By Guest Correspondent ChoHey, it’s Cho, and I’m back with a super exciting announcement! Before I get to that, I have to remind you all to go check out my recent recap on the penultimate episode of Survivor. This has been one of the BEST seasons we’ve ever seen, and we are quickly approaching the finale! I would love to hear your opinions on who’s left, who should win and who you want to return from the Edge of Extinction.
Remember the chimney that fell on our house? Yes, that chimney. The neighbor’s chimney. The same chimney that caused a lot of damage on our property which we had to pay for. Why would we have to pay for our neighbor’s chimney falling on our property you might be wondering. According to our insurance company, it was because it was an “act of god”. Makes perfect sense, right? Last time I checked, god only pushed over chimneys that were already dilapidated and not taken care of, but what do I know?! Due to the gaping hole on the side of our house, we decided that would be a good time to expedite remodeling our third floor entertainment room.
Tour The New Property!
Due to good karma, the opportunity was presented to us to buy that same house. After wading through a lot of turmoil, confusion and drama, we decided to actually go ahead and buy! For those who don’t know, my partner Eric was already getting his feet wet in the real estate business before this purchase. Outside of the obvious potential for financial gain, we would also be able to ensure that our neighbor who owned the house previously was able to remain in the neighborhood. You see, we live in an area that is being slowly gentrified. Without going into too much detail, it was essential that this deal went through with the highest amount of ethics and moral code. While some didn’t adhere to these same principals, we’re proud of where things currently stand among all parties and the neighborhood!
Now the fun part! Go take a look at my video tour of the place as is. You can watch it on my youtube channel here. Be sure to leave a subscription to my channel! I was only able to show half of the duplex, because the previous owner is still living on the other side. We plan on doing some major overhauls to both sides and the outside, so definitely stay tuned for more updates! I’m interested in knowing all your thoughts about the bones of this old traditional home. There’s always so many unique things about an old house.
Thoughts?
In the next post, we can start discussing some of the major projects currently happening. For now, I want to know what you all think about the duplex overall? Tell me how much you hate/love the carpet. Give us your opinions on how we can make it better for a future tenant. What about those light switches? I know y’all love Eric more than me, so I’ll have him replying to all your comments down below. And my auntie will be proud that I’ve actually been helping with some of the heavy duty work on the weekends! If you like what I do here on the site, be sure to support me in my other ventures elsewhere on the internet!
Crap I lost my comment. It’s not that we love Eric more than you, my darling nephew, but we love him ALMOST as much. And he is usually right. 🙂
I don’t necessarily hate the carpeting but I do not like wall to wall carpeting in general. Especially in an older home. I suspect if you tear it out you will find hardwood floors. They will probably be in bad shape but refinishing them would be a good investment. I love the front door. LOVE.
You are going to need a really good electrician do deal with the UTTERLY INSANE amount of light switches and plugs in that house. Did you fix the chimney? I am so excited that you and Eric have a new project to work on!
<_< He's gonna love reading this when he sits down today to reply to comments.
The front door is nice right?! I'm pretty sure there are some gorgeous wood floors underneath that just needs a little TLC.
Fixing all the chimneys is obviously on our to do list as to ensure that god doesn't have his way with knocking them over anytime soon.
I'm still PERPLEXED by the lights. I want to assume that there was some shady plant business going on in there!
Please lose the carpeting. The floors underneath may be wonderful in spite of the work involved. You two are so talented and wonderful!
Thanks for the great recaps!
The lovely hunter green carpet will be going. Bedroom carpets will be cleaned. Second floor hall carpet will be replaced with a better color. First floor will be all hardwood, with laminate in the kitchen and half bath. Thanks for the love.
The wiring will have to wait until next time. You should see the breaker panel. The floors we have seen are in good enough shape that they do not need to be refinished yet except in the kitchen where we’ll do a laminate. We have seen some plywood patches though. Cho didn’t tell you about the fireplaces we uncovered too.
Went to your YouTube channel and subscribed. Please don’t keep that carpet. Unless you are going to do an indoor putt putt golf theme. Widen the hallway and please DONT paint the wood. In five years you’ll realize what a mistake it was and be trying to strip it down. The house has a lot of potential specially being a duplex
Have to agree here about woodwork and the carpet, having grown up in an ancient, rambling home with tons of beautiful hardwood floors and moldings, etc.
