The first two weeks were spent talking to contractors about how to fix the damage from the March storm, signing kids up for activities, getting caught up on laundry, grocery shopping (we had pretty much used up everything in the fridge and freezer), touch up painting around the house and other odd jobs, including a much needed tidy up of the house and the neglected yard.
As soon as I got the house clean, everything caught up, etc. the contractors let me know they were ready to start work.
Work list:
V's room: repair ceiling drywall inside and outside of closet, scrap the ceiling (we have popcorn and since a lot would need to be scraped anyway, we figured it was a good time to update it to a flat ceiling); repaint all walls (due to drywall tears when taking the mold out as well as expected damage as the ceiling redo was done)
H's room: repair ceiling drywall inside of closet and paint closet (I opted to do this as I'll explain later)
Workroom/office: repair ceiling drywall where the mold barrier ripped it, repair drywall that had to be removed (2 bottom walls) due to drywall remediation, repaint all walls, new flooring that also extends to hallway and bedroom.
There was also some tape/ceiling damage in the rec room that we are opting not to have repaired at this time as a) it will save a headache of trying to get everything moved around from rooms that need stuff out of them (when the flooring is put in, our bedroom AND the office will need to be emptied. We'd also need to empty the rec room if we did the repairs now). It's a lot of money. The rec room is not terribly noticeable and will be fixed at a future time, however we're going to hold off at the moment. We do not know if the repairs will be done by us or hired out.
I opted to move the contents out of the rooms and paint H's closet because in addition to all of the above, we're opting to put carpet in the kids' bedrooms. 2 have 1960s parquet (not a tragedy, but they really could use a sand & stain-big job) and the other has a pretty cheap laminate in it. The kids all have expressed wanting carpet and to thank them for all the upheaval we're doing it. We also get a discount on the installation because they'll already come out for the floor, so it made sense to do it now while 2 of the rooms will be empty. By doing all our own heavy lifting, painting the closet and opting to save the rec room for later, we will almost (I think!) have paid for the carpet. We'll still need to address the rec room and I've been very busy, but I think it will be worth it.
First-unload the workroom (formerly my office, but after all this it will be a studio where both the kids and I can create) and 2 smaller bedrooms:
I'm invading the rec room and bathroom
looks like a super-fun place to do laundry right?
The living room has all the kids' stuff. You can't even see their dressers, which surround the TV. C's stuff will be added to the mix in 2 weeks when the carpet arrives.
All the kids are bunking together. Guess how fun it is to get everyone to bed on school nights?
My hope is once the paint smell dissipates a little I can move the mattresses back to other rooms for the 2 weeks until carpet arrives.
Last week and this week the drywall and paint was done. A sneak peek of V's no longer pink/white room which will soon be transformed into a Pokemon paradise.
Paul thinks the flat ceiling makes it look even bigger than before.
So, while the inside has been driving me nuts and torn apart, I've turned my sights to the outside. Namely the drains. 2 of the drains can go into the dip between us and the elementary school, so I've decided on the advice of the office of the siding guy (I'll fill you in on that later) to bury the drainage rather than keep hitting it with the mower.
The side drains: front has a dry well as it ended up a little deeper than I was expecting due to roots, etc.
grass seed has been planted hoping the rain will get it watered and little sprouts will show with all the nice temperatures we are having.
The back side drain:
more grass seed planted
I like this one better-it has a bit of a little dry river bed that ends next to a tree and the fence.
The front drain, though had no where to go and had been buried into the garden but was in about 4 pieces and full of dirt, so I dug it up and had originally thought about putting in a PVC french drain and running that through the garden. Then I consulted with my dad and Paul and it was decided to connect the front drain to the back and shoot it out past our deck/gazebo and down the slope.
The drain previously went along the front of the fence (buried) under the walkway and out to the garden. I dug up the old drain.
sloping along the house. I told Paul if the white bothers me I'll spray it brown or red to match the brick.
It goes underground by the time it connect to the back downspout. We've not glued it together so in the summer the rainbarrel can be hooked up and it's in a few pieces right now. at some point we'll make it a little prettier with one spout at a proper angle. This back spout goes into an upside down T and diagonally under those really heavy paving stones (they are about at my weight limit for what I can lift and have to be lifted a few times each to be properly leveled back into place.
I finally gave up for the evening when my arm looked like this from the mosquitos feasting while I tried to finish up before dark
I keep telling Paul I'm not tired from all the digging, I just have West Nile Virus (it was found on the trail behind us, could happen, just saying)
The pipe then straightens under these pavers which I made with the kids using flower bucket bottoms and cement, both left from other projects with some dollar store glass rocks. They kept getting dirty and gross in every big rain though. Their purpose is a clean place to put my bare feet so I can uncover the hot tub since the pad is just wide enough for the tub itself, so since I was playing with pea gravel generously donated to the project by my sister-in-law from her now-gone playset, I used a little to solve this problem as well.
It then turns under the pad and heads down the hill between our deck gazebo/outdoor eating area/bike storage area and the fence
The reason there are bricks on the fence side is that due to the fence being held up by that lovely stick wedged into it down below, it is being replaced next summer, so I bordered the gravel and moved the pipe closer to the gazebo side from the fence side so that when the fence is replaced we have less things to work around.
I was also tired of mowing behind them before, but now that the stick is there, I can't get the mower in there, so I'm stuck weed eating. Now I won't be.
On the left is my little dry riverbed which actually continues through a hole under the root. I couldn't continue any further down the slope directly due to HUG roots from a tree just where the gravel stops. I'm hoping as I find small rocks in the garden and around the yard I will gradually cover the last bits of landscape fabric.
I also beautified where our sump pump exits.
The sump pump wasn't hooked up when we moved in, so we hooked it up, removed a few deck boards and it now comes out on the back of the gazebo.
So this is why I'm tired, I've been moving furniture, digging about 70 feet of trenches, hauling pea gravel between my inlaws and my house and all around the yard, not only are my arms and legs sore (the legs are new and started last night, I'm guess from hauling gravel) but my carpel tunnel is acting up and my hand go numb with alarming regularity these last two weeks. I am drinking lots of water and I have started calling around to find an acupuncturist to see as it's helped in the past when other things didn't and now that Paul has insurance through work, I can get a few appointments covered with only a copay.
We are now in a holding pattern for 2 weeks when we empty the last two bedrooms-the vinyl laminate flooring for downstairs comes the 30th, the carpet comes the 31st and the 1st will hopefully be spent finishing up baseboards (some are changing due to flooring, some pulled off when the drywall was replaced, etc.) and while Paul's curling that first weekend in November the kids and I will be putting everything back together. I've had the windows open all day but suspect the kids will still be sleeping together tonight, but maybe not tomorrow night!
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