By Jeanette Joy Fisher

Do you need to sell your home quickly? If so, don’t be tempted by the ads you see that say “We Buy Houses” or “Sell Your Ugly House in 9 days for Cash.” Those types of ads are placed by real estate investors who are looking for sellers under duress, and they’ll only pay up to 70% of the low end market value for your home.

But you don’t have to be at the mercy of those scavengers. Selling your home is stressful enough without worrying about getting a fair price, so even if you have no money for repairs, here are a few tips for getting fair market value for your home in the shortest period of time:

Outside:

- Clean up all the weeds on your property

- Remove dead plants and trim overgrown limbs

- Plant brown spots with cuttings of ground cover from friends

- Either remove empty pots and containers or fill them with cuttings

- Wash all the windows

Inside:

- Take town any tattered window coverings

- Open all curtains and let the sunshine in

- Air our your home

- Pack up your personal effects, such as family photos, memorabilia, piles of magazines, and other clutter

- Get rid of excess furniture, especially pieces that are tired and worn

You don’t have to give your home away to real estate vultures. A little elbow grease, sweat, soap, and water can help your home put on its best face for potential buyers, even if you have no money for repairs.

About the Author:
Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm

By: Jeanette Joy Fisher

Money spent updating your kitchen rewards you better than money spent on any other upgrades to your home. When it comes to kitchens, buyers continue to demand improvement in efficiency and style, and they love remodeled kitchens and new appliances.

Even if you home costs less than the newer homes in your area, buyers view the model homes and hold the ideal in mind while home shopping.

Newer homes place kitchens open to the family room and often have wide views of the outside. Newer homes also boast larger kitchens with more than one preparation area because cooking has become a social activity, and new homes often include a bar or buffet for entertaining. Cooks want to be in the middle of family activities so they can enjoy companionship.

Buyers look for a kitchen with large open areas that allow guests enough room to mingle, along with workspace for kids doing homework or even a small kitchen workspace for paying bills or making phone calls.

Present your kitchen as an organized, clutter-free, versatile space that will help your buyers feel they could be productive and happy working and interacting in the heart of their new home.

You don’t need to completely makeover your kitchen to sell your home. Packing and storing extra kitchen pots, pans, and utensils generates a more spacious presentation. You may also wish to invest in an attractive portable kitchen island to use as a prop for a kitchen with an open center and insufficient counter space.

Consider easy, low-cost changes that instantly upgrade a kitchen without major remodeling. These include the following ideas:

1.) Replace your faucet with a fancier model.
2.) Change your cabinet hardware.
3.) Paint cabinet faces.
4.) Replace or paint ugly laminate countertops. (Use Marine-grade paint.)
5.) Add warmth during cold seasons with a gorgeous rug next to the sink counter.

No matter your makeover budget, prepare your home for sale with little changes like clearing the countertops and adding new dish towels and a bowl of fruit can make your kitchen entice a buyer to say, “This is my new home.”

About the Author:
Jeanette Fisher teaches home sellers five ways to sell their homes for top dollar - fast. For free home selling Teleseminar, ebook, and information on home staging with Design Psychology visit http://sellfast.info

Most people agree that curb appeal can make or break a home when trying to make your home stand out from the rest. Especially, when trying to sell your home, curb appeal can enhance the exterior of your home so much that someone who might not have stopped and gone inside will because of how much they like the outside of the home. When adding merely curb appeal to a home brings in a selling profit of $20,000, this is really something to write about. Here’s how it happened.

One of the benefits of being an agent or working with a real estate agent is that we as agents can set up an email flash in the MLS to send us listings as soon as they go on the market. Good deals on homes or fixer uppers go quickly these days with all the handymen and “do it yourselfers” out there. I sell real estate in the Tampa Bay area full time, but as a hobby my wife and I like to buy and sell houses that are in minor need of repair.

This particular home in Pasco County, Florida went on the market at 2:00 pm and by 4:00 pm we had already viewed the property and offered a full price offer for it which was immediately accepted. The reason we offered full price was because we saw the potential in this home for some reasonable profit and didn’t want to take a chance at losing it. The home was on the market after just being purchased 8 weeks prior by a contractor who completely gutted the home and remodeled it. He must have spent close to $35,000 on new air conditioning, new roofing, new windows, complete new kitchen, new bathroom, new garage door opener, fresh paint inside and out, new carpeting and new tile. The asking price was fair and I am sure he made a substantial profit too.

So what potential did we see? The exterior was painted all white, including the front door. There were no colorful shutters around the windows. The mail box was leaning over and so was the fence. The grass was full of weeds, the plants and trees overgrown, and there was no sprinkler system. For such a beautiful home inside, the curb appeal was atrocious.

So we dug right in. Most of the work we did ourselves and this is the key to maximizing your profit with any fixer upper. It’s not always possible though, we did have to hire someone to remove the big overgrown trees and stumps. We installed shutters and painted them and the front door a high gloss sage green color to accent the home. With the help of the local home improvement store and a lot of trial and error, I installed my first sprinkler system. We fixed the fence and installed a new mailbox. We killed off the old grass and removed all the old landscaping. We then laid new sod and planted new plants and colorful flowers. Since this is a hobby and not a job for us, we took our time with the project and only worked on it in our spare time.

By: Robert Lipply

Once the home went on the market, it sold in less than seven days to the first person who looked at it. Our net profit was roughly $20,000.00. When it’s done right, curb appeal can really pay off.
Robert Lipply - EzineArticles Expert Author

About the Author:
Bob Lipply is a top Real Estate Broker Associate in the Tampa Florida Real Estate area. He and his team have been helping families relocate to Florida and on the selling end get top dollar for their homes with great success. Lipply Real Estate also specializes in Clearwater Real Estate, visit his website where you can search the MLS for up to date available homes for sale.

“Home Staging” is often done when you sell your home. Staging a home can bring you a much higher selling price.A home staging professional can be hired to tour your home and direct you to make the changes that will increase your homes marketability. Make sure the stager you hire is accredited.

Staging a home is not redecorating it. Redecorating a home focuses on the seller and their personality. Staging focuses on the buyer. It provides the current home owner with the knowledge to rearrange the furnishings, pictures, accessories, etc. in the best possible manner to enhance the rooms function, appearance and balance.

The seller of a home has a strong emotional attachment and often times lacks the objectivity to know what’s best to enhance their homes looks.

Real Estate agents will often hire a stager as part of the selling package because they may be uncomfortable disclosing to the seller that their home needs work and avoid upsetting them.

The main purpose of the staging professional is to help the buyer see themselves and their belongings fit into the home they are viewing. They do this by rearranging the home to appeal to a broad base of purchasers. Stagers can be expensive, so if you want to go it alone please follow the tips below.

The first and most important consideration to prepare your home for sale is to unclutter. There should be NO clutter anywhere in your home. Go through each room and remove any clutter you see. Organize toys in decorative boxes that are hidden away in a storage room (perhaps a room for storage in the basement). You can always take them out again when you don’t have any booked showings. Bookcases should be neat and attractive interspersed with a few ornaments. Closets should be cleaned out so that only clothes are visible. Remove storage at top and bottom of closets. Place clothes out of season in storage.In fact, place any clutter you have found in storage as well. You have to move anyway and you will have to pack less later when you do move!

The foyer provides the buyer with the first impression. It should be clean, uncluttered, bright and inviting. If any rooms are dull brighten them up with higher wattage bulbs in lamps.

Remove personal photos from all rooms if possible and replace with prints or ornaments. You want the buyer to focus on your home, not your personal life. This can be distracting.

A fresh coat of paint is mandatory. Paint your home in a neutral colour (white or beige is best).You can ad a splash of colour with colored accessories, pillows, throw rugs, candles, etc.

Bathrooms should be sparkling! Counters should be clear with no personal items visible. Tub tile grout should be clean and shower curtains and glass shower doors should be free of mildew. Hang fluffy, colorful towels on the towel rods.

Kitchens must be spotless.Remove all notes, magnets, etc.off the front of the fridge. Keep counter space clean and clear of all items. Clean out under sinks and organize the pantry. Paint outdated cupboards with a neutral colour and put new modern knobs on doors for a fresh look. Dishes on the floor for pet food should be eliminated during a showing.

Furnishings should be simple and minimal.Leave space between pieces and remove nick knacks. Your most attractive piece of furniture should be placed on the wall you see when you enter a room if possible. Tuck away Cd’s, videos, etc. Hang pictures at eye level. Group accessories in odd numbers (one, three or five).Fireplace mantles should be depersonalized by removing pictures. A flower arrangement, mantle clock or piece of art would be appropriate here.

Garages, front and back yards should be cleaned as well. Plant flowers or shrubs in the yard for a welcoming effect. Prune any shrubs you may already have.Don’t leave bikes or toys around the yard. Clean the pool if you have one. The lawn should be cut and watered to give the home a well cared for look. A coat of paint on the outside of the house may also be in order.

