Whew, three weeks since my last post. It's been a busy time, but also it has dragged. Counting time down to closing dates lasts almost as long as March, which was 384 days, I believe. Today is the closing on the house Twitch and I are selling to our renters. Next Wednesday is closing day for the lakehouse.
The radon remediation has happened. Because the utility room is small and so jam-packed there wasn't space to place the sump in there, so we chose to have the contractor place it in the corner of the hot tub room, which is on the other side of the utility room. We'll box in the pipe with pine to match the walls and it'll barely be noticeable. The well remediation is still in process. We're hoping the test results will be back tomorrow or Monday.
WP went up to the house yesterday to measure the roof. He took along a mutual friend, Stark, who is doing some construction work for him after having quit his job, because his coworkers were not wearing masks and he didn't feel safe. Stark is going to demo for the new entrance, remove the old flooring, and install the new LVP.
We got the quote for converting the wood fireplaces to gas and it's double what I thought it might be. The extra expense is due to the fact that it is such a long run due to the 3rd floor. It's going to run about $9K. Damn, that's a lot of money, but it's not like I can skip that; I could never trust guests to properly manage wood fires.
I have bought a Pottery Barn Turner Grand couch for $1,200 from a guy off of Facebook Marketplace, and a counter-height dining room table and six chairs for $800 from another lady off of there also. Oh, B found five rattan chairs on Nextdoor and I got them for $40 each and they're like new. I'll use them with the round conference room table in the lower level. I wanted a table down there for a game table and I think this will work great. It's incredibly heavy. I may get a turntable for the center. I need at least one more couch, a number of armchairs, a sectional, and coffee tables.
Yesterday I ordered textiles; fitted sheets, flat sheets, pillowcases, mattress and pillow protectors, pillows, bath towels, beach towels (hot tub), hand towels, washcloths, kitchen hand towels and dish rags, and duvets and duvet covers, 3 bathroom garbage cans with lids, 3 poo-pourri for stinks, and 3 picture frames for each bathroom to hold signs that I bought off of Etsy that say don't flush anything more than toilet paper and natural waste. I'm probably forgetting something. I've been working on the list for quite some time. Most of the stuff I got from Direct Textiles and the rest from Amazon. All in all, I believe it came to $6,300. I wish that was all I need to get, but it's not even close. I have to order mattresses, and sheets for the king sized bed. Direct Textiles minimum order sizes were too high for one bed. It worked well for the queen-sizes, because there will be 11 of those. I needed so many sheets. After lots of consideration I decided to go with the triple sheet method of bed making. I found a linen service that will pick up and drop off linens on Wednesdays. This will be a great help, but it also impacts how many sheets I need to have on hand in case the house turns over more than once in a week's time. Even without that consideration, Airbnb hosts strongly recommend having 3 sets of sheets for each bed. It's a metric fuck ton of sheets!
Bond did the calls for setting up DSL internet and Dish for me. It's so nice to have someone help with some of that stuff. My brain is stressed, so my decision making skills are waning. He also spoke to the electric co-op about getting power restored to the garage. It'll cost $1,355, but it's cheaper by far than running a line back from the house to the garage. That quote was $10,000 due to trenching through woods. Zoicks!
WP called me from the lakehouse and asked me to buy a door, so during my lunch time I ran to Menard's and bought one. He'll have to pick it up when he's ready for it. Next up is deciding on smart locks and security cameras and such, and because the door is the first thing that is happening in the renovations, that decision needs to happen this weekend. Today he is putting in the order for flooring.
I did get two pieces of good news yesterday.
WP inspected the deck more closely and it looks like most of the decking is fine and will only need to be power-washed and painted. He said there are 6 boards that should be replaced. The rails will all need to be redone, but that will be a huge savings. The second piece of good news is that I will get $9,600 credited back to me, as he's not taking his commission as an agent in this sale. I'm breathing easier now that I can add that back into the renovation pool, 'cause you know, fireplace conversions!
OMG, I got a little 3" knitted dick in the mail yesterday. I do not know the person whose name is on the return address either. Maybe an Etsy seller? I'm sure one of my friends did this. It's so damn funny. I took a picture and posted it to Facebook and my friends are having a ball over it. And my cat keeps stealing it. She's a little purple dick thief! LOL
Tomorrow I'm going to pick out granite. Nothing too exciting, as it's Tier 1 level. B was going to go with me, but she has to work. She cleans new construction homes that WP builds and one is ready to go. It's a bummer, as I want to involve her in all of this house stuff. Bond said that he thought he could go if I wanted to have someone with me and I think I'll take him up on it. It's always nice to have company, although I was glad to be able to quickly buy a door yesterday without him. He's so detailed in things that it can be painstakingly slow. I already know what I want for a sink, faucet, and soap dispenser, so that won't be difficult.
I think I may have found a light fixture on Amazon for over the kitchen island.
This Saturday we're having a girls' hangout (plus Bond) on our back patio. Michelle and Franki are coming, and B, of course. I asked if they wanted to include their men, but neither gave it a thumbs up. I'm going to suggest that we all order Indian food, so no one has to cook. Plus, we're not too keen on sharing food during covid times.
The following weekend we're going up to the lakehouse to do some things and also to get to use it before all of the renovations start. It'll be us and Bond's two youngest boys, B and her two kids (it's her son's b-day on Saturday, so we'll celebrate that up there), Wil and our therapist friend who is in our bubble.
I have purchased two ceiling fans that I want installed where the existing ones weren't functioning properly. I want to get rid of furniture that came with the house that I don't want. The seller's realtor wants to buy the rattan/wicker table and chairs, so that's one thing I know will go for sure. Hopefully we'll get most of it gone. I plan on listing things on Marketplace and Craigslist. And also checking to see if they have a St. Vincent de Paul's that may do donation pick ups. On Sunday we'll haul what's left, including the six beds, to the upper level so the floors are ready for the work Stark is going to do starting the following week. We'll dismantle the eight bunk beds that are constructed of 2 x 4s and 2 x 6s.
New roof is scheduled for the 3rd week of October.