First I'll say that we did it, though I wish we felt more joyful about it.
I was supposed to go up with my brother yesterday and he was going to visit a mutual friend and keep Aidan while I took care of business. I had another friend who was going to help me inspect the house before the closing. Steve had a job that needed to be finished by the weekend and we were just trying to be practical so he wouldn't have to miss a day of work.
The night before, the mutual friend called to say that he wouldn't be there, so we changed all of our plans, re-shuffled cars, and Steve took off of work to come with me.
Thank god.
The house was a mess - and had a few surprises that I hadn't been prepared for. The owners hadn't even stepped foot in the place since the previous tennants moved out. The basement's sump pump had been unplugged and there was a water mark ten inches up the wall in the basement. There was garbage and dog shit in the basement. Not a drop of oil in the oil tank, so we couldn't check if the boiler even works. The pipes seemed okay, miraculously, but the water smelled of sulfur. The water is the one thing that we had professionally checked out and I spent a long time discussing possible issues with the well company that I had do the checks. I can't believe that they failed to mention the sulfur.
Completely mouldy funky who knows what happened there freezer with a pile of mouse shit next to it. Broken windows, worse than remembered bathroom fixtures, blah blah blah.
I wanted so badly to feel happy and excited. Even Steve, who has been so giddy, felt overwhelmed. I'm due in about six weeks, I'm not going to be able to help him with ANYTHING. And I am desprate to not have the baby here, because there will be no possibility of a homebirth, and the hospital that I would have to go to horrifies me.
So we spent the drive home strategizing about all of the work that needs to be done, and what would be the most efficient way to do it. Time and money are both short.
I'm hoping that I can be happier about this in a couple of weeks. We have $1000 of the seller's money in escrow to clean up the place by the 7th. My attorney gave us the name of someone who installed something to filter the sulfur in his house for $500. Maybe a coat of paint, some heat and a big fat smudge stick will make the place more home sweet home and less trashy alcoholic family that kept their dog locked up in the basement.
I don't even have pictures, we were so overwhelmed by the condition of the house that I forgot completely to take them. It will make for some smashing before and after photos though.
Comments
You, or rather Steve and your friends :), can do it, mama! I'm sending lots of good thoughts your way (and starting a little project to send your way to increase those homey vibes) - may the house (or at least a portion of it, be homey and clean for you to have your baby/bring your new baby home to.... It sounds like A LOT of work, which I'm sure it is, but it's still yours, yes? Hugs!
When we first moved into our house we had also had a huge amount of work to be do - not so much cleaning stuff as cosmetic. Every wall was painted colors like BRIGHT pink or muddy purple, there was old, nasty, dog pee soaked wall to wall carpet completely covering the second floor, and half of the first floor, and there were three levels of various kinds of flooring (faux press on parquet,and a couple of different kinds of ancient linoleum) underneath that had to be pried up before we could get to the wideboards, and once we did get to the wideboards, a lot of them needed to be either refinished or painted, the fixtures were awful 80's tacky stuff...etc. etc. But the thing I noticed and eventually loved about the process was that with every room we finished (and honey, we still aren't finished - two years later) the house became more OURS. I actually felt a sense of gratitude in the air around us - like the house was happy to have people living here who actually cared about it. I feel embraced by the house, and I think that feeling has a lot to do with just how much work we put into it.
So although I totally, totally feel for you being pregnant and looking at so much work, and I wish you all the best luck in getting in and feeling comfortable - - maybe, in the end, the work you put into your house will make it more beloved, maybe the more work you put in, the more you will be allowed to feel its soul.
PLEASE CALL US. Lee can help allot - and I can too - but just not with powertools!!