Little gifts

Life has been a blur lately.  It is a little better with only 1 job and the rehab, though  – so there is that.  We are trying to do that last push to get the kitchen done so we can move in.  That and the shower upstairs are the things that have to be done before we move in.  I had been going in and working from the new house and then would do rehab stuff when work got slow, but today the roofers were at the house and a chimney sweep and I knew it would be too noisy for me to concentrate with work, so I stayed at the current house with my work partner:

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It’s been pretty bleak on the selling side.  There just is not any activity in the market and our open house was a bust.  It’s just not a great time to list a house. The right buyer will come along at some point, but it could be many months down the road.

We escaped with major costs in other places in the new house, but the roof and the chimney are what hit the pocketbook.  The slate repairs are expensive (but hopefully we won’t ever have to worry about the roof again).  This is not a job I would want to do:

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That’s 3 floors up from the back of the house. Yikes!  There are 3 spots getting fixed. One is the house roof itself and then replacing the roof on the back and front stoops. Closeup of the slate that will be going up:

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Also, we need a new chimney liner to the tune of $2-3K.  The chimney is used for venting the boiler for the radiator system, as well as the gas fireplace, so it has to get done.  Sometimes it just makes you angry at how poorly some people treat their homes.  Delayed maintenance will get you every time… or get us, in this case.

Fun stuff lately:  I received a nice gift in the mail that was unexpected.  FB friend Rachel sent me a book to read to help decompress from the renovations and work stuff:

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Very sweet gesture and just about makes me forgive her for being a Steelers fan 😉

John got me a little present just for fun when he was ordering something else for himself:

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My sister and her family went to Maine, where Colleen had to buy this for us because of the name:

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Pixie approved!

Latest rehab projects:

Working on the cabinet doors for the radiator cabinet:

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Removing the middle of the doors for this step, which was kind of fun and no turning back now 😀

Also, the countertop is going in:

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Our mantra is “We will get through this, right?” 😀

23 thoughts on “Little gifts

  1. Kim

    Those socks are perfect for you – John knows you well!!!
    Wow, those slate tiles look heavy. I can’t wait to see the finished project!!

  2. debby

    Wow–a slate roof. That is not even something that is offered out here, I don’t think. Seems like it would be tremendously expensive, but also very long lasting (as you said.) My roof is getting re-done at the same time as all this work, but its just shingles. At least I got to pick a pretty color : )

    The countertop is interesting–so is that a way of doing butcher block?

    Pixie dust–how fun! And the road book–I love road trip books, I’ll have to check that one out.

    1. Lori Post author

      I think slate is a Northeast thing. It is expensive at first, but it will last a lifetime. We actually have slate on our current house as well. It took some getting used to because snow slides off the roof in a big whoosh that sounds like an avalanche!

      Yes, we are trying our own butcherblock following the example of someone else. It could be a complete disaster or really cool.

    1. Lori Post author

      Slate is actually nailed in place, can you believe it? There is wooden decking. The slate is nailed in and a thin sheet of copper is placed between the slates for water protection. That is part of the expense as copper is really expensive right now.

  3. Fran

    Gosh I love your house, those huge windows: love them!

    You got some nice gifts, often the little things are the things that brighten our day the most.

  4. Helen

    I feel tired just thinking about all you have going on. But everything is coming together so beautifully, the excitement must help with any weariness.

    I think some people don’t mean to neglect their homes, but just don’t really know what sort of maintenance (other than basic painting) they should be doing. I often wonder if we’re not tending to something we should be, especially now that we’ve lived in our house for 8 years…

    1. Lori Post author

      Well, sometimes you don’t know about maintenance things until some major happens because you can’t see what is going on if it is behind walls or something, but there was water actually coming through the roof on both porches when it rained. No way that would be missed. They just didn’t fix it probably because it was outside. It fried the porch light, though.

      I should see if HD or Lowe’s would sponsor a post on home maintenance LOL! 😀

  5. Ali @ Peaches and Football

    I was reading through some of the comments about the slate roof – because I’d never heard of such a thing either. Here in the Midwest it’s nothing but shingles and the occasional metal roof. Heck, metal roofs seem odd to me just because of their scarcity.

    Loving seeing the progress though, once that kitchen is done it’s going to be fabulous!

    1. Lori Post author

      It’s really only old homes that have slate roofs. I have never seen it on new construction (or at least in the builder’s grade of new construction). Probably higher end homes might consider it. The look is so distinctive and I really love it. The roofer suggested a metal roof on the back porch since no one sees that from the street, but I don’t like metal roofs and this house deserves a unified look.

  6. Roz@weightingfor50

    You WILL get through this Lori!!!! LOVE all the gifts! (Pixie Dust? AWWWW)
    As for the Seahawks, don’t hate my husband, but he does favour them when watching the NFL – given Seattle is only a 3 hour drive away. That said, his support is “periphery”…and he’s an avid BC Lions fan in the CFL here in Canada. 🙂

  7. Jody - Fit at 55

    So sorry things are crazed Lori BUT I love the house & in the end, it will be worth it & Pixie will take over that one! 🙂 I love her! I just wrote you about a kitty that adopted us & want to keep her but can’t due to hubby PLUS we lease & no pets allowed. She is staying close to us in the back patio though. 🙂

    HUGE HUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  8. Biz

    Yep, I know it’s overwhelming now, but it is so worth all the effort that you’ll finally have Radiance Manor just the way you want it – I wish I had your skills!

    I love the countertops – so cool! Enjoy your weekend, hope you get some bike riding in! 😀

    1. Lori Post author

      I am just really tired right now. If we can get this final kitchen push done, we can then slow down the rest of the reno.

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