If you can afford a stager it is well worth the money. If not, just make sure you clean and unclutter! A spring cleaning will definitely pay off.This can not be stressed enough! A coat of paint will do wonders. Have lights on in every room (even during the day) and soft music playing before a showing. Spray a nice gentle room spray around the house to freshen it up. Be careful it is gentle or the buyer will think you are covering up something.

All the best! Good Luck!

Curb appeal is very important to the value of your home. If you have an attractive and clean home on the outside, this will make someone want to see the inside. If you are selling your home, great curb appeal is just as important as having a home show beautifully on the inside. If the outside is not clean this can deter a potential purchaser from even booking a showing to see your home, even though the interior could be spectacular.

The first thing to do is take an objective look at the outside of your property. Get other opinions as well. To enhance the appearance of your home there are a few inexpensive things you can do.

The most important consideration is the state of repair of the property. You must repair everything that needs repairing, which includes any cracked windows, broken railings, loose screens, crooked shutters, loose awnings, broken light bulbs, etc.

Once repairs are done then it is time to clean and unclutter. The garage should be cleaned out and items thrown out that have not been used in a year. Remove old tires, paint cans, bicycles, loose shrubs and broken lawn furniture from the yard.

Clear all pathways of any debris. Trim all shrubs and remove dead branches. Clean out the eaves. Don’t forget the back yard! A new paint job can add tremendous curb appeal. Paint front doors, garage doors, trim and shutters a contrasting color to the brick and siding for a dramatic effect. Use only one color for uniformity and balance. Too many colors look busy.

Siding can be power washed to refreshen the appearance. Flowers and flower pots can add tremendous color to a boring front yard. Place flower pots and large outdoor plants in a variety of colors on the front steps, walkways, or porches. Hang flower pots from the ceilings of verandas or hang on railings. Buy plant hooks and hang flower pots from them, which can be placed on the sides and front walls of your home. Plant a few flower beds with some green perennial plants for contrast. This is fairly inexpensive, but can add a lot of appeal to your yard. There are many books on landscaping at the library that can help you with this. Nurseries can offer helpful suggestions as well.

Spotlights focused on your flower beds can brighten up the yard at night giving it a very homey and welcoming feeling. This is also good for safety. A well lit home is a deterrent for burglars.

Lastly, add a decorative wreath and outdoor floor mat to the front of the door. This just adds the finishing touch and offers a welcoming appearance.

Yesterday I didn’t do much of anything, just worked on my business and posted on all my websites. The one thing that really needed to get done had to do with the pool and we got it taken care of. When the buyers made their first offer one of their demands was that the pool be fixed. The only thing that was wrong with it was that the spa heater pilot light wouldn’t stay lit. There was also some old obsolete equipment that put a button by the back door to turn on and off the spa, they wanted it fixed but instead we told them we would remove it. The pool didn’t need it to work properly and it would have cost $2500 to replace it. Well, we had the guy come out and he charged $75 to get the pilot light working. To remove the old equipment it cost $350. After that we thought we were in good shape, the buyer’s inspector came out and everything was okay.

Well, the day after the inspector came the pilot light stopped working again. I did some research on pool heaters and it sounded as if the thermocouple was out. Everything I read said it only cost a few dollars and was easy to replace. We didn’t know what we were doing and we felt the guy who charged us $75 to do nothing should come back out and do his job. He even said it probably needed a generator which is another name for the thermocouple.

Anyway, to make a long story short, the guy kept telling us he’d come but would never show up. This went on for OVER a month including the week we were out of town. So, yesterday Brent finally told him that if he didn’t show up before Friday we would call someone else to fix it, report him to the BBB and file a claim in small claims court for what it cost us to get someone else out to fix it. He showed up yesterday afternoon.

I think he had some anger though, when he got here he didn’t come to the door, he just went to the heater and started working. I went about my business. When he was finished he sent his partner to the door to collect the over $200 bill. You see, instead of replacing the thermocouple, he replaced the entire gas valve! I looked it up on the internet and the amount he charged was legit, however, I doubt seriously that the entire valve needed to be replaced. He didn’t even check with me first to be sure we wanted to spend that much money, he just did it and then expected me to pay.

I told him I didn’t expect a charge like that and that I didn’t have the money. But I offered to give him a post-dated check dated for after we close on the house. Boy, he got me on that one, $200. However, to look on the bright side, it probably would have cost that much to have another company come out and at least we got it fixed before we closed on the house and we were able to keep up our side of the contract.

