As of today, it’s been two weeks since we moved into the new house. I thought the crazy pace might lessen slightly after we moved in, but we have had busy days at work and equally busy nights at home. Some highlights:
General Status
- We are still unpacking. We still haven’t found everything, but we are trying.
- We still have to maintain the townhouse, so I am there every other day to water the plants, until we can find a buyer (or rent.)
- We still have many items still stored in closets, the attic, and the basement, so we one of us is always there bringing items over — whatever we can fit in our respective trunks.
Surprises
Undoubtedly, we were bound to discover funny little problems after we moved in. I have heard the same from friends and family. Here is what we found, and that I hope to one day laugh about. One day.
- During the walkthrough, we noticed the carpets were a bit shabbier than previously realized, especially the basement. It wasn’t until after we had moved in that we noticed the extent of the carpet stains, or the section of dining room carpet that was completely removed and hidden under a mat and/or furniture. Imagine the guffaws.
- One side of the front walkway lighting is not working. Why all of a sudden? Or was it never working?
- The kids’ bathroom toilet began leaking. Very odd.
- After we asked the previous owners to reset the patio steps, one still fell loose our first week.
- I recently noticed that there is a large dent in one of the garage doors. When did that happen?
- One of the recessed light fixtures in the kitchen no longer works.
- Speaking of lighting, with all of our grand detective skills, neither of us noticed that most of the rooms don’t have built-in overhead lighting. We need to budget money for either lamps or overhead lights.
Home Fixes and Improvements
In the past 2+ weeks, we have spent a good healthy chunk of pocket change update various parts of the house, or fix some of the interesting coincidental problems listed above. Others are a work in progress.
- To rectify the carpet situation, we had new carpet installed in the basement and dining room through Empire Today. Much better. The carpet in the rest of the house will be done in stages.
- We have a new kitchen table (and chairs!)
- We had the kids morning room / sun room / activity room, and Lily’s bedroom repainted.
- We had our friendly neighborhood Closet Factory salesperson Isabel (who we have done business with twice in the past at the townhouse) design new closets for both kids. Both are now in place and looking good.
- New Honeywell Wi-Fi 9000 smart thermostats installed for both zones.
- I disassembled and repaired the kids’ bathroom toilet in about 3-4 hours, for only $15 in parts. No charge for labor though. 😉
- We ordered new family room furniture, and should arrive in the next few days.
- We ordered a new 8-person square patio table (and chairs!) It should arrive end of next week.
- Our lovely Dyson DC07 that we have owned since July 2006 is dying a slow death. We ordered a new Electrolux Precision Brushroll Clean vacuum cleaner this week. On Friday morning, I will take Old Yeller out front and put it out of its misery.
As I mentioned, there is plenty more we need to do, but those projects will either be ordered or completed within the next two weeks, or waiting until we have sold the townhouse:
- We are ordering a patio umbrella to go along with the new patio table later this week.
- We are ordering a new backyard Weber grill in the next few days.
- I have to fix that patio step tomorrow after work.
- Replacing the rest of the carpeting in the house with either new carpet or hardwood floors will be done in stages within the next few years.
- I am getting the house wired for Gigabit Ethernet…. eventually. The total cost is about $2,000 so it will have to wait. The goal is to one day have multiple Tivos and mini home theater PCs streaming and serving up video content in multiple rooms. WiFi is nice but hardline wiring is better.
- We need to budget money for ceiling light fixtures and/or ceiling fans. I am not big on lamps.
- We will eventually need to get a new LED LCD tv, AV receiver, speakers, Tivo, and maybe a Blu-ray player for the family room. Don’t know when.
- I would love to get additional patio seating with a fire pit. Next summer, perhaps.
Lots to do, but our ambitions will have to stay in check.