It’s the Victoria Day Holiday weekend coming up! And while most people are camping, fishing, barbecuing or just plain doing nothing, I’ll hopefully be putting the finishing touches on my dad’s house to have it ready for market by the end of the month. Not wanting to brave the crowds of other weekend handymen that descend on Home Depot on this particular holiday (hmmm….long weekend….why not build a deck?), I chose to go today to pick up more paint, trim, and other supplies that I figure I’ll need over the next few days.
Two friggin’ hours shopping in Home Depot with a 6 year old in tow. Well, I have to say, it didn’t take long for the whining to start. “Why do we have to shop here?” “I hate shopping here.” “Can’t we go somewhere else?” “Aren’t we done yet?” Yes indeed, my daughter will tell you that her dad whines a lot at Home Depot! But at least it’s one stop shopping. Done and finished.
Trim, paints and supplies: $450. Happy Meal afterwards to reward a kid who behaved pretty well for being stuck in a store for 2 hours: $4. Not having to battle the hordes on one of the busiest sales weekends of the year: priceless.
But that two hours is still two hours of my life I’ll never get back!
Entering the home stretch (no pun intended!)
This is going to be a very busy weekend. I’m not as far along as I expected to be at this point, but I can still finish most things up over the long weekend. I have to lay down quarter round molding in the dining room, living room and hallway. The original was removed and apparently discarded when wall to wall carpet was installed. I found the original can of stain my parents used for the trim, but a test spot on some scrap lumber was still tacky after more than 24 hours. Apparently the shelf life of a can of stain is somewhat less than 40 years. Matching the existing trim with any stain currently available seems highly unlikely, so I tried my best to match the quarter rounds to the wood floor.
And what a gorgeous floor it is! I ripped up the wall to wall carpet and all the tack strips last weekend exposing gleaming oak flooring that had last seen the light of day a quarter century ago, and then only briefly while old carpet was replaced by new. The floors are what will sell this house. Failing that, at least it’s a blank slate for whatever carpet the buyer wants to have laid.
Getting back to my point…. I have to install the new quarter round moldings, and paint the kitchen. Beyond that, the only other work on the main floor is cleaning and staging. The basement is divided into halves. One half is a work room / furnace room / laundry room with lots of storage closets. The room doesn’t need much more work than the fresh coat of paint that I am giving it, though I may consider the floor tiles in half the room that have come loose as a result of water damage (which has been fixed). Or I may just re-glue the loose tiles back down with contact cement. I’ll have to determine which is going to be easier, and see exactly where my budget is. The other half of the basement is the rec room. This large room holds a LOT of memories for me. Aside from replacing some ceiling tiles that were damaged as a result of some butcher running coax cable for my dad, I plan to do nothing with this room. New carpet is definitely needed, but the 2000-3000 investment could be a complete waste if the buyer wants to get rid of the wood paneling and renovate the room. For me, this would be a case of over-improving. My chances of getting any kind of return on this sort of investment is next to nil.
I should be able to finish the work inside the house this weekend. Then there is just cleaning out the shed and garage. And washing the exterior of the house. And taking care of other aspects of the estate (like the sale of my dad’s vehicle). Not to mention taking care of my own house (I still have not yet cut my lawn for the first time this year)
Whew!