Little Italy Gem

One more before and after

2008-05-20T21:19:00.001-05:00

Last summer

Tonight

1:30 p.m. Day 2

2008-05-20T13:29:00.004-05:00

Holy moses, these guys work fast.

View from the north

Wall up close

2008-05-20T06:57:00.008-05:00

The concrete block for the retaining wall comes from an Omaha company, Watkins, which has a showroom with helpful staff and lists of contractors.

We're using the Vertica Pro straight edge, which is designed for big walls.

Each one of these suckers is a foot square and weighs 115 pounds.

I chose the standard gray because I thought it fit best in the neighborhood, where most retaining walls are old concrete or stacked limestone. Brown tones looked too suburban.

The bottom layer is sand for drainage. The black netting is geogrid, which helps stabilize the soil.

This underground drainage pipe leads out the rear of the wall, where a concrete flume drains to the alley. The downspouts on this side of the house also will drain underground.

Let's not lose sight of the goal here with all these details ...

This is how it's looking for passersby.

Dying to know more? See Watkins' instruction sheet on how to build a wall with Vertica Pro blocks.

End of Day 1

2008-05-20T06:48:00.002-05:00

A major retaining wall project makes a bit of a mess.

Sand and gravel in the street

The neighbors are letting the contractors work from their empty lot to the north of the house. Well, it used to be empty.

Left side of lot, seen from front porch of flip

Sand on the left, garbage concrete on right

Center of lot

Stacks of block waiting installation

Right side of lot

Top view of wall on right, equipment in the background

It's 6:48 a.m. on Day 2.

I can tell from the diesel rumble that they're here already.

Noon Day 1

2008-05-19T12:41:00.007-05:00

It's noon on Day 1 of the retaining wall project.

The early-morning backhoe was the fun part.

Now they are painstakingly scraping the dirt away from the foundation.

They've created a trench for the concrete blocks to sit in and are starting to fill it with gravel (for draining I presume).

This looks worth every penny I'm paying.

They've got two Bobcats, a backhoe, dump trucks taking out scrap and bringing in gravel ... with the rumble of heavy equipment around, it's like having my own Ax Men crew.

Uh, you don't watch Ax Men?

Wall comes tumbling down

2008-05-19T07:50:00.005-05:00

The last project is under way.

Linhart Construction is replacing a 100-foot long timber retaining wall on the north side of the property.

About a decade ago, the wall was built wrong, with undersized timbers and no supportive "dead men," by a contractor who bailed halfway through the project.

The wall was bowing more than a foot in spots. The interior dirt eroded into sharp slopes. The house already leans a little to this side.

It will be replaced with a concrete block wall, 100 feet long and about 5 feet high, with a second-tier wall in the front.

The wall, topped by a classy PVC drainage system

I hired Linhart because the company does major construction all the time.

This was a small project in their book.

My initial contract called for the project to be delayed until after Oct. 1, 2007, when a tax was lifted on repair work. That saved $1,500. I shaved off another chunk by planning to re-seed the neighbor's lot myself.

That got it down to $15,500.

Then winter came early and hung around, followed by regular rainshowers this spring.

I sold the house with a stipulation that I would pay for and continue to oversee this project.

Linhart called last week to say they would start at 7 a.m. Monday and wrap up by Wednesday.

I could hear the chug of a truck coming around the corner at 7 almost on the dot.

A backhoe peeled apart the wall, making the timber look like matchsticks and crackle as they split.

By 7:30 a.m., the wall was gone.

PAID IN FULL

2008-05-10T06:23:00.003-05:00

Closing on a house is a little anticlimactic for the seller.

You sign the paperwork a few days in advance, and someone eventually calls to tell you your check is ready.

In this case, the buyer had already moved in, so there was no official key handover.

However, it's thrilling to log onto my online mortgage account and see ...

PAID IN FULL

MUD sent FINAL BILL last week.

It's not officially over, though.

The large retaining wall project is scheduled for next week. I am paying for and overseeing that project, as well as seeding the neighbor's lawn that will get torn up in the process.

The lending lie

2008-05-06T07:09:00.000-05:00

I think lenders are automated to say, "Of course, we can close by then."

Last week, I had the buyer's lender walk through all the steps that needed to occur and the time frame for each.

We had just gotten word that the appraisal verified the house was worth the purchase price of $120,000.

The underwriters needed to approve the loan, which could take two or three days. The lender needed to order a reinspection, have the inspector look at the house and submit her paperwork. Then closing documents could be drafted, which would take two to three days. Then I needed to sign paperwork, then the buyers needed to sign.

This conversation was last Tuesday afternoon.

"So obviously we're not closing on Friday," I said.

"Of course, we could close by then."

They toss this around cavalierly, even though people's finances and living arrangements hang on their hollow words.

Now it's:

"We can close Tuesday."

"We can close Wednesday."

I'll believe it when I've got the check in my little mitts.

Disorganized people are exhausting

2008-05-05T06:54:00.003-05:00

The title company handling the sale called Monday to have me come sign the paperwork.

She just learned the loan was closing Tuesday.

I said, that's funny, because we were supposed to close last week.

She still had the original date of May 15, which changed within a week of the purchase agreement.

The loan officer for the buyer was supposed to take care of these things but did not. And he works in the same office as the title company! Sigh.

My suggestion:

Don't rely on others to communicate key information.

Assume everyone else will screw up.

In each of my three real-estate transactions, some glitch came up because of poor communication.

Advocate for yourself. Nag.

I was better this time around but missed some opportunities. I had left a message for the title company several weeks ago but shrugged it off when my call wasn't returned.

In your flip notebook (you are carrying one with you, right?), keep a list of each person you talk to, what they say and the date of the conversation or message. Hold them accountable for what they say.

Hell, you should do this all the time if you ever want stuff done. The world is filled with irresponsible boobs.

Hallelujah

2008-05-04T06:43:00.000-05:00

The loan officer for the buyer must set up the FHA appraisal/inspection, and the inspector needed to look over the work to verify it was done. The loan officer said he'd set it up for Monday.

I knew the inspector's schedule had been busy, and I had her e-mail address. I decided to drop her a line to tell her we'd be ready by 5 p.m. Saturday in case that helped her out and sped up the closing.

She was there at 5:15.

The buyer and her parents had walked to a neighborhood church for the evening service. I had finished the windows and had been cleaning paint goobers off the wood floors.

The inspector absolutely raved about the work.

I had been rushed, so I wasn't exactly pleased with my work, even though it got the job done.

"Gorgeous," she gushed, looking at a mundane window jamb.

The inspector signed off on everything.

No money would have to be put in escrow for repairs.

Whew.

Then she surprised me.

She said I'd been the best thing about her last two weeks. Wha...?

"You have character and integrity. You don't find that very often."

Her eyes welled up. She thanked me and said she hoped to run into me again.

The church choir finally sang.

Anti-climactic move-in

2008-05-03T06:10:00.004-05:00

The buyer moved in Thursday as a temporary renter until the house sale closes.

Every day the sale is delayed, she has to pay an extra interest charge, raising her closing costs.

The buyer offered to help with the FHA-required work, but the weekend when I did most of the work, the appraisal wasn't done so we didn't know if her loan amount would be approved to buy the house.

I didn't feel right putting her to work if she wouldn't get the house.

So I asked her to help by leaving the cleaning to her once she moved in.

I feel bad that the house is incomplete. Of course, I pictured this, church-choir "Ahhhhhh!" moment, presenting her charming, sparkling-clean new house to her.

Instead, she spent her first night on a horrendously windy, potentially snowy night with only half the windows in the house. (The church choir stood mute.)

I had taken the 20 main-floor windows to P&M Hardware a week ago while I painted.

Of course, the reglazer had to tell me how his sister used to work for the FHA and this shouldn't be part of the inspection, yada yada yada. Fighting them isn't going to close the house faster.

Total bill: $140. Worth every penny.

I finished reglazing the upstairs windows myself for speed's sake. Needless to say, my putty is not as smooth as the old man's at P&M.

DAP has an awesome new product that makes it easier-- window glazing compound in a tube like caulk. You used to have to take a wad of compound and roll it into a skinny cylinder shape. Now it just comes right out of the tube. Find it in the caulk area in the paint department at Menard's.

I reinstalled batches of windows Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with a helping hand from the buyer's dad. (Small windows you can usually do alone, but big ones are a little awkward.)

I did a little more paint touchup, and we were ready for re-inspection.

Getting closer

2008-04-30T07:13:00.003-05:00

The appraisal came back at $124K, enough to back the loan.

That's assuming the loan underwriter agrees -- that will take another few days, so Friday's closing is definitely delayed.

The buyer is moving in Thursday as a renter until we can finish navigating the banking bureaucracy.

Two recent housing horror stories:

My friend is going through the same low appraisal hassle on her adorable bungalow in Morton Meadows. The drive-by appraisal was $10K under the purchase price, so the appraiser is coming through the inside this week. (It's a conventional loan, so an interior inspection was not required like an FHA loan.)
When a former co-worker sold his house, his buyer got STOOD UP by the person buying his old house. The guy just didn't show for closing. So the buyer unexpectedly has two houses.

Housing prices may not have dipped like the rest of the nation, but this is how the crisis is hitting here.

Roller coaster continues

2008-04-29T06:55:00.007-05:00

July 1, 2007

This morning

"This is the perfect example of the three most important things in real estate," the FHA appraiser told me Monday.

"Location, Location, Location."

The appraiser agreed that there are no suitable comparable homes -- similar age and square footage sold in the last three months -- in the neighborhood. She reviewed a year's worth of sales. It's also not comparable to homes the next neighborhood over because they aren't walking distance to the Old Market.

So she's using NEW CONSTRUCTION as part of her appraisal! Yes!

In fact, some of the new construction is actually smaller than the flip (about 1,400 square feet). A two-bedroom, one bath at the Towns sells for $241K.

She also had a pile of recent sales and listings of older homes.

I'd been in most of them and could tell her their condition ("Um, this one had a pair a furry handcuffs hanging on a closet door knob." True story.)

This is where knowing your neighborhood and staying on top of the real-estate market pays off. She at least knew I didn't pick the price at random or based on profit.

Thing is, she still doesn't have a price yet.

This bodes well for backing up my measly $120K purchase price, but we don't have it confirmed, now four days from supposed closing.

New construction down the hill:

The Towns

Giovanna Rows

This morning

The appraiser also was tickled to hear I had painted and gotten the windows underway. She swung by to take a look and get updated pictures to her report.

