There’s an old saying that says, the squeaky wheel gets the oil.
But it’s not a universal truth. For instance, when it comes to inspectors, there’s a fine line. Like the squeaky wheel could be ignored more, or even removed completely because it’s totally irritating and won’t freaking shut up. Luckily, we weren’t one of those wheels. And we didn’t have an inspector who ignored us.
But we did get a little oil.
We needed a little oil.
Because when we left you last with our money pit saga, we were feeling a bit lost in our entire situation with the whole septic tank debacle. We were looking at a three month waiting period to be approved to install a new septic. All the while, we were not to touch the main level. So we pulled a separate permit for the top, and were supposed to wait on the main. We literally planned to camp out in the house as is, until it could be completed. Which meant we weren’t really looking at the optimal health situation for our family. We’ve said from the beginning of this entire situation, that we would do whatever it takes. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard, anyway.
Oh the fun in rehabbing a house! To sum it up: we could not pass go and we could not collect 200 dollars. Heck, we couldn’t even offer the blood of our first born after a ceremonial rain dance. We tried, y’all. It was what it was, and that’s all we could do about it.
The end. Good story and good luck.
So instead of losing our ever-loving minds about it all, {Okay… I may have been a little frustrated behind the scenes}. We learned that it pays to be kind, and communicate openly.
It doesn’t always work. Most of the time it doesn’t, we’ve been told. But we had to give it a try.
Because that’s just what we did. It’s all we could do. Long story short, Jamin was a squeaky wheel. But just the quiet, appreciative, please-let-me-visit-your-office-and-tell-you-our-situation-and-then-ask-to-maybe-speak-to-a-supervisor-when-given-the-chance, and then-talk-to-both-the-initial-inspector-and-supervisor-over-the-next-few-days-on-and-off, because-we’re-new-to-town-and-kinda-homeless-right-now, squeaky.
He was like a quiet, stalky squeaky wheel. Which is actually kinda creepy, in retrospect.
And it doesn’t hurt if your kids come along for one of the visits too. Maybe even one of them looking up with giant sad beautiful eyes and fluttering lashes all while holding a baby doll. Because we are for real, yo.
But seriously. We just asked nicely, and were completely honest. And waited. And then asked some more. And waited. And presented our case in a clear, concise manner. And waited.
And we were given the all clear to begin work on the main level.
Yep, you read that right. We still can’t believe it.
Maybe they saw the exhaustion in our faces. Because I assure you, it’s there in matching dark circles under our eyes. Or they felt sorry for us because our kids looked kinda sad. Cause they kinda are. But not really because pool. Or they just wanted to give two newbies a break.
Or maybe they thought Jamin would never stop camping outside their office. We’ll go with the latter- I did say it was kinda creepy.
Whatever it was, it will never ever happen again. We know this. We still aren’t quite sure what happened or how it worked. But the juju gods of remodeling were with us that day. I swear I danced around the house and sprinkled some holy water {and by holy water I mean pool water} and herbs {from the pantry-probably some oregano} And so here we are. It was all about the oregano.
It looks like progress. We’re seriously so grateful to be moving forward.
What we’re looking at now, is just waiting on the basement. Though we are technically allowed to go ahead and clean it out, and ready it for the second phase down the line, when the final green light is given. Which is a huge game changer for us.
We may even have the kids settled by this fall before school begins {whatever that looks like} which was our biggest hope.
A real chance at normalcy.
So now that we have all the demo lined up and starting, we’re beginning the fun stuff. The stuff I like to sink my teeth into. Which means tile {the above beauties are from the tile bar}
And pre-finished hardwoods – more durability with three kiddos and two dogs, plus we’ll get in the house sooner {the above samples are from Pergo}
And we’re deciding on all things cabinets, though I think we definitely want the classic shaker style for a timeless feel. Countertops and fixtures and all the little details that start to fine tune it all, are really making our day. We just can’t wait to show you what all we have planned!
Mostly, because we’re still trying to figure this slow motion kinda whirlwind out. ;}
In the meantime… we shared a little before and after of the pool action the other day.
And we’re in the process of fine tuning all things pool, along with our back porch… we figured if we can have that whipped into shape, we can at least feel homey in the back yard.
Eventually, we hope the little covering on the back will be a screened in porch. But it’s quite nice right now, and we’re grateful to use it as is while we can. Don’t worry… it’s looking a lot better than this… can’t wait to show you our little corner of peaceful escape in the middle of all this chaos.
We plan to share a little bit of that next week, since the lull has provided us with time to whip that into shape. We may not have toilets, but dangit… we have a pool and some pretty flowers.
Priorities, y’all. Priorities.
Anna says
Fantastic! Props to you guys for thinking outside the box because most people would just get angry. Glad you can move forward now!
Aubrey says
Congrats!!! How exciting that you can get working on the main level! ??
I can’t wait to see the back yard!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thanks so much, Aubrey! We’re excited!
Rita Martin says
I will send prayers and good thoughts your way as we are going through some of the same thing as you are ….our big challenge is age and the all mighty $…….we just came to the conclusion we can only do so much in a day, we’ll get by slowly but we’ll make it…….good luck to you and yours.
ashley @ the handmade home says
I think that patience… and having the guts to go through with it {especially with the money part!} is essential. we are right there with you!
Naomi W says
We had a few city problems when completing a rebuild on our home. At the very end I needed to beg for forgiveness and throw myself on the mercy of city building department. When they came through, I sent the office admin a boquet of flowers. Flowers or cookies could go a long way!!
Happy building!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Good point, Naomi! I’ve been looking into the best “Thank you” so those suggestions are great!