One more thing...

(**as always, click on the photos to view them full sized**)
This is the living room with the window boarded up because the previous owner rather purposefully broke it out. Also the bit to the right of that is where an old stove pipe went out and had been rather badly and improperly filled in. Ben plans to put in a solid fuel burning stove and will run new stove pipe through there. The neighbor is a "dry waller" and will fix the wall and ceiling properly and replaster those areas.


This is the new window in the living room. It's surprising how much brighter the room is with glass in the window frame instead of wood! Our roofer, Phil Cordes also put the window in. He will "flash-out" the outside when the weather isn't quite so cold.

Finally! An update!

Ben has made it so Denny and I can contribute to his blog.
Click on the photos to view them full sized and in their gross and dirty glory.


This is the kitchen as we found it sans the garbage on the floor.




Bathroom, obviously as we found it. It has currently been gutted except for the tub and toilet. After cleaning (which was a daunting task we won't talk about) the toilet is nearly new and works perfectly. Bought a new seat though.






Sun porch in it's current condition. There is no mop board and the door is not trimmed out. There is also no pile of mail and personal papers that was there when we first visited!

Notice everything including the outside porch is BLUE!






Living room sans filth covered carpet, various trash, and overturned sofa.










A closeup of the beautiful glazed tile that we found under the filth in the kitchen and sun porch! The grout lines are uneven and there is grout and various other stuff stuck to them but after scrubbing they will do quite nicely.





Those are all of the before photos worth posting. We will put more photos up soon as things progress.

We have primed and painted the two bedrooms and painted the wood trim in those rooms as well. They are ready for the wood laminate floors now! Except for register covers, new lights, and new outlets those two rooms will be done! The kitchen is primed and it's ceiling painted. The walls need paint which Dennis hopes to do tomorrow. The cabinets and wood trim all need painted as well. Then the kitchen will be nearly done! It's getting sort of exciting to see the changes in the little house. The biggest challenges will be the living room and the bath which is the ultimate challenge! In a couple of weeks we are getting a new furnace installed. That should really help the gas bills.

That's it for this update. Watch for more soon! ~Sue