In Shaw (an historically gentrified blog)

And you were going to do what?

I was talking with the neighborhood handyman some time back and he mentioned the guy who had sold me the house came by to, I don't know, look around or something. Anyway the seller voiced regret about selling the house. He went through the shoulda done this or that's.

Hearing this I'm thinking to myself, you owned the house for how many years, didn't do a dang thing and now after I painted and repaired and am still finding crap hidden behind the drywall you wish you hadn't sold it?

Let's review shall we? I know he "fixed up" the place for sale. The fixer was a Nigerian named Sonny who does crappy work and hires crackheads. The upstairs was covered in textured paint.... to hide the cracks in the plaster. I know this because the texture wasn't uniformed and very prickly and scratchy over the big cracks. The floor upstairs is uneven and is covered up by cheap carpet, which after 2 years, I need to replace. We discovered the plastic pipes weren't sealed properly, they were just being held together by friction and gravity. The windows are cheap "section 8" windows, that also need replacing and squaring. The interior doors are hollow core and I have so far had to glue them back on occasion.

I have so far, painted the front, covering up the hideous red, that sat between two other red (different shades) townhomes. Got rid of the 'weed' trees in the front and the back. Cleaned up the front yard getting rid of stupid low unattended bushes replacing them with large flowers that keep blooming and planted grass. Nevermind that the cat kills the grass, I made an attempt. I have replaced the front lighting. I put in a rustic looking brick walkway replacing the green turf carpet encrusted with dirt. I have planted herbs in the front. In the back I replaced the fence with a newer cedar fence, and then stained it. I'm in the process of painting the back, updating the kitchen, and the interior lighting. Future plans are to lay hardwood flooring on the 1st level, replace the carpet upstairs, and redo all the windows.

I really doubt the former owner/landlord would have gone through all this trouble.

posted by Mari @ 5.11.03