Life with a home
Alright. We've been living in our new home for a little less than a week now. We are still very excited about buying our first place and so happy with our home! That said, the realities of home ownership have set in, so to speak, haha... little problem after little problem really starts to take it's toll!
Number one problem: Electric. Many many many MANY outlets do not work and most of the outlets are not grounded, and the light in the bathroom isn't working (it's an electrical issue, not a bulb issue... I wish it were that simple! lol). We're having an electrician come and replace the circuit breaker to an upgraded version (ours is like 50 years old, lol...). But of course, that's some fat dollars right there. Gwydd will replace the outlets to grounded ones himself (the electrician told us that he would charge out the ass to do it).
Number two problem: Gwydd's lack of experience in fixing problem number one, lol.
Number three problem: Plumbing. There's a leaky pipe in the master bath, easily fixable, but we're annoyed by it because the previous owners were supposed to fix that (it's in the contract). And we're annoyed because our REA was supposed to do a walk-through of the house himself to make sure those types of problems were fixed. Anyways, we haven't fixed that pipe yet because it's low on our priorities.
We got a new dishwasher and fridge the other day and they arrived last night. The previous dishwasher was basically one of the first ones ever invented, LOL. The thing was ancient and rusty. We put it through one wash cycle (before we bought the house) and it used a TON of water! :-O Not okay by us! The fridge was also a real cheap standard fridge, with a broken shelf. Oh, and the double oven is super old too, and TINY! Definitely wouldn't be able to cook very much in it. We knew all this about the appliances before we bought the place though... so we knew we'd have to replace them all. That's okay by us, just pricey!! Anyways...
So we get the new fridge and dishwasher in last night. The fridge is the EXACT width as the area it goes in. There's this stupid wall that comes out perpendicular of the main wall separating the kitchen from the dining room. The wall only comes out about a foot and a half. It's useless and pointless. Anyways, this partial wall is one side of the area that holds the fridge (the other side is cabinetry) and it's the EXACT width of the new fridge. This made me nervous, because obviously, you need a little bit of wiggle room. Gwydd was sure it would work though. *sigh* Well, the delivery guys and Gwydd try to squeeze the fridge in, and surprise! It won't go in. We tell the delivery guys that we're good, we'll figure it out, and they leave. We decide to put the fridge aside for the time being and at a future date we'll tear down that stupid useless partial wall. Well that wasn't good enough for Gwydd, lol. He starts hammering out the dry wall right there. "Everything's fine, Seamus, go back to playing in your room." LOL
We were a bit nervous that there might be electrical in the wall because there was a light switch on there (that turns on the light in the kitchen), but turns out that was the only electrical in it. So we can easily move that light switch. Gwydd knocks out one side of the drywall (the fridge side) and that gives us another half inch to squeeze the fridge in. Of course, the wall looks like shit now, LOL, but we'll eventually take the rest of that stupid wall down.
So we finally get the fridge in, turn it on, connect the water line to it (so we can use the water and ice function), and everything looks great (except the wall, of course). Gwydd gets our first glass of water from the fridge. We open the fridge and check out Gwydd's hard work. Oh crap... the water function is leaking all over the inside of the fridge. The filter is loose. So I go turn off the water supply outside. Gwydd soaks up all the leaking water with towels, then tightens the water filter. That should fix it. I turn on the water supply again. Gwydd tests the water feature on the fridge. Again, the water filter is leaking. WTH?! He scours over the instructions, tries a few things (I make several trips outside turning off and on the water) it's still not working correctly. By now it's like 10:30 pm. We're not going to get this. Gwydd is cranky, hungry, and tired. So we decide to leave it for now. The fridge itself is working, just need to fix the stupid water thing. We'll look it up online tonight. He'll get it eventually!
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We've gotten two rooms painted so far, and will work on the others in the near to distant future. Not at the top of our list though. We got all our stuff from storage delivered on Wednesday, so since then, in addition to trying to fix all the damn electrical, plumbing, and appliance issues, we've been surrounded by boxes, and going through box after box after box. Gwydd's desk, which is a crappy $50 WalMart desk he got years ago finally went kaput. We didn't think it'd survive the last 3 moves, but the thing magically seems to make it every time. But this final move was it. So there's another expense. We won't be buying new desks (for both of us, as my desk is on it's last leg right now) until after Xmas (which is around the time Gwydd is getting a bonus).
Anyways, it's been a LOOOOONG week. I can't wait until all these small-issues-that-when-put-together-becomes-a-large-issue gets resolved so we can finally start ENJOYING our new home. :-)
On the plus side, the painted rooms look GREAT! Now, granted, we did it ourselves, so it's not perfect looking (especially our bedroom, which is where we learned all the mistakes not to repeat in the living room, lol), but the colours look awesome. The teal-ish colour in our room matches/contrasts beautifully with our red, gold, orangey Indian/Moroccan bedding and decor. The living room is a orangey-yellow (we're also going to use this same colour for the ceiling in our bedroom, which we haven't gotten to yet), and it is REALLY nice looking with our dark furniture. What a huge difference paint makes!
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Today we are headed back to Twentynine Palms to visit my mom, take a break from all this renovation/house issues/unpacking/et cetera, and get our dog back (whom my mom and step-dad have been watching for 3.5 months). Gwydd doesn't want to go when we have so much stuff to finish... but I think the break would be good for us. Give us a break! The last week has been insanely busy and stressful!