If I can get the windows finished (most of which are at the reglazer's), it looks like we might avoid a repair escrow altogether.

The final word rests on the loan underwriter, but things are swinging the right way.

We supposedly should know by the end of today. But I've heard that twice already.

Appraisal issues

2008-04-28T06:50:00.004-05:00

The FHA has tightened its appraisal standards due to the housing crisis and typically requires houses to be compared to similar properties sold in the neighborhood in the last three months. They also can use current listings and pending sales to a degree.

Remember when I thought it was an advantage that nothing had come on the market in my price range in my area?

I had three written offers at and above the list price of $118,000 in less than a week, which shows the market agrees with the price, but it has to be proven through other sales.

The house has to be appraised at or above the purchase price in order for the buyer to get her loan. Banks want to recoup their money by selling the house if the buyer should not repay the loan.

Where I screwed up: I threw out the other written offers. They were only good through a certain date, which had passed, so I couldn't think of a reason to keep them. I have contact info for the potential buyers for an updated offer if this sale fell through. Now I have learned those written offers could have been used as part of the appraisal.

The appraisal was supposed to be finished Friday but was delayed because the appraiser was still trying to find "comps."

Today I should find out what the FHA has appraised the house at. Then the FHA inspector will have to come back to inspect the work I've done, which should lessen or eliminate the the amount to be put into escrow.

Depending on where the dollars fall, all of this could potentially undermine the sale.

Keep in mind, the buyer is supposed to close Friday.

I'm out time and money for this last round of projects; however, the house looks even better, should I need to put it back on the market.

The buyer has to move out of her apartment regardless.

So we're left to negotiate big decisions under unnecessary pressure because this appraisal/inspection process occurs so late.

Links:
Appraisal basics
What to do when an appraisal comes in low

Working alone?

2008-04-28T06:44:00.003-05:00

Keep a cell phone in your pocket if you work by yourself.

I keep this in mind after one of my boyfriend's college friends slipped off a two-story barn and landed on his back. Still conscious but not moving a whole lot, he reached in his shirt pocket and called for help.

There's a million ways to hurt yourself doing home projects, so better to have a phone on board in case you manage to immobilize yourself.

Last round

2008-04-28T06:22:00.004-05:00

The retaining wall on the north side of the house is still waiting to be replaced, a project under contract but delayed by spring rain.

The ground behind the wall is slumped and sliding because the wall was built with 1) undersized timber 2) with no supportive "dead men" in the bottom half.

Top view of retaining wall

(that's a sagging PVC pipe that's supposed to serve as a downspout)

The new wall will be made of concrete block and raise and level the dirt along the northside of the house.

I thought it'd make life a lot easier for when the homeowner wanted to paint.

Or, you know, I could do it now.

I spent Sunday morning balanced with one foot on the bowing wood wall and one on the soggy slumped earth while wrangling a paint roller on a 10-foot extension pole. I mean, how else would I spend my weekend?

I got the final coat of paint on the house and took the Shop-vac to the yard to vaccuum up the paint flakes.

The house looks better, but not dramatically so -- just freshened up. Whatever. It's done.

Pained painting

2008-04-28T06:20:00.003-05:00

Tip:

If you haven't painted in a while or are painted unusual areas such as a ceiling or, say, leaning out a house to paint a dormer, take a pre-emptive strike of Tylenol or some other pain reliever before bed.

You'll wake up with a spring in your step instead of a creak in your bones.

Dormer painting

2008-04-27T07:35:00.008-05:00

Saturday kicked off with pinching my thumb and index finger in an articulated ladder (one that is hinged to move into a variety of positions).

If you're familiar with these ladders, you know how I did it. If you aren't, the explanation is not worth your time.

And yes, that's my "painting" hand.

On the FHA's painting list is this dormer.

Not that it's a pain to get to or anything.

I set up shop from inside the house.

TRY THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. OR BETTER YET, DON'T TRY THIS.

I removed the window (which will be reglazed anyway) and the storm windows. The window was too high for me to reach out while standing, so I sat on the sill to scrape and paint. I tried to move slowly and be cautious about keeping my weight centered inside the house.

I also imagined falling to my death, the media discovering my FHA rants online, creating a groundswell of criticism leading to Congressional hearings, where my mother -- who already, when she heard the list of required projects, immediately declared "that's bullshit" -- would testify and show death-scene photos of a little chalk outline around my body and my paint roller, and the paint splat where the roller hit the ground. Sadly, I survived, and legions of homeowners will continue to suffer through slap-dash repairs, crumbled deals and unnecessary last-minute stress.

I did what I could within arm's reach, then I used an extension pole, which screws into the handle of a paint roller.

I used electrical tape to attach a paint brush to the pole to get the trim.

Hell of a view up there.

That's downtown Omaha's skyscrapers in the distance. Both of them.

This is the finished dormer. I know, you can hardly tell in the picture. (sigh)

I was not insane enough to get on the roof to paint the dormer's sides, but I'm hoping my good-faith effort on everything else will weigh in my favor.

The difference is more obvious on the main floor siding in this photo. The left side has been scraped and primed. The center is untouched. The right has been scraped.

I ended up doing most of two sides of the house from the windows, which worked pretty slick. (The other ones I could reach while standing inside the window, not sitting on the sills.)

By the end of Saturday, all the scraping and priming was done.

Today should be the final coat. Whew.

Friday's FHA adventure

2008-04-26T08:25:00.014-05:00

What better weather to wake up to on a day you really, really need to paint a house exterior.

I switched my focus to the windows.

The FHA is requiring all the windows to be reglazed, which means replacing the putty that holds the glass in place. Plus, I have to scrape and paint all the sill areas.

This is because the areas where the putty and paint are flaking are exposing wood and possibly spreading that evil lead paint.

The windows are double-hung sash windows, but they were rehabbed at some point.

On an older window, you have to pry off a few pieces of wood trim, pull out the sash, then carefully detach the sash rope and either tie it in a loop or knot it around an object like a large screw -- if you're not careful, the rope goes shoooooop and disappears into the window frame -- then you've created a big job for yourself.

On these, you press the sash to one side -- one of the metal tracks is flexible (I think they're called a "metal jamb liner") -- and you can shimmy out the sash without removing any wood trim. The elastic sash cord has a plastic cap on the end, which holds it in place on the sash and, when the sash is removed, keeps it from disappearing into the wall. Sweet.

Metal track on the left, flaking paint on the right

Plastic tab thing at the top is the cap for the elastic sash cord

It took 40 minutes to remove all the 18 sashes for the main floor windows.

Fortunately, I already know about P&M Hardware, an old-school hardware store on South 24th St. buried among blocks of Latino businesses.

They do window repair for cheap in the basement. Pull around to their garage door in the alley to unload.

They've replaced broken windows for me for about $10 a window. Seems like a bargain compared to doing it yourself.

After that, I got all the sills scraped and painted, put another coat on the front porch ceiling, one on the porch floor to cover my drips and kept painting random bare spots of wood on the outside.

More on reglazing:
Replacing window glass from This Old House
How to remove old-fashioned windows from Old House Journal
Exhaustive old window info from the National Park Service
How to replace sashes from The Family Handyman

FHA paint rules

2008-04-25T08:07:00.006-05:00

The FHA doesn't care about ugly.

Peeling paint must be removed from concrete and metal (such as gutters). You give them a scrubbing with a wire brush.

But, unlike wood, because the surface is not porous, it doesn't have to be repainted.

This front porch pillar is acceptable in FHA-land:

All so the children that my homebuyer DOESN'T HAVE won't get lead poisoning.

Go, government!

Porch painting

2008-04-25T07:53:00.005-05:00

Thursday's work by the FHA-indentured servant:

No. 1: Scraped and repainted the porch

Before

During

After

Blue is a traditional color for porch beadboard ceilings. I went with a pale shade so it should match anything the future homeowner should want to do.

Porch scrapings

FHA rule: No paint chips can be left on the ground. I've covered the area with a drop cloth when practical, but I will have to vacuum the ground!

Christ, who made up these rules? And what do I have to do to become a sovereign nation?

Also done:

Scraped and painted both back doors

Scraped three sides of house

Primed and painted front

Primed south side and half of east side

Well, better get started with today's list ...

FH-pain-in-the-A loans

2008-04-25T07:07:00.004-05:00

So of course, I thought I was safe posting SOLD, waiting until after the home inspection.

Then came the FHA appraisal/inspection Tuesday.

I know FHA loans have extra requirements so I made a point of checking things that had been an issue when I bought my house with an FHA loan: outlets and I bought a railing to install for the staircase.

Turns out they've lightened some of those rules in the last year, particularly the railing rule. (not needed if the staircase has walls on both sides)

But they haven't modified any of the rules for the exterior:

No peeling or chipped paint.

None.

Um, well, ...

It was obvious to anyone who looked at the house that it would need a paint job sometime. I figured I got the interior up to snuff and the new homeowner could tackle the exterior at some point.

So Tuesday night, I learned that the FHA would require the porch ceiling, some wood trim, two doors and most of the lower half of the house to be scraped and painted AND all of the windows needed to be reglazed to approve the loan ...

IN 10 DAYS!

They're picky about this stuff because older homes likely have lead paint, which can be a hazard to children.

I've got an idea: How about the government doesn't back loans for families whose kids are so stupid they eat the dirt in the yard? A "don't lick the exterior" clause?

So the options are this:

The work gets done before the sale.
Money gets put in escrow (held by a third party) to pay for the work later.

The problem with the escrow money is it is 1 1/2 times the amount estimated to hire someone to do the work.

When I bought my house, there was a $500 minimum for an escrow. My porch needed to have the ceiling scraped and painted so I had to cough up $500 to ensure I would do the $30 project later.

Sigh.

We find out the escrow amount today.

I'm under the impression who set aside that money is negotiable, but my buyer's lender has said it's my problem.

Meanwhile, I've taken the last two days off of work to make as big of dent as I can in the project list to minimize the potential escrow amount.

Ideas for the FHA:

Inform buyers of regulations in advance to guide their home purchase
Give sellers the list of requirements immediately
Schedule inspections earlier to allow time for negotiations or project completion

A few helpful links:
Best list I've found explaining FHA requirements
FHA inspection checklist
Difference between a home inspection and FHA appraisal/inspection

Spring has sprung

2008-04-09T07:24:00.004-05:00

The bulb garden I planted along the south side of the house is starting to bloom!

This is what I look at out my kitchen window.

Sold!

2008-03-30T18:39:00.005-05:00

I expected to have a little rest after I got through the open house March 16.