This was a good purchase with tons of potential, and I look forward to watching the progress.
That odd door that smacks against the coat closet door on the first floor is probably there to keep front door drafts to a minimum.It’s a bit awkward though. Still, I like that there are doors that shut off the foyer from the living spaces.
Please find out the story behind all the electrical outlets in the one bedroom! Was it an office space? For what?
One little question about upstairs full bath because it was hard to gage the dimensions: of you move that double sink in front of the toilet, wouldn’t it crowd the toilet space? Ok, 2 questions: And are you replacing the bath with a walk-in shower or just adding a shower? Wouldn’t the big mirror be an obstacle?
Thanks for this. It was a pleasant distraction. Good luck!
Adding my two cents and agreeing with all of the above. So exciting Cho! I would think about using luxury vinyl tile for the kitchen and a really good laminate in the rest of the downstairs. Refinishing hardwoods can get a bit expensive for a rental, particularly in a transitional neighborhood. Try to keep as much original character as you can and then find modern fixtures and finishes that honor that time period. The windows are a huge savings and their must be plenty of updated power in that house with all of those switches and sockets. Another huge savings. Love the bar idea and can’t wait to see how that comes along. Both you and Saint Eric stay well. I am here for this journey!
I love your strategy of keeping as much character as possible while updating it with some modern touches for functionality.
We know refinishing hardwoods can be expensive, but do you really want the first floor to look like a putt putt course? LOL Someone above said that and I can’t stop cackling.
We will use laminate in the kitchen. If the floors are refinished, we will do it. Keep an eye out for that episode of Cho does Reno. I’m sure that will be a good one. (And my sainthood will be tested.)
Oh wow I didn’t even think about temperature control in regard to that extra door. And don’t you worry, I’m working over time to figure out what those rooms were used for. My mind keeps wandering to the idea of them dealing in growing “plants”.
I will let Eric respond to those questions momentarily. Hang tight! He’s the engineer between the two of us! haha
As far as we know it was always a residence. I think they used all the switches to pull the wires from box to box rather than doing it correctly and more expensively. There is a wall to the right of the toilet that the sink will go on. It is far enough away from the toilet and one won’t walk into the sink as they enter the bathroom. The back wall of the bathroom will have a wet room across the entire width of the room. On the left where the tub is now will be the shower. On the right in front of the window, will be a freestanding tub. The mirror and tile are coming down. There will be a curb to save money and frameless glass across the whole width.
Thank you so much Lisa for the support! LOL @ putt putt golf course. Omg!
Eric would never paint the wood. We live next door in an old home as well and he refuses to touch it. We’re actually stripping paint from some of the wood now that was painted by the previous owners.
No, we won’t be painting the wood. We are stripping our beautiful quarter sawn oak doors and mantels in our main house. That’s enough stripping, so we won’t add any more.
Hi Eric – we found a great product to restore our mantel and woodwork surrounding our fireplace. It’s called “Howards Restore A Finish.” It’s perfect for old woodwork that needs to be refinished or stained but it’s half the work. You just rub it on and rub it off. It’s super easy. It’s available in different stain colors and basically instead of stripping and re-staining you just rub this product on and then wipe it off with a rag. It redistributes the stain and makes the wood look refinished. It’s available on Amazon for $9.00. Many of the Howards products are good for wood. We used the Golden Oak color even though our wood is pine. The color is similar to your wood trim. Afterward we rubbed it down with Howards Feed and Wax to seal it. That too you just rub on and wipe off – so simple to use and the results are professional.
I am familiar with Howard’s. That’s a good idea. I am hoping not to have to refinish the floors but am leaving the carpet down until the heavy work is done.
Congratulations! Your nephew’s new house is really nice and has good bones. I agree, way too much wall to wall carpet. I wonder if there are pine floors underneath all that carpeting? Usually when there are pine doors there may be pine floors hidden underneath.
That’s crazy each outlet has a phone jack and light switch. Looks like a junior electrician ran amok in there.
And I love the front parlor with the French doors – it could be a sitting room or office. And the rooms are nice and bright.
