Attic Apartment FINISHED (Unfurnished)

     Oh man. I've been waiting to write this post since March of 2018 when I first saw Property 5. But after months of work, gas fires, and delays, the attic apartment is finished. As a side note, this will definitely be the most pictures I'll ever have in one post. So, let's break this down into a before and after segment, room by room... starting with:


LIVING ROOM

I still remember taking this picture when I first looked through the house. My eyes went wide when I saw the large amount of space in this attic.

At this point, the sheetrock was just starting. The living room was used mostly to cut lumber and measure out the sheetrock.

This was during the paint phase. At this point, the was no floor and the furnace ducts were a couple weeks away from being installed

The floors are finally installed, but the baseboards were still needed. Vinyl plank flooring is the shit, though. I'll definitely be using this type of flooring in properties that need a new floor.

The finished living room. The area to the far left (where the chair is) will be where I do my exercises, like DDP Yoga and weight lifting. The (sectional?) sofa will be aligned with the window in the middle, and the TV will be on the far right. Beautiful.

MASTER BEDROOM

I took this picture while standing in the future kitchen. That window light is where the Big-Ass closet area will be

Framed out the bedroom with 2x4s. So glad that the framing can run off the chimney to give it that rustic look.

The Big-Ass Closet with unfinished sheetrock. Alfonso had real problems getting the weird angles and corners sheetrocked.

The bed area with painted walls. Doesn't look that big but trust me, it's massive. I can probably fit a king sized AND a queen sized bed in here, with room for dressers and regular bedroom shit.

Newly mopped floors and baseboards really make things look nice. Once I have some extra money, I'd love to re-finish the chimney brick and make that look just as good as the floor.

The Big Ass Closet came out good, but the angles still make it look weird. Once we replace the windows and I get some clothing racks and dressers, it'll look ten times better

GUEST BEDROOM

The smaller bedroom with unfinished sheetrock.

The entrance from a distance. It's literally a 9x8 room.

I swear, the flooring makes the place look so damned good. And Alfonso did a much better job with the weird attic angles.

This is a queen sized air mattress that raises 24 inches off the ground. Very comfortable.

As one can see, the guest room is small. That is by design. A guest bedroom is for a GUEST. And I don't want a GUEST feeling too comfortable so that they won't want to leave. The room has enough space for a queen sized bed and a small dresser. Good enough for a few days stay.

KITCHEN

I never actually took pictures of the kitchen in the beginning, so this is the earliest kitchen pic I have.

Double sink and cooktop. I think I made a mistake in putting the cooktop and the sink so close together. In the previous pic, one can see that I had another 20 inches to add a cabinet in between instead of on the right. Thankfully it's not a big deal, so I'm good with it.

The coolest things about the kitchen is definitely the appliances. I love how the wall oven casing turned out, and how the counter top is right next to the wall oven for when I need to take something out to cool off or add seasoning. Very conveniently placed. I seriously love this setup

Never had a refrigerator this fucking big or fancy. I never wanted a fancy fridge, but I got it for $1,500 when it was usually $2,300. I couldn't pass it up

My favorite thing is the size of the freezer. While I hate the fact that I have to bend down to get stuff from there, the massive size allows me to put just about anything in the freezer.

I really like this cooktop. The removable grids are much heavier than they look. I plan to buy a couple of pan griddles to make quick foods like scrambled eggs or a couple of burgers.

BATHROOM

All the work for the attic started in the bathroom. Because of where the drains we're located, we had to frame this room first before any other room. Itook this picture from where the jacuzzi bathtub will eventually be.

Another picture in the same location, but with the framing just about done. Just like the master bedroom, these pictures don't do the size of the room justice.

The jacuzzi tub, 6 foot. The crazy shit is that a 5 foot tub cost costs around $900 to $1,000. Just to add an extra foot, it costs nearly $1,000 more ($1,980). 12 fucking inches.

It's very important to note that I got the jacuzzi that wasn't a drop-in and in need of a surround. I did that because this one is easier to install and weighs MUCH less.

Bathroom with the walls painted and the standup shower being installed

The floor was linoleum and came out okay. Because the studs in the attic are uneven, some areas look a little crooked.

Because of the location of the main drain, we couldn't put the toilet any closer to the wall. Also, the slanted wall made it impossible to take a dump and get up without hitting my head. Tall man problems. I'll probably put a little box in the back just to make it look better.

I decided to go fancy again and buy two glass sinks. I originally wanted to space them farther apart, but forgot that they have to share the same drain so I couldn't put them as far apart as I wanted. So we ended up putting them side by side and it looks good. A couple of mirror cabinets would finish things proper.

The stand up shower completed. I definitely enjoy being in the standup shower, but I may have to get a different showerhead. I think I prefer the waterfall-type shower so that I can run the shower while the door is open. Since the attic apartment is three floors up from the basement, hot water takes a good 10-15 seconds to travel up the lines. Having to wait for it in cold water is kind of annoying.

Jacuzzi tub successfully installed. When Sam and I were still friends, he warned me about getting a jacuzzi tub. He said that it's a pain in the ass to install and I'll end up barely using it. And he was right. A couple of months after its installation and I've never used it. Hopefully I'll start using it soon because this shit was too expensive to just be sitting there looking pretty. 

Just outside the bathroom is the washer/dryer and the furnace. I used the washer/dryer a couple weeks ago and it works like a charm. It's a shame that we had to block that window, but I'll probably end up using it for the dryer vent and the little sunlight that comes through.

The furnace inside that little closet. I can't wait until summer so that I can test that sweet ass central air conditioning.

HALLWAY

I think this picture was taken just after the fire. Everything was just about framed out and the sheetrock was starting.

This is with the sheetrock painted and the floors installed. Once I get a real window for the living room, it'll light up the hallway much more.

One thing I don't praise enough is the lighting. Electrician Floyd really did a good job finding the right places to put these lights and switches to make everything look nice and convenient. Once I get from under my debts, I definitely plan on getting a runner carpet from the living room all the way down to the kitchen.

     On the day that Alfonso was finishing up work, both he and his worker were chuckling at me. They were laughing at the fact that I was just standing there with a giant smile on my face. I remembered all the work it took to make it happen. All those years living in that dirty ass basement... how depressing it was. Having to hear tenants' footsteps over me and having to wait for them to sleep so I could sleep? Being embarrassed to bring women over due to the nature of that shitty place? Life is so much better in the attic apartment now. Even when the attic apartment was unfinished, I felt so good sleeping in that place just because I knew it was a real apartment. I can bring women there. Real women, not just the broken defeated ones. I can cook real food and broil and bake. And I can actually eat there instead of being forced to eat in my car to avoid basement critters. I've had to eat outside of the home for years just because I was tired of the basement critters coming around for a taste. For that to finally end? What a change!

     There's still more work to be done. I have to replace the windows which should be done by the end of April. I have to buy a real bed and one for the guest bedroom, a sofa, two Roku TVs (one for living room, one for bedroom), tables, dressers, clothes racks, and a gaming computer. Once all that is competed, the apartment will not only be finished but furnished as well (with pictures following soon afterwards). And I can not wait for the day that I can sit on my sofa and watch movies all day with my no-job-having-ass. Augh, the joy!

     Until that day, I'll keep grinding. The attic apartment cost so much money but, although it was definitely worth it, there's still alot of things that need to be bought. Because I'm catching up on all my bills, I'll have to make those purchases piece by piece. Hopefully by the end of July, everything will be done. But for now, I'm just gonna lay back and enjoy the attic apartment for its current greatness... which is more than good enough.