Instead, I had the first offer delivered FOUR HOURS after the open house.

I have a new respect for real estate agents after as I juggled offers, people and appointments for the next week. I have no idea how they do this for more than one house at a time.

I ended up with three offers at full list price of $118,000.

The accepted offer: $120,000, with me covering $2,000 of her closing expenses.

The sales process was another endorsement of the flipping software I used, Flipper's & Rehabber's Cash Flow Analyzer.

I was able to plug in numbers for each offer to calculate the overall financial impact, including taxes.

The buyer's offer put her $110 more than the competition.

So what about that sour housing market you keep hearing about?

1) Omaha's market is not nearly as rough as the national pictures.

2) All of the serious buyers were renters who had no home to sell.

3) The house was priced right.

How I priced it:

Know your neighborhood. I keep my eye on house prices and sales through the Omaha World-Herald's Friday and Sunday home sections and go to open houses. Nothing came on the market in this neighborhood in this price range since I started renovating last summer.

Get the comps. Real estate agents will do a free market analysis and give you the comparable home sales.

Visit the competition. I hit a few open houses and began scouring listings for homes $100,000 to $120,000 in other old neighborhoods at the beginning of the year. After seeing what was on the market, I knew my well-finished interior and new kitchen would stand out.

Splurge carefully. I decided to go overbudget and buy stainless steel appliances for $500 more than I had planned. It seemed to be a huge hit with buyers.

Price it a little low. I got this advice from some flipper book along the way. The carrying costs on the house are about $750-$900 a month depending on the utilities. Why price it higher and have it sit?

SOLD!

2008-03-30T18:00:00.002-05:00

SOLD! Only six days on the market

Historic charmer with hilltop view
and updates in the right places

1315 S. 8th St.

$118,000

View Map

Incredible hilltop view in Little Italy neighborhood south of Old Market
Gorgeous new kitchen with maple cabinets, tile backsplash and stainless-steel appliances
Charming new bath that looks original
Freshly refinished wood floors throughout house
Original woodwork and restored copper doorknobs
Walk-in closets in both upstairs bedrooms
Interior renovation featured on 2008 Restore Omaha historic home tour

Convenient location

Never hassle with downtown parking again – walk to work, farmers’ market, restaurants and bars, Qwest and Holland centers
Stroll to Lauritzen Botanical Gardens less than a mile away
Easy connection to riverfront trails
Minutes from downtown YMCA or The Pinnacle Club gyms

Room to add more value

Walkout basement with 8-foot ceilings perfect for future finishing
Expand back deck to highlight incredible view
New $200,000+ townhomes down the hill make this a hot neighborhood with rising values (The Towns, Giovanna Rows)

The basics

1,386 square feet
Three-plus bedrooms, one bath
New furnace
Central air
New plumbing
Roof replaced 2002
Built in 1903

Open house results

2008-03-19T06:33:00.004-05:00

Sunday's open house was a raging success -- such a success I'm just finding time to write about it now.

I didn't keep track of the number of people who came through -- maybe 20 or 30 potential buyers, sometimes flanked with a pod of friend or relative advisers.

At least three couples called from the open house to summon parents to come look. Three generations of women came from one family -- grandmother, mother, daughter.

A friend who got my e-mail ad called his wife, who called her sister, who called her son and fiancee, who called her parents -- and the two families met for the first time at my flip.

Curious neighbors and former residents wanted a peek after seeing the newspaper ad.

A man who used to live up the street said his family referred to Grace University next door as the babysitters' castle because babysitters magically appeared from the stately brick building. I thought, that's funny, I've heard that before -- then I realized I used to work with his son, who told me the same story several years ago.

Several potential buyers had looked at downtown or Little Italy condos but were hesitant of them because of the limited square footage for the price. I targeted this crowd with an ad in the condo/townhome section of the Omaha World-Herald, saying "Restored 3bed 1bath house in Little Italy, way less than new townhome price."

Four potential buyers already have been back for second visits.

Advertising results

2008-03-17T18:07:00.003-05:00

I did a new advertising attempt each day Wed-Sun before the open house and included the blog address in each one.

I then tracked blog hits from Nebraska computers using Google Analytics, a surprisingly simple process that provides detailed daily reports on site usage, to get a sense of what advertising worked.

Before this, daily blog visits ranged from 18-35 a day.

Wednesday: E-mail to about 100 co-workers in Omaha and Lincoln
80 visits, 78% newcomers, 4:10 average time on site

Thursday: E-mail to about 40 friends, neighbors and acquaintances, e-mail to about 180 people from a Young Professionals Summit I attended
242 visits, 87% newcomers, 1:36 average time on site

Friday: Ad in Home section of Omaha World-Herald and on newspaper web site, omaha.com
73 visits, 72% newcomers, 2:45 average time on site

Saturday: Ad on Craig's List
76 visits, 77% newcomers, 3: 54 average time on site

Sunday: Ad in Sunday real estate section of Omaha World-Herald, open house
70 visits, 60% newcomers, 4:17 average time on site

Monday, post-open house
96 visits, 60% new visits, 3:58 average time on site

I had at least one person at the open house through each advertising method. Not bad for the minor expense: $60 on ads and $60 on fliers and signs.

Money shot

2008-03-16T07:42:00.006-05:00

View from back porch at 7:40 a.m. March 16,

day of first open house

History of the 'hood

2008-03-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

The flip Little Italy was settled by Italian immigrants who worked for the railroad. (See Neighborhood history) Hints of the ethnic past continue.

Orsi's Italian Bakery still cooks up killer pizza, garlic bread and cannoli. The Santa Lucia Hall (festival video) and Sons of Italy still stand.

At the last neighborhood association meeting, two guys at my table whipped through a list of all the Italian cobblers and shoe-repairmen and where their shops used to be. At least one remains -- Louie at Philips Shoe Repair, 1234 S. 13th St., will make your shoes look brand-new and you get to enjoy the thwap-thwap-thwap sounds of an old-fashioned shoe shop.

Neighbors tell you, well, they've lived in this house for 20 years, then they'll point down the street at the one they lived in the previous 20. Here on Eighth Street, three houses have adult children who lived at home to take care of their parents.

The family who owned the flip, the Ucens, had the house for 90 years. "Aunt June" lived there for something like 55 years. Her husband worked at the Bohemian Cafe and the old Glass Front bar.

The man who owned my house, Mr. Becic, lived here for 40-plus years. At Olsen Bake Shop (which makes perfect, old-school bakery cookies), owner Mel said Mr. Becic came in every Saturday for a dozen doughnuts and sometimes brought her a jar of garlic from his garden.

More on the 'hood:

Neighborhood architectural tour from Landmarks Inc.

World-Herald feature

Dahlman Neighborhood Association

Old Market South Neighborhood Association

Before/after slideshow

2008-03-15T05:59:00.001-05:00

For newcomers, here's the story behind Little Italy gem:

I live next door. My neighbor, a charming little old lady who was in her 90s, passed away.

The house was decent in the areas she used. All the main floor walls were mint green, indicated a 1950s or 1960s-era paint job. The kitchen and bath were updated in the 1980s in a golden yellow and brown scheme (although the kitchen sink remained in a 1950s metal cabinet).

The upstairs had serious plaster damage and hadn't been frequented by humans for years.

The house had been in the Ucen family for 90 years, so each batch of relatives left behind a pile of possessions until the house was entirely full.

I bought the house with the agreement that I finish packing and donate the remaining household goods you see in the pictures. 80 boxes worth plus furniture -- that's after the family filled a dumpster and had sales for four days.

I handled the demo, landscaping, plaster repair and painting myself. See Contractors I like for who I used for the rest.

Six months later, I'm nearly ready to sell -- a little more detail work and basement painting and I'm done! Whew!

More before and afters:

This Old House before and after photo galleries

Preserving the past

2008-03-14T06:33:00.006-05:00

I've saved little vintage pieces from the renovation for the new homeowner.

Framed vintage linoleum from master closet

Fruit crate segment with handwritten name of family who owned the house for 90 years

It had been nailed to the old coal room walls.

Framed wallpaper remnants from stairway

1966 Chianti in a bottle shaped like a cat's body

Unfortunately, the creepy glass cat's head stopper was missing.

Someone is drinking a slug of this after the house sells.

Even better basement

2008-03-11T20:23:00.003-05:00

The basement looks a little more livable every day ...

I found a new friend when I went to buy another gallon of Drylok:

A masonry brush.

It's the size of a handbroom with soft bristles to get in bumpy concrete.

Too bad I didn't find it before last weekend.

Vertical painting

2008-03-10T21:33:00.003-05:00

I got to paint while standing up today, which is far more comfortable, and finished the basement stairwell and staircase.

This khaki color on the stairs also will be on the basement floor. I thought it was a little more cozy than the traditional battleship gray you see on basement floors.

Although this shade is called "Rattler's Den." Why would I want to imagine a snake when color-coordinating a room?

Basement paint job

2008-03-10T06:50:00.007-05:00

Sunday was another day of painting, this time alone.

I thought, pfft, it's just the floor in a wide open space, this'll go fast. HA HA HA

I was using Drylok, a waterproofing paint, to seal out occasional dampness.

This stuff is thick, reminding me of beaten egg whites.

Drylok at the soft peak stage

I marked off the areas with fresh concrete patches, which need to cure before being painted.

It looked like the crime scene from a midget massacre, little chalk outlines scattered about.

The floor ripples like Nebraska's rolling hillside. The concrete consistency varies from place to place.

Tony from Thrasher Basement inspected the place when I bought it and said that's normal for a 100-year-old basement. Homeowners poured concrete themselves one wheelbarrow at a time. I'm going to call it an "authentic rustic basement."

But the rough floor made painting a pain. The Drylok overwhelmed the paint roller, making it so swollen it became pointless.

I spent all afternoon on my hands and knees, painting about a third of the floor with a brush.

I actually have blisters on my hands from painting. My knees are pink from being pressed against the concrete floor.

And I have another coat before I'm done ... sigh ...

The weekend tally:

170 pounds of concrete
14 gallons of paint
1 injured back (Brit -- who learned he is not capable of carrying two 60-pound bags of concrete on his shoulders)
1 tired girl

Hidden "treasure"

2008-03-09T05:40:00.009-05:00

While painting the top edge of the basement wall, I noticed a corner of fabric that I couldn't pull down. What kind of treasure was up between the floor joists?

I didn't have a flashlight handy, so I stuck my digital camera between the joists and took a pic.

We have homemade insulation created from ...

