The Life of a Dreamer: Paint, Tile, Carpet, and Renters

I bet you thought I bailed on you after not blogging for over a week. I almost did. Hear me out, it’s not that I didn’t want to but rather I couldn’t. You see, a few days ago, my computer charger decided to go bazerk and stop working which prevented me from blogging about the progress that has been made so far. It also meant no music during the day when we are working, which is quite sad. But alas, my dad who can come in handy every now and then was able to do something with the wires and bring my computer charger back to life. Hooray! So now I have 8 days to update you on. Here goes.

March 21

I worked on painting the hallway and the laundry room while dad tiled the hallway going into the fire room and half the fire room. Part way through this process we went into town to grab lunch. We had been told of takeout seafood place in town but every time we stopped they were closed. To our delight, it was open. We got ourselves a pound of shrimp to take back to the house. It was great. I sure am glad I’m not allergic to shellfish.

The fire place room halfway tiled.

Hard at work

March 22

It was time to add a little color to the house. Usually I’m not a huge fan of yellow nor is my dad but we decided on “beeswax yellow” for the dining room and kitchen. It was bright at first but after it dried it looked quite nice. While I was doing this, my dad finished tiling in the room with the fireplace. We spent the afternoon working outside clearing brush and on the way to take a load to the dump, we stopped at the fish fry at a local church. When we returned, we worked outside until it was dark filling the trailer with another load to take to the dump. That night I was sitting out in the screened patio when I hear a noise; a rustling of sorts. Of course, curiosity got the best of me and I had to know what it was. I grabbed the head lamp and stepped out on the deck. Low and behold, there was an armadillo dragging it’s tail through the leaves. I quickly go inside and excitedly share the news with my dad. We went outside but before he got a close look, the armadillo had made a run for it; clear across the neighbor’s back yard. Believe it or not, armadillos are faster than you would think; at least faster than I thought their short little legs could take them.

The entrance so far.

Caution: work in progress

painting the dining room

The kitchen after it has been tiled.

March 23

After eating a lovely breakfast of Life cereal, the first thing I did was post an ad on craigslist for renting the house. Here’s what I’ve learned during my time here: everyone has an opinion, whether it’s your family, your friends, or a stranger in the store. Some people think it was crazy of me to buy a house and there is too much risk involved while others think it’s a great investment. Some say I should finish it and sell it right away, whereas others think renting is a better idea. I can see both sides of the coin; there are pros and cons of both. Should I sell it right away, I would have fast cash and I wouldn’t have to worry about dealing with renters. If I were to hold on to it for a while I would have to deal with renters but in having renters, they can make my monthly payments and I can pocket a little money on top of that and the house has the chance to appreciate in value. I’ve learned that I need to take everyone’s opinion with a grain of salt. In the end, it’s my decision, not theirs. That being said, although I wasn’t set yet on renting or selling, I decided to put an ad up on craigslist for renting to see what would happen. It was important to me that if I was going to rent, I want to meet my tenants rather than just have a management company line them up and if that was going to happen, it needed to be done soon.

After taking a load of brush to the dump, I worked on painting the master bedroom and the second bedroom a light green. Can I just say, painting takes a long time; especially when it’s a one woman show. I have to use a brush to paint along the ceiling and trim before I can roll the wall and I have to get up and down from the platform to move it. And not to mention, the time it takes to clean the paint supplies when it’s all done. Upon my numerous hours of painting, one tip I would like to pass on to y’all: invest in a good brush. Go ahead and spend a few extra bucks on a good paint brush. It can make a huge difference. As I painted, Dad tiled the kitchen and part of the dining room.

I got a call around 4:30pm from a guy who had seen my ad on craigslist and was interested in seeing the house. He showed up with his wife and two kids at 5:15pm. They were interested but had also made an offer on a foreclosure house (which can be a long process) and were waiting until Monday to hear about if it was accepted.

