Flipping House Part 1
Here is a little back history to get us started. When I first started dating Josh he was in the middle of a 2 year flip that turned into a 6 year flip haha if I hadn’t shown up I truly believe he would still be picking away at the old house. As an Interior Designer hearing about Josh’s plans was thrilling, I was so excited to see all of the work he had done. I will never forget the first time I went over… walking up to this scary ass house thinking what the heck?!!? The exterior had not been touch yet and I am not kidding when I say scary; the front porch was drooping down by the weight of these crazy bushes that looked like they were going to completely consume the tiny home. The siding was weathered and dated I remember just staring at it like something would happen if I took my eye off the house.
Once I was inside it was much better the main floor was beautiful, he had done an amazing job. Josh had great intentions for his flip but when you live in the house you are working on it can be very difficult, it can feel like once you get home you are checking into your second job and sometimes you just wanna chill on the couch all night. I was only too happy to help get him back on track; I’m pretty sure the week I moved in I had all of the siding and the front porch ripped down. The summer slowly turned into fall we built a beautiful front porch and I attacked those crazy bushes and put in a garden. We still hadn’t started on the new exterior so we decided to hire someone to do it for us. What a nightmare; this guy was a complete joke. He showed up and got most of the flashing done and started on the siding; we were so excited to see progress we missed how shotty the work actually was. My Dad came over to see and pointed out about 20 different things that were completely wrong and unacceptable for a “professional”. It started to snow that night we were so mad and hurt, we knew we could have done it ourselves but we wanted it done right and quickly. So we had a big talk with our guy and pointed everything out that was wrong… he came back I think only 3 times after that leaving his break and tools behind. We never saw him again and we never even paid him a dime. My dad and mom came to the rescue and we finished the exterior properly and it looked fantastic. We still have buddies break and have no idea what happened to him.
With the arrival of winter it was time to move Reno’s back in doors. Upstairs there was a weird little lofty area and a bedroom. We moved our bed and all over our clothes down into the dining room and started gutting. This home was built in the 30’s so instead of insulation it had two layers of pine tongue and groove that was holding in sawdust… what a mess! Josh built a trap door so none of the mess could make its way down stairs. We chucked bags and bags out the window down to a trailer; over all I think we ended up taking 3 full trailer loads to waste management. Oh and Dad came into help us again … buried in the attic was the old brick fire chimney which my Dad took out brick by brick by standing on a ladder through the trap door, poor guy always got the worst jobs! Josh and I had been going back and forth about what to do upstairs. He wanted to put another wall back up and I wanted to leave it all open…. Needless to say I WON! We made built in closets and an area where one could set up an at home office or vanity. We boarded the room but got some professionals in to mud and tape and sand. Drywall is a messy game and can make or break your reno if it is done poorly. Plus our guy Tony is amazing and had everything done in 3 days! I painted the vaulted ceilings the same colour as the walls and the room became so much bigger trim went up and we installed our flooring.
It was the beginning of Spring and we had our bedroom back freeing up the rest of our house! We were living like “normal” people for the first time in months and it felt awesome I wasn’t afraid of smelling like bacon anymore all my clothes were upstairs and put away… not hanging out beside our oven. We picked away at little finishing things and waited for the snow to go away…. And waited and waited. Worst spring / summer you could have asked for while trying to get your home ready to sell. Half way through July we were finally ready, we decided to list with Comfree and had a fantastic experience the house sold and closed on August 25.
Before we moved into our current home my Mom, Aunt and I painted the whole house!
A fresh coat of paint can do wonders. We love living out in the country and close to our friends, we enjoyed the rest of the summer and fall not concerned about starting any Reno’s. This was for two reasons, firstly was bought a pontoon boat and summer actually decided to show so it was just too hard not to be out on the River every weekend. Secondly, we could decide on what we wanted to do for this flip. We had hundreds of amazing ideas and kept bouncing back and forth. The main thing you have to remember when you are flipping house is that this is an investment and your goal is to make a little bit more money on every house that you turn. We finally came up with the best design for the house, location, return and budget. We have officially started … with a little push from me taking all the upper kitchen cabinets down.
Keep watching the blog for more on our latest flip! Thanks for stopping by and remember CREATE, DESIGN, LOVE, REPEAT until next time.
Jessica Lena
#InteriorDesign #Flippinghouses #reno #homereno #comfree #spaceplanning
