It’s been awhile since I’ve given an official update on all the progress of the post-winter storm disaster restoration within the house.
So heeeere we go.
We’re officially entering Week 9 of the process, and I continually marvel at the fact that the whole disaster itself—from the first trickle of water through the ceiling, to the ceiling collapse, to the flooding of the downstairs and eventual shut-off of water from the frozen outdoor valve—probably took less than 15 minutes. More likely, around 10 minutes. And the restoration fallout to put it all back together will likely take about 15 weeks.
How quickly things can fall apart, but it’s a slow-going process to reassemble. Though, yes, I acknowledge in so many ways, across so many areas of subcontracting, that we’ve moved things along as efficiently as possible.
Here’s the rough breakdown:
Week 1: Water Mitigation/Tear Out
Week 2: Water Mitigation/Tear Out
Week 3: Insurance Logistics/Contractor Paperwork
Week 4: Insurance Logistics/Contractor Paperwork
Week 5: Insulation Restoration
Week 6: Drywall Restoration/Painting
Week 7: Drywall Restoration/Painting
Week 8: Fireplace Restoration
So, basically. At this stage, we now have walls and ceilings put back together, and a fireplace reassembled.
Look! Woohoo. Nearly identical to our original fireplace, and I’m so grateful to have it back.
In fact, I might like it 10% more than the original fireplace, as I’m so pleased with the general masonry and the selection of individual stones for each area. In particular, I like the larger stones they selected for the hearth, even more than the smaller stones that existed before.
And I’m so very grateful that we managed to rebuild from pictures alone, as we weren’t even there the day it was demolished, so we didn’t have the opportunity to take detailed measurements. And that could have been a disaster, especially with the three-tiered mantle I’ve always loved.
As a reminder...here’s the original fireplace and the stones at the bottom that wouldn’t dry out, and would have caused moisture problems down the line.
So the mitigation crew did their best to tear out just that section, in an attempt to dry things out more thoroughly (awww...remember when we still had hardwood floors???).
But those four stones remaining at the bottom (two on either side), still wouldn’t dry out, no matter what they tried. So we had to lose it all, as those stone were weight-bearing and couldn’t be removed without compromising the whole structure. Oye.
Fortunately, more than 90% of the stone from the fireplace demolition was salvageable. Which I kind of love. So it just hung out for a few weeks in the garage, and they only had to bring in a bit more to supplement and rebuild.
And lemme tell ya what a loud and DUSTY process the rebuilding was, ha. First off: because we have no floors at the moment, the contractors felt pretty free to just haul wheelbarrows of the stone in and dump it over and out. Talk about a terrifying sound the first time, before I realized what they were doing! I was pretty sure the house was just collapsing into a giant sink hole.
It was pretty cool to see the process unfold. An art form, for sure. Or perhaps a master jigsaw kind of puzzle.
We had one round of anxiety when we were worried they were using a much darker mortar than we needed for the whole shebang. Was giving it a much more country vibe than our interior style. But, luckily, it was just a matter of it being wet. It will actually continue drying out for the next week or two, and eventually lighten to the same color as the other stone accent elements within the house.
Yay, fireplace! And please note the new birch gas logs we have, as well. Our previous logs burnt to a crisp when we had the original water disaster, below freezing temperatures, and a giant gaping ceiling in the house. We were running the fireplace to the max to maintain heat, and thankfully, insurance covered replacement logs. We just need to snag some embers and fireplaces rocks and we’ll be good to go.
Also, hello figs that just got new, larger homes! My growing babies needed new pots, fresh soil, and some fiddle leaf fertilizer. We still have a bunch of plants upstairs, chilling until they can return downstairs, but I just HAD to get these three their happiest sunlight.
So...yay, fireplace. One more step completed.
Week 9 is going to be pretty major for us.
It will be quiet for the next three days while we deal with some logistics, but then on Thursday, we lose the ENTIRE kitchen. Like, the entire kitchen.
Cabinets, island, countertops, appliances. Everything, and the kitchen sink.
I’m pretty scared, considering our very difficult food situation with the hubby’s dietary restrictions, so we’ve been gaming a lot of things out. And it will likely be a very stressful period of time.
But it’s a necessary step.
Because Week 10 is flooring. And since the hardwood runs underneath certain elements of the kitchen, it all has to go before that process can begin.
We’re hoping at worst, we’ll have about three weeks to survive before the cabinets are installed and we can start putting things back together in the kitchen. But you know how best laid plans usually go.
Bottom line: there has definitely been progress, but I won’t lie and say that any of this has been easy. The kiddos have handled it like CHAMPS and are still happy and lively. And my hubby is a total rock. Withstanding a whole bunch of craziness without blinking an eye (well, with the exception of some yuckiness that got us both pretty down last week).
I haven’t delved into details of our yucky past week, but it mostly centers around some really unfortunate feedback and unwanted involvement from our HOA. Never in my life have I experienced an HOA anything like ours, and the tension will come to a head tomorrow, when the hubby has an on site (a.k.a. our property) meeting with two of the board members.
Despite our very severe disappointment in the conduct and misused power of some people within our neighborhood, we’re trying to take the high road, and continue to conduct ourselves with as much kindness as possible. And there have been many teaching moments along the way for my sponge-like kiddos, who see and hear all.
There is always an opportunity to act with grace and close your mouth when you don’t have anything nice to say. Though to be fair, I’ve had plenty of things to say behind closed doors, ha.
But I’m so ready to put so much of this behind us.
Imagining a day, about six weeks into the future, when we don’t have to deal with home woes and can just live and enjoy.
Again, at the end of the day, this is just a house. Not the health of our family. But I’ll be so grateful when it can stop stealing so much of our time and attention!
So here’s to another major week moving this ball forward. Wish us luck!
Stay healthy, stay sane, peeps.
Over and out.
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