The Reno
Riccardo's parents are here and we're renovating in a big way! As usual, we bit off more than we could chew, and as usual, one disaster lead to another. But we are making good progress.
What are we doing? Well, we've removed all the wallpaper and Styrofoam ceiling tiles - lemme tell ya, that was a b*tch! We took off the crown moldings, which we found to be made of plaster, rather than wood, so they took chunks of our wall off with them. Lots of re-plastering the wall needed to fix that one! The walls and ceiling are in such bad shape, we have to re-paper them, with ceiling paper (not too bad looking, actually) and backing paper on the walls, which we will later paint.
We've ordered new light fixtures (all matching!) and door handles too!
Next week, we're stopping the reno halfway through to have new insulation and a new boiler (central heating and hot water) system installed. It's desperately necessary. And it'll only cost us about $10,000. Ahhhh!
Amidst all this, some other household items have gone kaput: our electric shower is dead and needs replacing. Hopefully that will only cost a hundred or so pounds. We also need a new back door, as a leaky pipe caused it to mold and now it's falling apart. And it looks like we need a new bathroom suite (or a toilet at the very least) because our current toilet has a broken seal and drips condensation all over the floor. The old suite is dated anyway. Thankfully we can work around these problems for the next few weeks/months because it can't all get fixed now.
Ah, home-ownership. What a delight!
~ Be warned, Rebecca and Kimberly (both of whom are currently in the process of committing themselves to this nightmare)!
Oh my god, that looks like it would be hellish! I am sure it will be beautiful when you guys are through though and it is great that you have some help! Can't wait to see the finished product. Miss you and love you!