Texas House Remodel

We bought this house the first of May, 2012. As always, we buy houses that most everyone else wouldn’t want. Why? Because we get an excellent price and then we remodel them! It has made us money over the years and even in the worst economy when many had to short sale (lose money), we were able to sell and get some money out. This is a blessing that God has taught us, “Take less and I will give you more.”

So…on to our first Texas Remodel! The house needed a lot of help. It was stuck in the mid 1950’s…paneling throughout the house, old carpets that had seen better days (actually, they were quite nasty as well as smoke and ash filled). With all our allergies…first things first. We ripped out the carpet and pulled the paneling off the walls! Yes…this is my favorite part and one in which my hubby typically comes home and

he knows he has his work cut out for him as things are ripped out (I have been known to do this all by myself) and ready for him to go in with new material! Ha!

Although, in this house, he had a little time before he needed to get the flooring done, as  I was busy with the walls and they come first, before flooring can be laid. Once the paneling was off, I textured the walls to look like the stucco Missions I grew up around in So. Cal. Then, I painted it white.

Here along this edge at the right of the picture, you can see both texture going on and paint over the texture at the edge in the forefront. You will also notice the "strip" of drywall compound in the hallway? That is where two drywall pieces come together, so you must fill it in. On the left wall in the forefront is the control to the brand new heating (Heat Pump)/air conditioning unit we put in. The heater was not working when we bought the home and there was no air conditioning in it.  

You can see in this pic, there is an outdated mantel piece that really shows the age of the house. We wanted a more western ranch look so we removed the outdated bric-a-brac piece, then added an oak wood piece that we stained. You will see in the finished room pic as to how nice that turned out. This is a really simple, quick and easy upgrade.  Here is a pic of me putting the texture on. In the future,

when I am doing another wall, I will put a step by step process as I've had many people want to know how to do it! It IS possible, to put it over paneling but it's mostly not advised, especially on and outer wall or one with any possible water and I'll show you why in the next picture.

Sorry this pic is a bit fuzzy...had problems with my camera. But you

can still see that this outer wall has some surface mold on it...this was hidden by the paneling...so if you are having a lot of allergies or headaches and have old paneling...you may just want to remove it and see what is under it! The main reason this wall had issues is BECAUSE of the paneling being over it for many years and directly below a large, older style window.  The condensation alone will do this. Not to worry, this is not black mold, black mold looks totally different than your common mold...you would definitely know it if you saw it! To find more info on mold and black mold click here.We removed the paneling, then the drywall, took out one section of 2x4's that had some on it, sprayed bleach on the rest of it, let it air out for a few days and then went back in with new drywall material.

Here is  a pic of that section re-wall completed. So, we have done this in many homes and because some of us have allergies, we are highly sensitive so we are a mold detector to begin with. We found with air, bleach and closing off the room we are working on, we are able to get the job done. We have had that wall done for almost 2yrs. now and there is no mold forming on the baseboard or anywhere else...it's a plain white wall so it can be easily detected, so we know that it was the paneling holding in the moisture.

We then put in River Rock porcelain tile. I got a great deal on it, it was on sale for less than 2/3 the price…normally over $3 a sq. ft. I got it for 77 Cents a sq. ft.!! DEAL! I really love the color and texture and it works for this house. Kelly finished the rustic look with cedar boards that he ripped to size with his table saw.

Here is the completed sitting room area. You can see the change out of the mantel. I'm very happy with the upgrades we've done so far on this house.  In the next picture, you can see the same angle looking towards the hallway as in the first picture, which showed the paneling.

Taking out the old paneling has made the house feel much cleaner and with white walls, has made a very small house look and feel much bigger. There is an old real estate trick in here (since we've bought and sold a lot). Realtors will tell you that colors are nice, but not everyone will like YOUR particular color scheme. This is why the brand new model homes are done in neutral tones. They will tell you that if you want to sell quickly, paint all the walls white, off white, or beige...then put in beige carpets or tile. This has come to be known as "Realtor Beige".

 Keep an eye on future posts about the remodel as we'll invite y'all to come out to learn and perhaps even get a little hands on experience so you can go home and do your own improvements! This can be a "project" for your family, a great learning experience for your kids (especially you homeschoolers who are always looking for something to use as a teaching tool) and get the bonus of having a more comfortable and valuable house!