However, if you live in the Houston area, I would steer clear of Top Tech Pools. The guy’s name is Erick - in Katy, TX. He had done some work for us in the past and we really thought he was good until he pulled this stunt. Now, I’m going to wash my hands of him and tell everyone I know to stay away. He really should think about how he does business and start treating people right.

Okay, the painter forgot to paint the little room that the toilet is in, so Brent had to do it. He was good and got right in there and got it done. Then we noticed that he didn’t do such a good job around the baseboards, he says it was hard to see where he had painted because it was basically white on white. So, he went back and touched up.

Hmmm…wrong paint Brent! Apparently he had used the semi-gloss trim paint last and had put that in his plastic bucket which he put a lid on and saved. He forgot he had painted some baseboards and thought the paint in his bucket was the paint he had used in the water closet. I thought it looked wrong even when it was still wet, but the next day was the telling truth, it was SHINY!

Looks like he’s going to have to do that touch-up job AGAIN!

We had a huge storm yesterday afternoon, it dumped a ton of rain for about 45 minutes, the radar screens showed the “red” section moving right over our area.

Well, remember I told you about the water that rolls off the garage roof into the rock garden next to our front door…the rock garden where I just planted two Knockout Rose bushes? I also told you we made sure the rocks were under where the water rolls off the roof so the mulch and soil wouldn’t wash out onto the driveway? Well, when we tested it we didn’t test for a monsoon…we just sprayed water from the hose up on the roof and let it drain onto the rocks. Yesterday’s storm made the water roll off much quicker and harder and it landed right on top of one of my Knockout Rose bushes.

All the pretty flowers were “knocked off” the bush. It was so disheartening. It was so beautiful before, then it was just a green bush. But this morning proved that the Knockout Rose is a hardy creature and lives up to the hype. There were two new blooms! Yea!

I’ll get out there this afternoon and trim back the bear buds and hopefully within a week or so, it’ll look good again. I wonder if we should move it?

Wow, check out this picture!

What you see there are two Knock Out Rose bushes and lariope surrounding the rose bush that was already there. That’s it, other than the white cast iron heart. Didn’t it turn out nice?

Brent really wanted the Knock Out Roses, the master-planned community we live in has used them all over the place for landscaping and they are beautiful. They are also very hearty and easy to care for. Brent wanted them so badly and couldn’t find them at the garden center or Home Depot, that he actually looked for and found them on the internet and wanted to order them from Florida. But it just so happened that we went to a different Home Depot and low and behold, they had them. The internet price was $12.50 plus shipping, Home Depot was $14.88. We grabbed them up.

You probably notice that the rocks take up a huge percentage of the right side of the garden…right? Well, we had to do that because of the run-off of rain water off the garage roof. It washes out the mulch and soil onto the drive. So, we rectified that by being sure we put the rocks where the water lands, I know it’s not symetrical, but it still looks pretty darn good.

Sure makes a difference when people walk up to the front door, wouldn’t you agree?

I’m going to be really brave and show you a picture of the bed that’s right next to our front door. My dear hubby put the rocks in there several years ago to make things easier on himself. You see, this bed wasn’t near a water source so watering any plant in it was a chore. Also, when it rained the water would roll off the garage roof (which isn’t guttered) and wash the mulch out onto the driveway. Well, his idea worked, he had put weed screen under the rocks and he hasn’t had to do anything to that bed in years.

However, I will be the first to admit, it’s ugly! And now that we’re selling the house, I think it’s pretty important to make it look good, like maybe, put some flowers in there or something. So anyway, I got started on doing something to it, but I thought you might want to see what it looks like before we start making changes. I’ll also post a pic when we’re finished.

See, I told you! It’s UGLY!! So anyway, we still have the problem of the water rolling off the garage, so we still want to have rocks underneath where that water falls (it’s just in front of the wall on the right, that’s the garage wall). So, I thought to maybe allow the rocks to build up in the corner and spill all the way around the bed. So I spent the morning (in the heat, it was 96 degrees yesterday) rearranging the rocks and preparing the bed. I didn’t get to the point where I was ready to plant, I still need to add some top soil, but the bed was ready to go forward. And then I stepped back and took a look ~ it was STILL UGLY! It looked like I had just piled the rocks into the corner.

Hmmm, now what? Well, I think I’l leave it as is, except I’ll take the pile out of the corner. I think that was the problem. So, I’ll level that off and go ahead and plant, I think, once the plants are in there, it’ll look good.

