We started demo on The H2O House today, and unfortunately, the mold and sheetrock damage was worse than we thought. While we were expecting pretty much a full cosmetic renovation (plus some mold and sheetrock work), it looks like this one will be pretty much an interior gut rehab instead — meaning most of the sheetrock in the house is being pulled out and we’ll be pretty much starting from scratch. In addition to that, the erosion under the front walkway and steps was worse than expected, so we’ll be pouring new concrete and rebuilding the brick steps.
Here are some pictures from this morning:
First floor is gutted.
Yup. Gutted.
Rebuilding the back deck.
Erosion under the concrete walkway required a new concrete pour.
Hi J,
Good luck with that one….I’m sure it will still turn out great! I’ve been following your blog for several months. Recently I’ve successfully flipped a couple of houses here in central Kentucky. I’ve got a a few questions for you based on what I’ve seen on your posts and
1. Odors – I’m sure (like me) you’ve encountered some homes with terrible odors….namely from pets. Any tips or ticks you use to get rid of? We’ve covered with Kiz and that seems to work ok…..but just curious what you do?
2. Exterior Vinyl painting – it looks like you’ve painted the exterior vinyl on a few of your projects? Is that correct? That seems to be “taboo” around here. Painters don’t recommend. Just curious….what paint / process you use if you do in fact do this?
3. Kitchen cabinet painting – also looks like you’ve painted the existing kitchen cabinets in a couple of your projects (black if I’m not mistaken)? Again, just curious on your process & paint selection for this?
Thanks in advance and I very much appreciate the information & knowledge you share through your blog….
Shannon
Hi Shannon –
1. Generally speaking, if you repaint and replace all the flooring, that should take care of getting rid of the smell. If the smell is particularly bad, you may need to put a coat of Kilz on the walls before painting, or even remove all the porous materials from the house (cabinets, etc). But, for us, generally repainting and replacing the flooring is enough.
2. Sherwin Williams makes a paint specifically for vinyl. We’ve used it a couple times, and it works really well. We try not to paint vinyl, just because it’s more expensive than regular paint, but if we have to, we have no issues doing it — the SW paint seems to work great.
3. I’m not a fan of painted cabinets, but my wife likes to do it to save money when the cabinets are in very good shape. We generally go darker to hide imperfections, and my wife says that’s the more “in” set of colors these days. The basic process is just sanding, priming and painting. Our guys do a pretty good job — I know there are companies out there that specialize in painting cabinetry who will do a great job, but it can get expensive if you hire specialists.
I once got a quote from a cabinet “refinisher” and it was outrageous, it was just a couple hundred bucks off from brand new cabinets. Another thing that I have done that goes a long way is changing the hardware on cabinets, both hinges and doorknobs. It makes a significant difference in the appearance.
Hey Luis,
I’m not a fan of refinishing cabinets. Of course, there are times when every penny you save is worthwhile (especially when you know the property won’t appraise for what you can get it under contract for), and in these cases, saving money is key. I definitely agree that changing hardware can go a VERY long way!