Do you HAVE to remind me?

A couple months ago I switched home insurances - from the stupid MA Fair Plan to something more economical. And of course, this meant a home inspection. I always dread these things because, of course, this renovation is still in progress and many things are not finished. Many little things that people like home inspectors like to eat you up over.

When I've had these inspections before, I've been very quiet and let the inspector roam around by themselves. This last time, however, I had a woman who was very talkative and had questions about this or that. But I felt good about the whole thing because she was nice and very complimenting of our upstairs and kitchen. I knew the exterior would be an issue. And she asked about the wood stove in the garage - and I knew that would be our downfall for sure.

But the months went by. No phone calls. The switch went through and we got our new insurance plan in place. I thought, maybe it was ok because they knew we were renovating.

Then yesterday I get a phone call. A phone call with a list of grievances that must be addressed, fixed, removed, etc.

The siding must be replaced.
The chimney must be properly sealed.
The roof must be replaced.
Gutters must be installed.
Railings must be installed on all stairways and exterior entryways.
The wood stove must be removed from the garage.
Debris must be cleaned from the yard.

And honestly, none of this is really all that surprising - except for the debris part. Mike always has junk all over the place by the garage - and the garage is a freakin disaster area all the time and I can't stand it. BUT, I don't see why that would be an issue. I've seen all these places on TV that are absolute disaster areas - and I've been to houses with so much junk in the yard that they were actually condemned.

All we have in front of the garage is the little trash hut, ramps, the grill, some bits of scrap metal, misc parts, and I think there's a snow shovel.

Whatever - it's a good excuse to make Mike clean.

As for the rest, the only thing that worries me is getting it all done this summer. As you know, the farmer's porch and front siding are in the works. However, I hadn't planned on refinishing the rest of the house's exterior.

We did talk to a guy about doing the roof this summer - so that's only a problem of monetary fundage. Gutters are no big woop-de-do, although I hadn't planned on it. That's just another expense, plus time. The wood stove we can take out of the garage any time. And indeed, we do plan to put it in the basement this winter... but then that comes with building another chimney in addition to our current "unsealed" chimney.

And I don't even know what they mean by "unsealed." We built that chimney ourselves with concrete and terra cotta - a kind of, build-your-own-chimney-kit that we purchased from a local masonry place. All it needs in the surround, a decorative facade, and the cap. So... ok. Yet another cost.

The insurance company will be back out to inspect again in mid-September. And obviously, we have to show major progress or else they'll cancel us. More summer fun! Yay! I don't even want to count how many weekends we have to get all this done. It's like a reality show or something... I just wish I would win a million bucks if I did complete everything.