It's just craziness in the Boston area today and this week. Hubby's currently home from work until the city gets out of lockdown. I really hope this gets resolved quickly and no more innocent people get hurt.
Monday was not a great day out at Clark- every time I turned around, I discovered an issue that added to my costs. Obviously, my bad day was swiftly put into perspective when I heard about the Marathon. I'm really speechless about the whole thing, so I'm just going to go on with today's update. #bostonstrong
If you’re new to my weekly progress posts, Clark is my first ever flip house (named for the street that he’s on). Check out my previous posts here.
The kitchen is one step closer to being done- we have granite countertops!
The first issue I ran into Monday was actually the sink. It's a fine sink- just not the sink I thought I was getting. It was included with the countertops, but I was expecting more of a standard rectangular single-bowl sink. Since it wasn't what I expected, I needed a single hole faucet offset and could not use the faucet that I had previously ordered. (insert sad trombone here) I was assured by the granite company owner that this is the most popular sink style in granite countertops currently, but it's new to me. I'm over it now though- the kitchen looks nice, the countertops are gorgeous, the new faucet looks great. Once I get the dishwasher and sink plumbed they'll be good to go.
I'm hoping to get started on the tile backsplash today- it's one of the few larger tasks still on my To Do list.
The opening between the living room and kitchen got a finished ledge. The ledge is a new piece I purchased, but I reused the trim from another area in the house. (This pic should help orient a bit- the door on the right is the front door into the living room)
The living room also finally got a bit of attention this week. The trim and ceiling got painted and the wall paint got started. It'll be a nice creamy color called Canvas.
The ceiling went from dingy to crisp white, although it still needs a second coat.
I actually love this ceiling. It's the only textured ceiling in the house and it's in perfect condition. I love the character it adds without being overwhelming.
The other HUGE thing this week is the bathroom! The paneling and trim is up and painted, a new low-flow dual flush toilet is installed, the sink is partially reinstalled, the door has been trimmed down to accommodate the new tile floor, and there is a new ceiling vent fan. Phew, that was a lot of work!
I was hoping to be able to open up the recess for the medicine cabinet to install a slightly larger one, but that was another speedbump this week. I'll be reusing/revamping the existing medicine cabinet instead (I'll be showing how in a separate post)
Moving outside, I haven't done any landscaping YET but it'll mainly be cleanup and a lot of mulch. I may decide to steal this guy for my own house. (Is it stealing if you take it from one house you own to another?)
One of the other issues that I ran into Monday was the side porch. I knew it needed a few repairs, but as I checked it out after getting pressure washed and sanded by the painters, it needed more repairs that I had anticipated. Luckily my contractor is coming to the rescue and is going to be repairing it this weekend before the house gets painted (and also luckily for a very reasonable cost).
In my last post, you saw my instagram shot of the driveway in progress. I don't think I ever showed you how terrible the before driveway actually was. The bump-up in the center was probably as high as a foot- my car bottomed out every time I went into the garage. This needed to happen for resale purposes- it's the first thing that people will see when they come to the house.
Ahhhhhhhh. A nice, level driveway with no bumps or cracks.
This week I also:
- trimmed down several closet doors for extra clearance over the new wood floors
- squared up the side screen door so that it closes properly
- finished installing floor trim in the kitchen
- got new mirrors cut for the old medicine cabinet
- organized a lot of the mess- now there's a reuse pile, a donate pile, recycle pile, etc.
Our plan is to list Clark a week from Monday (insert panic here) and I have a LOT of work to do before then! Hopefully the weather will cooperate and the house will get painted early next week and we can get new gutters installed. I need to be a painting fiend so I can crank out the painting of the 3 bedrooms (including ceilings, trim and walls). I can't wait to take completed pictures and share the total before and after with you. I'm a sucker for before and after comparisons and Clark's transformation has been huge. With that said, I'm off to tile and paint!
Boston map image via SparrowMercantile on etsy