Dead of Winter

I made Hick stay home on Sunday, with the deadly wind chills after the 9 inches of snow. He puttered around the house, declaring that he was going to town on Monday. Which was no better weather, other than the snow was over, and the sun came out.

There's SilverRedO, parked on the side street at Bargain House. At least Hick waited until 8:00 to leave home, rather than 6:00. He said the roads were terrible.

The sidewalk for Bargain House's back door is there somewhere! Hick was planning to list Bargain House for sale this week. I persuaded him to wait until the snow has melted. I don't want the listing photos to show the snow. If it's still on the market in the summer, people are going to look at it and right away say, "Oh, something must be wrong with this one if it's been on the market so long." Whereas if the pictures are not proclaiming a certain season, they might ask for a tour, not thinking to look up how long it's been for sale.

On a sad note, Hick found out that Realtor passed away on Sunday evening. I had been worried about her since she called Hick on December 29th and said she would be retiring. Especially since her unfortunate ambulance ride she discussed at our next-to-last last closing. She was a nice lady, about a year older than Hick. She grew up in a rough part of town (according to her stories), and worked hard for what she got. She's the one who listed Pony House. Hick liked the way she did business, and we used her agency ever since. 

As Hick said, she was doing what she loved, right up until the last month. He talked to the young guy who worked with her, who said she didn't even tell HIM anything about her health, only that she was retiring to have some time for herself. She will be missed.

Inching Towards a Listing

Hick got a text from RE Agent one evening this week. He's the guy who is taking over Realtor's business since her retirement. RE Agent was asking how much we had rented the Double Hovel main house for. Said an appraiser wanted to know. Hick told him we never rented it. Just sold it.

WHY would an appraiser want to know that? Surely the buyer isn't selling it already, after dismantling Hick's work in that cute little Beauty Shop apartment! Hick said he had seen the washer and dryer sitting on the curb in front of the main house. Not sure which of the two houses this came out of. I could understand if the guy got new appliances. But just to tear them out and give them away seems counterproductive if it was the Beauty Shop. It's hard to let go of that little darling!

Anyhoo... RE Agent also asked when Hick might be ready to list Bargain House. Hick told him maybe next week. Not so great, with four days of snow and below-zero weather coming up this weekend. But not too bad, because pretty soon people will be getting their tax refunds, and might want to use them as part of a down payment. The Pony and I have agreed on Hick's price, and vow to let it languish at that amount until May or June before we lower it.

Hick is piddling around with odds and ends. Cleaning out his tools and lumber. Yesterday he painted the laundry room. He put in a storm door on the back of Bargain House on Thursday.

"Storm door installed." Actually, Hick's text said, "Store door installed." But I know that's not what he meant. I am fluent in Hick-speak and Hick-write.

"Nice. I didn't know you had one."

"I have lots of stuff I aquire (apparently spelling is NOT something Hick has acquired.) New door is almost $300.I bought this one from a guy at the lockers."

"For how much?"

"$100.00."

I can imagine Hick as a Mr. Haney, traveling through Backroads in a broken-down old truck loaded with assorted "treasures." Except Hick would be an honest trader.

Hick Finally Scrubs the Flipping House

Technically, Old Buddy scrubbed the flipping house, under the direction of Hick. We had a couple days of warmer weather, so on Tuesday, Hick loaded up his power washer and got the job done.

The north side of Bargain House looked like this:

Such a nice bright day for washing a house. But the sky soon clouded up.

There's Old Buddy, earning his cash. He's the muscle to Hick's brains.

Looks like a NEW (used) HOUSE! I imagine on a sunny day, it will look even better.

Still waiting on the kitchen ceiling guy to finish the swirls, then painting. After that, Hick will put down the flooring, and move the stove and refrigerator in. He says there are a couple things that need to be done in the basement. And he wants to trim the bushes around the front porch, and do some structural work on it. The shower door for the small bathroom is on. Hick had to take up the shower base to attach it right, so he lost a half-day of work on that task.

Hick thinks Bargain House should be ready to list sometime in January. We'll see...

Hick Follows Through

Hick and Old Buddy continued painting the back porch area of Bargain House on Wednesday morning. When the ceiling of the porch gets a nice coat (or two) of white paint, it will make a nice little sitting area for BBQing, or watching kids or pets play in the back yard.

