Someone asked if I would be giving updates on Karl’s house. I will some. I am really open with all of my stuff, but I try really hard to be respectful of my kids. I don’t mind if you see my house “as is” with boxes sitting around of mail in the background or a kitchen counter that hasn’t been wiped off yet, but I have no plans to walk into Karl’s house and snap pictures of what has or hasn’t been done without express permission from him. Some people don’t like sharing their “as is” life.
You might notice that I don’t blog a lot about Buck and Lora…part of that is because I don’t see them as much and part is that they are a little more private and that is totally okay with me and I completely respect that.
I have had people comment saying they wish their family was as close as ours is…well, part of the reason we are close is that we respect each other’s boundaries and preferences as much as we can.
So anyway, back to Karl’s house…For the most part, Karl doesn’t care what I share…but I’m still not going to go to his house and snap a bunch of pictures of the inside. I can however tell you the latest updates.
You might remember, this is Karl’s house the way it looked when he bought it at the end of March.
It looks like it needs help from the outside…from the inside it’s a cute little house. I shared the original inside pictures in THIS POST.
The first thing at the very top of the list was to get the wiring fixed. Karl got a bid from the same guy that did my kitchen lights, Speltz Electric in Fredericksburg. Karl got a bid for a full rewire and had some sticker shock. The estimate was $25,000 for a full rewire. That was a little steep for Karl’s budget…the electrician talked to Karl and said he could do a partial for $10,000 but couldn’t guarantee it without actually getting in to do the work.
Karl put all other updates on hold until this job was done as there is a BIG WIDE gap in the budget until he knew what it was going to cost. He prioritized the windows next and got on the carpenter’s list for that as they are a must-do too…but other than that, things had to wait.
So Karl waited a bit and the electrician came. We were all pretty sad when the electrician started the work and had to call Karl several times. Karl finally said, “It’s looking like a full rewire, isn’t it?” The electrician said yes and we all started holding our breath. If you’ve done remodels, you all know the drill of the nervousness waiting for the bills to come in.
The electricity has been done for a week or two now…the bill finally came in today. The electrician messaged Karl and said he wanted to go over the bill with Karl before he sent the bill. That made Karl worry all the more. He was at work and messaged this all to me. I told him to just step out of work and call…no sense to worry until we knew if we should worry.
So…Karl put the family through a whole guessing game. He made us guess what we thought the bill was…it went something like this…
Kalissa $30,000
Buck $41,000
Me $14,000
The other kids didn’t get time to guess before Karl did the reveal. The cost was $15,500 and he got the whole rewire.
Whew. A HUGE sigh of relief. That is totally manageable and the remodel can go on.
So next up…time to pick siding colors.
When Karl first got the house I asked him, what color will you side it? Without a single hitch, he said, “Green.” That surprised me. Everyone is siding their houses gray around here…there are still some doing the tan colors…no one is doing green.
He explained that the house has always been green so why not keep it green. He’s right. The siding is green that’s on the outside and there is another layer of siding that’s under that and it is green too.
Green made sense after he said that. This is the pretty green he picked out.
Here is how it looks on a house.
I like it.
He picked the color out in about 5 seconds. I loved it. He loved it…we thought everything was good.
Not.
His carpenter can’t find the siding anywhere. UGH. So, he had to pick a new color. He was so disappointed.
The carpenter stopped new siding samples by. He didn’t like any of those greens. They were dark gray/greens or light sage greens. So he started to entertain the idea of a different color….perhaps, maybe he’d pick a…..blue.
He still wanted that Mediterranean palm…but maybe blue would be okay.
He ended up liking the Bayou which is the top one….but I pointed out that the Bayou color was from the same company as the green he liked and that might not be able to be found either.
So…he decided he is fine with either of these…Bayou or the Costal Blue if the green he likes truly can’t be found.
I’m excited for whatever color gets picked.  Blue and green aren’t typical house colors in our small town of 250 people. I think it’s great to have a color that all the other houses aren’t.
So that’s the latest with Karl’s house. Next up is the carpenter…he’ll be doing siding and windows. It’s the hope to have the windows in before the snow flies…and the siding by next spring. Our carpenter is behind but we like him so it’s worth the wait…Besides, everyone else is busy too.
After the carpenter goes, then we’ll know what’s in the budget as far as fixing anything else. Karl does have a lead on some kitchen cabinets. We’ll have to see when that person has their remodel done if the cabinets will work for Karl.
…and that’s what I know about Karl’s house.
Good for Karl selecting a different color! That is one of the things I love about living in an older neighborhood, move variety in houses. I hope his color choice is available. We had to make some changes in choices also for our recent project.
Yea,Karl!! A good idea for kitchen cabinets is to find a Habitat for Humanity Restore somewhere near you!! Our Restores are usually filled with cabinets, at unbelievable prices!! Good luck and happy shopping to you!! I did check, and there are several stores in Iowa!!
Many homes in our area are using that shade of Bayou blue. It looks lovely with white trim. But, I also liked the green. I am happy that the electrical was prioritized and that the whole house is done. That’s probably the biggest safety concern, so glad that’s out of the way. Thanks for the update!
I love the blue with white trim! House remodeling is not for sissies!
Thanks for the update on Karl’s, house, Jo. Thrilled that the wiring came in less expensive than anticipated!!
Buying and remodeling a house is a lifetime project. Praying all goes well with Karl as he gets his house remodeled.
We just finished a grueling whole house rewire. What a mess that is. But we feel safer now. In doing so, we had to replace hot water heater, toilet, garbage disposal as well. And had to pay to have all the sheetrock holes plugged up and now awaiting paint. Maybe he can resell his home for a whole lot of money and move to another renovation. One house at a time. I hope Karl can get his green home. Why does the siding have to be replaced? The whole thing?
I hope the green can be found. That would be my choice, too! Either blue is nice also, but that green is lovely.
You’ve talked before about respecting family boundaries and that is awesome! Your kids can tell you ANYTHING and they know they are safe.
Yea Karl!!!! Great job on that rewiring-safety first. Food for thought: I don’t know if ya’ll have talked about doing the windows yourselves? We’ve done ours and it’s amazing how easy it is. About 2h per window. We were able to get the exact same size so that is what made it easy. We used composite boards for a quick easy trim.
Happy Tuesday Jo! :-)
LOVE THE GREEN, but the blues he chose are beautiful too, can’t go wrong with either option. Thanks for posting, I love home remodel stuff too, so I was hoping to see an update. I loved the first photos you shared when he bought the house, it has so much old home character. Glad the wiring worked out less than expected, but also a full job so safe too.
Ditto to all the above especially respecting boundaries. Out here in my part of CA, the builder picks palette and then most people think the colors are “wrong” if changed. I like a blue such as his pick of Coastal Blue.
I set a few neighbors teeth on edge with my siding but I love it. All choices he likes are “good” choices.
Wonderful news on getting the electrical all done and for such a great price from someone you can trust. Its nice to hear the updates on how the house is coming along. I hope they can find the green but any color that Karl chooses will be a great pick, its his home now.
I hope all the work ahead at Karl’s home goes well! I am a green person and loved the color he originally liked, but the Bayou Blue is pretty cool as well, he will have a very wonderful house when all is done, it is a lot of work and expense, and the process is tough to endure sometimes, but he was so lucky to find a cool house just where he wanted to live! All positives.