Home Renovation: Tile Repair,Grout Cleaning, Bedrooms, and New Offers!

Main Posts Background Image

Main Posts Background Image

31.8.10

Home Renovation: Tile Repair,Grout Cleaning, Bedrooms, and New Offers!


 Using $35.00 timer to run sprinkler so damaged lawn will grow back.

Well, the next door neighbor's parents have been wanting to see our house ever since the last time we were here working on it. The neighbor came over with his daughter and did a walk through as we were cleaning up the paint, caulk, and grout cleaner.  

 New Living Room

I told him all about the termites and the foundation repair. All he could say was "It looks great!"  He said, his parents want to buy a new home and move next door to him and his family. They will be calling our realtor this week!
Rooms before being painted and having new carpet installed.

That's the second person whose expressed interest in actually buying the house since we repaired and renovated everything. I'm soooo happy! Thank you Lord! Here's an old photo where you can see what Dad's house actually looked like BEFORE...

 Dining Room

Bedroom 1 (had wall paper)
                                   
Office/Bedroom 3

This was the master bedroom and had the old hospital bed in it in the photos at the top.
The new grandbaby hasn't arrived yet (poor patient Elisabeth!) and we needed to go back and cut down the dead tree in the front yard (stump on far right), trim the peach trees, install a gas stove (just purchased for $75.00 on Craig's list) and finish the repairs, painting, and renovating in the bathroom.


Tim and I decided, on Friday night, that the best thing to do would be to hunt down a stove on Craig's list Sat. morning, get the housework done, and then drive straight to Grand Prairie on Sun. morning (since our church was meeting in the park) and do the work..then drive straight back home that night.


I didn't want to stay overnight just in case there was any chance the baby might arrive.  With the three teenagers helping us, we five worked five hours and got the tree loaded in the truck. We got home at 1:00am tired--but successful!

Photo by Chic Shelf Paper
  The kids worked so hard! While Jacob helped Tim cut down and load the dead tree (and painted the hall and bathroom ceilings), Rebekah and Christian patiently cleaned and lined all the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen and cleaned the new (used) stove. It was pretty dirty.  It looks great now. :o)

 Five new tiles on the bottom row.
  • Renovating a house is quite an education.Thanks to watching my dear hubby, I now know how to install tile!! First you dig out all the old grout from between the tiles.
  • Then you can break up the tiles pieces with a hammer and screw driver.

  • Then you spread a special tile adhesive on the wall. 
  • The weird part is that you have to scrape the glue into lines with gaps between them. This is so the glue will dry properly. 
  • Fill in the grout between the tiles after 24 hours to allow the glue to dry. We did the tile first thing and went ahead and grouted it right before we left.



Tile Grout Coating
It's not the ideal situation..but what else could we do?  I also discovered a jewel of a product! It's called tile whitener and it turns stained grout pure white! This tile was installed in 1950 so the grout was yellow. Now, it's gorgeous.  And I'm no longer afraid of caulk--my new best friend! I re-caulked the whole bathroom and boy did it ever need it!   


Last of all, I painted both the towel racks and the gas wall heater (ancient and rusted) with high heat appliance paint. It worked beautifully! I tried taping it off but it didn't quite work. However, I was able to clean the tile afterwards with paint thinner. Then I hung up the new curtains and shower curtains. I think it looks fabulous now (compared with before.)



I'm starting to feel like I can truly rest now. All I have to do is sew cushion covers and a banner...and cuddle grandbabies (and pay bills-Ha!) And I've learned so much about house renovation, that when we finally get the T-I-M-E..I will be able to confidently tackle the renovation of our own home. That's such a plus!

But the house..that was really weighing on me. I think it's time to celebrate!! ...almost. :o)  Hope you all are having a wonderful week! I've missed visiting you and look forward to dropping by tonight.  Have you ever done tile or grout work?  What are your favorite home repair products?

Happy Homemaking!

15 comments

Jill said...

Congratulations on getting an offer on the house! Can't wait to hear baby news and see pictures! Keeping you all in my prayers.
Many blessings,
Jill

Trudy said...

Your dad's home look so warm and inviting now.

So happy that you have a couple of possible offers.

Trudy
www.sewingwithtrudy.blogspot.com

Ky said...

