big news!

well, the big day is nearly upon us! We've made our appointment to close on the house! It's Wednesday at 9am. I'm pretty much excited beyond belief - and immensely relieved that this is finally over with. We have been on the biggest and longest rollercoaster ever, from first getting pre-approved last September, to putting our first offer on a house in December, walking away from that (they countered our offer very weakly and wouldn't budge), and putting an offer on another house in January. We waited for that one until July, when we gave up and found another. That one has been a rollercoaster as well. It's a rehab loan that has required numerous meetings with contractors and inspectors, delays and requirements by the bank, a nerve-wracking process to get an extension from the sellers (there was a full-price backup offer on the table and they didn't have to give us the extension), but we are finally closing! HORRAY! On September 2nd, we'll be homeowners! woo!!!!

And in that spirit, we're already making plans for what to tear out. I'm sure now that this blog will become entirely devoted to house remodeling, but I'm okay with that. :) The remodel starts with the requirements by the bank: structural supports to replace rotten and bowed beams, installation of brand new electrical and tearing out the knob and tube wiring, and tear out the old furnace and ducts and install new to the downstairs and brand-new to the upstairs. Other things we have to do ourselves include putting a moisture barrier in the crawlspace, tear out and install new porch rails, and replace the roof. There's more, but those are the big ones.

Big decisions come in hand with those big remodels - for example, where to put plug-ins and light switches, what height, what should the switches look like and where/what should we do for ceiling light fixtures? Or, where on the walls and floors is the heat going to come in from, and where can we get the "right" kind of heating registers (I'm thinking cast-iron). Where can we get really cool balusters made?

Right now our list for the first "work party" includes:

• Take off this ugly back porch roof thing that blocks all light into the kitchen.
• Re-roof the garage.
• Take town a lean-to shed.
• Paint the kitchen, and we're going to paint the 70s paneling in the bathroom (as quick fixes).
• Get an oven that isn't vintage avacado green.
• Paint the walls (haven't decided if we are going to take off the wallpaper yet) and then take up the carpet.
• Replace all the locks.
• Trim the fruit trees and trim the trees to the side of the house.
• Talk to the business next door about trimming their trees and what they will do to limit damage to a new fence we plan on installing (it faces their parking lot, and cars have hit the existing fence).
• Replace front porch balusters and posts and upstairs balcony porch.
• Replace some outdoor trim & paint the remainder.

I want the front porch to look just like this: