I woke up about 3:30 am with a massive headache. So, I am sitting here waiting the Motrin & coffee to kick in. Maybe that will help. I am not sure if it is just a tension headache or maybe its the allergies, or maybe even both. Whatever the cause, it is starting to get on my nerve.
I have a friend out in California, who has been beside herself worrying about a neighbor's 10 month old German shepherd. The dog has been alone in the house since last Monday, crying. She called Animal control, the police & several news stations trying to get someone to come and check on the puppy. She couldn't go over there, she has cerebral palsy. Finally, yesterday after one of the news stations was able to get someone to check on the dog. Still no sign of the owners, but at least the puppy has food and water. They will keep checking on the dog, and if the owners don't show up soon, they will take him. My friend, still would like a few minutes alone with the owners & everyone who wouldn't come out. Maybe now the puppy will be okay.
It has rained for 24 straight hours. Which has had me running around like a crazy person, trying to catch the leaks. That sounds worse than it actually is. There are only 3 leaks. 2 in the attic, near the roof hatch and one where the addition meets the house. As far as that one goes, its because it needs new flashing. The two in the attic are being caught in buckets. So I am doubly glad Bill is off today. Those buckets are full and I am just not coordinated enough to bring full buckets down the ladder from the attic.
They are calling for the rain to end this morning. The forecast is clear until Saturday afternoon, so hopefully that holds true. The roofer will be out today and I hope he can get everything started. He said the whole job should take about 2 weeks. Its not so much the tear off, re-decking and shingles that will take the longest, its all the other crap. Fascia, Sofits, gingerbread, flashing, etc., that will take the longest. They are pretty much ripping the roof off and rebuilding it. Of course, being the difficult people we are, we couldn't just go with new gutters, we are repairing the old Yankee gutters. Pain in the ass. But, we have looked at alot of houses that have had the Yankee gutters replaced with the new kind, and it just looks funny. Whats the point of having all of the fancy woodwork decorating the house, if you can't see it because there is metal covering it. With the Yankee gutters, the gutter is build into the roof so you can't see it very much.
I just want to get this done already. I've been with Bill, twelve years now. 9 of those have been living in one remodeling project or another. I love my husband and am so glad he is good at this sort of thing, but enough already :) I have informed him that I will not, ever, live in another house that is not finished. Completely. If he wants to buy another handyman especial, he will need to rehab and or restore it, before I move in. At least this house is structurally sound. The place he did in Florida, was not. It needed all new floor joints. That was interesting. But it was very impressive to watch Bill re-build it. He has mad skills. When we moved in here, the last owners had put in carpet throughout the house. We of course ripped it up. I don't like carpet. They had used a very generous amount of glue on top of oak hardwood floors. They had also glued carpet on top of Walnut stairs. Walnut!!!! The floors upstairs were pine, and only tacked down, but still. They even had carpet in the bathrooms and kitchen. Bill was able to sand down and re-finish all the downstairs floors, with the exception of the kitchen. The carpet was covering several places that had severe rot. Upstairs he had to put in new wood floors. So instead of pine he went with a 4 inch oak planks. I love those floors. You can really see the grain because those aren't stained. The downstairs floors are stained and because of the boys and all the critters, will have to be refinished, eventually.
Other issues with house, included burl wood, pocket doors, that had the hardware removed and the doors were shoved back into the pockets, while they were not hung. We found the hardware in basement in a pile of junk. Bill got those all fixed up and hung. There also wasn't a level surface in the house. He spent months jacking up the floors, quarter inch, by painful, quarter inch. The floor joists are made out of Redwood. And they are pretty much petrified now. But, they still smell really nice. Strange. Anyway, its been one thing after another. Jacking up floors, so doors would work. Finding William Morris wallpaper in the bathroom along with an archway that had been sealed up, that led to the master bedroom. But the roof is our last major project.
Once that is done, its all smaller things. Rebuilding the addition, this time to code, with insulation and proper wiring & plumbing. It sounds like a big job, but its really not. The back room is small. Then some minor cosmetic things. Then we can actually hang pictures on the walls, get curtains to match, and make it look like people live here. Not like people are just are working here:)
That the house doesn't look like much of a home, has always bugged Bill's dad. He is the type that just hires the work done. He was always telling us just to hire someone. And pay them with what?? Our good looks and Charming personality?? Right. Besides, Bill likes doing it himself, yes it takes him a while to get stuff done, because he is always working, but its done right, the first time. He is a bit of a perfectionist, which is okay with me:)
It looks like we'll be in the house for several more years, so why not have it the way we want it? Yes, alot of things could have been done the easy way, like using drywall, instead of plaster, to repair the walls and ceilings, but we like plaster :) We like the old floors and the 6 foot claw foot tub. The tub was the deciding factor for me, on this house. The only way they could have gotten the tub into the house, was by putting it in before the roof was on. They hoisted it up with mules. That to me is just awesome.
Once everything is done with the house itself, I can get down to the business of finally landscaping!!! Organized gardens, instead of just putting stuff wherever I can find a spot.
Anyway, it will probably be a long day, so I should probably get busy.
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