January 23, 2011 - Do It Yourself, There's No Other Choice

Sue said "You guys need to stop crawling around all over the place and just hire someone...."

Let me tell you what it's like to live in this tiny town, where there are no services (other than bars, cafes and convenience stores), and 90% of the population is as old or older than we are.


Warning: this post will be heavy on the photos, and in two parts. Part one covers the interior projects, part two will be the exterior work. That might even involve a part three!


We bought this property in the spring 2004. We'd been spending winters, in our motor home, in Arizona for several years, and had come to Bouse at the suggestion of friends who wintered here. We soon fell in love with the little town, and with our neighbors in the RV park. I, however, had never been really excited about spending six months of the year in a "traveling box", preferring something a bit larger, with a solid foundation. When this old single wide mobile home came up for sale, right across the street from where our RV was parked, I jumped at the chance to buy it. It was in pretty bad shape, but I've always love do-it-yourself home projects, and fixing up an old trailer was right up my alley! I mean, we got the place dirt cheap, so we could afford to hire some of the heavier work to be done. You know, things like new flooring. And pruning/removing trees.

Getting the interior livable was the easy part. I loved doing the painting, and didn't even mind that I had to learn to cut, miter and install ceiling moldings and baseboards. It didn't throw me when I had to lay new tiles over the old floor in the small bathroom, and Mr. Granny took it in stride when he had to replace the sink and toilet in that room. The difficulty began when we couldn't hire anyone to install carpeting and kitchen flooring. We contacted places from Parker and Lake Havasu City in AZ, as well as in Blythe, CA. They were all too busy, or wouldn't travel this far, or scheduled an installation and just never did show up. So we carpeted the small bedroom ourselves, and I single handedly removed all the old tiles from the kitchen, floated on a leveler, and installed the kitchen tiles myself. It was about that time we found out...if you want it done in Bouse, you have to do it yourself. We did find a handyman to tackle electrical projects, but everything else was (and still is) done by us.


Mr. Granny converses with the owners, prior to our purchasing the property. I have camera in hand, and take photos of the interior during this, our first time inside. This photo gives you an idea of the condition of the kitchen.


Kitchen eating area, before.


Kitchen, after.


Kitchen eating area, after.


Kitchen floor, before.


I heated the old peel and stick tiles with my hair dryer, and pried them up with a kitchen spatula, to reveal the 1970s linoleum underneath. Notice the "baseboards". These were in every room, but I replaced all but the ones in the main bathroom.


I floated on a leveler, then a primer, then installed the new tiles. The new baseboards are a great improvement, huh? Thank heavens for my electric miter saw and brad nailer!


The living room before. The previous owners (talking to Mr. Granny) were heavy smokers, and every surface was covered with yellow smoke stains.


After two coats of primer, two coats of paint, baseboards, carpet cleaning, new blinds and drapes, new/newer furniture and a Blue Flame heater for taking away the morning chill, the room was much more inviting.


The master bedroom was just nasty! The electrical panel adorns the wall next to the bed.


More primer, more paint, baseboard molding, more new blinds, hand sewn drapes (made from bed sheets), and clean furniture made a big difference. Family pictures disguise the electrical panel.


The small bedroom was even worse then the larger one.



Primer, paint, baseboard molding, window coverings, ceiling cove molding, new carpet and furniture made this room comfy and cozy.


The small 1/2 bathroom was non-functional. The back of the toilet tank was broken out, and all the plumbing under the sink looked as though someone had kicked it out. The 70s green and gold linoleum had to go!


I think by now I had gone through more than six gallons of primer! There was no way I would live with dark walls. I'm just not a dark wall type of gal. Mr. Granny installed the sink and toilet, I did the painting and the flooring, as well as the baseboards and ceiling cove molding. We replaced the regular door with a folding door, which gave me much more room for furniture in the bedroom.


The main bath was probably in the best condition of any of the rooms, so I left it for last.


Replacing the tub and surround were out of the question, so I stripped off the wallpaper border, gave the walls a coat of paint, and had Mr. Granny replace the toilet innards and install a new faucet on the sink. Other than that, only a few accessories and a couple of throw rugs were added (the burgundy rug doesn't show in this photo).

The winter after we bought this place, Mr. Granny had a heart attack. That meant I was the chief cook and bottle washer, as well as the painter/carpenter on all of these projects. I loved every minute of it.....until the electric nailing gun quit on me. It didn't take me long to replace it!

Next: The outside.

32 comments:

  1. You are much more of a DIY person than I am, whether through necessity or inclination, I'm not completely convinced. I'm thinking of tackling a project, but we have a lot going on right now. Maybe I'll think, "If Granny can do it, I can do it!" or maybe I'll come to my senses.

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  2. You are amazing! I wish I had you here. The ceiling fan/light fell out of my back porch ceiling about a week ago, and it's still dangling out there. Luckily, my daughter is a good handywoman, when she has time.

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  3. Great job Granny!! It amazing what one can do with lots of hard work and paint!

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  4. Stefaneener, I've always been a do-it-yourselfer. That's why Mr. Granny could retire at 59....can you imagine how much money I saved through the years by not hiring anyone? That's going to change this year. I'm going to hire a Mexican lawn person to keep up the front yard up there in WA. That will give me more time to "play" in the back yard!

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    Diane, I do shun electrical work. Although I did repair some wiring in our motor home, after two repair places failed to find the problem. That's not too scary though, when the rig is unplugged and the batteries are disconnected.

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    Robin, yes. And my main residence needs a bit of that TLC this year!

