other sides. House painting!! and it's almost done! The painters are hopefully finishing up by the end of the week and Clark will no longer look like an ugly step-sister. It's so amazing what some paint can do!

clark paint

Back on the inside, I've been busy. Very busy. But since the end is near, I'm not going to show you all the full room transformations until they're all done, just little snippets. I have to tease you a little, right?

The kitchen backsplash got installed and grouted. And I discovered how tiring leaning over a countertop for several hours can be. Totally worth it though. The best compliment I've heard about this kitchen is from Hubby- he said he's jealous that this kitchen isn't in our house (as in the house we live in, although Clark is technically our house too).

w10 backsplash

The living room got a second coat on the ceiling, 2 coats on the walls, and an almost complete wood floor. Almost because I ran out of usable wood and need to go buy a few more boxes.

w10 living room

Last week, Hubby left this gift on the floor, so I had to make sure to document it before I covered it with the new wood floor.

floor face

I finally got started on the bedrooms too. Bedroom #1 has a painted ceiling, closet, trim & walls. The radiator still needs to get painted and the carpet needs a good cleaning.

w10 painted room

Bedroom #2, the "master", got painted trim, ceiling and the start of the walls.

w10 painted master

We also got a lot of help this week. My parents and Hubby's mom kindly chipped in some of their painting skills (THANKS!!). None of them would win the award of "cutest helper," though (sorry Dad). That award goes to my nephew Eli.

eli paint

He knew exactly what to do with that brush. He was wiping it on the wall and then fake dipping it into paint. The kid's very smart for a 1 year old. Cutest. Nephew. Ever.

And if you ever wondered what to get a flipper for her birthday, tools are always a good bet (or if you're married to me, jewelry or something pretty for our house.... just sayin...). My mother-in-law knew just what I needed (to remove an old lock box that no one knew the origin of).

bday gift

Now I just have a lot of finishing to do. A lot. Paint touch ups, clean ups, recycling boxes, minor landscaping, final plumbing and electrical fixes... you get the idea.

The end is in sight and I'm so excited!!

Clark: Week 9

It's just craziness in the Boston area today and this week.  Hubby's currently home from work until the city gets out of lockdown.  I really hope this gets resolved quickly and no more innocent people get hurt. boston map etsy

Monday was not a great day out at Clark- every time I turned around, I discovered an issue that added to my costs.  Obviously, my bad day was swiftly put into perspective when I heard about the Marathon.  I'm really speechless about the whole thing, so I'm just going to go on with today's update.  #bostonstrong

If you’re new to my weekly progress posts, Clark is my first ever flip house (named for the street that he’s on).  Check out my previous posts here.

The kitchen is one step closer to being done- we have granite countertops!

w9 countertops

The first issue I ran into Monday was actually the sink.  It's a fine sink- just not the sink I thought I was getting.  It was included with the countertops, but I was expecting more of a standard rectangular single-bowl sink.  Since it wasn't what I expected, I needed a single hole faucet offset and could not use the faucet that I had previously ordered.  (insert sad trombone here) I was assured by the granite company owner that this is the most popular sink style in granite countertops currently, but it's new to me.  I'm over it now though- the kitchen looks nice, the countertops are gorgeous, the new faucet looks great.  Once I get the dishwasher and sink plumbed they'll be good to go.

w9 kitchen

I'm hoping to get started on the tile backsplash today- it's one of the few larger tasks still on my To Do list.

The opening between the living room and kitchen got a finished ledge.  The ledge is a new piece I purchased, but I reused the trim from another area in the house.  (This pic should help orient a bit- the door on the right is the front door into the living room)

w9 kitchen opening1

The living room also finally got a bit of attention this week.  The trim and ceiling got painted and the wall paint got started.  It'll be a nice creamy color called Canvas.

w9 kitchen opening

The ceiling went from dingy to crisp white, although it still needs a second coat.

w9 ceiling paint

I actually love this ceiling.  It's the only textured ceiling in the house and it's in perfect condition.  I love the character it adds without being overwhelming.

w9 lr ceiling

The other HUGE thing this week is the bathroom!  The paneling and trim is up and painted, a new low-flow dual flush toilet is installed, the sink is partially reinstalled, the door has been trimmed down to accommodate the new tile floor, and there is a new ceiling vent fan.  Phew, that was a lot of work!

w9 bathroom

I was hoping to be able to open up the recess for the medicine cabinet to install a slightly larger one, but that was another speedbump this week.  I'll be reusing/revamping the existing medicine cabinet instead (I'll be showing how in a separate post)

w9 bathroom paneling

Moving outside, I haven't done any landscaping YET but it'll mainly be cleanup and a lot of mulch.  I may decide to steal this guy for my own house.  (Is it stealing if you take it from one house you own to another?)

clark daffodil

One of the other issues that I ran into Monday was the side porch.  I knew it needed a few repairs, but as I checked it out after getting pressure washed and sanded by the painters, it needed more repairs that I had anticipated.  Luckily my contractor is coming to the rescue and is going to be repairing it this weekend before the house gets painted (and also luckily for a very reasonable cost).

broken deck

In my last post, you saw my instagram shot of the driveway in progress.  I don't think I ever showed you how terrible the before driveway actually was.  The bump-up in the center was probably as high as a foot- my car bottomed out every time I went into the garage.  This needed to happen for resale purposes- it's the first thing that people will see when they come to the house.

w9 driveway before

Ahhhhhhhh.  A nice, level driveway with no bumps or cracks.

w9 driveway

This week I also:

  • trimmed down several closet doors for extra clearance over the new wood floors
  • squared up the side screen door so that it closes properly
  • finished installing floor trim in the kitchen
  • got new mirrors cut for the old medicine cabinet
  • organized a lot of the mess- now there's a reuse pile, a donate pile, recycle pile, etc.

