It's Crunch Time, Folks.

If I'm reading a theatre review, I tend to dislike it when the reviewer gives a "synopsis" of the play. Instead of writing about the play, how it made them feel, etc., they give a run down of the plot. Snooooooooore. But...this is not a play. It's my house. And a lot has happened, so I feel like some of what I have to say is, a "synopsis," but by god I will try to make it entertaining. And throw some of my thoughts in there too. SO:

I returned to Creede yesterday after a few days in the big city of Denver. I went up primarily for some auditions, but it ended up being a nice "escape from THE PROJECT". We have now moved into the home stretch. Our optimistic end of October move in deadline is not happening, but we are confident that not too long after that, we'll be moved in. Some major developments in the last couple of weeks:

Last week my stepfather, Gerry, spent six straight days helping us. RJ's father, Roger Sr., came in for a few days later in the week as well. Their help was invaluable. While I cleaned, sanded, primed and insulated, Roger tinkered with the furnace vents, and RJ and Gerry put up drywall upstairs, downstairs and on the ceiling (that actually required 3-4 hearty gentleman to accomplish).

Lots of hands.

We had the tankless water heater hooked up, got a blue tag from the inspector (the blue tag story is longer and not terribly interesting, but VERY IMPORTANT), and Monte Vista Co-op hooked up the gas line from the propane tank to the house. We ordered flooring, a storm door, one entire extra package of roof shingles though we unfortunately only needed a few to finish the job. While in Denver, I bought us a refrigerator and gas range. And my mother and step-father have graciously gifted us a dishwasher.

Behold, The Gloriousness. Especially for propane, the extra initial expense means that we will end up using way less propane since it heats the water as it goes through the heater. It doesn't store it, like traditional water heaters.

Now I have to rave about Sears Outlet. I may eat my words if the stuff ends up being crap, but it's a pretty awesome feeling to acquire a new stove that is 50% off simply because a contractor installed it in a house, the owner didn't like it because it wasn't self cleaning, then had it removed so they could exchange it. You can't sell something full price once it's been installed so who benefits? WE DO! The fridge was the same deal. Brand new, but returned. Slight dents on the bottom sides that no one will see anyway--at a third of the regular price. Winning!

Fancy schmantz fridge

So...A LOT is happening and we're seeing our construction loan balance get lower and lower, which is terrifying. When you initially apply for a construction escrow (or loan) you have to create a budget ahead of time to include in your application. When you are working on the house in reality, certain things gain higher importance, others become an after thought. For example, plumbing has been WAY more expensive than we originally thought because RJ thought he might be able to do a lot of the plumbing himself. But because it's not an area he's particularly skilled in, we decided to hire a plumber, got the best products we could and in the long run, it'll be great. However, it's going to end up being more than 20% of our ENTIRE budget. Also, the amount of insulation in that house continues to be staggering (YOU'RE WELCOME). But we'll hopefully save in the long run because the house will be nice and toasty.

The goal by the end of the week is to have the upstairs (master bedroom and tv room) pretty much completed. RJ is tackling the bathroom and today, I donned my painters cap and put color on the stuff I primed last week--a white with a slight blue tint to it to bring out the blue stained pine and in the barn wood we used. I bought a shop vac at Home Depot on my way out of Denver so I can FINALLY clean how I wanna clean.

I'm not gonna lie. This project, especially the last couple of weeks, has been one of the hardest things I've ever done. I'm tired. I'm pissed. I don't want to do it anymore and I wish it was just fucking DONE. Trying to keep up morale when you both feel like it's never going to get finished is really hard. Drywall helps a lot because you can actually start to see the shape of things. That said, drywall dust is a whole new level of hell. Not that it's dangerous, it's just messy and hard to clean up without something like a shop vac. It occurs when you apply "mud," to cover up the seams between sheets of drywall and then sand it so looks smooth. And in some places, even out some non-straight surfaces. The fine, white dust from what you've sanded just sits on the ground as well as on you and makes you look as though a shipment of cocaine exploded in your face. It also tends to clog up the shop vac if you don't have a bag. (I did NOT find that out from experience. Ahem.)

