The Pony Will NOT Be Getting a Silk Purse, Nor Chicken Salad

Hick finished up his work on the back of Pony House this week, putting in gutters. He says the discoloration on the bottom of the walls can be cured with power-washing and a little bleach. I think the whole house-back needs to be painted white. Hick wants a stain.

"It ain't gettin' painted white."

"The back of the house should match the rest of the house."

"The Pony don't want the house white. He wants it blue-gray."

"Well. Then the back should be painted blue-gray."

"That will be up to The Pony."

Yeah. I'm pretty sure The Pony has not been a fan of the wood look. Anyhoo... Hick had some gravel poured behind the house. Partly to help with drainage, and partly because he was contemplating a concrete driveway coming in from the side street. So The Pony could have off-street parking, and not deal with the running water that forms along the front street during storms.

 

 

Hick met with a guy Friday night to show him the area, and tell him the plan. The guy said he would get back to Hick with an estimate.

"How much do you think that would cost?"

"Oh, probably around $3000, or $3500."

"I don't know if we can swing that right now. We've used up all the money allotted to Pony House."

"Pony has money. He can pay if he wants it. Or it will just raise the cost of his house that he's paying for."

Hick received the estimate on Saturday afternoon.

"It looks like we ain't gettin' a concrete driveway for The Pony! That guy wants $6500! That's crazy!"

"Yeah. I think The Pony can do with a gravel driveway. What will that cost?"

"I'll need another load of gravel. This one doesn't go all the way to the road. Maybe two more loads. The whole thing will come to around $450."

"That's a lot more reasonable. And gets The Pony off the street."

There's a saying around these parts. 'You can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh!t.' And also, more common: 'You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.'

One thing's for sure. We made The Pony a safe, livable house. Not the Taj Mahal.

Pony House Laundry

That Hick! He's such a giver! Along with being such a BUYER. A few weeks ago, he saw something at the auction he couldn't resist. I think he paid $3 for it. No more than $5, that's for sure.

 

 

It was a RUG for The Pony to put in front of his laundry room. Hick tossed it down and took a picture. A week later, he bought the doors and installed them on the laundry room.

 

Hick is a real peach. He didn't bill The Pony for his laundry rug. But the cost of the doors will be included in the final purchase price of Pony House.

Yes. The Pony made his first payment. For the month of May. He's on his way to home ownership, interest-free.

Pony House Done: Bathroom 2

Bathroom 2 of Pony House was a small room off the back porch.

 

 

Hick built Bathroom 2 from the ground up. Literally. It was down to the bare ground after he tore out the existing floor to put in new floor joists.

 

 

Hick stole the floor from wall boards he took off Bedroom 2. He used it first, then insulation, then OSB board (plywood), then laminate flooring. So there are four layers to the floor of Bathroom 2. Hick started with the shower corner.

 

Not an easy feat, perching himself on the floor boards stolen from the walls of Bedroom 2!

Bathroom 2 is essentially done, thought it needs a bit of fine-tuning.

 

The view from the door of Bedroom 2. Floor is done, toilet has been working since early in the project, so Hick could have an option closer than Casey's if he was feeling a bit indisposed. The jugs are filled with water he brought from home, to put in the toilet tank for flushing, before city water was hooked up. I'm not a fan of Hick's addition of the shelf under the mirror, but The Pony okayed the project.

 

The vanity and medicine cabinet are also done. All that's needed is a bit of caulking, and the trim along the floor. 

______________________________________________________________________

 

Pony House has been an adventure. It was Hick's second "flip" project. HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) helped with renovations of the $5000 house, and purchased it with such labor, and the trade of a 32-foot 2011 Forest River RV. Hick is at his best when he has a project to work on. He has mentioned the possibility of buying another flip house to sell. I'm not so sure...

The Pony has moved into Pony House, and is living the high life in his safe, livable house. 

His rent-to-purchase payments start May 1st!

This concludes our Pony House odyssey, until there are any updates on the exterior improvements. Don't hold your breath! We have depleted the Pony House budget for now.

Pony House Done: Bedroom 2

Bedroom 2 of Pony House used to be entered through the Kitchen. This seemed like an odd arrangement, even to Hick. So he closed off the kitchen/bedroom portal, and put in a new entrance to Bedroom 2 by creating a short hallway past the Laundry Room.

 

Here is Bedroom 2, looking from the Kitchen. The Pony's new refrigerator would be located in the area on the right of this opening, which is now closed. You can see Bathroom 2 in the back right corner, and the area that is now a covered back porch through those 2x4s.

 

Still standing in the kitchen, here's the wall where the previous flipper had framed to cover over with drywall. Hick made it the new door to get to Bedroom 2.

 

This area became the hallway to Bedroom 2. The left side was closed in to make the Laundry Room. The new water heater sits where the furnace was. The new furnace has its own room, off the Kitchen, where a corner of the large Living Room was used.

 

Sadly, neither Hick nor Pony show much love for Bedroom 2. I had to scramble to find a picture. Or two. One of them shows a brief glimpse of Bedroom 2, in the background of this hallway.

