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I’ve been posting about various aspects of my home ownership “journey” in different sub forums, so I figured I would make my own thread as a diary for myself. I can see the work I’ve done, and make myself a little more comfortable in the space I own. Brief history: After some absolute shitwad of landlords running our lives during the pandemic, my partner and myself spent half a year applying for and finding a home with a USDA Rural Development loan. We live(d) in a tourist and college town that is steadily jacking up living costs and turning everything in to short term rentals. Armed with a microbiology degree for myself and an illustration degree for him, we find ourselves nice and cozy with jobs in food service. Now, they are nice food service jobs -I’m a pastry chef at a high end pâtisserie and he is a food truck manager- but we are still below the poverty line. Thanks to Rural Development, we found a home loan, and after many many many many failed bids and hoops we were able to close at the end of April on a 1200 sq ft. Mid century ranch, 20 minutes away in a rural satellite town. It still wasn’t cheap, but our mortgage is the same as the single bedroom shithole we were renting in the middle of town. The first inkling of something going wrong was the walkthrough, the basement had been dry during the inspection (it was Michigan winter), but we had noticed water pooling in some of the floor cracks. I have my realtor investigate and the sellers come back with “we just mopped”. We take them at their word and close the next morning. Two days and some heavy rainstorms later, we find puddles all over the basement, rip off some foam insulation to find a pinhole in the foundation spilling water in. Not only that but water was seeping up from the bottom of the floor. It also had soaked some carpet they decided to glue directly to the concrete. A mildewy mess. I had a panic attack. A bad one. For a week I cried and barely held it together while my partner and our families helped us move. I would pull over to the side of the road several times during the 20 minute drive and dry heave. What did I do? WHAT THE gently caress DID I DO?! It’s so much money. For 33 years! It’s so much work I’m not prepared for, will we even continue to afford it? What if we lose our jobs? And it’s loving leaking! The reality of homeownership set in and I couldn’t get a grip. Every day I woke up in panic, and every night I was on a crisis help line because I felt trapped and wanted the worst way out. I couldn’t eat, barely slept, and was losing hair. After everything compounding, it was the thing this year that finally had broken my brain. The other shoe dropped when I returned to work the next week. During my usual shift of pastry and dessert making, I had a meltdown. A full on open-to-the-public cry. My manager talked me through it, and a few hours later my boss was sitting me down to encourage me to take medical leave and possibly inpatient care. As of now, I am on indefinite leave. That night we would also discover there was a mouse infestation after I find a bunch of tiny little shits lining the bedroom molding. So I head to Menard’s and buy as many mouse traps as humanly possible and line all of the walls. Meanwhile my partner, Z, and my father go hard. Yanking insulation and mouse nests from the basement, vacuuming the rafters, and sealing holes in the foundation. We found a fun little surprise too! An old dryer vent that was out of use was just completely open to the outside and the front door threshold had a good 1/4” gap. It’s been about a week now since catching a mouse and I’m feeling like we have probably taken care of that. Problem 1: Solved. Well, all of this definitely didn’t help with my anxiety levels, especially as mice are one of my big time phobias. I also found myself worrying about living in one of the more rural and poorer areas, the commute, the mining train that rumbles by a few times per week. But, we keep trucking. I spend my days in the care of my family, and nights working on the house. A few weeks later, we have the only waterproofing company in the area come by to give us an estimate. They suggest basement drains and a sump pump. It’s 16 loving k. Jesus gently caress. We have 4K put away tops. So it’s looking like we are going to have to lawyer up and put that on the backburner. The House:  She’s a 3 bedroom “2” bathroom. The second bathroom is an old miners bathroom in the basement consisting of 2 holes in ground, a showerhead and a sink. The main bedroom fits our queen sized bed alright and the second will work for an office for both of us. The third is 9’x9’ and will probably become Z’s art studio.  Upon entering you are greeted with a makeshift closet off of the fireplace for laundry. The washer portion is broken and a second washer is located in the basement. Basic “apartment building” models. The dryer however...vents in to the basement...we have an HVAC person contracted to properly vent it next week. In the meantime, we’re just humidifying an already wet basement. Hello kitchen!!   The dishwasher is completely broken. The other appliances, while not updated, at the very least are in working condition.  