Millie: Week 10

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I learn to navigate through the business of flipping houses.  This flip, Millie is the most challenging and most exciting yet! You can find more about this house and about my 3 previous flip houses here. After 10 long weeks, the exterior of the house is almost done!  If we just look out here, I can pretend the whole house is almost done!  I'm throwing a lot of before pics into this post because they really show how far this house has come.

When we bought her, Millie was an overgrown gray box, remember?

Aside from a few minor touch ups, painting is done!

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, as I uncovered the house from the weeds, I realized that the side was intended to be the curb-appealed front, so I treated it as such.  You never would have known before-

but this was hiding underneath.  Wow I took out a lot of trees/bushes.  Now I just need the grass to grow there! (The painters also painted my yet-to-be-installed new garage door as you can see leaning on the garage)

I'm ridiculously happy with the new fence that my contractor installed on this side.  The old fence spanned the length of the yard,returned to the front porch stairs and was about to fall down.

The new fence extends only to the end of the back deck, letting the sun room and front porch become the 'front'.  And it's pretty.  And has a gate so you can actually get a lawn mower to the back yard.  What a novelty!

If you haven't noticed in the front yard pics, new mulch has been spread throughout the entire yard.  66 bags to be precise, and my back is tired.  BUT the result is so worth it.  I apparently don't have any pics of this view of the back yard before we started attacking weeds, but even from this week 2 progress pic

there's a little bit of a change.  Looking a little less jungle-like in my opinion

And just for effect, let's look at the side yard again.  The side yard was wholly unusable due to weeds before.

It's almost hard to believe that the overgrown holly at the corner of the deck above is the same nicely groomed one below.  Not pulling your leg, I swear.

The other side of the house, or the lanai as I like to call it

also got some new fencing (to replace rotten fencing) and more mulch, but nothing drastic.

Traveling inside, I was destructive once again.  In the kitchen, I pulled up the top layer of linoleum and it's accompanying plywood and started to remove about 5 kagillion staples.  I know it doesn't look like much since there are still 3- THREE!!- layers of vinyl tile that still need to go away to reveal my hardwoods underneath.

And in the anticipation of my plumber getting started next week, I smashed more- this time in the icky basement bathroom.

But since the outside is far and away the prettier view currently, I'll leave you off with that view.

Still left on the exterior is fence completion on the lanai side, trim and door repair on the garage, exterior lights, growing grass (or sodding, we'll see), fixing one broken pane of glass, replacing door knobs/locks/deadbolts, repairing the front door, installing a screen door on the back door, and adding house numbers.  Seems like nothing compared to how far she's come already!!

Happy Halloween and have a great weekend!!

Millie: Week 9

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I learn to navigate through the business of flipping houses.  This flip, Millie is the most challenging and most exciting yet! You can find more about this house and about my 3 previous flip houses here. Despite the wet wet weather we've had here in MA the past few days, the house painters were able to get a bit of work done early in the week.  It's looking so much better than the previous gray box already!!

This is take 2 on the house color.  Take 1 was a shade lighter and not good.  Not good at all.  I sucked it up, had them buy a new color of paint and I'm still not 100% on it.  I think I'm officially crazy.  Take 1 was Ben Moore Wythe Blue HC-143 and looked super beachy.  Take 2 here is HC-142, Stratton Blue.  In the interest of full disclosure here, if I could go back again I'd pick a grayer, darker color.  But it is what it is at this point and it doesn't offend me.  I'm hoping that a little touch of a darker accent color will really make this color pop.

At the beginning of the week, I also rushed to beat mother nature and get the rest of my new grass seed spread before the wet week.  Last week's previous patio pit

Is now on it's way to being a nice front-ish lawn.

The bricks in the front and going across the lawn are only temporary borders until grass grows and I can mulch.  The brick line going across in the middle of the lawn is where the new fence will be going up.  Hopefully today- fingers crossed!

And with the wet weather, I went inside and got more smashing done.  I'm getting very sick of the demo in this house.  It's been 2 months already!  I'm beyond ready to start the interior rebuilding!! *rant over*

My demo this week focused on where the plumber would need access to replumb the existing bathroom and plumb for the new bathroom.