Now the house is all one (close enough) color. I think the white door itself will draw enough "attention" to that part when people drive by to look at it. That, and the little window.

Of course the siding will get a good scrubbing with Hick's power washer. He rarely has a chance to use that gadget, so it's not something he'll forget. I'm going to suggest that he does it soon, because winter is coming on, and nobody wants frozen vinyl siding! It might get brittle. 

With only the kitchen left to do inside, Bargain House might be going on the market during the winter months. So let's get the outside ready NOW! And finish up the inside when it's cold outside.

Hick Gets VAL-Peer-Pressurized

I am thrilled to report that Hick has come to his senses! Mark the calendar! After so many attempts to nag him into submission sway his opinion reason by contrasting positives and negatives... HICK HAS SEEN THE LIGHT! He sent me a text on Tuesday morning. A picture from  Bargain House:

"Color we are painting the side." It's a bit subdued here, with Old Buddy wielding the paintbrush, in the shadow of the rising sun.

I AM THRILLED!

Here's what it looked like back in February, when Hick first enclosed part of the porch and put in the back door:

Now the porch wood will match the color of the siding. And you can see, if you compare the two pictures, that Hick has upgraded the electrical entrance with a new box. That had to be done.

Right before he left home Tuesday morning, Hick had said, offhandedly, "I'm painting the back porch of the house yellow. I took a piece of siding and had them mix the paint to match."

I almost fainted! That was too good to be true. I wasn't counting any chickens until it actually happened. But then I got the picture. Evidence! It looks like a pretty good match.

 

"Looks great! Can you use it to paint the ceiling of the porch, too?"

"I think I want to paint it white."

TWO VICTORIES! Matching paint for the addition, and also paint for the porch ceiling. Hick thinks the back wall of the house will also be white, to match the porch.

Why did Hick change his mind? He was shocked to hear that "my people" thought the plain wood (or wood siding as he calls it) looked terrible! Hick said all his buddies think the wood looks good. Well. Does he really expect his buddies, who depend on him for assorted advice and trades and business, would be completely honest about their opinion?

Thanks so much for the unanimous opinion of the plain wood!

Another Notch in Hick's Bargain House Belt

Hick has been spreading himself thin these days, and progress on Bargain House has suffered. He DID get the new electric box installed and approved by the electric company. This week, Hick and Old Buddy have been working on the underside of the back porch roof. You may recall that they closed in part of the original back porch to create a laundry/mud room.

That's the state of the under-roof when they started on Monday. I guess you would technically call this a ceiling. On the right is the wall that formed the laundry/mud room.

Here it is completely covered. Nothing that takes a lot of skill. Just mundane fixes that must be done, which take up time. Time which amounts to about 3 hours a day, four days a week, which Hick can spare from is everything-but-Bargain-House schedule.

This is from Wednesday morning, as the sun was coming up. Looks like Hick had to use the light he installed, when putting some trim over the seams. Heh, heh! Since Hick wants things that "draw attention" to the house, maybe he should have hung his chandelier that he put in his storage unit! Makes just as much sense here.

I asked Hick if he was going to paint this "ceiling," perhaps white, to brighten things up. He said no, he didn't plan on painting it. It's just a back porch.

Odd Ends at Bargain House

Hick has been project-hopping at Bargain House. Some days Old Buddy calls in sick, so he works on things that he can do alone. When he has Old Buddy, they sometimes work together on things like putting down the flooring, or running pipes for plumbing. Other times, Hick designates things for Old Buddy to do, while he runs errands to pick up materials.

Monday, Hick sent a picture of the back door, where he made a laundry room by enclosing a section of the original back porch.

"New window installed by back door into laundry room." It's a cute little window. Enough to see out if somebody is at your back door, and onto the side street. Of course, there's a peephole in the back door now. And it looks much better painted.

I questioned Hick about that door when he put it in. "Isn't that an INSIDE door? It doesn't look like it will hold up to the weather." Hick said it is designed to be an outside door. That a coat of paint would protect it. It's a solid door, not a hollow-core door like used for interiors. And that most houses used to have wooden doors anyway, not metal doors like we have today.

