Day One

I'm starting this because a lot of friends and family from out of the area have been asking to see pictures and to be kept up to date.
I got the keys to this place last Wednesday and the demolition started today. It was amazing how smoothly the whole process went. My realtor Annie Giamannco (specialized in foreclosures and is very good) was amazing through the process. We looked for a couple months and this was the very first house I put a bid in on. We offered $5K over asking price (common in this market) and the bank took it. We were both surprised.
The house is a 3/2 with a decent yard and a two car garage. Built in 1960 and with no updates, it's in bad need of some renovations. The plumbing and electrical will all be replaced, both bathrooms and the kitchen gutted, new roof eventually, and new windows. The floors under the amazingly disgusting stained up carpet are 1" solid oak hardwood which will be refinished.

I'm not going to post pictures of the whole house right now, I'll post them as I go along.

It will go something like this:

Kitchen gutted
Bathrooms gutted
minor floor/subfloor repairs
pull old plumbing (some) and all electrical
fumigate
replace plumbing
replace elctrical
move portions of wall between kitchen and family room
tile kitchen floor
Install kitchen cabinetry and appliances
move some walls around to make room for bathroom modifications
redo bathrooms

That should get me by for a few months

I'll be doing about 80% of the work myself.
I'm hoping to finish and move in in nine months to a year. Sooner the better.



Day One:
Kitchen demolition

Kitchen before





Backside of the kitchen. I'm undecided on this wall. I would like to open it up. I have to take a look at the structure first.


Demo







I'll be back at it for a full day tomorrow. I hope to get the kitchen done and at least one bathroom

I will be at the house breaking a bunch of stuff if you want to come by Monday or Tuesday.