Fireplace condition unknown. Hasn’t been used in 15 years they say. The house was previously occupied by tenants who decided to spray paint an accent wall the worst purple imaginable, and I love purple.  TV located at the only 3 pronged grounded plug in the living room.   The backyard was not raked in what could have been years and now I have 14 bags of yard waste along the side of the house. Today I layed pesticide and grass seed to attempt to patch the areas where wet piles of leaves killed all the grass. My mother helped trim the front cedar bushes which we will burn after it rains this week. Z power washed the front and back decks and we will attempt to paint them sometime probably next month. In a subsequent post I’ll show some photos of the basement, bedrooms, and work we have done but this is plenty long for an OP. My mental state right now is improving and I have an appointment with a community mental health resource on the 20th. Hopefully the more work we put in, the less I will feel like running away. Then someday, I’m hoping this will become my safe haven.
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May 18, 2021 03:14
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Today I managed to plant a few flowers in the front yard and put together my desk in an attempt to get to some gaming as an escape. Turns out the plug that I was going use for my computer was an imposter!! They just put a 3 prong in to the socket without grounding it. The plug also turns off via light switch, so I’m sure it will be fun accidentally turning my computer off every time I leave the room. Looks like a rewire job is due before I can use my desktop. A lot of the trim was falling out because they didn’t use the correct size nail, nor is there a seated nail in the entire house. So our hallways looks like this from seating, re-nailing, and filling. Note the very poorly whitewashed doors.  Every single corner is chewed up from what I think was a wheelchair at some point. A lot of joint compound used, good thing because there was only large buckets of the poo poo available anywhere.  Bonus vomit stain under the radiator that I can’t get to with the carpet washer. 
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May 18, 2021 03:33
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Today was my nephew’s birthday, so I didn’t spend much time at the house. Most of the day was spent in beautiful 80 degree weather playing with the worlds cutest 1 year old. It was very good for my mental health and honestly the happiest I’ve been in months. It made going back home pretty difficult and I had a mild panic attack around 8pm when we were packing up to head out. However, I had a present waiting for me on the doorstep when I got home. This bad boy I ordered last week with a $100 Amazon gift card that we forgot about from 2 years ago. It will be replacing this.  This fan was broken when we moved in, Z managed to fix the motor and it died again 4 days later. Right now the fan vents in to the attic and out the sides of the roof. Depending on how brave we are about going in to the attic, we may want to make an actual vent to the outside or out of the eaves. That may be a project for another time though. Luckily this fan is the same size, so we don’t have to cut any of the ceiling and just replacing the fan seems fairly easy. Tomorrow we are hoping to paint the master closet and pick up paint for all the moldings and trim, the weather looks like it’s going to storm so I’ll monitor the water in the basement now that the downspouts have been extended.
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May 19, 2021 03:22
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Not much done today as far as the house goes but we did spend the morning painting the interior of this closet which was previously a half assed single coat of white over purple and a giant spot of dry water staining in the corner. The toilet on the other side must have overflowed at some point because there is dry staining in the subfloor and cracked tile. We found extra tile in the basement but that’s another project for later in the summer. Now it can house CLOTHES and make our “office” navigable. The rest of the day I spent cleaning the apartment and washing the curtains that are now thumb tacked to the window. I’ll get a permanent rod for those after we paint over the godawful beige.  What will be the office once I clear the boxes and rewire. The electrician said that if we buy some 12/2 and run it in through basement, he will come out and attach it for the entire room for the minimum labor cost. I don’t trust my electrical abilities so I’m probably going to take that offer. I’m a little scared to see what the cost of 170 ft. Of 12/2 goes for right now though. A new stainless steel ductless range hood arrived, so I’m thinking we make a weekend of installing that, the bathroom fan, and a hand-me-down light fixture to replace a VERY outdated one in the dining area. Tomorrow, I need to finish cleaning the apartment and take a little break. I spoke to my old neighbor today who is a therapist and he helped tremendously with my outlook. I also will be going back to work likely next week, so I’m hoping to get all these little projects done before then. After that, I’ll have to take a break and save up money before taking anything else on. So, it looks like I’ll just be painting and unpacking for a while.
