Stepping up to the batters box once again...

Since my last entry, I had a mental goal of taking the entire month of May off. Basically do absolute nothing around the house. Just relax and enjoy the free time with no pressure. Boy did that plan back fire, although it wasn’t as dreadful as you may think… Especially, with my history of things not going according to plan… Well, on May 17, I was about to leave the house to do some errands. When I had happen to look over towards the back of the house and notice this…

Yes a tree leaning on my neighbor’s fence as if it’s just hanging out... The tree had uprooted and was resting there. I was actually amazed but at the same time grateful that the tree did not crash through my neighbor’s fence. It would not have been pretty. So I immediately contact a local tree service company to do an emergency cut. While I was waiting for the lumber jacks, I happened to notice several birds resting on the tree… as if they were taunting me and trying to have the tree crash through the fence…Bastards!!!!

In less then 1 hour the tree was down and out.

The company did an awesome job. But because of the death of the tree, I started to evaluate the other trees on my property. I was able to identify two other trees that need to be removed. So in the next coming weeks (June 18) the two trees below will be removed. One tree is completely dead with carpenter ant's taking up residents. The other tree is completely over grown and is seriously too close to the house. This tree is about 90 feet above my house. Also you probably can't really see it in the pictures but it is lifting the driveway.

To be honest that was really the only true excitement for the month of May. However, I did install new lighting for the basement. I had realized that the basement can be a scary place. So to brighten things up I purchase a couple of shop lights. At the moment I am only able to install lights by the washing machine and dryer. My plan is to install more shop lights throughout the basement, but I need to install new outlets at the potential lighting areas. But that concludes the month of May projects…

Here are some pictures of some exciting things I’ve done within the month of May…

Here I am at my baby sisters wedding... I was in the wedding thus the cream yellow suit...

Here I am taking a picture with my dad, Nestor... I seriously don't know what I'm doing with my lips.

Here is a picture of my dad and baby sister, Evelyn, on her big day... 5/15/09

Here I am at Clearwater Beach in Florida, 5/23/09 enjoying a nice cold adult beverage...

Still in Clearwater Beach, look mom I'm in the deep end.... In the Gulf enjoying the warm water...
Now that the month of May is over, I guess it is time to get back into the swing of things… For several days, I’ve been thinking of what room to start with. So after many internal debates and thoughts, I had finally decided to start with the bathroom. I figured that since the vanity is already installed what more does the bathroom need to be completed.

The entire bathroom has some type of cracks and/or damage to the walls that need to be repaired.

I love the Duct tape work... It certianly has a nice touch...

Here is a picture of the floor. It's time to go!!!!

Who ever put up the drywall tape used the solid tape instead of the fiberglass mesh tape. I prefer to use the mesh tape because of situations like this. Drywall tapes in general are used to create a smooth transition of surfaces when using the joint compound. The problem with the solid tape is that if not used properly, it will bubble up and peal off. Thus you result in a wall looking like above and below... It is extremely easy to mess this process up by not using enough joint compound… So that is why I prefer the fiberglass mesh tape. The joint compound easily flows through the fiberglass mesh and creates a bond between the wall and mesh. Most importantly it’s a lot easier to not make a mistake….

As you can see the bathroom certainly needs an update… Demolition and reconstruction has already begun (on June 6). But because of the amount of information that has already been written, I feel that I maybe overwhelming you… But I will be doing an updated sometime mid-week... I’m certainly excited to share the new plans and results of the bathroom that have been accomplished thus far… Anyway, until next time…

It's Official!!!!!!!!

Back in July 28, 2008, I had signed the closing papers to purchase this house where I currently reside. As many of you may know, since then I’ve been trying to get the upstairs up and running so that someone rent it out…Well after about 9 months and 3 days, or 39 weeks, or 277 days, or 6648 hours, or 398,880 minutes, or 23,932,899 second…… or…. OK I guess I can stop now, you guys get the idea…It has been a LONG TIME!!!! Anyway, on Friday, May 1, 2009. I was finally able to say, “I’m officially a landlord”… Last Friday, the new tenants signed the lease agreement and started to move into their new apartment upstairs…

One word explains my feeling at the moment, “YAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”

Prior to the tenants being selected and beginning their process of moving in. Several huge things were done to the apartment upstairs. See it all started about last weekend (April 28). From the advertisement within Craigslist, several people (about 15 in all) were interested in the apartment. I would say that I had a good turn while using Craigslist. On a side note, I certainly recommend updating the ad every Thursday. Many people only looked at the latest ad's…Anyway many of the people that viewed the house were not really ready to move in until June… With so many of the people saying that they didn’t want to move in until June… Mentally I had shut down the thought that the apartment needed to be completed before May… So I relaxed all weekend (April 28). The weekend prior I was in Virginia for work. So to help relax, I purchase a new rocking chair and Adirondack chair and enjoyed the beautiful weekend that we had…

I sat on the back porch drinking ice tea all day Saturday and Sunday… It was so relaxing…I even feel asleep on the porch… Well on Sunday around 6:30 pm. I got a visit from two potential tenants. They want to be roommates… No problem... I asked when they would like to move in… MAY 1st…. OK slight problem...

