Is this what they call sweat equity?

Rabu, 18 Juli 2012


My friend Jeanne is renovating this house. I asked her if I could blog about and she said yes. I do enjoy watching the renovation process, just don't ask me to help. So I am helping her by doing the before and after photos.


At first, the house may look menacing but it does have it's charm.. It could probably look really creepy at Halloween. If you thought the outside was bad, come on inside with me.


Here's the view of the living room and hallway.  An ugly water stained drop ceiling with missing tiles, a damaged hardwood floor, and years and years of smoke which attached itself to the mouldings and walls and made the place reek of nicotine.
Jeanne is one brave girl.  With temps in the 90's and humidity to match, she set out to make this place sparkle and shine. By the way, I took this with a wide angle lens. Jeanne is not this wide. I hope she won't kill me for using this shot!




Oh yes, a lovely shot of the ceiling and the absolutely filthy woodwork. The smell in the place stings my nose when I go in there. Perhaps we should call the hazmat team.


Jeanne assesses the situation. What tools are necessary for the job? Jeanne owns a hair salon and is also a realtor so the renovation is sandwiched between jobs. Plus she has a husband and two kids. Quite the full plate.




Despite it's obvious imperfections, the house has character and some very nice features. The fireplace is cool and there is actually one very similar in Jeanne's hair salon.


Here's a closer look. Interesting don't you think? The house was built in 1800.


This stained glass window is coming out so it can be cleaned and the frame repaired.



This is one of the bedrooms. Oops, someone put a fist through the wall!



Another view of the bedroom. You can see what a wreck the floor is.


And this is the kitchen. I should mention that this house is a two family and Jeanne says the other unit looks worse.



The ugly kitchen floor has already been restored and repaired and looks great.


The kitchen will be updated too. This needs a serious facelift and the cabinets are pink?



This room is going to be an office possibly. Love the built-in. And that door is going to be my new desk if the measurements are right.Jeanne does not want the door so I can take it if I want it. I am going to make a room in my basement into an office since I now work from home some of the time.

Here are some of the improvements from last week:


The living room- walls painted, floors redone, drop ceiling removed and stained glass window was taken down.


The floor is gleaming.  The stained glass ready for transport to be cleaned and restored.


The office has been cleaned, painted and curtains hung,


Jeanne brought in a stargazer lily because it is so fragrant. She wanted a few pretty things in the space to motivate her to make the rest of it pretty as well.


Here's the kitchen, the cabinet doors were removed and the remaining section was painted. I think it makes the kitchen look more spacious. Some work still needs to be done here.


It's reached a point where this kind of work is done, just a distant memory.



And this is finished too. At least on this apartment. Say hello to Phyllis , a very helpful friend of Jeanne's who offered to help with the demolition, etc.


When I left Jeanne tonight, there was caulking to be done.

I'll keep you posted on the progress of the house. I hope you are as anxious as I am to see the finished product.

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