There was nothing we could do, but get in there and just do it! Our FHA renovation loan closed on August 20th, 2008. The house was finally ours.
We drove out to the property late, the following night. We gathered what needed to be done and what we could do right away. The carpet was a disaster and needed to be torn out first. There was water damage along the plaster walls in the eat-in-kitchen area which was once a back porch. It had been closed off and made into an addition probably around the 1950's. The roof was going to be entirely replaced through our loan, so we knew we could get started repairing the water damaged plaster.
It looked like a disaster, but we knew if we could get the horrid carpet out and repair the plaster damage, we'd have a start.
It took several days to tear out the carpet throughout the entire house. We had intended to refinish the hardwood floors throughout the entire house; however, we came upon the discovery that the floors on the first floor were severely covered in stains, paint, and had board separation throughout. We knew immediately we would not have the skill, the money or time to refinish the first floor, so we considered our options and determined laminate flooring would give us the same look of hardwood floors for a price we could afford.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that the second floor did not have nearly the damage of the first floor. Although the floors were splattered with paint, that could be sanded off with patience.
The carpet was out in a few days, and we began the tedious effort to remove all the old carpet trims, nails and staples throughout the entire house. This process took many days straight. We ultimately removed 5,000+ staples and nails.
The once beautiful hardwood staircase with rich lacquer finish finally became partially uncovered. It too had been victim to a sloppy white paint job, rubber step pads, metal trim, nail upon nail, and thousands of staples. That was the first glimpse into the 1920's history of the home and it filled us with hope and motivation to keep going.
In a matter of a couple weeks we had repaired the plaster damage in the eat in kitchen to the best of our ability. A lot of old plaster had to come out and wall patch had to be applied. We had no idea how it would turn out, but at last, after hours and hours of patient sanding by hand, the wall began to look like a wall again. We finished it with a thick white primer designed for uneven and damaged walls.
With the carpet out, the floors cleared, and the wall repaired, we could move on to the next challenges...
We drove out to the property late, the following night. We gathered what needed to be done and what we could do right away. The carpet was a disaster and needed to be torn out first. There was water damage along the plaster walls in the eat-in-kitchen area which was once a back porch. It had been closed off and made into an addition probably around the 1950's. The roof was going to be entirely replaced through our loan, so we knew we could get started repairing the water damaged plaster.
It looked like a disaster, but we knew if we could get the horrid carpet out and repair the plaster damage, we'd have a start.
It took several days to tear out the carpet throughout the entire house. We had intended to refinish the hardwood floors throughout the entire house; however, we came upon the discovery that the floors on the first floor were severely covered in stains, paint, and had board separation throughout. We knew immediately we would not have the skill, the money or time to refinish the first floor, so we considered our options and determined laminate flooring would give us the same look of hardwood floors for a price we could afford.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that the second floor did not have nearly the damage of the first floor. Although the floors were splattered with paint, that could be sanded off with patience.
The carpet was out in a few days, and we began the tedious effort to remove all the old carpet trims, nails and staples throughout the entire house. This process took many days straight. We ultimately removed 5,000+ staples and nails.
The once beautiful hardwood staircase with rich lacquer finish finally became partially uncovered. It too had been victim to a sloppy white paint job, rubber step pads, metal trim, nail upon nail, and thousands of staples. That was the first glimpse into the 1920's history of the home and it filled us with hope and motivation to keep going.
In a matter of a couple weeks we had repaired the plaster damage in the eat in kitchen to the best of our ability. A lot of old plaster had to come out and wall patch had to be applied. We had no idea how it would turn out, but at last, after hours and hours of patient sanding by hand, the wall began to look like a wall again. We finished it with a thick white primer designed for uneven and damaged walls.
With the carpet out, the floors cleared, and the wall repaired, we could move on to the next challenges...
Here are some photos of the repaired wall & floors sans carpet!
1 comment:
Staples and tacks are the bane of our existence. What surprises me most are all the tacks that had seemingly been exposed for quite some time, yet never removed. I theorize that the previous owners moved out because they couldn't stand the foot pain any longer.
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