But...it will get finished. Things slowly but surely come together. I have to remind myself that, on average, there are only two people working on this house. Many times, less. We have had some awesome help from friends and family--the thanks are endless. But I was gone for almost all of last week so RJ was mostly on his own. Luckily, my trip left me somewhat refreshed, or at least refocused, and I started off today with a lot of vacuuming.

And in a shameless act of begging: if you are in the area and want some hang out time while you do something with your hands, come on over! We can't provide much more than food, adult beverage and gratitude, but, as it is said, someplace by someone, "it takes a village."

ONWARD!

When The Magic Fades...

Pass the fucking pinot grigio.

Taken a year ago and I'm STILL dealing with insulation. I will be happy if I never see another piece EVER.

As RJ and I both shout obscenities at the old part of the house, which seems to have been built by a drunk person, we stop and reflect on the fact that...it was. But more on that later.

Once the euphoria of actually getting through the refinance and the construction loan wears off, the reality of Everything (with a capital E) begins to sink in. We have a time frame, we have a budget (that things don't always like to stay within <coughplumbing>), and it feels like it's getting colder in Creede every minute. So...we're getting short with each other, we're swearing at uneven walls and sometimes at each other. The fact that we have given ourselves a deadline of getting the house liveable by the end of the month is, well, stressful. We're getting a lot done, don't get me wrong. The shingles are up on the addition and insulation is full steam ahead. Plumbing was roughed in recently and it passed inspection.

The new shingles on the addition. The color is not an exact match, but was the closest we could find.

Roughed In Plumbing Montage

Floor insulation. Probably the easiest to do. Because...no angles!

But unfortunately, moving forward right now is contingent on other people. We've gone through the steps to set up power, but the San Luis Valley Electric Company (SLVEC) is the only game in town and is only open Monday-Thursday. So, we're looking at early next week to be hooked up to the grid and hopefully this weekend we'll get the final rough in done. Once the electric rough in is finished, we get inspected and the guy only inspects in Creede on Tuesdays. Only then can RJ really start to do the drywall and FINISH THE INSIDE, which is most important for moving in. Duh.

Which brings me to the state of the working relationship between husband and wife. I've always thought RJ was a great boss. He's patient with me. He helps me. But we now have a self imposed time limit. Mainly because, starting this month, we are paying mortgage AND rent plus utilities. Mighty expensive. Mighty sucky. But that said, you can't let the pressure you are putting on yourself or your woodworker husband get to you. Otherwise, things get frustrating very quickly. Part of being comfortable with someone is being comfortable bickering, and I've always attempted not to take my personal frustration out on my partner, but when you're working as a team...it happens. At least there are plenty of soft things to throw.

We actually attempted some drywall yesterday afternoon in part of the upstairs (in a spot that doesn't need inspection) because that's one place we would like to be pretty much done by the end of the month. Not everything has to be done for it to be liveable, but having a finished place to land and sleep is important to us. But, as many of you who have seen the top floor know, the ridge lines of the roof intersect in several places and that gives us many cool, but frustrating, angles to deal with. That, plus the fact that nothing is straight up there. Or standard anything. Everything is either a little or A LOT off. When you've spend most of your time on a brand new part of the house that is, for the most part, straight (we did use unfinished wood in several places because it was cheaper, and isn't always completely straight, but it is easily correctable as you go along). Our best guess is that B (the former owner, then tenant) was most likely drunk when he worked on this place.

This is what we know about B: A lot of it is hearsay, though from fairly reliable sources. In any case, this is what we know from the information we have. He's a genius at design and woodworking. RJ has been heavily influenced by his work, some of which has appeared in Architectural Digest. The below images are from a commissioned work. The house he lived in, that we bought, was severely neglected.

