# ~ My first home, my first project.



## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

*~ My first home, my first project (not 56k friendly)*

Hello all, 

I'm a noobie to the forum just looking for a place to log my progress and get some feedback along the way. 

I'm a 21 year old from Omaha, NE. I closed on my home in mid October, so I haven't had it for more than a month. The house I bought is actually the house I grew up in, parents sold it off about 3 years ago to move out where were are now (nicer neighborhood / nicer houses). Well, just like the current trend, the people who bought it didn't pay and faced foreclosure. I got it for less than half of what we sold it for and paid cash FTW. 

The deadbeats (or victims depending on your views) trashed it, but it's mostly cosmetic and on the inside, so I'll be gutting it and fixing it up with the intention of eventually flipping it. Will probably end up moving into it for a while with some roommates. 

It's a cute little thing  , about 1100 sqft:












Yard will clean up pretty well, and I'm going to be tearing down some walls on the inside to re-organize the living space to make it roomie friendly.


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

My first weekend with this house I took as a four day weekend to do some work (fri-mon), here are some pics showing how rough it is and some of the things we did. 

To sum it up (that I can remember)

- I have a new roof
- we (my father and I) built a concrete canal type thing on the side of the house to prevent water from coming into the basement (had slight leakage issues)
- New front door
- scraped the **** out of some walls, did spackling, prepped for paint etc
- fixed some of the ghetto patches in the textured ceiling
- tore down some things that needed to be taken down

pics!


Piles of shingles and the best pos car I've ever owned:












Roofers roofin: 














Dad making door holes:




















New door (put the same storm door back on and needs cleaned up yet): 












Tearing down some paneling to find out what was behind it:














These people liked nailing things everywhere:























Upstairs bedroom has potential:





















I have a LOT of work to look forward to, 

and the Home Depots in my hood will be seeing a lot of me.


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## specialguest (Sep 10, 2007)

sweet man congrats. welcome to the single most expensive and time consuming hobby there is


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## Mrnagrom (Oct 7, 2008)

specialguest said:


> sweet man congrats. welcome to the single most expensive and time consuming hobby there is


no kidding. i'll second that congrats and welcome.


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Installed new backdoor and storm door: 


























Inside of the front door seen in the first batch of pics: 










Upstairs didn't have a vent, so we fixed that!


















Mess on the main floor: 










Upstairs bedroom in progress (and my dad napping)


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Walls? Lol, not for long: 






































































The longest wall was paneling that was painted over, and had about 4 different layers of wall. But no insulation. We'll be insulation and putting up drywall. 
The wall the leads into the blue room is just getting moved and turned into a bigger bedroom.


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Framing of the bedroom extension begins:

















The wall was load bearing, so we built this giant brace:

























That's about it, we'll finish building that room this weekend, do some wiring, and hopefully hang some drywall.


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## gotboost (Sep 5, 2008)

Way to go nothing like jumpimg in with both feet,best of luck..


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## mercurycnz (Aug 27, 2008)

Cheer Up!


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

mercurycnz said:


> Cheer Up!


Lol, what's that supposed to mean?


Anyways, We finished framing last night, did some electrical, and insulated the whole was that was naked, as usual here are the progress pics:


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Been a while since I updated, I forgot the camera last weekend, so I didn't have much to post. 


At this point, all the drywall on the main floor has been hung, it's all been taped, sanded, and the ceilings re-textured. There are just some details to double check under good lighitng before we slap the primer on the walls. 


Extended bedroom: 
































Inside the bedroom looking out: 





















From the other end of the living room:


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Sample of the texture in the bathroom (best lighing I could find to show the work)










Inside the doorway where we added the air supply to the upstairs:




















Looking upstairs: 











I REALLY need to get a fisheye lens for my camera to better capture the work.


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## Mrnagrom (Oct 7, 2008)

Just download a photostitching app an make panoramas if you want to show everything


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## tigerbalm2424 (Feb 28, 2007)

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I wish I had a project such as this!:thumbup:


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## Holt (Dec 6, 2008)

Did the house you by is it in Omaha Ne, if so hi neighbor I'm from Bellevue. Judging by the dish on the house i say you live in south east omaha around 20 and a-z streets.


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Holt said:


> Did the house you by is it in Omaha Ne, if so hi neighbor I'm from Bellevue. Judging by the dish on the house i say you live in south east omaha around 20 and a-z streets.



Yep, in south O. Good eye on the dish although it's gone now, lol.


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Another dry spell w/o updates, work and school have been keeping me pretty busy. 

At this point, the living room and extended bedroom have been primered and painted, most of the laminate flooring installed in the living room, and the upstairs bathroom project has begun. 

This week is finals week, so I'm hoping to make some mad progress once those exams are out of the way. 



Here is looking into the entry way where we had run some ductwork what seems like an eterntity ago: 























Here is the progression of the living room/hallway area:


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

The flooring is too dusty to show all that well in the pics, but it's pretty good looking. 

I know someone will probably ask about the underlay; I didn't cut corners, just for the kind of flooring with the underlay already built onto the back of the boards. Ease of installation FTW. 



Looking into the bedroom we extended:


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Moving upstairs to the new bathroom project:







































I definitely have my hands full, but it's great to look back at the older pics and see the progression (two months of ownership in a couple days here!!!).


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Finals are over and I have three weeks before the next semester. Time for a flurry of productiveness! 

Here's the progress in the upstairs bathroom:






























Poop pipe downstairs and copper for water: 










Dad doing some staining:


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## Mrnagrom (Oct 7, 2008)

hahaha.. poop pipe.. lookin good.


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## mferguson0414 (Jan 6, 2009)

arent dad's the ****, mine has been a big help with my home over the last 2.5 years of owning it..lookin good by the way


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Yeah, my Dad is pretty awesome. 