 

 

Yeah. Hick loves his paint more than he loves Bedroom 2. You can at least see that the walls and ceiling and window are done. And there's the tiny thin door used for a tiny thin cabinet to cover the main electric box for Pony House.

 

 

Here's a picture showing off the floor of Bedroom 2, and the finished closet and door. The closet is on the right, the bedroom door to the hall is on the left. The drywall is hung, but still needed taping and paint. This angle was from the door of Bathroom 2.

 

Not sure what The Pony was showing me in this picture of Bedroom 2. Maybe that the floors were done. Maybe that Hick had taken over the room as his workshop. There's one of the rugs rolled up under the window.

Such a dearth of show-offy pictures. It seems that Bedroom 2 is the red-headed stepchild of Pony House!

TOMORROW: We conclude our tour of Pony House with Bathroom 2.

Pony House Done: Half Bath and Laundry Room

Considering that the Half Bath and Laundry Room did not even exist as rooms in the initial walk-through of Pony House, I'd say Hick did a fine job.

 

 

This little alcove was it, with that doorway (leading into the new Master Bath) blocked off.

 

There's Hick's buddy, framing the wall that will have the sliding door. The opposite wall of the hallway hasn't been built yet, but there's the back door.

 

The toilet is set in place, to see how the plumbing needs to go.

 

Here you can see the Half Bath location (toilet sitting sideways for some reason). 

 

 

Extreme closeup of finished toilet in the Half Bath.

 

 

And the sink/mirror, which was completed before the toilet install.

 

 

And the unfinished sliding door, that now has barnwood-print stick-on paper to dress it up, plus metal hinge-looking hardware, which Hick is dragging his feet about completing.

 

Across from the Half Bath is the Laundry Room.

 

There's The Pony's new washer/dryer and water heater in the laundry room. They didn't give me a better picture.

TOMORROW: Bedroom 2

Pony House Done: Master Bathroom

I might have to retract my previous statement about Pony House Kitchen having the most dramatic make-over. I forgot that the Master Bathroom had its back wall ripped off down to the studs, and the floor joists replaced, and two windows covered up. It was not a bathroom at all. It is NOW!

Hick was not sure what that room was originally used for. Maybe a bedroom? 

 

Here's a peep standing at the back of the Living Room, through the wall that is now the Half Bath. It was a big room, which is why Hick took six feet of it to add to the Master Bedroom.

 

This is the window that's now over the toilet. On the back wall of Pony House, where Hick tore off everything but the 2x4s, and put in a new window. This picture was taken from standing in the Master Bedroom area.

 

This picture is from standing by where the toilet is now, and looking through what became the closet, out towards the former back door, on the wall that has now been ripped off, leaving an open back porch.

 

This view was taken standing by where the Half Bath is now, looking through the now-closet, to where the now-toilet sits under the window.

Drumrollllllll! Ta da-da-DAAAA! Here is the miracle that is Hick's vision.

 

There is The Pony's precious big oval tub in his Master Bathroom. With jets! And of course a toilet, which had to be close to the tub to allow for the walk-in closet door to open. Hick already had these black-painted panels when he built the enclosure around the tub. The thought was to paint them blue or white, but The Pony preferred them to stay black. So Hick also painted the trim around the edge black.

 

There's the closet door. The sink and shower, as you step in the door from the Master Bedroom.

 

There's another view of the shower. The construction dirt had not yet been wiped out.

 

Here's a view from the toilet/closet area, looking towards the door to the Master Bedroom.

I think the Master Bathroom turned out better than expected. The Pony is happy.

TOMORROW... will be the regular Saturday CENTSus report of Val's Future Pennyillionaire Fortune. But Sunday will resume the Pony House Tour, with the Half Bath and Laundry Room.

Pony House Done: Master Bedroom

The Pony House bedroom that Hick chose to be the master was not very big. It had two windows, one facing the front street, one facing the side street. Hick decided to tear out a wall of this bedroom and move it back about six feet. That would make the master bathroom smaller, but enlarge the bedroom, making it "master-worthy."

 

 

This is the Master Bedroom, looking in from the door that leads to the living room. That wall on the right is the one that Hick tore out and moved back. The window looks across the side street.

 

This view was also taken from the door, and shows both windows, with Hick's SilverRedO parked in the front yard.

Hick had already moved in some furniture before I could goad him into taking a picture of the finished Master Bedroom.

 

This picture was taken while standing in the doorway of the Master Bathroom. That's one of the chairs Hick bought a pair of, for $60 from a fellow Storage Unit crony. There's the bed frame that belonged to my mom and dad. Genius used it, and the other furniture here, in his college house. No need to buy new and pay on time when you can get a used one for not even a dime! (To paraphrase one of my favorite Ozark Mountain Daredevils tunes: "Horse Trader.")  I think the bed should go against the living room wall, but Hick and The Pony disagree. Same as with the direction that the bedroom door opens...

 

The Pony decided to move the bed between the two windows. I think his reasoning concerned the location of the electrical outlets. The laminate flooring turned out well. As did the new windows Hick put in. You can see that this is when The Pony started moving in. He forgot to buy pillows! He got curtains for the living room, but I think he plans on just the shades for his bedroom. For now. The Pony is kind of a minimalist.

