Week 2

Ok. So, week 2 continued with a bit less demolition...but more cleaning up instead. We finally got an offer on our current house, so we now know that we have to move in about 4 weeks.
So, this week's activities included lots of caulking of holes in walls....I now consider myself somewhat of a caulking EXPERT! Andy managed to frame his first doorway after much frustration and many bent nails. Darren managed to take out his frustrations on the built-in wardrobe in the second bedroom with a sledge hammer...he made pretty quick time of it!
We also managed to make a couple giant holes in the plaster while removing the horrid curtain boxes in the bedroom...thank goodness our painter George is a master caulker as well! We also sugar-soaped all of the walls in the house in preparation for painting. In 2 1/2 days, our painter George managed to paint all the ceilings and several rooms.
On the cleaning front, we cleaned at least 10 years worth of dust and grime off the ceiling fans using the vacuum cleaner. :) I also had the pleasure of cleaning the top of the kitchen cabinets, which is where some idiot placed the vent hood exhaust...I actually had to use a wallpaper stripper to scrape the grime away before the soap and sponges would even make a dent! (be glad I didn't include a picture)
Andy also made another purchase towards his ever-growing toolshed with a new high pressure washer, which he used to "scrub the deck" of the balcony.
All in all, it was a good week. We still have a lot to do, but we're getting closer to making it liveable!

After Week 1

So, demolition and renovations started on Day 2 and continued thru the first week. We started by removing the curtain rod holders in all of the living areas, removing all of the old nails in the walls, removing the desk/entertainment centre from the living room, sanding walls, etc.
During the week, we had a guy around to inspect the "damp" walls in the downstairs apartments. He noted that in the second apartment the previous owners had put up a jiprock (sheet-rock) wall on two sides of the room to cover up the damp wall. So, the 2nd weekend in the house, we ripped down these walls. It was disgusting! Photos are below. But we've now ripped the walls out and ripped the carpets in both apartments out.

Getting the Keys - Day 1

Well, this is it! We show up to the house at 3pm to get the keys. We were supposed to get them at noon, but the previous owners' car supposedly broke down in the drive way...ah well! So, we meet the real estate agent, only to find out that the owners somehow managed to leave us the wrong keys! Thank goodness their son had conveniently forgotten to take the keys to the front door off his key chain, so they brought them back to us! We nearly started out by having to break into our own house! It's all good. Below are photos from Day 1.