I leveled the floor in our upstairs bathroom. It was out by 4-1/2 inches over a distance of 7 feet, but I might have left it alone except that the flooring and plumbing needed replacement anyway. I tore up the old subfloor, exposed the joists (which were placed in a pretty haphazard way). I sistered new joists onto those and cut tapered strips which I secured to the old joists, effectively making a 4"x8" joist. This also made it easier to install new plumbing. The most expensive part will be replacing the flooring, because I am using tile instead of the original linoleum. I chose to do this instead of jacking the whole wing of the house because I didn't see much sign that the foundation was still sinking. If there is something going on like rot or a collapsing foundation, that's a different call. The room was small, 7'x9', so nothing was real costly. Aside from my labor, there was probably less than $500 in materials, including the plumbing. Tile will add another $400-$500. Old houses are "old", and you can spend a lot of money trying to make them level and plumb, at which point they are still "old".

Well, thanks for the clarification of what I thought about the crediting thing. Sounds like it's a better deal for the buyer than it is for the seller, unless the seller's getting a big enough profit that the amount of the credit isn't going to hurt much, or there's room to raise the total price to balance out the amount of the credit. This is basically a semi-starter tract-type house (it may be 4br/2.5ba but it's small with small rooms, doesn't have a big yard or a family room, so it's pretty different from most of the other 4/2.5s around)... it's the kind of cookie-cutter generic vinyl siding, vinyl flooring, oak cabinets, Formica counters, fiberglass baths type house that was built in vast quantities in the 1980s and early 1990s (this one in 1994, but we joke that the builder was cheap and bought all the 1980s style stuff no one else wanted because it looked like it should have been built in 1986). It looks like it should be in a subdivision but it's not. Yeah, it's got a spiffy - if rather idiosyncratic - master bathroom we put in when we were expecting to stay here another 15+ years, but trying to bring the rest of the house up to par with that would run us easily $50k+. I had picked out a neutral speckly laminate (Wilsonart Milano Brown), not one of the expensive high-def laminates, but not something cheesy either. Because of the cabinet layout we wouldn't even be able to use the stock postform counters, which I know some people think of as being "cheap". Granite or solid surfacing would be inappropriate for the rest of the house - not to mention being yowza expensive, because there's a lot of counter for the kitchen size. , but it's handy; at this point there's a different stove and hood, different lighting and hardware, the floor's in boxes stacked in the laundry room... :-) Turnkey houses and "handyman specials" (the two ends of the spectrum) seem to be selling the fastest, but of course the serious fixer-uppers are selling for commensurately low prices. Our realtor did send us off to look at the competition/comparables, and we've gone to some OHs, few of which really seemed to be really close - similarly priced houses were either nice looking and smaller/fewer BR/BA, or comparable in BR/BA/SF and needing a lot of work. We had planned on asking a sensible price from the start, allowing for imperfections (we're not blind to the property's failings!), without completely screwing ourselves. But MY thought is that if people are thinking "gotta fix this, gotta fix that" every time they turn around instead of "hey, I can just move right in" when they're viewing the place, I expect they'd be likely to drop their offers even lower (which is exactly what I would do, and exactly what we did when we bought the house!). I'm trying to minimize the "worn" look particularly in the kitchen and baths, and get it closer to looking just move-in-ready rather than trying to make it look like new construction, which would be lame because it's not. For instance the once-shiny brass-plated plastic on the "OMG how 80s" contractor's-caselot lighting fixtures was peeling; I spent a few hundred dollars on new ceiling fans and light fixtures and the difference was overwhelming. As for hurryup-timing the listing, can anyone do something about the weather? :-) We've got at least two, probably three solid weekends' worth of outdoor work that can't even be tackled until the weather improves a good bit. We'd be lucky if DH can get that stuff even started next weekend - gotta love this spring weather, it's been snowing/sleeting/icing for the second dadratted weekend in a row! The property looks absolutely wretched outside - curb appeal? What's that? Don't make me laugh! Our deadline for listing is 5/25, being ready 2 weeks before that would be great but there is no way we can be ready much before that unless miracles happen right darn quick. And since Murphy's Law has gone into effect with an absolute vengeance in the last couple of months, I really cannot foresee any miracles. :-(

I found some stain paint "pens" at the hardware store recently and they are AWESOME! Shaped like a small marker but have a felt paint tip. The stain hasn't come off any surface yet. Don't know the name of the pen as most of my house is packed up - ready to be moved. They were displayed on hooks. The package was light cardboard/heavy paper and about 2 1/2 inches by 5 inches and the pen was in a plastic bubble. They came in different wood stain colors with a spare felt tip.

Dilly- Actually the dresser is 1948..So pretty close to the 50's! HA... That is really good information on the brass. I have been lugging this thing for years and its been in my basement at four previous homes. When I get time I will take a close look and see what the story is on that. I like the idea of making it more aged (if possible)depending on what I find. Very good ideas and thank you so much for sharing that knowledge with me... Will let you know what I find. I had an entire white french provenial bedroom suite when I was a child. Canopy bed and all. It was a late 60's thing too. This dresser is a lot slimmmer on the sides and has more curves. Just some neat history on stuff..Its funny how time repeats itself. To give you guys an idea of "how bad" this place was when we bought it. I guess the previous owner locked their animals in here for very LONG extended times. Especially in the finished basement. The cat pee would kill a Marine! LOL...You could crack the door and pass out. We had a "forensic" cleaner come out and lessen the smell by 80%. Then we were able to at least go down and start getting the junk out. Once all the junk was out, he came back and did some more and it was 95% better. We purchased a huge dehumidifier and kept it on full blast for two weeks. A family member is in commercial janitorial and she sent me some stuff to finish cleaning the walls and concrete. Now all is well in the basement. Upstairs was ankle deep in dog hair. Every air vent was clogged and the returns were stuffed full. I don't see how they even breathed in here. Cat poop on the counters on the stove in the stove. We were not sure we could even save the refrigerator. I tackled the stove and DH did the refrig. FOUR HOURS... The grease was in multiple layers and once I started disturbing it the rat poop started coming to the surface...OMG....I almost lost my lunch a few times. We were able to save both of them. The Master Shower was soooooo bad it took us three days and lacquer thinner to remove the dirt. The shower doors even after lacquer thinner and everything under the moon including bleach and pressure washer were unable to be saved. DH will end up tiling the entire shower but we were trying to at least get it where we could live here. We have no vanities or linen closets (cabinet man is hard at work as we speak) So we are unpacked except for that. What little sheetrock that is in here is in great need of paint. The biggest shock was it has a HUGE master closet and not one rod or shelf was ever installed in it! People lived here for four years like this. It was a diamond in the rough and it only took us walking in for one second to realize the potential. People tell us we love punishment! HA! We call it sweat equity... I just can't wait for the painter to get here...He is going to start in Master Bath and go to the MIL room. Then we will get through Thanksgiving and start again.... I can't wait to hang some pictures...... You guys will see the finished products, I promise.... I know I am gonna need a little help here and there..... Ohh yeahhh every door in this house was either scratched down to bear metal or wood. DH has been one painting fool!!! He is "Charlie Daniels" of the spray gun...LOL!!! Took us a week and half just to clean the first story so we could move an air mattress in....Lots of fun when you are moving across three states...Ahhhh yeahhh we nuts!!!!!! Lisa