Contractor Nightmares

Once we get our budget together I contacted a couple of different contractors. I try to stay optimistic with all the high pressers sales and the constant phone marketer all day long. Contractors seem to think that if you live in Pasadena you me rich. The estimates they would give us were down right laughable. 60k just for the porch...400k to redo the whole 2nd floor..You got to be kidding me.

The biggest thing I learned about dealing with contractor is that you never show your cards. Never tell the your budget right out the gate. That way they have to work for you business and give you a fair price. Most general contractors take 20-30% right off the top. They give most of the work to their sub contractors.

I started to think why would I pay someone that is a presser salesman for bad trend. I started doing my research and with the support of my reno guru Jairo, I was able to take control of my own reno.
I was a lot of work but I saved thousand and was able to get more done than I was ever get done with a contractor.

The bathroom that was buried under a sea of sea foam blue

This our down stair bathroom It's the biggest bathroom in the house. The walls and trim are painted with 3 layers of paint. Colors ranging from Sean Foam, Mint Green and Pink. I'm guessing there were painted in the 50s. Pastels were big then. The window once looked out to the back yard. At some point the back porch was inclosed. There is a big framed in window on the porch so it still let a lot of sunlight in. All the cabinets, claw foot and pedestal sink are original to the house. The sink matches the design of the 1920s. The lighting at this point was a 70's fluorescent box light. They just the same kind of light in the kitchen.

Look out how thick the layers of paint are. Here is Sean heat gunning the trim of the bathroom door.

Designing the Perfect Craftsman

      As you can see we had a lot of great ideas. That's what fun about sketching it out. There's no dollar signs and the sky is the limits. Over time elements fell away for financial reasons or design reasons. The more I learned about the style and the history I was able to refine our plan. I planned for about a year. Researching and sketching out my ideas and working with Sean my husband on where to put the budget. I used Pinterest to help me find and organize my designs. https://www.pinterest.com/kranma/

 

The reno started slow and working through our weekend. We started with small project like scrapping paint. There was a lot of that. Because it was a rental there was several layers of paint on all the trim. Luckily the main living and dinning room remain unpainted. 

(This is one of the upstair units.)

Just this would take a while weekend. One day scrapping and one day sanding. We would also patch the cracks in the plaster as we went. 

 

Here you can see that not all the wood was sealed before painting. So it made if difficult when heat gunning. The paint would be like glue and had to be sanded down. This also bad it hard to stain because the pores of the wood were clogged. Even with pre-stain conditioner the stain still went on patchy in some spots. At that point you throw up your hand and call it "Character."

This door was sealed before it was painted so the paint came off fairly easy. It just tok a long time. With 3 of 4 layers of paint we had to be careful  not to burn the wood. This would still need to be sanded, stained and resealed. But that's for another day....

Where do you start when facing a huge Craftsman Renovation

First you identify the issues. And after years as a rental there was a lot to do. There was also a laundry list of repairs that had to be done before we could qualify for a VA loan. I'm veteran of the Air Force of 10 yrs. Of course with any government program they make you jump through hops and red tape to get the benefits you have earn. Let's just say getting a VA loan for a 100yr house is almost impossible. But that was not going to stop us from saving this house. It has been waiting so long for someone to love it. As you can see below the list is very overwhelming.

How we found this diamond in the rough

Before my husband Sean even met me he was flipping through the Homes and Land magazine at his local breakfast cafe. He wasn't even looking to buy a home. He was currently living in Valencia, CA. When 2 story bungalow catch his eye. On a whim he called the agent to see if it was available. They said it was in escrow. So he chalked it up to not to be. A couple of months later he came across the ad again. He called the agent and they said the deal fell through and asked if he would be interested. Without even thinking he said yes. He had never even been to Pasadena before. He set up a tour later that week.

Upon walking through he put an offer on it. There was just something about it that called to him. To think is single guy with 3 cats was buying a 5 bedroom house. He likes to say he was feathering the nest while waiting for me.