Here's some more pics, I've been slackin on updates lately:


Trim has been in for a while:




















Office is painted:



















Shower is in (teaser I know):











We've done a lot more than that, I just haven't kept up on the photos. I'll try to get some more asap.


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Finally took the time to sort through all the pics I have to date. Since my last update we've re-done the cieling texture in the upstairs (popcorn just wasn't doing it for me), nearly finished the bathroom, and started carpeting. 


Here's a snapshot of the old ceiling cleared off:










Dad working on the texture:











Bathroom walled in and mostly sanded:














































Shower:


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Outside of bathroom primed, cementboard laid down for the tile, and the inside painted:



















Lighting and fan finished up:











Dry fitting the tile:






















Tile going in:











Tile almost complete (still need to grout):


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

.......and in the downstairs:

I cheated and did attached pad carpet, we'll see how it holds up:





























And I had a change of heart on lighting and did a track light with warmer bulbs in the living room:











That about sums it up, next weekend I'll be finishing up the carpet and grouting the tile.


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

Good job, it looks very nice. I like the little window above the shower. You have the house, now all you need is a wife and lots of kids. LOL


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

gma2rjc said:


> Good job, it looks very nice. I like the little window above the shower. You have the house, now all you need is a wife and lots of kids. LOL


Ha! No thanks, I have higher aspirations. I need a bigger house, huge garage, and a fleet of sports cars before I have kids.


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## @home (Jan 22, 2009)

Great Job. It looks great. I like what you did with the tiling


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Don't forget phone, TV & network wiring :thumbsup:


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## Knucklez (Oct 21, 2007)

wow, good luck. what s freak'n mess lath & plaster makes! i see your house is sheathed in 12" wide pine. you're lucky, its a beautiful surface to work with when you go to do siding (some day in the far future hopefully!). 

make sure you list the things that went well and what you wish you did differently, helps us with the learn'n process.


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Spent a few weeks in Mexico for work so that set back my progress. Here is what's new:


Laminate and Trim down in the upstairs bedroom:










Door, trim, and tile for the bathroom:





























Bathroom pretty much complete (sink, toilet, shower, etc)

































Stairs carpeted: 


















Office carpeted:










I hired someone to do the stairs since I want them to last. I overall have mixed feelings about the attached pad carpet. I probably would not get it again, and would do the standard tack strip and pad style. More cush = win. 


Just have a few finishing touches to go and I can start on the kitchen!


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## rh8868 (Jan 15, 2009)

Man excellent looking work and documenting. I am also a first time homeowner and its really interesting seeing others adventures as well. Keep up the great work!


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## Holt (Dec 6, 2008)

Any updates on the house project?


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Holt said:


> Any updates on the house project?


Yep, but it's been slow lately because of school and work. 

We've torn our the kitchen and bathroom floor, fixtures, etc. Doing a complete remodel for the kitchen but still undecided on the bathroom. The only things I would keep would be the tub/tile. 

Here's the whole kitchen and the beginning of the floor tearout:


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Drywall touched up, mostly primer, cementboard in, and tile coming together. 


























































This is where I'm at, we need to grout this weekend and maybe tear out the rest of the bath while I wait for my cabinets and countertops to come in.


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Forgot to add; If you ever install a new door CHECK THE FLOOR CLEARANCE!!!!!

We had to uninstall the door you see in the kitchen and re-install it because we needed to gain about 1/2" clearance for the cement board + tile. That was half a day wasted that could have been avoided.


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## johnnyboy (Oct 8, 2007)

You gonna hand that camera to pops so he can catch you doing some work or what  

just playin, good stuff man. lotta fun ain't it, i love this s**t!

i had the idea of flipping my house, but geez when you work on it yourself you get awefully attached, and if you sell you just gotta do it all over again!


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

It's looking great. I like the tile. It doesn't look like there was any water damage to the wood floor in the bathroom, that surprises me.


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

johnnyboy said:


> You gonna hand that camera to pops so he can catch you doing some work or what
> 
> just playin, good stuff man. lotta fun ain't it, i love this s**t!
> 
> i had the idea of flipping my house, but geez when you work on it yourself you get awefully attached, and if you sell you just gotta do it all over again!


Lol, my dad can handle just about any power tool but I don't know about a digital camera. Hoping to not get too attached, but it won't take much more than money to convince me when the time comes.


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Quick shot of the grouting in the kitchen done, patching on the walls complete, and painted:












Did a much better job grouting this than the upstairs  .


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

Awesome work, looks like fun but a lot of work too


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## techprincesse (Aug 20, 2009)

Any updateS?


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Well it's been forever, but I haven't really done much. Lost momentum once I moved in, main floor and upstairs are pretty much finished, I just need to paint a few more things and buy some appliances. Here is how my kitchen/cabinets/countertops came out:



























Still need to install the toe kick and crown, but that's how it stands at this point.


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## Fingers (Feb 6, 2008)

Very nice! not ducting the hood fan?


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## buenrostrox (Nov 5, 2008)

Fingers said:


> Very nice! not ducting the hood fan?


No unfortunately, it would have ended up being more work than it's worth. I'm going to end up getting an over the range microwave that has a filter built into the fan.


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## CoconutPete (Jan 22, 2010)

Very nice project!!!

Do you mind sharing what kind of enclosure you used for the upstairs shower? Looks exactly like what i'm looking for for my 1/2 bath expansion.


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## llckll (Aug 24, 2009)

buenrostrox said:


> Yeah, my Dad is pretty awesome.
> 
> Here's some more pics, I've been slackin on updates lately:
> 
> ...


Great job so far. IMO, I think white floor molding would look better. Shoudl also get some thin white crown molding. Nice!


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