DIY Lay Hardwood Flooring

I have remodeled many homes and lived with the process. I'm 65 days into this mess. Demolition is completed. Well I've gotten all the carpet, pad, wood strip and scraped the glue.  Next step is to remove the floor molding and scrub the concrete. It's a dusty project. Wet  mop twice a day...

Here towards the end you can see my progress. 

After shopping on State College at seven stores, Home Depot, Lumber Liquidators, and two local flooring showrooms I decided on six inch wide plank with a matte finish. A number of Realtors told me dark is "out." I opted for a conservative tone that is in between gunstock, red oak and medium warm. I purchased from Floorstoyourhome.com online. I am not certain this method is for everyone. after educating myself about all the brands, how they are made and prices I was careful to shop on their website waiting for a deal on the type of specs that I desired. It took me a couple weeks to actually execute the purchase as they have small lots and they come and go. Small company in Indiana that shipped for free. Price was vital as my budget for a 1100 square foot downstairs was $ 7000. I had bids for $12000 to $21000 including labor and all the parts.

I planned to order t-molding, transition strips and stair molding from them, but found they wanted to charge shipping and material was available at Ganahl Lumber.  

One problem about picking up the long strips of t-molding (one was 17 feet) I'm not certain I would

choose to do that again with my BMW X5 and the goofy flags hanging out the back. Might have been worthwhile to pay $33 in shipping to floors to your home as I worried about getting a ticket.

Here's the very first piece being "laid." Floor is clean enough to eat dinner off and wood is glued to my nice level floor. All my belongings are upstairs in boxes, and antiques scattered as best I could. My son Carson has been pretty ill, and I thought I was going to have my second pair of hands but all things you plan seem to go awry. 

Michael Graves Fire Sale!

Shiny new teapot

Some years back I bought several Michael Graves items for my home. If you are unaware Michael Graves is a brilliant architect and designer. Most of the items were not terribly expensive, but I wrongly assumed they were functional. I looked online and found a couple of my items for sale on ebay and they all seem to be like mine - non operational.

The singing teapot was such a cute item when we first bought it. My daughter loved to make tea but unfortunately it lasted about ten heat ups and the bird whistle actually melted. This was the first of the failures. I also bought the egg timer above which never seemed to keep time. Below is a photograph of my toaster- the plastic white front melted from the heating coil ( thank God it didn't burn the house down) and the handle that pops the toast down never seemed to remain intact or engaged. Also below is a garlic press note it is missing half of an arm. The metal used to create the handles was so brittle and soft it snapped off and is broken. We threw away the handle some time ago. Also the little battery powered clock is made of the same metal aggregate material- the hands of the clock fell off.

Target stopped making these cool housewares objects I believe in 2013. All of them were made in China. In retrospect I wonder does Michael Graves ever feel embarrassed that these items that he thought were bringing creative design to American homes were junk and maybe even dangerous? 

In my work I see this with homes. Buyers are still looking for deals in REO's but the danger is they have no idea what condition the home is in. The house might look nice from the curb, might even be polished up and painted over by some flipper but the bones inside are junk. 

I know of a couple people who bought a Flip house without knowing it was:

1. a meth house three years back

2. had leaks and mold

or 3. the plumbing froze and every pipe in the walls was brittle or removed

These houses all ended up needing major repairs to make them inhabitable

Like myself buying a new toaster, tea pot and housewares thinking they all looked

great - and enjoying the fun of the outside appearance- in the end quality is

what really lasts.

Buyer beware I guess.

Anyone want to buy six Micheal Graves things all soon to become museum pieces

that by the by don't work? Only $3.99 for all six. Fire sale!

my graveyard of Michael Graves home appliances

Broken house hold items that seemed nice on the outside

Raise Your FICO Score

Lead a horse to water, take a drink for them?

I am working on a number of refinances. Some are streamline

FHA refinances into lower rate, lower MI premium. Often

Borrowers choose a FHA loan product not just because of

the low down payment, but because their FICO score is

low or they have credit challenges.

For some reason credit habits are like any other habit-

drinking five glasses of water or closing your eyes to bills

when money is tight. Many of the customers who I fixed 

their credit now are back again in the same low score situation.

All credit can be repaired. It takes letter writing, juggling some

balances, making sure everything going forward is current and

some tips and tricks. I am again sharing with you tips on how to

get your FICO up:

Opt out - do a consumer credit opt out and stop all the

junk mail and soft credit pulls, also helps prevent fraud

Balances below 69% of available line

Ask me about a letter writing campaign for free

Get everyone current and pay on time.

DON'T close accounts

Do not ever give your social to CarMAx

Don't let people pull your credit file

Open a Bank Account Open a bank account and use it responsibly. This is the first step to establish a financial history. Secured Credit Card Apply for a credit card. Shop around & only apply for a card if you can meet the lender�s requirements. Responsible use will help build a good credit history. Get a Co-Signer A good way to establish credit is to piggy-back onto someone who already has a good credit history established and is willing to co-sign, but be aware that any default of credit on your part affects the credit of the co-signer. http://eaglehomemortgage.com/carolinegerardo C. G. Barbeau (949) 784- 9699 NMLS # 324982 Store & Gas Credit Cards Since some gasoline credit cards are not revolving they are sometimes easier to obtain than regular credit cards. Similarly department stores offer revolving credit for a specific purchase and this is sometimes easier to obtain. It is also a great way to establish credit.

Streamline FHA Spouse' Credit

Just a quick note to let you know we DO NOT have to pull credit on a non-borrowing spouse in a Community Property State on our Non-Credit-Qualifying FHA STREAMLINE REFINANCE loans.

Non borrowing spouse can have bad or weak credit