The Beginning
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| Getting the floors redone in the present house |
So when the discussions about moving started a few years ago, I was hesitant. (Ward may have another word for it.) But I agreed in theory, so I cooperated. We talked about what we wanted in a house. We pointed out the look of houses we liked as we drove by. So while I was nervous, it was so far so good in our action plan.
Then we started to put a timeline to the whole thing and the anxiety level shot up. Tied to the house change timeline was retirement for Ward (another story about whether the stress of the job is worth the money). We wanted to do this while there was a decent salary coming in. We called in a real estate agent to tell us what we should do to the house to get it ready to sell in a couple of years. That would give us plenty of time to work on what we needed. We carefully noted his suggestions and then set about getting caught up in everyday life and ignored the list.
As Ward was recovering from surgery, his suggestions that we call the agent back and start looking at houses became more frequent. I said not yet. I wasn't ready. He said there's not a commitment, let's just see what's out there. I said we haven't done anything on the list he gave us. We're not ready. He said, it's okay. I said we will waste the agent's time. He said let's just look. And finally, I agreed because I knew I was balking for no good reason except I was anxious. And just three days later we were sitting around the dining room table looking at listings .
Stay tuned...
I love house-hunting. But I hate the idea of ever moving. Unless it's to some place like France.
ReplyDeleteBut you, two are right, a multi-level house doesn't work very well in later years. And it will be easier emotionally to move now than later. Have fun looking!
I like looking at houses, but not house hunting. Too many big things to worry about that we will be responsible for. Now if there were an unlimited budget, that would be a different story.
DeleteMoving is kind of like hell though, so much work and stress. My brother's job almost killed him. He was with the same company working his way up his entire life, then it sold and they fired him and he had a stroke. So...well he's happier now I think, living on much less, and not working the corporate hell, because they just throw you out in the end like garbage.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about your brother's stroke. Like it or not, most of our jobs are working for a business that needs/wants to make a profit. And in the end, we're just a number. Don't mean to be cynical, but I've been in the world long enough to know that that's just the way it is.
DeleteI"m glad in the end, your brother is happier. That's the best outcome one could ask for.
For me, it would be the "but it's so much WORK!" thought that would hold me back. I enjoy house hunting if I'm not on a strict time schedule. But the actual moving part? Bleah.
ReplyDeleteIs that your cat on top of your bookshelf, or a statue of a cat?
So much work and so much money. That's about sums it up.
DeleteThat's Lucky on top of the cabinet in back. You know cats, they love to be up high.
Ack! Somehow Blogger had a duplicate copy of this post, and I just wrote a long comment which disappeared. Oh well, you're saved from my blather.
ReplyDeleteLong post short, I LOVE looking for houses, just to see what's out there - I have no intention of moving. I especially love the pictures - perhaps some sort of crazy "house voyeurism". My neighborhood is very quickly moving from run down barrio to upscale chic!
Anyhow, have fun with the process, and try not to get too caught up in the worry over the decision. At this point you're just looking, not deciding.
And at some point I'd love to hear more about having the floors done! How long did it take? Did you hire a company to do it all? What sort of varnish did you use? Were there issues with fumes? How did the cats react? Inquiring minds want to know...
OK... I'm not sure this is much shorter than my original comment... oh well.
Sometimes with Blogger, you get what you pay for. Sorry about your comment.
DeleteWe had someone come in to do the floors. Not only did they need refinished, we had some leveling done and he had to match a new area to the old. He was recommended by the contractor who was doing other work and was excellent. He was a third generation floor guy and was using some of his grandfathers equipment.
The cats were confined to the basement while the process was going on. The fumes were not bad, but we did open some windows. It took overnight until we could walk on it and a few days until we could move furniture over it. So as we moved furniture from place to place, the whole process took over a week. I don't remember the what kind of varnish we put on it, but we did two coats in the low traffic areas and three coats in the high traffic areas. And it has held up very well. We are not people who remove our shoes inside or are particularly careful with our floors. The floors have survived kitchen spills and cat pees and throw ups.
If you want to do your own floors, you need a good set of knees. Although Lois does all kinds of stuff, including floors, from her chair. I'm not sure how though.
I forget. When you ripped up the beetle-laden carpet, did you have hardwoods underneath?
I haven't ripped it up yet, but there's oak underneath. The problem is that the house was remodeled sometime in the past and they took out a wall, so there's no flooring in the space where the wall used to be. I have a contractor friend who suggested "stealing" some flooring from one of the closets to patch that area, but honestly, I'm a bit afraid...
DeleteWe had some similar issues. That's why we went with a professional. He had to look for our kind of floor because it's not common these days. And he had to integrate it into the old. You can't tell that there has been a patch at all. We are very pleased
DeleteHa even I didn't sand down the hardwood floors. Trying to move a chair and a power sander at the same time and speed would have been more than I was willing to attempt.
DeleteThat's some picture, Lois. You going for a ride in your chair with the power sander leading you. :)
DeleteAs I have said before, we have probably 3 more years in this house. I look to a new place as an adventure. Well except for the actual move. I don't like moving but it is a great way to get rid of a lot of excess.
ReplyDeleteYeah, there's nothing like thinking that you might move to motivate you to get rid of things.
DeleteI love looking at houses especially now that all the listings are online and I can do it from the comfort of my home. I used to love moving and moved on average every two years. I joked often that I moved so much I didn't need to worry about spring cleaning. Now the idea of a move brings dread because there is so little I can do to assist in the actual moving process, although I did drive the moving truck on my last move after my son rigged a way for me to climb into it. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's definitely one way to keep your "stuff" to a minimum--move every two years. Military families are good that way. While we don't have as much as some people, we definitely have 19 years of stuff in this house.
DeleteI can't even imagine 19 years living in the same place although if I get my wish I'll find out with this house for the first time.
DeleteThis is the longest I've lived in any house. It does seem strange when I think of it in those terms.
DeleteWe've been in our house almost 14 years. It's the longest I've ever lived anywhere as well. Like you, we're concerned about what would happen if one of us became disabled because our house is old with tiny rooms and has been added on through the years so the first floor is multi-level and then we have a 2nd floor, well two second floors since there's a 2nd floor at each end of the house but there's a flat roof in the middle of the house so the 2nd floors aren't connected. It would be impossible to navigate with a wheelchair because of a narrow breezeway connecting both ends of the house and several steps in between the various levels (3 levels) on the first floor, even if we decided to just use the ground floor.
ReplyDeleteYet, I can't imagine moving! I hate change. Possibly because when I was younger we moved quite often as well. The house has a lot of work that would need to be performed to put it up for sale (I mean, A LOT. My kitchen is from the 70s, most of the plumbing is original to 1930 and needs a lot of work among other things) and the eventual stress of it all is stressing me just typing about it, hahaha. I do love our house. Sometimes I yearn for something different but I would never want to live in a subdivision (again) and definitely not anywhere that has an HOA.
Greg would want to live in the mountains somewhere. In theory, I'd like it too but in practicality... I don't like the snow (and he wears woolen socks in August in Florida because he's always cold) and grey weather depresses me. I LIKE Florida. No state income tax, woohoo!
I had to laugh about the comment from the lady who wouldn't mind moving to France. I'm from there and I'd never move back. My dad has a chalet in the Alps that eventually will come to my brothers and me and I'd love to keep it as a vacation home, but my brothers want to sell and I couldn't afford to buy them out. Plus Greg has zero interest in going there. It's too bad because it's really gorgeous there. But then again: snow.
Anyhow, I look forward to reading the rest of your adventures in house hunting. Good luck with the whole thing!