Demoing part of the ceiling in the basement was a particularly terrible task.  Not only is it above you so all the debris is falling ON you.... there's no power or functional windows down there so I had to demo this guy with just a headlamp and a prayer.  It'll be worth it once the new master bath gets installed above.

I have decided, however, next time..... I'm throwing money at demo.  As fun as it is to swing a sledge hammer, the novelty wears off in about a week.  Can someone remind me of this on the next house?

I did squeeze one fun thing in this week, though: bringing life back into the claw foot tub.  So far it has received a coat of rusty metal primer (just to be safe) and one coat of Rustoleum Gloss White.  Today, it'll get sanded smooth and coat 2. I have a feeling it'll take several coats for the desired finish, but she's gonna be a beaut.

The feet are just waiting to be reattached after getting completely stripped and repainted themselves (and no longer look like Jar-Jar).

I'm hoping I can get all my contractors in line this coming week and get marching on the inside!  Plumbing, electrical, and asbestos removal all need to happen before I can have my REAL fun of putting the house back together.  I'm already anticipating seeing each room near completion.  That's what's keeping me motivated right now.  Keep your eye on the prize, Karen!

If Walls Could Talk

I'm always fascinated by the items that I find hidden in houses or old furniture.  In past flip houses it's been very minimal since they've been pretty young houses in my opinion (60 years?  that's nothin.  Talk to me when the house is 100+ years old and still standing.)  This house, Millie, however is 100 years old and I can tell it's just busting at the seams to tell its stories if you'll listen. Last week, as I demoed the closets behind the kitchen wall to allow for the future master closet, it was like cracking open a time capsule.

The earliest treasure you might have caught a glimpse of on instagram- a Worcester Telegram newspaper from May 12th, 1915.  As I tried to unfold the paper, however, it disintegrated in my hands.  Apparently above the ceiling of a closet isn't the ideal location for the archival of newspapers.  Who knew?  I gently tried to unfold a few pages to show you the headlines from 99 years ago.

"Two Philadelphia Boys Among Victims on Ill-Fated Cunard Liner Lusitania"

This headline was the most interesting in my opinion.  The Lucitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat on May 7th, 1915, less than a week prior to this paper, so this was probably still breaking news.

On a lighter note, can I interest you in purchasing a horse or bull within the city?

"Submarine Wrecks Unidentified Ship" which was apparently still burning in Amsterdam at the time of publication according to the article

The next stop on our timeline from the 'time capsule' was from inside the wall.  A 1934 postcard offering a special test drive of the NEW Nash 5- Passenger Broughan to Miss D. A. Scott.

Good news!  The car sports 'built-in fender lamps' and a 'gracefully designed built-in trunk.'  I'll take it!  I blurred out the street address, but I love how it just says "City."  I also love that its addressed to Miss Scott.  It was probably a rarity in those days for women to drive cars, let alone purchase them, so I dig it.  I wish I knew if she ever went on the test drive.

One step further in our timeline takes us to the later 30s onto the Queen Mary Ship.  This poster wasn't hiding per se, but it was on the wall down to the basement.  As you can see, it's suffered some water damage over the years an had to be taken down.

Friends of mine actually had their wedding on this ship just a few years ago, so that adds to the cool factor here.

Lastly in today's time capsule, we reach the late 60s, early 70s.  Hidden inside the wall behind the kitchen was this collection of small child's items.  Lincoln Logs, a plastic cowboy hat, a plastic screw driver, a christmas bulb, and a quarter from 1967.  There was a small plastic teacup too, but it got lost in the demo debris (pout).  Nothing particularly notable or unique about the items themselves, but I love how they found their way into the wall....

I present their entrance.  The perfect, Lincoln Log-sized hole behind where the stove previously lived.

Inside the walls of one small closet, the treasures spanned from 1915 to 1967 and that only includes the items that I discovered.  Who knows what else might be hiding behind these walls or what other stories this house might share with me before I finish the project and resell it.

THIS is why I love old houses.  The generations that have existed within the same walls.... the monumental historical moments that this home has stood through... and the deeply personal meaning this house has had to so many people for so many years.  How can new construction hold a candle to that?