Getting the master bedroom ready to paint

The master bedroom post painting

March 24

My dad woke me up at 8:10am telling me that a church he had found online had a service at 8:30am. Geez dad, thanks for the warning. That gives me less than 20 minutes to eat and get ready. I did it though. The weather was quite unusual. It was warm, muggy, windy, and occasionally rainy. As I was lying down after church, the power went out. We went into town to get lunch, paint, and some groceries. By the time we returned to the house, the power was back on. For the past few days, I had been searching on craigslist for good used appliances. I was in need of a washer, dryer, and fridge to replace the 20+ year old ones that were left in the house. I called about a washer and dryer that was listed and drove 30 minutes to go see it. Although they appeared to be in good condition, the dryer did not turn off when the door was opened so we decided to pass on them. As we were there I received another call about the house. He told me that he and his wife would be over later that afternoon to see it. They arrived at 4 and by the time they left at 6:30pm, I was a landlord. They are a couple in their 30’s with a six week old boy. They are set to move in April 15^th with a year lease with the possibility of it being extended. Although the house was still a work in progress, they enjoyed offering thoughts about light fixtures, cabinet hardware, etc. I hadn’t painted one of the bedrooms yet and they were willing to pay for the paint to have me paint it the same beige I had painted the rest of the house rather than the light green I had intended. Within 36 hours of posting the ad, I had the house rented. It was a good feeling. Now seeing that it was 6:30 and I hadn’t gotten much done, I began painting the frame of the kitchen cabinets. It was 1:30am by the time I finished.

March 25

Time for the power tools to come out. Okay, maybe it was just one power tool but still. I used the belt sander to sand the front and back of the kitchen cabinet doors. This was then followed by wiping them down with vinegar water before priming them. The future tenants stopped by bringing their son and mother to see the house. After I was done priming the kitchen cabinets, I hand sanded the master bathroom vanity frames. This is yet again proof that painting can take a long time. Let me tell you the process for painting the cabinetry. You can’t just slap paint on them and call it good. You have to begin by sanding them and wiping them down. This is followed by priming and when you are priming doors you need to wait for one side to dry before you can turn them over to paint the other side. They need to sit for 24 hours after you have primed them before you can put the final coat on. Then you go through the process again, painting one side and waiting for it to dry before you can paint the other side of the door. Time consuming, I tell you!

And this is only part of the cabinets that need to be sanded, primed, and painted!

Sanding the cabinet doors

Priming the cabinet doors

Later that afternoon we loaded up brush to take to the dump. The dump closes at 5. We got there at 4:52. No big deal right? In most situations probably not, but let me tell you, there is one unhappy man who runs the dump. He was not at all happy about the situation. He told us that if we arrived that close to closing again, it would be the last time he would let us unload. Let’s just say, we unloaded the fastest we have ever unloaded. When we returned to the house we unhooked the trailer and went into town to get and estimate on what it would cost to dry clean the drapes and then went to Sonic for diner. We grabbed our laundry from the house and then went over to the house my parents bought a few miles away to do laundry and clean out the gutters. When we had taken off the vents in the house, some paint from the walls came off with them so when we returned to the house, I used paint stripper to remove it. The only thing is, the paint stripper took off not only that paint but the factory paint as well. It ended up making the problem worse. Now I will have to paint them. I guess that adds one more thing to my to do list.

