The Great Outdoors

We've figured out how to mow the lawn and Dexter has made mortal enemies.

Catching Up Pt II

Next came the living room and dining room.

They used to be a shade of tan, and now thanks to Dexter and John they're a nice shade of brown, with an accent here and there.

Pictures in Drips and Drabs

Blogger doesn't like our internet connection, so I have to post in small batches. First the door:

The ugly door is now blue (and we hung Xmas lights!)

Still off the Grid

Dexter loves the new place.

Still no "real" internet at home. Since the last post we've finished painting the first floor, had a pantry and a master closet built, painted the hideous front door and met the builder who's putting in a tiny house next door while trampling all over our property.

Henry took care of the rest of the tree, it makes nice firewood now.

Anyone have a fireplace?

The backyard looks lovely.

A tiny house is going in this space. Less than 14 feet wide.

Disconnected From the World

We don't have internet access at home, so it might be a while before I can put up new pictures. However, not having that crazy world to distract us we made a lot of progress! We've moved in, had the City come through and give us a list of stuff we need to fix. We hooked up our washer and dryer and put up shelves. Put up some curtains, painted a floor, made plans to paint more stuff. We have 2 complete bathrooms and just a mirror to find for the last one.

Dexter loves the new house, he took to it much quicker than we thought. He loves galloping around and seeing which spaces he can fit through and showing off by jumping from the top of the fridge to the kitchen counters. Pictures of that coming soon!

Since Thursday is a holiday we're taking the opportunity to talk with 2 sets of closet people and a plumber. Maybe we'll start painting a few more rooms. We should probably buy a bed too. Our box spring doesn't fit up the stairway, so it's sitting in the living room right now, making it necessary for us to figure out what we can actually get up the stairs. It should be fun!

In other news, the people next door had 3 pick-up trucks worth of cinder blocks delivered yesterday, so that might be a warning that construction is going to start soon. As if we didn't have enough work to do ourselves, a brand new house is supposed to be built on the tiny lot next to us. Can't wait for months of construction noise! I'll have to post pictures of that too, you won't believe the tiny house they're going to have to build and the crazy price it will sell for.

Week One Recap

We painted ... a lot. Ceilings and walls in 2 bathrooms, the kitchen and most of the den; 3 windows, and 4 doors, and there's still a lot left to do.

Our new appliances arrived, two out of five of them are hooked up properly. Home Depot showed up without long enough hoses for our washer, and our side vent kit for the dryer is on backorder. In an unusual twist, the guy who was supposed to disconnect the gas hose to the defunct fireplace disconnected the stove instead. That's a phone call for 9AM tomorrow morning.

We managed to clean up about half of the dead tree in the back yard, and a kind neighbor took a portion of it to use as firewood. The rest is out by the curb and I hope the City picks it up tomorrow.

We temporarily cordoned off part of the backyard, since we've had non-stop visitors just wandering through. One offered to take the tree down for a fee, the other wanted the metal shed, then there was a dog doing its business, and lastly a group of kids from down the block. The fence is moving up on the priority list.

And the crowning achievement, Henry hung drywall over the space that used to have a fireplace!

The progression of the refrigerator corner:

First it was green and white

Then it was blue.

Finally, the fridge showed up!

The drywall story:

We started here, after the plywood hearth came up.

We made it to here after having the gas line disconnected (or so we thought)

Now we're here! Drywall up!

Day 1 and 2

We closed! Successfully, despite the fact that our lender doesn't think I'm an American citizen and calculated our property taxes wrong.

We spent the rest of the day getting the locks changed and cleaning the first floor. There is construction dust everywhere.

Today we cleaned more, took out the old fireplace hearth, painted some ceilings, and ripped out the useless stove vent.

Tomorrow, more painting, more cleaning, possibly a pumpkin for the front porch and maybe some curtain rod installation.

Down With the Sign!

Henry and Blaine ripped out the old hearth that was built with plywood

Painting the bathroom ceiling is serious business, can you tell I'm standing on the toilet?

Where the fridge used to be, freshly painted ceiling above.

Oddly enough, there weren't cabinets where the white paint is on the wall.

No clue why it wasn't painted.

The end of day two. Clearly there is still work to be done.

The Final Countdown

We're set to close on October 15, 6 short days away. The FHA appraiser, after a number of misunderstandings, made it out and approved all of the work we've had done so far. Hopefully that was the last step before closing, it certainly isn't the last thing we need to do to move in!

We ordered a new refrigerator, dishwasher, washer, and dryer today to be delivered on the 23rd. Next steps: pick out paint colors, paint, install a closet system, buy mirrors for the bathrooms, clean clean clean and move!

