Buying a house is a big leap. Buying one that, by her account, has sat empty for about twenty years, with a baby due in January, is a leap with a countdown clock attached. That is the situation @carolinedecruz26 and her husband Dalton describe in a long run of posts that follow their fixer upper from the first walk around the yard to the very unglamorous work of fixing water lines and burying power cables.
She signed off her first post with a cheerful note about doing it all on a budget. What follows is the story as she tells it, in order, with some practical thoughts for anyone who is tempted by a neglected property of their own.
@carolinedecruz26
The First Look at a House Full of Potential
In the opening post, she says she and her husband had just bought a house and were excited, while admitting plainly that it was going to be a fixer upper challenge. They plan to live there, which changes the math on every decision. She says the place has so much potential, and she describes a driveway lined with pecan trees and seven acres that had grown up so thickly you could not even see the backyard.
Her dad, she says, was already out there bush hogging the overgrowth. A bush hog is a heavy mower that attaches to a tractor and chews through brush, saplings and tall grass, and it is the standard first step for anyone reclaiming land that has been left alone. The property also came with a metal shop, and she said they would probably tear down part of what was there.
The star of the yard, in her telling, is a massive tree behind the house that seems to grow bigger the closer you get. Its limbs stretch all the way over the roof. She says that means calling the electric company, since limbs near power lines are dangerous, and she admits her biggest worries were poison ivy and snakes. She asked for prayers while they worked and wondered aloud whether anyone else would have taken the plunge. She added that she and Dalton were a little nervous about buying it.
Inside the House and the Plan for the Walls
In a follow up post, she walked through the layout. She says it is a three bedroom, two bath home with a few random closets, a hot water heater and a second one that the earlier owners had left behind. There is water damage around the chimney, and an enclosed carport that has become a bonus room with a fireplace. Off to the side is what she calls a green room, which she plans to fill with plants.
The big idea is to take out the wall between the kitchen and the living room and make one open floor plan. She says the three bedrooms are fairly solid, the bathroom will be torn out, and the room that was probably the original master bedroom, with its two closets, will likely stay the master. She loves the windows in every room and expects lots of natural light. She also spoke warmly about the man who lived there before, saying he had great things and that the shop he left behind is fully metal and very sturdy.
She asked her audience a question that every renovator eventually faces, which is whether to paint the brick. Her caption also asked what to do with the enclosed carport. It is a fair question, and a useful one to sit on for a while, since brick is nearly impossible to bring back once it is painted.
Clearing Out the Past
Another post shows Dalton and the early cleanout. She says they were taking it one room at a time and found some really interesting things, mostly a lot of clothes. It was a million degrees outside, in her words, and the house was almost completely shaded by trees along the driveway, a tree in front and that enormous one in back. She says they were still deciding whether the big tree needed to be kept or inspected. She even offered a leftover dresser with a record compartment in the middle to anyone who wanted it.
This is where she shares the deadline. She says she was 19 weeks pregnant, that little baby De Cruz is due in January, and that the goal is to get into the house before then. In later posts she gives her progress in weeks, saying she was 21 weeks along and then 23 weeks along, which gives the whole series a ticking clock.
Tile, a Toilet and a Lot of Family
By the 21 week update, she says the bathroom had been started and her dad had bought a new toilet as the first priority. What she says loudly is that tile is extremely hard to remove, and she asked for recommendations on getting it off a bathroom wall. A sweet visitor from across the street made an appearance too.
By 23 weeks, she says, the family was rolling. She credits her dad for telling them exactly what needs to be done and how to do it more easily. The plan for the master bath is to close it off from the hallway and add a pocket door to save space. She says the house is structurally sound in general, except for the kitchen. Her husband and her dad tore out the damaged subfloor there and replaced some floor joists, which she calls a really dirty job. Her brother keeps coming over to help with demolition. Her mom and dad also got a shoutout in the junk removal update for always being willing to help.
Power, Water and a Falling Limb
The most dramatic post, in her telling, covers the infrastructure. She says they rented a Ditch Witch, a walk behind trenching machine, to bury all the electricity underground, and that this was a struggle in itself. While digging, a water line was cut, which they planned to repair later. After the electric crew finished, her dad and Dalton fixed the line, but when they turned the water on, it was clogged somewhere. They ended up renting another trencher and running all new water line.
Then came the roof. She says one of the big limbs from the backyard tree fell and hit the house just after her dad had repaired the roof, so he had to fix it again. They will need someone to come out and limb the tree up. Her caption on that update celebrated that they finally had water, even though they were still waiting on electricity. She sums up the whole experience by pointing out that nobody had lived in the house for twenty years, so they knew there would be issues.
What to Take From Their Approach
Whatever the final outcome, the story offers some solid lessons for anyone buying a long empty house. Start outside. Clearing brush, checking for snakes and getting a look at the roofline and the trees will tell you a lot about what you are facing. Large limbs hanging over a roof are worth taking seriously, and a certified arborist can tell you whether a big tree is healthy. If limbs are near power lines, call the utility instead of trimming them yourself.
Do the structural work before the cosmetic work. Her family went after the damaged kitchen subfloor and joists before thinking about finishes, which is the right order. Water damage near a chimney is another thing to trace to its source, because flashing problems tend to come back if you only patch the ceiling. Before you trench anywhere, call your local underground utility locating service, which in the United States is free through 811, so that nobody hits a line they did not know about.
Plan for the unexpected and keep your timeline flexible. Old houses nearly always hide a surprise, whether it is a clogged water line, a damaged floor or a limb that falls at the worst moment. Budget extra time and money for it, and consider which rooms really have to be finished first. For a family with a baby on the way, that usually means a working kitchen, a bathroom, safe electrical service and running water.
Finally, lean on your people, but be honest about what needs a professional. She is clear that her dad, her husband and her brother have done much of the labor, and she spoke gratefully of all of them. Permits, electrical panels and gas lines are the places where a licensed contractor is worth paying for. As she said, they are doing their best, and her story is still unfolding as she asks whether anyone thinks they will make it before January.
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