A bag of straw

A torn Wrangler jacket

A pile of clothes

Using a digital camera to peer into hard-to-reach places is a trick I picked up from a Minneapolis houseblog, American Four-Square Renewal, which used it to find an obstruction during a plumbing project.

This Old House discussion boards is having lively chat called Buried Treasure: Find anything interesting during your last move or demo?

Better basement

2008-03-08T17:25:00.007-06:00

The basement had a serious creep factor at the beginning.

The old coal room still stood, even though the old coal-fired furnace was long gone.

Underneath layers of junk, newspapers and boards, I discovered a four-foot wide hole in the cement floor inside the room.

One theory: the floor broke gradually over time from loads of coal being dumped in through a chute. Another theory: This is Satan's lair.

After coal room walls removed

I ripped out the homemade walls last summer to open up the space. Now I'm trying to do a simple cleanup of the place.

I haven't found any leaks, but the basement has been damp in a few spots, particularly after a rain. I am painting the walls and floor with Drylok waterproofing paint to seal out dampness before a coat of latex paint.

Today's painting made just a bit of a difference.

The top coat of latex was a mishmash -- I've been picking up cream, white and taupe paint at Under the Sink, the city's household hazardous waste facility, which gives away paint, wallpaper remover and other items that other people donate.

I swirled four gallons together for a nice cream color we decided to call French Vanilla.

Big thanks to Dad for coming down to help today!

With a hand from Dad and boyfriend Brit, we got the basement cleaned and the walls painted with Drylok and the finish coat today. We're exhausted, but we're another step ahead.

Tomorrow: The basement floor

FAQs

2008-03-03T07:11:00.007-06:00

The flip was a big hit on the Restore Omaha tour yesterday. What a great way to be showered with praise by others who love old homes.

More than 70 people came by -- not bad considering what a miserably windy day it was.

The surprise for me: People were absolutely nutballs over the kitchen. I mean, I think it's nice, but I heard people gasp, gush, ooh and ahh. Awesome.

The questions I got most often:

Is the bathroom floor original?

No.

I don't remember where I got the idea, but I remember paying attention to bathroom flooring in Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and Rejuvenation catalogs and This Old House magazine for ideas.

My co-worker, Brenda, said one reason it looks original is that the tile edges are squared. New tile tends to have a graduated edge.

I found the tile on sale online. Blair from Howling Dog Construction installed it.

For more on the bathroom floor, see previous posts:

Tile that makes you smile
Renovation story problems for links to online tile stores

Who refinished the yellow pine floors?

Rains Wood Floors. See Contractors I like.

Is the master bedroom wainscoting original?

No.

I wanted to do something a little different than the standard beadboard. Again, I found pics in Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware catalogs. I showed them to Blair, and he went from there.

These pictures don't adequately show his detailed carpentry work. The wainscoting molding coordinates with the original window molding and serves as a picture rail (they are also wide enough to set a beer on. A little Woodchuck cider makes the painting go faster. :).

What's left to do?

Paint the basement and small items such as finish painting closets, install doorbell, install fire alarms, etc. I hope to be done in two weeks.

How much are you asking?

$118,000.

Three visitors said it's a steal at that price, but hopefully, that's a sign that it will sell easily.

Ups and downs

2008-02-29T17:00:00.000-06:00

Friday afternoon was a roller coaster in the last big push before Sunday's Restore Omaha tour.

Down: My final pile of scrap metal was still there, a day after Scrap Metal Bob offered to pick it up.

Up: Bob, a gnarly old guy who's sweeter than he looks, came wheeling around the corner an hour later in his pickup. He complimented the work on the house (he's fixed up a few himself) and gave me a reference for a real estate agent. "Tell him Bob said to only charge you 4 percent," he grumbled.

Down: Hmm, why is the grout behind the toilet darker than the rest? Huh, it's wet. Oh, crap, the toilet is leaking.

Up: The leak is an easy fix (rusted tank bolts, for those who care) that Blair said he'd do.

Up: Blair from Howling Dog Construction finished installing the porch railings.

I continued through a list of detail work: install house numbers and mailbox, tighten woodwork over window, caulk, more caulk, paint some more, etc., as I waited for the last contractor, the electrician. I needed two ceiling fans installed upstairs and several small light fixtures.

I have been stood up, ignored and abused by a series of electricians on this project.

By 1:30, I was nervous that they wouldn't show. My anxiety grew all afternoon.

At 4:30 p.m., J.D. from David's Electric called apologizing that his last job took longer than expected. He asked to come Monday.

Monday?!?

He offered a reduced rate. I explained it was more about timing than money. I'm on a home tour this weekend, I explained. Is there any way? Please?

J.D. caved, warning I'd have to pay time and a half and it'd take a couple of hours. He called in a second electrician to help. I said, thankyouthankyouthankyou.

They showed up a little after 5 p.m. and had everything done by 6:30.

J.D. later confided that he took the late gig because I had a pleasant voice (who knew?).

In the end, he only charged me for an hour at the regular rate, asking me to keep them in mind for future work. Woooo-hoooooo!

David's Electric rocks! (402) 553-1565

Contractors I like

2008-02-29T05:53:00.014-06:00

Everyone always asks for recommendations for contractors. Here's who I've used and been happy with:

Blair Bishop

Howling Dog Construction

He has been my main contractor on the flip, drywalling the ceilings and renovating the kitchen, bath and porch.

Rains Hardwood Floors: See Top floor, Floored
Xcel Roofing and Gutters 345-9235: See Drywalled hall
Southside Plumbing 345-8668: See Galvanized pipes gotta go
David's Electric 553-1565: See Electrical mystery
AA American Heating and Air: See Disappearing duct
L&K Scrap Metal: See Scrap happens
Wooden Ways, mirror resilvering, 2823 S 87th St, 393-2607: See Medicine cabinet glory
Forest Green Lawn Care 556-0595
Omaha Tree 573-9573: See Made in the shade
Grace Plastering 896-4638
Willard P Christensen Plastering 558-1927
Dundee Memorial Park Association puts out the Old House Services Directory, a great guide of companies recommended by homeowners and includes the homeowner's phone number if you want more info.

General home improvement:

Michaels James Home Improvement and Remodeling, 208-6521

See Small retaining wall: He tackled a stone retaining wall for me but does a variety of home improvement projects.

McDonald's Home Improvements, 334-7419

McGyvered his way through an atypical wood floor patching project at my house.

Remarkable Home Repair

Drywalled the entry to my house and installed crown molding and baseboard

Best of the blog

2008-02-29T05:43:00.003-06:00

See how these copper-plated doorknobs came back to life

in littleitalygem's most popular blog entry.

Most popular entries:
1. Removing paint from doorknobs
2. Architectural salvage
3. Plaster repair links

Kitchen glory

2008-02-27T20:21:00.003-06:00

Ooooooooh! Look at the kitchen!!

Stainless steel appliances!!!

Man, this has come together well.

Maple cabinets with a cherry stain, which I selected to contrast against the refinished yellow pine floors.

Sage green tile backsplash, impressively installed by Blair the contractor. (You should see his work where the tile goes around a jog in the wall. Amazing.)

Copper faucet and cabinet hardware to match two old bin pulls (yet to be installed on drawers) that I found on a random drawer in the basement.

And to think I had doubted these choices ... (Refer to green-tile freakout and anguish over appliances.)

Flue stopper

2008-02-27T19:37:00.006-06:00

This ductwork went up to an old vent that was behind the stove and already was closed off with a few sheets of lead. So this low-hanging, five-foot run of ductwork bit the dust today.

To cover the hole where the duct connected near the furnace, I used this thing, an adjustable flue stopper, which has a flexible metal clip to fit a variety of sizes.

Bits n' pieces

2008-02-27T06:39:00.007-06:00

All the little pieces are coming together for the Restore Omaha home tour Sunday. But it's a lot of little pieces.

Every day, I work on the house up to one-and-a-half hours in the morning before I go to work and up to two hours after work.

This morning before work, I will remove metal ductwork in the basement, put the last coat of paint on a porch railing and touch up the quarterround, which got chipped a little during the wood floor sanding, in the master bedroom.

I am looking forward to a day in my life that does not include painting.

Well, it's 6:50 a.m. I'd better get started!

Porch railing in

2008-02-24T17:40:00.005-06:00

Update: (Yes, observant friends, railings will be added on the sides.)

Blair from Howling Dog Construction built this railing from scratch.

They are made of eight million tiny pieces. Each spindle sits in a groove with a tiny piece of wood filling the groove between each spindle. I know this because I painted these suckers.

I have no idea why someone would want to spend their time doing this, but thank God he works for me.

That's downtown Omaha in the distance. The brick building on the left is Grace University's dormitory and administration building. A great neighbor.

The old metal columns and railing, which appeared to be 1950s vintage, are headed for the scrap yard. (Need scrap metal pickup? See Scrap happens)

One of those days

2008-02-24T06:48:00.004-06:00

The woman I hired to clean the house through Craig's List did not show. This was after rescheduling once due to her car problems and suffering through 10 e-mails and phone calls -- after she came out to give an estimate. She sent a text message an hour and a half after her appointment saying she was at the hospital with her mother. So I will start my day today by cleaning.
I tipped over a vase of flowers during lunch then tripped over the porch railings laying in my dining room while rushing to get a dish rag.
Lowe's called, wondering why my appliance delivery for Monday included a gas range and a cord for an electric range. (Answer: Because that's what the salesman said I needed.)
I noticed several splotches of oil paint on the newly refinished wood floors. Gasp! Where did they come from? I walked over to inspect them and then noticed more behind me. I spun in a circle like a dog chasing its tail.

Like that moment of realization in the horror movie -- "the calls are coming from inside the house!" -- I realized I was creating the mess at that very moment.

Yep, I had paint on the heel of my shoe.

My dainty hoof had knocked the freshly painted stair riser.

This occurred, of course, in the middle of one of those - "I should finish the touchup in the front room, wait, my brush is in the kitchen, oh yeah, I moved the paint downstairs" - tromping all over the main floor with my painted shoe.

I took off my shoes, wiped up the paint and called it a day.

Covering water stains

2008-02-23T06:56:00.007-06:00

The upstairs plaster had some nightmarish water stains from leaks before the roof was repaired years ago.

This spot was in the guest room between the door to the hall and the door to the closet. It comes as no surprise that this is next to the chimney, a common spot for leaks.

Yes, that's masking tape covering a section of missing plaster (See Roll the Tape for more charming uses in this house).