Here's a couple pics of the latest work completed.

Railing between our kitchen and dining room

Our upstairs railing - "a pretty deck rail"

Fail!

We failed our mechanical inspection today. Turns out the HVAC system works great, there's just the wrong grade of wire used in a couple places. Luckily we have 6 months to fix it.

In other news, our stove arrived today and the neighborhood had no water because they're doing something to the sewers. I didn't notice, since today was the first day we had the electricity, gas, and water on.

I met one of our neighbors while I was waiting around for 4 hours for the stove and the city inspector to show up. He wanted to know if our water was off too and I said I didn't know because I didn't have any faucets. He was perplexed for a moment, but then said, oh you're in the red brick house! Welcome to the neighborhood! Our house has a reputation.

No water because there's a large machine that's been swallowed by the street.

New stove! It's almost a functioning kitchen now!

The lights are finally on.

Construction Day #1

Let the work begin!

The HVAC guys showed up for Day 1 of 2 and made some progress, complete with the random bottle of malt liquor sitting on top of the furnace.

Our electrician showed up and installed 2 lights, he'll be back tomorrow.

For some reason, getting a complete HVAC system installed is easier than getting than getting a parking permit in Alexandria. I spent over an hour at City Hall yesterday trying to get a parking permit, no luck, but they were kind enough to charge me $10 for guest parking passes that expire every 24 hours. I hope not too many people want to park at my place for longer than 3 hours.

Basement Furnace, complete with extra trimming

Close-up of the quality post work beverage

The rear furnace just waiting to go into that closet.

Two brand new air conditioners on the roof.

Tankless water heater in the basement, some sort of fancy Korean brand.

A small hole in the dry wall to run new lines. Clearly the cell phone camera needs better light.

The FHA to do list

Today the FHA appraiser came up with this list of things we need to do before we can close on the house, nothing is a big surprise, but some of it isn't as specific as I would like.

Bath rooms to be in working order.

Heating system to be in working order.

Door on side of structure to be secured, not to allow exit, same with rear door.

All exposed wiring to be capped.

Stove to be installed.

Railing to be installed on second floor around stair area and leading to first floor.

Railing to be installed on stairs from kitchen to family room area.

All plumbing,heating and electrical to be in working order.

I met with another set of contractors today to talk about installing railings and blocking off doors, so I think we're in good shape to get a lot of work done quickly. I now know more about HVAC systems, railings, and laundry rooms then I'll ever need to know in the future.

Here's a few more pictures of the sad state of the interior:

Upstairs Guest Bathroom.

I'm still trying to figure out where I can get a sink that's only 9 inches deep.

Blurry picture of the kitchen.

Family room with the fireplace remnants and the lovely cement floor.

Home Inspection

We made it through the home inspection yesterday. It didn't find anything we didn't know about, which so far is a good sign, since our to do list is already pretty long. Most of it comes down to buying the basics like an HVAC system and caulking the windows.

The FHA appraiser also showed up while we were there and we're encouraged that his report isn't going to be as bad as we thought. Although to make FHA happy we need to install 3 sinks and some railings.

Our immedate to do list is shaping up to:

HVAC

Water Heater

3 sinks

kitchen faucet

cap or install electrical fixtures in 4 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, a laundry room and the living room

cap a weird electrical line in the kitchen

cap the gas line for a fireplace in the living room

a stove

Next steps: Get in touch with the City of Alexandria to see if they want us to do any other work before we can move in and meet with a bunch of contractors this week to get estimates.

Here's a couple pictures I was able to sneak in on Saturday:

Front of the house

back of the house

What's left of the tree in the backyard

Master bathroom, where the sink should be

View from the master bedroom of the lovely shed in the backyard

Under Contract!

Let the stress begin! Today we're finally under contract to purchase this lovely place: http://www.redfin.com/VA/Alexandria/419-N-West-St-22314/home/11839767

As you can tell from the few pictures it needs some work. What you can't tell is that it needs a lot of work. It's missing furnaces, a water heater, sinks, a window, and the kitchen appliances. There isn't any trim or thermostats or light switches.

What does it have you ask? Location, square footage, and the potential to be really awesome! The house is 3.5 blocks from a Metro station, it's about 2300 sq. ft and once we pretty it up a bit it'll be a great place to live. Who can beat 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, an attic and a dry basement in Old Town?

Why the Green Monster? That's what Henry's called it from Day #1, since the previous owners put a very large mint green addition on the back of a brick cube.

This week's to do's: get a home inspection and an FHA appraisal to find out exactly what we need to fix to move in.