This House Hasn't Been Touched Since 1978 (What We Found)

In front of me is a house built in 1978. And like any old house, it has its quirks: poor planning, cramped quarters, and 50 years of wear and tear. Well, we're here to change that. We only have 4 months to do this. There are so many unknowns, before we redid everything room by room. So today we have to do it in the most effective way. It looks like a DIY project that was never completed. And speaking of efficiency, I have an extra pair of hands, and we're going to throw the kitchen sink at this thing . Let's get down to business. So, the garage is not working because the electricity was turned off . We will try to break into this house. Okay, it's locked. Yes, I highly doubt it. Arena says he's working to turn on the power in Idaho, but we really need the switch sooner. The garage door opener was a bit fickle. He may have to hold each button down longer than usual. Good. No. This is as slow as I can go. Not working. God, I was hoping. I remember we didn't lock those windows properly. So, we have several options for getting into this house. Or A, wait until the evening for them to bring the garage door openers, which we're not going to wait for. B, break into this house. Uh, the windows are all new, so I don't want to do that. But the door will be replaced. So, we can just kick this thing out. This is a great start to a day of demonstration. Ken, how are you doing with picking door locks? Because if we rip this out, I mean, like I said, we're still going to replace that door, so we could just... Yeah. I saw where they were observing where they had just drilled it. Yes. And then the key actually just falls apart. Did he go all the way through? No. The blade broke. So, you're saying this is some kind of car hacking, right? You 're trying to insert a flat key into the ignition coil, right? Yes. Not yet. Good. Open up, sesame. Look at this. Yes, we have no light. It was a problem with the garage. Quite impressive. Ken, you did it. Oh, it did n't even break. No, it didn't break, it got stuck. Ideally. So we're just installing another deadbolt until we decide to replace the door. Look at this. YouTube saves the day again. The living room is one of my biggest problems, simply because it's dark and small. Well , we'll try to fix that. But before we can fix it, we have to give ourselves that old blank canvas. So, all this wind, the coverage, I don't know what's going on there, uh , whether it's there or with the fireplace, but we're going to work it out . It looks like a home-made project that was never completed. If you guys have seen the step-by-step video of this house, you know we call it a wonder, er , mid- century home. And the reason is that a miracle has to happen because I have to get this house ready to sell by Thanksgiving. So we'll see how it goes. But to make my life easier, I got myself a 20-yard dumpster. And look at this. We have a landfill. Now you're like: why are you so excited about a portable potty ? Well, because I'm not a contractor, you know, by profession or anything like that . I'm just a fool with a YouTube channel who does this to a bunch of houses. And now I've figured out a way to speed it up. And hopefully all these little things will help me get this thing ready for Thanksgiving. Let me tell you, for 48 years, those 15- gauge nails have held us very tightly. Well, Ken, I think I've figured out that these beams are probably just cosmetic. This is because they have room to maneuver. And I mean, you can imagine the room for maneuver only from there. Do you see this? Yes. It looks like it's just cosmetics, like it was applied on top. Yes. And maybe these toenails are a finishing touch, because they probably covered them with these. These are beautiful beads. So, we'll see. Maybe we can figure out how to fit them in. Maybe we'll just drywall it and leave it as is. Yes. If I drywall or paint it. If we covered all of this on the channel, boy, there would be a war in the comments section. Oh, by the way... Yes, if we close this. Even that alone can cause... Yes. People that people love... I like that. Yes. As for me, I like the cabin style look. This is my personal... Yes. And I realized many years ago that, you know, in doing things, everyone has their own personal choices, and you just accept them, because the only color that matters in the end is when you do the work that you're paid to do. That's it. And it's not about whether you loved her or not. You know, it's better to love your job...in my opinion . It's better to truly value what you do and show others what you do by doing quality work for them . But when they pay you for it in the end, it's the color you should like. That's all that matters . You see, as a contractor, you have to listen to Ken. He says he's driven around this block