In the video he suggested removing the solid wood door leading to the living room. That sounds like a good idea but he might want to see if that door helps keep heat in the downstairs area. Sometimes old houses have doors to prevent heat loss from downstairs to upstairs. As you can see the downstairs rooms are “shot gun” style – back to back so the heat doesn’t flow well between them. And with no door the heat might escape upstairs since hot air rises. Up north that’s an issue with older two story homes – not sure if that’s an issue in the area he lives in. Can’t wait for the updates!
My comment didn’t post so I hope this isn’t a duplicate.
Congratulations Cho! Your new house is very nice and has good bones.
The front parlor with the French doors is lovely. It could be used as a sitting room or office.
I wonder if you have hardwood floors underneath all that carpeting. Usually homes with pine doors have pine floors hidden under the carpets.
And you might want to check to see if the wooden door to the living room is used to keep the heat from downstairs from escaping upstairs. Plus the downstairs is shot-gun style (rooms are back to back) so heat doesn’t flow well between the rooms. That door might be doing double duty in keeping the downstairs warm. That’s an issue up North with older two story homes, not sure if it is where you live.
Can’t wait for the updates!
Hey Sarah thank you so much for commenting!! I can only imagine that there would be hardwood floors underneath all that carpet. I couldn’t imagine anything else!
You’re also the second person to assume that the door’s use is related to temperature control. I never would have thought of that. My aunties readers here are so smart. Except for those in the window licking section. They’re not so smart.
I hope you continue to read along as we make more progress!
Yes, there are definitely hardwood floors. The surprise will be what shape they’re in and how many plywood patches. We know of at least one.
So nice to see that you and Eric are back.
You guys make me smile
We are happy that so many of you like Cho does reno.
First … congrats on an income property AND for respecting the integrity of the neighborhood. I hate when gentrification involves tearing down charming and replacing with heinous.
As a renter for 42 years, I’ve lived in lots of places. I prefer old and funky over new and modern — especially “rental grade” new and modern. I’ve lived in places that had the original ice box drawers, no counter space, etc. But, as a renter, the thing I MOST HATE is W2W carpet. NO ONE wants the pervious renters’ cooties and Lord knows what that live in carpets. No matter WHAT condition the floors are in, wood is more sanitary (and classy). I have expensive Chinese rugs and a couple of decent fake “magic carpets,” which can even be bought at Costco and TV home shopping. They warm up the room and keep the noise level down.
The bathroom with the mirrors and the fireplace inserts are HIDEOUS. Not in keeping with the character of the house or with each other — not cohesive. The only cute thing was your reflection in the mirror. The 1990s fan/light fixture is the only good thing! It is a “modern-retro” take on a classic. If you replace the ugly double sink — can you REALLY imagine two people in there at once? — it would be good to get a sink with the counter space AWAY from the toilet or on both sides. People want to have their stuff where the toilet “mist” doesn’t spray. Google it and wretch! As for the tub/shower situation, think about safety and landlord liability. The bathroom Eric was demo’ing would make a great laundry room/pantry. It has the water hookups too.
I THINK the nook where you want to put a bar — genius idea! — was a Murphy bed.
I would love to see a floor plan. It’s a little difficult to visualize the flow/layout.
I am going cuckoo trying to figure out the light-switch situation. Someone guessed growing … maybe …
Thank you for the comment. We appreciate you stopping by and hope that you stick around for the upcoming renovations! The carpet is definitely coming up no questions! I’m intrigued by the magic carpets that you speak of!
Yeah we are replacing the sink completely. I’m not sure if we’ve decided on a double sink or not. But the shower will be HUGE and include a separate bathtub. We are thinking about turning the half bath into a full bath for children or guests.
You know that’s an idea, we didn’t have: turning that bathroom into the laundry room…
Cho, I love these home reno posts, and hate them because now I have to change the 90s decor. It’s been thirty years, you can get rid of it. Never did like the country sinks or the granite. Has the 90s full mirrors and the tile, and wants to upgrade to something I don’t hate
omg it’s so good to see you commenting here! I love you! Tell us all about your home reno desires!! I feel like now is a great time to work on your home!
Your hard work is evident!
Congrats!