73 replies to this topic

[Doohickie]

Okay, so I'm a Southsider now:  Stopped by Jabo's ACE Hardware in Westcliff yesterday to pick up a few things and ran into Joel Burns and J.D. Angle and engaged in some chit-chat with them.

[Doohickie]

I was going to post up this house on Facebook which recently popped up on realtor.com, to see if anyone I know wanted to be my neighbor.  By the second day, an offer was already accepted on the house.  South Hills is heating up.

[Doohickie]

At Casa de Doohickie this morning, a 12" water main broke. That's my house in foreground.



Our garage, family room and backyard got pretty drenched. I guess I know the house can withstand a hurricane now.

We had about 4 inches of standing water in the backyard by the time they got it turned off.

[roverone]

I'm sorry that this happened there nearby.  I hope the overall damage and time without water are not as bad as they seem they will be -- that kind of pressure must flush a lot of dirt out of the ground.

 

And it happened on a day that no one's yard needed any more water -- where was that on a 100 degree+ day?

 

I've had a fiber crew horizontal drill right into the underground power, shorting it out and starting the utility equipment, and then the bushes, on fire.

 

Unwelcome surprises.

[Doohickie]

We were without water for about 5 hours.  Not too bad.  The damages seem to be limited to some small dents in the cars, some water briefly in the garage (receded immediately after the geyser was shut off) and some water that got into the ridge vent over our family room.  The city sent out Blackmon and Mooring to help with that, which is the most immediate issue.

[txbornviking]

At Casa de Doohickie this morning, a 12" water main broke. That's my house in foreground.



Our garage, family room and backyard got pretty drenched. I guess I know the house can withstand a hurricane now.

We had about 4 inches of standing water in the backyard by the time they got it turned off.

 

[Doohickie]

The city sent Blackmon and Mooring out to dry out the water that got into my attic (it sprayed up under the ridge vent).

[Doohickie]

Congratulations!  We're facing the same prospect. 

 

Did you ever put your place on the market?

 

We had kind of a milestone this week.  The one room that needed a major update was the kitchen.

 

I kept the existing cabinetry and appliances but remodeled the room and added to the cabinets.

 

When we bought our house last year, we didn't like the built-in breakfast nook table, and wanted to add some cabinets for storage.  I removed the built-in only to find the the flooring didn't run underneath it, which meant that additionally we needed to do the floor, too.  The sweep of the project became:

 

1. Replace range hood with a microwave, and change out the light fixtures.
2. Remove wallpaper and repaint room.
3. Remove current laminate floor and replace with a new one.
4. Add a bank of cabinets along the blank wall in the room.

 

Some Before and After pictures.  The Before are from the real estate listing from last year, the After were taken this weekend.

Before 1 - the glory of 1990

  

 

After 1

 

Before 2 - yes, that "tile" floor is actually a Pergo-like laminate

  

 

After 2

 

Before 3

  

 

After 3

 

Before 4

  

 

After 4

 

And some views that weren't in the listing.

Looking toward the living room at the front of the house

 

The new IKEA cabinets (yes I still have a little paint touch up to do)

 

The wall behind the new cabinet was at one time an exterior wall with a door and a window.  It's now an open doorway to the foyer.  The foyer used to be an open back porch but the previous owner of the house enclosed the porch to provide a continuous connection to the family room (formerly a garage) off to the right.

 

Foyer, looking from the family room.  The kitchen is a step up to the left.  The window that opens inside to the foyer has another one next to it that opens outside.  The room on the other side of the window is my wife's office.  That's her "full service window" where she can issue commands to me when I'm in the family room. 

I got fancy and painted the ceiling robin's egg blue because I saw an article saying they used to do that with porches in the south.  I thought it would be a neat touch.

[JBB]

We haven't yet, but I feel like we're going to make a decision to stay and finish remodeling or put it on the market in the next few months. We met with our realtor last summer and decided there were 2 remodeling projects that had to be done - kitchen and master bath. Both were in terrible shape and I was especially worried about the kitchen driving down the value since it is one of the first things you see walking in the front door. We put new floors (laminate wood) in the kitchen and removed wallpaper and painted paneling. The updates were refreshing and we actually enjoyed using it during the holidays this year. We used a contractor that did great work, but it ended up costing a lot more than I thought it would. We're getting the money lined up for the bathroom and I'm worried it's going to send me to the poor house.

Your updates turned out great. I'm especially intrigued with your above the range microwave. We had a 20 year old countertop microwave and our contractor offered to install an above the range that we provided for nothing. (He also installed a new light and replaced switches and plugs at no extra cost.) 30+ years ago, vent hoods were 36" wide and you can't find a stainless above the range microwave wider than 30". We were concerned about the look if it was smaller and chickened out. I'm wishing we had gone forward with that because it looks great in your kitchen.

[Doohickie]

I'm especially intrigued with your above the range microwave. We had a 20 year old countertop microwave and our contractor offered to install an above the range that we provided for nothing. (He also installed a new light and replaced switches and plugs at no extra cost.) 30+ years ago, vent hoods were 36" wide and you can't find a stainless above the range microwave wider than 30". We were concerned about the look if it was smaller and chickened out. I'm wishing we had gone forward with that because it looks great in your kitchen.

