The 'To Do' List

So, how I see it is the house project will come in 3 phases; the 'make it livable' phase, the 'make it bearable' phase and the 'make it nice' phase. The 'make it livable' phase will be just that. It may not be pretty, but we'll be able to function living there. So we'll have to fix all of the crap that makes the house a nightmare, like the trash and the dirt and the trash. In the 'make it bearable' phase we'll fix all of the things that are glaring eyesores, like the floors and the walls. You know the things that will make it look less like a serial killer lives there. And finally in the 'make it nice' phase we'll install our own little non-vital add-ons.



The first step, a check list of the 'make it livable' phase.

1. Clean out all of the trash on the first floor: Pretty self explanatory. Bag it all up and ship it on out. We may need a dumpster if the good old boys from the city won't haul it all away.


2. Clean out all of the moldy clothes in the basement: I've made this a separate step because the procedure will be totally different. T wants to erect a tent around the debris and spray it all down with bleach before we start. And, like any sane people, we are going to require protective gear so that that shit doesn't get anywhere near us.


3. Clean and clean and clean: ... and then when we think its clean, clean again. Seriously that place is disgusting.


4. Fix the toilet: It needs a new seat and some new guts.


5. Change the locks: I don't want the dead beats that lived there before us to try to come in and steal any of our stuff out from under us, and, oh yes, they would. But that's a-whole-nother story.


6. Get blinds: I'm not sure what colors the rooms will be yet so I don't want to get curtains. But we need something to cover the windows.


7. Replace the wall in the main bedroom: Re-dry wall the walls in the larger bedroom. While the walls are down check/rewire the electrical wire (we heard the wiring was aluminum and likes to short out) and put up insulation. I consider this more a part of the 'make it bearable phase' but we need at least one nice room and it would be nice to get done before we move all our furniture in.


8. While the walls are down, refinish the floor: Sand it down and re-stain it. Do the hallway and the living room while we have the rental. May as well get that done before we have furniture everywhere.
9. Paint said walls: We're thinking blue or green. Or both. If time permits add some crowing to the walls.
10. Move stuff in

Here's some of the stuff we want to do in the 'make it bearable phase':

1. Put up new dry wall in all the rooms: We don't know what the water damage did to the walls. And we're adding insulation and checking the wiring as we go.
2. Pain all new walls
3. Redo the floors and walls to the kitchen and bathroom
4. Fix the ceiling
5. Add insulation to the ceiling
6. Refinish the kitchen cabinets
7. Landscaping
8. Get new or refinish all of the door, including the front door