After submitting their paperwork for the standard credit and background checks, I went into high gear to finish the apartment… The week started out with me trying to install new door handles for the closet doors. Well it turned out that the closet door thickness would not work for any standard handles that I had purchased… So instead of sweating over trying to find new handles that would work, I decided to update the doors…. What a bad idea that turnout to be… Well not really but because of this decision it caused me to not get to bed at a decent time for the entire week…

I thought the doors would be quick and easy to install. Well it turned out that I was wrong once again… Because the original doors were not standard in thickness nor were they standard in width, I had to customize the jambs by adding addition wood. Two of the doors widths were about 30 inches… So instead of purchasing a 31 inch door and rip the extra width down… I decided to purchase a 29 inch door. Plus I also saved a total of 60 dollars for purchasing 29 inch doors…

Here is the closet door in the master bedroom...


After installing the new door, a gap can be noted. Plus the door tried to swing into the closet. Thus stressing the hinges.

Here is picture showing a new strip of wood that minimizes the gap...

Here is a picture of the living room's new closet door installed…

I also decided to install new floors within two of the closets… At first I was not, but after looking at them for a long period of time… I felt that it would be best… Here is a picture showing the master bedroom closet floor.

Crappy!!!!
Here is a picture showing the living room closet. Both closets look similar before and after.

The final push in completing the apartment was taking way too long… So by Wednesday, I decided to take a day off from work and focus finishing the entire apartment. By the end of Wednesday night, the new closet doors were installed, damage plugs were replace, new blinds were also installed for 10 windows, a damaged floor trim was fixed, a new lock for the attic installed and the closet floors were newly updated.

The only thing that was left by Thursday night was painting the doors, clean and get all of the paperwork in order before Friday’s afternoon signing. I believe on Thursday night, I was in bed by 3 am and only slept for about 4 hours… To be honest, the excitement of finally getting a tenant upstairs carried me through the day on Friday… A sense of accomplishment certainly did hit me when I handed the keys over to the new tenants…

With that said, I want to thank you for joining me on my journey, although this is certainly not the end…I will be starting a new project in the next couple of weeks…Let's see... new steps (front and back), new hardwood floor for the front entrance, new lights for the basement, motion lights for outside, and also my apartment... But I think I deserve a little break for a while…Especially since my Birthday is on Wednesday... what do you think? So until next time, happy building…

Here I am in Richmond, Virginia. (April 19, 2009)

The work must continue.....

Even though I’ve placed an ad within craigslist, fixing and cleaning things around the apartment must continue. Last Friday is when the advertisement went live. Thus far I’ve had several potential tenants interesting in viewing the apartment, but nothing yet.

Last weekend the apartment was completely cleaned. Thanks to my mom and both of my nephews, I was able to really put a dent into getting the apartment upstairs ready for some showings. My initial concerns cleaning were with the hardwood floors. I was concerned that the dirt and dust could have damaged the floors that the shine would not come back. But with some elbow grease and an old mop, the floors returned to their original look…

Here are all of the pictures showing the work that was accomplished last weekend.

I was also able to install a new screen door to the porch. The original door was in a horrible state. Here are some pictures of the screen doors showing the before and after…

The only things left that I would like to accomplish are paint the back steps, install a new floor, fix some electrical plugs, and replace the batteries in the smoke detectors. The new floor that I’m referring to is the landing in the back steps. Here are some pictures showing what I’m referring too.
Once all of the said items are completed… The real fun will start… My living space…. Well until next time.

The end is near.... But also a new beginning...

For the last couple of days things have been starting to come together. Since purchasing this home, I’ve been trying to create a suitable apartment for a potential tenant. Part of the delays can be attributed to major and minor set backs. You know the bathroom roof collapsing, window Bob, the radiator sinking, and my surgery, just to name a few. But I partly felt that the apartment needed a lot of work, before accepting a tenant. I now feel that I can finally see the finish line.

Over the weekend, I started to move all of my tools and equipment down to the basement. I also completed painting the front hallway. I decided to paint the hallway the same color as the bedrooms, partly because it is a soft yellow that is soothing on the eyes. It projects a calming vision as if looking at an Aurora in the night Alaskan sky. Ok seriously, it was because I had extra paint that was a decent color. Here are some before and after pictures of the front hallway.

Before

As you can see the attic stairs were painted to match the ceiling.

I also finished painting the window trim. I had to first sand the joint compound to be a smooth surface. This left the rooms dusty once again. Here are the pictures showing the final result.



For the bathroom, I installed a wash towel rack and a toilet rack. I kind of ran out of ideas of where to install the towel rack. So I’ll most likely find a place over the weekend for the towel rack after consulting some family members. The bathroom door was also installed, at which point I realized it needs a coat of paint. Luckily I have extra “Alaskan Sky” paint. I then fixed the floor transition from the dinning room to the bathroom.

Here is a picture of the toilet rack and wash towel rack….


Here are some pictures showing that damage floor where I put the new transition plate.

Before I started to pool all of the required administrative paper for rental properties together. I gathered the application, leasing agreements, pre-leasing inspection forms and a check list. The reason for creating a check list was to help me keep track of paperwork that needs to be completed. Anyway, after gathering the paperwork, I found a company that will perform credit and background checks for potential tenants. So with all of that stuff in place, I felt it was time to place an advertisement for the apartment.

So, here it is…

http://westernmass.craigslist.org/apa/1114133655.html

Like I said, things are really starting to come together. This weekend I plan on finish cleaning and complete some minor issues that still need to be done... Anyway, until next time...