HOULTON, Maine — At more than 80 years old, the house at 8 Winter Street has seen some weather in its days. Built when homes were built to last, the interior of the historic structure was in need of repair.
That’s where Mary Williams came in. Williams and her husband Wade moved to Houlton from New York more than two years ago and she was looking for a home that would become her first-ever flip.
“After seeing this house, I knew I wanted to do it,” she explained. “It was so big, but I could see how beautiful it was.”
The five bedroom, three-story home had some unique and valuable features to offer. The first being its hardwood floors, which run throughout the entire house. Although it may have been the most time-consuming part of the project, it was the most important of the cosmetic work to be done.
However, in purchasing an older home, Williams would soon be faced with one of the most critical parts of her project and that would be the complete replacement of all the electrical inside the home.
“We had to get some wiring done to bring it up to date because it was the old knob and tubing wire so we had the electrician do that,” she explained. “We also had to bring a plumber in to take out the kitchen sink because we couldn’t get it out no matter how hard we tried. The plumbing was old.”
Williams’ experience in flipping her investment was educational. Prior to starting out, all she knew was what she had read in a few books that she had purchased. Being new in the area, and having an appreciation for the historic homes, she wanted to make a difference by restoring one and reselling it. She had no idea how much work would go into her first-time flip.
“We had the furnace overhauled and the water heater had new parts and I also had to replace the oil tank,” she explained. “We sanded all the floors, knocked out the two bathrooms, and put in a new kitchen counter.
“There was one room with a rug that was glued down on a hardwood floor — that was a pain,” she remarked. “Every foot you had to put on a new piece of sand paper and that was like $9 a sheet. That was quite expensive for the sand paper.
Williams does plan on flipping again. When is the question. Her house has been on the market for the last three months, but she feels when the right person comes along, they’ll want it. She said her husband and a team of volunteers did the brunt of the labor, but she said everyone had a good time and were happy to see what they had accomplished when the job was finally done.
“I thought we did pretty good,” she said. “We were done in just over two months.”
Like all flips, the purpose of the project is to turn a profit. Williams put in over $20,000 worth of work to the home and she’s confident that she will reap the rewards once the house sells.
She plans to hold an open house at the Winter Street home on Saturday, Sept. 29.
