Looking like an apartment.

It was about two weeks after Mom had seen the mess, taken pictures, and given the tenant notice. We were expecting the worst, and it's a good thing we did. According to my mother, the place still smelled horrible. The walls looked bad, the floors were nasty. They had huge stains everywhere. The walls and ceilings had cracks in them from it not having heat in such a long time. Plus they were horribly stained. And so the research began. How to get a smell that is soaked into the walls, and floors out.  Also, I looked into how to get the smell out in general. Taking down the window treatments he left, was one big one.  My Uncle, who is a contractor told us to try Kilz paint. In the following pictures you can see where my Mom and a few others had started Kilzing the place, and putting stuff in the holes and cracks. You can see the stains in the walls and on the floors. The bedroom which was one of the least damaged rooms is below.  Another thing to take note of is the windows. The all open in. I positively love them. My mother was very serious about putting in new windows, but I did everything I could to make her keep them, which she did. And thank goodness, because they add a bit of personality to each room.

The least damaged room was the bedroom.

Another of the bedroom, you can see my small hallway that leads into the apartment.

Here you see my bedroom closet and my windows. Which I love.

 

The bedroom Kilz'd. Don't you just love my windows? My mother wanted to replace them, I made it clear to her that wasn't happening.

The living room was horrible. The stains on the floors were just heartbreaking.  Mom and I had several talks about it. At times she was sure that it all would have to be tore up. I was in tears the first time. I thought that meant i'd get stuck with carpet, or the fake wood stuff. It wasn't how I remembered the place.  Of course I was on prednisone at the time, so that could account for the overly emotional reaction.  I'm still not sure why the hardwood floors were so important. I guess when I first saw the place as a teen, the floors were what I originally fell in love with.

This shows you the window facing the back yard, the doorway leads to the kitchen. As you can see the floors were a mess. The walls, also stained, with the cracks.

The other side of the backyard facing windows. The open area leads to the hallway, which has the bedroom off it, and leads you to the stairs, where the door is. You can also see the door to the closet in this picture.

This is the otherside of the living room, it is facing the front yard. You can see another closet door here. And look at the windows. I love how they open.

The other side of that set of windows. You can see how bad the wall stains were.

The living room Kilz'd

Otherside of living room Kilz'd. Again... the windows.

The kitchen had to be gutted, as did the bathroom. My mother said it

The kitchen as the tenant left it.

The kitchen tore up and Kilz'd

The bathroom gutted and Kilz'd. This is the one window i'm allowing to be replaced.

Mom reported that the smell had gone away once the whole place had been Kilz'd. Of course they had to have the windows open now from the paint smell. It was a huge step in the right direction.  Also they had no electricity, or gas while doing the work. I had called to have the electric turned on, but when the tenant turned of the electric, the electric company took out the meter. So we had to have an inspector come before they'd do anything.  When the inspector came, she told us that we needed to wiring on the outside of the house.  My mother called an electrician, and he said it would be at least 3 weeks. But my mother wanted to get this done for me. So she worked day after day, after day.  

It was all coming together. We had one issue solved... the smell. And It was looking like an apartment again Up next the painting begins, and we figure out what to do about the floors.

How it all sarted...

In August of 2013 I made a life decision. You see I was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder at the age of 15. Now at 29, I was ready to stop treatment and allow my body to destroy itself. However something inside me snapped. I was tired of being sick, I was tired of my life being directed by how I felt. The place I was living at wasn't good for me physically,  nor mentally. That was when I sat my Mom down. I told her, if I was going to fight to live, I needed her help. And that help included getting me into my own place, and making it a home. I had an apartment in mind, the upstairs one in an apartment house she owns.  I had seen it once when I was a teen, wooden floors, large base-trim, and a claw-foot tub. She agreed.

Once little problem, there was someone else living in there. He was a friend of the family, and I was confident that if asked for me, he would gladly move. Mom asked, he agreed. Then one day the downstairs apartment called, and water was leaking. Mom had to get in upstairs fast, and since he had told her in the past that if she needed to get in to fix a leak, that she could go in. When she opened the door, she was greeted by a horrid smell.  She knew then that this wasn't going to be pretty. What she saw when she made it upstairs made her stomach roll, and her mind turn. That once beautiful apartment was destroyed. Cat feces everywhere, pop bottles, cat food, an apartment, that looked as though it was a dumpster. 

This was the cleanest room.

The Kitchen. 

Completely destroyed bathroom.

Entrance into the living room.

Other-side of the living room. You can't see it but there are wooden floors under this mess.

Corner of nothing but cat feces.

Another living room.

I was hearbroken, my mother was disgusted. This once dream home looked like it may need demolished.  The smell was horrendus. She didn't know what to do. I thought I wouldn't ever have my dream home.

She went straight to the renter, and told him, he needed to clean it, and get out. She called a constable and had him deliver papers.  

We called the insurance, and of course it didn't cover this kind of damage. To have a professional come it it would cost anywhere from 6,000, to 8,000 dollars. Money my Mother didn't have. And so we had to wait until the renter was out to see what we were left with.

In my next post you will see what the once prictene wooden floor look like, along with walls. He hadn't had electric or gas in the apartment for over 3 years.