The buying process was another story. It went from a dream to a nightmare.  Looking back we can tell the sell and sell's agent really took advantage of this first time home buyer. It was the fall of 2008 right before the housing market bubble pop. His escrow was 90 days. He went through 3 different banks. As soon as the loan was funded the bank would crash. And each time they asked for more down and more points. So his renovation budget went from 100K to 15K.  Only enough to give the garage a face lift. Which was electrical and drywall. If he knew then what we know now he could of knocked 200k off the price of the house. You could tell the inspector was in the pocket of seller and hide information. Like the house being haunted....

Yes I said haunted. Believe or don't believe that is something that the seller is supposed to disclose.  At the time he was already in too deep to pull out of the deal. He had just bought a haunted house. On they late nights Sean was working on the house things would move around, door would open on their own. Blinds when sway with the windows shut. Luckily Sean's co-worker Gary and his brother cleanse houses. They came with cameras and candles and cleansed the house after a long and spooky night. The candle burnt so hot that it left a mark on the porch.  There is also 3 little kid foot prints burned into the wood. Since the cleansing Sean has worked very hard to fill the house with laughter and good vibes.

I first saw the house on a fiend date. We were going to watch a screener of Coraline. When I crossed the threshold I felt a warm and inviting feeling that wash over me. It was in the moment that I knew I was going to live there. Shortly after we started dating and then got married Nov 11, 2011.

As long as we have been living together we have been working on the house. Doing as much as we could and saving up from project to project. It wasn't until we sold Sean's condo that we were able to reinvest into the Pasadena home with much needed bigger projects.

Kitchen Reno

We have been piece away at the kitchen one project at a time. Getting the the 1931 farmhouse sink helped up start us into the reno. 

Before

After

With the help of our handyman Manuel we had to cut into the bottom cabinets to make room for it. We all took out a row of drawers to make room for a 18in dishwasher. The tile countertops were demoed  and soapstone was installed. We got some great pieces with great veining.

Before

After

 The light was switch out for a schoolhouse light. The wiring was changed out and the switches to period actuate push buttons. The back splash is a periwinkle glass subway tile wraps around the kitchen tying the color of the kitchen to the show piece 1950s  O'keefe & Merritt.We added a vintage hood and had it painted to match the stove.  Behind the stove is a tin backsplash.

The upper cabinets were too high to do anything with so we decided to make them into a display for vintage packaging.  We took the doors off and lined the cabinets with (V-Groove) beadboard.  V-Groove is not common today so the beadboard was milled. Then we added LEDs to light the displays.

Stairway to Heaven

Rebuilding the stairs to the 2nd floor.

It's amazing the these stair were put together with plywood and L- bracts. When we opened it up is lath and plaster. It was literally the ceiling of the closet in the "Godfather Room"/ Guest room.

Lath and Plaster is a building process used to finish mainly interior walls and ceilings until the late 1950s. After the 50s, drywall began to replace the lath and plaster process.

It was literally the ceiling of the closet in the "Godfather Room"/ Guest room.

 Gidget points out the ratty carpet/ rug that was glued to the floor.

The pervious owner that it was a good idea to glue carpet down and paint the wood about it. You can see from where we ripped up a section. Grouse!

Here Gizmo points out the new White Oak against the Douglas Fur panels.

 Each step was hand cut and press fitted into place. IT took the flooring guys at least a week for this project. After the stairs were installed them stained and polyurethaned the floors 3 times.

Unfortunately Sage decided to make his make on the stairs so we'll have to have it all rebuffed and and another layer of poly in the future.


Once that is done I can install the dust corners that were originally there. I restored them with the help of my cock pot and some fine steel wool. They turned out great! Beautiful brass dust corners. Now I just need to find brass nails to secure them into place.

 (Ralph's special $7 cock pot.)

Born out of the need to simplify housework back in the 1890's, these solid brass dust corners add an element of charm and distinction to staircases today.

Born out of the need to simplify housework back in the 1890's, these solid brass dust corners add an element of charm and distinction to staircases today. 

This project to be undated.. ;)