Rachel Leber’s “Diary of a Rehab” Blog

I’ve been on vacation away from the house. It’s nice to have a break because I worked pretty hard during the Christmas holiday. But, I’ve been making some lists and looking forward to getting back to work!

Steve Bennett’s team from Bennett Painting completed the exterior painting this week. What a transformation! Now you can actually see the house from behind all the trees and it looks welcoming rather than the sad, dark house it used to be. I also feel good that the masonite siding and wood trim is well sealed. 

The siding is yellow/cream color, trim is white, and shutters and front door are black. I planned to do a maroon on the shutters, but after we painted one shutter, we could tell it wasn’t working well.

I have the type of window grids that are not inside the window, rather clip on the interior side of the window. Since they were a dingy tan color, I have to remove the grids and paint them white. This is taking forever, but I’m sure it will look really nice when it is done.

I highly recommend Steve Bennett and his team. They did quality work for a fair price and were professional and courteous throughout the process (6 full work days!).  

One of the best purchases I made recently at Lowe’s was one of those “grabbers” that has a long handle. It’s great for picking up those things that you don’t want to get anywhere near - like a dead bat I just found in an unfinished attic area. Ick!

My Dad has been helping me a lot (both in expertise and hours logged working). His latest thing is caulking almost every single crack or opening within the house. I’m amazed how fast he is going through the tubes of caulk and how many places he is finding to use it (you could probably use a whole tube easily in your kitchen or bathroom). Caulking is a great way to smooth out rough edges and fill in cracks that may be unslightly or allow noise and/or air drafts in. Caulk around sinks to keep dirt out of the cracks and make cleaning easier. Remove old caulk and recaulk for a fresh look where needed. If you haven’t used caulk in a while, try it out in a few areas that are less noticeable to get the hang of it. If you totally mess up, you can wipe off the whole line while it is still wet and try again. Good luck!

I’ve been working hard over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend to complete my projects in the kitchen. All the floral wallpaper has been removed, walls have been painted, the very large microwave cabinet has been removed, redesigned, and reinserted and most of the cabinets have been sanded, primed and painted! Here’s some “in progress” photos.

I have 2 friends who are also rehabbing homes, so we’ve decided to start a “support group” for female rehabbers. We had our first meeting over dinner, wine, and dessert at my place the other night. Thanks to Toby and Polly for some great ideas and inspiration. Looking forward to the next meeting!

I just got a great tip from Walter at RFC - instead of washing out your paint brushes and rollers all the time, wrap the brushes in plastic wrap and put the rollers in plastic bags and place them in the refrigerator. They won’t dry out and you can reuse them many times without washing them out. I WISH I knew this before……. it works great!

I’m handling most of the interior painting, but I hired Walter to paint the 2 story foyer since I don’t like working on tall ladders. It was money well spent. 

The bat exclusion is complete, and I’ve been concentrating on painting the interior.

You can get painting tips from any home improvement or DIY website, but they don’t tell you the most important one….. DON’T paint when you’re tired, feeling lazy, not in the mood, unfocused, rushed, drinking, or feeling any other way that is going to make you do sloppy work. I try to tackle a small enough space at a time where I can be sure that I’m going to do a good job on it. (Also, I want it to be enjoyable and not feel like I am slaving away.) 

 I toured a home the other day which had roller spots on several areas of the popcorn ceiling, paint marks on the outlets, uneven paint lines, and patchy coverage. PLEASE sellers - don’t do the painting yourself unless you commit to doing a good job! It looks so bad and it is hard to clean up a messy job.

I’m using KILZ premium primer throughout the house since the walls have some damage and marks. I think the premium primer is worth the extra $ over the standard primer. It also helps you use less topcoats and provides a longer lasting finish.  

“Bat Exclusion” is currently being performed on the house (what a strange phrase!). In order to get rid of the bats once and for all, they seal up any areas in which the bats can enter the attic, allowing just one exit area. The exit area is covered with a screening system so the bats can get out, but cannot come back inside. Bats need to leave the attic to get food, so after a few days, all bats should have exited and the attic can be sealed. Russ from Animals Be Gone is handling this project for me. We had to wait until August in order to allow the baby bats that are born during the summer to develop enough to leave the attic on their own.

Welcome to my “Diary of a Rehab” blog! I set this up to cover the progress of the updating of the distressed home I recently purchased - the fixing-up of my fixer-upper. Unfortunately, I didn’t think of starting a blog until 1 month into the project. The idea came from 2 reasons: 1) I wanted to create a record of this project for myself and 2) friends are often asking me how things are progressing.

