Ramping Up To Home Improvement

We're finally back to working on the house! Not that I left it completely untouched over the summer months, mind you. Our main focus has been on vacation/camping and the garden for the last couple of months. Now, as my hubbie puts it so nicely, comes the time of year when being house-bound and bored out of our skulls leads to actual restoration progress. We've been getting busy on the exterior to try and finish before winter really hits. Also, the fireplace is starting to shape up, and plans for hearth tiling are in the works. Curtains are going up, albeit slowly, and the guest room looks less and less dreary. I'll be making quite a few posts in the next few days to make up for the long summer hiatus, so stay tuned in!

Breaking The Prolonged Silence

Well, I've just now gotten our internet back up, and we've been in our new residence since last Saturday. Still getting used to things in the house, and the neighborhood for that matter. So far my only trouble with the shared driveway is remembering to straighten out before backing down it each time, to avoid any scrapes. My boys are thrilled that we have a 3 and a 5 year old living next door, and invitations to play have already been exchanged. As for the house, projects move slowly and haltingly, more due to the toddler than the projects themselves. I have managed to start painting the master bedroom in "Juniper Berry", a great improvement on the stark white walls. It looks like that is the only room that still has all the original trim, so after I get it stripped I'll be using that as a guide to making trim for the rest of the house. I started work on the kitchen as well, but to my dismay the plaster appears to be in shambles under all that painted wallpaper and faux paneling. For the moment I've decided to leave the paneling and spackle all grooves for a smoother surface, then primer over and paint it all lime green. Sounds alarming, I know, but the kitchen is already so modern there's not much hope of going totally period on our current budget. I will still do the subway tile backsplash and probably bamboo countertops, the current cabinets will stay but get a retro facelift (think International Orange, blond wood and brushed chrome!). The windows all look great up close, only the front sidelight need replacing, and then new wooden screens all around. I did have a beastly time with the exterior water spigots, luckily the home warranty covered replacing some leaking segments of galvanized with PEX and now we can water our very dead lawn right before I rip it out. As for the rest, I will post more updates as soon as I can get some decent pics of what we've done so far. And of course some of the fun we're having in our new surroundings in the Wasatch Mountains. It's good to be home!

Things Are Starting To Look Up

At least on the purchasing end of our journey. We have a binding contract on the 28th St house, with escrow closing on the 12th of next month. The rush to close is necessitated by R's work schedule, he'll be very busy the rest of this year, as his carrier prepares for their move. He is supposed to be off the ship before the move, so at least he won't have to fly back from overseas. But the really good news is that the sellers signed an agreement to repair anything mandated by the VA appraiser or lender, which means there shouldn't be any obstacles to closing on their end. No repeats of 26th St nightmare, yay! Our inspection is scheduled for next week, I have my fingers crossed that nothing wacky turns up. And of course now is when we have to finish packing, cleaning, painting, requesting leave, reserving a truck & lodging, getting quotes for carpet and pest control for the apt. Lots to do before closing day!

Let Downs

We finally got pictures of the other house we're considering, on Van Buren. Surprisingly, this one doesn't look as salvageable as 28th St, even though the original views we had of it seemed to suggest otherwise. Of course, the listing agent probably took the best possible shots and left the rest out, so I should have expected this. It looks like someone demo'd the porch and put an asbestos-shingled addition on the rear, a la 1940's. Except for the Living/Dining Rooms the interior is really weirdly chopped up and dinky. The neighborhood looks a little nicer, that and the original interior trim plus slightly larger yard are the only things this house has on 28th St. The renter next door has mean dogs and there's a registered sex offender living three houses down, so apparently in this case looks are not all they're cracked up to be. Oh well, here are the pics of this Quasimodo. Take a gander!

Another Day, Another House

Hmm. Well, this next prospect is certainly thought-provoking. It's a 1923 brick bungalow on a tiny city lot with a shared driveway, and the interior is a mixture of Craftsman details and 70's fugly. I really don't know what to feel about this house, part of me wants to try and save it, the other part thinks that its surroundings might not make it worthwhile. The seller is willing to make the necessary repairs to get us through escrow, and it is priced low enough to allow serious renovation, so we are somewhat tempted. Just to give you an idea of what I'm still trying to wrap my brain around, here's the 28th St bungalow with:

The Good

The Bad

And The UGLY!

Norfolk House Voyeurism

While I wait for inspiration to strike in the buying process, here are just a few of the cute little bungalows in the Downtown area of Norfolk, by Lafayette Park.

My personal favorites are the little yellow and gray houses, they just look so cozy, cute and cottagey.

They Could Be Contenders

Oh no, now we have more houses to choose from! I guess quite a few people waited until after Memorial Day to put their homes on the market. So here are three more possibilities while we wait to see if our back-up offer on Adams moves to 1st.

Contender #1 is on Parry St up above the downtown renewal project, and was built 1912. It's kind of blah right now with the aluminum siding, skimpy porch hardware, and unfinished basement. Inside the house is 3088 sq. ft. half up, half down, with 3 beds and 2 full baths. Situated on a .17 acre lot with a 1 car garage and $99,000 price tag, there's definitely room to play with.

Contender #2 is on Adams (another one!) just behind the LDS Pioneer Church (nice grounds) above 22nd. Built in 1907 with very charming brick exterior and windows, it has 1765 sq.ft., 4 beds, 1 full bath, an upper half story, and a partial unfinished basement. The asking price is $100,000 and there is a 2 car garage on this .17 acre lot, which looks fully fenced

Contender #3 is the most likely to prove hard to resist, it is located on 7th in N. Ogden, has a nifty stone exterior, and a .38 acre lot. Built 1918, with 1820 sq.ft. half up, half down, it has a fully finished basement, 5 beds (make one a study), 1 full bath, a 2 car deep garage, air conditioning (ahhh), awesome mountain views and a fully fenced HUGE backyard. It is also the most expensive, they want $122,500 and will probably get it. Nice area, big lot, nice house with mostly original windows/doors/trim, and only been on the market for 2 days. My realtor is putting a PO together as I type, so that she can call me from the house if it looks as nice or better than the lovely Adams bungalow that we are currently waiting in line for. Cue suspence!