The Things We Find Left Behind

If These Floors Could Talk

The little house we’re completing now is one of my favorites. The first time we snuck inside, tiptoed through the fallen ceiling tiles while dodging the dead wasps on the floors, I knew this ratty little shack was going to be a keeper.

Repo’s are generally a mess. Holes in the sheetrock, exposed plumbing, missing doors, drawers and hardware… anyone who’s looked at a few knows what I mean. This one was *really* something. Mr. Brz and I have poked fun at the odd construction of the house, the non-square-ness of every door, window and corner, the way the roof slants 3 inches from one side of the house to the other. We snickered, speculated, and laughed ourselves silly. What were they thinking? Just how drunk were they when they framed this window? As you can tell, we’re just a barrel of laughs.

Then we pulled up the old flooring.

Underneath we found this… do you see it?

How about now?

And now after much photoshopping?

The rope swing on the hackbark tree out front should’ve tipped us off.

Real people, real dreams, real troubles, real sad.

I’m planning to be kinder in the future to the unknown former owners of the homes we’re rehabilitating.

And I’m going to say a little prayer for Michael, LeAnn and Joshua… wherever they are.

Note: I wrote a series of articles on the Magnolia house for RenoNation at www.Atticmag.com. If you’d like a visual, start to finish, click here.

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Tags: investment, real estate, Rehab, renovation