My Remodel Story

[psalmx]

Last October being tired of having our rent raised it seemed like every other month, my wife and I started looking to buy a house. I found on craigslist a 1968 skyline mobile home located in a park pretty close to where we wanted to live. It was the low low price of $1600, the description said liveable. Now everyone's description of liveable is a little different but this place was nasty. It was still filled with the last owners trash, some furniture they didn't want and about a million it seemed cockroaches. I bought it for $400 after some negotiating and the wife about killed me. We started the next weekend on remodeling it the next weekend. Well four months after some long weekends me along with the help of my brother-in-law had it "liveable." I originaly didn't expect to get that deep into this house but in the end glad I did and did it right. Hope some of you will look at some of the early pictures I have and point out if I didn't anything wrong (or right ) I will try to post the finished pictures later tonight. Well some what finished cause it will never be done. http://photobucket.com/psalmx

[Greg]

Looks about the way our daughter's did, only she had the bath tub & Water heater falling through the floor. Looks like you are doing it right, you will have a great sense of pride when it is done. Greg

[psalmx]

The floor underneath the tub had rotted and dropped about 4-5 inches towards the wall. How did the previous owners "fix" it? Cinder blocks under the tub. Only thing that saved the old water heater from falling was the I beam ran under it. All told my $400 mobile home cost me about $4000. Not to bad at all considering I now have no mortgage or rent. Labor was all me and my brother in law who thank god is a master electrician. Done so far is:
All new drywall, completely new pex plumbing and drains, switched from gas to electric water heater, new windows, new laminate floor in kitchen living room and hallway, made room for 60" bathtub and new toilet, added vent fan in bathroom, new circuits for kitchen appliances, new kitchen cabinets, made room for dishwasher, relocated thermostat, NEW SERVICE MAIN CABLE, and moved gas line to accommodate standard stove. I capitalised the service main because that is something I really suggest everyone check out when buying a mobile home. Ours looked right on the outside, but when I pulled the panel, I saw it was spliced and was really just a heavy extension cord. You can see in the picture it had already started melting with no real load on it.

[DCDiva]

Thank you for sharing---it gives me hope that we will get done some day--what is the size of the MH--ours is 12 x 48--can I see more photos of the finished kitchen--we are planing ours right now and it is nice to see one completed--the funny thing is the layout of your Mh is very similar to ours---it is for our dd and she has changed her mind about the kitchen plans a million times--we were thinking of having the stove and frig beside each other but open to ideas lol if she see it she might change her mind?
Thanks Melissa

[psalmx]

Ours is a 12x60. I think I have uploaded all the pictures I have to now, we still have to buy and hang the upper cabinets. Originally my wife said she did not want upper cabinets. Luckely I don't listen and when I had the walls opened up I did extra framing to support uppers. We are should be starting on them this weekend however. Thing about having a stove next to a fridge is figure if you are frying something on the stove and grease pops it will get on the side of the fridge. I tried to lay out the kitchen using the work triangle principle. Now that I think of it I'm glad I don't listen to my wife that much. She didn't want the window above the sink, any light fixtures in the living room ceiling.....

[Brenda (OH)]

only thing I would have done different or did not see...

I like a water resistant area in front of kitchen sink and dishwasher and exterior doors... 2 to 2 1/2 feet wide, and running maybe 8 inches beyond where the sink and dish washer is... or the length of the counter....

either a vinyl type product, or I have heard putting cement board and floor tiles.... regular laminate flooring is prone to water damage... carpet by exterior doors gets incredibly dirty and ruined quickly, having a tiled area saves the carpet...

did you caulk the front of the tub and part way along the wall to the floor? if kids use the tub, a lot of water can get out on the floor and back behind the tub onto the sub floor... same for the toilet base...

beautiful work you all did....

Brenda (OH)

[psalmx]

The dishwasher is a bosch which has a plastic tray to catch anyleaks and a sensor to turn off water supply if a leak is detected. Also used floodsafe supply hoses on the dishwasher, ice maker, and toilet. On the tub I orignally tried to use thishttp://www.homaxproducts.com/products/k ... index.html. It doesn't stick for more than thirty minutes and left a mess on what parts did stick. So I ended up using 100% silicone caulk which still looks nice and is easy to clean. Originally the wife wanted laminate flooring the bathroom as well but I was able to talk her into vinyl thankfully. Last night our front load washer decided to not drain and my wife didn't look and opened the door. I don't know if laminate would have survived but the vinyl I just mopped it up.

[Brenda (OH)]

Be glad the trim product didn't stick... I used it on a tub in my apartment building, 6 months later the sticky putty leaked out from the plastic seal, I had to take a weekend to clean it up, and then use caulk....

Thanks for sharing about the dishwasher tray, I will look for that feature if I ever get myself a built in dishwasher....

laminate... beautiful to look at... water is its deadly foe lol......

I am sorry to say, I got a chuckle out of picturing the water flooding out of the washer when the door was opened... like something from a comedy film.... or a reality show....

Brenda (OH)

[psalmx]

I think all bosch dishwashers have what they call 24/7 leak protection. They are pricey however starting around $600. Luckily I found mine on craigslist for $250 as they were upgrading to stainless appliances. Yesterday I fixed out washer too. There is a filter before the pump in ours, that is about four inches long. It was filled with change and those sheets that absorb colors. Needless to say won't be using those sheets again.

[Brenda (OH)]

maybe if you put the sheet in mesh bag used to wash delicates... ask the lady of the hose, she will know what i mean lol

change... hum.... something i will check for if i get washing machine issue. Brenda