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May 20, 2021 04:37
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So as far as the water in the basement goes, I’ve contacted a couple lawyers, one cannot represent us due to conflict, the other is a 10k retainer and $200/hr for a consultation. So I think we will just save up for a few years to eat the 16k bill, although I’m sure it will be more like 20k by then. Honestly I’m just loving depressed about how poor we are at this point. Having to live in a very poverty stricken town with nothing to do and a large population of die hard Trumpers sucks. Barely having the money to, at the very least, make my house a comforting space. It’s just all really getting to me, and I’ve gone from anxious to depressed. I feel like I’m a failure of a 30 yr old with a STEM degree. Sorry for the whine post, I also think I just need to find some more people like myself here, but it’s difficult. I have one friend who lives out this way, but we aren’t super close. Thanks to the folks who are reading this thread and rooting for me, it helps to have support, even on a dead gay forum. In home news, working on the bathroom today. Putting in a cabinet on the wall and one of those curved shower curtain rods.    The current state of the bathroom, which I will update after I finish cleaning and installing all of this poo poo today. You can’t really tell in the photo but under that toilet is where the tiles have cracked and the subfloor is sinking from what I’m hoping was an isolated toilet issue. We plan on fixing it before the end of summer, but we won’t have a place to poo poo for a couple of days.  Spot the bluejay on the fence! Our backyard has been full of Corvids today.
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May 21, 2021 19:45
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Small victories today. Our neighbor kindly lent us his lawn mower since we haven’t had the money to buy one and said we couldn use it through the summer.  I replaced the range vent with the newer one, while it’s basically the same model, it’s at least new and stainless, so it looks a bit better.  Replacing this ugly outdated light fixture with a hand me down from my parents but we didn’t have the correct screws so it’s chillin like this until tomorrow.  A nice surprise popped up today that made me pretty happy. We have a whole bunch of Lily of the Valley!   Edit: yes the light fixture is hanging on by more than just electrical wire, we have some plain wire worked to the ceiling holding it up. I’m not insane. Ball Tazeman fucked around with this message at 02:40 on May 23, 2021 |
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May 23, 2021 02:28
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A few small changes made the bathroom way cuter and more cozy. Plus STORAGE  
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May 24, 2021 00:37
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Honestly, it’s amazing what having a couple nice rooms will do. Now that I have a comfortable bathroom and mostly put together bedroom and living room. I feel so much more welcome in the space.
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May 24, 2021 04:08
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The plumber is here and it looks like our old as gently caress dishwasher actually works!!
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May 24, 2021 17:04
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I don’t think I have a job anymore and my boss won’t reply to me. I’m spiraling but hey I finished painting the doors and trim. Before: After:  Tomorrow we rewire the office and hopefully get the washer working. Not feeling stoked on it for obvious reasons.