 

There's some more of Mom's old furniture. And the door to the Master Bathroom. This is the added part of the Master Bedroom where Hick enlarged it. He lowered the ceiling from 9 feet to 8 feet in the Master Bathroom, and did the same with this added section of bedroom. The rest of it is still 9 feet.

It's not a perfect room, but it's a safe and livable space for The Pony to snooze and play computer games on the new TV he bought and mounted on the wall. Maybe a picture of that later, after Hick finishes his wizardry to semi-disguise the dangling power cord...

Pony House Done: Kitchen

The Pony House kitchen was a kitchen in name only when Hick did his first walk-through. I guess it was the little window, and the water pipes that gave away its identity.

 

 

You can still see through the "door" into Bedroom 2, before Hick closed it off.

 

Here you can see the front window that looks out on the porch and the street.

 

There were some photos along the way, once the cabinets were mostly in:

 

 

This was before the stainless steel sink was in, and the laminate floor.

The kitchen is probably the most dramatic improvement in the whole house. I'm a little disappointed that Hick and The Pony could not give me a simple picture of the finished kitchen, without all their stuff a-clutter.

 

Everything is new, because nothing was salvageable. Lots of Hick's junk here, and my old kitchen table that needs to be sanded on one end, and the chairs that need paint. You can see The Pony's new refrigerator, the stove that was free from Back-Creek Neighbor Bev, and the cabinets that Hick found on Facebook. The only item here that's not staying is Hick's Coke mini fridge.

TOMORROW: Master Bedroom

Pony House Done: Living Room

Between not having access to my New Delly computer down in my dark basement lair, and Hick's forgetfulness in sending me updated photos, we'll have to make do with the images I have at hand. I would have preferred photos of the completed rooms before any furnishings were put in place. As it is, you will see some of Hick's tool clutter, some of The Pony's furniture, and some rooms almost finished. I'm pretty sure you will notice the improvement from the initial condition of Pony House.

 

Here's a basic floor plan that Hick drew up (and I copied neatly) after the first walk-through. Just for reference purposes. The only changes are the tiny hall bathroom has been elongated and the closet by the Master Bedroom absorbed by it, and the relocation of the Master Bathroom tub and door.

 

 

Today we tour the living room. Upon the first walk-through, the living room condition as seen from the front porch:

 

From just inside the door:

 

That's the door to the Master Bedroom, and the opening to the hall that takes you to the back door. You can see through the wall to the area that became the Master Bathroom. Below is the view of the living room from that Master Bathroom area:

 

You can see the entrance to the kitchen. Below is a view of the living room from the back door area of the hallway:

 

To the right is a glimpse inside the Master Bedroom.

And NOW, the updated version...

 

That's a view of the Living Room from the front door. The laminate flooring is in, and there's one of the pair of chairs Hick bought from a fellow Storage Unit seller. Hick bought the set of tables at the auction, for $60. The Pony isn't wild about the pattern, which I think looks like camouflage. They can always be repainted a glossy black.

That's the door to the Master Bedroom, and you can see down the hall to the back door. That's the Half Bath with the sliding barn-style door. We have contact paper with a blue/gray barnwood print, but Hick has not yet put in on the bathroom door.

 

This is a view from the kitchen. The Pony's couch was delivered. His pillows have that leather-look on the opposite side of the print side. We just noticed. This is not the position The Pony planned on having the couch. He might move it perpendicular, facing the bedroom wall. He plans for his TV to go in that corner between the windows.

TOMORROW: Kitchen

Pony House Done: Back Wall

Pony House is done! Not DONE, done. But mostly done. The Pony moved in on Sunday. So it's done enough. Of course there are still a few lingering projects for Hick. One of them is the back wall of Pony House. Hick feels like he is basically done with it, now that he tore off the back wall and made a porch.

 

Let's have a refresher. Here's the street view of Pony House from the front.

 

 

And here's a street view of Pony House's rear:

 

Hick worked on renovating the back right corner, which is the Master Bathroom now.

 

Here is what was under the siding. Which Hick then ripped off down to the bones:

 

Purty, ain't it? You're looking right into The Pony's Master Bathroom-to-be. Hick covered this area with what he told me was CEDAR SIDING. Which looked nothing like the cedar siding we put on my $17,000 house. This was sheets of alleged-cedar plywood-like boards:

 

I KNOW! Few people were fans of this look. Me being the #1 non-fan. The portion to the left is what Hick planned to tear out, and make a back porch with a roof, at the back door of Pony House.

And FINALLY, what the back of Pony House looks like now:

 

Okay. It's not COMPLETELY done, but it doesn't interfere with the living quarters inside. Hick says he still needs a header, and he's planning to pour 4 inches of concrete for the porch. He will need to power-wash the boards where the rain splashed mud, and put in the gravel drainage area there which was always going to be one of the last things done. 

The back will be painted white at the very least, or perhaps a light blue/gunmetal gray if that's what The Pony chooses for the whole house. Siding will be an option later...

TOMORROW: Living Room