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Hi!
Remember me?
It's be a while. Too long. Over a year. A year!
So where did I leave off?
We "finished" the house before we net on vacation. When I use the term "finished" I use loosely. It was "finished" enough to move into, but it still needed a LOT of detail work.
We'll get back there (yeah, right! Sure, OK.)
When we returned from vacation, along with everything at the Cat Ranch, we dove right into the next project house, which was the ORIGINAL house where this all began.
I can't keep stressing how much we have learned from this entire project. It seems that after every bend of the road I comment about how much I've learned or I say "I'll never do this again."
To refresh your memory, here's the house:
It is a cute little house. Sits on a double lot with a garage. There were 2 overgrown pine trees in front of the house that we cut down.
From first glance, it looks OK. Definitely outdated and well-lived. Then we got a closer look.
And smell.
Smell.
The smell of pet urine. Pet urine, in July, in a house that has been closed up for 3 weeks. So. Strong.
Pale, light colored carpet for a high traffic living room is a terrible idea. Shoes, pets, and spilled drinks stain. It came with the house and we scrubbed it clean before the resident moved in 4 years ago. No amount of scrubbing was going to save this carpet.
You can see where the couch was located.
Every room was full of garbage. Bags, boxes, and piles of garbage. The resident just moved out and left what she didn't want. Left it for us to take care of.
Washing machines (yes, that's plural), a dryer, table, chairs, and a couch and recliners full of pet accidents.
Christmas decorations. Stuff from a garage sale that didn't sell. Boxes of books.
Clothes. Old furniture. Broken lamps.
More bags of garbage.
FYI, we took time to carefully pack the items we thought were personal and of value and deliver them to the former resident. We didn't kick them out, we didn't tell them they had to be out on a certain date and it wasn't a surprise, so we have always been puzzled as to why so much was left without thought. (Other than laziness and disrespect?) But that is another conversation for another time.
And dirt. This is the dirt on the screen of a bedroom window. You can see where there was a fan in the window.
More bags of garbage.
So we rolled up our sleeves (ok it was summer, they were t-shirts) and we got to work.
Pulled up the stained and stinky carpet in the living room. There was old hardwood. Sadly, none of the hardwood in the house was in any condition to be sanded and refinished. Paint and staples and holes drilled and patches from repairs.
The stinky living room carpet went to the dumpster but the smell remained. The stinky couches went to the dumpster but the smell remained.
The kitchen was vinyl flooring when we purchased the house. It was dated from the 90s, but wasn't that worn. The resident installed a rubber floor that looked like hardwood on top of the vinyl.
As we removed the top layer, the smell intensified. It was wet beneath the top layer and moldy.
A cardboard layer was stapled to the old vinyl floor before the rubber floor planks were installed. Some of the planks were glued in places. Some would lift and could be taken to the dumpster, others had to be peeled off.
The "liquids" had penetrated the first layer, soaked through the cardboard layer, and were puddling on the vinyl layer. This was the smell. .
Ready or not, the vinyl layer had to go. And all of the vinyl layers beneath.
We counted 4 different styles. It was a time warp through the years.
After we removed all the layers we sprayed bleach cleaner on the floor to help with the smell. While it improved significantly, the odor still lingered in the air. And the laundry room still smelled of pet odors. We learned that the resident would pen her dogs in the kitchen and laundry while she was away so their accidents were contained. However, the accidents seeped through and permeated.
After the initial clean out it was time for the demo. The first to go was the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. (from the living room)
(View from the kitchen)
I just ran out of photos. I have more. Lots more. Lots more stories to tell, too. We've made good progress. I've even forgot so much! But for another day.