And, what am I going to plant? Well, it will depend somewhat as to what the costs are when I get to the garden store, but, I’m thinking I’ll put some lariope (sp?) and some pansies. I have to leave the rose bush, so I have to consider it in what I design, I may even add another rose bush. Not quite sure yet. I’ll decide when I work on it some more, probably next weekend. I’ll keep you updated!

OH - P.S. ~ the black stuff on the bricks?? Well, it’s not that dark “in person” but Brent’s going to rent a power washer one day and clean the Kool Deck by the pool, the driveway, and he’s going to clean this area of brick as well. So eventually it’ll be clean.

Well, it looks like we’re at a point where we can go ahead and list the house. By no means are we finished with everything that needs to be done, but if we keep going we’re going to lose the “hot” selling season. So, we’re finished with the big things, now we’ll just go ahead and get the house on the market and keep fixing things up along the way.

I made an appointment with our realtor for Friday morning at 9:00 a.m.. Today I’m just going to clean everything and get it looking good. I still need to clean the carpet in my office, the rolling chairs have beat it to death. Brent’s going to paint a second coat in the little toilet room that the painter missed when he was here.

Things we still need to do:

Brent and I also decided how much we would give as an allowance for repairs that we can’t afford to make, here’s the breakdown:

If we could get all that done, the house would be perfect, but we’re just going to go ahead as is. I’ll let you know how things go.

Well, it’s Monday morning and I’m just reflecting on what we’ve gotten done and what we still need to get done. Last week Brent and I sat down and made a list, and not a short one, of the things we need to do before we actually start having people walk through our house. We’ve gotten some done, others things are still “in the process” of being completed.

I guess the two main items on the list are landscaping and touch-up paint. Brent doesn’t have Saturday’s off so we only had Sunday to work on the yard and that’s also church day so really, it was just a partial day. However, we did get a lot done.

We needed to mulch the beds and replace a few small hedge plants. We also needed to do something with the little bed that’s right next to the front porch, but we decided to save that as it’s own project on another day. We also have a small area in the front bed that’s kind of empty, we decided to put some color there (flowers).

So, off to Home Depot we went. We started with 15 bags of pine bark mulch and a tray of 24 small begonias. I decided begonias would be best because they are so hardy, we aren’t very good at taking care of flowers. Oh, we also bought six plants for the first row of shrubs in the front bed, they were 2 for $5, great deal, but they were also quite small. Anyway, $56 later, we were on our way home.

I helped Brent unload and went in to continue working on the shower, I still had silicone to put down. About 45 minutes or an hour later I went back outside and he had already used 10-1/2 bags of the mulch on just the trees. Oh my, that was a lot of mulch and the two big trees looked like they needed twice as much as they had. Wow. That meant we’d be making another trip to Home Depot.

Brent worked some on our Sago Palm. It’s a big beautiful palm and he was cleaning out all the Live Oak leaves that had fallen in the middle. It just grew a new round of fronds and they are still sticking straight up, they will lay down soon and it will be even bigger. I love Sagos. Around the base he found some suckers that were growing. He decided to cut them out and plant them in a pot to see if they would take off as new plants, that would be nice, maybe we can take them to our new house when we move. Sagos are expensive to buy, I saw tiny ones at Home Depot and they were over $20.

So anyway, Brent worked and chopped the dirt and I planted the begonias. We layed down what we had left of the mulch. It was really starting to look good. We finally got to the point where we had to make another trip to Home Depot, this time we got 20 bags of mulch, hopefully that will be enough. We also got a new doorbell, two flood lamps (both ours had burned out) and some white Rust-O-Leum spray paint to paint the heart that we lay next to the tree, it had started to rust. We spent another $56.

We’re going to finish up on Tuesday, that’s Brent’s day off. I’ll take a picture when we’re done and post it. We’re also going to start on that little bed next to the porch, I have some great ideas. I’ll take before and after pics of that for you.

I was looking at my stats last night and saw that someone searched on Google for

HOW TO COVER UP BROWN SPOTS ON CEILING WHERE THE WATER LEAKED BEFORE A ROOF WAS FIXED

Cool !! That means my little blog is listed on Google. That’s exciting because getting listed on Google is a HARD thing to do, my business site, Gift Basket Wholesale Supply was launched in November 2004 and it’s still not ranked in the top 1000 on Google.

Anyway, I KNOW THE ANSWER to this question so I thought I’d answer it here just in case someone else needs to know.

Water stains will NOT cover with regular paint, you first have to “seal” them. There is a product on the market called KILZ. It’s sole purpose is to seal water stains, I’ve used it and it works. However, do be aware, the latex version does NOT work, so don’t even buy it, you will be wasting your money. Buy the oil based KILZ, paint the water stain with two coats. Then paint with your regular latex paint.

