Updates on the House | So This is What Buyers Remorse Feels Like

We closed on our new house nearly two months ago and we’ve still only packed about 4 boxes. That’s right, we’re not even close to moving yet. Our little fixer-upper is turning into a real beast and I find myself sounding more and more like Snuffleupagas everyday (“ohhh, dearrr…”). I want to show you pictures and tell you all about it but…where do I begin? How can I show you the before pictures when the after ones are still a month away? What words can describe what it smells like when you rip out 66 year old plaster that exposes water damage and mold? How do I convey what 480 cubic feet of garbage times two looks? When the dump guys show up and say, “this is disgusting and smells like s**t”, you know you’ve got a problem.

So far, we have:

• Gutted the basement down to concrete. Floors, ceilings, walls, bathroom and kitchen…gone. Once that disappeared we were able to see that the foundation leaks. In three place. Super. Nothing is going into the basement for awhile.
• Gutted the attic. So long, improperly installed insulation. Take that zero ventilation.
• Gutted the upstairs bathroom down to studs. There, we exposed some creative plumbing and electrical work. How the place didn’t burst into flames, I’ll never know.
• Gutted the kitchen. The pictures above of my little laborers were actually taken in the kitchen. We’ve put up one new wall and started new wiring. Hallelujah for progress.
• Removed the carpet. It was probably the nastiest thing in the house. I can’t even begin to describe how horribly disgusting it was.
• Stripped doors. Once we took off about 7 layers of paint they finally started looking like they might have some potential. I’m not convinced it wouldn’t have been cheaper and easier to just buy new ones, but at least these have a lot of character.

Still left to do:

• Sand and refinish the hardwoods in the bedrooms and living room.
• Plumb the kitchen and bathroom.
• New walls, floors, and ceilings in kitchen and bathroom.
• New appliances and fixtures in the kitchen and bathroom.
• Finish rewiring the house.
• Re-install windows (this time with proper flashing).
• Replace siding.
• Paint everything.
• Clean everything.
• Move.

Did I mention we’re doing all this without a contractor? Thanks to Justin for helping us with wiring; Kat for pulling nails and stripping doors; Ryan and Tom for gutting the attic and getting really dirty; Mom for the dump runs, shop-vac and Home Depot gift card; Ellen for coffee, cake, and stripping doors; Annie for whiskey and dump runs; Tex for being there nearly every weekend, gutting the basement and mowing the lawn; Tamas for clearing the stairwell up to our house and pruning the bushes; Kellie for bringing the “littles”, Ty and Sawyer to cheer us up; Ty and Sawyer for “hammering”, “sweeping” and “vacuuming”; and finally my husband for working hard every single day after work, all day every weekend and still smiling and kissing me at the end of the day. Well done guys. Well done.

This next month is going to be rough but I’m excited to see how we pull it off. In the meantime, get ready to see a sexy maternity session, engagement photos, first birthday pictures, and a couple of weddings coming to the blog over the next few weeks. Where do I find the time!? To quote from my favorite Story People, “Everything changed the day she figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in her life.”

Onward and upward, Internet. Onward and upward.