1StGenCL

Figured it was time to throw a thread up but nothing major in terms of updates. We closed on the 29th and have been trying our best to get everything put together since. I have always been in condos so this was a change but so far so good. We wanted to be in East Boca for the good schools, in case we have kids and while I majorly compromised here with no garage, it is nice to be in a place with very little work to do.

This is a "villa" because it is attached on one side but we have a private pool and a little bit of a yard. The house was built in the mid 70's but gutted late last year and completely redone.

Downside, the garage was converted and then redone with out a permit so we are holding money in escrow for the seller to fix the conversion. They have to raise the floor 6 inches, reinforce a wall, insulate correctly, change door heights, etc, etc but at least they are paying the nearly $20k to fix it and it is nice to have a 3/3 instead of a 2/2.

On to the pics, when we bought it (sorry for the bars):

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Converted garage
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Move in day fun
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Just ordered some "SynLawn" to put down an 11x11 patch for the dogs and for some green behind the house. I planned to remove a square of pavers but many have said to put it right on top of them, seems like a bad idea to me.
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My goofy ass the day we moved in (please note the weeds through the glass and on the side of the house, we weeded the pool area but damn they grow quick.
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Desolate pool area. I fixed all the sprinklers, filled the beds with dirt and we are getting plants this weekend.

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The present my old building friends gave us for the new pool, pink because ft. lauderdale

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Pool pump is good, heater is toast so they gave us $2,500 and it is being hauled away today.
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Went to plug in a vacuum and found the skimmer line was packed full of sand, hopefully it was from construction and not broken...Shouldn't the inspector whom I paid for a pool inspection catch this? The valve to turn the skimmer line on and off was frozen, wouldn't move an inch.

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First step for the pool, some planters that I think are too small but the wife likes.
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Really boring but I got a good deal on LED floods from slick deals, nice warm white and since we have 31 cans in the house, figured it would save on energy.
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Want to build an outdoor kitchen but in the meantime, slickdeals sucked me in again and I picked this 6 burner for $199 minus a 10% off coupon. It isn't a great grill but decent reviews and heats up quick.

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Another great surprise, we heard rats chewing in our walls so Terminix wanted $1,500 to get rid of them and Orkin, while cheaper had no real plan except to say they were roof rats and Boca is full of them. Our floor is bright while and when we moved in the floors were dusty but not one dropping so we think they are just in the walls. I cut back all debris from the house, sealed up all holes in the house, and put plastic netting over all entrances on the roof, hope it works. So far, no rat noises and I found a dead one one the roof.
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We have 6 sets of triple sliding doors, unfortunately original and keep the house HOT so I tinted them, what a freaking difference. The first tint has a huge mirror effect, as shown, so I ordered 100 feet of one that is supposed to be darker and will install this weekend. This is the little courtyard in the center of the house.
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Old vs new, sucks I need to purchase another one for the other zone but...I filled some holes, found some paint the sellers left that matched so I fixed the wall before mounting Nest. I got excited and didn't sand enough so not perfect but when I paint a new color, I will make it perfect.
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Like I said, house is in decent shape and we don't have a ton to do but wanted to join in the house threads. I'm putting up a new lamp in the drive way today, mounting some house numbers since we have none, going to mount the TV's to the wall, landscape the pool, built some chaise lounges, finishing tinting and hopefully we will be good. I also am getting the house all connected via Smartthings and will be mounting a 7 inch tablet in the wall to control it all. So far I'm just sensoring all the doors and windows, incorporated Nest, ordering some Z Wave dimmers, ordering some cameras, z wave pool light I think, and we shall see what else. I wanted to add Kevo but the reviews are less than stellar so I don't know.

Not sure what to do with the interior courtyard off the kitchen but I'm sure we will figure something out.

Thanks for looking!

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

looks awesome... i love how clean it is with all the white... makes it look very airy and roomy...

Nicks2001tl

The house looks great, nice buy. Looking forward to seeing pool area upgrades.

The pool inspector definitely should have caught the sand in the filter and added it to his report. Buying a home is the biggest investment people make, I think not catching that is negligible. Don't hang the inspector out to dry but for sure give him a courtesy call.

SykVSyx

Great looking place, congrats.

Like what they did with the interior.

Maybe you can keep the lighting in the converted garage, and maybe upgrade the bulbs to LED?

wndrlst

Congrats!

