First days of renovation

Talk about exhausted!
We just returned from five days of nonstop (and I do mean nonstop) work on the house. We were supposed to be closed on the house Thursday morning so Luke and I flew out on Wednesday. The dumpster was dropped off Thursday morning but at 5:00pm on Thursday, the seller (bank) still hadn't signed the final documents. I was dying to get into the house so by 5:30 the agent had talked to the bank and had given me the OK to go ahead in. Megan, Luke, and I started by cleaning out the garage and trimming some of the overgrown bougainvillea and vines around the property. As soon as we pulled the garage door up, a huge rat jumped off the workbench and ran across the floor. That was the end of garage cleaning for Luke. We worked until about 9:00pm and made qiute a bit of progress.

Garage Before

 

 

Garage After

 

 

The courtyard  and yard are so overgrown with vines and out of control plants from years of the house sitting vacant. I started on the big bougainvillea in the courtyard and my legs now look like I had a wrestling match with a very angry lion. Soooo, I now have a yard fellow going out tomorrow to trim all nineteen of the palm trees, and three other giant bougainvilleas.

 

Courtyard Before

(I think it looks much worse in person)

 

 

Courtyard, end of day. Still a long way to go, but lots of progress

 

 

The ABF truck we had sent out from Colorado arrived at 8:00am on Friday morning. The guy from the City of Daytona showed up to turn the water on at 9:00. When he did, the meter was spinning out of control. I went into the house to see what could be turned on, only to see water shooting up in the kitchen. The previous owner really gutted the house and rather than capping off the pipes to the kitchen sink, just cut them off. So we would not be able to have the water turned on until that was fixed. Reed arrived on Friday afternoon, but only after being diverted to Jacksonville due to a really severe thunderstorm. We picked up the U-Haul in Orlando and headed out to pick up several items that I had found on Craigslist. We started at IKEA, then to Ocoee to pick up a hutch, then a washer and dryer in Palm Coast. We finally got back to Megan's around 8:00pm. Saturday we headed out early to pick up an entire kitchen in Ormond Beach, a dishwasher, and a bed for the guest room. Megan showed up with delicious sandwiches and then proceeded to sweep and mop the floors. My friend Heather came over and helped us unload all of the cabinets. She brought a bottle of champagne so we had a little celebration at the end of the day. (a big thank you to my wonderful friends!) On Sunday Reed cleared out the garage apartment and efficiency room. EEEW! Talk about disgusting! There had been squatters off and on over the past couple of years so it was pretty gross.

 

Here are a couple of before photos...

 

 Not my idea of a spa-like bath

 

Sunday for me, was spent unpacking the ABF truck. This was the best day so far since we were able to just stay at the house and work. We ended early and took Reed and Stanley (Megans's Dad) out to dinner at The Chart House for Father's Day. On Monday, they picked up the truck and we finished up a few things to secure the house since we were heading back to Colorado around noon. The fellow came back out to try the water again. The meter again spun like a top. Reed and I ran around the house looking for what might still be on. The upstairs shower was on, the outdoor shower was on, one of the garden spigots was on. So after turning everything off, the meter finally stopped. Yay! We finally headed back to Colorado but got delayed in Kansas City so didn't arrive home until 1:00am. Reed was so happy to go to work on Tuesday just to get some rest! I am heading out again this weekend and the boys will join me the following week so I will post again when we return.