My New Pad

I don't mean iPad. It's a new place to lay my head. I have been working on it for over 6 weeks now, and I honestly think that I have been there everyday. Last night was the first night I was able to sleep there. I first saw this place over the summer when I went to see my brother's new house in the middle of Trussville. It is his garage apartment, and I knew it had potential the moment I saw it. However, I had to look past the cobwebs, terrible smell, and possible diseases in the carpet, but with some tender love and care it could be nice. I didn't know that TLC would involve almost 200 hours. Below are a few pictures I took a few days after I started working. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture on the first day, but there was some nasty carpet everywhere. I had to get rid of it immediately because it smelled terrible (mildew, mold, pee, who knows what else).

The studs to the right of the pic were part of a closet that I decided to tear out to open the place up a little. There was also a big floor furnace that we tore out that was beneath where the oven is sitting. Unfortunately this meant I had no heat. I learned a lot about natural gas since I had to run new lines and check for leaks all over the house in order to get the gas lines to pass inspection.

This is the kitchen. The cabinets look great, right? The water leaked here, and in the bathroom. I think I pulled the plumbing apart and put it back together way more times than I should have to fix the leaks. I'd fix one leak and there would be another one somewhere else.







The living area. The total square footage of the upstairs area is about 800 square feet. There is a room and full bath downstairs too that is another 350+ sq. ft.

The bedroom had some pretty bad water damage in the ceiling. My dad and I had to do a little patch work on the roof. Right now I am measuring to jack up a sagging joist to brace it. The trash and boards on the floor is what Walt and I demoed out of the bathroom floor.








The bathroom probably had the most transformation which translates to the most work.
















 I took the tile from the walls around the bathroom to replace the missing side of the shower.Waste not.
















And after many hours of labor, a constantly sore back, and lots of help from friends and family, I have a completely restored place with hot water, heat, and nice calico cherry laminate floors (they are also harder to lay than expected). I have to be honest that there were a few times I was overwhelmed and never thought I would finish because some new problem always seemed to arise. But God is good and gave me the perfect amount of time to finish, because I start my new job this Monday.


I still have some work to do, but at least I can move in.

 It was nice to take a hot shower this morning and know that nothing leaked anymore. At least I'm pretty sure it doesn't. This restoration process has taught me a lot about home remodeling, and the main thing I learned is that I don't think I ever want to do it again.

One more note: There is a name I must mention because without the help of one Greg Williams and his truck for dump runs, his determination to paint to entire ceiling, and willingness to assist in any way after a grueling day at work, I would still be working late into the night on this place.