We moved into our latest home in November of 2019. The home is a dated, split-level with 1970s paneling, ugly wallpaper, carpet everywhere, and snot yellow walls. Fun!:

Oh, throw in some cigarette stench and a dilapidated pool. This is the home only a flipper can love. But that’s what I am, so we bought it. It’s time to provide an update on our progress.

While Mindy and I bought the home to fix up, we’re very long-term flippers. We don’t want to move again until the youngest baby bird has left the nest and she is only 10 now. Our extended timelines change the way we think about the home.
We’re not focused on just making improvements that will add value. Some of the changes we’ll make are for our own enjoyment and may not make any money at all. Some may even be money losers. Or convince other humans that I’ve lost my mind. One example of this is the upcoming T-Rex outdoor pizza oven!:

While a potential buyer may not appreciate Pizzasaurus Rex, it will increase our happiness (picture smoke coming out the T-Rex ears [Oh yes, this will be awesome.]) and also provide us with wood-fired pizza. Mmmm, pizza…
Pizzasaurus Rex is a project for 2021. In the meantime, I’ll regale you with my progress (or lack of it).
The Win Column
Bathroom
The guest bathroom was ugly and had carpet everywhere. Including around the toilet. If you pee standing up, you know why this is a problem. For the ladies out there, sometimes men hit the target, but not always.

I’m off-topic no. How do polite posts devolve into conversations about toilets and pee?
Anyway, the first big project was remodeling the bathroom (YouTube video here!).

- Cost: $1,020
- Value Added: $4,000*
*I’m pulling this number out of my behind because these things are hard to estimate.
Windows
The 40-year-old home had 40-year-old windows. They were not efficient and a couple of them were broken.
We went with fancy fiberglass windows. They were more expensive than vinyl, but I like the solid feel of them.

Twelve windows and three sliding doors set us back a load of money, but the home will be more comfortable when Old Man Winter shows up. In Colorado, this happens to be today (9/8!):

We also went with triple-pane windows in some rooms to block out the yappy neighborhood dogs. Finally, we replaced one window with a sliding door which allows easy access to the deck.

While windows set us back a load of money, we saved a ton by doing the job ourselves. One of those window replacement companies would have charged over $20,000 for inferior windows.
The job wasn’t bad either. I hired a friend to help out and we completed everything in 12 hours.
- Cost: $17,000
- Added value: I’m going to call this one a wash. We installed fiberglass windows which cost a lot more than vinyl, but I doubt most people care. I’ve never seen another home with fiberglass.
Deck
I finally finished building the fancy curved deck. I started this project in March, but then COVID and summer got in the way.

- Cost: $7,000
- Value Added: This is a hard one to estimate. If we had paid someone to build this it would have set me back at least $20,000 and we never would have broken even. However, because I did the work myself, it will probably add some value to the home.
Pergola
And the pergola that goes over the deck is finished too:

This was a fun one to design and build. Because the span is about 25′ between the corner supports, I had to use aluminum beams. They are covered in stained cedar now, but here is what it looked like before:

- Cost: $3,200 ($1,200 for aluminum beams and fastening hardware, $2,000 for wood)
- Value Added: This is another hard one. The pergola turned out great, but it doesn’t provide the same bang for the buck as an interior project like a new kitchen or bathroom.
The backyard is looking pretty neat:

Random Improvements
I don’t enjoy living in a hot cave which is exactly what this home felt like when we bought it. Overhead lighting was scarce. So were fans. Here is what I did:
- Installed a whole house fan. These work like magic in Colorado with our cool evening temperatures.
- Installed LED, recessed lighting in the master bedroom and office.
- Installed ceiling fans in two of the bedrooms.

- Cost: ~$700 ($118 for 2 fans [Ebay!], $120 for 12 lights, $250 for whole house fan, and the rest for switches, wiring, and electrical boxes)
- Value Added: No clue.
The Opposite Of The Win Column
One improvement that has been in a state of Project Purgatory is the basement:

We bought the home with the basement completely unfinished and are turning it into a finished room with a media area, kitchenette, and full bathroom.
I pulled a permit in January and hit the ground running at maximum speed. Completed tasks include:
- Egress window ($1,200: $600 for window, $300 for concrete cut, $300 for window well): I dug this out myself, but paid some to cut the concrete.
- Bathroom rough-in ($100 for various plumbing parts): The basement had no rough-ins for plumbing, so I opened the floor and tied my waste lines into the main drain.

- Ductwork ($150): I tied into existing ducts. Not hard, but that metal is sharp! Ouch.
- Framing ($1,200): Here in Colorado, we have unstable dirt, so you have to float the walls. That and all of the ****ing ducts meant that framing took a loooooong time. I spent many, many hours staring at the ceiling, contemplating how I was going to build around certain ducts.

