At that time, we were very naive & ambitious and wanted to take on a fixer-upper. Because we had no money, we had to buy a house that could use some work, but didn't require a major overhaul & repairs that we could not afford to make. And thus we ended up with our house, which I now lovingly (sort of) call our "Practice House."
This house has been a major pain in our butts!! But we are grateful because if we had had more money at the time, we probably would have purchased something that needed a whole lot more work & thus would most likely cost a whole lot more in repairs than we EVER dreamed. :)
So now, the remodeling streak in us has been put in check & if ever we DO decide to tackle another fixer-upper, we'll have a MUCH better idea of what's in store for us!!
You see, the trouble with doing work on an older house is that NOTHING ever goes as you planned.
For example. Our current project is the kitchen. . .that we started gutting not quite 3 years ago. . .. I'm in the process of refinishing the cabinets. (YUCK!) This required replacing one that we tried to make work from the previous existing floor to ceiling unit, by cutting it off and turning it into just a wall unit. Unfortunately, it didn't work so well. So off to Lowe's we went to pick up a 2 new cabinets to replace it as we have had to do one other time.
So we're sailing along the cabinets are going up great and then we put up the last one.
It sticks out more than a half inch more than the others!!!
Good Grief!
After much problem solving (and a few choice words) we realize that one of the studs behind the cabinet is bowing and pushing the wall out and thus the cabinet!!!!
Nate pulls out the hammer and we end up with this:
Not how I would have solved the problem maybe, but it did prove to be effective. :)
So, crisis averted, cabinets hung, we're good to go.
So I start sanding down the new doors.
UH-OH!!!
Lowe's has changed doors on us!!!!!
Now, instead of just a rounded outer edge, it's a routered outer edge!!!!!
We just can't win, can we????
***** I should mention that currently, while all this crazy kitchen stuff is going on, we've also had our garbage disposal go out, the toilet isn't working properly, and our heater died. It is 55 degrees in here right now! I've got on 3 layers, gloves, and am curled up under blankets on my couch watching the olympics. Thank God for portable heaters in the bedrooms!!!! (the part to fix it should be here in a day or two.) *****
xoxo—Lori
(I really won't be sad when we finally move.)
Oh, I feel your pain! We, too, bought a fixer-upper--in need of far more work than we could afford or manage. 12 years later, it feels close to what we'd like, though we still have a way to go! Hang in there. After doing all that work, you may find it grows on you!
ReplyDeleteWe have lived in two older homes, First was built in the 40's, second in the 70's. Both had that problem, where as soon as you began a simple project... something MAJOR would happen. I always thought I'd enjoy living in an older home "with character" I changed my mind. We now live in a home that was built 2005. I'm so much happier to not do those fix-up projects anymore. Although, I admit I still miss that first house. It did have some good character, and I did LOVE the old beat up original wood floors. I have wood floors now, but they're just getting beat up by my kids and I don't think I can call it character.
ReplyDeleteFollowing you from Friday follow. I hope that your projects end up going more smoothly from now on!
ReplyDeleteOh My Gosh!! It kills me when we find that our walls aren't straight!
ReplyDeleteI love the cheery yellow of your blog!!!
Good luck on your kitchen remodel - that is our final major project for our house!
So I say, be thankful that you have a handy husband that knows what to do.
ReplyDeleteMy handy husband, has saved us so much money in the course of living in a old house, a rented house and now our own house.
I'm anxious to see your finished project.