Oh man, Donna, what a huge accomplishment for you all! It looks so lovely inside now. I hope you sell it very quickly.
Well done!
xx

Laura said...

Good Morning Donna!
What an incredible job you all have done...I can hardly wait to hear that the place has sold! You deserve a well needed rest after all of this. We will be praying for baby and family...God is always good.
Have a blessed day,
Laura

Breathing In Grace said...

I'm not sure there's anything in this world that you can't do...or wouldn't tackle!!! The house looks great and I hope God blesses you with a buyer really quick!! Hope you have a restful week...you deserve one!!!

Ama x four said...

Donna, the house looks great and I know you are relieved to have it all done. I hope the offers pore in and that you have a serious buyer very soon. Keep us posted.

I know everyone is waiting with baited breath for the littlest angel to decide he is ready to tackle the world. He is still lovin' his safe, warm place.

AJ

Room for More said...

It looks wonderful! We will pray the offers come rolling in : ) Now go get some iced tea and a good book...oh wait, there's a grandbaby that will be here soon, right??

Beautifully Veiled said...

Praise the Lord!!! Hopefully it will all work out and all that hard work by your whole gang will have paid off! And now we are looking forward to YOUR house pictures! Praying for the new baby!
Linda

Maria Killam said...

I have not done any myself, great job you've done Donna! How are the colours in your place looking? Have you posted an update and I've missed it?
xoxo
maria

GlorV1 said...

Oh my goodness Donna. You and yours have put so much work into your dad's home. I'm out of breath after seeing all those photos and how wonderful the home looks. It is ready. Interest rates are low right now and hopefully you can find some "pre-qualified" people. That's the number one thing, otherwise you have a lot of "looky loos" that just want to look and have not been qualified. You get a GOLD MEDAL for all you did. Congratulations Donna. Please rest now. (did you take your blood pressure yet?) Tee Hee. :D Take care and get some down time.

Donna said...

You guys are so encouraging! I have to tell you there were times when I just felt so overwhelmed especially when I first discovered the termite trails along two whole walls, paint falling off in chunks, a busted pipe and totaled flooring due to the sink drain flooding the flooring behind the wall. It seemed like the more I did, the worse things got.

There were days when the kids and I just threw in the towel at 3pm. Even Tim, half way through the day and on his third trip to Home Depot felt mentally exhausted. He would have never survived our week. He's a perfectionist--poor guy. I think it was a blessing that pragmatic me had to do the 'triage' approach to renovation. Is it worth it..or not? That's the question I asked myself over and over. That's because we didn't have unlimited time or resources. I had to pick and choose and decide--fast. With five different companies and groups of people in an out the whole time we were there, it was just plain tough to even think-- much less get the work done.

God is good to help us just keep taking one step at a time trusting we would get done what was necessary.

I'm not worried any more that it won't sell. But you guys writing such sweet notes makes it all worth it. You all are the BEST!!!

Thanks!!

XOXO
Donna :o)

Donna said...

PS. Thanks so much for your prayers. Elisabeth has had a pretty bad head cold. I think she is feeling better. I talked to her quite a bit yesterday. I know she is ready to have this little guy.

I was two weeks late with three of my five babies..and those days after the due date can be so discouraging!

I'll let her know you all are praying for her. :o)

~D

Shona Cole said...

Donna, congrats on getting the house in order and on the birth of August this morning. I can't wait to meet him.

Alex Quinn 82 said...

Doing it yourself really is not as bad it seems. I have just moved into an older house and have been trying to save money by fixing and replacing sections myself. I have recieved help from friends and I came across some videos that have helped me too. With videos that show you how to install wall tile in kitchen , bathroom tiles, and installing carpets, it will allow you to learn some great home improvement skills that will save you the time and money from having to hiring someone to do it for you.

Unknown said...

I've been thinking about having some grout repair done in my house in Orange, CA. I think it will be nice to get that done.

“There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.” ~ Margaret Sangster

Friends of Comin' Home

Thanks for visiting!

Search This Blog

Followers

Copyright Comin'Home 2020. Powered by Blogger.

Error 404

The page you were looking for, could not be found. You may have typed the address incorrectly or you may have used an outdated link.

Go to Homepage