I naively thought I could have the house cleaned and prepped to start painting by Monday! Ha! Those plans derailed pretty quickly.
Mom and Dad helped with some cleaning which took a lot longer than expected. The stove alone took most of Friday evening. I was on my hands and knees for a few days cleaning the wood floors and baseboards. After they were cleaned, I taped them off and covered them with paper and drop cloths. Not only will they (hopefully) stay clean, they are prepped for painting.
At the final walk-through, I discovered a window pane in the living room was broken.
There were still shards of glass on the window sill, so I think this happened while the previous owner was moving out. We also discovered that there was water damage on the walls near some windows. Upon further inspection, a lot if the windows had gaps in the caulking. The forecast was showing rain in a few days, so window repairs got bumped to the top of my To Do list. Thanks to a This Old House tutorial, I was able to reglaze the window myself on Sunday. Mom, Dad, and I spent Saturday, Sunday, and a little of Monday removing old caulk around all the windows and doors, replacing some rotted trim, and re-caulking. Just in time! The rain started yesterday and there were downpours and flash flood warnings today! All the repairs held up - no new water damage!
Phyllis, Jason, and the kids came over to see the house for the first time on Saturday. While they were here, I mentioned that I wanted to take down the mock fireplace. Jason picked up a crowbar and started taking it down! Hooray! He did it a lot faster than I would have, I'm sure!
I'm going to remove the rest of it next week after getting an electrician to remove the outlet that had been on the top of the mantle. (Another surprise that I found during my walk-through.)
Jason came by Sunday (I think...the days are all blending together!) and cut down a large crape myrtle that had branches rubbing against the siding and was blocking the AC unit. He also cut down this tree that was blocking the kitchen window and rubbing against the roof.
I trimmed the Magnolia tree and Japanese Maple so I could get to the front window to do the reglazing. I also pulled down some of the ivy on the side of the house so we could re-caulk the windows. Ivy looks cool, but it is a pain! It has grown underneath the siding (an issue noted in the inspection) and it is just a breeding ground for insects and spiders. Ick! I plan on removing it all over time.
I trimmed up some vegetation in the backyard that was leaning on electrical wires and blocking windows.
Yesterday and today consisted of painting prep - caulking trim, detaching kitchen cabinet doors, and plastering cracks and holes in the walls.
Needless to say, I took of work Monday through Wednesday! Today is the first day I haven't worked on the house for 12 hours. I kept it an easy 9 hour day. :) It's hard work and I'm feeling pain in the weirdest places (the joints of my toes?!), but I'm enjoying it. I love working with my hands and turning this house into my home. I'm so thankful for all my family's help! I can't imagine how long it would have taken to do all this work alone!
Looking forward to posting some before and after shots on here when the different projects are complete!
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