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May 30, 2021 02:01
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Today: -Caught the chipmunk destroying the garage siding -Finished furnishing the entryway -Set up a live trap for the groundhog (she watched us all day) -fixed the mounting for the light fixture -grounded the bedroom and office -yanked unused cables from the basement -set up the desk space -organized recycling/trashed a bunch of bullshit -pulled out more old insulation and vacuumed rafters - swept the basement Z found a mystery jar of liquid in the rafters behind the insulation!!!! should we drink it? Pictured: new light fixture and new entry stool 
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May 31, 2021 00:00
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Yooper posted:Agreed, the place is coming together nicely. We are at “it hasn’t brought the house down yet and we don’t have the funds to do anything about it” stage. We don’t really have the money for a lawyer to push for litigation (I contacted about 3 of them) and waterproofing estimate came out to 16k. I talked to a plumber last week week about DIY sump/draining, and he said that he did his own, but would absolutely never do it again and that it was just a massive project. At this point, we’ll just save what we can and maybe do it next year, hoping the price doesn’t jump too much. Thanks for the encouragement! Now that I have a functioning desktop computer and office, it definitely feels a lot more like a place I can be alone in. It might not feel like my “home” yet. But it’s getting there. Next step is to apply for some WFH positions, since I’m not sure if I’m employed anymore and my boss won’t give me a solid answer about going on the schedule.
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May 31, 2021 16:13
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Still have gotten nowhere with my employer, I’m assuming I’m going to be let go at this point. Spent a lot of the day making the office a usable space since I can hook up the computer now. Before: After:   It feels like I did nothing, but looking at how cluttered everything was before shows the vast improvement that’s been done. Honestly, most of the time was spent on my cable management. This room needs a paint job badly though, as do all of the rooms.
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Jun 1, 2021 01:17
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No big updates. We’ve been taking a little break to unwind and I’ve been sending out job apps like crazy. We did get a nice antique couch from my parents neighbors and I think it’s just absolutely lovely.  That accent wall has got to be repainted soon though. It will be much prettier as a less red toned and desaturated purple
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Jun 2, 2021 18:12
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devicenull posted:It's hard to tell from your photos, but make sure your gutters are draining as far from the house as you can get them. If they're only draining a few inches from your house, they are definitely not helping with your wet basement issues. We have the downspouts extended about 5ft but it looks like it may need to go farther. We also have a dehumidifier going as often as we can empty it. So far it seems to be helping! We actually found some unused 12/2 in the basement that we run so we didn’t even have to spend money on it!
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Jun 3, 2021 03:41
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We are kind of at the point where we have to look at big expense, long term projects now and I honestly don’t know how to prioritize. Things that need to be done Replace kitchen appliances Fix or replace the siding Replace the roof Waterproof the basement Remove and replace the rotting deck I’m just trying to find a way to systemically prioritize and come up with a plan for these expenses, but my mind is just reeling.
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Jun 3, 2021 17:24
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Thanks for the suggestions and perspective. I think the roof can be placed a little lower as it’s not failing. It’s just nearing the end of it’s life and looks like it may begin to leak in the next few years. Luckily my partner’s father is roofer. I just can’t decide what should be “patched until later” or completely replaced.
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Jun 3, 2021 17:53
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Hutla posted:Try to do something that made you want to buy a house in the first place, even if it's on a much smaller scale than you dreamed of. Like if you wanted a great garden with raised boxes and mounds of produce but it's too expensive right now, just dig up a flat garden and put some cheap starts in right now. Do like squash or something that will be a lot of payoff for little effort. It will help you get some joy out of what is nothing but anxiety and stress right now. This is all great advice that I will use. But this part especially. I really want to garden and landscape and to create a beautiful outdoor retreat, but it seems super unobtainable at the moment. I bought some cheap Lowe’s buckets and my friend and mother gave me some starter herbs. I just need to find the energy and honestly dig myself out of enough depression to plant them. I did take some solar powered decorative lights to put around the front porch. The more I live there, the more things I see need to be fixed/were neglected. It’s especially difficult when my family and a lot of friends have some really beautiful updated houses. I’m a little embarrassed by mine.
