It's Been a Year! (Baker's Dozen)

Here it is at the start of November 2024, and we have owned the house for almost 13 months and lived in it for 12 months. While many of you already know all of this, I feel compelled to write it all down just to list how much we have got done!

 How we got in on October 4, 2024 since the lawyer had given the keys to another couple!

I admit, there have been days when I truly questioned our sanity in buying this house. Have there been setbacks? Of course! And have we paid way more money to get something repaired then we thought we would have to? Yes! Is there still so much work to do? Yes!

But at the same time, I'm really proud of what we have got done. It's not perfect, sometimes it's not even completely finished, but this is becoming more and more our home. We have plans. Things we'd like to get done that we have the money for and things we'd like to get done that will probably never be done because they'll be just too expensive or we end up going and doing a course on how to do it.

So I want to celebrate everything that we have accomplished in this house since we started. Some of it was required from the get-go by the bank, some of this was required by our insurance company and some needed to be done because we wanted it done. And are we still waiting for some tradespeople to show up and do work for us? Yes! 

The bank needed us to clean up our well. So we did. That was in the first week of October.

All of the equipment to clean our well water. We just changed our UV Filter!

The insurance company required us to paint our roof, fix the aluminum wiring and replace our oil tank. Our roof was painted in October 2023, the wiring replaced in November 2023 and we got a new furnace and heat pump in December 2023. We thought we had met all of the requirements that the insurance company had requested but they added some more as we continue to repair the house. So that is still outstanding.

Getting the roof painted!

Got rid of this!

And replaced it with this!

And this!

The only aluminum wire that had to be replaced was to our septic pump. Which is why our old pump probably shorted out. Christopher very nicely put a solar light on top so we can always find it. 

Then we started to do the stuff we needed to do for our own comfort and to make the house more livable and safe. We replaced every single window in this house. 

Actually being able to look out our windows helped tremendously. All the second floor windows had aluminum storm windows on them which hadn't been cleaned in years!

New doors. The old doors were beautiful but let in so much cold air. We are coming into winter 2024-2025 with a heat pump, new furnace and good windows and doors. We are hoping our heating costs come way down from last year.

I know some of you think that we were vandals to get rid of the original wooden windows, but I don't care. I also got rid of all the original wooden doors. I live in Canada. It is cold here in the winter and hot in the summer. Heating and cooling cost a fortune and it is not environmentally sound to waste energy. It is warmer in here. Not only that, with the replacement of the windows and doors, this fall the number of insects in our house is reduced to 1% of what it was last year. It truly was unbearable to have insects crawling through the house all winter long last year.

Box elder beetles. They were everywhere. We suffered with them all winter long last year. You have not lived until you've had them tangle in your hair while you're trying to type on your computer in the middle of winter. It was worth ripping our every window and door to not have an invasion of bugs in the house.

The center of the house was sinking. To put an interior basement door into the kitchen, a major joist was not just cut but removed by a previous owner. We got the house jacked up and we're glad that we did but we also wish that the people who had been doing it had taken their time and let the house adjust to the new level gradually. Instead they literally lifted our floors up two to three inches in three separate occasions a week apart and there was a lot of cracking of all of the plaster and lathe which actually means we have a huge amount of cosmetic cleanup to do in this house now. We figure it will take years to fix this issue. That makes me sad because not only do we have rooms full of wallpaper to remove but we still have to repair every single wall underneath that wallpaper.

Installing the temporary jack posts and the permanent posts.

As the house sank they cut the doors to fit the new space. Now we have gaps above all the doors. 

Every area above the doors has this issue. Some worse than others.

Plumbing and sanitation has been a major issue for us. It didn't take long for us to find out that the screen that was in the bathroom actually hid the fact that the previous owners had cut the soil stack. So we replaced the stack.

The upstairs bathroom with soil stack removed.

The  new soil stack in the kitchen.

Some of the dead plumbing. In the soil stack above the upstairs bathroom there was over 10 feet of twigs and newspapers. We did have three birds fall down our soil stack this year and die so the tradition continues-until I find a cover for it which is tricky because you are not supposed to cover it.

The hole dug for the new sump pump.

The new sump that has been chugging along like a champion for almost a year.