UPDATE -- 2/25/08 -- I discovered masking tape under the toilet rim! Ding,ding, ding! We have a winner for Craziest Tape Location in the Flip.

Scraped and sanded, this is what I had.

I use MH Ready Patch as a base on deeply damaged plaster, then joint compound for top layers (it sands easier).

Sometimes I put a coat of primer on discolored plaster during repairs because the coloration distracts me from where the repair work needs to be done. Sometimes I miss spots, other times the plaster looks so ugly I can't tell I'm nearly finished.

This is what it looked like after patching, a coat of regular latex primer and a coat of high-hiding latex primer I had from a previous project. (See guide to primer selection)

An oil-based primer did the trick in one coat. I used H2Oil-Base Primer, which I'm using on the porch columns and railings. It claims to clean up with detergent and water, but I found a few things that make it go faster.

Cleaning H2Oil-Base Primer:

Put dishwashing liquid directly on paint brush. Rub soap into bristles with your fingers and a paint comb. Keep rubbing. Wash under warm running water.
Use Goof-Off Hand Cleaner (available in Menards paint department) to remove paint from skin. (Works waaay better than soap on this primer.)

Plaster resources:

Living With Old House Plaster by a Boston homeowner, including this handy tip:

When you want to hang a picture, never use nails! Pounding a nail into the wooden furring lathe can loosen the keys of the plaster and cause sagging or bowing of the wall. Always use screws in plaster walls, predrilling each hole. A piece of cellophane tape over the spot you want to drill can keep the surface of the plaster from spalling.

Repairing Historic Flat Plaster Walls and Ceilings from the National Park Service.

The Park Service has a ton of great material on historic repairs.

Other renovations

2008-02-22T07:08:00.004-06:00

I am down to uninteresting, ticky-tack tasks now that I am nine days from being on the Restore Omaha historic home tour.

Small plaster patching. Fixing previous paint goofs. Trying to avoid screwing up the floors while I work.

So here are some other renovations to read about while I do tedious stuff:

The Omaha World-Herald profiled Prouty Place Dos, one of the commercial buildings on the Restore Omaha tour.
The World-Herald business section featured the law firm Kutak Rock's renovation of its historic building near the courthouse in downtown Omaha.

Anyone who has dug into an old home can relate to the Kutak story, as workers uncovered surprises hidden by previous renovations and years of grime. For instance, as they scrubbed the exterior, they were surprised to find the pillars were actually white but had been darkened by decades of dirt.

"Great" stuff

2008-02-18T07:22:00.017-06:00

Lessons from patching the basement:

* Do not store bagged cement products in damp areas.

I even checked the label before storing them on my garage floor, which gets damp in the winter from snow melting off my car.

No warning. So I figured the bags were moisture proof.

Guess not. At least it's a cheap mistake.

* Wear gloves when using Great Stuff spray foam insulation.

I was using this foam to fill cracks in basement walls and around windows. You squirt it in, and it expands within an hour to fill the space.

Now I will admit, I noticed a label near the spray nozzle, "Always wear gloves."

I ran out of gloves while painting the woodwork with oil paint.

Great Stuff didn't really specify why I needed gloves.

So I figured, "I'll just be careful." Mm-hmm.

I sprayed the gaps, then set about cleaning the hole in the floor where the coal room used to be, which still had a gallon or so of tiny coal shards.

That afternoon, I got in the shower to wash up and couldn't get my hands clean. Even with that "orange soap" they sell at Menards.

Two-thirds of my hands were stained mostly brown and in some spots pitch black. I should have taken a picture, but I left my camera at the flip and I was too surly to retrieve it.

I scrubbed with dish soap, mineral spirits, vinegar. Nothing.

My darkened hands were a DIY-ers' Scarlet A for not following instructions.

I consulted the Great Stuff web site. Under directions for use,

"Extremely sticky. Prevent skin and eye contact."

"CLEAN UP: On solid surfaces, uncured foam dissolves with acetone. For skin and solid surfaces, cured foam must be mechanically removed or allowed to wear off in time."

Mechanically removed? What?!?

Funny, under frequently asked questions, the first question:

"How do I get the foam off my hands?"

"If the foam has not cured or hardened, use acetone or fingernail polish remover (with acetone). If the foam has hardened, there is no solvent that will remove it. It will not harm your skin and will wear off in several days. To remove cured foam from skin, use a pumice stone (available at most drug stores) and warm, soapy water. Then apply petroleum jelly to soften your skin."

Can you imagine some beefy guy in a flannel shirt with blackened hands going to Walgreen's and asking for a pumice and nail polish remover?

Nail polish remover was minimally helpful. I scrubbed and scrubbed with a pumice, like a Witness Protection Progam enrollee trying to erase his fingerprints. My hands now look only mildly dirty.

ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES and don't play with coal afterward.

Top floor

2008-02-16T17:23:00.004-06:00

Master bedroom

Upstairs guest bedroom

Staircase

This staircase is turning out to be a showstopper.

It had been one of the most hideous places in the house with damaged green and pink plaid wallpaper shedding from the walls and very worn stair treads.

Now these gorgeous golden steps curl upstairs under this creamy arched plaster ceiling.

Columns installed

2008-02-16T17:12:00.006-06:00

Blair the contractor spent the afternoon installing new porch columns with an old-fashioned look to bring the house closer to its original style.

Before - at purchase last summer

Today

I can't wait to see it with the new railings Blair made!

More tasks

2008-02-16T12:33:00.003-06:00

My home workshop has expanded. Now I've got a metal hardware polishing operation in the living room while the wood floors dry in the flip.

Why did I shower today?

Floored

2008-02-15T19:23:00.005-06:00

Monday - Caked in linoleum goo

Wednesday - Freshly sanded and puttied

Friday - After one coat of poly. Ka-zow!

Living and dining rooms

Front room

Floor progress

2008-02-15T06:45:00.005-06:00

The guys from Rains Wood Floors sanded the original yellow pine floors in the whole house in three days. They generated six garbage bags of sawdust.

Thursday, they started applying polyurethane to the floor. They will apply three coats, with a day of drying in between.

That means the floors will be done by Sunday morning, taking only six days instead of the original estimate of 10. Yay!

Do you think they don't want me in there?

View through the front door window

Just peeking in the windows, the floors look great. Not that these pictures, taken through the windows, reflect that very well.

View from the back door window

This is the kitchen. The door (which still needs a coat of paint) goes to the basement. The fridge will be in that nook left of the door.

Ideally, you should do all your painting before the floors are refinished. But I wanted to make sure the floors were done in time for the house to be cleaned and appliances delivered before the Restore Omaha tour March 2.

I staged my painting schedule so that the areas left to be done have a small amount of floor to be covered during painting: Doors and a few closets. I'll just have to be careful for a change.

Porch part painting

2008-02-13T06:40:00.007-06:00

This is my dining room for now.

I had planned to paint the porch parts over in the flip basement but decided this would be warmer, cleaner and more convenient.

The oil-based primer went on last night.

Now they need two coats of oil paint before Saturday.

Resource:
Fixing Our Historic House: Detailed instructions on exterior restoration

Porch restoration

2008-02-12T06:20:00.000-06:00

Sometime over the years, the original wood porch columns and railings were replaced with retro metalwork.

Two of the columns were sold at the family's estate sale. I nearly threw up when I saw them tucked in the old coal room with price tags on them, but what could I do? I hadn't even talked to the family about possibly buying the house yet.

My best guess is the missing third column suffered weather damage, leading to the scrollwork replacements.

I've decided to make it look original again by replacing the columns and railings.
I waited until recently to decide to see how my budget was doing and what my resale price might be. I think (hope?) I can get more for the house than I originally anticipated (cross your fingers), so I decided to go ahead.

Custom-made railings by Blair

Being a sucker for an old house, I figured I would feel guilty if I didn't do it. Every day I would drive past the house, I would kick myself.

That metalwork just isn't right. A first-time homebuyer, the likely purchaser, probably would never tackle that project. Blair the contractor was willing to do it for a reasonable price.

Purchased columns

Now I have to paint these things this week so Blair can install them this weekend.

Resources:

Dixie-Pacific columns This is the brand I purchased at Menards.

I bought the paint-grade wood "round nontapered colonial," similar to the columns sold at the estate sale (at least I know what the originals looked like). They were $95 each. They came in eight foot lengths, then Blair cut them to fit. The cap and plinth are purchased separately for $31 a pair.

Architectural column types and lingo
How to install columns
How to replace a load-bearing beam in a porch

Bottom floor

2008-02-11T17:38:00.000-06:00

The evolution of the kitchen floor ...

June 2007, as purchased

I know, it's hard to notice the floor among all that knick knack goodness. Note the puddle of liquid seeping from the fridge. That was fun.

Underneath the fridge

The kitchen had been renovated in the 1970s. The yellow linoleum was laid on top of red, black and white linoleum, which thankfully had been nailed instead of glued to the floor. It came up in minutes.

August 2007

The nailed linoleum matched the above wallpaper, which was unveiled when we removed the 1970s cabinets.

This morning

Tonight

This is the bare wood floor after sanding today.

There were no serious stains underneath all that floor goo! Lots of nails, which were pulled and the nail holes filled with wood putty, but nothing worse than that. Whew.

Wood floor guys

2008-02-11T07:45:00.000-06:00

They're here!

Chad Rains and his crew arrived this morning to start refinishing the original yellow pine floors throughout the house.

The floors look nasty after months of paint splatter and construction dust.

The kitchen floor (pictured above) is in the worst condition, after years of hiding under two layers of linoleum.

But their drum sander will rip right through the hardened goo.

12 hours ....

2008-02-10T16:48:00.000-06:00

We got everything done today but the main floor touchups. Not bad.

The guest bedroom was sanded, primed and painted today, going from this ...

to this ...

We celebrated with a half-sheet of pepperoni and sausage with mushroom from Orsi's. Mmm.

1 day ...

2008-02-10T07:17:00.000-06:00

... til the wood floor refinishing ...

Saturday was another day of sanding the second upstairs bedroom and woodwork painting. With a hand from Brit and Laura, we got a final coat on the staircase trim and a room on the main floor.

Today's list:

Final sand, prime and paint second upstairs bedroom.
Paint kitchen woodwork.
Empty house of tools and materials.
Paint touchups on main floor.

I've promised Brit pizza from Orsi's Italian Bakery if we finish.

Haven't been to Orsi's? They've been baking in the 'hood for 90 years at Sixth and Pierce Streets (345-3438).

2.5 days ...