once or twice . Look at this. I...That doesn't even fit. It's just an artificial beam. They... They cut it in half, and then they just stapled it together on top . So, yes. I have a good feeling about this. Good. Yes. Yes. And Alex, always remember that your quality always beats money, because word of mouth is your best business partner. That's it. And if you want to make money, you want to do quality every time. I need to start wearing shoulder pads. Take them out of Mom's jacket, you know. Oh yeah, I forgot to shout. Wood. Ken, insulation is usually resistant to mold. Right. Sometimes. Do you think, uh, it's mold, or do you think it 's... Yeah, it's mold in it? Yes. Fun. Oh, look at those fun lag bolts. Ha? Someone installed the protective film very securely. I love that they didn't even want to say something like, "Let's just plug these holes." Like, “No, no, leave them. This is character. Part of the atmosphere." Yes. Yes. I want them to know that these are industrial grade designs. This is a person who takes pride in his work. I mean, if you're going to put them in and have the audacity to not cover them, that's a proud person. The one that is welded? Oh my God. Smart move. Give yourself more Cat 9 cable. You never know where you'll need to run your TV antenna. So just don't be that guy who puts it in a face frame and just a little protrusion. Get yourself a respirator about 6 by 7 meters. You'll thank me later. A pile of all sorts of things is floating in the air. I know I'll get an upper respiratory infection if I don't cover something myself . Yes. Then, if you want, click on it. That's it. We made it. Ideally. Yes. A little paint, and I think we can celebrate the house. What does he look like? Oh, I think we can clean it. Yes, perfect. God keeps telling me that I need to wear a helmet because many of our incidents we call accidents are where something fell on my head. And he keeps telling me things like, " You need to wear a helmet." You must wear a helmet." But even today he says, “Oh, I saw one on Amazon. He's pretty cool." I don't wear a helmet. I will compromise. I wear a respirator, but I don't wear a helmet. This is where I put my paw on the plate. There's a lot of dust here, and I know it's going to affect me, but, uh , let's check on Ken. He's working on an opening, give us an open concept, but let's see what kind of openings we find here. What do you have here, Ken? Well, by the way, this is Ken. We have n't officially introduced it yet. Ken is the new, uh, assistant here. He is here for me to answer. Ken has been in the industry for 30 years. He knows what he's doing, and, uh, I'm here to learn from him, and he's here to help me, and we're here to just be a good old-fashioned happy family. That's right. Learn from him too, because you can never not learn from someone. Someone will always teach you something. I agree, dude. There is always something to learn. So, Ken, we want to implement an open concept. I know it was a laundry, in my opinion. We can move this to the washer and dryer in the garage. It's tomorrow. Alex's problem. But what do you get from just opening this thing up as much as possible? Hmm, I think it's not the bearing, just because you can still hear the vibrations. Usually, if it's a bearing, it will be harder. Not always, because we will still go up to the attic and, of course, check. But good point. You know, these structures are loose- fitting, so we can open them up here so your refrigerator is here. Good. Or part of the pantry, a larger pantry, and also some space here . Or also access to that front room, that living room, or whatever they call it? Living room. Living room. Yes, I think you're right. I think this is the best case scenario. I would like to get rid of all this, but here we are dealing with carrying capacity. Yeah, but it's a cool little trick. I never really thought about just giving it an old kick and seeing what happens. Masters teach me this. So, as you can hear, something is wobbling. It's solid as a rock. So, it carries something. You could see the top plate crossing it. In any case, I bet it's probably a wall. I don't know. We'll see. She holds. Yes. Is something like that possible? But I like what you think. If we get rid of this little section here and move all of this, open this up and get rid of this, we'll have a much bigger opening to the next room. Yes. We can even divide it or just leave one big hole. But ideally, hopefully, we can still do it. Lower it there like a big old beam, and then hang it up. Yes. Whatever we had to do, climb in there and jack up the wall , and it would be perfect. So, in the meantime, yeah, let's start knocking out some of this drywall and see what we see here. This is the most interesting. The brick is now falling. Okay, I'll take a little break. Everything must