Let There Be Light!

Lots... and lots... of light...

It's crazy looking!! In a good way!! It is so good, and so exciting, to FINALLY be seeing some work getting done! Even if it does mean the floor looks like this:

BUT, I am told, it will look like they were never even there when they are done! Full review coming at the end (which is supposed to be this afternoon! CRAZY!) but so far we could not be happier with our guy. He has been so awesome with us.

And his crew? Um... check out the badassery... it looks like that guy is doing an Irish jig along the roofline...

But on a serious note, these guys are real pros. They come in, they do the work, they clean up, and they're OUT. Super nice, super respectful of our space and our property... like I said, I'll give a full review when they're done, but so far, we are extremely happy with them!

Oh, yeah, and see those guys on the second floor patio?? They're redoing it so we actually walk on it.... yeeeeee!! Yes... I hear Liz Lemon in my head... NERDS!

This weekend will be a nice little break of relaxation after all the insanity, so I raise my wine trail glass to you, CHEERS, see you Monday...

Sealing the Envelope...

So... when Nick and I first looked at this house with my Dad (in winter, with pigeons in the attic, FREEZING inside), he said, "Well, I think you'll be fine if you can just 'seal the envelope'," meaning, close the place up from the elements. Replace the boarded up windows, fix the leaking roof, that sort of thing. When we moved in last summer, and we found out the renovation would be delayed "a little," Dad said, "That's okay, as long as you can 'seal the envelope' before the winter comes..."

Well, needless to say we didn't, (or rather, weren't able to) and after braving a Buffalo winter with a half-open house, and, at times, without a furnace, I cannot tell you how THRILLED I am to finally be "sealing the envelope." So today began official CONSTRUCTION, with the roof.

Yesterday, this is what we found in our backyard:

And with it... some slightly larger than expected skylights...

Okay, not completely unexpected, I got a call from our roofer yesterday that went something like this:

D: "I'm sorry, my window supplier is out of the 54" skylights."

A: (Sure that this meant we would be delaying the work) "Oh no, really?"

D: "Well, if you want, they can give us the 72" ones for the same price."

A: (laughing) ".... wait, serious?"

D: "Yes, if that's alright."

A: (more laughing)

So we went upstairs to measure out where we wanted them... and luckily I had some VERY visible paint, left from a little project I did last Christmas...

And marked off where we wanted the lights... realizing they're going to be, pretty much, the whole pitch of the roof...

Uber flattering angle you got me in this picture, hon, thank youuuuu...

Windows: MARKED. Hopefully I will have photos of the windows in for you tomorrow... And considering this is how the house looked 1 hour after they showed up:

I think we're good.

Closing Time

WOW, it actually happened. After nearly a year of shenanigans, we OWN the Money Pit. HOORAY! [angels singing, horns trumpeting] So it's time to make things official and bring my blogging on over here. So just as a little intro, my husband and I just closed on a big ol' fixer upper in a trendy neighborhood of Buffalo, NY. We've been living there since last summer, doing some cosmetic stuff here and there, but now that we finally closed, we get to start the big guns. Like today... the roofer is coming to set up the scaffolding so they can start the roof tomorrow. And probably be done by Friday. 'Cause that's how they do. How about some before pictures of the roof... (you can see the rest of my "before picture" gallery here, and the project gallery here)

There were pigeons living in here:

Added Thursday; our sad little second floor porch that you can't walk on because it's rotted so badly. (You can actually look up from the first floor porch and see sky through the rotted parts)

The most frustrating thing about a roof is the fact you have to spend a ton of money on it, and have pretty much nothing pretty or noticeable to show for it. But I'm still excited. I don't care if that makes me old :). Oh... something we WILL have to show for it... we decided to spring for skylights in, what will be, the art studio... 21"w x 54"h to be exact... I am so excited. More photos of the progress on the roof coming tomorrow!