- Hey, it's good to see you.
Tom has been hard at work. He has been helping with a project. And so we thought that we would
show you what he's been up to because it's kind of turned into a big
project. But there's also been some... fun, inexpensive things
that we've done here too, that I thought it would be fun to show. So Tom's been working to give
this rental space a facelift. It actually turned out, what's
more than like a facelift, it turned out to some more serious.
- Full remodel? - Yeah, it kind of... it's... yeah, that's
pretty much what it is. So I wanted to show you quick what he's
done and then what's left to finish up, but also some of the fun stuff we
did that was fairly inexpensive, but helped to cover some of the other
flaws of the space. - So first off, all the cabinets were really grody.
Like they looked good from the outside, but as soon as you pull
'em open, it was like, oh, they're probably from like the sixties,
maybe? So we gutted the kitchen, all new cabinets. There was no microwave,
so we put a microwave, an up above. No dishwasher, so we added a dishwasher. Ripped out all the flooring and then
we put in just a cheap vinyl plank flooring. This may look
familiar to people. This is actually the same flooring we
put in our personal house that we just took out. So cheap flooring. We
knew it lasted and wore well, so that's in here. I also just
got done replumbing everything. We had to put a water filtration system
in because I think they said that the nitrates were high. - For the well
water test. - For the well water, so this is the upper unit
we're working on right now. So we got a water filtration in there now, and then the basement will all get
the exact same everything, basically. - So I think one of my favorite things
was that there was a bunch of layers of wallpaper on these walls. And so
we could have skim coated it -- well we could have taken it
all down -- skim coated it, went over it with drywall. But we decided to use this brick
paneling I'd seen on Instagram, where people put up the brick paneling
and then they paint it white and it looks kind of like a faux brick wall now. And then we went back and forth if would
put upper cabinets back up here or open shelves. And we decided there's actually a lot
of cabinet space in here and there is a corner pantry here too. So we
decided keep this space open. This can be like where you put your coffee
pot and your air fryer and all those things that tend to sit out and then
just do some open shelves above here. And it'll keep it kind of open,
but still function pretty well too. - All right, and then we also in
this space, when we ripped it apart, put the new lower cabinets in, we slid them over because
as all good fridges work for 20 years, they do
eventually die. So we made, so we left the fridge space wider, so you could fit like a new standard
fridge in here and then there'll be no cabinets above it, just
two open shelves here. So if this fridge ever died on a tenant, then we could just replace
it with a bigger one. - So I'm gonna let Tom keep
working here in the kitchen, and I actually want to try out some
countertop paint in the other bathroom because you all know how I love to
paint things and see what happens. - And we kind of had free rein here to
just make it cute and clean so that... - Yep, keep the budget...
- They can get a good tenant in there... - Try and keep the budget low and... so that's where these
types of things work well. So I'm gonna head in
there to work on that, and then Tom's gonna keep working
out here. And by the end of today, we are gonna show you we're gonna
have the shelves up, everything done, and we are gonna get it cleaned
up too and show you the... - Get all my tools out of here... - That's like a day project in itself. But we're gonna show you the final
project, the final product today. So we're excited for you to see
that. Before I head to the bathroom, we also painted all of the doors.
You might recognize this blue color. It's the same color as Diana's vanities
in her bathrooms and the boys' loft beds. It's a Sherwin Williams
color, so I'll put that down below. But it was just a nice contrast
with the light gray walls, but I also think it'll wear well,
cause the doors were really dirty. So I thought going with a darker
color on the doors will wear better, but it looks nice. And I'll put all the names of all the
paint colors down below. All right, so I have the countertop paint. We had actually gotten this for our
first camper and never ended up using it. So it's kind of like a light
gray color. And so I just, I peeled all the silicone out from around
the sink and around the other edges. I sanded the tops of the wood cabinets
and I cleaned this really well. And I'm ready to put this on, but mistake number one I'm already
seeing is that I don't have a little roller, I only have a paint brush. So I'm
hoping it's still gonna go on okay. Number two is that I just painted my
nails for the first time in like three years. And now I've been peeling out
silicone, and I'm gonna do this... I don't know, this strong
paint. But it's fine. So we're gonna get this on.
It says do one thin coat, wait an hour and then do another thin
coat and then let it sit for three days. So with this first section, I'm
realizing that this paint is very thick. So a roller would have been
a little bit better, but... the brush strokes kind of even out
from the weight of it so that's okay. You might also remember we had
painted Diana's vanity tops with appliance epoxy quite a while back.