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Jun 3, 2021 18:16
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Already there with blaming the previous owners for doing dumb poo poo!! The siding has quite a few places where it’s falling off, they aren’t really pictured because it’s on the back of the garage and a couple other awkward places, but we have some spare stuff in the basement to replace some of it. It looks like they have been repairing it for a while but the corner pieces on the garage are chewed up and coming undone. We have quite a few chipmunk nests in there. The back deck is weathered to hell and has a few boards that are rotten, Since this was previously renters, and an old woman before that, I assume they never shoveled the deck in the winter. We power washed the front and back decks. The front really just needs a paint job and we are thinking of recycling the wood from the ramp to turn back in to stairs. Actually a big thing I wanted to ask about was in the kitchen window.  We have this big picture window above the sink that does not open, but definitely has moisture infiltration.   The eaves extended over it, so I don’t think it’s from the outside, maybe just splashing dishwater for years? What’s the best course of action? Re-seat it and re-caulk? It looks like the wall has separated from the counter top too.
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Jun 4, 2021 01:02
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devicenull posted:That looks like two panes of glass, and the build up is between the two panes? Yeah it’s this 
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Jun 4, 2021 01:46
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Just me Looking at the mess of candles and marbles the Previous Owner threw in the fireplace “decorate” it. I’m going to have to clear all the poo poo out if I want to see if the fireplace is even in working condition. Or I could just say gently caress it and make it in to a fake electric fireplace.
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Jun 13, 2021 04:02
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 Saw this neighborhood cat for the first time, I hope they patrol my yard because I’m really hating trapping chipmunks. No major updates since I’ve been back to work. Honestly, just trying to figure out what project I want to work on. I should probably just paint. What color do you paint a hallway? Also I ordered a duck ton of contact paper to make some garage sale furniture match my rooms. I’m sure doing that by myself will go great.
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Jun 15, 2021 02:29
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Yooper posted:My last house had a fireplace with a damper. We used it with an andiron a few times but found it sucks more heat out of the house than you get from the fire. The next upgrade was a ventless gas log. This was bad. In hindsight I'll never put another ventless NG appliance in a living space. Can I ask what the issue was with the ventless? I really don't have the $3000. Otherwise, I'm just going to shove one of those space heaters with an LED log in there.
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Jun 16, 2021 00:16
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I forced myself to sit out on the porch since, for some reason, I have an anxiety aversion to it. It so small and lovely and weathered, I don’t really want to be on it. I was trying to find nice things to think about in order to change that association. So, despite not getting to make garden beds this year, I have some lovely herbs and veggies thriving. The groundhog didn’t get to these ones before we caught it.  Our lilac bush blossomed and it’s full of bees   Honestly I don’t know what to do with this mess. There are some really lovely hyacinths buried in the mess of weeds and grass that I don’t want to kill by clearing it out.  I’m also still getting used to the train right behind our neighborhood. It’s very loud initially and I’m super sensitive to it, but the cars following it are fairly quiet and I kind of enjoy them. It shakes the house and that sometimes scares me.
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Jun 16, 2021 17:21
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This is a very good post, thank you. Also, I believe the trains will stop in the next five years since the mine that they run from is set to close in 2025, they are so infrequent that I didn't even think they were running until my boss switched me to night shift. Now, I know that they typically on run at 11am. Sometimes, they will wake me up at 9am-ish if they are running early, but I'm already mostly used to them. I just get sensory overload sometimes. We're having some friends stay with us next week, so I'm mostly doing just a lot of cleaning this week. Getting any stray boxes put away, shoving anything unsightly (tools) in to closets. So, I think I can safely say that we are um, moved in. I also contacted the mayor today because my friend notified me that there was an open position on the Parks and Rec board. It was pretty ironic timing because the day before we went to the disc golf course and, despite it being a beautiful course at a well-maintained rec park, the tees and markers basically didn't exist. I made a comment to my partner about how to get tee markers up and my friend hit me up about that opening the next day. I'm going to get involved until I make myself love this little town.
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Jun 18, 2021 04:51
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I have discovered contact paper.
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Jun 19, 2021 03:52
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I’m about to cheaply resurface everything with stickers.
