A (Major) Cleaning #4

In 1982, gas was $0.92 per gallon, Israel returned Sinai to Egypt, the first issue of USA Today was published, the first CD player was sold, Michael Jackson released Thriller, and this house was most recently painted.  That is, until last week.

The work we just finished in this suburban house included the most prep we have ever endured.  The paint was peeling and cracked just about everywhere.  There were water stains and large cracks on the ceilings, the baseboards were abused, the baseboards and all woodwork was discolored with age, and not a single door closed properly.  My team and I were brought in to spend 9 days bringing this house back to life with a major cleaning.

I had to stop myself from taking pictures of every wall in this 3 bedroom house and posting them here.  Instead, I am summarizing the condition of the house with these selected photos.  Keep in mind that the entire house looked somewhat like the following 3 examples before we did any repairs.

A bedroom before

After

Hallway before

Hallway after

A wall in the living room before

After

Prior to us starting this work, the homeowner had her own preparations to do.  When she took the pictures down from the dining room wall, she realized that the wallpaper had to go.  So, we added it to the list of things to do.  I think it was a good idea.  After painting the ceiling, walls, window frames, chair rail, and cabinets, it would have been a shame to leave the wall paper up.

Dining room 1 before

After

Dining room 2 before

Dining room 2 after

Her screened-in front porch also needed quite a bit of work

Front porch before

After

Front porch detail

After

Finally, we cleaned up her basement walls, which were cracked and stained.

Basement before

After

This is the kind of work that is extremely satisfying for me and my team.  We feel like we gave this crumbling old house some new life.

A Cleaning #3

When I got to this house for the estimate, the homeowners freely admitted that they have been there for 37 years.  They painted it themselves when they moved in and one other time, but they could not remember when that was.  Since they were getting older, I was told, it was time to think about fixing up the house to sell it or live comfortably in it again.  We only contracted to repair and paint every surface of the living room and dining room, but it was a big task.  They didn't want to change the colors of the house too much.  This was just a cleaning.

Below are 2 examples of the condition of the dining room and what they looked like after the repairs and paint.

Dining Room before #1

Dining Room after #1

Dining Room before #2

Dining Room after #2

The living room ceiling had an old water satin and some peeling paint.  The walls did not have much damage, so I don't have any close up pictures.  I am including these pictures so you can see the amount of woodwork we had to paint, the amount of obstacles (furniture) that we had to handle, and the overall cleaning we did.  

Living Room before

Living Room after

Stairwell before

Stairwell after

When we were done and I sent the invoice, the homeowner wrote back to me stating, "I can tell you that we have been very pleased with your efficiency, clear communication, promptness (including swift response to calls/emails), and I have no doubt that we will be pleased with the work itself--once we get everything back in place."