The beginning

In November 2006 vickie and i bought a house in the hillside neighborhood of troy.

it was the beginning of a big improvisational, buget-less, exciting adventure in house ownership and renovation.

Let's start with the positives.

-we wanted a fixxer upper. we got it.

-a big yard

-a big basement (full of junk, but hey)

-a rental apartment

-quiet street with friendly neighbors

-did i say big yard for a garden and woodshed?

you will learn more about some negatives as the story unfolds.

the first thing we did when we got back from the closing is begin to tear up carpeting. there was stinkiy wall to wall carpeting on both floors and plenty of wood paneling. all the ceilings had also been dropped to 8 ft with crappy tiles,..... but we had plans.

This is the upstairs... over thanksgiving of 06, this apartment had a major facelift and cleaning, painting, etc.

The drop-ceiling stayed intact, as did the paneling. but we put down new tiles in the kitchen, and painted the wood floors (after the carpet was up) in the bedrooms - 4 of em!

The downstairs however, was a different story.

The stage was set for major demolition. do-it-your damn self style.