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  5. Whoa! De'ja'vu! I think this is the same trailer model my Dad bought my first husband and I when we got married...it was 1970...I was 16! That trailer is sitting out at a Duck Hunting club, now.
    You have done an amazing job! I am so impressed...I terrified of power tools...but so envious that you have the huevos to use them! You're giving me hope...maybe I can do it myself, too.

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  6. Even if there are people that can be hired, it is best and fun to do it ourselves..., unless it's a multimillion project. ~bangchik

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  7. Lynda, you're real close, it's a 1974 model. Of course you can do it yourself!

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  8. Bangchik, I agree! Not only is it fun, it saves a LOT of money, and gives one a real feeling of accomplishment.

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  9. What a difference, but I know from experience that it is hard work. I also will not touch the electrics though, they scare me !! Diane

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  10. Wow, you've done a lot with that place and it looks great! Primer is a great thing, isn't it?

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  11. I am very much a do it yourselfer, but there are some things that I put off. It's not that I can't do them, it's that I'm scared to try. You did a really fabulous job on the trailer.

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  12. Granny, that's a job well done! We had to do some similar projects to our new house! They put in the cheapest rugs they could find and underneath was filthy from all the building waste while building..The bedroom actually gave me nosebleeds < ( found this out once I removed them and the others). Besides nothing like doing it yourself, then you know it's done right and you get what you want. Ginny

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  13. Diane, I don't do plumbing, either. But I do work on the outside irrigation lines and sprinklers.

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    Kaytee, I think I kept Kilz in business for a couple of years!

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    Thanks, The Mom. That's why I'm bored to death this winter. I haven't any projects to do down here. I need to get home and work on my house!

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    Ginny, I am gong to have new bedroom carpeting in my house when I get home, and I'll have that professionally installed. Unless my son decides we can do the wood flooring ;-) I don't bend over quite as well as I used to....or maybe I should say it's harder to get back up!

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  14. I love it when you post those old photos, that bathroom was downright GROOVY! DIY all the way here, too - out of necessity!

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  15. Erin, I got so %$#@&^* sick and tired of the green and gold, but now it seems to be coming back into popularity. It's bad enough that I have to put up with an olive green tub/surround down here, at home I have harvest gold. I think the gold is easier to work around, though.

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  16. Granny, you are amazing. You did a great job. I love DIY projects and have done many over the years.

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  17. Thank you, Charlotte. My next post will show when the real work began!

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  18. Gee Granny. I think I'll invite you and EG over. You two could really make my place nice. ;> I have to confess though, with a new house there isn't that much to do. The landscaping yes. But inside is mostly fine.

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  19. Fantastic transformation---I am very impressed. You guys do such a great job. I bet it was kinda fun to learn that stuff. I can paint really well, but I don't think I'd have the patience for tiling.
    Very very nice job, AG!

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  20. Oh wow Granny! This is so inspiring! I love all the changes! You are so good at DIY! The before and after photos are amazing. The house looks so much better! We have a 70s bathroom and kitchen. I can't wait to redo it.

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  21. Daphne, maybe we could tear up the place just so we could fix it? Nah, your new house is lovely as it is.

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    Thank you, Sue. The non-fun stuff will be in the next blog.

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    Oh, Meems, I'm so glad I'm not the only one stuck in the 70s! I'd love to have my bathrooms and kitchen redone at home. Especially the gold formica counter and Harvest Gold sinks and tubs!

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  22. I love that you had the before pictures so we could see what a dramatic improvement you have made. Wow! We did alot of rework of the house we are in now too but I was not thinking ahead when we tackled them - such that I never took before pictures. Wished I had as it is pretty dramatic what can be done for a reasonable amount of effort.

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  23. You have done some really nice work!

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  24. I am quite impressed... really! I'm half tempted to do a similar thing with this house (a doublewide mobile) but since we'll just be here for about 3 years I don't think I will do a whole lot. Except build my greenhouse... lol

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  25. Nice transformation!! And FAST, too!! I totally bow down to you. Took me a long time to do that to the inside of our place. When we moved into our house 20+ years ago, the front bathroom was green and orange, and both bedrooms had dark paneling. Yikes! We were working hard on the outside, but doing nothing inside, and then I got pregnant (how'd THAT happen??) and life just sort of went on, funky bathroom and all. Years later, I ripped off the green and orange wallpaper in the kids bathroom, and just this past year I ripped out the paneling in the master bedroom, threw some mud on and painted. Better late than never, huh?
    Can't wait to see the outside transformed!
    ~~Lori

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  26. You guys are pretty amazing, all I know is that I hope my wife does not see this post as she has a bunch of projects for me to do...

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  27. I love, love, LOVE before and after photos. You all put so much work into the home and it looks beautiful. I'm glad you were able to see beyond what it was, and what it could be. Looks AMAZING!

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  28. Hello there Granny, I wanted to tell you how much I love your mobile home, inside and out. Your kitchen and dining area is absolutely adorable, and I loved what you've done with the bedrooms and bathroom. All is just lovely!

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  29. Thanks to all who commented. I'm going through a period of fluctuating internet connections....again! I just want all of you to know I read and appreciate every comment, but can't always stay on line long enough to answer each one individually. All will be better when I get back home......:-)

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  30. You are AMAZING!!

    I love DIY projects too.. there hasn't been a place we've lived that I haven't torn up flooring, re-built cabinets or closets. I just love it! lol

    It looks a thousand times better now. You did a wonderful job!

    Hugs,
    Wendy

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  31. I have your blog in my bookmarks so imagine my surprise to have this pop up in my great internet tile google search.

    I want that green tile you blow dried out of there. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder isn't it? :O)

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    Replies
    1. Shannon, I hated it! There was so much avocado green in that 1983 mobile. You'd probably love the brown and gold 80s vinyl that I still have in my bathroom here in Washington!

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