Who to thank?

Well, I made the 104 mile trip to get the grass mowed. SweetiePie was not feeling well and I didn't really want to go but I needed to get the grass cut.

This involves hooking up the trailer, loading the lawn mower and towing that load 104 miles, right thru a big downtown area. No really what I looked forward to. But it had to be done.

Nice weather was a plus.

When I got to the house the grass had been mowed. I couldn't believe it. My son in law didn't do it, my sister in law didn't do it and I can't even guess who else could have done it. I haven't a clue who would mow the grass. I don't know who to thank.

As it turned out I didn't have time to find out.

When we were going in the house my SweetiePie had a minor accident and fell off of the front steps. Nice, rough brick steps. Luckily there is a big, old boxwood next to the porch that he landed in. He didn't get hurt at all except for a scrape on his hand. I made him sit down for a minute to wait until I could go to the side door and unlock it because the porch there has a rail. But there is a big volunteer holly tree that I haven't had time to cut down yet and it is a scratchy entry. The only plus is that there is a handrail and wooden steps.

I did a few things inside and we were ready to go. I warned him to stay in his chair and not get up and I would help him out the side door. Unfortunately for dementia patients they don't follow instructions very well. He probably forgot what I said and came out the front door because that is always what we do because the key doesn't open the side door.  He fell again off of the top step into the bush again. But this time he wasn't so lucky. He got a really bad abrasion on his elbow and arm. Bleeding like crazy and me mad with myself that it happened because I wasn't watching him. There is a silver lining because the other side of the porch has nothing but dirt about 4 feet down. That would have been a bad fall because something would have broken. I know who to thank for that one.

I just wish that the good samaritan that mowed the grass had let me know what he had done so I could have avoiding towing the mower over, and ultimately SweetiePie getting hurt.

I really appreciate good samaritans and I hope to repay the debt down the road.

Ready to Work

It has been so hot here and even hotter in the little doublewide oven. Too hot for my SweetiePie to be for too long.

It has been over 2 months since we have been to the "country estate" and we need to get over there and get something done. The grass needs mowing, the walls need to come down, the stuff needs to get out of there so I can get down to business and gut the inside.

So much to do but I have the lawn mower fixed and will be over there this week to mow the jungle down. If its not too embarrassing I'll take a picture of the grass.

And I have had it with waiting for the daughter to get her stuff out. It is all going to either Goodwill or the dump. No exceptions. I have reached my limit.

So, hopefully more photos of progress this week.

New Roof and Hot..Hot..Hot

Our new roof is finished.

I can't get a picture of the top of the roof but it looks good all the way around. No singles in the yard and no nails or staples that I saw.

This house was built in 1996 and had never had a new roof. The black paper was soooooo thin it looked like a piece of wax paper, except it was black. The shingles were so, so and well worn. The end on the left is where there was a sky light. Poof...gone. The next thing is to get the window in so I can have some natural light in the bathroom (and fresh air) and get the rest of the ceiling out and gone. The new window will go on the left end of the house and is 24" x 36".

I was expecting a lot more replaced plywood on the roof but they only used 3 1/2 sheets. Not bad and most of it was in the area of the skylight and one vent in the center. Much better than anticipated.

When I went over the day after the new roof I was expecting the bathroom to be an oven. Surprisingly it was no hotter than the other parts of the house. The bright sun pouring through the old skylight always kept that bathroom hot. So I am already glad that I didn't have a new one installed.

I did get some more pictures of the interior so you can see what I am facing. I went over today but it was soooooo hot that I couldn't bring myself to start working. There is still so much stuff in the way that I refuse to spend my time moving it around so I can work where I need to.  I am hoping they will move it eventually.

This is the side entry door that gets the most use.

This is the first  thing you see when you come in the back door. The dogs were shut in the laundry room entry area one time and showed their dislike of their new space.


This is just to the right of the door where the litter box was.

This is the laundry room, former home of the litter box. And yes,this is how the house was left.



This is the den, olive green. Very little light coming from the right where the french doors are. The covered deck blocks most of the light.The new bathroom window is covering the litter box area by the back door.

The kitchen area on the center wall without cabinets with the water heater peeking out of its hiding space.

 This is the smallest bedroom. A twin bed barely fit in there with almost no room for a dresser and toys of course. A full size bed was almost wall to wall. So I decided to take the space and switch the closets around, close the door space in the hall and get rid of that really weird angled wall in the living room. Left the wall board on the left until I get an electrician to move the thermostat.

The right wall of this room will become the front wall of the closet in the next bedroom. The new back wall of the bedroom will be just to the right of the window where there is a seam strip. A lovely pepto pink with a golf theme border. This color was here when we purchased.

 This is the other side of the pink room closet wall. There was a closet that stuck out in the room with just enough room to open the door and clear it. A total waste of space. So this wall comes down. There will be enough room on the left end of this wall to make a linen/storage closet with a hall opening.

The other side of the back, corner bedroom.

This is the corner bedroom on the front of the house. The wall board in here is pretty much ok. Some push pin holes but I think that these walls will be my test area to try seam repair. Although if the foam pieces work I will tear out the walls to get more insulation in. We will see. Depends on if my back and knees survive the bathroom ceiling.

The back deck needs some work. I did cut down the weed that was growing through the boards. For now the soaker tub is on the deck until I can get rid of it. Anyone ever sell one on craigslist?

Why is that fence wall on the deck next to the house? That blocks most of the available light to the window beside the french doors. Can you tell that the owner and the neighbor built this?

And finally the two car garage.  The inside walls are finished with particle board and the space is pretty good except for a doggie door in the back. I think they used the garage as a dog house and fenced the back yard.

