Homemade Home

I just bought this house for under $12K Cash including the closing costs. I'll be doing a full renovation in effort to bring this house up to snuff to be part of my fleet of rental houses.....actually it's only a few houses, but many more are part of my dream!

In this house there is no sub-flooring, instead the tongue and groove flooring was laid right on the joists. It's not in the best condition so I'm putting down a layer of OSB which will stiffen up the floor and give me a single, level layer throughout the entire house. The process is simple, the material is trimmed to fit, cutting any holes for floor registers and nailed or screwed to the existing floors. I also deal with an interesting problem of a tree growing where a tree shouldn't grow.

In this video I assemble and install a shut-off valve in the main water line. I'm using a ball valve, where many homes use a gate valve, I prefer them since they are much faster to turn on and off and leak less in my experience.

In this video I show the first day of really getting into demolition! It's pretty simple, get in there and start tearing things out.

This video is part two of doing the demolition in the house and getting all the crap out of the way so I can get down to work

In this video I man up and blast down the chimney in my $12k house. Doing so makes such a difference and makes the space much more usable. Doing a renovation like this adds huge value and makes for a great seller or rental.

In this video I start the framing. The goal is to insulate, run wiring and plumb the house. Framing the walls out also gives an easy way to drywall since the existing walls are cinder block. I'll be doing the same to the back of the house as well, including some re-framing and adding of interior walls.

In this video disaster strikes when I find out that I have to rip out the floors in the entire rear of the house and the wall that separates the kitchen from the bath! Renovations hit you with challenges like this, the best thing to do is charge ahead and not get bummed. On the bright side, this will give me easy access to make repairs and do work that you will see in upcoming videos.

In this video I continue work on the back of the house. Specifically tearing out the floor....that's only a few minutes out of this long video, the rest is me running my mouth answer a lot of questions and reacting to comments I have read under these videos. I also just go over anything that pops into my mind.

In this video I continue work on the back of the house. Removing rotten joists and replacing them with new lumber. I also add a second beam and go over upcoming plans. Enjoy.

In this video rough in the kitchen plumbing enough to get the sub flooring down. I also add a second beam and go over upcoming plans. Enjoy

In this video I reinforce the center beam and add a ledger strip under the joists.

In this video I install floor insulation and lay down the sub-floor.

In this video I frame up walls in the kitchen on top of the sub-floor.

In this video, I relocate the electrical panel

In this video, I build the wall the separates the bathroom and laundry room as well as frame up a rough opening and prepare to frame the bedroom closet.

In this video, I level out the ceilings to solve issues related to drywalling.

The washing machine, dryer, water heater, breaker panel and additional storage will be designed into the small space. In this video I plumb in all the waste lines, that's the drains to all the fixtures that run down into the sewer, or in some cases, a septic tank. I'm using a combination of pipe sizes such as 1.5, 2 and 3 inch PVC. Most of the pipe is in the bathroom/laundry room walls with the remaining lines in the crawl space that hook to the sewer

In this video I rough in most of the electrical, install lighting and make some mistakes

In this video I plumb all the pex water lines in my renovation project.

In this video I prepare the exterior of the house for stucco (parging) by clearing things out of the way, tearing down the front porch and pressure washing the wall.

In this video, I extend the overhangs on all sides of the roof. The additional coverage protects the house and adds some architecture that the house was lacking. Next up is re-roofing.

In this video, I start re-roofing the house. I start with removing the old asphalt shingles. I decided to re-sheath the roof, I did so by layering on a layer of 7/16 OSB over the existing plywood sheathing. I dried the house in with 30 pound felt paper. This set's me up to plumb my vents through the roof, apply drip edge and shingle the house up...coming soon. This video ends with applying plywood to the underside of the overhangs and spray on a coat of Olympic solid stain. It's quite a project but one that I am enjoying, both the work and sharing the process with you all.

In this video, I announce the next house I'll renovate if I hit 100,000 subscribers by the end of this series. Please share the videos, hit thumbs up and leave a comment. All these help place videos higher in searches. I also answer some common question, tell of my plans, cut an access to the attic, plumb my waste vents through the roof and show the house all "cleaned up" inside.

Here I make some architectural brackets to support the roof overhangs. They are built simply so that most anyone could copy them for their own project.

