The good news to share from the week is that many apartment showings later and I finally found someone to move in! They signed the lease, so its all done. I’m glad I no longer have to spend the time showing it, but ALSO that we wont have to ever pay both rent and mortgage. That makes me feel more financially secure, so we can proceed with planning the larger expenses at the house (…kitchen).
However, there are still issues holding us back. Based on the age of the home and the level of demolition that needs to happen in the kitchen, I think we need an asbestos inspection. B got some quotes and we are going to have someone come maybe next week. That will set us back probably $500, but will be worth it for our peace of mind. I’m not even going to entertain the idea that the old drywall or the ceiling tiles actually contain asbestos, but planning for the cost of remediation is also keeping me from wanting to order kitchen cabinets.
While we wait on getting those kitchen issues taken care of, B is working on the flooring in what will one day be our bedroom. After he and Ryan ripped up all of the old wood flooring last weekend, they realized that the sub-floor was basically trash as well. The planks were very old and cracked – some even had major holes. Underneath the sub-floor is a really weird concrete slab…it was covered in dirt, weird bits of wood, wire, and other garbage. We found a part of a toy gun, as well as some old papers that a child used to practice writing words! I am going to save those and make them into a piece of art for the wall in the smaller bedroom (someday nursery).
So this weekend B is working on cleaning up all of that situation so he can install a new sub-floor. Apparently even the joists that hold up the sub-floor have issues. They are too small or too far apart or something that I am thankful my engineer husband knows how to identify. He was on the phone with his engineer dad last night for nearly 3 hours talking over the problems and drawing up plans. I am not kidding, my father in law sent him multiple hand-drawn engineering plans for options to reinforce the joists. I think even this morning they are still tweaking it. It is quite heart-warming for me to watch him take such an interest in this project for us. With someone as experienced and intelligent as him involved, I am confident B will be able to fix all of those issues.
And for my part, I am feeling a little guilty for not having more motivation. I am putting a ton of energy into work right now, which I love. But that doesn’t leave me with a lot to put into our house. Jess helped me paint the bathroom and prime a bunch of the living room (and the horrifying brown trim around the windows), for which I am insanely thankful. I need to go back and touch up the bathroom still, as well as put a second coat of paint on the bathroom door. Yes we have been surviving this week without a door on the bathroom. But thankfully it couldn’t be farther from the basement where we are actually living right now! I am hoping I will get all of that done and maybe paint the living room and small hallway as well. We will see…I also have to plan some lessons for school, though being stuck in the basement makes it hard to find motivation to do that either.
Oh and our hardwood floors from Lumber Liquidators are due to arrive today! They will need ~10 days to acclimate to our house before we install, which is fine since we don’t even have a sub-floor in the bedroom at the moment. Check Instagram for photos!