disappear. All this must disappear. I'm going to keep this cabinet, put it in the work trailer. But here's where I start to think. We are renovating this house, improving a 50- year-old house, but there are things that need improvement, such as the water pipes in this house. Who knows what's in it? Who knows what's in city water? According to studies, this drinking water contains tons of fluoride, lead, arsenic , and perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and it is extremely harmful to children, especially their developing bodies. So I'm one step ahead. I have already furnished this house. We are currently testing it and it is working phenomenally. This is a reverse osmosis filtration system from Waterrop, model X12. That's what she does. 11 stages of filtration, including a 0001 micron RO membrane that removes lead, PFCs, chlorine and arsenic. The whole list. It is SGS tested and NSF certified. But what's really cool about it is that it doesn't just remove water and leave you with dead water. It returns nutrients, calcium, and magnesium. It even uses PCC stone activation technology to actually remineralize your water and bring the pH level into a healthy alkaline range. So families or children who actually drink this water are not just filtering it, it's actually better for them. It's tankless, so it fits perfectly under your cabinet. And it has a powerful 1200g that it handles every day, filling a glass of water in just 4 seconds. The smart faucet has a real-time TDS display that shows the life of your filter. And on top of that, it has a 3:1 purity to drain ratio, which is actually much more efficient than most reverse osmosis systems on the market today. And when it comes to installation, it is so convenient for self- use. You don't need any complicated tools, and it doesn't have to be professional. Setup is extremely fast. We did it in less than an hour. These are just basic, clear and concise instructions with clean water. And I know $1,300 for a reverse osmosis system may seem like a lot, but you have to think about what you're paying for. You pay every day for clean water for yourself, your family, and your loved ones so they know they are healthy and safe, just like you. And besides, it's absolutely priceless. The year is 2026. It's time to have clean , safe water for yourself and your loved ones. Click on the link in the description below. Check out the Water Drop X12 reverse osmosis water filtration system. You will like it. Now let's get back to the transformation of this house. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Everyone knows that removing rugs from carpets sucks. How terrible. Oh, he's big. He is uncomfortable. It's like moving a mattress, but across the room. Here's a trick I learned not too long ago that really helped me. Cut them into 3-foot sections. It doesn't matter. Cut the strip down the middle like this. Figure out where your stripe goes. Cut the little double line there, as if we were doing a double slit experiment to see the quantum world. If you know, you know. Double tie it there. Now this thing won't turn on you. And the most interesting thing is that there is a cute little handle so that it can be thrown away. It doesn't seem so bad , but well, here it begins. Here it begins. Ideally. In the next part, everyone will hate me. You will, and I'm sorry for that . I'm fine with that. I'm really settled. I am satisfied. I've been doing this for a long time. I do n't mind annoying people. This needs to be gotten rid of. I know you're thinking, "Oh, that's cool. Brick. She has character. "Someone put in so much effort." Truth. All of this is true. But it's an old house and there are a lot of old things in it. We are trying to preserve the original structure of home comfort, but make it modern so that we live in 2026, not 1978. Everything will be fine, and it will look amazing. Just be patient. I'm starting to think it was a security threat, even keeping him here, because anyone could just pull on him like this and you'd be in trouble. But should a brick come off so easily? I do n't think so. Ken, have you known enough bricklayers in your time? Uh , I knew a few. Yes . Masons. Yes. Do you think the brick should just come off like that? Um, I think it's time to change something with them. Just a quick question. I think the brick is telling us it's time to go. This is from when I was younger and your dad would put the TV on a TV stand and you learned not to knock it over, but you know, for kids today, that would be very dangerous. Yes. Yes. No, exactly. Exactly. Times are different. So this is where they spend their sweet time, keeping quiet. After going around the entire room from top to bottom , we discover that the wall right here, which supports this partition, is not load-bearing. You see, not a carrier. Also, this