Water... Water...

We have water!!!  The city of St. Paul came out yesterday and replaced the water meter which had failed.  Last week, the day after we'd bought the house, they had shut off the water because they had been unable to get into the house to replace the meter.  Customer service said they had been unable to get in touch with anyone... Imagine that... not being able to get in touch with the owner of a foreclosed home.

As soon as the furnace is running, we can turn on the water at the main valve and stop having to run to the Target store for comfort breaks.

Other than the furnace and hot water heater, the issues with the house are primarily cosmetic.  At lot of it looks really bad, but it's only "skin" deep.  Here's my priority list (although Robyn reserves the right to disagree!)

1. Install HVAC system
2. Get a functioning water supply
3. Install a new water heater
4. Rehab the bathroom
5. Clean paint off molding, patch holes in walls, paint the walls and ceilings downstairs and in the master bedroom
6. Install laminate flooring
7. Rehab the kitchen
8. Paint the last two bedrooms / rehab the bonus room / office

We have a lot to do over the next 8+ weeks before our lease is up at the apartment.  We're hoping though that we can spend our first night in the house, even if it is on a blow up mattress, next Friday night.

Tackling this is a lot like the cliche... how do you eat an elephant... one bite at a time.  However, there are times when it makes sense to bring in an expert who can get the job done more quickly, such as with the HVAC system.

We also decided to have a professional help us with the bathroom rehab.  We had a re-facing consultant from Home Depot come to the house last night to look at the kitchen and bathroom.  We decided that the most prudent option for the kitchen is for us to do it ourselves.  However, we did decide to get their help with the bathroom.  They can start in 4 to 6 weeks and have it done in a couple of days.  We're still doing part of the work ourselves... the flooring, toilet, vanity and wall treatments.

Here's a photo of Robyn talking with Jae about the bathroom:

 Yes it is chilly in the house.... but this room was a balmy 57 degrees last night

These photos don't come close to doing this bathroom justice.... errr.... maybe that should be injustice.

We'd been trying to figure out why there was this curve on the back wall of the tub.  I'd never seen anything like it before.  So last night I took a hammer to the wall.

Once I could see through the wall, I found out this was just sheetrock, not plaster like the rest of the house.  I figure this "architectural feature" was added when the shower was added to the tub and was necessary to keep the radiator from melting or peeling the vinyl around the tub from peeling off.

Too bad I didn't make that first hole 2 inches further to the right.  I would have one less hole to patch.  This "architectural feature" is going to meet Mister Sawsall this weekend.