Under Construction

It has been just over ten weeks since we bought our new home, and construction is well underway.

When this all began, we sat down with our building expert, aka "Dad",  to discuss what we could accomplish in the first phase of our projects with our budget. It's quite a wishlist: replace the furnace, install an air conditioning unit, replace all the windows, update the electrical and plumbing, and complete the upstairs renovations, which includes adding a third bedroom and expanding the bathroom. 

Oh, and remove the bat from the basement.  Now that was an adventure!  Joe, myself, some quality Tupperware.  It wasn't pretty, but we got the job done.  Check that off our list.  Now back to the main renovations...

There are smiles under those masks.

Couldn't do this without Dad!  He's both the brains and the brawn behind the operation.  This picture shows the wall going up that will divide the two bedrooms.

A new shower in the expanded bath.

Not sure this is the "open floor plan" we had in mind.

Opening up the main floor bath to run new water lines.

We've spent most evenings at the house working on "homework" from Dad or just trying to clean up. It's been a lot of fun.

New duct work going upstairs, which is a major victory thanks to my dad.  Even the HVAC guys struggled to figure out the best way to put in new runs, but my dad wouldn't give up, and he saved us a lot of money and effort in doing so.

always climbing

a beautiful snowy night

Drove up to the house one morning to find Dad up on the roof, replacing a few missing shingles to appease our insurance company.  I could see George eyeing those ladders.  Not a chance, George!

Overall, the process of buying and renovating has gone really well.  We knew we had to be prepared for  any kind of obstacle.  You never know what you're getting into when buying an old home, but so far, there hasn't been anything too difficult. There have, of course, been a few hiccups: some uncertainty with the HVAC, an insurance company who hesitated to insure our fixer upper, a city inspector who apparently should have retired awhile ago.  But all those things worked out just fine, and we are so grateful.  We couldn't do it without my dad and the others who have come along beside us in this journey.

And now we begin a new leg of our journey, having moved into our fixer upper this past Sunday. More on that to come...