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Jun 19, 2021 05:01
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Update: I’m bad at applying contact paper
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Jun 19, 2021 22:29
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Today was not a good house day. I’m feeling really trapped. Found out there are still mice and they have been hanging out, making GBS threads and leaving seed husks in my vanity. We were woke up by the sound of them in the bedroom the other night and optimistically wrote it off as house sounds. Nah they’re in the office and bedroom now. I’m just tired of it. I was just starting to get comfortable, but at this point I’m just exhausted. I switched to working nights and it sucks. My coworkers have constant outward disdain for me. I turned 30 a few days ago and it was just really really sad.
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Jun 20, 2021 23:44
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I really appreciate all the support and pest solidarity, it really does make me feel less alone in this experience. My mental health has gone back to where is was when we moved, so I’m putting some things on hold to deal with that. I’m having work and some money issues, I’m kind feeling like a prisoner in my own mind at the moment. I’m incredibly anxious to the point of being unable to eat again. I’m trying to make my projects a little smaller so that I at least get something done. This week is just getting the weed whacker to work and replacing a door knob to the basement. The door is currently being held closed by some duct tape. I meant to get the storm windows we found in the basement cleaned and put up before a major thunderstorm but it looks like that’s not happening. Tomorrow is supposed to be terrible weather.
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Jun 24, 2021 03:06
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corgski posted:If you want I can tell you about the time it took me a year to completely get rid of a flea infestation. Do tell. corgski posted:That sounds like a great plan. Is it a gas weed whacker? I know we have some small engine people around here who could help out with advice/ideas if you hit any roadblocks. Yeah it’s gas. I think it’s just finicky about starting. Whenever I try to start it I accidentally flood the thing.
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Jun 24, 2021 03:48
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That is a strangely comforting story. Today we caught a mouse in the basement. Also our groundhog friend is back. That or it actually did have babies and they just came out of the nest.
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Jun 27, 2021 20:10
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I think I’ve mentioned it a few times in this thread and the home ownership thread but I literally don’t have the money to care for a cat right now. My father is also our main help for renovations and he is horribly allergic to the point where he can’t be in the same room as a cat without his face swelling up. Thank you all for the positive messages though. I’ve been kind of taking a break for a few reasons. The first is that I got a new job at a tech company. The pay is better and I finally get healthcare and benefits. Secondly, my mental state has really continued to tank pretty badly. I have a week between this job and the new one and am planning on admitting myself during that time if things do not improve. It’s a very strange time right now. Honestly, my anxiety is so bad that, since I found mouse poop in my vanity, I won’t even go in to the office anymore and I keep all of my makeup in my duffel bag that I take in to town. I won’t even use the jewelry or hair accessories that were in those drawers. I don’t sleep at night because I assume every house sound is a mouse and go in to a panic attack. On a single positive note, I’ve managed to make the living room extremely cute looking and my outdoor herbs are getting massive.
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Jul 1, 2021 05:10
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Alright so, Had a nice mental breakdown again but am slowly recovering. I can be in the home alone now, but I still struggle with hearing house noises and panicking about mice. We haven’t caught any downstairs or upstairs in a week or so but it still has me on edge. Suicidal ideation comes and goes. I had my last shift at my old job and start my new one on Monday. I’m kind of terrified. Today we did what I thought was a lot of work but it really…wasn’t. 1. Bought some new 6ft. Moveable downspouts to direct all the water away from the house. They were like $15 each so they better loving help with the basement dampness. 2. FINALLY installed the new bathroom fan and….uh….  Yeah, we need to figure out how to fix this. It sucks because the dimensions on the box were exactly the same and the same brand as the old one. I’m annoyed. 3. I went wild and ripped all the vertical slat blinds off of the picture window. I hate them and they remind me of hospitals and hotels. Now I can get a nice curtain bar and throw those up instead. They were gross and greasy and full of bugs and I’m glad they are gone. (By “gone” I mean they are angrily tossed out on the back deck.) 4. Put moldings on the back side of the closet doors, which the previous owner just never did. They were full of spiders and pretty gross. 5. Deep cleaned the house because cellulose bullshit all fell out of the ceiling everywhere. I’m exhausted and wish I had gotten more done, I plan on doing some painting tomorrow. OH! Groundhog had babies and we’ve caught and released 3 of them so far, they are very cute but it’s a pain. Here are my herbs and my giant patty pan. Don’t look at my dead tomato plant.  Last thing is this issue.   The drywall has separated from the counter and I can see in to the wall. The window definitely has moisture in it and the molding is falling off. Is there anything I can do in the meantime? How bad of an issue is this? What can I do to fix it? We are going to get an estimate for a new window soon but what about the drywall? I’m kind of afraid of what we need to do. We are already running low on our savings. Have a cat butt I saw through the hole in our fence. 