2008-02-08T19:20:00.000-06:00

... til the wood floor refinishing ...

Stair railing: Old on the left, repainted on the right

(seriously, this looks incredible in person)

As Brit and I tackled another afternoon of woodwork painting, he mentioned he couldn't wait until wood floor sanding and refinishing.

"10 days of vacation," he crowed, apparently thinking we couldn't work on the house while the floors were done.

MWAH-HA-HA-HA!

Silly boy! That's when we retreat to the dungeon to clean and paint the basement!

Oh, yeah, and pour concrete!

What's in store for us

Today's work:

A round of sanding and "mudding" on second upstairs bedroom.

Touchup sanding and painting in stair hall and master bedroom.

Finished woodwork painting in master bedroom (plate rail on wainscoting, shoe molding and - thanks, Brit - doors).

Painted staircase woodwork.

(Yes, I'm exhausted.)

Electrical mystery

2008-02-08T07:47:00.001-06:00

Why were my new pendant lights not working?

About once a month, the circuit breaker tripped for the lights in the living room, dining room and bedroom on the main floor.

Twice it happened when I was showing the house to friends. Not good. Twice I discovered it when I came over at night and no electricity was being used. What the ...?

I told Blair the contractor, so he tested them one afternoon with all lights blaring while running his saw. No problem.

David's Electric (402) 553-1565) figured it out yesterday.

I also asked them to install the kitchen ceiling light. The wiring looked a little funky -- too funky for me to be fooling with.

Turns out that was the problem.

New kitchen light after wiring repair

For some reason, the kitchen light wiring had been wired into the lights that kept setting off the breaker.

The technical description: "Circuit backfed to existing circuit with switch leg."

So when friends who didn't know a kitchen light hadn't been installed flipped the switch while touring the house, it tripped the breaker for the other lights.

David's fixed it and put up the kitchen light in less than an hour. Only $77. A steal, in my opinion.

3 days ...

2008-02-08T07:34:00.000-06:00

til the wood floor refinishing ...

I don't know whether this photo will do justice to the new coat of oil paint on the woodwork.

The casing (the wood surrounding the door) has been repainted, but the door has not.

In person, it's a huge difference. The Dutch Boy interior oil enamel in Whipped White looks so clean and sharp.

Progress in the last few days:

Painted woodwork in the living room, dining room (thanks, Brit!) and main floor hallway.
Got a coat of plaster and mud on the upstairs second bedroom.
Made another Menard's run for supplies. (You think that doesn't count, but it eats at least an hour of time.)

5 days ...

2008-02-06T05:53:00.000-06:00

... til wood floor refinishing

Last night, I painted the woodwork in two rooms in about two hours. That helps me estimate how much time it will take me to do the rest.

I'm using an oil paint that is covering very well in one coat. Thank goodness, because I have six rooms and two halls to go.

I'm going to go knock one out before work right now.

6 days ...

2008-02-05T08:24:00.001-06:00

... til wood floor refinishing

My friend Jenni, who suggested this wainscoting in the first place to cover damaged plaster, was granted the opportunity to help paint it.

With her help last night, we got the walls and wainscoting in the master bedroom painted.

Boy, that original window trim looks hideous against the fresh paint. It will get a coat of the white oil paint soon.

Tip:

If you are painting with oil over a series of days, store paintbrushes in a plastic bag in the freezer. Give them a few minutes to soften at room temperature before using.

More to see

2008-02-04T07:32:00.000-06:00

More ego-stroking photos ...

Before

After

7 days and counting

2008-02-04T07:16:00.000-06:00

The race is on.

One week from today, Rains Hardwood Floors (a lot of my contractors don't have web sites -- (402) 344-2340) comes to refinish all the floors in the house.

I am trying to get done with all of the plaster and as much painting as possible before then to keep those floors pristine.

The "to do" list:

Plaster:
Second upstairs bedroom

Paint:
Master bedroom
Second upstairs bedroom
Main floor touchups
Woodwork and doors (eight rooms plus two halls)
Four closets

How far will I get?

Stairway not to hell

2008-02-04T06:54:00.000-06:00

With a huge helping hand from my friend Laura, we got the stairway and upstairs hall primed and painted Sunday.

Look at how far we've come.

Holy crap. Is this the same house?

Last room sanding

2008-02-02T17:06:00.000-06:00

I uncovered this incredible antique world map on a wall in the upstairs extra bedroom under a layer of paint.

OK, or maybe it's just plaster damage from old roof leaks.

I did consider at one point whether I could make more money finding a "vision" of the Virgin Mary among stained plaster. Slap that on YouTube and see how far you can take it, hmmm?

Dust from two hours of sanding

We seem to have saved the worst room for last, with oodles of alligatored paint and water damage. Fantabulous boyfriend Brit is earning his keep, spending two shifts in a gas mask in a fog of paint particles, sanding that room.

Who the hell will be looking at the walls anyway, considering this is the room's view ... I'd park my desk in front of this window if I were living here.

Appliance purchase

2008-02-02T07:31:00.000-06:00

CAUTION: This post is tedious. But if you are considering flipping a house, this will give you a tiny taste of what you are in for: roughly 752 decisions that go like this.

My original budget was $1,500 for the fridge, range, dishwasher and over the range microwave.

I already had decided to spend an extra $100 or so to get stainless-look appliances, because that seems to be a crowd-pleaser. A small amount of money well spent to make my flip a standout for buyers.

Then I realized my estimates were based on an electric range rather than gas. So that was another $100.

I got to Lowe's Friday ready to buy.

Frigidaire was the cheapest, but I wondered whether its "silver mist" finish looked a tad chintzy. Whirlpool's pseudostainless "satina" finish had miniscule streaks in it, making it look more authentic.

Would a buyer care? Would they be so stunned by "stainless" in a house in this price range that they wouldn't care? Or would it be a turn off? Is it worth a few hundred dollars?

These are the intense intellectual debates in my head while staring at a refrigerator.

I was leaning toward Whirlpool, when then I began to wonder if the fridge was too small at 17.6 cubic feet ($600). Did it seem dinky? Would that turn off buyers?

The next size up was $850, but an even bigger, nicer actual stainless one -- 22 cubic feet -- was on clearance for $800, down from $1,000 -- clearly a gorgeous fridge, which seems funny to say.

The salesperson totalled my prices.

Whirlpool was $2,050 with tax and delivery, while Frigidaire was $1,700.

This one? Or this one?

I found a chair in the flooring department and called my adviser, Laura.

A first-time homebuyer, the likely market for my flip, is often oblivious to the things that affect an appliance purchase once you own a home -- consumer ratings, energy usage. You just think, hey, new fridge. So what should drive my purchase?

Laura made a good point: Energy Star has achieved the type of recognition that might ring with homebuyers if I could advertise a home with "all new, Whirlpool Energy Star appliances."

Whirlpool's upgraded fridge and dishwasher had it. Decision made.

Whether I get my money back on that extra expense, we'll have to see.

But no one will pass over this house because of the fridge.

Tips on appliance purchases:

Measure. Measure everything. Yes, appliances are supposed to be a standard size.

One of the very first flip television shows I saw re-ran recently. The flipper had put in new kitchen cabinets, which typically are based on standard appliance sizes, but both the fridge and dishwasher didn't fit -- the day before her open house.

Measure the space where the appliances will go. Measure the entryway and doors they need to pass through to get to the location. Measure the appliance in the store. Use the same tape measurer for all of this.

The first time I shopped for appliances, I had a tight space for the fridge. The measurements on the store's display signs did NOT match the measurements listed on the sticker inside the fridges. Fortunately, I figured that out before purchasing.

Develop estimates by shopping online.
Ask about matching prices or other discounts. I got 10% off at Lowe's because I purchased a whole set.
Check on delivery. Lowe's does Saturday and next-day deliveries. Other stores don't keep their items in stock and can't guarantee quick delivery.

Drywall "hot patch"

2008-01-29T06:58:00.000-06:00

The master bedroom had one weeny little wall sconce to light the whole room, so I had wiring run for a ceiling light and one of those crazy modern inventions, a light switch.

(Many rooms in the house didn't have light switches -- they were never installed after the switch from gas lighting to electric. See page 4 of this handout for the history of lighting from Rejuvenation.)
To install wiring, the electrician cut two four-inch holes in the plaster so he could fish wire through the wall.

Mike the roofer saw this and asked if I knew how to do a "hot patch." He started describing it, and I thought, yeah, I do! I just didn't know what it was called. I learned it at drywall class.

This method works for many random holes in drywall or plaster, such as a doorknob puncture or, if things are a little crazy at your place, a fist punch.

1. For an irregular wall hole, cut the edges into a square for easier installation.

2. Cut a piece of drywall to match the shape of the hole, but do NOT cut through the bottom layer of paper. Leave two or three inches of paper at the edge.This paper becomes built-in "tape" for your repair. (see below. this is hard to describe)

3. Coat the paper with joint compound. For a ceiling patch, you might want to coat the edge of the drywall, too, as in the above photo (like frosting a layer cake)

4. Install in hole. Smooth paper and cover with a coat of joint compound. No screws needed!

5. Let dry. Sand. Apply another coat of joint compound and repeat until satisfied.

How cool is that.

Home improvement classes

2008-01-27T07:30:00.000-06:00

Metropolitan Community College a nice collection of home improvement classes for a reasonable price (typically around $40). Most are a few hours long, some with a hands-on portion.

You learn a bunch of stuff. You can ask a ton of questions. Your teacher might be willing to consult on your project. The tile class included a list of local tile shops and a coupon.

You may conclude you are not suited to tackle certain home projects, but you learn enough to talk intelligently to the contractor you hire.

My conclusions from classes I have taken:
Drywall: No way in hell will I drywall a whole room, but I learned enough to do the hall wall and picked up patching techniques.
Tile: Selecting the proper products on the front end is key. I'll try it sometime (I hired out on the flip because I had more than enough to do).
Lawn care: I'm never going to get around to fertilizing on a schedule. (Hire Forest Green Lawn Care.)

A word of warning: Metro has possibly the crappiest web site I have ever used. It is almost easier to call when you get the MCC schedule flier in the mail.

Here's a few navigation tips if you want to try it online.

http://www.mccneb.edu/schedule/default.asp
Click on: Community Education (Non-Credit) Classes
Select: Home and garden

(The drywall class fills superfast, so register as soon as you get the flier if you want in.)

Drywalled hall

2008-01-26T16:33:00.000-06:00

This was the upstairs hallway, connected to the staircase.

A little water damage, a little plaster damage - the usual.

