New World Datsuns...

I talked about making this thread. So here it is.. I'll try to go step by step until we are current.

Day 1 - We bought the house. We had been searching for about a year and a half. Found this fixer that had what I was looking for but was pretty run down. It was a 1 owner... never updated reverse mortgage foreclosure. Sat empty for almost two years before I actually bought it. 9 months of that... I was interested or negotiating the sale. Which to say the least was an awful, stressful, and rocky transaction. But it all worked out.

Pics from right before the sale:
















Pictures I took from day one after I got the keys. The work starts:

Man, what a time capsule.

Step one... remove popcorn ceiling throughout the entire house. FML.

Had to put plastic sheeting on floor and all walls in the entire house.. and spray water... then scrape. Let dry.. Texture.. Prime...Paint. No pictures of any of that. But I do have a somewhat before and after. (I wasn't planning on a build thread back then..)

Before:


After(now):

We had a new roof put on.. didn't do that work because it needed to be done ASAP to satisfy the loan. The roof has been leaking in 3 places for years. Yes there was water damage. Quick before and afters:

before:


after:



(having to recycle some pics.. sorry bro's)
After having the roof put on... the roof leaked in 2 places. After having the roof company come out and redo some stuff.. it leaked in only one place.. which turned out to be the chimney and not the roof.

Before I addressed the water damage in the house... I had to stop the water leaks. Step one, new flashing on the chimney. Still leaked. I had the chimney weather sealed.. still leaked. Last up, demo the chimney crown and have it rebuilt.

I had a company come out and rebuild the cement chimney crown. This is what they left me with:



cement all over the roof.. strike one.



cracks like that.. all over the crown.. strike two.

I called them to come have a do-over. They came out and did it again.. it cracked to shit again. Strike three.

Called them and told them last chance.. Come fix it. The contractor never showed up. I called the company and told them, I'm not paying. We part ways.. and I'll find someone else to do the work. They agreed.. and my chimney was still leaking.

I went to a sheet metal place and had them make a sheet metal cap. I painted it and installed... no more leaks and no more cement to crack. Win.

Now that the water leaks were stopped... time to fix the water damage in the house. I just have pictures of the damage.. none of the fix.

In the attic:





Had roof company come out and fix the roof plywood..

Right below that water damage was this in the bedroom. Water damage to the drywall.

Cut it all out.. framed it, taped, mud, sand, textured, prime, paint. All good now!

Also had a leak in the bathroom, did the same thing. Here it is now:



The leak was right between the bathroom fan and mirror. Good as new. More on that later.

Next up is replacing the awful brown linoleum floors.

Before:






After:

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I then painted the outside of the house... first scrape, repair, sand, prime, paint.. the entire house. What a pain the butt. I still need to paint the trim and do touch ups.. This was over a year ago.. Just been busy with other projects. I'll get there.

Before:


In primer:


Now(not a great comparison pic):

Next was refreshing both bathrooms. A light remodel of both.

Bathrooms Before:


After:

Next... rebuild the shed. It didn't get painted at the same time as the house cause it needed extensive work. I didn't have the roof put on the shed when the roof was done so that I could do it myself and try my hand at roofing. It needed a lot of wood replaced due to water damage. Also.. before installing windows in my house.. I framed and installed a window in the shed.

Before:


During:




After:

Shitty last pic.. but it turned out nice I think.

On to now.. I've been working on removing the old aluminum windows and installing new vinyl windows.

Last week I had a frozen pipe in the house.. here are the pics from the fix.

Repairing:








After the repair is done:

I also did a motherfuck-ton of yard work.. it was previously a jungle in the front and back yard. Still a long ways to go.

To Do list...

- Finish installing windows and patio door
- Finish new dog kennel
- Finish painting the trim
- New fence for the yard
- Replace carpet in the house
- Do something with our awful outdated cabinets throughout the house
- Seal the garage floor
- In ground sprinklers

WOW, you like working on your house, and you seem to be good at it.

Keep up the good work on it draker, Like wayno said you seem to be doing a good job

Indeed.^^^^ That's alot of hard work you've put in. It looks alot better than when you got it. I have done a good bit of home work myself so I can understand what you're dealing with. Is this your first house?

No wonder you aren't doing constant 510 updates. That house is practically a full time job. You're going to LOVE the new windows. It's the single best improvement I did to my house. Cut waaay down on the drafts. I can actually stay pretty comfy in the winters now.
Also, if you decide to replace the cabinets (rather than refinish/reface) check with Parr. They had the best prices when I did mine.

Taterhead wrote:Indeed.^^^^ That's alot of hard work you've put in. It looks alot better than when you got it. I have done a good bit of home work myself so I can understand what you're dealing with. Is this your first house?

Yep, first place.

DRIVEN wrote:No wonder you aren't doing constant 510 updates. That house is practically a full time job. You're going to LOVE the new windows. It's the single best improvement I did to my house. Cut waaay down on the drafts. I can actually stay pretty comfy in the winters now.
Also, if you decide to replace the cabinets (rather than refinish/reface) check with Parr. They had the best prices when I did mine.

Yeah, if I wasn't working on the house all the time... I'd have a lot more time to work on the 510(s). I usually spend most of my weekend working on the house... when I get tired or frustrated I go work on the 510 to relax a bit. Once I get the windows done I'll be taking a break for a while. Hopefully until mid spring. We'll see though.