Half Way Point?

I have been knee deep in rehab!  We have, of course, closed on the house (Friday, July 18).  My roofer and his crew showed up that Monday and knocked the roof right out.  They were amazing.  They work hard and fast and I have yet to be disappointed with their work.  The worse part is picking the shingle color from that little sample!  I decided to go with “Weathered Wood” which (from the sample) appeared to be a lighter gray with some beige tint here and there.  Well, on the roof it looks like dark gray.  It still looks great – just not quite what I was expecting.  We always put on architectural shingles since they really cost next to nothing extra and make the roof look expensive.  We also replaced the skylight which goes into the kitchen.  All in all, it turned out quite well.

Our next project was rehabbing the deck.  If you remember, there was a screened in porch on the back of the house and a hot tub was built into the deck.  The hot tub came out and the screens came off.  Once the screens were off the front of the porch, it became apparent that the screens would not be going back up.  It looked soooo much better being open.  It might lose some practical appeal (losing the screened in aspect) but it really gains alot of visual appeal.  And we all know how important that is when you’re selling a house!  The deck repair is now done.  It took much longer than expected actually.  I think I wore my handyman out on that one! 

The electrician tested the panel box and found that we are way overloaded.  So a new service panel is going in over the next few days.  Not in the budget – that one hurts!  I budgeted for electrical but not for an entire new service.  I think the cost of new service is going to go into every “iffy” looking house budget from now on.

My plumbing is also coming in on the high side.  My hot water heater is relatively new but the vent is too large.  Duke wouldn’t light the pilot due to improper vent size.  That one surprised me.  So we’re pulling the permit over the next day or so and the plumbing will get started soon.  It’s relatively minor – or so we hope!  I have a standing shower in the basement that may need to be replaced.   That one scares me as it is a big unknown once that shower surround comes out!

Painter gets started on Monday so we are trying to get it all in order and ready for that process by Monday.  Flooring goes in late next week.  If it all goes to plan, we will be done with this rehab in 21 days!

Lesson of the day: there is no such thing as “it just needs cosmetics”!