You may have to paint two or even three coats over the KILZ. We painted over KILZ once and noticed that it showed up just a little shiny behind the latex paint but another coat took care of the problem. KILZ works great for covering water stains.

I’m so glad it’s over! Well…it’s not really over, there are a ton of places I have to go back and touch up. But at least all the people and stuff are gone.

Our painter did a really good job. I would imagine it would be hard to be a painter, going into people’s houses and potentially messing up their stuff, which he did (DVR) but he also did a good job of making things right.

Brent talked to him about the DVR and the suggestion for him to paint our hall and stairway for free ($100 was what he quoted) was good for him. He accepted responsibility right away, no squabbling, he was great. Now I just have to go get a new one, until such time as I do that, we have no TV.

But anyway, everything turned out really nice. I did notice last night that they forgot to paint the little room that the toilet is in, I guess we can either just paint it ourselves or run next door and tell him when he does the neighbor’s house.

It’s funny, the stairway and hallway have been peach-colored for about 15 years, now they’re beige (best neutral color for selling a house), the first time I walked up there after they were painted the first thing that came to mind was, “it’s so much bigger”. They say that light colors make rooms look bigger, I guess they’re right.

So, anyway, it cost me $725 (including replacing the DVR) and I’m currently wondering how this guy even makes any money. Basically, there were two days of work and he paid for the supplies and two helpers. Hopefully he had other jobs going on at the same time because that’s not a lot of money for two days work.

Here’s my referral and feedback on his work: Don’t expect him to be on time, that won’t happen. Go through the area he painted right after he’s done so you can wipe up any paint he left on your furniture and wood or ceramic floors while it’s still a little wet. Check at the end of each day or at the end of the job to be sure he didn’t forget something, he probably did (water closet, also forgot one of the water spots and had to go back and do it after he finished the ceiling). Be sure to ask him to correct anything you see wrong, he will and he’s nice about it. Overall, he did a very good job for a VERY reasonable price.

Lennox Gray
PMB# 334, 11013 Fuqua
Houston, TX 77089-2510
281-686-0810
Fax 281-464-3525

Man, can’t anything just go without a hitch?

Brent came home early or I would have never known. Brent was standing around and we heard a crash. I didn’t think twice about it but Brent went in the den to see what it was and when the painter was moving our stack of electronics (DVR, VCR, CD Player, Receiver), the DVR, which was on top, fell off the stack. Brent saw him picking it up.

Tonight after we got home we went to turn it on and it didn’t work. Brent told me what he had seen. I went to Brittany’s room and watched TV with her, Brent went to our bedroom. At 10:00 when the news came on I decided to go down and check it out. I thought maybe it had come unplugged or something.

Well, what I found was that apparently it was dropped on the place where the electrical plug (AC/DC) hooks up or plugs into the back of the DVR. It was all pushed in and loose and no electrical power was getting to the unit. The VCR wasn’t getting electricity either but I didn’t look at it, I’ll check it in the morning.

Okay, now’s the time to find out if this painter’s worth his stuff. His card says he’s insured but a new DVR only costs $100. I’m going to make Brent handle it, but I think we should suggest he paint the stairs and the hallway for free and I’ll just keep the $100 to buy a new DVR. Heck, if you’re going to be moving around your customer’s electronics, DON’T DROP THEM, right?

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Well, it’s finally here, the day the painter is supposed to come. He told me the other day (when he called to delay from Thurs to Monday), that he’d be here around 9:00 a.m. Over the weekend I went to Sherwin Williams, where he told me to go, and picked out the colors. He also told me to tell the sales people there the color number and that way they’d have it, but the sales people didn’t want anything to do with it.

Anyway, Brent and I got up this morning and cleared the tops of the kitchen cabinets, the top of the bookshelves, and some of the stuff that might get broken in the kitchen/den area. We also finished clearing out the “yellow” bedroom, taking down the curtain, blinds and the shelf that ran along the ceiling.

Brent had to leave, he worked early today. About 7:45 I called the painter to see when he’d be here. He said he was dropping off a crew out by the airport (an hour or more away from me) and he’d be at our house in about an hour or an hour and a half. Okay, that’s fine, that would put him at our house at about 9:00.

About that time the electricity went off. The afternoon before, we had a really big storm that knocked out the electricity for most of the area. It came back on for the night but when it went off at 8:00 a.m., I figured they had some repair or maintenence work they needed to perform. It ended up staying off for about 2 hours, but it didn’t bother me much with what I needed to get done.