Jakes_tl

That is a beautiful house!

thoiboi

why do you need pool heater in FL anyway

congrats on the gorgeous house!! Interested to see your smart home set up. Have you decided on a camera system already? I'd wait on Kevo as well. I looked into it, but I think they need some more refinement..

1StGenCL

Thanks guys and yea, I don't want to hang him out to dry but I called on the second to ask the inspector to give me a call and then earlier this week and nothing. I sent an email last night stating I had a few questions and I wasn't asking for a refund or anything and they assured me he would call this morning, nothing. I will end up fixing the pool but they want $1,500 to fix it plus we don't have hot water in a bathroom we learned, not sure why I even got an inspector. Him not calling me back is really pissing me off.

As for the Smart Home, I'm relatively new to this and haven't decided on cameras yet. There are so many variables and not having an attic throughout most of the house is another twist; any recommendations? I'm hoping to monitor them via Smart Tiles so we can see everything in one place via Smart Phone or the Nexus 7 I'm going to mount.

As for landscaping, wife is checking some plants out now and while I hate to do artificial turf on the one side, I don't want to have to store lawn care equipment so this was a good option. I was leery but our old building had a dog park with something like this and it was incredibly real looking, definately not the astro turf I always thought of. Then again, for almost $500 for a 120 sq feet, it better look good.

Doom878

So don't miss condos when I moved to a house. But lots more work.

stogie1020

Mazel tov! Awesome looking place!

Dan

Me like!

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

Looks great! Nice looking inside and outside. That backyard has lots of opportunities to look

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Marcelechka

Congrats!

Now I see what you mean with the pavers... I too would throw some greenery out there.

Place looks awesome; Our layout is similar... originally 2/2 but converted to 3/2.

Looking forward to progress

1StGenCL

Thanks guys, still trying to figure out what to do around the pool. The 'grass' just came in but the 15' roll looks way bigger than expected so I'm waiting for my wife to come back from a trip this weekend to use her SUV.

Added a light in the driveway because the other one was destroyed, then I took it down and added a dusk/dawn sensor but then learned the lights were too bright and turned it off, still need a solution for it. Oh, anyone know if I can paint the base of the LED bulbs black to blend in more?

Old didn't even have a top
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New
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Pool guy never showed so I bought a pipe bladder and blasted out the line and found it works, awesome suction on the skimmer line and only cost $11 :reckon: Put the pool heater on CL for free scrap and got probably 15 messages from 8:30 -10 PM at which point I pulled the ad and someone grabbed it the next morning. Too bad I tried to move it the day before and smashed my face into it, busted up my chin and gave myself stripes from the grate on top but looks much better. I'm going to redo the electric boxes and see if I can't clean that area up and put a paver base in under the pump before putting the wall back.

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Bought a tool chest to help organize all my tools, not as cool as Rockstar but a cheap start
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Still can't figure out what tint to buy, love the privacy for our bedroom but so damn dark inside, bought 100 feet too

Two done, one not (door is not open) but very little mirror
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Two done, one not
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More debris clean up out front, going to grab some spots for the trees
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Pickup people hate me
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Still need to mount this tv, no studs to be found and lots of cement behind so I'm going to cut the drywall out and mount some wood
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In other news, walked out of dinner and felt poor
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1StGenCL

So after many attempts, I finally figured out how to mount the TV There were just furring strips on solid concrete so I was going to run a 1x4 between them, mount it to the block with tap cons, then re-drywall and mount the TV to the furring strips and 1x6. Everyone said I was over doing it so I put 4 screws in the strips and cement with giant tap cons and then 4 other tap cons to the block; seems sturdy.

Disaster - kept finding pipes, etc and the stud finder did not help me, should have used a magnet.
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Patched up and new outlet in before paint
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Finally!
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Everyone told me to put the grass over the pavers but as expected, it looked like shit so I took the pavers out.
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Old pavers they went over
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Much better recessed down, just need to power wash the pavers now and figure out what to do with all the extra ones.
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Not bad looking but I really wanted to sod and I could have done it for way less then $525... Wife was concerned the dogs would kill it plus without a garage, the lawn care stuff takes up too much room.

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Acura_Dude

Nice work. Beautiful home! Congratulations!

The water still gets chilly during the winter months.

