One Sixty: All Cracked Up

All Cracked Up

I'm still depressed. A long weekend in the camper did little for my mood. Hate to say it. I'm getting paranoid that Bob's just going to put the house down. Just plop it right down on the level foundation, causing the un-level house to crack up all over the interior, if it survives at all. The kitchen may fall of if that happens. They didn't pour the foundation to follow the house's level like we thought they would. And we're not sure how to shim the house once it comes down!

And then there's the basement windows. I paid $200 for each - but did that include a window or just a hole for a window? Am I going to have to put the windows in myself? Pay for them myself after I already paid $200 for holes? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

Meanwhile Mike's ready to tar the thing. I'm rather scared of that too - we have no clue what we're doing. I've had a lot of faith in Mike and his mad skillz thoughout this house re-do, but it's not like you can un-fill the fill once it's filled, you know? Plus, it's got to be inspected. Grrrr.

What's really scary - I'm going to have to change the tape in the time-lapse VCR soon. That means it's been two months. Unbelievable. That's twice the time we thought it would take. Typical construction, I should have expected it. You always hope that the contractor is good and nice and timely.... but things never work out like that in this business. And I'm ok with that... except I'm ready to move back in. I don't care. No water - no shower - I don't care. I'll pee at McD's down the street. I'll get Poland Springs delivered right to my door. I'll shower.... somewhere.

It's driving me crazy. I have so much to do this summer and half of it's being held up because the house is being held up... literally.

I'm thankful for my basement. I would do it again 500 times over for what it will mean to me. But for pity's sake - I want it tarred and I want it filled and I want it down in two weeks. I want it hooked back up in three. Let's see if I get what I want.

Blog Story

My now husband Mike and I purchased this quaint home back in spring of 2004 - our first home - and, being the handy folks we are, expected to have the entire thing renovated in about a year or so.

And here we still are... renovating away.

This house needed a complete overhaul. Its plaster walls were uninsulated, its attic floor covered in 2" of bat guano, its basement - dirt and snakes, its exterior - asbestos siding, and lead paint windows in every room. The electric had not been updated and light sockets hung bare from the ceiling. Plumbing featured cast iron radiators - and only one for the entire upstairs.

We began by gutting almost the entire house from top to bottom. (sans bathroom - we needed to pee) We rebuilt the entire upstairs, with a new floor (not new carpet or wood - the once unstable framing underneath) and turned 3 small rooms into two. We reinvented the downstairs by turning a closet into a hallway and eliminating interior exterior windows and doors from old half-assed additions.

New insulation, windows, electrical wiring (including phone and CAT-5 internet), plumbing and baseboards, and drywall were all added.

We purchased kitchen cabinets from a yard sale. (None existed previously.) Our families helped us replace and purchase new appliances including the once also missing washer & dryer.

Then we had the entire house lifted - straight into the air - dug out the dirt, and had a real basement foundation poured. We updated our oil tank and burner and created heating zones.

Outside, we took down trees and planted grass. We dug out an awkward hill to create a 2nd part to the driveway and used the rocks our house once sat on as a retaining wall. We electrified and repainted the garage.

And of course, we spent many an hour on finish work like paint, trim, closet doors, lighting fixtures, hardwood floors, curtain rods, dimmer switches, and many other things everyone else takes for granted. We are still working to complete all this final finishing, but happy to report that we are FINALLY nearing completion of all little things in all rooms!

In 2008 we began overhauling the exterior by creating a new french door entryway and building a farmer's porch and garage addition. We replaced our roof and then stripped off our siding and replaced with new clapboards. We then planted two new flowering trees and a maple in the front yard - our first major landscape purchases. I'm happy to report that here in 2011, the porch is nearing completion and the back yard is on the road to recovery with some new loam and grass. More plantings soon to come!

In 2012 we plan to attack the last MAJOR (emphasis on major) job in the house - the dreaded BATHROOM! We plan to first add a second bathroom in the basement. Then, demolish our current bathroom and rebuild it, adding a second bathroom on top for the upstairs.

And that pretty much brings you up to date. The battle continues day to day as we try and complete everything.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: I've been periodically checking out yer blog. Had the same thing done to our 1880 vt farm house. Jacked up, flagstone basement replaced etc. We had some cracking of plaster and some seams in drywall cracked, but i expected more damage than we got - some doors stuck as well. but all was easily fixed. All was worth it for the "usable" basement space and solid foundation.; 2:58 PM
kitrainia said...: It's so amazing how many people stop by to read or say hello or see me on the street and say "I saw your pictures up on the web!"

I love it. And I love the support I get from people who have been through it too.; 5:25 PM