Onward and Upward

Now that Christmas is over, it is back to work this week at Northlake.  Some of the latest developments are pulling the cupboards in the kitchen for better access to the plumbing and then an eventual cupboard/countertop replacement.

uh, where'd the sink go?

It was also discovered that most of the boards in the back deck were in need of replacement due to rot.  My dad built that deck 20 years ago and it's held up pretty well, but just needs a bit of a makeover.  So Jay has been busy tearing all the old deck and railing off and has started rebuilding it.  Thanks to the many hands that have helped this week....Josh, Joel, Matt and even Jay's dad stepped in a couple days while he was here.  This process would NOT be anywhere near where it is at the moment without all these awesome people and their skills.

Jay, Josh and a hidden father in law working in the rain 

Evidence of the old cement porch

Jeff has been working hard on the upstairs bathroom, removal of old cement shower and sink, sealing up the window so as to widen the shower space and prepping the floor for new flooring.  It is almost ready for install and paint.

There is so much needed demo/prep work that sometimes it seems like nothing is getting done.  But we are slowly seeing the progress....and here we are just shy of one month!

Thanks for the visit Grandpa Wayne and dog, Willy

Celebrate This Day!

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a blessed New Year filled with faith, love and happiness

Much Love,

Jay, Shon & the Boys

'Tis the Season

Nice to take a break from house talk in order to share this photo of the boys meeting Santa for the first time ever.  After almost a two hour wait in line to see the jolly ol' guy, the boys were actually in decent shape to take a picture.  No screaming or crying or throwing of fits, actually shy as can be and mellowed out as soon as they approached him.  When asked what they wanted Santa to bring, they both replied "a teddy bear".....WHAT?!?!  They have never once mentioned a teddy bear until today.  Scotty has practically memorized the big Toys R Us toy book and circled every item he wants, yet when it comes down to actually asking Santa for it all, he says a teddy bear?  Okay....

The Wahrmund Brothers

(they don't look like us and they don't look like each other...)

Operation: Money Pit

The title is now how Jay - lovingly - refers to the house.  Seems everytime we open up one area, we find several more things that need to be fixed.  No big surprise from an old house that has been neglected for the past decade.  The latest issue is the roof.  It is only about 14 years old, but where there's water, there's a way.  Water is not our friend at the moment.  Not only has it been down pour raining non-stop all weekend and flooding in every area of Western Washington, but the rain has allowed us to find several leaks in the roof of this blessed house.  Jay ripped out the wall around the tub and found water damage in the flooring.  OY!  Guess it's better to find it now so it can be fixed rather than have someone fall through the floor while taking a bath... 

Had the septic people out on Tuesday and of course, they found something that needed to be repaired....alas, even in the deepest, darkest, dirtiest areas such as an old septic tank, there finds a way into our pocket book.

Scotty observing and learning

Would really have to pay me a lot of money to do that job!

Work to the upstairs bathroom/shower began this week also.  Really looking forward to the results, as I always hated the shower!

My dad and his eye for color...

Trying to find the beauty of this project and stay focused on the big picture, but it is becoming more and more of a challenge!  Stay tuned....  

Project Manager

Operation: This Old House

The work began at the house this weekend and though we actually got a TON of stuff done, we still have so far to go.  Unfortunately, the process will be somewhat halted during the weekdays due to the fact that Jay's ship is in dry dock about three hours north of here, in Bellingham, so he commutes home on the weekends.  Thus, that being the only time he has to work on things, we have to bust rear to get things done from morning til night all weekend long.  It is overwhelming at times, but as stressful as it has been realizing we've bitten off a lot more than we can chew and seeing dollar signs everywhere we look, we actually get pretty giddy thinking about how nice it will be once we're done.  Granted, it's going to be a rental (for now), so obviously we're not looking to sink a huge amount of money into it at this point even though it would be nice to do so, we just need to do some things to get it in a condition that will make someone want to call it home for alittle while.  This weekend, all we really focused on at first was going through the attic and the crawl spaces and clearing out 20 years worth of crap that should've been thrown out long before now, but instead was tossed into the "out of sight, out of mind" black hole.  Fortunately, we had help from my brother, Nikki, our neighbor Josh and even my nieces, clearing and disposing of everything from the inside out, even the backyard shed was piled up with junk. 

