Removing Tile Sucks! …But These Apartments Are Well On Their Way!

Day 17
Total Spent So Far: $14,303

Well, the amount we’ve spent is climbing steadily, and I see no signs of it slowing down over the next 30-60 days.  We’ve bought much of our supplies for the remodel of the apartments so far but have a long way to go on the entire house.  Remaining for the apartments will be fans and light fixtures, tile for the Mermaid (Apartment 2), shower, and the labor to install the granite counter tops.  We’ve purchased our sinks and faucets for the kitchens downstairs.  The sinks are a modern under-mount granite and should compliment the granite counters and backsplashes we selected for each apartment nicely.  All three are being shipped to Miami, and then forwarded over to St. Croix via VI Cargo.  That’s how we get everything into the island that isn’t through the United States Postal Service.  They make it pretty simple actually, and the cost isn’t outrageous in reality.  It does add 5-15% more to everything, depending upon how much an item weighs and how big it is, but the price to live here is well worth it.  It also adds a week or two in additional time to arrive, again the price you pay living on an island.   Oh, and I almost forgot import tax into the territory… that adds a few more percent to the cost.

Counter Removal
Counter Removal

Demo to the counters and cabinets has been fun.  Redoing the ones in Windsor’s Rest went well so we’re doing the same with the Mermaid.  The Mermaid has some old wood damage from termites so we’re replacing some of the cabinets this week before getting the granite installed. After pulling the backsplash off of one of the walls in Windsor’s Rest (which was just a piece of Formica) I noticed some crazy demo had been done at some point to replumb.  It’s not a concern of course, as I’ll be installing our slate backsplash soon enough so you won’t even see it, but I took a few pictures as it looks pretty gnarly.

Plumbing Exposed
Plumbing Exposed

The sinks should arrive around the first or second week of June, and we should have them installed shortly after, and just prior to our wedding it seems.  (June 23rd.)  Most likely, all three apartments downstairs will be finished and ready to rent out by mid June or the first week of July.  We’re incredibly excited about that, and the ability to start earning some income from them while we continue making progress on the rest of the remodel.  The sinks have to arrive before we can insert the granite counters since they’re under-mount, and then the backsplashes can be installed.  Windsor’s Rest is now finished (with the exception of a small rum barrel vanity project I’m going to tackle and the sink/counter/backsplash.)

Cruzan Rum Barrels
Cruzan Rum Barrels

We bought six rum barrels yesterday for $190 to include delivery.  Besides turning a few into vanities by cutting them down, sanding and refinishing them to add a bit of Cruzan flair to the apartment restrooms, we’ll use the others in our garden.  They look awesome outside when plants are around their base and set on top of them.  It gives the gardens a real caribbean flair.

In addition to the sinks and vanities, we’ve also measured out all of our windows and doors in the house.  Right now the Jalousie windows are incredibly outdated looking, and over the years the previous owner has replaced any that broke with wood – which make a great hurricane shutter but impossible to see through… and with these views, I’m not sure why anyone would ever block the windows.  Even the glass Jalousies are hard to see through though, and the breaking up of glass really impedes the view.   We’re going to purchase flat pane horizontal sliding windows with vinyl tracks made by PGT Windows.  These can be slid open to catch the breezes, but when closed they will show the most glass for the best clear views.  Vinyl is our choice instead of aluminum to cut down on the corrosion that happens here to metal since we don’t run central heat or air, and the salt from the sea assists in the breaking down of metals. We will have two walls with pocket sliders that open up completely to a wrap around balcony (on both the South and East end of the home) when we are finished.  The photo below is an example of the glass sliders we’re installing and sort of what we’re going for.

Example of PGT Pocket Sliders
Example of PGT Pocket Sliders

My Uncle Bob Royall, who works at World of Windows in St. Petersburg, Florida, is helping me with the Windows.  21 of them total which includes the two long pocket sliding door walls.  He’s given us a great deal and even spoke with the manufacturer to get an extended family discount for us.  If you need windows, please give him the opportunity to assist you!  He made some great suggestions for us and even came up with a customized solution for a kitchen pass-through window we want to install.  The total cost for the windows, not including shipping through VI Cargo and import taxes is just around $22,000.  That of course, doesn’t include any installation either.  I’m guessing on the installation, it’s going to run us around $10,000-$15,000.  I could be way off.  One person told me it may cost as much as $1,000 per window in a concrete house.  Jeeze, I hope not.

