tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76044949521708504602011-11-27T16:27:12.296-08:00Progress in renovating a hundred year old house in Minneapolis.Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.comBlogger241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-26608078703282325522009-09-21T17:24:00.000-07:002009-09-21T17:34:53.212-07:00

So this is the floor we got and installed in the kitchen and new bathroom. During the installation (and I assumed until the baseboard was in) ikea suggests putting in the black spacers between the wall and the floorboard. Well our stupid dog Brutus has been picking up the spacers and is now recovering in hospital after surgery to remove one from his stomach!! This is his second surgery to have

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-33890928798349541082009-09-21T16:23:00.000-07:002009-09-21T17:14:43.312-07:00

I know I said I would post pictures but I couldn't find the camera. Well, I found the camera, took new pictures and then I couldn't find the cable to download the pictures. But now I have both, so here are a couple of pictures of our kitchen. It is 90% complete and only needs under-cabinet lights and some drywall on the ceiling! These pictures were taken when we started the remodel so it is a

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-61080832401525772042009-08-23T20:47:00.000-07:002009-08-23T21:07:51.920-07:00

I have to apologize, I took pictures of different stages of the plumbing an kitchen demo to post and with the mess the house is in, I can't find the cord to download the pictures to my computer. I promise to post them as soon as I find the cord though. The electrical and plumbing rough-in inspections should be completed tomorrow. After that we can put in the kitchen cabinets and start to

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-85326654090945957532009-08-23T19:51:00.000-07:002009-08-23T20:47:47.411-07:00

We fired the contractor about a week or so into getting things started. It just wasn't working out. Insisted that the plumber finished before he would send in his guys, but the plumber needed the contractor to do several things so he could put in the plumbing. So, we (and by we I mean Bill mainly), ended up tearing out the kitchen and everything else that the plumber needed. Finally it got to

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-28282886868049737072009-08-20T13:50:00.000-07:002009-08-20T15:11:57.100-07:00

With the demise of our 203k loan application, we decided to use our savings to fix up as much of the house as we could. We decided that redoing the existing bathroom and kitchen were our top priorities for now, and we nixed the new bathroom and figured we could work on other areas one at a time. But we decided that it would be easier if we had some help getting things done. So here are the

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-63410998570250669912009-08-20T13:35:00.000-07:002009-08-20T13:50:34.378-07:00

I took a little bit of a hiatus from the blog, but I'm now back! We have had a lot going on recently but things are definitely moving, but I will probably fill you in with short posts, rather than one long, boring one. After waiting for a long, long time for our FHA loan, the company we were using quit the 203k program and denied our loan. We tried resurrecting it with other companies, but

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-48991688965947006712009-06-29T18:13:00.000-07:002009-06-29T18:36:16.027-07:00

I need to vent. We still have not yet gotten our rehab loan. The underwriter is apparently still working on it. So we are playing the waiting game, but it has been a long, frustrating process. We did get the house to appraise for the amount we need, which is great! I may post more about the loan process after we close, for anyone trying to decide if they want to try getting a rehab loan. In

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-55221960103428797662009-05-08T06:46:00.000-07:002009-05-08T07:24:52.076-07:00

Cedar Ave is one of the main streets in South Minneapolis.  Unfortunately, over the years, it has become a main alternate route for people to drive into the city as well as to the MOA.  As a result, the traffic is horrendous, it is also unsafe in some areas, not bike or pedestrian friendly. Here is a group of residents in the South Minneapolis that are working with the county and city to correct

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-44333499072486841342009-05-03T17:08:00.001-07:002009-05-03T17:20:36.818-07:00

We have not had much happen on the home front.  I'm itching to get started with the work, but instead learning how to be patient  We were told last week that it would probably be 4-6 weeks before we closed on the loan!!!  Our contractor didn't sound too happy, but was OK with the time frame.  In the meantime, I keep looking around to see if there is anything I can do to start work.  We did the MS

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-2721415619134294272009-04-19T18:46:00.000-07:002009-04-19T18:51:17.737-07:00

Minneapolis has had some really nice weather this last week.  All our animals love being outside. Here are some pictures of them enjoying the warm weather.

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-55433479970100624282009-04-19T17:59:00.002-07:002009-04-19T18:55:36.271-07:00

If we don't start work on our house soon I may have to change the name of this blog to "the Ghetto House." Last week we came home to find the bottom of our screen door had fallen off. The Byerly's deliver guy laughed and asked if it was a new doggie door.  I thought about changing it, but our plan is to open up the porch, in which case we will not need a screen door there, so I don't want to have

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-85023348005725578812009-04-12T16:41:00.000-07:002009-04-19T18:46:05.486-07:00

Our lilac bushes have buds on them and everywhere else I look there are signs of spring. Finally!! Seth has started working on the garden.  He has his own blog with his progress at toilinthesoil.blogspot.com.  He is planting all kinds of plants; tomatoes, beans, peas, onions, garlic, herbs, chili peppers, rhubarb, carrots, radish, celery, broccoli.....and that is all I can remember.  At least we

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-21455984359023682472009-03-28T17:50:00.000-07:002009-03-28T18:09:25.894-07:00

Now we have had three different contractors tell us that for the amount we are willing to pay to rehab our house, we could build a nice new-construction house of the similar size and with everything we want in our home.  Additionally, the last person to see it today noticed that the southeast corner of the house was settling and brought up concerns with it.  So we are trying to decide what to do.

