Page 56 - Green Builder Remodeling Field Report 2021

REVISION HOUSE AUSTIN PROJECT

CREDIT: LORI SULLIVAN, ELITE AUSTIN DESIGNER

me is the tub in the master bathroom. There is one there, but demanding a thorough inspection—the owners left a fridge
I am a big germophobe, so not going in there. Having a beauti- behind, and I thought, “Great, I can use it as an extra fridge to
ful, functional tub is a self-care thing I am excited about. put our beer in.”
I also look forward to screening the patio. I wasn’t thinking When I was relocating it to the laundry, I found out the
about bugs when I bought the house, but in Austin, there are water line had a leak in it that had been hidden because the
times of the year where you need everything screened, just like fridge had been wiggled and wedged so hard into its spot that
in Florida. the flow blocked. As soon as I moved it, the water line got
“unstuck” and flooded our kitchen.
CO: What advice do you have for first-time home buyers? I ran to turn off the water, and the water shut-off valve was
You really need to think about everything, and ask questions. broken. Thank goodness it was on the city side. They came out
For example, when I toured the house, the plants and land- and fixed it, but had that been my responsibility, it would have
scaping looked great, so I assumed the irrigation was good. But been an expensive fix.
the previous owners had jury-rigged everything—every spigot
leaked and had timers, many of which didn’t work. When we CO: Wow. Are you wondering if you should have even bought
brought out a company to see if they could fix them, they this house?
quoted us $6,000. [Laughs] It’s been a wild ride in the past few months. I keep
Don’t forget about pest control. It can be so expensive. reassuring myself that after the planned upgrades I am doing,
When you get an inspection, the inspectors don’t have to go it will feel like a new house. I just have to get through the
anywhere where they don’t feel safe. So when I heard little obstacles. I think in nine months to a year it will be done and
footsteps in our attic after we moved in, I realized that the that’s great. But right now I am still in boxes, so I would say
exact area where the inspector didn’t feel safe was where all remodeling while you are living in the house is a challenge.
the evidence of animals was. I am so excited to get started, and it will be exciting when
So while the home inspection report said there were no the walls start coming down and everything is moving forward.
pests in the house, they just weren’t where the inspector Every step of the process kicks up my level of excitement. GB
looked. We had raccoons, possums, and mice. It cost me
$1,875 to get them trapped and taken away. Tiana is working with Green Builder Media to renovate and green her
Last—again this has to do with really paying attention and house, The ReVISION House Austin. Follow the project here.

56 GREEN BUILDER REMODELING FIELD REPORT