I went about washing the stuff that had been on top of the kitchen cabinets. Tomorrow, after the paint is dry, I will vacuum up there and put it all back. I also had a couple of orders to fill (for my business) and I kept myself busy with that.

Finally, around 10:30 the electricity came back on but my painter was still not there. So, I picked up the phone and called him. Again, I guess I should have expected it, because he was running late but on his way. He showed up about 11:30.

He had two helpers with him, they unloaded and got to work. The painter got to work on the holes and the areas he needed to patch while the workers started to tape off and cover the walls downstairs. Later they also prepped the room upstairs.

As soon as the painter got the holes repaired, he told me he was heading off to get the paint, it was about 12:30. I thought he’d be gone half an hour or so, so, I was going to wait till he got back and then go get myself something to eat. Well…it finally got to be 2:00 and I was starving, so I left. I just had to trust that the guys wouldn’t steal anything. I got back around 2:20 and sat outside for a little while, the painter showed back up a little after 3:00. It was apparent that he had more to do than just go get paint.

Anyway, it’s now about 5:00 and he just told me he had to go get more paint. He also told me he’d have to finish tomorrow. Why didn’t that surprise me? But he’s going to finish up our main living areas, the kitchen/den and the bathroom/closet. Thank heavens, that’s the area where we spend all of our time, this way, tomorrow we can start putting our stuff away.

I went in to take a look at the ceiling that was already painted, it looked a lot whiter than I thought it would. I could find the paint chip to compare it. Oh well, even if it isn’t the same color, it still looks good. Hopefully he’ll use the right color on the walls upstairs however, I picked that so it would match the existing wall colors throughout the house. I think I’ll check it before he starts painting. I’ll let you know.

Oh, I also asked him to paint the stairway and upstairs hallway. It’s currently a peach color from when we painted it about 15 years ago. It really needs it and he said he’d only charge an extra $100 including the paint. So I told him, “Do it.”

Well, we’re almost there. And my neighbor just called, he’s going to go give her a quote before he leaves today. I’ll report to you tomorrow what we think of our work and I’ll ask her what he’s going to charge to do their job. If everything turns out good, I’ll give you the guy’s name, if not, I still may give you his name.

Later.

I went to Home Depot today to get some grout for the corner shelf. I figured out a lot of things while I was there ~ also spent $30.

I learned that if a joint is over 1/8″ I need to use “sanded” grout, 1/8 or under, smooth grout. So, for the corner shelf I bought sanded grout. I found some in a tub that was pre-mixed. It probably didn’t cover as much area as a box of powder for the same price but I’m just looking to do this one little thing and I want to make it as simple as possible.

I also bought a grout sponge. Don’t know if I needed to do that or not, Brent has a big sponge he uses to wash cars, looks similar, but I was afraid the material would be different and something would go wrong. So, I spent $2 on a sponge. I also got some white silicone to replace the silicone I cut out of one of the corners. Speaking of cutting silicone out, I also purchased a utility knife and some blades that have a curl on the end. That should help me get some more silicone out of the corners and out from between the tile and glass.

Hmmm, what else did I get? Oh, another Clorox pen and a toothbrush-like brush to clean the rest of the grout joints.

Okay, so I get home and start to work. The utility knife with the curly blade, not as productive as I envisioned it to be. The Clorox pen, didn’t work as well as it did the other day and there wasn’t even enough to do the rest of the shower. So, I just had to try the grout. But not on the shelf, I just had to see how it would make the tile joints look.

So, I put it on with my fingers and wiped it off with the sponge. Wasn’t bad. I let it dry a while and it looked a WHOLE lot better than the old grout that had been cleaned with the Clorox pen. I went ahead and did the whole shower! I know I didn’t do it like I was supposed to, I was suppose to cut out the old grout, but the side of the tub of grout said it would stick to the old grout and that’s why I tried it. It worked. Now we just have to wait and see how it looks tomorrow. All I know is it looks like a new shower…all except the grout haze that was left.

Grout haze, what’s that you ask? It’s where the grout left a film on the tile from when I was wiping it off with the sponge. The instructions said to go back in 24 hours and wipe it with the sponge again and then polish it with a cheese cloth. I hope it polishes easily. I’ll let you know.

Oh, I also grouted in the corner shelf. It looks pretty good……

When it’s done, I’ll take pictures.

