We both woke early this morning from our temporary spot for living, anxious to get moving again on the new house. Yesterday seemed to go so well and show so much promise that we wanted to get going again. We packed up our stuff (it was our last night being able to stay in the same spot), cleaned everything and were out before 7:30a.
Taking the dog on a short walk, we chatted with a newcomer to the area. He was asking about where he could take his dog off-leash and we spoke briefly about the area, Colorado (he is visiting long-term from Denver, trying to figure out if this is a good permanent stopping point for him here locally), and all the smoke that has covered the skies recently.
Once again, we didn't have a plan for the day, but Sam knew we would require a few things so we stopped at Home Depot to pick up what we needed (half of which was out of stock, unfortunately -- they were even out of buckets!), and then headed back to the house to get to work.
Surveying the space, we both kind of paced, trying to figure out what to do first. I was quickly reminded that just because we have redone houses in the past, doesn't necessarily mean we know where to start. I had been eyeing the walls in the living room and there was a small hole in one of them.
Because of some weird gaps and indentations, we were pretty convinced that there is something behind the current walls, but when I chiseled out a mouse-sized hole, it appears as though I was wrong. I wasn't finding the treasures I was hoping to see underneath, and, I'm also pretty sure that it is asbestos drywall (which I wasn't even aware is a thing until today), so I really don't want to mess with the walls unnecessarily. For now, the hole is covered and we'll have to do some more thinking about what to do to fix the walls and hopefully, keep the old trim.
Because we still had the majority of carpet staples and tack strips to take out from removing the carpet yesterday, we decided to start our job there today. I wish I were joking when I say that it took all day to do just that one task - and it's still not entirely complete (we have one bedroom of staples and the stairs still need the tack strips removed). Those little buggers are in there tight! With our blistered hands, we did our best to keep at it, but at around 4p, decided we needed a food break since we hadn't had lunch.
As we stood eating in the kitchen (there's no furniture in the house yet), I admitted to Sam that I am feeling nauseous about this project. There's a LOT to do and the house is not small. I am remembering that horrible feeling at the start of such a massive undertaking. In many ways, I thought we wouldn't take on another whole-house renovation, but here we are, it's ours now, and it's difficult to avoid the sick feeling when there's so much to do and just the two of us to get it done. What have we got ourselves into? I know it will get done, one bite at a time, but it's always difficult to see the end when at the starting line.
One task that did get completed at the very end of the day was installing a new screen/storm door. We wanted to get some airflow going in the house and having the ability to open the door without having bugs come in (or the dog getting out) will make things much better (we hope).
Although it feels at the moment as though nothing got accomplished, we know that all the tearing down has to happen before we can rebuild, so hopefully, these down days will be followed by some productivity that makes for something to show... but it's back to (actual) work tomorrow for Sam, so things will definitely slow for reno during the work week.
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