Posted By admin on February 1, 2009
The finished product on Lowell
We finished the Lowell project and had it on the market around Labor Day 2008. We had an offer in within one month, but it fell through at the last minute. Took about another month, but we got another offer and closed just before Thanksgiving. Here are some shots of the finished product.
Posted By admin on February 1, 2009
While I’m wrapping things up…
I finally found 3 stained glass transom windows to replace the missing ones for the upstairs bedroom doors in our Acoma house. I found a woman on Ebay who was selling some antique windows she bought at an antique sale. She listed one per week, and it took over a year to find (and win) three (semi) matching windows that (sort of) fit in the openings. Turned out awesome, I hope the pics do these windows justice, they are beautiful.
Posted By admin on January 31, 2009
New projects …
Since we are going to keep doing the renovation thing, I am going to keep blogging about our adventures here. I am reorganizing the site slightly, so once that’s done, I intend to update with the rest of the Lowell project. I will also post pics of our newest undertaking.
Posted By admin on July 8, 2008
A New Project!
Well our project in Baker is just about done now. Thanks to everyone who kept up with our progress.
I guess we haven’t had our fill of renovating yet, so we are starting a totally new renovation project in Denver!!!! In May we attended a home auction of over 300 foreclosed properties around the Denver area. We came home with one! We went into the auction with interest in around a half dozen properties. We had a max purchase price for each of those properties, based on estimated fixup costs and resale price. We ended up with the only one that actually sold for LESS THAN our max purchase price. All the others sold for 10-20K more. I feel pretty lucky for that, but we’ll see how it all works out.
The property is located in West Denver on Lowell Blvd. just north of 6th Avenue. The 1920-ish house is one story, about 750 square feet, with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. There is a basement and a garage.
Our goal is to renovate and sell as quickly as possible. We hope we can price the house below market for a quick sale, while still leaving us room for some profit.
Please enjoy some before pics:
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We have already begun demolition of the old bathroom and kitchen. Our contractor added some better supports for the main support beam running through the middle of the basement ceiling. There had been a low spot here, but he was able to raise it almost 2 inches. There remain some variations in the floor, but it’s MUCH better now.
Our contractor also replaced all the doors with new pre-hung doors.
We also started building a railing outside along the edge of the front porch. We matched the existing front fence detail. This project will help a ton with curb appeal. We anticipate painting the outside of the house and fence in the next week or so.
Currently the plumber is replacing some dated pipes, and our electrician is set to begin rewiring the house tomorrow. Once they are done, we can start the finish work … like tiling the kitchen/bathroom, hanging kitchen cabinets. Setting toilet, tub, sink in the bathroom. Refinishing the hardwoods in the living room.
Posted By admin on May 27, 2008
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Grass, Trees, Plants, Trellis We sprayed the hydroseed for the grass about a month ago. The backyard is really starting to green up. The front yard didn’t take as well … maybe not enough sun? It only gets sun for a couple hours a day. We bought 5 trees for the property and had the nursery deliver and install them. One of the main factors in the trees we chose was Mike’s allergies. I sneeze often as well, so we both were interested in allergy-friendly planting. We got two Hawthorn clumps, a Chanticleer Pear, a Newport Plum, and a Summit Ash.
Our dog, Oakley, was also a consideration in the landscape. We picked a grass seed mix of RTF Fescue which is supposed to be durable and drought-friendly. We are strategically placing trees and other items for shade for him. He was recently digging in one particular area of the mulched part, so we decided to build him a trellissed area there for some shade over that area. Here is how we built a shade trellis for our dog. We wanted it to be 6′ wide, so we spaced out 3 posts (4×4s), dug holes about 15″ deep, poured in Quickcrete, added water, stirred, leveled the posts and let them sit overnight.
The next day we cut the posts to the same height, then attached two 2×4s across all three posts, one near the bottom and one closer to the top. We attached the “roof” supports, which are 1×4s, with 3 screws each. We screwed in the redwood lattice to the 2×4s across the front, and then onto the roof 1×4s. Voila!
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Posted By admin on April 25, 2008
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Just need some grass, trees and shrubs Another before and after:
The fence is done, and the landscaping is prepped for planting and seeding!
We will be spraying hydroseed for the grassy area soon! We are still working on a plan for the patio area right off the back of the house. We knocked down the exterior stairs off the back of the house, for now we will keep the existing deck up there, but eventually we will build something new.
Oakley has already picked out his spot in the yard (to be reserved for his digging area). He digs and buries his tennis balls … just like he is in the snow! Â |
Posted By admin on April 23, 2008
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Really Almost There … Here are a couple shots of the final paint job. We love it, now it’s time to finish the landscaping and THEN WE WILL BE DONE FOR A WHILE!!!!!!! We also got a new security door to replace the old beat up screen door in the front:
We got started on a new fence all the way around our property. Wood privacy cedar picket fence at a height of 6′ around the backyard … and a shorter, more transparent fence around the front yard. We also dug the yard up, in preparation for a new sprinkler system, grass, trees, and mulched borders. Here is a shot of the backyard:
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Posted By admin on March 29, 2008
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Spring is here… Time to finish up! Well, it’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog. We took a few months off after moving in. We needed it. But now we’re practically done with the inside of the house (pics to come when I can get everything straightened up). We finished touch up paint, had the kitchen hood built & painted and had a mantle for the TV room built and stained. It is beautiful!!! If anyone needs custom woodwork, I would definitely recommend Bobby Kubik. Above is a little after & before. What a difference!!!! |
Posted By admin on December 11, 2007
So yeah, we are still moving in! I guess a lot of the projects are put on hold while we are unpacking. We have more stuff than I remember, and finding a place for everything isn’t happening right now. Thank goodness for the basement, what a mess of tools, boxes, linens, and all the other odds/ends.
Most of the trim still needs to be painted. I guess we’ll tackle that one room at a time for now. It would be nice to finish the main floor powder room so our guests can use a finished bathroom. Right now the door knob hasn’t been installed, so the door doesn’t close and lock. The room needs some wall paint too, if we could only decide on a color!
I promise to post some pics as rooms become finished, but please be patient - it will probably be after the holidays.
Posted By admin on November 11, 2007
After getting back from vacation, there was a mad rush to get the house to a point where we could move in. We got there, getting the temporary certificate of occupancy. We moved started moving stuff in 2 weekends ago, and here we are. Nothing is finished of course, but we are living here and putting the final touches on as we move in. Pics to come when all the boxes are gone.