Oh, it’s so much work. And to top it off we have to shower in Brittany’s bathroom until it’s done…Brittany’s bathroom, heaven forbid. My first shower in there yesterday started with me first having to spend an hour trying to get the drain unclogged. Yeah, I was all ready to get in the shower, stripped down to nothing and noticed that it water wasn’t draining. Poop.

So, after plunging and plunging, and about three rounds of drain cleaner, it finally started to drain well enough to shower. Then I get in and the damn shower head spews water everywhere but on my body! It’s up and over and on the ceiling. Crap! I decided right then and there, a trip to Target is needed, I was going to buy new shower heads for both showers. AND a drain cup to catch all that hair! What I don’t understand is, how does Brittany use that shower everyday and NEVER say anything? Teenagers.

Okay, after that adventure it was time to start working in the master bath. Brent helped for a little while but I’m good with things like caulk and grout, so most of the shower repair duties will fall as my project. I guess that’s fair since he painted the outside front of the house.

First thing we had to do was put up the ceramic corner shelf that had fallen down about five years ago. After taking a look at it and trying to make it fit back into its place in the tile (tiles were cut out where it used to stick to the wall), it was apparent that it was originally not seated square in the corner. It looked like one side had never even adhered to the wall. No wonder it fell as soon as the grout started to wash out, not more than six months after it was installed with our new shower. Anyway, Brent made sure he got both sides to stick to the wall this time. He used Tub & Shower Liquid Nails. After it dries, I will go in a surround it with grout.

Today I got in there and tried to remove all the silicone caulk. You see, mildew had started to permeate the silicone. In the places where the glass sections connected with the tile (the glass is surrounded by brass), the original craftsman used clear silicone. It looked real nice until about six months ago when I noticed that I couldn’t get it clean. Upon further inspection I found that the mildew had started growing UNDER the silcone. Great. The only way was to remove the silicone, kill the mildew and re-caulk it.

Well…have you ever tried to remove silicone from your shower? It’s not fun. It’s not like you grab the end and it just pulls out, no, it breaks. So, I spent a good 2-1/2 hours in there today using a razor, a putty knife, a pair of tweezers, and some tool I found in Brent’s painting supplies. I think I got most of it out but I’m going to go back at it again tomorrow to see if I left anything behind.

I also used the Clorox Bleach Pen to clean the grout lines between the tile. I thought I’d just have to put it on, let it sit a few minutes and then wipe it off. WRONG! I ended up using a toothbrush to get it clean.

Now mind you, this shower didn’t even look bad with I started. There were little tiny specs of mildew under the silcone and just some small places on the grout where it was just starting to grow. But you start to bleach a little area and all of a sudden the rest of the grout looks yellow. So, I did about half the shower today and will finish it tomorrow. Heck, I may just re-grout the entire thing, I don’t know. I’ll see when I do the corner shelf.

Oh, I also started on cleaning off the hard water spots on the tiles. Again, these didn’t look bad either, we always squeegie after we shower but, if you do some, you have to do all of them. We have such hard water here in Houston, it’s a constant battle to keep the glass and tile looking good. I’m also going to clean the glass with this stuff as well, it really works. It’s a powder called Spot X Hard Water Stain/Spot Remover. You put it on a damp nylon scratcher (Spot X makes that too) that doesn’t scratch the glass or tile. Then you rub it with two fingers. The hard water stains come right off, it’s just slow going because there’s so much area to cover.

Today Brent worked the late shift and we thought since the painter was coming tomorrow, we’d clear out the closet and start getting the rooms ready for him. I called him early this morning to make sure he was coming tomorrow but his voice mailbox was full and I couldn’t leave a message, I did send a page however. We didn’t want to waste the morning so we went ahead and cleared the closet and started getting things off the walls, etc.

Just about the time we finished hauling everything out of the closet, honestly, it was TOTALLY empty, wouldn’t you know it, he called and said he’d forgotten about some class he’s taking on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. He wanted to know if it was okay if he came on Monday. Boy was I pissed. What could I say, it’s not like I could say no. He wasn’t coming and that was that.

I did get a dig in though, he was supposed to do an estimate for my next door neighbor while he was out here, they have a big job for him to do on their den ceiling. Basically, the ceiling fell out and they need it repaired. I told him that I’d be sure to tell them what he did. It was probably catty but he deserved it calling me at the last minute like that. And shit, we have to live with our clothes out of the closet all weekend or put them back and take them out again. What a pain.

Is this what I should have expected? Probably, all I ever hear is horror stories about contractors. Now I just hope his work isn’t like his organiazation and scheduling. I’ll keep you updated.