Here’s a recap of what has been done so far:

1. Closing - June 13th! Yeah! It’s mine, for better or worse….

2. Professional carpet cleaning - The carpets are in good shape, with just a few stains that can be strategically covered until I’m ready to do hardwoods. I’m not a “carpet person”, but it will be fine for now.

3. We’re not alone - During the inspection, we found a dead squirrel and bird in the firebox. The first day I had the place, I found 1 dead and 1 live frog/toad inside. The scuttle door to the sunroom attic was missing and 2 bat babies fell down into the sunroom. Malcolm from the Habitat for Humanity Hand-Me-Up store took one outside for me and Russ from Animals Be Gone handled the other one when he saved me from the snake (story to come later…) There is some kind of lizard in the garage who keeps running back into the garage when I try to chase him out with a broom.

4. Chimney sweep - To keep other animals from entering, I had Richard from Ashes to Ashes install a chimney cap. He also did a cleaning of the chimney. The chimney is in great shape.

5. HVAC replacement - The HVAC compressor and handler were totally shot, so Shawn Szewczyk from Handyman Heating and Air Conditioning installed new ones and well as added a dual zone capability, HEPA air filter, and programmable thermostats. He finished in 2 days and the Durham inspections went seamlessly.

6. Gutter replacement - The gutters were so badly rotted that you could tap them with the end of a broomstick and you would punch a hole through them. I hired SOC to replace pieces of the fascia that were rotted and install new aluminum gutters throughout the house and garage. When Jared was on his 6′ ladder pulling off a piece of the rake around the sunroom roof, a snake came out at him. Jared jumped off the ladder, but luckily didn’t hurt himself. The snake was about 4 feet long and looked a bit suspect from our vantage point because of its coloring (and it remained in the rake, so we needed to get it moved before Jared could continue working) so I called Russ from Animals Be Gone to remove it. It turned out to be a rat snake, but I was glad to have the “professionals” remove it and take it far, far, far away. Most of you know I have a irrational strong fear of snakes and one reason I think Hawai’i is paradise is that there are no snakes there. After that delay, SOC got the gutters finished and they look great. Thank you Grey! Looking forward to working on the master bedroom closet with your team.

7. Ceiling fans - I wish I had taken some photos of the horrid fixtures that were in the bedrooms and kitchen. Shawn helped me change them out with some slick new fans. We installed a remote control for the bedroom ceiling fan, which at about $30, is a great upgrade so that you don’t have to get up out of bed during the night to turn the light or fan on and off.

8. RFC - Ke’Shawn from RFC has handled various projects for me: fixed the leak in the sunroom ceiling, replaced a piece of particle board that someone had placed in the soffit (what were they thinking???), replaced the gable fan in the attic above the guest bedroom, replaced some rotted wood on the exterior, sealed the exterior area below the bay window, repaired some holes in the drywall, etc. He said he was REALLY glad that he was not the one working on the sunroom rake because of the snake, although he did have an encounter with a bat in the guest bedroom attic…. something else for the “to-do” list.

9. Painting - I’ve been working hard on painting the interior, but there is SO much to do. There is not one wall or cabinet that doesn’t need painting and many need sanding and priming first. I now have a great appreciation for the higher quality paint brushes and other tools. They are really worth the extra few dollars to make it easier (no brush strands falling out!) and look better. A teflon-coated roller pan is my latest find - it is GREAT because you just leave the paint remnants in the pan overnight and once they are dry, you peel them off and throw them away. I have decided on many of the paint colors for throughout the house, with the exception of the kitchen cabinets. I’ve painted some sample colors on them, but have not yet found the “right” color.

10. Garage Door Opener - The opener mechanism was on its last leg and the sellers were unable to provide the remotes, so I had the opener replaced, the safety system added, an exterior keypad added, and got 2 remotes. For less than $300 hundred dollars, this is a huge upgrade and makes things a lot more convenient. I chose Precision Door for this.

11. Security system - There was a non-functional 1984 security system - I really wish I had taken a picture of the control box, it was SO OLD. ADT came in and installed a new control pad and some new components. We were able to use some of the old components such as the door and window sensors and the glass break detectors. If you are a USAA member, you get a BIG discount with ADT.

I think that’s all that’s been done up until this point (besides a lot of cleaning). I feel good about the progress that has been made. I’ve been really happy with the vendors that HPW Conceriege has recommended and I’ve had a lot of fun working on the projects and sharing the experience (and some laughs!) with some great service providers.

I really like this house - the layout works great and Malia loves the fenced yard. I’ve already had my first houseguests here - Natalie and Neal from Hawai’i stayed here for a few days around the July 4th weekend. Hopefully I’ll have the guest room painting completed before the next houseguests arrive.

Back to work…..