And she had different counters. They were kind of like that faux
marble look all molded into the sink. But that worked in
incredibly well. We actually, I wasn't sure if I was
be able to find this. We still had some appliance epoxy at
home. And so if I didn't find this, I was just gonna use that
here. But it held up very well, so that's another good option too.
I'll link to the video. Tom sprayed it. We would've rolled it and
brushed it in hindsight, but I'll link to that video down below
if you have any interest in trying that method out too. Okay, I couldn't do it. I had to go
get a roller. It doesn't look horrible, but I just can't fully test
and endorse a product unless we do it right. So that's still drying. I'm gonna work on this middle
section here and, I don't know, see how it turns out. All right, I'm gonna get Tom's
opinion on something quick. So these were some extra cabinet that
were here. So Tom hung them up here, which is great, super nice
to have in the laundry area. We had gotten one of these drying
racks just like in our laundry room, cause I really like it, to put between
the cabinets. So if we put this here, we have to go a little bit
high so it can fold down. And we don't know where
the studs are necessarily. - I actually do and I was
gonna tell you about that. There are zero studs
where you want them to be. There is one stud down the middle line. - Okay, that's what I was a little
bit worried about. So what if we just, this is just a tension rod
that you could hang hangers on. What if we just put that
up instead? And just... - How about you return that, you return
that. There's a hanging rod right here. - Oh yeah. - Let's take this one down, cut it to fit between there and
unscrew the caps. This, I think, they taped this cause it was coming off. - I'm gonna say, the tape looks very nice. - So let's use this bracket, that bracket,
cut the bar down and put it there. And then I actually just remembered, I
still need to build a shelf back here. Cause there's actually a huge
gap here. So build a shelf there, otherwise I think laundry and all that
junk is gonna fall down behind there. And I think if we build a shelf here, they can set their detergents
and all that on there, if they don't want to put them in here. - Okay, so I've been
letting all of this dry. This, where we were just
doing the Formica, dried really nicely and
evenly. So this is ready. It's been about 45 minutes and I
think this is ready for a second coat. The upper levels, this one where I
brushed it on, it was super thick. That is nowhere near ready. And
this other wood one isn't quite yet. So they're all drying at
different speeds or whatever. So it's fine, but I'm gonna
give a second coat on this. I'm really happy with how it's looking
on the Formica. So if that's your goal, is just to cover up an old countertop, and you're not gonna try
and do any wood stuff, I think it'll work out just fine.
But I don't know, we'll show you the final product and we'll see how
the wood parts turn out as well. [music] - You know one of the first
"dates" that you and I went on, it wasn't actually a date cause
we were friends at the time, was going to look at a house. - It was a meth lab. - It had been repossessed cause... - It was a previous meth lab. - Some bad activity went on in it. And you were trying to decide if
you should put an offer in on it, knowing it had been gutted, but
it would have to be fully... - Yeah, it was down to
the bare bones studs. - And I remember going to
look at that and being like, this would be such a fun project. - I think I remember it was on like
a half acre. It had a shop. Granted, it was a wreck. - Yeah. - And I remember after looking
at that house with you, I was like, cause we had been really good friends
for a long time and I thought, all right, we need to not hang out for a while
cause that totally felt like we were a couple looking at our house...
Cause I knew Dawn wasn't interested. - Yeah. So you didn't end up getting that
house. But then after we got married, we bought a house that was not as
bad as the meth house, but it was... - We made it pretty bad though. - It was pretty bad. It had
bad pet stuff going on in it. And we didn't know until we got into
it that there was actually sheetrock, wallpaper, wallpaper, wallpaper,
paneling, wallpaper, wallpaper, sheetrock. It was just... - It was literally like wall... like
beyond the studs it was like that thick. And the floor was the same way.
They just kept layering over layers, over layers. Plywood over flooring,
it was like... it was nuts. - So we had all these hopes and
dreams. We were gonna flip it. We were gonna pay off my student loans.
That was back 2008-ish. And we all... - Which we had thought we got
a great deal when we bought it, cause the market had already dropped.
But it hadn't gone all the way down. So anyways, for a while...
after that house, I said, I will take on a project house.
