Built-in Terreriums!

I want to give you guys a scope of the project looming before us. James and I close on the new house next week. The feeling of anticipation can be likened to standing aboard a sinking ship, with a life raft just barely within eye-shot. Do you hear the violins? The next two months will determine whether we can stay afloat.

Just for your own information, I think it is important to note at this point that the house is approximately 75 years old, and on top of that, has been uninhabited for the past 20 of them. No, it does not smell weird. I checked. Do I think it is haunted? Why would you ask that?! Thanks...

I previously mentioned that there are some major projects that will be underway within days of closing on this new home - the reason being that in its current condition it is not what you would typically deem... uhhh. liveable? Scary, I know. Upon inspection we found mold in the basement, probably spurting from the asbestos tiles lining the walls, ceiling and floor. It wasn't much mold... and not the kill-you kind... but with my pre-existing allergies James decided we weren't going to take any chances. So, enter mold remediation... HGTV nightmare inducing mold remediation.

The mold issue stems from leaky sub-windows, a.k.a. built-in terrariums. They are little windows in the basement below ground level, with sheets of glass covering the window wells from above. At some point water got in here and maybe a few seedlings and voila! A tiny little jungle trapped right outside your window!

So before we can even enter the home to begin the real reno, we need to have the basement gutted, ductwork cleaned, everything sprayed, etc. Nothing like starting with a blank slate for a finished basement, right?

On to the next... our inspector also noticed that none of the plumbing seems to be working. Great! Need a bath? Just use the recycled bath water trapped in the tubs! Mmm... soup!

Luckily, with James' determination and the doggedness of our real-estate agent, we were able to get the sewer district out for their own inspection. And... Sludge.

No, really. Sludge. At some point in the past 20 years the pipes had backed up, sat there, unflushed, and the yuck had turned into a solid mass, blocking any water from leaving the property. The short of the long is: MSD will replace your sewer lines up to your driveway, anything past that is your problem, sir.In a shockingly fantastic turn of events, though, our real estate agent was able to figure out that the previous resident of the property paid the $5 a month "insurance" fee on his water lines. BOOM. MSD to fix those too.

At this point we will have owned the property for at least a week or two before we can even get started on the kitchen, bathrooms, living room, basement, garage, etc... because everything needs something.