Demolition Begins (+paint ideas)

This morning we pulled up some of the tiles, and thank God, the wood underneath is in good condition.

He started with the opening in the hall by the master bedroom:


The contractor brought some guys over this afternoon and it looks as if they got a good start. Tomorrow that start at 7 am and then again on Monday afternoon. I'm hoping that by Monday evening they might be done, Tuesday at the latest.

Here's the living room:


Here's the dining room:


And a closer picture of the dining room floor:


Here's a closeup of the floor after the tile was removed. You can see where they still have to remove the screws holding the hardboard down.


I bought some Glidden samples at Home Depot.

Here are two variations of yellow that seemed different in the store, but not on the wall (perhaps after they dry).

Against the red wall:


Against the beige wall:


I also tried some blues. These did look different on the wall, but I had to do them in the guest bedroom as I drip too much as I paint. I don't care about dripping on the tile or carpet since that's being tossed, but I don't want to drip on the hardwood. This did make it clearer than ever that someone else should do the painting.



I'm going to have to check and see how it looks after it dries.

Mine!!!!

The house is mine. I got the keys this afternoon. I was so excited I started pulling up the carpet as fast as I could. The wood in the bedroom looks fine, as does the wood in the guest bedroom.


[The material on the floor is the padding that stuck to the staples]


[The pattern embedded in the wood will be removed when it's sanded and refinished. The stain is so dark, the floor guy wasn't sure what sort of oak it is, but we both believe it's red oak]

On Sunday when I did the final walk through, I thought it looked smaller without the furniture. When I opened up the blinds and windows today, though, it looked better.

Here's the living room with the west window now visible:


The dining room and living room:


The dining room in afternoon sunlight:

[To the extent the red works, it's because the floors are white. Once they are back to hardwood, I think it needs a much lighter color]

Here's what the hardwood in the guest bedroom looks like:

[I HATE the bright yellow. I'm leaning towards a very pale blue for both bedrooms]

Here's the office. It also has hardwood under the tile.


I started work on the garden this afternoon. Here's the first row of retaining bricks:


The floorer quoted me one price to remove the ceramic tile, but the contractor gave a quote nearly 25% lower (a $500 difference), so I'm going with the latter. I go back to the floorer to refinish the hardwood once it's exposed.

I'll post photos of the renovations once they're underway.

Waiting

The escrow company is trying to get BoA to fund today. Meanwhile, I continue to wait.

Final Walk Through

We had the final walk through this afternoon. It's surprising how much smaller the house looks without furniture.

With all the papers signed, now all I can do is wait for the bank to fund the loan.

Closing In

After much screaming, wailing, and gnashing of teeth (by me), the bank sent over my loan documents to the escrow co. this afternoon. I'll get them tomorrow morning and hopefully sign them. Then it's on to San Diego for my parents' signatures and God-willing on Tuesday, I'll be a happy home owner again.

Final News about the Koi Pond House

You may remember that my first bid was on the house I nicknamed "the Koi Pond House." The asking price was $417,000 and I bid $410,000. The counter offer came back with $415,000 and a series of conditions. I agree to all the conditions but stuck to my $410,000 offer. I was led to believe that I had the high offer and that my chances of getting the house were good. The next day, I learned the sellers had gone with the other bid.

So all this time I've been wondering if I was outbid. Turns out I wasn't (at least not based on the official sales price). The Koi Pond has now closed and the final sales price was $407,000 ($3000 less than I bid). I'm still not sure why my bid was rejected.

I suppose I should just let it go. The house I'm buying is larger (about 50 sq feet or so). It doesn't have a koi pond in the back yard. It has central air and heat and a larger kitchen. While it will cost me money to pull up the tile floors in the house I'm buying it will still cost less than taking out the floor heater and replacing it with a central system would have cost. Still, there's something irrational at work here.

Update and Waiting

Well, I pushed back closing by six days to take advantage of the new California first-time home buyers tax credit (or at least as much of the credit as I may be eligible for given its limited applicability - only 2010 CA income tax above the tentative minimum tax).

The sellers have made all repairs; the only thing outstanding is the termite tenting.

All that's left is tracking down the last little bit of documentation for the underwriters, doing the final walk through, and signing the loan papers.

In the meantime, I'm crossing my fingers hoping the hardwood under the tile might still be repairable. And waiting.