1StGenCL

Thanks guys, nothing major, work has been busy and all the small things, like learning how to maintain the pool have taken over. Dog also caught a Bufo toad that cost us an emergency trip to the vet so I have buried 6 inches of aluminum mesh all under the fences, to help keep those poisonous things out. I also broke out in really bad poison ivy all over, set me back

Filled the pots
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Started on the beds - Tall stuff is lemon grass and the smaller grass like stuff is society garlic, both are supposed to keep misquotes at bay.
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Transplanted that taller palm tree from out front because you couldn't see it but it isn't doing so well. Still need to add some bright flowers on the empty side. Also, painted the pool filter because it stuck out being white and the protective coating wore off, leaving me covered in fiberglass during filter changes. Wish the fence painters didn't paint the tree fence color.
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Want to convert the fireplace to gas but in the mean time, I found there was an old candle mount. I scrubbed it down, sprayed it silver, sprayed the wire curtain black instead of rust, and put some rocks down. I was hoping for more but it is ok, just need to straighten the candles and maybe add a bigger holder, looks weird to me.
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Up next is pool furniture, kitchen furniture, and flush mounting the tablet for Smartthings. I can't figure out how to power it in wall, without breaking code. I would like to hardwire a usb behind the wall in a box but since the tablet will be in the wall, it would be against code to cover the box. Not sure what to do, most people seem to just run wires through the wall Also, need to get some pool speakers, hooked up to the tablet as well.

1StGenCL

We've got a table AND a light, still need to grab two more chairs....
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Converted our pool to salt
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Finished my chairs and table
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Best invention ever
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Neato is needed for this one and I made my wife pull those ugly curtains
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Trying to get orchids to grow in the tress
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Start of the tablet mount
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White frame but looked funny against the off white...
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So I made a new color, still not sold but it controls, lights, alarms, locks, etc. I had to cut out the camera because it wakes the tablet up on sensing motion but the tape line wasn't clean so it needs a re-do.
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Home security, magnet mount under coffee table, one behind the bed as well
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Wife is doing some curtains
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Pulled the pavers and put drips in all planters
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Slick deals sucked me into color changing, SmartThings controlled lights but again, not sure if I like them and yes, they go white
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Up next, finish cleaning up my paint job and paint the trim a fresh white. The door had a dent or two so bondo to the rescue. Also, perfect time to mount our new SmartThings controlled lock
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Big project is gutting the beautifully finished garage, raise the floor 5 inches, cut out the doorways to make room for the door that is now five inches taller, raise electrical to keep in code, raise toilet and shower

After that, want to put a water fall in the courtyard but the garage is first and damn, I wish we had the garage but happy wife...

Also, working on a wood box and sound proofing for the pump, half way there, just need to do the top and mount the gas shocks, to cover this mess.
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1StGenCL

Missed the edit time but I want to replace the hinges that the previous owner decided to paint so they match the door hardware and I'm hoping to find "security" hinges, since hurricanes say we need them outside.

I really would like bigger lights on the wall, I like the ability to control the color, brightness, and such from my phone but they look tiny. This post also made me realize that the pool looks greenish but in real life, it is bright blue at night. Time for an LED in there, color changing of course, even thought it will always be on white or blue but why not.

ACCURATEin

Nice mods!

Jakes_tl

Such an awesome place! I feel like a poor man now.

DarkTower19

Place looks awesome!

SamDoe1

Neato is awesome. We love ours as it keeps the ridiculous amount of fur our golden drops completely at bay. Best $450 we've ever spent.

How did that door you painted turn out in the end and how much of a PITA was it? We are thinking of doing the same but want to see how it would turn out first...

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

+1 Very nice pad man damn

1StGenCL

Thank you all, very kind words.

Cleaned up two of the doors today and they came out pretty well but I need to touch up some areas (when I scraped the glass, it pulled some of the paint off the door). My wife put paper under the grids and me being a guy said there was no need to but she was right, way better method I'll post some pics up tomorrow.

House mods are fun but wrangler or boat coming soon so I need to hurry up and get the house done

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Bro...you've been busy AF! Love this thread, love your place, love boca, love your tool box
amazing updates! Do you know Ivo? Familyguy on here...him and his wife life in Boca and doing the same kinda renos, similar place in life. Probably a good friend for you...maybe next meet.
Love your home defense, I have a similar setup but with the quick safe or whatever it was called, bought it once the kid was born...basically keypad drops open boom boom.