 

A couple thoughts:

1. It depends what's behind the vent hood.  In my case, they tiled all the way up to the upper cabinet (although there is a small spot at each top corner that wasn't done, but it doesn't stand out since it's in the shadows at the top).
2. Our microwave is within spec as far as height above the stove, but just barely.  We got this microwave because it was the match (same brand and trim) to the stove which came with the house.  However there are microwaves out there that are not as high and would leave better access to the stove.  (It's probably not an issue if you're not tall, but for me the microwave blocks my view, and to a lesser extent access, to the rear burners).
3. If you put in a narrower microwave than the opening, there are a few ways to address the gap on either side if you don't like the way it looks:

• Put in a small shelf on either side of the microwave, although I'm not sure how much utility it would provide.
• Put a blank closeout panel in line with the front of the cabinets that matches either the cabinets or the microwave on either side.  If I wanted to do that, I could get away with painting it white to match the cabinets or black to match the microwave.

[JBB]

One of the reasons I decided to leave it as is for now is because of what's behind it. The back wall of the hood itself has a rack for hanging utensils that sits above the backsplash. I'm afraid there's just an unfinished wall behind it and doing anything beyond painting it to hide it is more work than I want to do right now. At one time, there were trim kits you could buy to fill in the space but they've been discontinued and sell for more than the cost of the microwave.

[Doohickie]

It will be fantastic once we can get unpacked, but right now there are boxes everywhere and we can't find anything.

 

We're about 3/4 of the way there.  The main part of the house is clean and livable.  With the completion of the kitchen refresh, that room is much more usable and we've been able to unpack much more of the kitchen stuff.

 

Still to do are the family room (my "man cave") and the garage.  The tradeoff to get the house ready for the holidays is that pretty much all of our boxed stuff that was in the main part of the house was dumped into the family room.  In order to get to some tools, we had to empty out the garage but then we put most of the stuff right back in, so we can't park any cars in there yet.  There's probably half a car of empty space in there (that I used as a workshop while working on the kitchen).  Soon I'll clean up that mess and maybe we can squeeze a car in there.

[Doohickie]

A great example of Mid-Century Modern for sale in South Hills.  It's priced about 50% over normal price per square foot for this area, but they might get it, considering the architecture and the upgrades inside.  Last time a house like this went up for sale it ended up in a bidding war.

 

 

 

[roverone]

That is a cool looking house.  Thanks for the pictures.  Beautiful kitchen cabinet faces.

[johnfwd]

I wish the inside of my house looked like this.

[ramjet]

South Hills is such a cool neighborhood.  I lived on Binyon as a kid and went to South Hills Elementary.  I'm so glad the neighborhood has been rediscovered and the terrific homes are being restored.  You're a lucky man Mr. Doohickie.  That house above would go for half a million dollars in Austin.

[Doohickie]

The house I posted on Monday is already under contract.  Not surprised.

[Doohickie]

The house needs some updating, particularly on the electrical system and windows (original windows, mostly painted shut), but overall it's in good shape for a house 60+ years old.

I was looking for something else and tripped over this thread.  The electrical was updated when we moved in, and I (finally) got my new windows two weeks ago.  The windows were made at the NT Window plant in the old S&H Green Stamp building on Seminary and Cockrell, a mile from out house.  I think that's pretty cool.

[Doohickie]

If this is frowned upon, let me know and I'll take down this post but....

 

If you need a tamale fix and you're close to South Hills in Fort Worth, contact my neighbor, Kelsie. From her mom:

 

"Dear neighbors,

My teen daughter Kelsie is selling homemade tamales to help pay for a trip to World Youth Day in August of 2023. She can deliver within 76133 or zip codes close to here. Her number is 817-395-9852, please text her because she is at school and can't use her phone during school hours. Se habla español. $15 a dozen and donations are accepted. The link is attached to order. Thank you, gracias!"

 

Link to order: https://vqr.vc/8XBDnEx7E

 

I just took delivery of the ones I ordered yesterday and they smell delicious!

 

I first met them when they were fundraising for their next door neighbor who was battling cancer, and they did several breakfast taco sales to help with her expenses.  They make great food.

[John T Roberts]

It appears that Forum Rule #4 may or may not allow this.  It states that allowing or not allowing a post like this is up to the forum administrator.  I'm going to throw it back on the members.  What do you think?  Should we allow this to stay or go?

[Stadtplan]

The intention seems pure as does Doohickies desire to spread the word for a good cause. The only thing might be I am a little surprised a mom of a teenage girl freely hands out her daughters cell phone number but it is also listed on her order form. We live in a crazy world, this isnt Waltons Mountain or Walnut Grove. Maybe they should setup a free Google Voice account where mom can monitor the communications from her computer too?

Years ago, there was a group of three teen brothers who were very entrepreneurial and did all kinds of odd jobs like carpet cleaning, yard work etc. They printed up fliers and handed them out. The one constant in all their efforts was the watchful eye of mom every step of the way.

[Doohickie]

Yes, mom and grandma are both very watchful.  Like I said.... say the word and I'll take it down.  Maybe I should take it down after a few days.

[Stadtplan]

Seems like a creative way to fund raise and a family effort too.

[txbornviking]

It appears that Forum Rule #4 may or may not allow this.  It states that allowing or not allowing a post like this is up to the forum administrator.  I'm going to throw it back on the members.  What do you think?  Should we allow this to stay or go?

 

my $0.02 is to keep it posted... maybe taking into consideration what Nixtrope says about a minor's phone number being posted, we can have it deleted it in either 30days or in August 2023?