We had noticed that our sump pump actually just hung in the air and that there was a groove in the floor that was constantly wet. Christopher was worried our basement would flood. Our plumber very kindly cold chiseled out the concrete floor and put a sump pump into that hole. We had no idea at that time that our concrete floor had actually been poured in more than one layer and that between the layers there was constant source of water. Part of this was due to the drainage issues from the road in front of us and part of this was because every time the sump pump emptied water out of the house it would just flow right back into our basement. So in the middle of winter we started digging a trench outside for the sump pump water but it was not very successful. But also there was a stench. Christopher and I argued back and forth about where that stench was coming from and I said  I think it is from our septic tank.

Our first temporary solution.

Our permanent solution. That drain runs 50ft from the house to the enormous spruce back there.

The septic tank right from the get-go was a nightmare. A horrible stinky expensive nightmare until it wasn't.  When we bought the house, a condition of the sale was a complete pump out of the septic. Little did we know at that time was that no one knew where the septic was except where the septic pump tank was. So the septic tank never was pumped out. My husband contacted a contractor in October 2023 who required a few thousand up front to pay for a septic plan. When the septic plan was submitted to us, not only was the estimate over $50,000 but they also required us to move our brand new refurbished well that the bank had required us to redo.  We went back to our contractor and said we're not moving our well. The new plan cost even more. Needless to say, we paid the contractor for the plan and had nothing further to do with the company. 

The hole we put in our leach field pipe. It has since been repaired

Then began the ongoing saga of trying to find somebody who could replace our septic system for under $50,000 without tearing down our barn, digging up the entire property and requiring us to move our well. On the 6th contractor Christopher contacted, he very kindly suggested two things: dig up a portion of the leach field and call a septic rehabilitator. We did both. And digging up the leach field we found that there was plastic piping through the area; in fact we put a hole in one of them but the pipe was empty and dry. My husband fixed it and we called the septic rehabilitator. As you know our house is very old but at one time most likely had an outhouse and then a gray water pit and then a proper septic system.

Well Proactive Septic Solutions saved our house from stinky smells and septic water. He found our septic tank which had not been pumped out for at least 10 to 15 years (or longer!) He found the pipes that led to the leach field that were in a totally unexpected place! (They wrap around the barn!) Our septic pump had died when we changed the aluminum wires to modern wires. He replaced the pump, he cleaned up both tanks, he put an alarm on our system and everything has worked perfectly since then and there are no more stinky smells. 

Justin fixing our septic system!

But we still had water coming into the basement. Part of that is a drainage issue as we seem to be the high point of the street on one side of our property and that was the side that was getting all the water. Luckily enough my son, myself and some students dug a 50 ft trench from the house to the midpoint of the property and we put in a French drain. And the county came and fixed the road in front of our house. They excavated down to the bedrock, put in a new road and dug a trench through my grass of my front yard to help with drainage. It seems to be working and I'm very hopeful that next spring my basement will not be flooded with lots of water.

Roadwork in front of the house. They skimmed off a sizable chunk of our grass to make a little culvert.

We have had a lot of electrical work done. A new pony panel for the kitchen, new wiring in the upstairs bathroom for a fan and proper outlets, all of the water cleaning equipment, the sump pump and the septic have been done. And more needs to be done but we need to prioritize. 

Pony panel for the kitchen.

Christopher built a new box for the electrical stuff still outside. 

We have had the house painted. I know that I could have rented the scaffolding and painted my own house and saved money. I'm not a bad painter, in fact I am painting the interior of the house but I am afraid of heights and frankly it was a huge job that I just couldn't see tackling myself. Frankly, our painter has done an amazing job and it looks so much fresher, cleaner and just more welcoming. I will repaint the front doors next spring if we don't replace them with screen doors. Next spring he will come back with a lift truck and paint the third floor window.

The house with its fresh coat of paint!

Pillars and third floor next year!

There are three big projects left where we may require contractor help: renovating the extension, redoing the deck and propping up the barn. For the extension we're thinking of making that a main floor bedroom with bathroom, for the deck we need someone with a 10ft lathe to make new pillars, lift it and level it and put on new decking (though Christopher is talking about doing the decking- the man is a glutton for punishment). For the barn, because it is such a big structure it is going to require a significant influx of cash and we really have to think about what do we want from this space? Since I want the interior of the house done first this is a question that we can think and ponder about for the next year or two while we make minor repairs to maintain the structural integrity of the barn.

