The Condo Renovation

One of the critical and final steps for implementing our plan to live for two years in Arthur required we renovate the condo so it could be rented. The renovation included redesign and upgrade of the two bathrooms, redesign and upgrade of the two bedroom closets, electrical improvements for all the new lighting, new carpeting, repainting, and new crown molding. Once completed, our condo would essentially have two master bedrooms with full baths and roomy walk-in/walk-through closets.

We returned from our holiday vacation in Florida in January 2020 and restarted our daily workouts at the Elzie Odom Recreation Center in Arlington, TX. MFI had previously befriended a young man at the center named Michael who said he specialized in tile work but could also be a general contractor for our renovation. We looked around but went with him primarily because the price fit our budget, and he sold himself very well.

MFI prepared detailed renovation drawings and obtained the required permits from the city. Our agreement with Michael and his subcontractors was we would purchase all or most of the materials from Home Depot so our military discount could save us an additional 10%. We also were going to construct the two new shelving units for the master closet ourselves. My apologies to those who can’t or don’t care to read drawings, but they were explicit and demonstrate what was provided to contractors.

The project started on 8 February 2020. We rented a storage unit near Jon in Richardson, TX and cleared out most everything except the kitchen, MFI’s tools, and the minimum items we felt were needed to live through the renovation. Initially, we showered conveniently at the recreation center after our workouts, but when it closed because of COVID-19, we resorted to PTA (Pits, Tits, and Ass) baths in the kitchen sink. The living room became our bedroom, which we shared with the huge, still boxed new vanity. Michael installed a zippered, plastic entrance to the construction area, and we hung a plastic wall, creating a hallway that further separated us from the front door and their pathway to the construction area. These precautions were only partially effective as we both went on OTC medications for allergies caused by the expected dust.

This area required cleaning daily, but only got it about once a week.

Bedroom in living room
before plastic hallway

Going to the bathroom was logistically difficult. But because the toilet in the guest bath only needed to be pulled when the old floor tiles were removed and when the new floor was installed, we were able to keep it operational throughout construction. However, navigating the plastic hallway, zippered curtain, and exposed studs at night was a challenge. And during the day when they were working, we had to visit the local grocery to get any bathroom privacy. That situation improved of course once the drywall was installed.

The first several weeks went by quickly because most of the work was demolition.

These pictures illustrate the level of demolition in the bathrooms and closets.
Everything was taken down to the studs; and for the master bathroom, the concrete slab had to be broken out to relocate drain lines for the shower and toilet.

TPM took two videos early on that walks you through the rooms while he explains the intended scope. The first video covers the master bedroom closet and bathroom and the second covers the guest bedroom closet and bathroom.

A second set of videos was taken after some drywall was installed. These provide an improved view of what the rooms were going to look like once completed.

Construction took about 12 weeks, 4 weeks longer than originally planned. Some of the extra time was required because MFI unceremoniously, yet spectacularly, fired Michael, the prime contractor. This meant that she and TPM had to complete the two bedroom closets, the guest bath linen closet, and fix his many mistakes and sloppy work.

View from living room to back hallway and guest bath

The pictures below show the very nearly completed construction in each room from a clockwise perspective.

Our sub-contractors Ricky, electrician, and Rueben, everything else, were highly skilled tradesmen and the finest of human beings. MFI had Ricky install a recirculation pump at our water heater and map our electrical panel. He cut the drywall inside our front closet to run power from a living room outlet to the recirc pump. When MFI repaired the drywall cut, she realized how absolutely perfectly he had made the cut. Rueben’s work was so outstanding, we kept adding scope for him also. He ended up reshooting popcorn over previous repairs that had been made to the ceiling in the living and dining rooms, and painting the ceiling. We had not planned on installing crown molding in the two bedrooms, living room, or dining room, but his work was so precise, we had him do it after discovering he also had that skill.

Once the renovation was completed, we needed to move out and thoroughly clean the condo so it could be in ready-to-rent condition. Just before focussing on the cleaning, we moved our mattresses from Arthur to the condo and camped out. We’d forgotten how comfortable these mattresses were. This allowed us to move everything else to storage.

The cleaning took us the better part of two weeks, and we took the opportunity to make small repairs on little things that had been bugging us for years. For example, the face of the fireplace insert had not been cleaned since the great roof leak and repairs of 2015. TPM removed and revived the glass door handles, cleaned the glass and brass, and repainted the insert. And our patio, where it was always just too hot to enjoy, had not received much attention in years. Overall, we thought the result was quite impressive.

MFI had redesigned and renovated the kitchen and laundry rooms in the spring of 2015. She combined the two rooms and installed IKEA cabinets and appliances (less the refrigerator). The room for storage was possibly quadrupled.

We departed Arlington on May 12th, 2020 after spending our final night dry camping in Arthur at the RV storage lot. This was knowingly against the storage rules, but we couldn’t get ahold of the owner and had to leave a phone message describing what we were doing and why. He met us the next morning just before we pulled out and assured all was good. We were excited to be on the road again, especially headed to Florida.