Yesterday we officially bought the house and got the keys. By five o'clock last night we had made significant progress. Things are going to look worse before they get better, but it is really nice to actually start doing work on the house.
The house needs to be cleared. The easiest thing to do would be to throw it all in a skip. But, why make things simple? We posted a bunch of things on ebay. And surprisingly a lot of things sold. Maybe enough to pay for a dumpster.
We had a lot of pleasant surprises yesterday. One is that eight men from church came over to help us. First, we cleared out the garage and took four loads of garbage to the dump. (Love our little Ford Fiesta and how much rubbish we can fit in it.) I think most of them ended up taking some 'treasures' they found in the garage and house; things we weren't going to use. I'm so glad they found a new home!
Then we moved the ebay stuff into the garage as a temporary holding cell until the buyers come to collect their purchases. When the builders come in to clear next week they move pretty fast, so the things we want to save we needed to be put in one place.
It was kind of amazing how many walls we were able to get through. And SO much wallpaper! The guys worked so quickly and I felt a little embarrassed (and a lot grateful) to be getting so much service.
The back room is proving a little difficult. That wallpaper is not budging with just water. We're going to try a steamer today (borrowed from a friend.) The electrician came and hooked up temporary site power last night.
The little kitchen still looks pathetic, but the fridge and other old appliances are on the sidewalk now instead of in the house. I hope the neighbors don't hate us. I went over to one neighbor twice to fill up the sprayer since the water is off at our house. (We've bought some big containers to keep filling up until the plumber can get in and address the pipes.) Another neighbor stopped me at the corner store to introduce herself.
We have a pretty tight schedule of works over the next few weeks. We're hoping to move into the house by May, but Niall doesn't want to give notice on our rental flat yet. (We have to give two months notice, I wanted to give it at the beginning of the month. Niall wants to wait until the builders come in next week.)
Here's what we have planned:
Today: Second-hand kitchen arrives, second-hand range arrives, youth from church are going to help me strip more wallpaper
Monday (March 18): Garden Clearance starts, electrician starts wiring, professional comes in to strip remaining wallpaper
Wednesday (March 20): Roofers start, house gets cleared
Thursday (March 21): Walls and chimney breast come down and dry rot treatment starts
Week of Monday (March 25): Joiners, plumber and plaster work for six days to blitz the house, new windows get put in.
We're hoping to start painting the first or second week of April, then have the floors sanded and varnished.
1 comment:
That is so kind of your ward to come in! An additional 8 people can be a HUGE help!
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