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-75064189643612843712009-03-28T17:45:00.000-07:002009-03-28T17:50:04.212-07:00

I think we have had the last contractor come through the house.  I'm fed up of showing people around and telling them what we want done.  I know at least one guy realized it, but it was "early" in the morning for me and I had not yet finished my cup of coffee.  The guy before that though was a little bit of a jackass and refused to stick to the list and kept arguing with me.  We didn't even go

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-70397499637764902412009-03-20T10:22:00.000-07:002009-03-20T10:32:18.959-07:00

Ok.  So we have started getting bids back for the house and the first one came back at a whopping 300k.  Now I know that we have a lot going on, but 73k for a 2 car detached garage is absurd.  The other parts of the bid were also extremely high.  I sent an email back to the contractor asking him if I was reading the estimate wrong and pointed out that if I was reading it correctly, 73k for a

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-87955076146199698262009-03-02T14:31:00.000-08:002009-03-20T10:22:32.637-07:00

We had an FHA evaluator come out and draw up plans for the house last week.  He came up with a big list of things to had to be done and others that we would like done.   The final construction total was higher than we hoped and now we have to go back to the mortgage agent to do comps to see if our house would appraise for that amount after we are finished with the work.  On the first floor he has

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-85389409405623195702009-02-16T17:44:00.000-08:002009-02-16T17:51:18.926-08:00

When I finished all the electrical work in the house, I really have not felt like doing very much work on the house.   We talked about it last week and decided that should look into home loans to fix the house up and that way we can put in a fireplace or wood stove, redo the kitchen and have someone finish everything we started.  Our house is not very big and we also talked about extending the

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-78661451376918830362009-02-16T17:29:00.001-08:002009-02-16T17:44:23.119-08:00

I was just reading another house blog that talked about the lack of insulation in the attic.  We had the same problem - we don't even have insulation in any of the exterior walls.  Our heating bills this winter have been quite high.  I insulated the attic with fiberglass rolls of R-30 in January.  I know that is not optimal for Minnesota, but I figured something was better than nothing.   Our Jan

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-88070837425146294042009-01-28T20:41:00.000-08:002009-01-30T15:22:17.346-08:00

And then there was light!  I have some of the lights back on downstairs with only the porch light and the one in the front of the house to connect.  I should have been done last weekend, but Seth wanted to put a ceiling fan in the living room.  We picked one out this weekend, and every day since then I have attached a new fixture.  I did my best not to make too make the holes in our ceiling very

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-41560351248143327952009-01-19T19:27:00.000-08:002009-01-19T19:28:32.396-08:00

Although our house was rewired two years ago, we found that all the lighting on the first floor was on an old circuit with knob and tube wiring. So I decided that it was time to rewire, thinking it would only take me a few hours......Well over a week later I have most of the wires in place. The reason it took so long was that the wires from the living room ceiling light went out into the porch,

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-1720443127409909952009-01-19T18:24:00.000-08:002009-01-19T19:17:13.365-08:00

So, I have to finish the plumbing for the master bathroom by the middle of February, so that we can get it inspected for the truth in housing (we have already gotten a couple of extensions and I just want to get it over with).  Because both of us a really busy and the work is going really slowly, I put an ad on craigslist for a handyman to help me finish the plumbing.  In less than 24 hours I got

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-18745275798087176022009-01-12T14:46:00.000-08:002009-04-12T16:56:58.071-07:00

When we moved into the house, we came up with a list of things that we need to do based on the truth in housing from the city, things our insurance company wanted us to fix and other improvements that we needed to make.  S's parents were going to come up to help in November as they knew what they were doing.  So here is the first thing on our ambitious list of things to get done.Renovate and

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-49981846307944262062009-01-10T10:56:00.000-08:002009-01-13T07:21:17.580-08:00

The House...The Yard....And this is a picture from the other end of the yard.  The house is all the way in the front.  It used to take me about 2 hours to mow the lawn.

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604494952170850460.post-29269984507825572262009-01-10T10:31:00.000-08:002009-01-10T10:51:36.063-08:00

Last year we started to look for a house with a yard for our dog Buster.  In June we found the perfect house in south minneapolis with a huge yard that was a third of an acre.  The house is a hundred years old and needs updating and quite a bit of work.   The huge yard and the original wood work were the redeeming qualities off the house and we figured that we were up to the challenge of

Big Yard Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07135376103914592236noreply@blogger.com0