I got this far when Mike from Xcel Roofing and Gutters (402-345-9235) took a walkthrough when he came to fix gutters on my house. He'd done a minor roof repair on the flip last fall.

He took one look at this hallway and told me to go buy some drywall.

You can keep fighting it if you want, he told me. But it's never going to look good.

Sigh.

I hate drywalling.

My first (and only) project was my 5-by5-foot entryway with 12 foot ceilings. Not an ideal area to be maneuvering 8-foot drywall sheets, a ladder or sanding in the summer.

After that miserable experience, I took a drywall class at Metropolitan Community College, which made me a little more confident.

I figured this was a good project to try again.

There were only two items to cut around on this wall: an outlet and the molding over a door frame. An empty master bedroom gave plenty of space for prep work. The house is already construction filthy, so I could sand and sand and sand.

I used self-adhesive mesh tape this time and found it to be SO much easier than paper tape.

And it's looking pretty good.

Plaster washers

2008-01-25T21:23:00.000-06:00

In a few spots, plaster had pulled away from the lathe over the years.

I fixed it with plaster washers, which are small metal disks dotted with holes.

Plaster washer instructions

You put a drywall screw in the center of a washer and drill it into the wall a few inches away from the crack (careful: too close to the crack and you'll lose a chunk of plaster).

Shooop!

The plaster sucked right back to the wall! Very cool.

You then cover the area with self-adhesive mesh tape, which is my new best friend.

Add a few coats of joint compound.

All better! OK, with a few coats of paint, then it'll be all better.

Restore Omaha schedule

2008-01-21T21:02:00.000-06:00

Restore Omaha, a workshop for old-home owners, has posted its speakers for the March 1 conference.

The flip is on the March 2 home tour. I just have to finish in time!

Rehabbing old lighting

2008-01-20T10:31:00.000-06:00

An old-school electrican once told me that knob and tube wiring can carry a decent electrical load. The bigger problem, he said, is 100-watt bulbs in old light fixtures.

Guess what I have here?

The electrician suggested not using anything higher than 60 watts in an old fixture. Or you can rehab them by installing a new socket.

In this case, the light fixture was a metal ring that surrounded a socket that screws into the ceiling -- easy enough. In others, I've replaced a socket that snaps into the center of a fixture.

It costs a buck or two and takes 10 seconds. Any store with electrical stuff should have these items.

For more complicated fixtures, a lighting store can re-wire them.

Finding wires

2008-01-20T10:09:00.000-06:00

I've got this incredibly modern light socket in the staircase hall (Don't panic: The black stuff looks like coal dust from the old furnace, not soot from a fire).

The old knob and tube wire shoots out of the plaster like a sprout in a summer garden. I can't see which direction the wire comes from.

I need to shore up that cracked plaster on the left with plaster washers and drywall screws.

But that wire snakes somewhere behind that plaster, which could put me in for a literal shock if I'm not careful. Hmmm ....

A guy on the This Old House discussion boards pointed me to stud sensors with a built-in wire finders: Zircon makes 'em and sells 'em for $20-$50 at Lowe's.

I run it along the ceiling and it will beep when it senses a live wire. Cool.

Online salvage

2008-01-20T10:02:00.000-06:00

Island Girl Salvage, located online and west of the Chicago-O'Hare airport.

Describe what you're looking for and they'll keep an eye out for it through their Search & Rescue.

Electrical basics

2008-01-20T09:17:00.000-06:00

I just found this great link for basic advice on electrical systems. It explains how the system works, how to trace circuit breaker problems, etc.

The Home Problem Solver:
Electrical
General

New heights

2008-01-19T21:54:00.000-06:00

The view from today's stairway improvement project:

The thought going through my head:

How in the hell did I get myself into this?

Online advice

2008-01-19T08:46:00.000-06:00

Here are two discussion boards for old-home owners to share advice and ideas:

This Old House Discussion Boards are thoughtfully organized into several dozen specific topics like Walls & Ceilings and Drainage & Gutters that helps pinpoint advice quickly. You can "subscribe" to a specific discussion and have future postings e-mailed to you.

Old House Journal Talk is organized by mainly by era of home. Bungalow expert and author Jane Powell doles out advice there.

Stairway to hell

2008-01-19T08:03:00.000-06:00

The upstairs is what made me think my flip could be a future meth lab without my intervention.

The roof was replaced around 2000, but the accompanying plaster and wallpaper damage was never repaired.

This dormer over the staircase was a little nauseating.

Some extremely patient, flexible and slightly psychotic soul wallpapered the whole thing in a green and pink plaid, decades, maybe a century, ago.

This was the area of the house I worried about the most, fearing the sagging wallpaper had buckled plaster behind it.

Well, surprise!

The old water damage had loosened the paper. With a sophisticated tool called a "broom," I was able to smack down much of the paper and see the walls weren't that bad after all.

It's a neat floor plan for a one-and-a-half story house, with the staircase tucked to the side on the main floor and the dormer used as head space for staircase.

That layout also puts the ceiling 20 feet above the bottom stair, as you can see from the remaining wallpaper scraps I had left to tackle yesterday.

Fortunately, my friend Laura has let me keep her articulating ladder on permanent loan.

I soaked the wallpaper with water by using a mop. (See: Wallpaper removal tips) I flipped over the mop and scraped with the other side.

I did need to pull a Stretch Armstrong to reach a few spots with my wallpaper scraper. I'm sure OSHA would approve moves such as "stand on ladder on tiptoe."

Ta-da!

Upside of down housing market

2008-01-18T08:20:00.000-06:00

This flip is not expected to be a big moneymaker. I knew this from the start.

The potential for big profit will be sucked up by a 100-foot long retaining wall (if the ground ever unthaws for it to be installed). The old one was built incredibly wrong, and the foundation kind of relies on it.

So why bother?

The flip initially appraised at $48K, about half of what houses have been selling for on my street. Prime material for a crap-ass rental, which could mean methheads, domestic screaming matches and junk cars in the yard.

With neighbors like that, I could easily lose five grand or more when I go to sell my own house. And I would be miserable living here in the meantime.

Now my potential flip profit depends on the ridiculously unstable housing market.

Good news:

It likely will be sold to a first-time homebuyer so the purchase won't hinge on the buyer selling their current home.
The price will be in the lower $100,000 range, which features a lot of craptacular homes (certainly very few with a new kitchen that doesn't have gross white laminate cabinets).

The latest silver lining:

Much of the flip financing is coming from money I had set aside for investments.

And look at that stock market tank!

To improve my outlook, I am tracking how much my IRA has lost in the time I've had the flip.

After yesterday's stock plummet, I've lost nearly 7 percent!

That makes the flip's potential profit seem like a smart investment.

If I'd kept that money in the stock market, I would have lost money! Granted, I wouldn't have spent my free time covered in plaster dust, but ...

I cannot say enough good things about this software to track flipping financials:

Flipper’s & Rehabber's Cash Flow Analyzer Pro

Architectural salvage

2008-01-16T20:28:00.000-06:00

If you're going digging for treasures, bring:

The measurements for what you need. At the beginning of my flip, I put a list of items I was searching for (bathroom sink/vanity, duct grates) and the dimensions in the "flip notebook" I carry in my purse.
Digital camera. Bring photos of what you're trying to match or snap ones of your finds.
Notepad to jot down measurements of what you find or prices for comparison shopping.
Tape measurer. I now keep a keychain-size one in my purse.

Best deals:
Joe's Collectibles
1125 Jackson St (entrance from alley)
(402) 612-1543
Overall: Flea-market style antique store
Salvage items: Old card catalog cabinet full of miscellaneous hardware near the counter; doors; salvaged lumber; and other miscellany.
My buys: Three bed slats to hold box springs for $1 each; bead-chain glass shade for $14.

Second Chance Antiques
1116 Jackson St (across the street from Joe's)
Omaha, NE 68102
(402) 346-4930
Overall: Antique store with a whiff of snobbery
Salvage items: Organized selection of hardware near the cash register and miscellaneous salvaged wood in the back.
My buys: A half dozen yellow pine, tongue-and-groove floor boards that perfectly matched the upstairs floors of my house for $10. Granted, they had a coat of prison gray paint, but nothing a belt sander couldn't resolve.

Best selection:
A&R Salvage
(warning: its web page looks like a work in progress:
The entry for architectural masonry says:
"A tangy and fruity accompaniment to any meal. The extra hot one means extra pain!" Seriously. )
2820 Vinton Street
Omaha, NE 68105
(402) 346-4470
Overall: A true salvage yard -- this place is an unheated building and open-air salvage yard. Dress for the weather.
Salvage: Stained glass windows, doors, storm windows, old tubs and sinks, woodwork, hardware, duct grates, brick pavers, the tangy fruity architectural masonry and way way more.
My buys: Prices reflect their niche market.
Two yellow pine door casings to finish the above-mentioned floor patching were $14 a board! But if you need something to match, you'll pay.

Fancy-schmancy:
D & B Metal Polishing & Antiques
6571 Maple Street
Omaha, NE 68104
Overall: Two roomsful of lighting that look like inspiration for Rejuvenation's copies.
Buy an antique fixture as is or pay to have it rehabbed and the metal replated to your taste.
Salvage: Exclusively antique lighting, glass shades and hardware
My buys: Nothing, but it's fun to look. The bead-chain shade I bought at Joe's would sell for $28 here.

Beeswax metal polish

2008-01-12T08:10:00.000-06:00

This Old House suggests sealing metal hardware by rubbing it down with beeswax. Needless to say, Menards did not have it in stock.

You have to carefully target your online search to find this. There are a kazillion hits for beeswax polish, a liquid polish for furniture.

Somewhere I stumbled across a blog talking about purchasing beeswax at craft stores.

Michael's sells it around $15 a pound for candlemaking.

A pound? Christ, I couldn't need a pound of this stuff, and I'm not going to take up candlemaking. (seriously, who the hell makes their own candles?)

A few more searches landed me at Draper's Super Bee Apiaries, which sells beeswax in smaller increments and lists the many uses as "Easter Egg decorating, sculpting, lubricating of thread and nails, waxing bowstrings, coating on waffle irons, and many, many other craft uses." Who knew.

I finally landed on a site that will be helpful in other ways: Kilian Hardware.

It's an old-fashioned hardware store with great old house stuff like sash cords, weights and pulleys; mortar made for old brickwork; glass door knobs; and lots more.

And quarter pound blocks of beeswax.