We will not live in a remodel. I want nothing to do with it. - That's all she wants. - But now here it is 13
years later and honestly this has been the most fun I've had in
a long time. My manicure is ruined, but I don't know, I love the transformation of just seeing stuff go from
not so nice to really nice. And finding inexpensive ways
to do it too. Overall though, I think the transformation
has been pretty cool here. I think it's not... this
place was gross before. It may not have appeared it in
camera, but this place was gross. It is no longer gross. - No, I'm excited for someone to get to
live here. Because the cabinets were, sure, a little bit of an investment, but then beyond that we
did Formica countertops, but I think the shape of the front and
everything makes them look a little bit nicer. I really like the pattern on it.
The inexpensive vinyl plank flooring. We put in the open shelves and... - Yep, the backsplash is just like
a brick pattern Masonite board. So it's not gonna last forever. - No, I think it's pretty durable. Hey, we had this in our kitchen in our home
growing up and that, it lasted very well. So we didn't paint it then, but we filled the gaps and the
nail holes and painted over it. And so I think it looks pretty cool. I
think it has a little bit of character. But it feels light and bright and open. - I added a dishwasher up here, which is actually the old dishwasher from
our house. Instead of throwing it out, we just brought it over here. - And we did, Tom found a
Bosch dishwasher on Marketplace for inexpensive, so
he got that installed at our house. And then there wasn't
a microwave installed. - Oh yeah, it was just one on the counter. - Which takes up a lot
of counter space so... - And we had thought if a renter's not
having to bring a microwave in and out, then that counterspace that they use
will last longer and won't get damaged. So if you just put it up on the wall, then hopefully there's less
wear and tear in the kitchen. Or maybe I'm just super naïve and I'm
wanting to put a microwave up there. - And we went back and forth if we should
do the open shelves on this stretch of countertops or put cabinets back
up. But there is a pantry, a pretty decent-sized pantry next to
the fridge so I thought, you know what? There's a good amount of
cabinet space in here. So I think we could do some open
shelves, keep that counter open. - Yeah, and this isn't a humongous
kitchen. It's just, what do they call it, a galley kitchen? And so by having this open more it
makes the space not feel so closed in. Like downstairs, we're gonna do the same thing in
the lower unit directly below us. That one felt super closed in when
we went down there, before we took, we gutted the kitchen out of there too. - And then in the bathroom, I did the paint on the countertop on the
Formica and then also on the wood tops. Didn't turn out as great on
the wood tops. I could have... Tom is smirking cause I could have
sanded a little bit more probably. - See, this is why it makes me laugh
because you're like, "I love remodeling. I love projects.". - I didn't have the right tools.
- Then you're like, "Peace, I'm out. Fix it for me." - No, no, no. I'll touch it up. But on
the Formica, the paint worked awesome. I would highly recommend that. It is
a paint specifically for countertops. On the wood, I just would've sanded it more because
I put tape down when Tom was putting the silicone back in the gaps and
when he pulled up the tape, it pulled up some of the paint.
So that's what I need to touch up. It'll be fine. But it just
makes it feel cleaner and... - Oh yeah, wasn't it pink before? - It was a little pinkish and
had some rings on it. - Yeah, it just looked better. - It looks
nicer now. It just feels cleaner. I think anytime you move into any place,
you just want it to not feel grody. And so I think we accomplished that.
- Yep. - Overall, Tom has many, many, many hours into this. This
video doesn't do justice, all the work that he did here. - Hi.
- Hi, is your arm tired yet? - I'm trying to switch back and forth. - Yeah. - I don't know that most
people do this sort of thing. - I don't think they do. - Pretty sure they don't. - The boys helped for a little
bit putting in the vinyl plank. They thought that was like
the coolest thing ever. So it's fun to get them involved as well. But I think it looks awesome and I
think you did an awesome job with it. But we do still, we'll
still have to show you too, most of the new flooring is in our house, but we still need to get the
trim down and... I'm not rushing. I'm just telling you where we're at
with that. Cause there was a question... - I'm only one person, guys.
- About where that's at. So as soon as we get that all done, we
actually want to do an updated home tour. And so that is definitely on the
agenda when we get there. It'll happen. - Sometime this year. - Sometime this
year. So... it's on the record now. So we'll be excited to show that
to you as well. But good job. We would love to know what
you are up to this weekend, but otherwise we love you and we'll
see you again soon. - Buh-bye.
