Kitchen Cabinet Removal

One of the first things we need once moving in is functioning appliances. The kitchen came fitted with a range top and wall oven, and these appliances were original 1959 Gaffers and Sattler, so while they make an interesting antique they aren't in the best working condition. I have purchased a full range, but in order to make space for this in the kitchen it required moving the original gas stove/range top. This seemed like a daunting task since I couldn't see how the cabinet is connected to the wall/other units. I wasn't sure whether this is a delicate operation or a smash everything up job. I firstly removed the cabinet doors, which was a simple case of unscrewing them. Then I found some screws which connected the stove top to the counter and undid those. The range top was very heavy, but came out after some wiggling. Then I went and purchased a crow bar and sledge hammer. By wedging the crow bar between the counter top and wall (put a piece of wood or something protective between the crow bar and wall if you don't want to damage the wall) I was able to pry the cabinet away from the wall and with some sledge hammering I was able to break the cabinet into small sections which were easy to remove. Who would have thought destructing things would be so easy? Now I have a nice space with a gas connector for my new range. Here's a photo of my new range :):

Painting Results

Here are some results of the painting make over. It becomes clear how the white trim contrasts against the swiss coffee to give a fresh modern feel.

Here is before:


Here is after:


I still haven't painted the closet doors because I may replace them. Note the floor has been painted with gray garage floor paint, in order to seal in the black asbestos mastic, which was left over from the tile removal.

Heat Lamp Removal

When I first visited the house I looked around with my real estate agent. After a few minutes of looking around we could smell burning. We were getting increasingly worried when we realized that there was a heat lamp in the bathroom and one of us had accidentally flipped the switch assuming it was a light switch. It is positioned right above your head, so in order to prevent anyone's hair burning or accidental burning down of the house I decided to remove it.

Playing with electrics seemed like a very daunting task, but it was much easier than I imagined. Firstly I located the circuit breakers for the house and turned all the electricity off. Then it was just a case of unscrewing the lamp from the ceiling. This exposed three wires - red, black and green. I have decided to replace the heat lamp with this ceiling light from Ikea. The new light has a red, black and green wire, so I simply connected red to red, black to black and green to green using the cap connectors supplied. Then I drilled two holes in the ceiling and fitted screw anchors. Then screwed in the new light. Turned the electricity back on and it worked! Very easy :)

Second Task - Painting

The house was owned by an older lady who passed away, hence a lot of cosmetic maintenance has not been done recently. The rooms don't appear to have been painted in many years. From what I can tell there are two layers of colors indicating it has been repainted only once in the last 50 years. The bottom layer is green and most likely lead based paint, so I intend to be very careful when sanding. Here is what the living room currently looks like (note the asbestos floor tiles):


Currently the walls and ceiling are painted a yellowish off white and there are many stains and marks. After a quick trip to home depot we have decided to paint the walls in the good old Swiss Coffee, the ceilings in pure white, and the trimming in pure white gloss to freshen and brighten up the house. Steps to painting:

1) Use spackling paste to fill any holes, sand down (wearing a mask) when dry.
Swiss Coffee Walls:
2) Paint all edges with a paint brush.
3) Roller the large inner sections.
Pure White Ceiling:
4) Masking tape the edge where the Swiss Coffee meets the ceiling.
5) Paint the ceiling edges.
6) Use a roller on a pole to paint the inner ceiling.
Trimming/Doors/Skirting Board:
7) Masking tape the edge where the Swiss Coffee meets the trimming.
8) Paint the trim with primer (The skirting boards are very smooth and this helps with adhesion).
9) Apply the gloss paint with a small ultra smooth roller.

Every inch of the house needs repainting, so I expect this job will take us a number of weeks, I will post pictures as I go.

First Problem - Asbestos Tiles

The house was built in the day when Asbestos was all the rage and every square inch of flooring in the house is tiles. This is what they look like:


Before escrow closed I was able to get into the property and collect a sample of tile, which I sent off with a nominal $30 fee to this website.

They informed me that the tiles were made up of 15% asbestos. I found that as soon as something is said to contain asbestos it tends to terrify people, but after a lot of research on the subject I decided that asbestos isn't as scary as its made out to be. I looked into removing it myself, which requires a mask with an appropriate filter and overalls and to make sure you wet the area thoroughly to prevent loose fibers getting released into the air. There is a local dump in my area which takes 150lbs of asbestos per household per month for free and disposes of it, all that is required is that you use special bags to bag it up, which they also provide for free. In addition I looked into professional removal, which turned out to be not too expensive $1,000 for the whole house. Considering it is a lot of work and may be a risk to my health I have chosen to have the professionals remove it.

The sudden shock of owning a fixer home

I spent over 6 months looking for a house to buy. Entry level housing in my area is a hot market despite the recession. I was looking to get as much as I could with my money, no matter whether it was a run down dump or not. I made offers on a number of properties and finally one got accepted. Escrow closed in a record time of 20 days and suddenly I was landed with a house. The house was built in 1959 and pretty much everything about it is original and mostly broken.

The home inspection reported asbestos tiling, termites, foundation problems, possible leaking roof, leaking plumbing and old and broken windows. Not having much money I intend to fix this house up myself and having never been a homeowner before I have only a basic knowledge of home maintenance, so I intend for this blog to document what I learn as I go in order that it may help other soles in a similar situation or possibly motivate those who feel daunted by taking on home DIY projects. I hope to document how I turn this "house" into a beautiful home :)