Finally Complete! Flood Reconstruction Done

This post has taken me a while to write as the rebuild was completed in late May, 11 weeks after the flood, and I’m finally finding the time to write it.  I can’t express the relief that we felt once all of the rebuild was complete and our lives could get back to normal.

Our challenges all started March 8th when I walked into our home to find water streaming from the second floor down into the first then down from there into the basement.

I will say that once the rebuild started it moved at a great pace.  The delay to start was mainly caused by waiting for budget approval and then from there for flooring to arrive and once it was ready.  I hired the the company who did the cleanup to do the rebuild as they’d been so amazing with the first part!  They moved everything along at a great pace!

The first big fix was to repair the huge hole in the first floor ceiling.  About 6 weeks after the flood it went from this

to this one day 1

to this on day 2 as it was still drying.

When the ceiling was being sprayed little bits of it bled down onto the walls

which meant an unexpected surprise that the entire main floor would be repainted!  Woot!!  I chose to keep it neutral and just lightened it up a bit.

Once the painting was done it was time to install the flooring.  In order to do this everything needed to be packed up and I have to sing the praises of the restoration company as they came in and packed up everything in our entire 2 upper floors.  What a blessing it was to have this done for me and not need to do it myself!  Each evening Hannah and I would come home and guess what our house looked like.  There were only 2 nights that we needed to stay with my parents which was pretty amazing considering absolutely everything we owned was packed away.

Living Room

Kitchen and eating area

Hannah’s room when it was being used for storage.  (LOL – yes, she made a game of making her way into the rooms each evening when we checked out the changes.)

Then the following day as they were laying the carpeting in her room.  I can’t imagine how many people it must have taken to pack and move everything and it was all seamless to me.  I’d leave for work and it would look one way and I’d return to a completely new home.  All of this was coordinated by the restoration company and I am SO grateful!!

Friday night I was just hoping that we would be able to stay in our home for the weekend.  You can imagine my excitement and awe when we walked into THIS!  Yes….I cried!  Even the beds were made!  I was so relieved that after 11 long weeks our lives were finally going to be back to normal!

Playroom as a storage room

The playroom

Mommy’s Room stuffed to the gills!  This was what it looked like Friday morning when I left for work…

And this was what I came home to 9 hours later!!!  EVERYTHING was back in it’s place!!! There were more tears when I walked into my room.  (I’ll admit there were even tears the first night when I woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, just being able to FINALLY put my feet on the floor without having to find shoes or slippers first.)

The final room to be renovated was the washroom where the flood started.  The renovation company had hoped to keep a functioning bathroom in our house each night but the night I arrived home to this and I realized that that hadn’t happened!  This is what I saw when I opened my garage door.   LOL – of course this was also the night that my piano students were coming to my house for lessons!  Oops! I sent out some quick texts to let them know that the house would be without facilities.   Then ran to a local McD’s to use their facilities as it would be an option for the next 3 1/2 hours!!

Because the bathroom vanity sat in water for over 24 hours the insurance company replaced it and what a treat it was to move from the 4 door cabinet

to a new one with drawers!  Such a treat and I’m so happy with this new piece of furniture!

The very last step was to have the new couch delivered that had been sitting in storage for almost 2 months.  Our former couch (aka: the Big Blue Sponge) was old;

the filler love seat was tiny;

but oh…the new couch (with recliners!!) is wonderful! 

It was a LONG, somewhat challenging few months as we recovered from the flood but now that all is said and done and it is behind us, it was a blessing in disguise.  I would not wish this on anyone but now our 20 year old home is fresh again and we couldn’t be happier!!

A big shout out to so many who helped us through this!!  There are too many to name (and I know I’d accidentally forget someone!) but, you know who you are and please know from the depths of our hearts, how thankful Hannah and I are!!

Movin’ On Up!

After 15 years it was finally time to replace our box spring and mattress.   I was waking up with a sore back each morning and truly that old bed owed me nothing.  I bought it from a sale flyer in the comics section of the paper when I moved into my home in 1997.  Yup, it had served it’s time.

Once I’d removed all the sheets and blankets Hannah enjoyed a rare treat.  She was allowed to jump on the bed!  Woo hoo!!! 

Dad came over Tuesday afternoon and allowed the delivery people to install the new bed.  I purchased a Sealy Posturepedic Pocket Coil Mattress with a pillow top.  Ahhh…heaven!!

It was fun to catch Hannah’s first reaction to our new bed.

We’ve slept on it for 2 nights now and it’s super comfy!  Hmmm…wonder if I can fit it in my suitcase?

Next post we’ll be checking in from ‘Mickey’s House!’  There is MUCH excitement here!  And, I should be packing rather than blogging.  Oops! 

PS – When M3 and I were together earlier this year we laughed about remembering when certain things happened in our lives.  This post is a classic example of a time in the future when I’ll try to remember when I purchased our mattress and the answer will be:  Check the blog!

Ahhh…Now That’s Better!

