# The Milwaukee House
I didn't get a real job this summer. Instead, I helped by dad's friend Chris
fix up her son's house in Milwaukee.

It started in late May, 2020. Chris notified my dad that her son was moving to
Seattle for a job and wouldn't be needing his house in Milwaukee any more. She
said she wanted some help fixing up the house to sell it.

The house was a mess, to say the least. After clearing out the junk, surveying
the situation, and falling through the rotting porch, my dad determined that
he would need some help himself. This is where I come in. His initial timeline
estimate was "a week or two". This was a gross underestimate.

![A really messy house](https://yiction.com/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/demohouse-1024x692.jpeg)The front of the house in
early June

We started by ripping out the carpets, which revealed the beautiful 100-year-
old hardwood floors underneath. The first project within the house was
refinishing the floors, which included sanding, scraping off paint, and
eventually urethaning.

![](https://yiction.com/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/floorhouse-768x1024.jpeg)The floor finishing process

We then painted the walls and refinished the trim on the main floor.

![](https://yiction.com/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_2a5b.jpg)After a few coats of
urethane.

There were also three small bedrooms upstairs, which were similarly painted
and finished. Although I enjoyed the disgusting shades of blue and green that
they were painted, houses sell better when their walls are painted white.

![](https://yiction.com/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_2ae3.jpg)

I mentioned earlier that my dad fell through the rotting porch. That meant
that we had to rebuild the porch. This process included demolishing the
remaining structure of it, removing the two outdated brick pillars in the
front, and then framing, building, and painting a new porch.

![](https://yiction.com/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_2cb7.jpg)There was a lot of
ancient concrete underneath the old porch that had to be removed
![](https://yiction.com/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_2cb5.jpg)The porch in progress
![](https://yiction.com/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_2c16.jpg)Post-painting,
railings in progress

Additional projects that I didn't take photos of include rebuilding the
"Bilco" basement entrance, repainting the basement, installing two toilets,
installing new roof siding, reframing the garage, installing a garbage
disposal in the sink, replacing a leaky pipe, and redoing the fence.

After five solid weeks of work (including weekends, because my dad is an
extreme workaholic), the house was finally "finished". Of course, a project
house like this is never truly finished until it's sold, and we made quite a
few trips back to put on more finishing touches.

![](https://yiction.com/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/listinghouse-1024x1020.jpeg)The listing of the
finished house

All things considered, it was great to have such a physical project to do
right after four years of schooling. I learned to love using my hands to build
things. I also learned how to use a plethora of power tools. Most of all,
though, it was great to be able to spend so much time with my dad.