Aside from a cost savings for those LED's...they are SO Much cooler...202 degrees were the old halogen vs 98 for the led. Big savings in cooling and not having to bump the AC every time you need light.
I voted for a grow house for that area outside the kitchen

Unfortunately, there's probably no recourse with the inspector...I actually got *certified* in 2006 for this because at the time I was doing home energy surveys with FPL...then chickened out because of the liability and possibility for conflict of interest if my leads stemmed from my day job.
Either way, there's no test, it's just a 2 day course and then you're an inspector...you can't be your own company until you work for 2 years under someone but that could just mean you're their bitch for 2 years getting them coffee and then you're qualified to write a check mark report for someone about to drop a third of a million dollars. I took what I could from my experience and what I learned and applied it to buying my current place and it served me well. Jealous of your pool...but wife wants one too and that'll probably happen in the next 2 years. She grew up with one and swears that it'll keep our kid from going off and getting into trouble in the summer time. Why get in trouble in the streets when you can do it in your own back yard. LOL...plus, I'll be that creepy old man from American Beauty urging her to have her 18 year old friends over, tops optional...


PS, there's no way you're not naked in that mirror blocked out shot


You're extremely handy, I love seeing your updates. Sub'd from now on.

1StGenCL

Rockstar - We gotta grab a beer because I think I remember you being close and I'm in Miami most days anyway. Thank you for the kind words but you are doing way more on your place. As for the inspector, yeah I'm not worried now that it's over but annoying. Pretty spot on with the mirror, boxers and I almost posted it. Thank God I didn't because this thread would be in Ramblings and I would be riding behind Putin, shirtless, on his horse along with various other things.

Door came out ok, still have some touch up to do and I think I really want to see if I can replace the cross bars so it looks better. I'm pulling all the doors down this weekend for matched security hinges and to paint the trim white.
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Wanted a tablet mount in the kitchen for this old iPad but they were all so clunky. I found a slim one for the iPad 1 but since i have a 2, it didn't fit. I used the swivel, fold down mount and used a piece of Lexan as a backing. I thought it would look cool to have the corners in matching Lexan with SS screws but after doing it, it looks like shit. I like how it folds flat against the bottom of the cabinets but I'm looking into using another piece of Lexan and using some sort of adhesive to hold the iPad on. The main problem is that it folds up under the counter and it faces down so it could easily fall.
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Here's the room that needs to be torn out to have the floor raised, hoping to keep the shower in place but we shall see. Right now it is just storage while we deal with permits and try to find a half decent GC.
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rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

For sure, brother...
I live in Plantation, but I drive up all over Palm Beach County and West for work...
Pics are blocked at work, you posting from grindr app again?
Yeah, you're lucky you blocked it...I never think to and let the cretins have their fun.

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

J

Marcelechka

Get the Wrangler and join a boat club...You're in Boca; no question that there are plenty of them up there.

We were part of Aventura Carefree Boat Club. Initially fees were $1.2k? Don't quote me, but if I remember it was that to join plus monthly +/- $225. Book 24 hours in advance and that was it. No headaches of that which comes to owning... Once our daughter is a bit older, we'll reinstate our membership.

I can't speak from experience, but know second hand how much of a money pit they are... my bosses steered me to the club.

Your place is kicking ass dude, love the updates!

Marcelechka

Forgot to mention, they made me take a BSE course... it was roughly 4 to 5 hours on boating safety, CPR, & first aid; it's all included in the initial membership fee.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

You really know how to live, Marcel. Did you know that?
5 hour course to tell you that only 5 miller lites per hour or don't drive the boat?

1StGenCL

Wait, are you serious!?! I started to look into them and thought we couldn't afford it, I'll have to check it out, thanks!

Loving our little place!

1StGenCL

Is grindr banned here

I remember that, I'll PM you.

Marcelechka

As silly as it sounds J... TBH, I wish it were mandatory. Some idiots have no idea what a wake zone is; let alone what they're doing behind the wheel of a vessel - regardless its size. You should see some of those young idiots out there showing off as they're either pulling in or out of the dock.
Every club is different as to what their membership requirements & fees are, but they should all be in line $ wise with one another as there are so many of them... competition is fierce in Miami.

Doom878

East Boca to Miami commute? OOOFFFF! Where in Miami?

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Mustang owners, amirite?!?!?

Poor manatees

SamDoe1

Wranglers are a blast but please use it for what it's supposed to be used for and not strictly as a daily driver.

See my Jeep thread in Car Talk for ideas.