Welcome to the Captain's, the little house that is becoming a big project.
Have you ever thought about buying a cheap house and renovating it? Not the usual renovations like painting or having a contractor do everything mind you (that's cheating). I'm talking about taking it all apart and building it back up again, yourself. Wonder if you can do it? We did and we figured we could. Now we are. How well will it work out? We'll see, but so far so good. Check out the blog for progress, the galleries for photos and the tool review for hardcore information on critical items that we are using and you may need if you take on your own project. The blog may even help you decide if such a project is right for you. Whether or not it does, feel free to comment on anything you see here.
We bought this house in May 2013 knowing it was a gut-job. Gutting is the easy and fun part. There is something very rewarding about taking a sledge hammer (known as "Ol' Sledgy") or a pry bar (no special name) and removing something that normally seems permanent. Especially when it makes a loud crunch. I highly recommend it for therapeutic reasons, or just plain fun.
Why do we call it the Captain's house? Well, much to my chagrin, the listing started with the words "Ahoy Matey! A real sea captain's house...". Normally that would turn me off both the house being offered and the agent who wrote it, but something about the old house grabbed our attention. Even though pretty much everything we could actually see inside (and much that we couldn't) desperately needed to come out, we liked it. We looked at other houses but kept coming back to it and always referred to it as the Captain's House since I couldn't remember the address.
Was it actually a captain's house? Yes and no. Some things were revealed as the demolition went on. Read the Captain's History page to learn some more.
Thanks for reading.
Have you ever thought about buying a cheap house and renovating it? Not the usual renovations like painting or having a contractor do everything mind you (that's cheating). I'm talking about taking it all apart and building it back up again, yourself. Wonder if you can do it? We did and we figured we could. Now we are. How well will it work out? We'll see, but so far so good. Check out the blog for progress, the galleries for photos and the tool review for hardcore information on critical items that we are using and you may need if you take on your own project. The blog may even help you decide if such a project is right for you. Whether or not it does, feel free to comment on anything you see here.
We bought this house in May 2013 knowing it was a gut-job. Gutting is the easy and fun part. There is something very rewarding about taking a sledge hammer (known as "Ol' Sledgy") or a pry bar (no special name) and removing something that normally seems permanent. Especially when it makes a loud crunch. I highly recommend it for therapeutic reasons, or just plain fun.
Why do we call it the Captain's house? Well, much to my chagrin, the listing started with the words "Ahoy Matey! A real sea captain's house...". Normally that would turn me off both the house being offered and the agent who wrote it, but something about the old house grabbed our attention. Even though pretty much everything we could actually see inside (and much that we couldn't) desperately needed to come out, we liked it. We looked at other houses but kept coming back to it and always referred to it as the Captain's House since I couldn't remember the address.
Was it actually a captain's house? Yes and no. Some things were revealed as the demolition went on. Read the Captain's History page to learn some more.
Thanks for reading.