I started with a hammer... and got no where...
I started with a hammer… and got no where…

Removing Tile Sucks! For the past week, I have been removing tile in the Mermaid.  I started with a hammer, and got no where… so I used a medium size tile jack hammer that I rented for $78 on island to do most of it over the course of about 6 hours.  In that time frame I had a few pieces of shrapnel cause me to bleed, and a nice metal floor track slice my leg up pretty bad.  There were some areas I couldn’t reach with the jack hammer so I’ve been pulling those up manually with a chisel and a hammer again.  I’ve hit my hand so many times I’ve lost count and my thumb is twice the size it should be I think.

Medium Size Jack Hammer for the Win
Medium Size Jack Hammer for the Win

When we go to do the upstairs (5 times the size of the downstairs floor I just removed) I am definitely hiring someone to do that removal.  So far we’ve only hired the lawn guys to clear our view, and plan to hire the granite installer.  Other than that, everything else has been done by Shaleece and I.  My cousin Kira is flying down to assist us with some painting in a week or so.  We’re super grateful for her and can’t wait for her to get here.

That's Me Removing Tile
That’s Me Removing Tile

We’re on our second dumpster now; it’s filled with much of the demolition from the second apartment including the tile from the floor I’ve been wheel barreling out.

Finally, I did take some time to clean up the logo we found and added “Estates” to it.  I couldn’t find the font, and most likely it’s a treatment anyways, so I had to create it from scratch to match.  Took some time, but I think it came out great.   Next update soon.

The Story of Windchime Estates and the Start of Our Remodel

Day 11
Total Spent So Far: $11,920

Shaleece Picking Granite
Shaleece Picking Granite

Before I dive into this next post, I wanted to put it out there that I’m going to start consistently adding the above heading with the “day” since we started the remodel (May 3rd) and the total spent so far.   Should give you some perspective at how fast, or slow we’ve been moving since the last post.  The above amount already includes backsplashes (material only for downstairs apartments), granite (material only for downstairs apartments), a ton of yard work to clear our view even more, paint for most of the interior of the house, random tools, doors, new cabinet hardware, several faucets, three new ranges, a new washer and dryer, and probably several other things I haven’t thought of yet.

Demolition of Cabinets/Kitchen
Demolition of Cabinets/Kitchen

We’re actually almost done (minus the sink/granite install) with our first apartment out of three.  While I feel like we’re moving slower than I’d like, it’s only been 11 days and we’ve been spending more than $1k/day on average… so I don’t know how we’d go any faster really and I’m actually happy with our progress so far.

Besides the intense amount of “demolition” I’ve done on the old kitchen cabinets and counter tops preparing for the granite and backsplash install, and the painting and new hardware installed throughout the first apartment, the other thing that’s been done that has been very impressive is the amount of “bush work” that has been done along the sides of our cliffs (both the Eastern and Southern cliffs) .

Apartment 1 Paint and Cabinets
Apartment 1 Paint and Cabinets

These guys have been at it tirelessly for three days straight and have cleared out about 15′ down the mountain side to open our view from the 20′ tall Tan Tan trees that grow like weeds.  I thought our view was amazing before but now it’s really impressive.

We also have quite a bit more yard than we expected after we cut back the overgrown bushes and grasses on the land that had been previously cleared out.

Bush Work
Bush Work

This was a pleasant surprise as the dogs have a lot more room to roam.

It’s All in the Name: Windchime Estates

Originally our plan has been to name our property Waitiki Villa all along, in honor of the place Shaleece and I first met. The story can be found here on our blog. After purchasing the property however, we had the opportunity to speak to the previous owner, Tom, who told us the rich history of home and it’s previous owners, including the man who built it.

We’re now planning to name our happy abode Windchime Estates, although plans for Waitiki’s inclusion on the estate still exist.

In 1972 the home was originally built by a sail maker, Ralph.  Ralph’s son, Ralph Jr. later inherited the property from his late father, whom much like his father was a sailer through and through.  Ralph owned a boat named Windchime, which was a 39′ Trimaran that he sailed the world twice with, and where he met his best friend Tom (also a sailer) in the South Pacific.  One day, in the late 80’s Ralph had taken Windchime on a charter with nine people out to Buck Island (viewed from our home.)  Upon the way back the wind died, and without power, Windchime drifted into what is known as Round Reef, the reef that protects Christiansted Harbor (also viewed from our home.)

Windchime Wreck
Windchime Wreck

Ralph lost the boat that day on Round Reef, within view from his own home.  He saved many parts from the boat in hopes to rebuild her one day.  Shortly thereafter in 1989 Hurricane Hugo ripped through the Caribbean decimating St. Croix and tearing the roof off of Ralph Jr.’s home as well as a wall built for his outdoor living space.

