Me, three!
Just sent links to Austinmshauri
Will send to Youdontsay also
Today we installed a new ceiling fan (picked by the son, doesn’t match decor at all), updated all the outlets and switches, created some grounded outlets for son’s computer equipment and finished replumbing the shower for new shower fixtures and shower pan.
For cost efficiencies, we are putting in an acrylic shower pan and tiling up the shower walls. This should be a good test for anyone that wants to try to update a shower that isn’t used very often, at a lower cost.
Our windows and doors are all painted tomorrow we will paint the window frames.
We are having a heck of a time trying to update the AC. There was an inefficient wall AC that we took out. Owner wants to put in a mini split so I called some AC companies to give estimates. They are all weeks out from being able to install anything and they are giving prices like $4500 to install. And that’s with us pulling the electric to another location for them. What the hey!!! I’m in the wrong business!! The unit I want is only $1,000 and only takes about a half day to install. Yikes!
I’m now researching YouTube to see how hard can this really be?? There are systems out there called DIY that come with the lines precharged so we don’t need to vacuum the lines or pressurize with coolant (the fancy tools the AC guys have)
The Mom asked me to take the AC installers through the main house to get an estimate for new AC mini splits. First time I’ve been in the house since Son moved in. OMG!! What a freaking mess. I discovered dog poop and pee in one room, kitchen is a disaster. Well, what do we expect? Except Mom is flying in tomorrow and I have no idea if he is going to get it cleaned up before her arrival, or she is going to walk in on the mess?
I was late to this thread but am delighted to be able to follow along on another of your projects. With a parent purchasing this $1.3+ million home for a college kid, I thought budget might not be an issue. Interesting that’s not the case.
I’m torn between, “What the heck is she (mom) thinking?!” and, “Who cares. I get to watch another Coralbrook project!!”
Is the son currently the only person living there? I would honestly tell the mother (even if he cleans up before she arrives) about the state of the house. Aside from the grossness of leaving poop and pee on the floor, it sounds like he isn’t being a good dog owner. I can’t imagine that she’s spending thousands of dollars to improve a house that will only be trashed by the son!
@coralbrook --We had a mini split installed and yeah, it wasn’t cheap (I gulped) but gotta say it’s great. It’s super quiet and efficient. Pretty small unit. Cools enough for two areas that simply never got enough cool air (upstairs area) They had to go through wall at one spot and put the outside unit on a deck area. (And the hardest part was wiring the thing–I felt sorry for the guys crawling around my attic trying to feed wires through walls. They earned their money that day! Yours looks easier by far but who knows?) Mine has a remote which acts as the thermostat so if you want it cooler for a particular area you can move it. One of the guys said he was doing it for his new home. They apparently make some fairly large units that can take care of the whole house.
Poor doggo. Don’t know what happened but that’s a large house so perhaps son hadn’t discovered it yet? Is son and dog always gone when guys are working?
I love the wood trim. I never would’ve painted it. Was it in that bad a shape to start?
@MaryBarbara58 – I’d never tell on him. Wouldn’t be my business. Mom oughta know her kid by now.
This college student has a dog too? I would blow the whistle on the kid. You can’t be working in such an unsanitary place. Tell her you must hire cleaners to deal with this because no one should be cleaning up the dog debris…not even folks demolishing a house.
When I looked at the real estate pics of that main house, it looked perfectly acceptable for college students to live in…actually, it looked more than acceptable especially if the kid and his friend are slobs.
But glad CB has the job.
CB, I’d be taking lots of pictures because if this kid trashes the place after you do work, you want the mom to see that you did what you said you were going to do.
This college kid sounds like an entitled jerk. But that’s a whole other thread!
And CB, you are a better person than I am. I would not have continued being in the house. I would have emailed the mom saying you found very unsanitary conditions, and you couldn’t continue. And that you can’t call in other contractors for estimates under those circumstances.
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We are working in the studio and not working in the main house right now. I had warned him on Tuesday that we needed access to the main house for the AC company estimate. He wasn’t home yesterday, I’m not clear if he is attending classes or attending remote. The dog poop was way upstairs in that big cupola tower so I’m assuming Son didn’t even know it was there. I texted him to let him know, but I’m not going to say anything to Mom. She’ll see when she shows up today. Giving him the benefit of the doubt because he just moved everything in over the weekend.
Yes, painting the interior of the windows is blasphemy but we needed the Studio to be as maintenance free as possible. The windows that get direct light are peeling, have lost stain. It’s going to be very difficult to sand down the true grid windows, get stain back on evenly and try to seal with something that will not peel off in the sun. All of the beautiful wood casement windows are only single pane and that isn’t smart in the extreme temperatures (well, extreme for So California) out in their location.
@coralbrook what will you be doing to the main house here? Maybe the real estate pictures showed only the positives, but it looked fine to me, and especially for college students.
So beside the studio, what is the scope of this project.
Also, you gave the slob son the benefit of the doubt twice now…the condition of the studio and the condition of the main house. Does he get a strike three?
I’ve been spreading mulch but taking a break to catch up here. Could someone please send me a PM with the link?
@austinmshauri @“Youdon’tsay” I would love the link. Thanks
Link sent to @dragonmom and @mom60.
I guess I need a link too. Sorry to bother someone
Link sent to bookworm.
@zipyourlips. I’d like the link, too! Thank you.
Link sent to @anxiousmom
I’ll be curious to hear whether you met with mom while she was in town and how that went.