Well.... Where to start? A lot has happened in the last 5 months... I'll just go in chronological order. There have really been 2 phases.
10/10 - 1/30:
Continued to do all of the work in the evenings after I got home from my 'real' job. My original contractor came 2-3 days/wk in the evenings to help out. We got a lot done in those 3-4 hrs, but this was all painfully slow and put me even more behind schedule.
I learned the basics of drywall hanging and finishing, framing in rooms, prepping for and laying ceramic tile, texturing ceilings, got better at painting, learned a little about plumbing, and learned the basics of electrical (installed all my own lighting and installed a breaker into the breaker box).
Because I was so behind schedule my boiler was disconnected until 12/20. This meant I couldn't move in and in order to prevent all of the plumbing from freezing we brought in a torpedo heater and I had to run that to heat the house for 2-3 weeks.
By this point I am getting pretty frustrated with the slow progress and the cascade of events that this created with the heat, the fact I can't move in which results in spending more money than I anticipated for everything (gasoline to and from work, heating the house w heat pumps and a torpedo heater). I was also having trouble getting more time from the original contractor during the day while I was at work and in the evenings.
We finally get the heat on 12/20 and the next day we had a thaw and heavy rain and I came home to water in my basement! There are combined sewers in this area and most of the homes have this problem. The main sewers eventually cleared out and the water went away but this added another problem to my list to take care of.
I finally got to move in 1/7 and got everything finished up by the end of January. I also found out that when we reconnected the 3rd floor bathroom and I went to use the refinished clawfoot tub that the old iron waste stack had a huge 2 ft long crack in it and the elbow going down to the basement had about a softball size hole in the outside corner. I was wondering what that smell was coming from the 2nd floor! Luckily only water from the tub leaked out of the stack and no sewage came out of the elbow and into my walls. Add another issue to take care of.
I had a great talk with my realtor and he helped set me in the right direction with my mindset and after I finished the 3rd floor I decided to try something different. He recommended another contractor that he had worked with in the past and I gave him a call.
1/30 - 3/15
There was no way I was going to get done in any reasonable amount of time by doing all of this work myself. With the way I was doing things I would be working on this house for another 9 months! I needed people to be here during the day. I called 3 new contractors. The first looked through the house and was really knowledgeable but never showed the day he was supposed to start. The second was supposed to come out to look at the job but he didn't call me until a few days later to apologize that he had gotten busy. I told him I already found someone else. The third did exactly what he said he was going to, was on time and seemed to have a game plan for how to tackle the rest of the rehab (this is the guy my realtor recommended).
He started 1/30 and ended up bringing in quite a few subs to get the job done, he subbed out the plumbing stack and rough in and the kitchen drywall, one of them was on time but sloppy and the other had another job come up and caused delays in the new schedule. I offered this work to the old contractor but he couldn't commit to any timelines so the new contractor just started on his own taking care of everything.
Having the new contractor there during the day and managing the subs has been a huge help. In the last month and a half they have patched and finished all of the drywall in the house, textured the ceilings, prepped the kitchen for drywall, facilitated the kitchen drywall and plumbing, did a thorough cleaning in the house to remove all of the dust and debris, and have started painting this last week.
I decided that I'm not going to knock down the wall on the 2nd floor to create a mater bedroom. Its just not going to be in the budget, so now I will list as a 3rd floor master suite with claw foot soaker tub.
I'm keeping the old contractor around for smaller jobs like the kitchen and 2nd floor bathroom, we prepped and tiled the kitchen last week and just finished grouting today. Cabinets are coming Monday and should be installed next week some time. After the kitchen comes the basement then the 2nd floor bath.
So here are the things done since last post:
3rd floor
Drywall finished
Tub stripped/refinished
Ceilings textured (knockdown)
Changed layout of bathroom and installed fixtures
Lighting installed
Painted
Carpet
Trim installed
Radiator replaced with baseboard in bathroom
Kitchen/Pantry
Insulated
Drywall hung/finished
Tile installed (Durock, tile, grout)
Rest of 1st floor
Nasty carpet removed (found some pet stains on hardwoods)
Drywall finished
Cove ceilings textured (looks better than I thought it would)
Painting in process
2nd floor
Drywall finished
Ceilings textured
Painting in process
General
Stack replaced
Whole house cleaned
Lessons learned:
For the newbies out there.... after you've got some knowledge get out there and do your first deal, you'll learn so much more on a flip than in a book. All of the information that I gained in books wasn't rooted in any real understanding of flipping/rehabbing/investing until I actually starting taking action. Not saying that I am some genius now, but I know I'm more on the right track now.
Don't be afraid to hire out the work, they may not be as expensive as you think... actually they may even be cheaper in the long run than doing it yourself if you consider the time savings and the fact that they will do it right the first time.... not to mention the fact that you are only 1 person vs. their 3 or 4 or 5 people working all at the same time all day.
But at the same time, don't be afraid to try something on your own and make mistakes, it's pretty hard to screw something up so bad that it can't be fixed. I've learned a lot along the way and understand cost of materials better than before and how long it actually takes to do certain things. It's not just screwing up a sheet of drywall to me now. The entire definition of hanging, taping, and finishing means something totally different to me now.
Rehabs are dusty dirty places. Try not to live in one. I've managed to keep most of the nasty stuff down stairs but some dust eventually migrates up. I value what I've learned so far but I think I should've outsourced more of the work, get it finished, and then move in if I wanted to keep it long term. I may decide to keep it longer than I had originally planned if I can partner up with someone or secure some additional financing in order to avoid moving again in such a short period and avoid short term capital gains tax. There are also going to be some amenities that may get built down the street that could help the value of the house if I wait to sell. Haven't decided yet, if I need to sell in order to do another rehab in 2014 then I will.
Last lesson learned for this post.... Before you go cutting channels in all of your walls, check behind the baseboard to see if your plaster goes to the floor... I found out that I would have only cut between 2 studs for each box. This would have saved a lot of my time and a lot of the new contractor's time patching all the holes cleaning all the debris I made. Really on this house, it might have made more sense to gut it to the studs for the electrician and plumber and drywall guys and maybe have even thrown in some forced heat and central air.
Pictures aren't adding,, will try to add them with an edit.
