Reaching my apartment I quickly meet with the landlord and finalize the details of my lease. The landlord was a nice old lady who had this small run-down house far from the city that no one wanted to rent. She was simply owning it just to own it.
Getting old she was thinking of selling it, but I made a deal with her that I would fix up the place with my construction experience in return she let me live here. The only restriction was, if after a month I didn't repair anything and the house looked the same, or worse I would have to leave. I had to provide the materials myself and she wouldn't deal with any of that.
It was almost like I owned the place. I knew myself well enough that I could fix the place up with five thousand at most even if I did buy much of the material. I planned to buy 500 of the materials after the first month.
As for the first month's improvements? Just getting rid of the weeds and cleaning the outside a bit. Then destroy some walls that need remodeling and when she sees it under construction she will know I am not just sitting around doing nothing.
Walking inside and smelling the moldy room that would be my home, I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me. I had already bought many things that I knew I would need, like a vacuum and a broom. I had many tools with me that I had stolen from my Father. They weren't in the truck bed but hidden in any crevice inside the truck I could find. That included power cords, air hoses, and many smaller tools including a medium sized level. The one box with other tools included a skill saw, a nail gun, and a staple gun.
I originally planned to put everything in boxes, but after seeing that no more fit inside the small box I came up with this idea. The only pity was that I couldn't figure out how to hide an air compressor inside or outside meaning I had to buy it. Luckily I also bought a barely possible air compressor for 120 bucks. Although it wasn't perfect, but at least I could use my nail gun without stopping every time I shot a nail.
Looking around I knew I had more work than I thought. The carpet had holes everywhere as if something chewed it until they reached the wood. Even worse. Everything was covered in the old carpet! Bathroom? Really moldy carpet. Kitchen? burnt carpet.
The walls literally looked like they had been through five different fires, but the mold of the carpet overpowered everything.
Sighing I unpacked my tools first. Looking at the state of things I was at least happy she agreed she would pay for any electricity that I found needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, I was still responsible for the pipes. I knew I would probably have to watch many YTube videos to get through things.
Even as I broke into the wall to see what I was dealing with, I didn't mind it. Even if the home was complete crap, it was still better than the nice home with my parents. Even as the drywall came out to be black all the way through I didn't care. Took a video of what the house looks like before making sure to look at the entire house.
I started taking out all the carpet with a smile on my face even as I coughed as the spores and dust got kicked up. As the house was small with two rooms and one bathroom not big enough to spread out your arms. completely. It was fairly quick.
The bathroom was the worst crime as the builder was really trying to save on space. The sink is literally above the toilet right next to the walk-in shower which really was a drywall box with not even a shower curtain but a plastic box that has the water drain that he isn't sure is connected to pipes.
To even reach the toilet you have to step over the shower and have your feet inside the shower as you do your business. And there is a short 1.5 ft hallway that is only like that since the heater water is right there! Worse still, the heater is a small cheap 2ft heater that is on the floor taking the full space, but to even see that you have to go outside where the heater is just there out in the open, deteriorating.
Even worse still! The only bathroom is next to the kitchen with the kitchen sink right next to the wall! In the crawl space, there is only pipes in five feet of the entire house and it is all condensed into that small corner! When I looked down there I realized all drains lead to the dirt, even the toilet!
The best room was the 'master bedroom' which was a 10'x10' box that the walls weren't completely charred black and the carpet at least didn't have more than two holes. The other room on the other hand was a 7'x5' box that that almost didn't have a carpet. That said only the big bedroom had a door while the other had an opening that looks like a door should be there and nothing else.
The kitchen is basically a small counter next to sink. Walking in the two rooms are to the left with the small room opening right there nearest to the entrance. You enter a big 10'x17' room with nothing but the kitchen in the top right corner. Right next to the sink is the door to the bathroom. That is the entire house.
As for electricity? There were no lights except for a single outlet right at the front door. As for where the power comes from? It is a wire from the power line directly flowing into that outlet.
Heating? Hah! That's why you have that broken dilapidated water heater!