Remodling, Reconstruction or Rescue

No...it's not an abandoned house.  It is our home, under intensive remodel.  Right in the middle of it to be exact!  This is our 3rd venture into the world of "rescuing" a home.  The debate is always: is it cheaper to tear down and build new or throw an uncertain amount of money into the old house?  For us, we have chosen to rehab the old house for two reasons.  One is very romantic.  There is a sense of satisfaction to taking something broken down and abandoned, something others could not see the potential in, and making it beautiful.  The other reason is very practical.  We can more easily afford to put money in little by little than to afford a loan to cover a demolition and new build.

At this point in the remodel, my husband struggles with the decision a bit.  As the number of "surprises" mounts, his enthusiasm tends to wither.  Then, he makes enough progress and sees the fruit of his labor start to take shape.  As it starts to look more like a house and less like a war zone, we all start to imagine what it will be like to live there.  Where could the couch go?  What about the Christmas tree?  We start picking out paint colors.  That's when we get the much-needed energy boost to continue.

During our current project we have encountered almost any problem you could think of: wood rot, termite damage, water tank failure followed by water pump failure, leaky windows, uneven floors, etc.  Basically, it's a total gut and redo.

We have done it all.  And when I say we, I mostly mean my husband!  He loves to learn new things, to figure out how to work with what we have.  We have remodeled houses from top to bottom: roofing, siding, new walls and drywall, floors, digging out crawlspaces, replacing floor joists, evening out floors, jacking up one side of the house, laying tile, laying wood and laminate flooring.  Sometimes I wonder what isn't new on the houses that we have remodeled!  There are a few things that we don't do: well and septic (though we build an 8 foot retaining wall for the last house so we could put in a mound system).  I say that, but my husband is considering replacing the well pump since we got a quote...Yikes

We have been blessed by so many of our friends and our church's men's group who have helped us along thus far in the journey.  Some are great at demolition, some at clean up, some at roofing, some at drywall.  But they all come with big hearts and a desire to serve where-ever they are needed.  We appreciate everything they have done to help us in this journey!

The journey to the restoration of this 1860's farm house has been full of ups and downs, that's for sure.  But, when it's done, there is such a sense of pride and it's as close to exactly what we want as the structure will allow. 

Keep your eyes out for posts by my husband under "Dave's Corner".  Check these out for specific details of project how-to's and photos.  Some great information from a true Do-It-Yourselfer.