The Renovator's Prayer
Oh grant me sweet salvation
from the dirt and grime -
this endless renovation
has taken so much time!
One chore barely completed
before one more begins -
I sometimes feel defeated,
and my poor head - it spins.
My house is always cluttered
with tools and with debris;
and at last bill I stuttered -
the costs rise steadily!
The constant noise assails me
it is hard to ignore -
and peace and quiet fail me
like shine upon my floor!
The time line - it gets pushed back -
things never move too fast;
help our projects stay on track,
and may our money last!
Sharon Flood Kasenberg, March 15, 2017
We've been living in the new/old house for almost eight months now, and we still love it - even though the projects seem never ending. We've come so far - yet, we still have so far to go...
We no longer feel like we're camping. Luckily, furnace and air conditioning repairs/replacement was up first on our list. We have four furnaces and four air conditioning units in this house, and three of each needed replacing. Our HVAC guy got right on it - he practically took up residence with us for about six weeks, and became like a member of the family. He knows that now he's welcome to stop by anytime to get caught up on the progress of the house and have a visit. Unfortunately, he had to subcontract the servicing (and replacement) of the AC units, and sadly that was a long, drawn out process. The good news is that it's done, and this summer we'll live in air conditioned comfort - knock wood!
Our kitchen is now 95% complete! Oh - how it thrills me to type those words! After all, I spent three months hunched over a laundry tub in the middle of my kitchen before I got a proper kitchen sink. When the new bank of kitchen cupboards got put in, I knew that sink - and even dishwasher, which had sat there mocking me for two months - would soon be functional. When both were installed, and the plumber had come by to finish the job, I had a true Hallelujah moment! It was akin to the jubilation I'd experienced about a month earlier when my washer and dryer were hooked up and trips to the laundromat in the next town became a thing of the past.
I have to say that a few months of roughing it made me grateful for some pretty mundane conveniences - like functioning toilets. When all three of our toilets were put into use I became a much happier camper. Now I yearn for the day when we have a nice shower in an actual bathroom, as opposed to a grungy corner shower in a vast "crazy room" that once housed a call center. That dream is closer to becoming a reality. As I type this post there are guys upstairs applying drywall to what will eventually (soon - I hope!) become a three piece bathroom! There's just something so disconcerting about having to shower in a room that has no door. Securing a curtain with a butter knife jammed into the door frame and hollering "I'm taking a shower!" (so that your grown son doesn't stumble in on you half asleep) is getting old. I frequently remind my husband that I'm a really good sport - a lot of women wouldn't have been able to handle the rustic bathing conditions in this house nearly as long as I have.
In December, with most of the pluming, heating and electrical issues taken care of - (invisible money suckers that must be taken care of but don't make your house actually look any better) - we were finally able to turn our attention to making cosmetic changes. It took forever to strip off the wallpaper on the two walls in the kitchen that had been damaged by the previous occupants of the house, and to fix the holes and prepare them for paint. It was a half finished eyesore for months, but in February we finally got paint on those walls, and it looks great! Likewise, we painted the back entrance to the house and the improvement is amazing!
One day, about six weeks back, I went upstairs and was thrilled to realize that the front bedroom and the "Men's room" (still complete with urinal) were actually covered in wall paper that could be dry-stripped. I pulled it all down in the space of a couple of hours. Now that bathroom is ready for paint, but some bursitis-type ailment in my shoulder has kept me from scrubbing down the bedroom walls yet. (The trials of getting old...but enough of the moaning.) Likewise, on a quiet day in late January I decided to start ripping up carpet, and we realized that the narrow strip hardwood in the former office and front entrance could be salvaged. We had it refinished, and while we're a bit disappointed with the end result, it is a vast improvement over the disgusting old carpeting. Now the big design dilemma is what to replace the carpeted floors in the adjoining living and family rooms with. Whatever we choose will have look okay with the existing floor, and have a low enough profile that we won't have to shave any height off of our magnificent pocket doors. The jury is still out on that one.
Two weeks ago we had the kitchen floor repaired. What we initially thought would be a quick fix turned into a bigger project when our contractor discovered that the floor tile we'd purchased was about an eighth of an inch smaller than the existing tiles on the floor. We all put on thinking caps and came up with an elegant solution that makes a simple ceramic repair look like a lovely area rug in the middle of our kitchen floor. Needless to say, the additional time and tiles to get it looking so nice added a few dollars more to the budget than we'd bargained for. We're discovering what a common problem that can be be when you have so many projects to tackle in a house as big and old as this one.
Another issue we've experienced, as my opening poem alluded to, is keeping our timeline on track. We're not skilled enough to make all of the repairs and improvements ourselves, and tradesmen get booked up quickly. From the electrician and plumber we can get a full day - maybe two if we're really lucky - here and there. And sometimes our booked slot gets postponed when more dire situations arise. (Milking barn disasters are a real issue here in the wilds of Ontario's mid-west.) And then, occasionally, you might hire a guy who you suspect only books work days when he's low on beer money or runs into an unexpected expense himself. (Luckily we haven't experienced this very often.)
So that's where we stand. Our kitchen is almost completely where we want it to be, we have functioning laundry and toilets and a new bathroom going in. Our floors are being de-carpeted (yessss!) and walls are beginning to be stripped and painted! It's good to see progress and be at the stage where we're making decor decisions and not just improving the unseen "guts" of the new/old house!
Headaches will continue as we put up with noise, confusion, tool littered rooms and workmen arriving (who let themselves in with the spare key you gave them) while you're still lying in bed scantily clad (with your door open). The endless cleaning after said workmen go home will continue for a while, but it's pain with a purpose.
Our growing pains will be ongoing and our wallets will continue to thin. Progress doesn't come cheaply, and isn't always neat and timely - but it's worth it!
The grand Victorian lady is still saying thank you, to which I can only respond, "You're welcome, house. Thank you for giving us a renewed sense of purpose. You are going to be fabulous!"
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