Week 4: Things are SORT OF lining in place

The beginning of Week 4 is starting off already much better than Week 3..... I can't believe it's almost been a month since we got the keys to this house!! Yikes....hardly any work has been done to the house, only mountains of estimates for this and that. In your mind, you have schedule set for the amount and type of work, but it never turns out that way afterall.....Some accomplishments of this week are:

- Termite work. Check. In theory, we should be termite free.

- Asbestos Sampling and Air Testing. Check. Came back NEGATIVE!!! That has to be the best news yet. We are more than relieved, we are so GRATEFUL that we don't have to live with asbestos in the air and all that popcorn ceiling we have been scrapping since Week 2 was not asbestos!! Woohoo!!

- Bathroom & Kitchen Renovation. Not checked, but we did finally decide on a GC (finally!!) and we're going with it! It comes with a hefty price tag but we're excited to start seeing some changes to our old dingy house. The Man and I designed the kitchen and bathroom together to make it our own, so we are excited to see what it unfolds these next few weeks. Projected time-frame is 2 months. And of course, there will be hiccups as any construction there always is. But for now, I the Lady, will like to stop for a split second and believe that everything will go smoothly.

- Structural foundation work. Not check. This is the only thing that really bothers us that we can't do much about....we are simply out of money to do any more to the house as of now. We have gotten multiple companies to come out and give us estimates, but it's just too much to swallow right now. Hopefully we will be okay with the structural foundation to put it off till next year!! Fingers crossed....

- Shopping......now for the shopping. Shopping for tile, shopping for vanities, toilets, tubs, sinks, etc......this in itself seems like the best part right? Nope, it's actually kind of a hassle. It's now coming down to the wire and things are going to happen quick when construction on the bathroom and kitchen begin. We have to start buying our materials and fixtures so we can all be on schedule. Joy. More deadlines. Am I back in school?!

(The Man's shoe....and us trying to decide on trim pieces)

(Potential floor tile for the kitchen)

(Gray Quartz for the kitchen counter)

(White octagon tiles for the bathroom/shower)

I guess shopping is much better than scrapping popcorn ceilings and taping off the walls and floors with plastic sheets.....One. Step. At. A. Time.

Moving along,
The Lady

Week 3's Nightmare: The process of getting bids from multiple vendors

This Week 3 has been particularly hard for the Man and the Lady. It's frankly been a huge nightmare. We found out some daunting news about our newly bought house, which has made us think twice about this house. Too late now, we're in it 100%....

We have been working everyday after work (our day jobs) at the house, scraping the ceiling and taping off the rooms with plastic sheets. Mentally, it's an exhausting job. I know the Man and I are both pretty burnt out. We get home to our current apartment, which is nice and clean and construction-free, and it's so comforting to be there. We hardly sleep because we have to work afterhours on our house till late at night, it's just like being in college finishing projects, except it's our house.

Nightmare might not be a strong enough word for this week......it's surely been like hell. As I anticipated, once you start opening up the house, it's like opening pandora's box. It's bound to release bad things. We found out that the foundation of our house is basically useless. Our home inspector at the time of the sale told us that the brick was bolted down to the foundation. This past weekend, we had two foundation specialist and structural engineer come out to inspect and evaluate our house. Turns out, the work the previous owner had done to the foundation was basically crap. If anything, they said, it "weakened" the structural support of the house. Basically, we need a new foundation by means of a "sister" foundation.....which short story short, is going to cost anywhere from $30-$40K.....ouch. That's a big slap in the face.

On top of that horrific news (which the Man was very upset about), there's the asbestos we have to get rid of in the house and COMPLETE renovation of the upstair master bathroom and downstairs kitchen/laundry/powder room. Don't get me started on that!!! Okay, Lady has to vent a little about that......sooooooo, I am an interior designer/architect and being in the trade, I know of certain construction details and home renovations. I'm in the business, of course I would know a thing or two. Right? Right. My very first mentor, who taught me pretty much everything about this business, whom I respect and to this day keep in touch with told me long long ago, that General Contractors are like aliens. You'll never quite get their rational and neither will they. They are just from a different planet and don't think like you.....or so interior designers say.

To close off Week 3, we found a leak in the drain pipe for the upstairs bathroom. Another wonderful surprise that comes with an old house. Yay us! NOT!

(The Man on a ladder looking at the leak from upstairs)

(A hole in the drywall ceiling the Man created to get to the source of the leak.
Fantastico! We have a hole in our ceiling!)

When will this end....,
The Lady

Week 2: Cottage cheese ceiling!!

Week 2: Removal of Cottage Cheese Ceiling AKA Popcorn Ceiling AKA perhaps Asbestos-Ridden

Okay, so far not a good start at the house. Disgustingness continues with taping off rooms for scraping of the cottage cheese ceiling. And let me tell you, HOW THE HECK did Dexter do this?! Taping of a "killroom" takes hours! HOURS I tell you. Not a few minutes, hours and hoursssss......... :(

Our home is about 2400 sq. ft. The only rooms not lined with the popcorn ceiling is the kitchen, laundry and powder room and master bathroom. Which means, a big majority of the home IS! Just to tape up the living room, which granted is huge, by myself, took me about 6 hours. Yes, 6 hours of my life wasted, putting plastic sheets up like Dexter did before his "kills." Oh joy. Getting up on the ladder, sticking blue painter's tape onto the wall, getting off the ladder, stretching the plastic sheet little farther, hoping not to rip the plastic.....repeat, repeat, repeat.  How do you do it Dexter, how do you do it. Tell me your secrets, Mr. Dexter Morgan. I never want to see plastic sheets and blue tape again.

I guess I shouldn't complain because I apparently have the easier job out of the two choices. The Man has the worse job, coming in after I tape up a room and getting on a ladder to scrape the disgusting white cottage cheese ceiling with some water so it doesn't just create a dust bomb. Sucks to be us right now! (reference: Nacho Libre).

(Panoramic of the living room)

(Living room, half taped off with plastic sheets)

(Living room, just about the start the floors)

(Entry looking at stairs going upstairs)

(Living room, looking towards the entry)

(One out of the 5 bedrooms....so sad)

(Hallway upstairs)

(My knight in shining armor....or the Man in a HEPA filtered biohazard suit
getting ready to scrape the ceiling)

Exhausted and it's only just begun,
The Lady