Thursday, June 20, 2013

So it's time for dumpster rental. We need to get rid of as much junk as possible to make room for the workers to get in here, and to get ready for the fire inspection. Hopefully we can be ready for that by next week or so.

Anyway, we should be able to close on the new loan once we take care of that. Current estimate is closing by the end of the month. So yay! We have about $3K in back taxes to pay off, but I guess we don't have to come up with that immediately. Which is good, because we really need to put as much money as possible toward getting the cleanup and repairs done.

Thank you again, to everyone who has been able to help out so far. This has been a long process, and we're moving on to the next stage. Which, at least won't involve worrying about homelessness. So yay again!

And dang, never have a fire, especially if you're broke. Quit smoking, empty the dryer lint, and get rid of anything that might catch fire. Get fire extinguishers if you can afford them. Because even though we had a lot of insurance, this has been particularly hellacious. I wouldn't want anyone else to have to go through this.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

So yesterday we ripped out the carpet on the stairs. One of the big ceiling leaks is over the stairs, and after the huge downpour happened last week, the carpet was soaked. We had another downpour a few days ago. So the carpet was just spongy and disgusting. Walking on it was literally like walking on a wet sponge. And yes, I do mean literally. With the water and the squishing.

And by the gods, there were so many staples and nails in that thing! We're still pulling them up. I grab the needle nose pliers and pull a few every time I walk past. Now all the disgusting carpet is on the front porch waiting for us to rent a dumpster. And the stairs are that awful pink color again. With the matching heart stencils. Joy.

I posted before and after photos on my fundraiser page.






Note the squishy puddles in the carpeting? This is after using the shop vac.


Ahh, back to the ugly original stairs we carpeted over in the first place. Covered with lead paint somewhere under there.

So now we have to figure out if we strip the lead, or if we encapsulate it. I'd rather have it just gone, but it's going to take $100 or so worth of Lead Out to do it. And then we still have to condition/stain or prime/paint. But none of that happens until after we get the roofer going. And that is going to wait until after closing.

Meanwhile, we've got to finish stripping the wallpaper, and consider what to do with the railing. It doesn't match anything, and as you can see in the before pic, it's missing a couple of balusters. I', thinking strip the bannister and stain it to match... something, and then replace the balusters with wrought iron. Right now we've got honey (oak?) colored doors and frames, and a solid mahogany front door stained with a cherry color. The doorstep is oak stained with the same cherry Minwax. And the railing is that dark walnut color. Blah.