"Well, it sure is the homeliest house on the street," Rod said as we drove by the house we were considering buying.
"Do you mean the homiest?" I asked hopefully.
"Nope. I mean the homeliest."
We bought the house anyway. Despite all the work that we knew needed to be done (and a whole lot more that we *did not* count on), we could see some potential in the homely little home.
That was a little more than six years ago.
For about two months between taking ownership and moving in, we worked and worked on the house. We fixed the foundation, tore down walls, rebuilt walls, covered, moved and replaced doorways, completely gutted the kitchen and bathroom, levelled floors, replaced floors, drywalled, painted, trimmed, etc. I'm sure there was more that I am forgetting. By the time we moved in, the downstairs was about 80-90% done, and more than liveable.
Our family grew: we went from one child to two, then three, then four. Rod worked sometimes two jobs at a time, so did I. Church commitments increased. In general so did the "busy" of life.
In the midst of it, we moved on to
fixing up the upstairs. Other
projects happened. A new
roof. A new set of
stairs. A new
pantry. A new door, new windows. Fixing peeling, cracking paint and caved in ceilings.
The inside has been coming along and, despite the constant clutter that six people bring, is our little home.
The outside is a different story. Perhaps because of all the attention and changes on the inside, the outside has gone from looking homely to downright destitute.
And yet, until certain key things were fixed, there was very little to be done, except for swallow our pride when people came to our door.
But
This summer we have made it as far as the outside!
(If I glaze over all that we did, please don't think it was easy or fast. *Many* people who love us dearly put *a lot* of time and hard work into making it happen. Many, many thanks to them.)
The outside work began when Rod replaced out two front windows and an old window with a door.
More foundation work was done.
Our mudroom was completely torn down. It took my dad, who is one of the hardest working men I know, an entire day and into the night to tear it down.
Rod`s dad had `pre-fabbed`the exterior so that the next day it could be quickly and efficiently put together.
The new front entrance has/will have a much more space-efficient layout, a door that lines up with our interior front door, a floor that is not rotten through, and a roofline that matches the existing.
For a week we had no front door. Amazing how much you take a front door for granted, but also how quickly you can get used to a back door.
And then, after a month or two to let the excitement wear off of our new entrance: we had a two-weekend work bee.
We strapped and insulated all around the house. It is an old house that gets quite cool in winter.
And finally! We were able to re-side! (I only put in two exclamation marks, but I think it deserves about a dozen. I have been looking forward to this for many years.)