wall ends here, and the rafters continue there. Nothing is splitting. The rafters continue 13 feet from there to 13 feet down. So, if we're right, and it's 100% non-bearing, that means we can take it down without any, you know, doubts. And this will give us the opportunity to explore how much bigger we can make this kitchen. I like this part. Let's make this house a home, okay? Warm. Warm. Warm. There is so much room for activity here. The idea is that I'm going to extend this wall here. I'm going to get rid of this window. And after getting rid of it , I'm just going to move it there. And it will be something like a dining area next to the kitchen. And you think, " Well, where are you going to put all this stuff that was here?" The water heater will fit in the garage, where it should be. The washer and dryer will be stored in a closet in the hallway, because there are two of them. And we'll still be able to keep our "uh" section here. This is our pantry and our refrigerator. However, the bonus feature here, which is something I'm really happy about, is that since it's going to be closed, we also have space for a home office, which can be a flexible space. If you have small children, they can play. If not, you can work from home. This house is going to be so sick when it's finished. And now the moment we've all been waiting for, the kitchen. A gathering place, a place to cook food, a place to feed. Let 's be honest, the place is everything. To be honest, we're going to get rid of this. Get yourself a clean slate. This will be a dream. Let's get started. All these cogs are exposed. This is one way to skin a cat. Hey, if you guys didn't know, we have a private community called Builder's House. Here is the logo. I am one of the founders. If you have a house and you say, “Hey, I want to do some renovations. I don't know how." Join our community. We are here to help you. And check this out. We're doing a live broadcast right here. Hello everyone. This is our private community. They watch me endure it. You get live broadcasts. You will be able to reference your projects with me and I will walk you through it. If you need any help, I am here for you. Go and check them out. This is the best way to contact me and get the most out of it , guys. House from 1978. This will be incredible. Can't wait to get a clean slate today. Let's get down to business. Interesting. This house was built 48 years ago in 1978, and they still use particleboard on the cabinets. But these are original, and they served for a long time. So, to me, this tells me that if you do it right, you don't have to buy solid wood cabinets. I mean, it's been 50 years. They look solid. Whenever I see cabinets like this, I always think of my mom because she always did that. I lined all the drawers, all the closets with these things. Eternal. Oh, you seem to have a bunch of locker lids. There are not enough of them. Look at this drawer. It has something like, I want to say, a secret compartment, but it's not. And given that, I don't know what use it could be. Oh, the dishwasher still has power. I always keep... This is always the thing that annoys me the most when renovating a kitchen - it's the cabinet under the sink. Over the years, so much accumulates there, so much wears out. This one, you might notice. I mean, it's been painted many times. They put silicone here. You could see right here. They...I've seen people laying tiles just because of that, all these accidents happen. They happen right here. Sinks leak, garbage disposals leak, dishwasher hoses leak, a lot of things can happen. So when I can, I'm really happy to put all the new stuff right here to make sure it lasts another 50, 60, 70 years. I love you. We are happy to take your temperature if you wish. Oh, the battery is still working . Should I... Let's do the old body temperature. 92.7. Is this bad? Should n't I be somewhere around 98? Should I put it under my tongue? I never understood why they make these little protrusions on the rather low ceiling. Are they just trying to close everything down to reduce the space? I understand that when this house was built in 1978 , fuel and oil were coming through the roof. So, I wonder if this is just a way to keep warm and cool, some kind of efficiency? Oh, you son of a [ __ ]. You just had to run some electricity here, didn't you? Oh, and plumbing. Perfectly. We have a ventilation pipe. We have something like a 220 cable. God knows what it is . Oh, and there's even more electricity here. I do n't like this at all. Well, as you can see, we have our hands full. But most importantly, we have a clean canvas between the living room, dining room, laundry room, and kitchen. We have a good starting point. I'm going to clean everything up. In the meantime, here's a video that I think you'll enjoy. See you later.