I can't wait to see my dog! :-)
Number one problem: Electric. Many many many MANY outlets do not work and most of the outlets are not grounded, and the light in the bathroom isn't working (it's an electrical issue, not a bulb issue... I wish it were that simple! lol). We're having an electrician come and replace the circuit breaker to an upgraded version (ours is like 50 years old, lol...). But of course, that's some fat dollars right there. Gwydd will replace the outlets to grounded ones himself (the electrician told us that he would charge out the ass to do it).
Number two problem: Gwydd's lack of experience in fixing problem number one, lol.
Number three problem: Plumbing. There's a leaky pipe in the master bath, easily fixable, but we're annoyed by it because the previous owners were supposed to fix that (it's in the contract). And we're annoyed because our REA was supposed to do a walk-through of the house himself to make sure those types of problems were fixed. Anyways, we haven't fixed that pipe yet because it's low on our priorities.
We got a new dishwasher and fridge the other day and they arrived last night. The previous dishwasher was basically one of the first ones ever invented, LOL. The thing was ancient and rusty. We put it through one wash cycle (before we bought the house) and it used a TON of water! :-O Not okay by us! The fridge was also a real cheap standard fridge, with a broken shelf. Oh, and the double oven is super old too, and TINY! Definitely wouldn't be able to cook very much in it. We knew all this about the appliances before we bought the place though... so we knew we'd have to replace them all. That's okay by us, just pricey!! Anyways...
So we get the new fridge and dishwasher in last night. The fridge is the EXACT width as the area it goes in. There's this stupid wall that comes out perpendicular of the main wall separating the kitchen from the dining room. The wall only comes out about a foot and a half. It's useless and pointless. Anyways, this partial wall is one side of the area that holds the fridge (the other side is cabinetry) and it's the EXACT width of the new fridge. This made me nervous, because obviously, you need a little bit of wiggle room. Gwydd was sure it would work though. *sigh* Well, the delivery guys and Gwydd try to squeeze the fridge in, and surprise! It won't go in. We tell the delivery guys that we're good, we'll figure it out, and they leave. We decide to put the fridge aside for the time being and at a future date we'll tear down that stupid useless partial wall. Well that wasn't good enough for Gwydd, lol. He starts hammering out the dry wall right there. "Everything's fine, Seamus, go back to playing in your room." LOL
We were a bit nervous that there might be electrical in the wall because there was a light switch on there (that turns on the light in the kitchen), but turns out that was the only electrical in it. So we can easily move that light switch. Gwydd knocks out one side of the drywall (the fridge side) and that gives us another half inch to squeeze the fridge in. Of course, the wall looks like shit now, LOL, but we'll eventually take the rest of that stupid wall down.
So we finally get the fridge in, turn it on, connect the water line to it (so we can use the water and ice function), and everything looks great (except the wall, of course). Gwydd gets our first glass of water from the fridge. We open the fridge and check out Gwydd's hard work. Oh crap... the water function is leaking all over the inside of the fridge. The filter is loose. So I go turn off the water supply outside. Gwydd soaks up all the leaking water with towels, then tightens the water filter. That should fix it. I turn on the water supply again. Gwydd tests the water feature on the fridge. Again, the water filter is leaking. WTH?! He scours over the instructions, tries a few things (I make several trips outside turning off and on the water) it's still not working correctly. By now it's like 10:30 pm. We're not going to get this. Gwydd is cranky, hungry, and tired. So we decide to leave it for now. The fridge itself is working, just need to fix the stupid water thing. We'll look it up online tonight. He'll get it eventually!
---------------
We've gotten two rooms painted so far, and will work on the others in the near to distant future. Not at the top of our list though. We got all our stuff from storage delivered on Wednesday, so since then, in addition to trying to fix all the damn electrical, plumbing, and appliance issues, we've been surrounded by boxes, and going through box after box after box. Gwydd's desk, which is a crappy $50 WalMart desk he got years ago finally went kaput. We didn't think it'd survive the last 3 moves, but the thing magically seems to make it every time. But this final move was it. So there's another expense. We won't be buying new desks (for both of us, as my desk is on it's last leg right now) until after Xmas (which is around the time Gwydd is getting a bonus).
Anyways, it's been a LOOOOONG week. I can't wait until all these small-issues-that-when-put-together-becomes-a-large-issue gets resolved so we can finally start ENJOYING our new home. :-)
On the plus side, the painted rooms look GREAT! Now, granted, we did it ourselves, so it's not perfect looking (especially our bedroom, which is where we learned all the mistakes not to repeat in the living room, lol), but the colours look awesome. The teal-ish colour in our room matches/contrasts beautifully with our red, gold, orangey Indian/Moroccan bedding and decor. The living room is a orangey-yellow (we're also going to use this same colour for the ceiling in our bedroom, which we haven't gotten to yet), and it is REALLY nice looking with our dark furniture. What a huge difference paint makes!
--------------------
Today we are headed back to Twentynine Palms to visit my mom, take a break from all this renovation/house issues/unpacking/et cetera, and get our dog back (whom my mom and step-dad have been watching for 3.5 months). Gwydd doesn't want to go when we have so much stuff to finish... but I think the break would be good for us. Give us a break! The last week has been insanely busy and stressful!
I can't wait to see my dog! :-)