She’s a Brick House

A little over one year ago, we purchased a 1945 brick ranch as the housing bubble continued to slide downwards. Where we live, the housing market has been depressed for some time and buying and selling houses is like watching molasses drip on a cold day.

 

On the outside, the house looked nice, move-in ready even. But on the inside, we made multiple changes and repairs prior to moving. We spent nearly three months with contractors remedying structural issues, electrical issues, and water issues. Admittedly, we perhaps created some of the issues ourselves through the changes we requested and through our inexperience. Living a quarter of a state away, I saw construction progress through the lens of my husband, The Mister, who worked full time and visited the house before work, during lunch, and after work.



The Mister photographing the work in the house through the window

We decided that there were a few items that needed to be done before we could move in:

• Remove, widen, and install a new full bathroom
• Remove wall separating kitchen and dining room
• Replace rotten floor joists and subfloor
• Replace electrical throughout
• Replace plumbing throughout
• Fix load bearing wall header
• Install new drywall ceilings
• Refinish wood floors 

The three and a half months from closing on the house to getting it move-in ready was a highly challenging time in our lives, but the results have been so good. We are so thankful to have gotten many of the big (and messy) items out of the way before moving into our home.