Home Projects
Real Estate on Long Island is out of control with home prices reaching ridiculous all time highs in 2005, 2006, 2007. The decrepit cottage in the image on the right is 60 Mill Drive as it stood in 2003. The previous owner purchased this home in 2002 for $68,000. After the purchase the prior owner had the new pitched roof installed (over the existing flat roof ) and installed vinyl siding. The entire upgrade could not have cost the prior owner more then maybe 15-20k. I purchased 60 Mill Drive in 2007 for $190,000 netting the prior owner more than $102,000. 60 Mill was one of the cheapest homes on Long Island at the time I purchased it. It is the property and not the house itself that attracted me to 60 Mill drive
Prior to my Purchase This house prior to 2003
The house was a shack prior to 2003 when the prior owner renovated the entire cottage and built a pitched roof over the existing flat roof.
The backyard is heavily wooded with lots of downed trees and garbage
After Clearing the Front Yard
This is the start of my Kitchen renovation. I am cutting out the old ceiling in the kitchen to make use of the new pitched ceiling. I will vault the kitchen ceiling to 18ft just short of the roof pitch and allowing an attic soffit at the top. You can see in the images below that the old ceiling joists where rotted all the way through and hanging free with no support. The ceiling would have fallen in if left as is.
The old ceiling joists where rotted through and hanging free from the support wall
Removing 7 layers of tar roof to raise the ceiling in the kitchen
Laying a Hard Wood floor from the mud-room through the kitchen. The old mud-room floor was slate and it was breaking up under my feet. The hardwood provides support as well as beauty