A door's a door. It keeps your stuff in, and people out. Now there's a laundry room for the future occupants. Which I think is an improvement, considering the back porch originally looked like this:

I don't know about you, but I'd much rather have a house with a wooden back door in the laundry room than a back porch like this.

Now the battle starts again. Hick wants to leave this "addition" like it is, except putting a stain on the wood. I think it needs siding, which Hick refuses. Or at least to be painted light yellow to match the siding on the rest of the house, because like this, it sticks out like sore thumb. 

"I WANT it to stand out, Val! The whole point is that you want people to notice a door."

"Then you should have painted the door some other color besides white! This section stands out, but not in a good way. I'll ask my people what they think! I'm pretty sure they will go for the siding, or at least paint that can match the house."

Of course, Hick will do what Hick wants to do. I just don't see the point of trying to make the rest of the house "nice" by putting in that cute little window, and then making this part look cobbled on. Prospective buyers are not going to know what an eyesore the back porch USED to be. They'll just notice what an eyesore it is now...

No Inclement Weather Can Keep Hick from His Appointed Rounds

We were under a winter storm watch on Wednesday. Of course it has turned out to be nothing, after we canceled a casino trip over it. The Pony has taken some vacation days this week, in celebration of our birthdays. He still volunteered to go in and help out a couple days at the post office. Wednesday was not one of them, considering the forecast.

Anyhoo... nothing stops HICK from going to town every day. At least for Casey's donuts. He usually has a project. Like Bargain House. 

"I think me and Old Buddy can still get the boards put on the back of the house. If the snow isn't coming until 8:00, that will give us plenty of time."

Looks like Hick was right. It helps that we got next to nothing anyway. He was able to close in the back porch area on Bargain House. Here's how it looked when we bought it:

Hick tore off the ratty-looking decayed wood, and closed in part of that back porch to make a laundry room/mud room entrance.

Hick also said they got the door hung. You can see the hinges, but the door is open in this photo. Hick will put siding over the wood, he says. He regrets that he HAS the siding to do it, but it is white, and won't match the yellow of the rest of the house. So he can't use it.

You can also see that there's plenty of room for future residents to have a nice covered patio to sit on and watch kids or pets play in the back yard, or have a grill or small table there.

And So It Begins: Bargain House Project

Hick has been sick with a cold. Now Old Buddy has it too. And ME! But on Wednesday, Hick and Old Buddy tore off the decrepit back porch area of Bargain House, our newest flip project. In case you've forgotten how it looked, here's a refresher:

In true Hick photography fashion, his picture sent to show me his progress was taken from far away. With the subject almost an afterthought:

I suppose he remembered after he was driving away. I can't imagine he parked SilverRedO this distance from Bargain House when he and Old Buddy were there to work. It's not like they need extra steps for exercise. Or that the street was filled with other parkers there to watch the festivities.

Here, I've tried to zoom in for you:

Bargain House is already looking better! Still a long way to go. I think Hick plans to close in part of the back porch for a laundry room.

The Unveiling of Bargain House

I had asked Hick to get me some pictures of Bargain House, our newly-acquired flip property.

"Do it on a sunny day. Nothing gloomy."

Well. You know how compliant Hick is with Val's requests. At least you can get an idea of what a $35,000 house looks like around here.

Bargain House is on a corner lot in a quiet neighborhood. There were a few trees growing up against the front, blocking the big window. Hick already had his "tree man" cut them down. Didn't cost a cent! The guy did it so he could have the wood. Voila! Free labor, and the mess cleaned up. Hick is a genius sometimes.

Here's a view from the side street, of the back porch. Hick first thought about tearing the whole thing off, cutting through the metal roof with his saw. Since the roof is in good shape, he has decided to enclose part of that area to make a mud room that can house a washer and dryer. The rest he will leave as a covered patio space. The screens will be torn off and left open, and the rotten lumber will be replaced.

Hick says he has to secure the cellar. Not sure exactly where that entrance would be, but Hick says he doesn't want a person living down there. 

"The water heater and furnace are in the cellar. So it's warm, and someone could get hot water by turning the valve on the water heater."

The siding will clean up with a power washer, and does not need replacing. Hick will think about leaving the air conditioner, or asking a buddy about a different cooling system. He pointed out where the electricity comes in, and says it will be easy to upgrade it with whatever those thingies are called.

Still waiting for pictures from the inside.