Moving In

Since we got the place, we'd been moving stuff over so as to avoid a huge effort at the last minute. This was fairly successful, as we have a ton of stuff that we really should get rid of (but are too lazy to go through -- and with all this space, why bother :) But there were still a lot of things that couldn't go until the very end (e.g., furniture, dishes, food, clothing, etc.) So we got help from some friends (both physically and vehicularly), and got it all in as of Wednesday night (the first night we spent in the house). Frankly, it's amazing how much crap we have.




But let's back up for a minute. Our immediate goal since getting the house was to get it "move-in ready." We did the roof, but we also needed a working bathroom. To recap, the original plan was to keep the fully-functional (if somewhat nasty) guest bath (for the next year) and demo the master bath. However, in the process of demoing the master bath, a lot of rotting was discovered, and in order to fix it, we had to demo both (they share a wall).

So we found a tub/shower, tile, toilet, vanity, countertop, exhaust fan and fixtures -- everything you need for a basic bathroom. Unfortunately, the countertop and vanity wouldn't arrive in time for move-in (in fact, it'll be a couple weeks yet), and the plumbing needed to be replaced (we switched from plastic to copper). The plumbing took longer than expected, resulting in a working shower/tub at the last minute -- but no toilet (there wasn't time to put the tile down), and still no sinks. But father in-law was able to jerry-rig the toilet in the bathroom off the kitchen (which is currently doubling as a tool and materials storage area). For a sink, we had to replace the kitchen faucet because the hot water knob was broken.


View from the corner. Note the missing drywall above the shower.


View from the door. Sink hookups visible. Like our towel rack?


Jerry's toilet in the storage area.

So the move-in situation was: tub/shower in guest bath, toilet in kitchen bath (on the opposite side of the house), and sink in the kitchen. As if all of this wasn't enough "fun," it turns out that the bathtub faucet that we picked out has an "anti-scald" feature -- basically, there's an internal knob that determines how hot it can get at the hottest setting. This was not adjusted when it was installed, so our first shower was...very lukewarm. Orsi's dad talked her through how to fix that over the phone :)

For now, we have a number of tasks. Bob basically finished cleaning up the shingles outside (finally), while Orsi's been organizing the kitchen and clothes. We also washed a couple carpets and floors, and put a small Ikea island in the kitchen. We have the fridge plugged in in a temporary location, but we can't install our other kitchen appliances until we replace the countertop (we're thinking of going cheapest possible for now, e.g., pre-cut formica). And we have to clean out the basement room that the previous residents vented the dryer to before Orsi's dad will install the new one (which will require working in that room). It's actually pretty amazing how much better the place looks with a little cleaning (and we do mean a little).





Pets are settling in. The dogs love the ginormous backyard.


The yard is blooming.