And there shall be a garage!

Where there was only cement, now is a garage. My hubby, brother & dad, aunts & uncles (and a few friends) helped erect the garage in COLD weather. Fun Times! Currently its halfway sided & the doors are on, the roof is done, too.

Garage

New Concrete!!!

Oh, My, God!!! A sea of Concrete! Amongst a gazillion other things that are coming together on the House. We were able to get the concrete poured TODAY! YEAH! I was up on Friday to run around town with Bob getting permits & measuring the yard. Monday our Uncle came down with a few guys & used the BobCat & other various MAN tools & got it mostly dug out. Tuesday Bob finished digging out, framing up & getting everything inspected. Wednesday over 23 cu yards of concrete created the 22x22 new garage slab (new garage to be bought & built soon), the 12x70 driveway, & the 12x25 patio! YEAH YEAH YEAH!!! It looks awesome & is a fantastic update to the house.

No More Shingle Siding!

Last week, amongst everything else, the shingle siding came down and so did the wood siding underneath and it all went into a 30 cu yd dumpster. Bob packed it down a ton of times, threw in a whole other ton of garbage, debris & construction (um... deconstruction) and laid the old doors on top for a cap. YEAH!

I had been up the Saturday before to do some more painting (bedroom ceilings & priming the bathroom), some weed pulling and the demolition of the dining room. I also pulled a few rows of shingle boards off the driveway side of the house since I wouldn't be up to help with the rest of the tear-off.

Bob's done a great job in the upper bathroom. He and his wife tiled and grouted the floor and roughed in the new linen closet.

He also is close to putting in the laundry chute (none right now), but their main objective was to get the whole house wrapped before the rain really started.

It's coming along.

Kitchens & Bathrooms!

It's always a "not so good sign" when the credit card company calls with a potential "fraud" alert! After spending about 3 hours at the local Home Owner's Bargain Outlet (or HOBO as we call it!) my sister in law & I loaded up a trailer with the NEW kitchen cabinets ~ 8 cabinets & a set a drawers to be exact! We also got the upstairs bathroom vanity, a granite counter, an under mount sink and all the tiles, grout, adhesive & spacers to get the whole bathroom done. We definetely racked up quite the bill!
Its exciting to pick out the features for the bathroom & I really hope the new owners appreciate that we lugged tile from one end of the store to the other to match them up to the display of the granite counter. So fun! Hopefully the cabinets will go in smoothly once we rip the kitchen totally out. I can't wait!

Progress So Far

We, or I should say, my brother & sister-in-law, have been BUSY at the Appleton House! The entire 2nd Floor has been insulated & freshly drywalled. We also put in all new windows. The small opening in the hallway for attic access (that you have to reach with a ladder) has been replaced with a much more functional pull down staircase. The two front bedrooms were painted & the 3rd will be complete soon. All 3 closets were also redrywalled & painted. The very short railing on the 2nd floor was replaced with an actual half wall. My brother had to move the bathroom door over a few inches and then could drywall the hallway. My SIL helped rip up the floor in the bathroom ~ the hardwood floors are going to be replaced by a beautiful tile. Instead of going over the hardwood we salvaged it for patching in some of the spots where removing the plaster & moldings left large empty areas.

With the bedrooms & hallway almost finished, its on to the 2nd floor bathroom. The tub & surround that we purchased was too big to fit through the staircase, so with a few friends, some ropes & ladders & a lot of cuss words & sweat the tub found its way up the side of the house & into the bathroom via the much enlarged window opening (good thing we are replacing the window & residing the house!) Now in place, my brother can build a linen closet on the far side of it between the tub & the outside wall (currently no linen closet exists!). Then a new toliet, vanity, sink, etc can be installed.

Also to follow soon will be a laundry chute ~ currently none exists & then on to the doors & floors on the 2nd floor.

The kitchen design is done & we will be creating a breakfast bar peninsula, adding a ton of counter space! We also have plans to incorporate a dishwasher, garbage disposal & over the range microwave (again, none exist presently!)

Our aunt came over recently & spent a few hours weeding & doing lots of yardwork. We haven't been doing too much outside because all the siding has to come off & its just going to make a mess!

This house is getting the total makeover!

Kitchen & Dining Rooms

Well, here is a partial view of the dining room. We'll be taking off the paneling, redoing the floors, new window and new trim. Probably a new chandlier & maybe a tiled area since it also has the front door enterance. New Paint on the walls, too. The kitchen is a little rough looking and its going to get gutted as well. I just got a design done up and we'll see if it works, but then the new cabinets can get ordered. We'll put in 2 new windows, redo the pantry, new paint, and new tile. Lots of work!

ENLARGE THE PHOTOS

If you want the Full Picture... Click on the Picture & It'll Enlarge for you. How Neat!

