It’s been a wild week around here!
Originally, I was going to share a little bit about our upstairs bathroom remodel that recently started…until our downstairs flooded! The main line going to the septic tank became clogged and overflowed.
Before we bought the house, we had a solid plan for quickly getting our house ‘move-in ready’ after we closed.
It was going to go something like this:
Chris and I were going to paint and clean all the downstairs walls and ceilings while also having the upstairs bathroom remodeled and the hardwood floors refinished. During all of this, we were going to live downstairs, sharing 2 bedrooms with 3 of our kids – fun times!
We expected the process to take about 2 – 3 weeks. It was going to be a headache, but we wouldn’t have to keep moving all of our crap from one area of the house to another. We just moved everything in and stuffed it into the downstairs for the time being.
The Plot Twist
Last Saturday night, while we were getting the babies ready for bed, we took a long shower to get everyone clean. Little did we know the nightmare unfolding downstairs. Black water was steadily flowing from the toilet and washing machine.
What we thought was a septic tank issue turned out to be the main line of the house being clogged.
We had a water restoration company come out on Sunday. It started with them packing and moving all of our stuff out. The downstairs floors had to be torn out immediately…along with the entire lower portion of the walls, all of the paneling, baseboards and doors. Most of the bathroom was demolished in order to prevent mold from growing. Basically, everything to the studs.
I think the hardest part, so far, is seeing all of the work we’ve been doing down here for 2 straight weeks go to waste. This was no easy work either because the prior owners left this house DISGUSTING!
Time to Pivot!
The upstairs floors are still going to be started on Monday, as originally planned. It should only take about a week to be refinished and dried so fingers crossed we can be back in our house soon!
Part of our initial plan was to not worry about changing much of the downstairs for a few years, other than cleaning, painting, and swapping some light fixtures out. We intend on this being a space for our teenager’s friends, kids playing/crafts, working, etc. Now, we have been forced to take a different route. Trying to figure out what to do with the space as quickly as possible has been tough.
Next Steps?
I want to totally change the layout of the hallway, closets, and bedrooms down there…Chris does not. 😆
This week, we are getting a few estimates from different contractors. This will give us more information to make some decisions.
I’m excited about seeing the upstairs floors finished. There is a lot of painting and cleaning upstairs on our agenda for this coming up week, too. If they finish the bathroom remodel, I’ll share some before and after pics. There is already a HUGE difference!
Simply Bankston 