Home improvements!!

Out of absolute necessity, my boyfriend and I have found ourselves living in the house he bought 5 or 6 years ago that's been occupied by his family (mom and dad, brother and sister-in-law) for the past 5 of those.

It's an old house to begin with (built in 1942), and they had all kinds of indoor pets (on a hardwood floor...EEK!) and questionable housekeeping habits, SO the place was in a shambles when we moved in.

It took us 2 days of ceiling-to-floor bleaching and scrubbing to get the place in livable condition, and we had to throw the refrigerator out because they left an open package of raw chicken in it when they moved out (and had the electricity shut off...). Needless to say, it STUNK, so we threw the whole thing out and bought a new(used) one.

Anyway, ever since we moved in we've been compiling a mental list of things that need to be improved. Slowly, we've begun chipping away at the list and I'm very impressed at the way things are starting to take shape!

It's amazing really what a few coats of paint can do. I spent this afternoon scraping paint that had bubbled up from water damage (improperly installed window a/c unit was dripping water INSIDE) and patching holes and dents in the walls in preparation for painting. We've done the living room already this week and are moving into the dining room.

Next on the list is probably some minor cosmetic enhancements like new switchplates for the lights and faceplates for the sockets, ceiling fixtures and fans, etc. Then we'll move into the bedroom and bathroom, saving the kitchen for last.

Anyway, I was just feeling really proud of myself for the job I did patching the walls. Apparently I'm pretty handy with the putty knife
Anyone else doing any home improvements?

Just bought my first house about 3 months ago. Been fixing all the thing the previous owner let go to shit.

Pulled all the carpet out within the first 3 days and I'm slowly getting flooring down. One room left to put wood laminate in, then carpet in the spare bedrooms.

Refinished the hardwood in the kitchen. Painting is an ongoing process....luckily my girlfriends father is helping with that.

If i can have the master bathroom/shower tiled and a 6' fence finished by Halloween I'll be happy as hell.

The one thing I have learned is that most projects take at least twice as long as you initially plan.

Ha! That's true. The usually cost about 50% more than expected, too! We've got hardwood floors, and they're generally in pretty good shape, but we were tossing the idea of laminate around. We'd like to carpet the bedrooms, where the hardwood floors have the most damage, and put down laminate in the kitchen/dining room/living room.

This is the first house I've ever "owned", so being able to paint the walls is a luxury that I've never experienced before. Turns out I have pretty good taste in colors, too!

The one thing I'm dreading is having the sub-floor checked out. There are a few places where it feels like the floor has come up off the joists. Hopefully just a case of the nails backing out and not damage to the sub-floor (though in the bathroom I fear water damage to the sub-floor) or (gulp) TERMITES!

There are few things more gratifying than working on your home. We bought an older house in an established neighborhood, and while some days I curse that I have a long to-do list, I feel a great sense of accomplishment once I mark them as complete--not to mention I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Good luck with the rest of that list!