Renovating this small house by myself is taking some time, but it is starting to look pretty good. The exterior is getting close to being done, leaving the shingles, porches and trim to go.

I'm currently working on the outside, getting things ready to have the power restored as well as installing shingles very soon. To do that I had to remove a bunch of scrappy trees, rehang the SE cable and nail down some drip edge.

Getting the new roof on this house has been a huge project, so many steps had to be completed to have it done......but it's done. That's how projects go, they seem like they will never end and then all of a sudden they are. After my part in working on the roof, I ended up hiring out the rest of the job to a roofer. It was simple, just nailing down shingles, but it was good "practice" for me to let someone else take over once in a while. The results were great in my opinion. The job took them only 2 hours to complete. While I did spend some time watching them install the shingles, I was able to work inside wiring up the new electrical into the panel

In renovating a house, the steps seem endless, when doing all or most of the work yourself it makes it seem whatever endless times 10 would be. Here's yet another one of the steps to get this house done. Venting the attic so that cool air can enter and hot air can leave the ridge vent. This also helps improve the air quality in the attic and reduce the chance of mold and mildew. In the next video I show installing gutters.

In this video, I install DIY gutters from Lowes. I kind of wish I would have had them done by a pro, but I did not. Regardless, gutters are pretty simple. These come in 10-foot sections and all the fittings are available to do what you need to do.

In this video, I wire up my breaker box. It's much more simple than many would think. You simply cut wires to length and attach them by tightening screws. Many people confuse difficult with simply not knowing how to do something. Digging a pool by and is hard, tearing off shingles and refoofing is hard, wiring a breaker box is not. Anything anyone else does can be learned. If you want to know how to do something, take the time to learn.

In this video, I plan my front and back porches and did the holes for concrete footings. I also go over my plans to either rent or sell this house.

In this video, I simply mix and pour some concrete and run my mouth a bit. First I dug the holes below the frostline and using quikcrete fill them 8 inches. There's not a lot to it, but mixing concrete is always fun.....to me at least.

This is a big video and major progress on my tiny little investment property. With the footings in place, I start framing the porch. I build the deck and got started on the steps. The porch is pretty much bomb proof so that it will be safe and long lasting. In the next video I will be finishing up the stairs and building the columns, roof and hand rails. All the lumber is pressure treated.

A covered porch keeps you out of the rain and sun, making for a nice transition space as well as protecting your entryway. In this video I build simple box columns and frame the roof.

Using common materials, you can make some pretty nice handrails. I like to use spruce 2X lumber and rip the components to size instead of purchasing purpose made components. This allows me to get dimensions and scale to suit my liking. In this case, ripping the pickets to 1 3/4 inches. Additional components such as capping the rail with a 1x4 and trimming the edges with shoe molding turned upside down are simple ways to dress up this simple rail. You can also use beaded screen trim to cover the lower joint between the bottom-most 2x4 and the picket assembly. Small details like this make things more "architecturally considered" and less DIY. In the end, the rails will get caulked and receive a coat of solid stain. Up next is finishing the rails down the stairs, shingles, gutters and paint.

This darn porch has turned into a big project, but an enjoyable one. In this video I finish up the railings down the stairs, talk a bunch and set some 1/2 boxes for mounting outdoor lights. For those that are curious and read these words........I chose not to do music in this video and instead just go with the "sounds of the jobsite". Which included several radio shows and random Youtube videos such as Tony Robbins........keep an open mind.

I'm OK!!!! Just been busy.......that's for all the people that have been asking. I should be back posting regular videos of progress and hopefully get the house finished within the next month or two. This update tells about my first inspection and what I need to do. I also go over the next steps that will move this house toward completion.

After a two month dry spell, I'm back with a major step in the house. Insulation is done, most all the small things are taken care of to pass the current stage of inspections so drywall is going up very soon which will transform this house. Buying and renovating an investment property is tough, it pushes the DIY to the max but in the end, when you sell the house or keep it as a rental the rewards are worth it. Follow me in this process of getting this little cinder block shack into a respectable home.

This video renovating my $12,000 investment property is a medley of tasks. I cut some trees down from around the house, build some steps, do some electrical wiring up the heat pump, and finish building the front porch. I'm now ready for an inspection. Next up is drywall and everything else. Things are looking good.