Our plan is to list Clark a week from Monday (insert panic here) and I have a LOT of work to do before then!  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and the house will get painted early next week and we can get new gutters installed.  I need to be a painting fiend so I can crank out the painting of the 3 bedrooms (including ceilings, trim and walls).  I can't wait to take completed pictures and share the total before and after with you.  I'm a sucker for before and after comparisons and Clark's transformation has been huge.  With that said, I'm off to tile and paint!

Boston map image via SparrowMercantile on etsy

Clark: Week 8

If you’re new to my weekly progress posts, Clark is my first ever flip house (named for the street that he’s on).  Check out my previous posts here. Ak, week 8 already??  Our goal is to get this guy listed by the end of the month! That means I only have about 2 more weeks to get everything done... Craziness!!  I see lots of overtime in my future.

This week didn't start off on a high note- slamming your finger in the car door first thing Monday morning isn't the best start.  Luckily my finger escaped (once I unlocked the door) with just some scrapes and bruises- nothing too serious... and thankfully, the week improved from there.  Handy Dad helped me unclog the plumbing vent stack, which will finally allow the pedestal sink to drain properly and not clog!  I won't go over the entire 'scientific' process with you, but it involved Handy Dad on the roof with a really big stick from the yard tied to a rope (Oh how I WISH I had gotten a picture of this!).  It may have been unconventional, but it worked!

The biggest (literally) thing that happened this week was a new roof!!

w8 roof3

w8 roof2

The roof wasn't in horrible condition, but it did need repair.  After talking to several people, I bit the bullet and decided to put in a whole new roof.  New roof = selling feature!

w8 roof1

As you can probably also see, he got a exfoliated a bit more too.  The house painter finished pressure washing and scraping.

Back inside, little things are starting to make a difference.

w3 kitchen lights

For the first time since owning this house, there is a light above the sink (or where the sink will be).  I still love this ReStore figure- $5 plus spray paint and a chain!!  I do have to change out some lightbulbs, though.  I've been working with the bulbs that were left with the house, but I think every light is a different color variation.  Not kosher to this OCD designer.

I also cut, routed the edges, and painted the wood piece for the kitchen ledge.  I needs another quick coat on top, then I need to actually install it permanently.

w8 kitchen ledge

Painting is finally complete in the kitchen and hallway!  It's such a breath of fresh air- something looks complete!

w8 kitchen hall

Satisfaction is a completely checked off To-Do list.  It may be just for the hallway, but I'll take it!

w8 hall checklist

I had it in the schedule that the bathroom would be near complete with working plumbing fixtures again.  The schedule lied.  Either that or I'm slow and was a little too optimistic when setting my schedule.

But if we look from the hall, we can pretend it's done.

w8 hall bathroom

Just don't look further in- reality rears it ugly head and you can tell the bathroom still isn't there yet. I started installing the beadboard, but I have to finalize the sink plumbing before I cover that up.  Do you notice the other new item in here?  New sconces!  The school-house style plays off the other lights I've installed in the house and helps add a bit of character back in.

w8 bathroom1

I had to replace some really bad "previous owner DIY solutions" for the pedestal sink.  I need to put the sink in place and cut the pipe coming out of the wall to the correct size before I do the final install of that, but I plan to get it up and running today.

w8 bathroom plumbing

Speaking of plumbing, I've apparently turned into a toilet hoarder (I guess it's just a branch off my chair hoarder habits).  The previous toilet (in the back) had a scallop on the top that I just didn't think would work with the style I was going for.  Luckily toilets are cheap and for under $100 I got this clean new eco-friendly dual flush guy.  Let's get him in already!

w8 toilets

I've also made attempt at getting back to organized.  I started sorting recycling in the basement.  My town has a recycling drop off center and will happily take my car-full of cardboard and styrofoam.  I like free, environmentally responsible disposal methods.

w8 recycle pile

And since I always try to keep it real and honest here:  Sometime the answer to "why is the furnace not working?" is as simple as an empty oil tank.  Go me.

w8 oil tank

This week, I also:

  • Got the new medicine cabinet and bathroom vent fan
  • Ordered the kitchen faucet
  • Installed a new handle, closer, and wind chain on the side door (I still need to try and knock it back level though)
  • Figured out new handles for the shower faucet (I think)
  • Started figuring out my landscaping plans

Next week is going to be HUGE for my dear Clark.  I WILL have the bathroom working again by Monday- I WILL.  Monday he's getting sexy granite countertops and Tuesday, the horrendous lumpy driveway is being uprooted for a smooth new driveway.  Hello curb appeal!  Well, I guess the real curb appeal will happen once he gets painted- just waiting on a stretch of nice, cooperative weather.

If we want to get him listed in less than 3 weeks, I need to make every second count!