UPDATE: A half pound of beeswax plus shipping is $11. Or you can snag a pound for $11 at Hobby Lobby. I guess I'll be making a small candle when I'm done.

Copper cleanup continues

2008-01-09T19:01:00.000-06:00

Bookshelves painted

2008-01-09T08:55:00.000-06:00

Before

The house has quite a bit of plaster damage, which I presume is from leaks before the 2002 roof replacement. This spot was in the top of the dining room's bay window.

After

A few coats of patching plaster, a few rounds of sanding, two coats of primer, one layer of paint and it's all better.

Before, Dining room bay

After

The dining room's built-in bookshelves take on a whole new look with a coat of chocolate brown paint. (and will look even better when I get that woodwork painted)

Brushing up

2008-01-09T07:53:00.000-06:00

I spent all day yesterday touching up the main floor painting.

Climb up ladder, paint, climb down, scoot ladder five feet. Repeat.

For six hours.

Paint trays at the end of the day

I like to have a pack of 1/2-inch flat stencil brushes on hand. I buy them in the wallpaper stenciling department at Menards.

They're obviously smaller than a regular brush and have firmer bristles, making it easier to deftly paint tight areas.

They were the perfect size to paint around the scalloped edge of the moulding over the doors and windows.

Here's a primer on paint brush types in a slideshow format from This Old House. They even make one for painting radiators.

Removing paint from doorknobs

2008-01-08T09:14:00.000-06:00

The flip has all its original, interior door hardware, but of course, it had been painted.

I decided to see what was underneath to determine if it was worth cleaning them.

Step 1:
Use a utility knife or razor blade to chip paint out of screws, around edges of screw heads and edge of backplate. Remove hardware from door.

Step 2:
Place in Crock-Pot.

I had to upgrade from my old "dip"-sized crockpot because the backplates at this house are much larger than mine. They fit perfectly in this oval one from Menards (on sale right now for $15.)

Step 3:
Fill crock with water, covering hardware by at least one inch.
Add a tablespoon or two of detergent (I use liquid Tide).

Step 4:
Turn on high for 8 hours or overnight.

Step 5:
Remove from crock. THEY WILL BE HOT. Use pliers or old tongs.
Hollow knobs may fill with hot water, which may drip all over the place if you aren't careful (speaking as someone who isn't).

Fresh from the crock

You can see how the top layer of paint has loosened.

Voila! Layer one peels right off.

Step 5:
Let hardware sit until cool enough to handle. Peel or rub off loosened paint. (I use paper towels.)

After first rub down

Holy crap, look at this copper-plated glory.

Up until this point, it took me longer to get the hardware off of the door than it did to remove the paint.

Step 6:

Continue cleaning as necessary. I use Noxon metal polish cleaner to remove tarnish.

I also just got a Dremel rotary tool for these projects. You can buy a set of attachments specifically for metal work like this.

The Dremel brush whizzed paint chips out of the details in a flash, but I still needed to remove tarnish by handcleaning with Noxon before polishing with a Dremel attachment.

(Caution: Soft metals like copper and brass need a special brush.)

I figure it will take about an hour to clean each set, but the results look like they will be worth it.

Only 10 more to go!

Primer anguish

2008-01-05T16:26:00.001-06:00

This is the "painting from hell" room, the study/bedroom off the dining room.

I had to sand most of the walls after priming because my friend Laura and I were dumb enough to think a paint sprayer was a good thing.

Do not be fooled. It was so exhausting I didn't even write about it at the time.

She borrowed her dad's paint gun, and I loaded a five-gallon bucket of primer onto my childhood wagon for her to pull behind her.

The paint gun spit funny on the upper wall, so she sprayed the lower wall while I rolled the upper. The gun is ridiculously noisy, so it takes all the socialization out of painting.

Then there was a clunking noise followed by a horrible smoke stench.

It turns out that you are only supposed to hold down the spray trigger for some crazily short period of time, like 20 seconds.

Shouldn't this be in larger type in the instruction manual? With a big arrow?

So, apparently, the 45-minute constant spray overwhelmed the little machine and fried out the engine.

The gun had been almost spackling the paint, leaving the walls textured instead of spraying a smooth coat, so I re-sanded the lower portion of the walls.

Now THIS wall is acting up.

This wall initially was covered in paneling, which was held up by both nails and adhesive. So I sanded off stripes of adhesive, patched plaster cracks, then primed.

Now some of the primer has peeled.

So today I sanded the wall AGAIN. My friend Mark suggested a good wipedown before re-painting.

At least the other side of the room looks good.

UPDATE: My problems were solved with a good wipedown of the wall because it had been heavily sanded. I used this method on the walls upstairs that had lots of plaster repair and sanding.

For hard to reach areas such as the staircase ceiling, I used a broom and gave them an aggressive sweeping. I had no problems after that.

Built-in boost

2008-01-05T16:18:00.000-06:00

A coat of chocolate brown paint made this built-in bookshelf pop in the dining room.

Progress by paint

2008-01-03T17:20:00.000-06:00

What a difference three days worth of painting makes.

The view from the front door:

Sage green in the entryway,

looking into the den/bedroom in butterscotch

toward kitchen with sage green backsplash

Living room looking into dining room,

both in taupe

Dining room in taupe,

looking into study/guest room in muted gold

For paint color decisions, see Painting to sell

The lights are a line of oil-rubbed bronze with golden speckled glass, surprisingly from Menards.

Paint products that suck

2008-01-03T17:02:00.000-06:00

* Kwal paint.
When I saw Kwal paint at Habitat's ReStore, I recognized the name as the brand of polyurethane used by my wood-floor refinisher uses.

Kwal also has a stand-alone store, which led me to think it must be of the quality of Sherwin-Williams or Benjamin Moore.

Wrong.

I used two different types of Kwal paint on primed plaster walls, but both needed two coats.

The 10x11-foot bonus room off the entryway sucked up a whole gallon.

One gallon of Sherwin-Williams paint covered TWO rooms this size, both the living and dining room, in one coat plus a little touchup.

* Bin Zinsser primer.
I sought the advice of the salesperson, and I read the label before purchasing this. This is not ultra cheap stuff.

I will admit, I did not scrub all the walls with TSP as recommended, so maybe that was a fatal error. But I did sand the walls.

The primer has peeled off in some spots, particularly on a wall that had been behind paneling.

Most of the spots are on the interior, load-bearing wall, often over a heating vent, so temperature must be a factor, but ugh.

I'd try another product next time.

Restore Omaha

2008-01-03T09:01:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a big day for my little flip.

It was approved to be on this year's Restore Omaha home tour March 2.

If you own an old home, Restore Omaha is the place to be. The first day, March 1, features workshops for people who own old homes. It's inexpensive, $35, for a wealth of information.

I've heard national and local experts show how to rehab old windows, explain the history of kitchens and figure out the historic paint colors of your home. (this year's schedule)

The exhibitor area features booths for contractors, historic organizations and vendors catering to old home owners.

Lob questions at the "Ask the Expert" booth for advice on what's troubling you. Throughout the day, you'll stumble across other homeowners who have tackled whatever project is vexing you. (previous handouts)

The second day, March 2, is an afternoon of self-guided tours of historic buildings. South Omaha is the featured area of town this year.

My flip is on the tour!

While most people who attend own homes already, I figure they will be able to appreciate the work and hopefully pass the word to potential buyers.

Plus, I get the show off all the work. :)

Flippin' organized

2008-01-03T08:55:00.001-06:00

If you're flipping, obviously you should be keeping your receipts, but organize them further so you can find things fast.

I split mine into manila folders by company: Lowe's, Menards, contractors, and miscellaneous (mortgage payments, utilities, etc.).

In each folder, I keep them in order by date, slipping the most recent receipt into the front of the folder.

Yesterday I combed through my pile of supplies and realized I had a few things I could return. It took me less than a minute to find the receipts.

ReStore rejuvenated

2008-01-01T18:19:00.000-06:00

Omaha's Habitat for Humanity ReStore has been reorganized.

If you haven't been, it's tons easier to shop, particularly the tile department.

Tile shopping used to require Twister-like moves to get around the heaps scattered on the floor and pushed up against a wall.

Now everything's up on shelves and even labeled. As of Monday, they had lots of new-in-box floor tile, including several 12-inch American Olean in neutral colors.

They also had quite a few upscale ceiling fans and new Pella windows.

I loaded up on Sherwin-Williams paint at $5 a gallon.

Back in action

2008-01-01T17:11:00.000-06:00

A couple of extra projects at my real job sucked up my free time and set me behind on the flip. I had only a few days in the last two months to work on the house.

Now I've got two weeks off of work to play catchup.

I kicked it off today by painting, an easy way to give the illusion of serious progress. Then I capped it off by looking at old pictures to make me feel like I'm getting ahead.

Dining room, as purchased

June 2007

Dining room, after ceiling tile removal

September 2007

Dining room, patched and primed

October 2007

Dining room

Today

The dining and living room paint, two gallons of Sherwin-Williams Callahan Taupe, was at Habitat for Humanity's ReStore for $5 a gallon.

The back room, which can be a bedroom, is a pale butterscotch color.

Gardening program

2007-12-16T08:56:00.000-06:00

I was up before the newspaper arrived this morning, so I flipped on the TV and came across this great show: Garden Smart on PBS.

The web site has short video clips of gardening tips, like a 4-minute clip on how to prune roses.

Just what I needed after shoveling out yesterday from our fourth round of snow this season.

Seeing green

2007-12-15T18:30:00.000-06:00

For some reason, I went into a full-scale panic when I saw my sage-green kitchen tile against the countertops.

Would a buyer think it's an avocado-green albatross?

I got the most of the tile at a great price at Habitat for Humanity's ReStore and snagged an extra box through the manufacturer.

Had I shaped the whole kitchen around something I should have never chosen?

I walked the beige aisles at Lowe's and decided to stick to my plan and hope for the best.

Not bad at all.

Completely unplanned:

The upper cabinets are a larger-than-average 42 inches because the kitchen ceiling is 9 feet tall.

By coincidence, the 6x6-inch tile and an oversized copper faucet ended up being a nice balance out the large cabinets.

Countertops

2007-12-05T08:39:00.000-06:00

Now that the electrician is done in the kitchen, I finally could set the countertops in place to see if the size worked. Not bad.

You can see the odd cuts that had to be made to make this work.

Primed wainscoting

2007-12-05T08:34:00.000-06:00

Man, this wainscoting is going to look sharp. This is with a coat of primer.

This is in the upstairs master bedroom. A classy way to conceal plaster that had many holes from a previous rewiring project.