The basement isn’t that far from being useable space. I still need to wire it up, install insulation, and complete all of the finishing work, but the heavy lifting is done. For me at least. I do most of the work myself, but someone else can install the drywall.
Spring 2022 Will Not Happen
Had I known about COVID, I’m not sure I would have bought this home. The last thing I wanted was another death march like our last flip where I completed extensive renovations on the home while working a full-time job. This was a very bad idea. In the age of COVID, I’m spending a lot of time managing remote learning, so I don’t have the time I thought I’d have when we bought the home.
My original goal was to have to home done by spring of 2022, but hit is unrealistic now. Spring of 2023 is more likely.
At this time, you may say this:
So what? You’re going to be there for at least 8 years.
To this, I’d reply:
- I’d tedious to live in a home that’s half-finished. The carpets are dirty, the shower in the master bath doesn’t work. I have lots of repairs to do. Part of what made this home appealing was the thought that I could get through all of the work quickly.
- In the age of COVID, we’re in the home more than ever. Pre-COVID, I didn’t spend much time in the home while the girls were in school. I’d drop the girls off at school and head over to the coworking space or exercise outside. Now, we’re in the
construction projecthome All. The. Time. - I don’t like open-ended projects. They weigh on me mentally.
At this time, you may say this:
OK Mr. Complainypants. Whatever.
And you’d be right. Life is still pretty good. And it will be even better with Pizzasaurus Rex.
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Your skills and creativity are inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! If you have a guest suite on a beach somewhere, I’ll come build something for you too!
Awesome work! I totally understand your downsides about living in a flip while it’s going. We’re in Hawaii (flew Dad out from California to help, so we could have had you join us!) and redid our house from roof to floor while we lived/migrated throughout it. Even after strategically planning it so we would not be without a working bathroom and minimizing kitchen down time, it was a pain. In retrospect, we should have built our detached studio first, move into it, then renovate the main home to prevent having to live in a dusty environment throughout.
We’re actually moving to Colorado within a year and looking for a possible long-term flip home, but this time, we’ll make sure we have a portion of the home we can corridor off to keep our sanity intact during the process!
Yep, it’s a pain living in a flip. A big check when you sell makes most of the pain easy to forget. Most…
And whoah, Hawaii to Colorado! Ping us when you arrive! Colorado is very ADU friendly, so perhaps find a home with one to live in while you fix up the rest of the home. Or, build an ADU first!
Aloha! We finally made it to Denver, and we closed on our fixer upper! A long list of projects await us for sure. Hope your projects are humming along!
Thanks for providing an update on the house. We had some neighbors install a couple of ceiling fans on their porch last month — between that and your post, I’m feeling inspired to crawl around the porch attic with some Romex and maybe that’ll waft away our mosquito problem. Pretty sure I could tap into an outlet upstairs to get power…
I had no idea “floating walls” were a thing. Never thought I’d be grateful for east coast red clay!
Do it! Sounds like a nice project for a weekend morning! If you lived in Colorado, I’d help!
Appreciate seeing the success and failures.
Overall, do you think flipping homes has been worth it? I don’t necessarily mean the financial aspect, but of course, that’s included. I mean in terms of your time, energy, health.. worth it? You guys seem to genuinely enjoy the process so no doubt that helps!
Love that fireplace, too!
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“Overall, do you think flipping homes has been worth it?”
If I didn’t enjoy the work, it would have been financially good, but not worth it. I really do like the work and that is everything.
Even if you don’t enjoy it, I do think it’s worth tackling some projects yourself. Contractors are a pain in the ass to deal with…
Look great – especially all you’ve done with that back deck. We moved in and started rehabbing our rental (our very first house) in March. We concentrated on the living area and are pretty happy with it. The yard and basement though..yikes. It always takes longer than you think!
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Everything takes longer!
Everyone time I see a house to flip I think, “that might be fun” then I remember that I would rather play video games 😛
I’m super jealous of your pergola though!
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Oh man, I have an NES Classic collecting dust. Soon…
Wow, really nice deck there Mr. 1500. I’m impressed looking at that beauty. She’s got some fine curves. 😉
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The renovations are looking good so far! I wouldn’t worry too much about adding value as you’re going to live there for 8+ years. I am keen to see what you do with Pizzasaurus red though! 🙂
Being the HGTV junkie that I am, I love seeing these progress reports! My husband is getting a lot more into doing a lot of the work/projects around the house himself, and since we’re about to buy a home that needs a bit of work, I can relate a bit to what’s going on in your world (except our home was built in the 1920’s! *gulp*).
I cannot wait to see what you do with that gorgeous area with the staircase! So much potential there.
1920s! Wow! Good luck! I look forward to reading about the project!
Looking sharp, Carl! The whole house fan is something we’ll have to consider.
And I love the shade over the pool. I might want to pick your brain on how to DIY one of those. Our pool heats up too quickly here in AZ and we sure would love some shade (at least, some that doesn’t drop leaves & needles directly into the pool).
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Shada sails are great! Let me know how I can help you!
The place is really coming along. Loving that outdoor space, and I’ll be loving it even more when Pizzasaurus Rex is alive and cooking.
Cheers!
-PoF
Next year, we’ll make some awesome pizza when you come to town!
Love seeing the updates! I agree living in the flip during covid would not be ideal but it looks great! I aspire know how to do that many skills myself one day in the future.
Thanks Alexandra! The work isn’t hard and it’s so gratifying!
It looks amazing. Nice job. We need to remodel the basement, but I don’t think I can DIY much. It’ll be pretty expensive. 🙁
The whole house fan sounds good too. I probably can put that in myself, mostly.
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Thanks Joe!
Basements are easy! Just watch this guy: https://www.youtube.com/user/BasementFinishingMan
I had never done one before, but learned almost everything I needed to know from Eddie.
+1 internet points for Pizzasaurus Rex
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