Here’s my advice to you: Don’t take on a major renovation, starting a farm and planning a wedding all at once. I’m here to tell you it’s a baaaaad idea and a lot of work. Nothing will get done in a timely manner except the wedding, and that’s only because those darn printed invitations give you a hard and fast deadline.
All that said, we are still having a blast working on this project together, and all things considered, it’s a good sign for us as a married couple, being able to weather these things as well as we are!
Below is the latest video. We’re trying to show in a couple of minutes where we’re at now.
You can see there’s a lot less house…but not a lot of progress. The plumbers have been out and we now have water to the house, YES! Although still no fixtures or toilet. Now it’s back on us to make those things happen, and boy, do I want to make that toilet happen! (Me to Bob today: “What comes first, the bathroom floor or the toilet?”)
But at the same time, the electrician has said he can’t come through until we have all the framing done, and with the rot, well, there’s a lot more framing than anticipated.
You can see in these photos where the 5 foot by 4 foot window used to be. I pulled out the top molding above the window and the whole thing came crashing down onto the floor. The header was completely rotted away, as was a lot of that whole south-facing wall. It turns out it was put together as siding/insulation/wall. No vapor barrier or tar paper or plywood. None. We knew that wall was rotted but wow, we had no idea it was that rotted!
Now that wall is a priority, but at the same time Bob is trying to get some stuff done on the exterior to tie in the kitchen walls to the new foundation…and so on and so on and so on.
Someone on Facebook joked that we’re rebuilding the old farmhouse, and only using the original as the house plan. He’s not that far from the truth. But it’s worth the effort. I do believe we are doing something good and worthwhile here, both in our efforts to save the old house and in trying to bring the farm back to life and produce some local food.
But, however worthwhile this endeavor might be, I am thinking the toilet is still a long ways off. Sigh…
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