Wrecks from Hugo
Wrecks from Hugo

Ralph later used the masts from Windchime as the headers for these walls in the re-construction of his home, which are still seen today.  Ralph willed the home to his best friend he met in the South Pacific, Tom, who 10 year’s later sold the home to us.  Besides this amazing story rich with history, the wind never stops blowing at the high elevation where we are at.  We thought it only right to name the property after the boat for multiple reasons since we know the history, can see the masts in it’s construction,  can literally see the place it sailed and wrecked, and more than likely will hang windchimes from them since the breeze will always play us a tune.

Windchime Logo on Letter Head
Windchime Logo on Letter Head

We also found on the back door of the generator room a hand written note, taped to the back of the door.  Simply put it said “Do Not Lock! We Don’t Have a Key for This Door!”  – Why is this important you ask? Well, it was written on a piece of paper from the early 80’s it appears with a header that included the Windchime Trimaran’s logo from Ralph’s chartering business.  So cool to find this vintage piece!  We plan to pay homage to this logo now and have a sign created with it at our front entrance gate to identify the property.

We decided to keep going with the names since we’re planning to rent out the bottom apartments as short term rentals for easy identification of the three apartments; we named each of them based on additional ideas which we thought made some sense.

Apartment 1 is on the South West corner of our property facing a large mountainous view with a deep reaching valley, covered in forest.  This forest is called Windsor’s Forest.  Well past Windsor’s forest you can see the South shore and at night, the twinkling lights of houses across the forest on the other side of the island beneath the stars.  This apartment is a small efficiency which we feel most who stay there will only come home to “rest” rather than to hang out.  We named this apartment, Windsor’s Rest.

Apartment 2 is in the middle, facing South.  We’ve gotten many comments that Shaleece looked like a Mermaid in our underwater engagement photos which lead to many other mermaid discussions, items for her bridal shower, and well – quite frankly mermaids are everywhere on St. Croix… so we dubbed this apartment The Mermaid.

Apartment 3 is on the East end of our home, and has what we consider the best view, with the most ocean and a clear central (almost framed) look at Buck Island.  It will also open up to our infinity edge pool over the cliff when we finish with it, so rightfully so we named this, the largest apartment, The View.

Finally, last but definitely not least, we decided since we met at Waitiki (a bar in Orlando) that our Pool Bar, which will be held right on the cliff, with seats in and out of the pool, will be dubbed Waitki.  I’m sure Shaleece and I will wander down at times and have a drink, to celebrate “us” the way we did the first night we met.  Today we actually found “his and hers” Waitiki solar light up statues.  They are awesome and we weren’t sure if we’d find them again later so we bought them, even though their final resting place won’t be finished for quite some time. We’re keeping them in the box put away until the pool bar is done.

That’s all for now.  More to come soon!  For Now, More Photos!

Apartment 1 Before the Work Began
Apartment 1 Before the Work Began
Giant 40 Yard Dumpster - We Filled It and Need Another!
Giant 40 Yard Dumpster – We Filled It and Need Another!
New Hardware Goes A Long Way
New Hardware Goes A Long Way
Shaleece Painting!
Shaleece Painting!
Cabinet Termite Damage
Cabinet Termite Damage
Ripping Out Old Sinks, Backsplash, and Cabinets
Ripping Out Old Sinks, Backsplash, and Cabinets
One of Our Many Home Depot Car Loads
One of Our Many Home Depot Car Loads
Land Crab in Our Back Yard
Land Crab in Our Back Yard

We’ve Bought a House! – A Major Shift Post Hurricanes Irma and Maria

Well I’ve been M.I.A. for quite some time on this blog… and I feel horrible about it.  I’ve wanted to write in it so much, but throughout the last few years trying to buy houses, buy land, and move to St. Croix with one fail after another, I didn’t want to write another article until I was 100% sure about the direction we were headed.  This last time I thought I was so sure we were building a house… and then TWO category 5 hurricanes landed in the US Virgin Islands.  Boy did they turn the island (and our plans) upside down.

So you’ve already read the title of this article and know by now we’ve bought a house – but have no fear, while this blog is going to shift from a “building in St. Croix” to a “completely gutting and remodeling in St. Croix” journey, there is PLENTY to learn here none-the-less.  We’ve basically bought, on the cheap after the hurricanes, a shell of a house with new plumbing, updated electrical, a roof that lasted through the storms, and an interior that hasn’t been touched since 1972, after two major hurricanes.  Needless to say there is a TON of work to do here.  But buying this property has saved us an estimated $250,000 to $300,000 in concrete, electrical, and plumbing costs if we were to have gotten this far (with a property this big) ourselves.  In the end, this was the smarter move for building more equity quickly, and getting our dream home done on a tighter budget.

Celebratory Closing Day!
Celebratory Closing Day!
Celebratory Closing Day!
Shaleece and Tamra Cheers!

To explain why this worked out, when just a few months ago you couldn’t touch anything we were interested in for less than $750,000 (making building a somewhat feasible option), the Real Estate market tanked immediately after the storms came through.  NO ONE was thinking of moving here in the last quarter of 2017 and thousands of people fled the island for the mainland leaving all sorts of deals to be had on cars, houses, and land.  At the same time that the real estate market took a hit, construction materials and labor sky-rocketed as everyone on the island scrambled to start repairing their homes and businesses.  Today the market is quickly recovering, and we were incredibly lucky to lock a home under contract and close on it as fast as we did.  (A special thanks to Doane Dariah from Sotheby’s Realty and Michelle Nose of Leeward Island Mortgage – These ladies can get ANYTHING done!)  While the market is recovering, construction materials and labor are still at an all time shortage and high.

The good news is that most of the things inside the home, such as paint, fixtures, light carpentry, tile, backsplashes and refinishing is going to be done by Shaleece and I.  We’re still planning on using the contractors and draftsman I spoke of earlier in the blog to do some of the bigger items such as the pool, wrap around balcony, kitchen remodel (requires walls being removed), 2 car garage and 6th bedroom, however we aren’t in a rush to get many of these done which will help us on the costs as construction prices normalize over the next year or so.  I’m also still planning to source all the materials myself to save as much as possible and GC the project overall for the most part.

I’ve got a lot to update in the next couple of days to catch you up, and if I wrote everything here this article would be the longest yet – so I’m going to leave you with some hints of topics to be covered in articles to come and some descriptions and photos of the place we’ve bought!

To be discussed in the next few days:

  • The Story of Windchime and the Change of Our Villa’s Name
  • $5k Already Spent at Home Depot in First 2 Days Remodeling
  • Pool Design Sketched & Wrap Around Balcony Plans
  • New Windows, Doors, and Shutters in the Works!
  • Tiles, Granite, and Backsplashes Selected for Apartments
  • Indian Furniture – Safe and Sound All the Way from India!
  • Paint Colors Chosen and Painting Begun
  • Meeting the Neighbors – Our First Monthly Neighborhood Brunch!
The House!
Shaleece and I in front of the house with the keys!

The House!

The house currently boasts a total of 5 Bedrooms with 5 Bathrooms and 2,950 square feet inside with another 1,500 square feet of living space outside.  The main house consists of 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs, while downstairs we have three separate apartments, including two one bedroom apartments and one studio.  The plan is to rent these units out via AirBnB, HomeAway, or VRBO when we’re all said and done with their remodel which should more than cover the entire mortgage on the property.

Estimates on the future value by multiple contractors after discussing our plans for the remodel are in the $1.2M to $1.3M range. The property was purchased for just $349,000, on a lot with this million dollar view, 200 degrees from North East to South West.  We can see Buck Island, Christiansted Harbor and Round Reef, the North Shore all the way to Sugarloaf Hill and Goat Hill. Point Udall at these hills is the Eastern most point of the USA. The Featured Image at the top of this post is our Eastern view taken from our house.  We can also see a large strip of the South Shore.

We’re surrounded by hundreds of acres of undeveloped land known as Windsor Forest in a community called Vista Concordia and Concordia Ridge.  We’re located on the North Shore where we’ve always wanted to be, central to everything, on the “Scenic Route” of St. Croix upon the second highest mountain on the island; only second to that of the next mountain after us along the same Scenic Route.  Multiple neighbors we’ve met have been on the island for 20 years, have lived everywhere from East to West, and swear this is the best location they’ve found  yet.  Our drive-way is about 300 feet long.  The lot is breath-taking and the views this house has the potential of showing off upstairs are incredible.  Most who I’ve taken to the home say that the views are of the very best they’ve seen on the island.  We think so too.

Enough with the talk… Here are some photos of this horrendously dirty and out-dated house!

Waitiki St Croix - Windchime Estates - View - Scenic Route
Some of our friends checking out the house right after we closed!