My parents house

March 26

In the morning, Brian had returned my call about having some tree cut. There is a huge pine that stands within 12 feet of the house and has most of its limbs hanging over the house well as a few other trees that need to go. He told me he probably wouldn’t be able to make it out until next Tuesday. Again that morning, I had been searching craigslist for used appliances. I called on a black fridge what was three years old. Although time didn’t really allow for it, we figured we ought to go take a look with hopes that it would work out. It was a 45 minute drive. Although I knew I needed a new fridge, I felt restless as we drove down there. You see, we are scheduled to have carpet put in a Thursday and there is still a lot that we both have to do for this to happen. Dad has to finished tiling and grouting where it will be against the carpet and I have to finish painting one room, 3 closets, and molding where carpet is going to be put in. It was as though my mind was going 1,000 miles a minute but my body could only go 1 mile a minute. Okay, it takes me longer than a minute to run a mile but I think you get my point. The feeling reminded me of my college days when I had a lot due and there was only so much time to do it. Even though I was being productive in getting a fridge, there was the pressure of all the other things that needed to be done. Thankfully, our trip to get the fridge was not in vain. We ended up purchasing the fridge and as we were going through town on the way back to the house we picked up pizza and paint. As the paint was getting rung up, I found out that although the 30% off sale on paint had ended, I was still able to get the paint at sale price because I was in the middle of a project. It’s the little things in life. It sure helped in the midst of the chaos of the day. As I was painting moldings in the master bedroom, I received a call from Brian saying that his crew had finished a job early and that they were heading over. Sweet. They worked on taking out the trees while I continued painting moldings. I ran it to town to grab pizza for Brian and his crew and we sat on the back deck to eat. I continued painting and then for the first time in 3 days, I showered. Gross I know. I should probably shower more often. I guess when there is so much to do, it’s not a priority.

Tiling the dining room

Yes, I have a fridge sitting on my front porch.

March 27

By the time I had made a few calls and wrote up the lease, the morning went by fast. I worked on painting the kitchen cabinet doors. We then cleared brush and took it to the dump. This time, we made sure we got there well before 5. I’ve lost count but I think we have taken 13 loads to the dump so far. I worked on painting the bedroom and then I made a call about a washer and dryer I had inquired about that morning. We left at 8pm to look at the washer and dryer that was 30 minutes away. When we got there, before I had even asked if the guy was flexible on the cost, he told me he would take $100 less that originally stated. We bought them. It’s crazy how on the two busiest days, we happen to find a fridge, washer, and dryer. Yet somehow it all works out. When we got back to the house after going through the McDonald’s drive through to get an ice cream cone, I went back to painting. It was 9:30 and I had 3 closets and molding left to paint and dad some grouting left to do. Knowing that it had to be done by the morning before carpet came, it was a late night. Dad stayed up until 2:15am and I stayed up until 3am. Can’t say I remember the last time I’ve stayed up that late.

Finished off my first 5 gallon pail of paint.

A view of the hallway so far.

The kitchen thus far

The snow was heavy today.

March 28

Gary came around 9am to begin laying carpet. Any guesses as to what I did? If you said, paint, you are correct! That’s right folks, yet another day of painting. After consistently painting for two weeks, I am painted out. My hands are super sore, especially my right pinky finger. There is always paint on my hands and there is paint that has seeped into the cracks on my hands. Yet it need to be done. I touched up in one of the bedrooms, sanded the bathroom vanity doors, painted the opposite side of the kitchen cabinet doors, and put another coat of paint on the kitchen cabinet frames. All the while Gary was laying carpet and Dad was grouting. I think it’s safe to say that Dad as just as tired as being on his knees as I am of painting. And it’s not just his knees but his hands as well. His finger tips are starting to crack. Although we have enjoyed our time here and it is fun to see the progress that is being made, at this point we are both worn out. Our plan is to leave early Tuesday morning. That gives us four days. Gary finished laying carpet at 1pm. What a difference carpet makes! It sure looks nice and feels great under the feet. And then my friends, it was time to take a nap. After staying up so late the previous night, it was much needed. When I woke up, we headed east. To Ocala that is. Before we left, Dad went to remove a light that we had burned out within two weeks of buying it. As he removed it, it broke in his hands and blood was shed. His hands sure are taking a beating. We went out to eat for dinner. I will say, I look forward to having home cooked meals. Hint hint Laura. And while you are at it, you could make me cheesecake too J. When we returned from getting supplies at Lowes, I worked on updating y’all. And now my friends, I think it’s time to call it a night. This girl has got to get some beauty rest.