Expenses You Don’t Think About

We spent 6 months renovating this home and now it’s time to party. Slow your roll!  since this is a vacation home in another state I guess we do have to hire someone to oversee the property while we are away. I would hate to come back and have 2 feet of water on the new floors. Oh, yep forgot about the security system, trash pickup, water, electricity, and landscaping that needs to be paid EVERY month. Ummmmmmmm…..and what do we do about internet and cable???? Ugh……really?

Renovation Complete…Now What?

Although the overall renovation project has ended I could not bare the thought of ending the blog. So, until I come up with some extra cash to renovate another property I will continue posting but it will not be about the day-to-day trials and tribulations of an active renovation but about lessons learned over the course of this renovation. My future posts will be about understanding foreclosures in Florida, do’s and don’ts of renovating from a distance, how to choose a contractor, what will end up costing you a ton of money if you are not careful and tips on how to save money when renovating a property. More to come!

Before and After Pics

Kitchen

 

 

Living Room

 

Bedroom #1

  

Main Bathroom

  

Bedroom #2

    

Dining Room

   

Masterbed and Bath

  

   

Sitting Room

  

Renovation is Almost Complete! Take the Video Tour

How Hard is it to Pick Out a Shower Door?

How hard it is to pick out a shower door?  by my accounts harder than it should be.  All we need is a 33″ wide standard height shower door but I’m finding the choices to be TNTC (too numerous to count for the microbiologists out there). Pivot door, frame or frameless, textured, frosted or clear glass, silver, brushed nickel, glass thickness, name brand vs. never heard of them, door opens inwards or outwards, handle on left or right, REALLY?? and why are they so expensive? it’s a shower door not a jacuzzi.

I know the guy that built my home in Maryland decided on the $5 door on clearance because it looks like it cost $5. But for this house might as well get a custom door and hopefully someone will feel sorry for us and give us a discount. 

All this drama for something that looks similar to this….  I guess I will be eating Ramen noodles for another year.

 

Forget the Allergies, Carpet Rules!

The flooring is being installed this week. So far I like how they have turned out. Believe me, this was a process and I don’t believe ANYONE who says floors are easy to install. There is a lot that goes into it especially when dealing with a house in Florida because multiple layers are required to go underneath the floor (moisture barrier layer, poly layer, whatever layer) otherwise we might have ended up with a wavy, bouncy floor, and yes they had to start over in some areas. Lesson learned, forget about my allergies next time I’m going with carpet!

 

 

Uncle Charles in the pic watching 1 of 10 channels

Porcelain Tile on the Ground

Check out the new tile in the bathrooms. We purchased Mesa Beige porcelain tile from Lowes. I think it matches nicely with the wall color.

New Video Tour of the Florida House Project

Phase I is now complete, the walls have either been replaced with new drywall, removed or painted. The kitchen cabinets and countertops were installed and the electrical and plumbing are up finally up to code and passed inspection.  Take the video tour to see what all has been done to date. For Phase II, the flooring will be installed and the bathrooms will be updated with vanities and lighting. The ceiling fans will also be installed and the exterior of the house will be painted with a new coat of paint. We are updating the sprinkler system to get the yard back into tip top shape. Wahoo!!!  I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

New Paint on the Walls

The interior walls have a new coat of paint and they look much better than I expected. Why? you just never know how paint is going to look until you actual slap a coat on the walls.  We choose the paint color Crisp Linen for the interior because it was a  mellow color that we thought would brighten up the house.

    

 

We Picked the Pendant Lights for the Kitchen

Here they are!