It all started the evening of Hannah’s 3rd Birthday when I literally could not move around the main floor of our home without stepping on over toys and stuff!  It was time to declutter our home and create a new space for Hannah.  Now that she’s 3, she is more confident playing on a different floor from where Mommy is sometimes so the timing was right.  I took two vacation days in March and while Hannah was at daycare the transformations began. 

First, Dad and I dismantled the bed in the guest room and turned that into the playroom/office.  It seemed silly to have a bed taking up the space we needed for the couple of times we have company overnight.  I’ll invest in a blow-up mattress for those times.

Before

After

New art display hanger.  Thanks Uncle J!

Hannah discovering her new playroom

I’m sure one glance at these pictures will easily help you see why I was overwhelmed by the ‘stuff’ downstairs. 

We live in a town home with limited space so need to make the best of what we have.  Yah, that wasn’t happening!

This picture still makes me giggle.  Uncle J came to the house while Hannah and I were out and began to assemble the new unit.  The only way to have enough floor space to put it together was to lift up the couch.  Heh!  Necessity is the mother of invention!

Tools were stored in unusual places too!

The new space downstairs was put to good use and I feel like I can breathe again. Mom and Dad have the old cabinet that housed the TV and was our storage and this is the new space. Even now 2 months later I still smile and don’t take for granted how much I appreciate this new unit!!

The final area of renovation was the dining area…that we can finally use for eating in!

Before

After decluttering and creating the playroom

Can you hear me breathing easier??  I believe Hannah and I are both happier as we now have much more space to play! We’re often found carrying toys up and down the stairs but that’s ok.  It’s just nice to have space to play with those toys!  Phew…..what a treat!

And, just in case mommy get’s too used to this new space – Hannah has officially entered the age of tent building!  Heh, at least we have the room for tents!

Coming soon….small changes that were emotionally harder than the big changes.

Wow! Can’t believe all this happened in only an hour.

Saturday morning I was tidying the downstairs when I heard the neighbours on each side of me outside talking.  Not being one to want to miss out on socializing I tore myself away dropped the cleaning cloth, picked up Hannah and we went outside to chat.  I quickly realized the new neighbour was having a garage sale.  One item she was selling was a couch.  She said it was still in good condition and she’d only replaced it because she needed to purchase a sofa-couch for company.  I tried it out on the driveway and it was super-comfy.

I’d purchased my current couch when I bought the house 14 years ago and I’d realized over the past few months that I needed to begin saving for a new couch as the cushions were worn and the springs were beginning to go.  The one the neighbour had was $15 so it fit the budget for sure!  (Especially since I hadn’t actually saved anything for a new couch.)

Within an hour I:

• purchased a new couch
• cleaned the old one (and under it)
• the neighbour’s sons moved out the old couch and moved in the new one
• cleaned the new couch and,
• my parent’s picked up the old couch and delivered it to the thrift store they volunteer at!

Phew!!  What a difference an hour makes!

Here it is.  Much like the old one but with much more comfortable seating.  Hannah approves as she’s still able to have full access to the counter and sink which of upmost importance to her right now. 

I’m guessing it’s a good thing it was only $15 because as I’ve been typing this post I’m pretty sure my fridge has let me know it’s on it’s last legs.  I could hear dripping and pulled out the fridge to find a puddle behind it and it dripping at a steady rate.  The fan was also not running.  Uh oh!  I called my dad and we’re pretty sure it might be done.  I quickly moved all the frozen food down to the freezer in the basement.  Then, about half an hour later the fan started going again and it’s cooling.  That’s a really good thing!  I’ll begin to look for a new fridge over the next few days. 

Tonight I’m thankful it decided to drip when I was home rather than on the weekend when I was away.  Also, it happened while I was still up and could get it cleaned up.

Now, my question to you.  Are there things about your fridge that you really like that you’d recommend I look for?  Freezer on the top or bottom? Looking forward to hearing your input.

**Update** It’s now 24 hours since I wrote this post and since emptying the freezer it’s been working perfectly.  So thankful!  Has anyone had something like this happen where it begins to leak water and then works fine after that?  Hopefully it was just a heads up to start looking for a replacement.  I’ll start looking, read Consumer’s Reports and keep my eyes on the sales flyers.

Introducing...The Courtyard!

The deck is finished and has taken on a new name: The Courtyard! We love our new space and are excited to begin spending time out there! It's been rainy much of the weekend but the little we were out there Hannah thoroughly enjoyed herself! Her favourite thing right now is climbing up and down the little step. Here are some pics of the finished space!




Picture of the outside. I like how Tim built it right down into the ground so that nothing can take up residence under there.
What a difference a week makes!!
Before
After! Thanks SO MUCH Tim!!
We don't have any furniture yet but I have my eye on a set and am hoping that it's going to go on sale. We also have a little ladybug pool that we'll fill up for Hannah to enjoy. I'm soaking some morning glory seeds that I'll plant in a planter at the bottom of the long wall and hopefully later this summer we'll have beautiful flowers climbing. It's so much fun to finally be able to use a space that was virtually useless until now!

Now I'm dreaming about putting a little deck at the front of the house next year and getting rid of the cement step that is currently there.....