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Jul 7, 2021 03:23
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I got my hands on a weed wacker and it was an absolute nightmare. No wonder people hire landscapers.
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Jul 7, 2021 20:09
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Today’s breakdown brought to you by: accidentally bumping the molding and realizing my paint job on all of the trim just…. Peels off.
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Jul 11, 2021 02:29
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CancerCakes posted:It is pretty crappy when I do a job, then realise I messed up and will have to do some work to undo it, then do the job again right this time. But I can take comfort that I won't make that mistake again. This is a good post. I’ve done a lot of painting and decorating. I’ll take photos when I have the time and energy to clean up, but I’ve managed to make the living room feel like a home (mostly). I started a new job and it’s been a lot of work. Not really stressful, I do well with this type of work, but just draining. House updates. Yanked apart the washer and dryer combo upstairs to attempt to fix the washer portion. Currently washing the laundry downstairs and then drying in the combo unit. It’s not fixed yet but we kind of know what’s wrong. We did manage to lube up the dryer and it’s so much quieter!! Ran the Ethernet cable from the router in the living room to the office. I have internet now!!! (Without having to trip over a cord) Failed at weed wacking because I can’t control the drat thing or stop myself from chewing up the fence and foundation when I do it. Started dismantling the handicap ramp in the front so that we can extend the porch and make steps. Put in a new punch code deadbolt for the front door because the keys to the old deadbolt just…quit working. On the negative side, pretty much all my outdoor plants are dying and I don’t know why. Also we recently started smelling poo poo smell on and off and it turns out the drains downstairs were clogged up and would overflow whenever we did laundry. Dad took a cleaning tool and ran it all the way down to the sewer line and it seems to have fixed the problem. He also dumped water in the unused miners sink and shower down there and capped the toilet drain that does not have a toilet on it currently. Smells seems like it’s gone for now. Mice are still occasionally around but have somehow avoided the many snap traps I set up downstairs and upstairs. We decided we are open to getting a cat but it means I’d have to part with about 15 houseplants.
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Jul 16, 2021 00:36
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Very tired. Backyard update. Learned how to properly use the weed whacker so everything looks much nicer. Finally cleaned up the fire pit and had our first fire.  Made these lillies spruced up and contained   Ripped up the ramp so we can start doing a front porch remodel  Inside I made a little coffee nook in the dining area  My partner has been working OT nights and he’s usually the rodent body disposal crew, so it’s become my job now. It’s very unpleasant. This morning we caught a red squirrel, chipmunk, mouse, and shrew outside and I can’t look at them at all when I reset the traps. Yesterday one was caught right next to where I was working and I ended up seeing it struggle for a couple minutes. Absolutely awful. : I’ve sucked it up and am taking care of it though.
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Jul 18, 2021 22:52
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Went back and did the back garden bed. I also ran the edger along the driveway. I’ve been really just going hard this weekend.
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Jul 18, 2021 23:57
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We went ahead and are trying out a new mouse trap.
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Jul 22, 2021 00:44
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