2024 projects still outstanding? The fascia, ice guards and gutters. I have been trying to arrange this since April and I even had people over two weeks ago but haven't heard anything since which is always the kiss of death when dealing with trades people. I will probably send  a nagging email next week but honestly I am not sure it will get done this year. I even got the second floor sprayed for wasps in the hopes that we could get this project done. It is the last thing to do to secure the exterior of the home before winter. I really would like to get all of the holes plugged up, the board painted, the ice guards in and the gutters up before the first snow. The unseasonably warm weather gives me hope that I might actually get that done before winter. I am just worried that Christopher will buy scaffolding and climb up and do it himself. It's not that he can't do it but I feel much better with him on the ground.

Why we need new fascia.

In the meantime, my new bathroom upstairs is beautiful and practical. Christopher put in a low flush toilet, a beautiful vanity and lovely shower (the tiling was a group effort). Is it completely finished? No. The previous owners had painted all of the trim blue as well as the ceiling and while my new vanity is also blue it is a different blue. So do I repaint all the trim in the same blue as the vanity or do I paint all of the trim in white? In the meantime I get to enjoy having a nice bathroom that is not completely finished but will be soon. Is it weird that I am not sure I like the vinyl flooring because it is textured, so it is hard to clean but also it is probably the safest I have ever been in a bathroom because you can't slip on it?

Cedar walls for our bathroom

Our vanity and mirror!

Our lovely shower!

I have an office / art space with a vinyl waterproof floor (which is not textured) over the original pine plank floor and built-in shelves and a cedar lined closet to store all of the art I make or bought plus my blank canvases. I have not removed the wallpaper or done anything else to this room other than add a very bright light as I don't like gloom. It is a bright and cheerful space. I am still moving in and it is incredibly chaotic in here but I can already see where I will store everything and where I will work as I have fun.

My new waterproof vinyl floor. Since I do a lot of wet felting this is a must.

Peter has finished lining his closet with cedar as well and Christopher has built but not completed a hall closet out of cedar just outside the bathroom where I place all of the towels and medicines (He is still planning how to build the doors). Christopher has built shelves in his office and created more cupboard space in our bedroom and further down the hall.

Peter did all the cedar work in his closet.

Our kitchen is coming along! The floor is in and it is beautiful and warm. The walls are in, the trim is mostly up and Christopher has installed the hood fan.  The plumber was in last week to reinstall our kitchen plumbing that was removed when we replaced the soil stack. Our electrician is coming in next week to put in all of the new plugs and hook up the hood fan. Christopher will install the counters over the next few weeks when the weather is too horrible to work outside and by Christmas I will have a functional kitchen!

My cork floor in the kitchen!

My new hood fan! Back splash will be installed once the hood fan is hooked up. 

Outside we are still working while the weather remains good. Christopher and Peter are going to build a shed for all of our tools and our small tractor. They are still working on the entrance to the cellar. Peter has also built himself a chin up bar and is working on creating a larger workout area in the back. Since I fell over some bricks near the barn, and dislocated two fingers on my right hand, Peter has kindly finished the Hugelmound for me. My blueberries are safely planted as is the garlic. I still have to dig in the hazelnut trees and the Elderberry trees to overwinter in their pots. I am hoping that there is one more free day at the dump for brush as we finally have our trailer on the road and a lot of brush to get rid of.

Chris rehabilitated the three season room. 

Inside and out! Storm door still to come.

Hugelmound with blueberries.

All the trees and cedar shrubs I have cut down this summer.

Peter's chin up bar. Home of Hooty McHootface, the barred owl that sometimes visits.

Hazelnut and elderberry trees for planting next year.

Our new trailer Peter built. Plus the gravel drive we created with the remainder of the stone we used for the French drain.

While I would like to say that we are going to take a break this winter, my husband's whiteboard is completely covered with to-do lists. I couldn't have picked a better partner to travel this renovation road with- he has plans! I have a feeling that I will be steaming wallpaper, repairing walls and painting all winter long. Maybe even doing some mortar work in the basement? If the Ontario or Canadian government decides to offer more renovation money for insulation we are certainly willing to do that over the winter too! Hope for the future? To actually have room for guests! Here's hoping 2025 is the year I start cooking in my kitchen and inviting people over for dinner again!

Wishing you all success in any renovations you have planned!