So there are lots of possibilities in this house. Just have to squeeze them out of hiding. It will take time, $$$ and  lots of patience. I'm hoping I can keep up the pace and not upset SweetiePie too much. Loud noise upsets him and its really hard to demolish wall board quietly. 

Early Progress

I forgot to take pictures before I started tearing down but I did take some after I started the bathroom demo. The skylight(did I say I hate skylights?) in the master bath had leaked and SIL had sealed it but the roof really needed to be replaced and it was leaking in another place just above the skylight. The laminate in the kitchen was peeling off, the carpet was in shreds, the dogs had scratched moldings off, scratched a hole in the wallboard at the back door among other things.


The kitchen was narrow, dark and showing its 21 years. Being painted purple did not help the light problem.

This is the living room wall to the left of the front door You can see the bathroom in the center of the photo. This was before the tub was removed and the wallboard between the bath and bedroom was torn down. The area with all the stuff was the den off of the master bedroom. The door on the right is a large closet in the den that houses the water heater. the kitchen is on the right behind the closet. Most of the den will become part of the living room and just beyond the window on the left a new wall will go all the way across to make a large walk in closet for the master bedroom, utilizing the opening from the old den to the master bedroom.

Most of the house has the original wallboard and the decorative wallpaper border at the top. Very dated. The family room(not visible) to the right of the master bedroom has been painted dark olive green. Too dark and needs to be painted lighter because there are french doors out to a covered deck that let in very little light.

So far I have removed several walls to reorganize the space and make it more open and usable. The cabinets in the bathroom, the cabinets on the fridge side of the kitchen, the wall at the back of the dining room (to combine the dining room with part of the very tiny bedroom). I have to remove and reorganize areas with care since SweetiePie is with me and I need to cook and have a usable bathroom at all times for him.

The den off the master bedroom just collected stuff and was never used. The small bedroom down the hall was almost too small for a twin bed so it will become part of the dining room and I will use the same trick with the current wall and utilize the opening to make a large closet in the corner bedroom and remove the closet that just sticks out when you enter the room. That will add  2'x10'  to that bedroom and a larger closet.

I know that paint and flooring will make a huge difference in the openness and lightness of the space. I started with the master bathroom since I needed to remove the ceiling to fix the water damage. When the new roof went on I had them close up the skylight and I have already purchased a new window for the bathroom since the skylight was the only natural light in there.

The new roof was just finished and looks great.

More photos in the next post.

Need To and Want To...TWO Different Things

Hello everyone and welcome to Reluctant ReModel.

Why would someone do a remodel and not really want to? Well sometimes we get backed into a corner and just have to dig our way out.

A little history.

Nine years ago we purchased a doublewide home for our daughter. Now don't jump to conclusions and think that we are financially independent. Not even close. We are retired and every penny counts. At the time we purchased the home for our daughter both my husband and I were employed with good jobs, both girls were on their own and our home was paid off and we were ready to save a bit more for retirement. We never considered the purchase of an additional home for vacation or whatever. We were happy where we were and looking forward to retirement.

Our daughter had several health issues and couldn't work, her husband also had health issues and wasn't able to work full time. They had a young son, a new house, new car and needed to cut expenses. And a daughter one on the way. After several rental houses they realized they were never going to get on their feet living in questionable areas in run down houses. They were at the end of their rope.

My husband, SweetiePie, suggested rather than help them pay their expenses we should invest in property for them with the understanding that after two years they would take over the property and it would be theirs to do with as they wanted, except for selling. That would be a joint decision. SonInLaw found a nearby property, a double wide with almost 2 acres, a small pond, a stick built 2 car garage and close enough to the full time job he had just started. Everything seemed great. Oh, and another daughter made a family of 5.

The double wide was for sale from the estate of a woman who died of cancer (not in the house) and had been on the market for a while. Needed some work, but overall in pretty good shape. We made an offer and it was ours.

Fast forward. Daughter has her medical issues pretty much under control and has a full time job. SIL is still employed full time. Grandson is in the Army and just got married to a real sweetheart, love my "new" grand daughter. The two girls will be in the same middle school this year and they needed to be closer to their school, moms work and a better commute for dad. The family moved to a house closer to the school and daughter's work.

What to do with the house? They washed their hands of the deal and moved on.

Did I say they had dogs inside? A Golden Lab and various other dogs over time, two cats and one lizard and had accumulated lots of  "stuff" over the years. Lots of  wear and tear on the carpet, floors, walls and bathrooms.

Once I looked at everything from a new buyers perspective I knew that in order to get our investment back we would need to renovate and update almost everything. New roof, new windows, new kitchen, new bathrooms, new flooring, new paint. Whew...that's a lot of new.

Well I made the big decision to tackle the renovation and get the house in good shape to sell for a good price. After all it was our money tied up and we needed a profit. I say I made the decision because about a year ago my SweetiePie was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia along with the Parkinsons he had already been diagnosed with. I knew it would be a challenge but I was willing to do what it took to keep from selling at a loss.

This is our journey in getting the house ready to sell. I say our journey because my Sweetiepie travels with me 2-3 times a week, 52 miles one way, to work on the house. He asks me every day why he has to go with me. "Why do you need me?" Because you are my partner and we are on this journey together and this is just a little bump compared to the other things going on in our life. I call him my sidekick when he asks why he has to go. I'm a trained Certified Medical Assistant and I work from home selling on ebay in order to take care of him and earn an income so we can't just move in to the other house and finish the remodel. Wish it was that easy. Ebay kinda insists that I get the sales out on time.

So, I hope I don't bore you with all of the details. If anyone has a better way to do something please speak up, I have an open mind. I have already researched a gazillion things on the internet to find out how to do things and how not to do things. I am a firm believer in reusing any and everything. I am a regular shopper at Habitat for Humanity ReStore and thrift stores.

Buckle up, there will be lots of ups and downs.