Getting a house ready to sell

I started preparing the house for the market on Monday. I spent all day Monday and Tuesday in the yard because a winter storm was coming. It snowed Tuesday night and by Wednesday, I started on the inside and satisfied with the work accomplished outside. I swept out the shed, cleaned up debris, sucked up dirt and leaves. etc. etc.

Wednesday was spent cleaning and filling holes in the dry wall. Wednesday night I hired a lady to clean the bathrooms and kitchen appliances. She was more of a maintenance cleaner than a deep cleaner. Some of her work had to be redone.

Thursday I hired Edie Irey's cleaning company. Her help couldn't come due to the fridged weather, but she was awesome. She cleaned baseboards, window tracks, and door frames. I started painting walls and baseboards. Gregg came after work and we painted into the night. Gregg's help was invaluable.

Friday morning we finished painting and Edie worked on the kitchen and wood floors. Carpet cleaners came around 11 that morning.  I worked on miscellaneous repairs, painting, caulking, and cleaning.

Saturday morning Gregg helped me stage the house, and we moved heavy furniture around. We planned to clean out the garage, but it was too cold to do much. We were about finished when I went to close the lid on the five gallon bucket of paint. Feeling exhausted, I lost my balance while stepping on the lid, and paint went all over the floor. I went home for the shampooer and Gregg spent the next couple of hours cleaning up the mess. However, we were out of the house by 11 AM just in time for the first showing.

Below is the great room

The only furniture I brought in were 2 bar stools.

I used many of the same decorations that was on top of the kitchen cabinets before. I added a few of my own and rearranged everything.

Below is the kids bath.

Most of the bedrooms only got a window covering and a silk plant on the window seal. However, this room got the rocking horse and giant bear. The stars were already there.

The master bath turned out great. I bought towels and miscellaneous pieces but most of it came from my house.

The down stairs bathroom received new towels and a bit more greenery.

My favorite turned out to be the half bath but I forgot to get a picture.

Reupholstering the Love Seat

New chairs in the living room.

 One ottoman found a home in the computer room.

I thought I would buy new furniture for the West wing. After looking at prices, I decided to buy two chairs and fiture out a way to save the existing love sea. First I painted and glazed the wooden accent pieces.

 Then I used the existing couch cover along with another couch cover taken off the couch in the west wing and remade it for a tighter fix. After hand sewing around the wood sections, tucking under the edges and staple gunning them down, I used upholstery tacks (actually, these are thumb tacks painted rubbed bronze) to hold the fabric in place and add a decorative touch..

I painted and glazed end tables to match the wood on the love seat.

Below is the finished room.

Before pictures

Below is the sloppy look of the couch before reworking it.

Flood and vermin proofing the yard

We raised the section on the right here to keep water from funneling in. We have a drain that feeds into the french drain so the water will eventually get pumped out into the ditch. However, one week prior to the Boulder Floods as we call them, we noticed rain water funneling in so quickly that the water was backing up into the house. We were home when it happened and caught it quickly so no permanent damage was done. We got the chronic problem fixed prior to the heavy floods. It was certainly a blessing to notice it when we did.

 Below is my favorite fix. The down spout is connected to underground drainage that funnels out into the yard. However, when the drains fill up, water would spill out of the down spout and funnel into the area where the walk out basement was created. If that funnels in too quickly, the water will find its way into the house. We took a regular plastic down spout gizmo and cut a whole large enough for the black drainage pipe to fit in. After sliding the gizmo over the black drainage pipe, we caulked the gap. It worked beautifully when the Boulder Floods came. Rain water poured down the spout, filled up the pipes in the yard and then spilled over into the plastic gizmo. From there it innocently found its way into the grass away from the foundation. It worked so well, we did the same thing in two other locations.

We widened the gate so that a wider lawn mower can get into the back yard. Lawn services are often cheaper if your backyard has good access.

Check out the fence post in the center of the photograph below. There is a huge owl perched there that is apparently the cause of death to a number of small rabbits we found victimized in the yard. Does anyone have any ideas on how to keep it around? Sure is a good solution to rabbits.

See the fence latch below. Along with metal edging along the bottom of the gate, the rabbits have found it difficult to get in with this tight fit.

Before Pictures

Here is a picture of the ground level before raising the right corner. Water funneled in much like the leaves you see here.

Below is the gate prior to widening it. Gregg and I did the labor ourselves when the handyman kept putting us off. We are happy with the results.