DIY Victim
WHERE ARE YOU?
This is what I’ve been hearing from everyone in my life right now. WHERE ARE YOU? You act like you’re on an island or something.
Well, why yes I am. I am on an island. Trapped under a box of french crullers. Lord help me.
Actually, I’ve been preoccupied with that house of mine. Not the one on Vashon but the one that I own in West Seattle. You know the one that was supposed to be a good investment (buy high! sell higher!). The one that is slated to pay for Paige’s college. And my trip around the world. The one that practically imploded last summer with the leak to end all leaks. THAT ONE.
Well that house is still getting fixed up. STILL.
Let’s harken back to when I was a young naive home remodeler with nothing but big dreams and 40 episodes of Flip That House & Extreme House Makeover under my belt. My motto being, “If they can do that in 1 month with $15,000 think what I can do with 3 months and $50,000!”
Oh the naivety.
It’s been going so slow. And we’ve run into so many problems. Just think about all of the remodeling stories you’ve heard in your lifetime. Everyone has a remodeling battle story. Like the neighbor who redid their kitchen … their eyes start to go vacant as they recall with great accuracy that in the end it cost them 47.5% more than they had anticipated. They were unwilling to give up the honed marble because it came from the same quarry that Michaelangelo’s David was carved from. MICHAEL-FUCKING-ANGELO. So now they have honed Italian marble countertops sitting proudly on their IKEA cabinets.
That’s how things are going. Except, I don’t have the budget for marble. I am just trying to figure out how I can afford to replace the toilet.
And that is the bitter truth of the home remodel. You open up walls and you find things like there’s no insulation or more leaks. And just when you can’t think of anything worse than vinyl siding, you realize that there is something infinitely worse. ASBESTOS. Or the subfloor is warping and needs to be replaced. So you have to make choices like, what do I shave from this very very very slim budget?
AND if you are really delusional like I am, you start to think that you can do things tile and grout (I saw them do it on Trading Spaces!) or mess with electrical wiring. Brahahahah!! In my case, I am feeling fearless and have decided to remove the asbestos shingles from my house because I couldn’t bear cutting $4,000 from the budget.
*Sigh*
Suffice to say, those hazmat suits make my butt look big(ger).
No french crullers necessary.
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 1:12 pm and is filed under Daily. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
9 Responses to “DIY Victim”
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Holy crap, woman. If I were close-by, I’d bring the damn French crullers and help you. Hang in there and please be careful!
.-= Jen L.´s last blog ..You may ask yourself… =-.
It’s time to call Holmes on Homes.
.-= Pippi´s last blog ..Hello? =-.
Awww. If you weren’t on the other side of the country, I’d help you. I have two bathroom remodels under my belt, and I know how to use a tile saw, lay tile, and grout. If pressed, I think I have enough experience that I could even do the molding now. And if I get stuck, I know how to bat my eyelashes. Is there a more useful skill to hone?
Thinking of you!
DIY asbestos removal?! I work in a courthouse, and we have literally thousands of pending asbestos-exposure lawsuits. Asbestos can ravage your life. Do be exceedingly careful.
Well, I can’t offer any words of advice, but I can say that… YOU SAID THE MAGIC WORD!!! [Cue PeeWee's Playhouse style reaction] SHINGLES! (copyright of Dooce aka Heather Armstrong)
Here’s hoping that helped make your day a little brighter. =)
Well it sounds like things are a little crazy in your world and you have confirmed for me why I don’t think that I will ever conduct renovations on an older house..I too have watched far too many of those shows on HGTV and I don’t think that I have the patience to survive it. Nonetheless, you own the house and if you want to sell it then you gotta get her done. Be safe and don’t forget that we are here to cheer you on! We miss you when you don’t write.
Our kitchen remodel nearly killed us, and our kitchen is like (not kidding) 8×5. So, I can only imagine. I would eat 5,000 donuts and go back to bed – so you are clearly a better person than me.
x
Paula
http://www.adhocmom.com
.-= adhocmom´s last blog ..Holy Schadenfreude! Germany Sucks Even Worse For Mothers Than the US! =-.
Oh lord, that sounds like such a hassle. I was just blogging about something similar. My non-homeowning friends all think I should rent my house out so that my son and I can rent a place closer to where he goes to school and where I work (and where they all live). And while that idea is really really appealing the reality is that I’d have to put a ton of money into making this old house rent-able and I just haven’t got it. And the idea of packing up 10+ years worth of our stuff? Exhausting! I haven’t got it in me. But maybe one day.
.-= Sharyn´s last blog ..Shake Our Hips As We Collide =-.
A single appliance that you may need as part of your kitchen to hold it clean and neat is a dishwasher. No matter whether you have a large or a small kitchen area, you’ll prefer to have an additional appliance that would still retain your kitchen area in order. A dishwasher that could do this task is a slimline dishwasher. This dishwasher is extremely functional, and its built narrower so that it can easily fit into small spaces