Outside In

I've been getting estimates for replacing my roof and replacing my siding.  I would like both of these things to be done before winter sets in.  You can do both of these things in the winter, but I want the house sealed up to save on energy bills and shingles have a strip of tar on the back that sticks to the shingle below it, thus it's better to do a roof when it's warm out.

I've decided on a roofer, Rhoden Roofing here in Wichita, because they did my dad's roof and I like that they spray paint the pipes, vents, exhauts, etc that come out of your roof to match the color of your shingle.  It makes them less noticeable.  My roof currently is in really bad shape.  The house was built in 1986 and the roof looks original.

You can see the spots where the texture has completely worn off of some of the shingles and many of the corners are curling up.

Before I have the roof done I'm going to replace the fascia.  That's the board that runs along the front of the eave.  When a roof is installed they put a piece of metal flashing along the corner where the fascia meets the roof.  I don't want to damage or dent that piece of flashing by trying to replace the fascia after the roof is installed.  A lot of the fascia is rotten and it some places the 2 x 4 behind it is also rotten.

Rotten 2 x 4.  The silver and red on the right is the sheathing of the house.  That's the stuff under the siding.  In most houses it's plywood but mine happens to be foil covered foam insulation.

In this picture you can see the new section of 2 x 4 that I put in.  The white thing at the top is the old flashing.  I just peeled it up so I could work easier.  It will be removed with the old shingles.

I'm trying to decide on a color.  I don't know whether to match the brick or go with something a little more neutral.  I think I'm leaning towards neutral (the one on the right).

As for siding, I haven't found anyone I really like yet.  I want to be able to buy the siding materials myself from a lumber yard and then pay someone to put it up.  I know if I let a contractor buy the materials they will mark them up to make a profit.  I don't need them to buy it for me, it's not that hard to call a lumber yard and buy it yourself.  The lumber yard even delivers it straight to your door.  Easy.  I don't like paying someone else for that.

Who Needs A Trash Can?

My plan for this house is to work from the outside in since it's September and will be getting cold before I'm done.  So I tackled the deck first.  It was wobbly and ugly and had several holes in it.  I found that those holes made convenient trash cans for when you're sitting on the deck drinking beer.  Not that I have any first hand experience, but it must be handy to not have to get up to throw away your beer can.  I found many other things besides beer cans, as you can see. 

It was mostly on one side, but there was trash everywhere!

Beer cans, broken bottles, tupperware, stuffed toys (lower left), and more!

This was a 12 pack of beers.  At least they put them back in the box, right?

And some hair.  Looks human.  Someone must have cut their hair outside because I found several curls of hair like this.

In All It's Foreclosure Glory

So I've been back to the house and taken some pictures.  One thing these pictures won't be able to convey is the smell.  Dog/cat urine.  Everywhere.  That's why no one else wanted it.  I'm up for a challenge, besides I've got some tricks up my sleeve.

Wider angle shows a little more of the lot.

There is termite damage to the siding to the right of the door.  And the 2 in the address is broken.  How do you  do that?

This is showing the deteriorated fascia board above the garage door, up at the roof edge.  You can see a little piece hanging down.

This is the east side of the house and it actually has new siding and new vinyl windows. Yea!

This is the rear, it faces southeast. One window and the sliding door are new.  The deck is old and decrepit and has to go.  The wild mulberry and elm trees are pretty, right?  No.

 The original patio is there and the deck is one step up.  It looks like they had a dog run on this side of the fence.  Oh, and that long white thing by the sliding door?  It's a fluorescent light.  Lovely for evenings on the patio.

The siding and windows on this side are in really bad shape. Some of the siding is actually missing as you can see in this picture.

The garage.  Not too bad, but still needs to be replaced.

Living room.  Fortunately, the carpet and pad was torn out by the bank.  But you can't really tell.  It still really smells in here.  You can see the stains on the subfloor.

Fireplace.  The trim belongs on the window to the left.

Two bedrooms and a bath upstairs.

Dining room and kitchen.

For some reason these cabinets are missing.

Main floor laundry.

Master bedroom.

Double closets in master bedroom.

Master bath.  You think that toilet looks bad?  I get to take it out.  I need a hazmat suit!

Master bath.

Balcony.

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 2, both upstairs.

Really badly stained floor.  The tannish spot in the middle is deteriorated carpet pad.  It's stuck to the floor.

Upstairs bath. Same layout as master bath.

Upstairs bath.

Holes punched in the wall leading down to the basement.

The rest of the basement stairs.

Basement family room.

Basment family room.  There used to be a door on the left.  It's gone.

Looks like they had a little water event in the kitchen and flooded the ceiling in the family room.

Furnace/Storage.  The furnace looks like a high efficiency unit so I won't have to replace it. 

New Project

So today I closed on a new flip house. It's a 1 1/2 story with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and 1580 sqft.  It's located in Kechi, a little town northeast of Wichita, KS.  The house sits on a cul-de-sac and has a rather large lot, over 1/2 acre. More pictures to come. And in case you're wondering I didn't take all that time off, I've been helping my dad with some apartments he bought.  But now that we're done with those it's time to start a new project.