Wow! So much has been
done at the house since my last post. It’s
actually almost done. And by almost, I
mean another month before it’s 100% complete on the inside and for the outside,
I still need a deck guy and some sod laid and I think I want to jazz up my
front railing too. But really, I'm almost done. I am WAAAYYYY over my
budget of $50,000 at this point but I’ll still make a profit so no worries.
The Jamaicans finally came and sealed my foundation inside
and out. They also fixed my steps so no
more water in the basement. It looks 100
times better down there too.
Foundation falling apart above....
Inside the "murder basement" before the work....I'll save the after picture for later because I don't want to give it all away today ;)
And you thought I was joking....full on dread locks down to his butt all wrapped up in that hat
Last Friday had to be one of the most fun days I’ve had
there. The window installers were there putting in the new windows and doors
(2 young French guys – Nic and Frank), Rob, my contractor and I were installing
IKEA cabinets, the Jamaicans were working on the foundation, and a guy from
Francis was fixing my boiler/furnace. It
was a full house and I was laughing the whole day! I showed up in the morning before going to
the gym to check on things and lay the plans for the day like I do most days
but this day I never actually left and never made it to the gym. With all of us together we did scheme up a
pretty sweet plan though. When I bought
the house there were 2 old cast iron claw tubs in the house. One in the basement and one in the second
floor sunroom. It took Dieter over 8
hours to get the one out of the basement.
Those things are heavy as hell. I
really had no idea how to get the other one down except to literally roll it
off the balcony and let it drop to the ground.
So that is just what we did….and it worked.
There is this guy in the neighbourhood who picks up trash
for a living – copper, scrap metal, wood, etc. and sells it or recycles it for
money or whatever he does. I sometimes
think he’s waiting at the end of the road watching me because, no word of a
lie, as soon as that tub hit the ground he pulled up, hacked it up with an axe,
threw it in the back of his beat up old pick up truck and off he went to cash
it in for money. I have to wonder how
much money one actually gets for that stuff.
Several times my neighbours have said to me “don’t throw that out! Do you know how much money you could get for
that?” and I say “No, how much?” and every time no one ever answers me except
to say “huh! That’s worth money you know….” So what’s the big frickin secret? Why won’t anyone tell me? If it’s worth so much money then why are they
standing on the curb with their hands on their hips telling me how much money I
could be making. I sure as hell don’t
plan on driving it to wherever it has to go so why aren’t they if it's worth so much money. It can’t be that much money! Just throw the shit out already!
Speaking of standing on the curb with hands on hips….my
neighbours to the right are Chinese. I have deduced they only
know two English words – “girl” and “thank you” – because every time the man
sees me with tools and I’m working he says “girl” and gives me a thumbs
up. The day I tore down and cut up the
deck him and his wife just stood there watching me like it was some kind of
Cirque de Soleil show. Of course that only
made me work harder so I suppose it was win-win. The wife sat looking over the fence for hours
like Tim the Tool Man’s neighbour in Home Improvement until finally she
disappeared for a moment and came back with a machete. Seriously.
I’m not exaggerating. It was a huge knife. I thought
she wanted to help me tear down the deck so I thought I had better get out of
her way. Me with a reciprocating saw and
her with a machete is surely not a good combination. But she didn’t come to the deck. She pointed to a pile of branches I’d been meaning to throw out and gestured like
she wanted them so I said “it’s all yours” which of course meant nothing to
her. So I decided on a thumbs up instead since that seems to be the way her husband and I communicate. Off to work she went hacking off
all the small branches until she had about a dozen nice sticks for her garden
that the tomato plants and other creepy crawly plants could climb. I think when her husband realized I could
handle the saw pretty well he decided to come and help her. Again, win-win. I love how people want my garbage. I have to pay to get rid of it so it’s
wonderful when people come and take it away for free.
All of the hardwood floors are done now too. I can’t believe they turned out so well. I wasn’t sure the kitchen was salvageable but
it was. I don’t know what it is about me
but I attract people who don’t speak English.
I suppose my extreme use of hand gestures when speaking makes my
language universal. The guys doing my
floor were Korean (I think). We didn’t
exchange very many words but the job got done.
Apparently if you want to know anything you “ask Jimmy”. Jimmy is the boss and he speaks English. So every conversation I had with the floor
guys ended with “Don’t know. Ask Jimmy.” I have yet to speak to Jimmy, actually, but
there is no need. The floors are done
and they look great. That’s all I need
to know.
We also got all the bathroom fixtures hooked up. I spent a couple of hours working with the
plumber one day. That was a good laugh too. This is our texting conversation prior to
having to get in the tub together to get it working. I sometimes wonder how anything ever gets
done with all the laughing and storytelling and carrying on, but it does.
So the deadline to have my renos complete for the bank to
come and assess was September 6th and, not surprisingly, I was not
ready. I am sure I am not the first
person in the world not to finish a reno job on time so I texted my broker and
asked him to get me an extension with my mortgage company. He did – 2 weeks. And just my luck a woman has been assigned to
do my assessment but also just my luck, due to the extension on the timeline,
my file needs to be reassigned because she will be on holidays. Fingers crossed I get re-assigned to a
man. I don’t know what it is (well,
actually I do) but I can
typically get away with more when dealing with a man. There are a few things on my reno list we may
have to overlook, you see, so I’m really hoping for a nice guy in a good
mood. Don’t get me wrong I didn’t cut a
single corner. The house is top
notch. I’d live there myself. It’s just that I tend to do things somewhat
differently than most people. It’s not
wrong, it’s just different and those who are unable to think outside the box
don’t always see eye to eye with me. Anyway, I’m not worried. I have every receipt and a spreadsheet
calculation to the penny of what I have spent on that house and it’s way more
than they are giving me so it will be fine.
Any guesses on what I've spent so far?
The major work is winding down this week so my contractor
Rob is off to another job next week. He’s been working for me for almost 3 months. When I dropped off
materials to him this morning he seemed upset so I asked him what was wrong but he said
nothing. Later in the day he sent me a text that said “Sorry, a little off
today. I think I am sad to leave”. I know the feeling. It will be a happy sad day when this is all
done. I will miss it terribly. I guess I better start shopping around for
another J
Main floor laundry room then (was a mouldy shower...)
Main floor laundry room now....
Kitchen then.....
Kitchen now.....
Bathroom then....
Bathroom now....