Pictured here, some of the junk that was brought out of the attic

(there was a time when my dad made Romper Room out of his house with interesting color choices, he also made the dining room into a weight room and the living room into a billiard room)

I have to say, we had a lot of fun reminiscing....I mean, how can you not get nostalgic when an entire tape cassette collection comes down from the attic?  My first Madonna album from 1984 was among them!  My brother created a scene straight from the movie "Christmas Vacation" when he came across a box full of women's clothing and an old movie projector in the attic...hilarious.  After three dump runs and a whole slew of stuff set down by the road with "FREE" signs written on them, the house was cleared and the "real" work could begin.  My and Nikki's project was to remove wallpaper.  Five rooms worth.  Not a pleasant job at all.  That took up an entire day (and part of the night before), but we got it done. 

here's Nikki, thrilled with how easy the spray-on fabric softener worked to help loosen the paper

Circa 1960-something, I'm guessing....

this was under the stuff my mom put up

Oy...color anyone?

My old bedroom....no wallpaper, no loud colors

 

Jay and the guys spent Sunday busting out the stairwell wall and drywalling old window and door frames, among other things.  Jay even came across a piece of newspaper in the wall dated August 1964. 

This was originally the back wall of the house, hence the window, but at some point, someone added on a utility room in the back.  We are closing off this window and installing a shower.

The stairs have been closed behind a door and I've always wanted to open them up like this.  It is necessary in order to allow beds larger than twin to get upstairs (we had to break box springs in order to get full size up there, anything else was just too big.  Apparently they didn't make beds that big in 1944!) 

The original back door will now be closed off for good

It's been a pretty interesting experience so far and without the help of dear family and friends, we really couldn't do this.  So thanks guys!  We just hope they come back....

A Sad Day

Pictured here in happier times

I spent the morning at my dad's place, watching he and his wife and a slew of other people pack their things into a U-Haul.  The house that I once called a home, where countless memories were made with my parents, my brother and our extended family, is now an empty shell.  I didn't stay for the grand finale, as I knew it would be too hard to watch my dad drive away.  My eyes tear up just thinking about it.  As a kid, and even as an adult, you don't think about ever having to say goodbye in that way.  You know goodbye is inevitable, but there is no way to prepare for it.  Even as tumultuous as my relationship with my dad has been over the past few years and as much as I thought I would be okay with him moving on, I realize that it is impossible to ever be okay with saying goodbye.  My dad was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and after an operation this summer to remove all of his bladder and part of a kidney, the cancer has returned.  He is now undergoing chemo.  I can't explain how hard it has been to see my dad, the man who was always so strong and noble, whom I admired so much when I was growing up, become this 120 lb person who can barely walk from one room to another without having to catch his breath.  It is a humbling experience.  A few weeks ago, Jay and I came to the realization that we needed to bury the hatchet and let bygones be bygones for the sake of our relationship with my dad.  Nothing has ever felt so right.  Life is so precious and so short to be bogged down by petty nonsense.  Now all we want to do is right some wrongs and be a family again, my dad needs that more than anything.  He and his wife are moving to a place near Seattle to be closer to his treatment center.  It is not too far away, but the fact is, he will not be at the place we've always known him to be.  When we drive by the house, we will no longer see his green truck in the driveway.  But when you close a door, usually a window opens up and despite my sadness, our outlook is positive.  We will be working hard this month to clean, paint, repair, remove and replace years of "living" to prep it for new renters.  I'm actually excited to bring the house back to life and give it some well needed TLC.  I think it will be a source of healing and redemption for all involved and a way to honor my parents and the house they bought together almost 23 years ago.