After He Bought the House, He Got a Nasty Surprise and Had to Make a Tough Choice. Once You See the Photos, You'll Agree With His Decision.

In the age of McMansions and outsourcing, it turns out there are still plenty of Americans willing to pour their own blood, sweat and tears into a home.

After reading the story of a massive Arizona home renovation, TheBlaze reader Cecil Stinemetz reached out to share his own story of taking a home in West Des Moines, Iowa, from bad...

Image via Cecil Stinemetz

...to beautiful.

Image via Cecil Stinemetz

"I bought the house in Oct 2012 for $38,000 to repair and resell," Stinemetz told TheBlaze. "I knew it needed a lot of work but was willing to take it on and thought within 3 or 4 months I could put on the market."

That's when he got a surprise.

Image via Cecil Stinemetz

"While I was pulling up the floor I saw where [someone had] shimmed it up about 5 inches and further inspection under the crawl space found the foundation had sunk and [was] breaking apart (couldn't see this from the outside)," Stinemetz wrote. "So I had a choice to patch it back up and make quick buck or take the time and money to do it right."

He chose to do it right.

Image via Cecil Stinemetz

Image via Cecil Stinemetz

Image via Cecil Stinemetz

He worked with contractors on the foundation, outside walls and shingles, Stinemetz said, and tackled the rest of the labor with his family.

"My wife was the great interior designer," he recalled, "and the kids helped a few days when they were up."

It was no easy task...

Image via Cecil Stinemetz

...but soon the house started coming together.

Image via Cecil Stinemetz

The home started to look better inside and out.

Image via Cecil Stinemetz

Image via Cecil Stinemetz

Image via Cecil Stinemetz

After more than a year of work and $100,000 invested, Stinemetz and his family had built a home to be proud of — and he said they sold it for $3,000 more than what he asked for it.

Image via Cecil Stinemetz

Possibly the best part of the story: Stinemetz said he doesn't have an extensive background in contracting work.

"I was raised on a farm where my Dad and Mom taught me how to think and do for myself," Stinemetz said. "I learned a lot from my Dad by watching him. So I am self-taught and after seeing the foundation was bad decided it needed done, so I just decided to do it right. I don't have extensive background [in home building], I just like taking on challenges."

Stinemetz shared a few words of wisdom inspired by the project.

"As the Bible says if the foundation is bad your house ain't going to stay standing (paraphrasing Matthew chapter 7!)," he said. "So next time do a better job of checking out the foundation! And in the end do what's right not what will make you the most money."

Image via Cecil Stinemetz

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Follow Zach Noble (@thezachnoble) on Twitter