Last week I went to Texas with both children. Devin planned on spending a night at Wise Road. We haven't done this yet; I have resisted. There is no air-conditioning. I know. Wimp I am.
But more than this, the house still didn't feel like "mine." Every time I walked through I felt ill at ease. It didn't smell right. Do you know what I mean? Not that it smelled bad. It didn't. It didn't smell of anything in particular. But still, it smelled...wrong.
In addition it didn't help that we had never been there alone. We had been there with real estate agents, contractors, neighbors, parents, and friends, but never just our family. I had never stood in the empty rooms and stared and thought and stared. It didn't feel like my house.
Anyway, this is all to say that we still hadn't spent a night at the house. Devin headed out there after work one night, and was shocked to find, when he walked in the door, that the house was--gutted. Our contractors had begun work that day--a fantastic surprise since, you know, you never know what "we will begin work soon" really means in contractor-speak. I guess "soon" meant, like, that day. Awesome!
So Devin didn't spend the night after all. Which is A-OK!
When I returned from abroad we went up together to look things over andargue discuss ceilings, floors, bathtub placement etc. It was a wonderful day. Strangely, taking off the walls suddenly made this house "mine." I can see where things will be. I can imagine myself waking up in the morning and looking out *this* window at *that* field. There is a long way to go, but we are on the road!
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Some complications have come to light as the layers have been pealed away. First, there is no insulation. Not a shocker considering the age of the house. But we need to go on and put that in. Our contractors quoted a price for that that seems...a bit ridiculous. So my intrepid spouse plans to do the insulation himself. We'll see how that goes.
The floors are the other issue. There are currently hardwoods throughout. They are okay: recently installed pre-finished tongue and groove. We had planned to salvage the flooring from the room we are demolishing and patch the parts of the floor that would be bare once we removed walls and tile etc. However, this is going to be a tricky (read *expensive*) job, and we are wondering if it might not be better/cheaper to remove all the hardwood and refinish the ORIGINAL FLOOR underneath. This is what I *really* want to do. We will see what state that floor is in soon enough. (Anybody have any experience with a similar job??)
Anyway, the unforeseens have already pushed Phase II back to next spring--that is residing the exterior. Still, I feel so much happier about the house already. We can live with the shabby exterior for a bit longer!
The weather last weekend was lovely. We took a hike through the fields and found the perfect tree-house tree. It was a good day.
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But more than this, the house still didn't feel like "mine." Every time I walked through I felt ill at ease. It didn't smell right. Do you know what I mean? Not that it smelled bad. It didn't. It didn't smell of anything in particular. But still, it smelled...wrong.
In addition it didn't help that we had never been there alone. We had been there with real estate agents, contractors, neighbors, parents, and friends, but never just our family. I had never stood in the empty rooms and stared and thought and stared. It didn't feel like my house.
Anyway, this is all to say that we still hadn't spent a night at the house. Devin headed out there after work one night, and was shocked to find, when he walked in the door, that the house was--gutted. Our contractors had begun work that day--a fantastic surprise since, you know, you never know what "we will begin work soon" really means in contractor-speak. I guess "soon" meant, like, that day. Awesome!
So Devin didn't spend the night after all. Which is A-OK!
When I returned from abroad we went up together to look things over and
Some complications have come to light as the layers have been pealed away. First, there is no insulation. Not a shocker considering the age of the house. But we need to go on and put that in. Our contractors quoted a price for that that seems...a bit ridiculous. So my intrepid spouse plans to do the insulation himself. We'll see how that goes.
The floors are the other issue. There are currently hardwoods throughout. They are okay: recently installed pre-finished tongue and groove. We had planned to salvage the flooring from the room we are demolishing and patch the parts of the floor that would be bare once we removed walls and tile etc. However, this is going to be a tricky (read *expensive*) job, and we are wondering if it might not be better/cheaper to remove all the hardwood and refinish the ORIGINAL FLOOR underneath. This is what I *really* want to do. We will see what state that floor is in soon enough. (Anybody have any experience with a similar job??)
.JPG) |
| "new" hardwood on left, original hardwoods peeking through the dust on the right. |
The weather last weekend was lovely. We took a hike through the fields and found the perfect tree-house tree. It was a good day.
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