No Insulation

Wisconsin Winters are COLD!!! So, when my brother ripped open the 2nd floor walls, he was a little taken aback that there was NO Insulation in the walls. Now, to the builder/owners credit the shingle siding that's outside has some insulation on it, more padding then anything, but STILL NO INSULATION ARE YOU CRAZY!!! So, needless to say, all the exterior walls came down and now insulation is being put in and new drywall will go up. These pictures (Thank you Aunt Joey!) show the progress... Bob's doing a GREAT job! The last picture is the stairwell, again all the plaster needed to come off ~ it looked like someone(s) had a huge FIGHT in it. We will have to put in a new railing since this one is only about 2 feet tall. Again, all the windows will be new and we will retrim everything and put on new doors.

Living Room

Here is the Living Room of the Packard House... ICK! The walls will be textured and painted a nice neutral color, all the windows will be new, with new trim and the bathroom that is off it, back in the corner will be completely redone. The door to the bathroom will be replaced and again all new trim. I think the molding on the top and bottom can be saved and we are going to try to strip and refinish the floor, otherwise it'll just be carpet... soft plush carpet, not indoor/outdoor carpeting! Yikes!

Its Ours

Friday we drove up to Appleton for the closing, even though we knew it probably wasn't going to happen. We had gotten an email on Wednesday that was to the effect of letting us know that the driveway needed to be paved within 6 months and there was a special assessment... WHOA ~ driveway, fine, special assessment... first I'm hearing of it. So some phone calls, some internet searching, some emails and yes, the property has a special assessment coming in 08/09 for the sewers, laterals & curbing. The bank would need to pay for that, especially since it was never disclosed. Dragging feet never made so big a rut! Friday we went to the house, though, we went to the title company, too, we signed what we could and left the big check with my brother so he could finish it up... and they did ~ they paid the estimated amount for the assessment ~ and we exchanged check for keys and the house is ours! Strap on your toolbelt ~ there's a TON of work to be done!

The Listing Ad

Here's what the listing read as...

FIXER WITH GREAT POTENTIAL. GOOD FLOOR PLAN WITH LARGE KITCHEN & DINING. DEEP LOT WITH ROOM FOR GARAGE. OPPORTUNITY ABOUNDS.

And Room Sizes:

Living Rm
20X11

Dining Rm
12X12

Kit/Dinette
14X08

Bdrm 1
12X11

Bdrm 2
11X11

Bdrm 3
12X09

Menards... My Friend

For years, Menards has showered me with items that are free, or at least, cheap, after the mail in rebate. They have an unique, but popular, program where they offer items with a rebate and the money back is in the form of a merchandise credit that you, in turn, use back at Menards. We utilize this whenever we can. I figure if I am going to be spending the money anyways, I might as well get some free stuff in the meantime! This is going to come in extremely handy for this new project. Yesterday I made my trip to Menards for the week. They recently built one fairly close to our house & its HUGE, including a full line of groceries and an indoor lumber yard... NICE! I went specifically for the new house, armed with my BIG CARD (their credit card), and their 2 overlapping ads.

All total, including tax, I spent $109.36 (I had no credit to use this time) on 27 items and will get back $73 in credit for next time. So, what did my $36.36 get me? Ten 10' aluminum gutters, 4 quick clamps (really neat one handed clamps), 2 car air fresheners, 2 packs of car window wipes, 2 rose bushes, 2 packs of gladiolus bulbs, 2 one step folding step stools, 2 cans of pringles (not rebated, but on sale for 79 cents each) and a new key lock entry door knob set. Not bad! Already in my car from last week is some weed and feed, more bulbs, tape measures, some smaller clamps, a screwdriver set, and some fuel system cleaner (alright, not for the house, but definetely good to have!).

In the coming months I'm sure many things I will need, or could potentially use will be part of their rebated items and I will be sure to visit my friend weekly. Hopefully I can counteract some of the expense this way and keep us under budget. I wonder if they'll do one for a garage... that could be interesting! Dreamer!

Our First Project

Well, its official... we need more stuff to do! Six kids and their entourage isn't enough so we had a wingding of an idea & are purchasing a house to flip. Our first (of hopefully many) projects takes us to Appleton, WI. Our "house" has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths & is 1236 Sq feet. Its a foreclosure and as you can see needs some work. The funny thing is, I haven't seen it yet! My brother has been doing the leg work as he is the one who is going to be doing the bulk of the work. Step #1 will be to take off the CHRISTMAS LIGHTS... I have an older picture from 2003 & the house looks exactly like this ~ Christmas Lights & all. The Pine tree is going to get trimmed up too since no one can walk down the path. The driveway is gravel & ends at a concrete slab. We will be constructing a 2 car garage & laying down a concrete driveway. New siding, new roof, and a host of updates inside that I'll have to wait to explain. We close on the house in May at which point I'll get keys & finally get to see the inside. I'll take photos, some measurements & start on a timeline & budget. We'll be using this blog to update the work as we go. This is a big step for us, especially in this market, but this is a great opportunity & I'm excited about the prospects & potential. So, join us on our NEXT ADVENTURE!