B's Epic Work. The Boathouse in Creede, CO. Based on Norwegian stave churches. (Photo by David O. Marlow for Architectural Digest)

Inside of boathouse. This shit is amazing. (Photo by David O. Marlow)

He's originally from Kansas and is an extremely shy person with a lot of ideas and talent. He is also a SEVERE alcoholic and hoarder. I've mentioned him before in this blog. How he put up a fight over the sale of the house, at least partly to give himself more time to get his stuff out. How when we actually closed, 6 months after starting the process, RJ would not let me inside the house until he'd cleaned it out completely and gutted it.

B came to Creede from Kansas like a lot of people in his age bracket--now in their mid-60s. The Creede Repertory Theatre was started by KU students in the summer of 1966. As the theatre grew, a lot of friends and family from that area began to populate the Colorado mining town, especially in the summers. According to a neighbor, B bought 112 E. 6th Street in the early 90s from an elderly woman in declining health whose family wanted to sell the house and move her to a old age home. Once this happened, B started making some major upgrades. He put a foundation under the main part of the house and replaced a lot of siding. And about 10 years ago, he re-shingled the roof. Both of these things gave RJ faith that we at least had a house he could work with that wouldn't leak or sink into the ground. But over the years, perhaps because of B's extreme shyness, or his genius, he developed a very unhealthy alcohol problem. He's known around Creede as a "drunk". And when I say "drunk", I don't mean he hangs out at the local bar every night and drinks until he's drunk. I mean: a man whose dog would have to be cared by others for several weeks because B was trapped in his house, unable to get up. A man who would walk into friends' houses to take their alcohol. Who, more than once, had to be dragged out of his house full of junk in order to be taken to the hospital because he'd been drinking a bottle of vodka a day for two weeks. He'd have periods of sobriety, usually an average of 18 months, but then fall back off the wagon into a stupor. The house had no running water or electricity for years. He borrowed power from a neighbor and probably used the gas station bathroom on the next street down to clean himself. It's rumored he would pee in bottles when he was on a binge and stuck in his house.

About 10 years ago, a wealthy family in town who B had done a lot of work for offered to buy 112 from B (because he'd been unable to make payments) while letting him still reside there. The deal was that he could remain in the house IF he would pay property tax and utilities and keep the house clean. He did none of these things. For ten years. As the disease worsened, so did the hoarding. Again, I never saw the inside, but it was packed to the walls and ceilings with stuff. Most of the windows were broken. B started putting aggressive and accusatory signs and artwork up in the backyard because he felt he'd been wronged by everyone: the town judge, former friends, former employers, etc.

Oddly, those signs are actually one of the main reasons we have the house. The city had ordered the owner to take down the signs and clean up the backyard. She hired RJ and a couple of his friends to do this. One friend who regularly works for the owner on other projects heard they just wanted to sell the property, and mentioned this to RJ while they were working. That started the whole process in motion.

We keep hearing B is trying to get back to Creede from South Dakota, where he'd most recently lived with his mother until she passed away last winter. We also hear he's been sober for almost two years (since the selling of the house). He still has a few buildings full of his...stuff...in Creede. Seriously, good luck to the guy. In the few times I'd dealt with him, he'd always been pleasant and interesting to talk to. And when he was sober, he made truly amazing art. But when he wasn't, he built a dang crooked house.

In other regrettable news, this house project saw its first significant injury. Two weeks ago, I smacked my left pointer finger with a tack hammer while putting in insulation. I actually broke the tip of it. It's my second broken bone, the first being my pinky toe when I was 12. Not too shabby. The finger is slowly healing and I may lose the nail, but that remains to be seen. Onward!

I altered this glove to fit my "bird cage" which helps one avoid re-smacking one's finger.

This project is a HUGE undertaking and doing it yourself, even with a skilled laborer, is fucking hard. I know it will turn out really great, but the end is just far enough away for it to be aggravating that more isn't done. Luckily, we'll get a few more hands in a couple of weeks, as RJ's dad and my stepdad will be coming to town to help "get 'er done". And I wish I had more photos to show, but the changes have been much more subtle since the addition went up. Though as the inside is finished and more design elements come through, there will be more excitement to share.

Cool old heating vent.

PS. FUCK YOU, TACK HAMMER!