In the renovation process, drywall is my least favorite step, it is slow, heavy, dusty and I just plain don't like it...........although it is satisfying to see it going up. In this video I start hanging sheetrock on the ceilings and walls. I also show a little of the electric going live and wiring an outlet.

Drywall continues in the renovation of this income generating investment property...also known as a rental house. Everything is hung except for the bathroom. In the next video, taping and mudding begins, which is the least fun part of gutting a house. This video is mostly rambling about some thoughts, not for everyone, but exactly what some need.

My least favorite aspect of drywall........MUD! In this segment, I start taping and mudding the walls, aka...joint compound. I'm using mesh with hot setting compound. It is a chemical based fast setting compound that sets in 90 minutes. In the next video, I'll finish up the drywall......hopefully and be on to painting.

I'm off the fast setting joint compound and on to the lite weight all purpose premix. I'm so relieved, the 90 minutes feels like 15 minutes of impending doom. Widening the butt joints, doing some repairs, laying in tap in the corners and more. Doing a renovation of this level on your own is clearly a big task, even in a vacume of not having anything else to do, which is not the case. I'm burning lots of gas, kerosene and midnight oil to get this job done. In the next video I will have the drywall complete and be moving on to painting......hopefully. With the house painted, I will clean it out completely, lay flooring, trim, finalize the electrical and start installing cabinets, plumbing fixtures and appliances. It's been a long, but debt free, journey and I greatly appreciate you all having my back along the way.

My foolish behavior has got me into a pickle, and it is pronounced Dri-wall. Such of nonsensical thing to do on your own....but I did. A renovation is easy to get out of hand but that's normal. The key is to learn your leassons, I pray I never do drywall again. If you read these descriptions first, you will see me gradually come unhinged throughout the video, culminating in a wild rant. On the plus side, I passed my inspection, plumbing that is. The next inspection is the final. THis will be the last drywall video, next will be priming and paint, then floors at which time this house will transform from a dirty construction site to a clean, blank slate.

You may notice something about this segment of the renovation..........EXCITEMENT! I do some loud fast talking, lots of work and pop in my version of funny here and there. In this video, I prime and paint all the walls and ceilings in the house. Using a Graco paint sprayer, I am able to quickly get the paint on the walls then back roll for an even application. Word! Next up is floors, final electric, and more.

MAAAAJOOOOR Progres. Everything is wired up and I've moved on to floors. I'm flipping lights on and off and plugging things in wherever I want. I start laying the flooring as well. I went with Luxury Vinyl Plank, the click together kind. I got what was in stock at Lowes, it's Shaw resilient. The color is Franklin Hickory I think...... I also muscle the water heater in place in preparation for getting it hooked up.

I've had a lot going on lately so this video is a little different. The renovation is going well, but could definitely be moving faster if I had my way! I get most of the floor laid and mount the cabinets. Next they will be painted, counters installed along with the sink and plumbing connections. The next video will hopefully show huge progress

This video may be a little too delirious for some but after so much work and editing videos along with other life events, I feel like doing what I want at the slightest whim.......deal with it. In this video, I finish up the flooring, move the exterior door, install the interior doors, trim, cabinets, etc......this video represents 7 days worth of work despite only being 10 minutes. Getting close but still work to be done.

Here's a big kitchen update, I had more to show but the video was getting big........more to come with only a few videos to go.

I was quoted $750 for one window and trimming the rest. I ended up doing it myself, ordering a window from Lowes for $140 and trimming the windows with pressure treated decking boards. I also install the window stools and abruptly end the video before showing the results just to mess with you......just kidding, I forgot to film it or lost the clips, not sure. But all will be shown in the next videos. As the project is coming to an end, I'm doing tons of small stuff that would be too slow to film but again, I need to have something new to show you in the final video!

This is the final video of working on the house! After almost 2 years it is finally done. In the next video I'll show you the end result. Thank you for following along.

The Final Tour at last, what can I say, the house is done and already rented. Thank you all for following along.

I've gotten more questions about this house than I ever thought possible. This ugly ducking of a house started as a somewhat impulsive buy for me. I wasn't really looking to buy but there it was. What turned out to be a "simple renovation" turned into a huge project and even bigger overall Youtube series, channel, book and a growing relationship with many viewers. It's been about a year since I finished this house, it rented in a day and the first renter has now moved out and the house re rented. This video shows the amazing condition that the first tenant left it in.