We finally got the chandelier hung in the den. It sat in the corner for over a month after we had it replated. Now that I see it up I wonder why we waited so long?
We needed more light outside for security reasons. The previous owner had placed lights around the house. Although large, they didn’t really put out enough light and were clunky looking. We decided a better solution would be to romove those lights and place motion sensor lights inconspicuously under the rafters.
We lit up the porch area with two lanterns I purchased last fall from The Bright Spot. We were a little behind on hanging our lights!
tweet
facebook
stumbleUpon
email
{
Hello from Louisville, KY. Just a note to let ya’ll know how much I’ve enjoyed reading everything on your site (in one day!). Simply wonderful info and links as well as an overview of just what my husband and I can pretty much expect when we start to strip paint and redo floors, etc. Thank you both for sharing your house journey with everyone; the inspiration is invaluable. Sincerely, soon-to-be bungalow owners with lots of work to do, Tina and Mark
dear heather, we just went thru the inspection yesterday and there are a few biggies that we hadn’t anticipated, but we still love the damned house!! i can’t tell you how helpful your site is and can’t thank you enough for all of the effort that went into providing the information that you have, let alone sharing with us your diary. there is a great deal of painted over rotting trim work outside. the chimney needs to be totally rebuilt. the upstairs porch needs to be torn down and rebuilt. the garage is structurally unstable and needs to be jacked up and a new foundation poured. there is an addition that was put on that needs a new roof plus the ‘restored’ bathrooms and kitchen need to be totally replaced. sigh… well i am determined to see this poor house restored to its former elegance and glory. you have inspired my husband and i. i will keep you posted on the money pit. claudia
Tina and Mark,
Congratulations on your soon to be new home! It is a labor of love, some days much more labor than love, but it has been worth it to see the house coming together. You’ll learn all about that soon. Wishing you all the best with your future restoration!
heather
Claudia,
I’m sorry to hear about the problems with your future house and understand exactly what you mean about falling in love with it.
In our case love was blind. The first time I walked into our house it just felt like home, my home. I didn’t see any problems just potential. I didn’t see the inside of the house again until the day it became ours. I took one step inside, really saw the condition the house was in and thought, “Oh, no! What did we just do?”
Your future home is lucky to have someone so dedicated to restoring it and bringing it back. The main thing that I have learned is that there is no problem that can’t be fixed, no matter how bad it seems. Wishing you and your money pit all the best!
heather
dear heather, yesterday the contracter walked the house with us and went over the major defects that came up in the inspection report. tomorrow we’re faxing the cost for the repairs to our attorney who will then work with the owner’s attorney to get a reduction in the cost. we all had a good laugh at the real estate description as ‘excellent condition’ and ‘sparkling’! what we have in our favor is that the owner will now have to disclose all of the things that came up in the report to any other potential buyer. we hope that this will compell him to work with us on the price.
we love the house more and more every time we go in. i’m very impressed with my husband, tim. he’s a finance guy and not inclined to artsy restoration stuff, so i am so happy that he too can see how adorable this house is. an added benefit is that we can walk to starbucks!! once again i want to thank you for all of your information and photos. it especially helped tim. i’m an artist and familiar with these craftsman style homes but tim is not. when he saw the pictures on your site, the light bulb glowed even brighter. our last son is going off to college in the fall so we are down sizing from our big house to the love shack. we feel like 2 kids again!! take care and i look forward to reading the next installments of your bungalo saga. claudia (-:
I enjoy the heck out of your site. We recently purchased a 2br, 1ba bungalow in SoCal (we looked a bit in West Adams, but mostly Pas, Alta, Eagle Rock, SoPas and Alhambra) and are facing a number of the same issues you guys did – all issues that you’re in the process of tackling, so it’s been great to read your process and progress. We have the asbestos shingle (in ‘good shape’ by all accounts, for what that’s worth!), the concrete backyard (though it was ‘retouched’ many times over the years with asphalt, so now it’s an absolute mess.) And while our house didn’t have any HUGE problems (ie electrical, plumbing, roofing) that needed immediate addressing when we moved in, I’ve found the mixed cliche ‘love at first sight is blind’ to be true. We walked into our place and saw all of the exposed wood trim and said, ‘WOOD!’ When we moved in, we found the wood to be in HORRIBLE condition. Not HORRIBLE-falling-apart-horrible, but HORRIBLE-the-finish-has-turned-into-snakeskin-over-time-HORRIBLE. And refinishing it ain’t cheap. Everything we noted on our walkthroughs as ‘well, we can just restore that’ really, really adds up – but ONLY after you’ve moved in and really tallied it all up, it seems. Still, these are the joys and pains of owning older, character homes. Keep your eyes on the prize. Your house looks to be in good hands, and I’ll continue to enjoy your updates!
Jason,
Hi! I have heard from many people who are going through the same things we are with the house – it is nice not to feel alone in this process and you know the old saying; misery loves company! Ha. I know all those little things add up but worse than that is all the “well, while we are at its”…
Thanks for your great message. I wish you the best of luck with your house.
heather