The joys of buying a 100 year old house.

Well my husband and I both grew up in older homes so it seemed like a good idea for our first home to be a little bit of a handy man special.  We were very fortunate to find a home that someone had started to renovate and had done alot of the cosmetic stuff...new kitchen, paint, siding and roof.  I vividly recall as we did our final walk through the realtor saying "I'm sure once it is yours you will start to see more and more little things that need to get done."  Being caught up in the first time home buying experience I brushed it off and on we went to closing.  Now it is not a bad house by any stretch but there are a few things that are a problem, one of them being a super wet field stone basement.  The first time it rained I swear I could hear the water pouring in through the foundation.  That one is gonna be a ongoing issue until we come across some serious money.  The next thing was a funny smell in the downstairs bathroom that only I seemed to notice.  Well lo and behold whoever framed out the wall nailed all the boards through the drain pipe for the upstairs bathroom.  That was a lovely find.  Moldy drywall, insulation and flooring was not something I wanted my two little ones crawling around in so that one had to get tackled immediately.  Now here is the newest discovery I have made.  While laying in bed the other night I hear a loud chewing in the wall next to my head...a little concerning to say the least.  All I could picture was this thing chewing it's way through the wall to great me in the morning.  So I guess now we have a family of mice inhabiting our bedroom walls and I am sure the rest of the house.  Ohhhhh and I think there might be a  squirrel in the attic judging from what sounds like something rolling a acorn around up there.  So there you have it, the next 30 odd years of my life wrapped up in mold and vermin.  It isn't that bad though because it is OURS and for the first time in my life I can paint a wall whatever color I want or decide I want to plant a tree in the front yard and for that I am soooo happy.  My kids will have a comfortable home to grow up in and maybe someday will decide that they too want a house that is a little older with some classic charm.




Here she is!!! Our home....perfect even with all her flaws.

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