We’re still here I promise!
Hi friends,
So sorry again for the long silence. Erica and I both have so many things in the air to juggle and I’ve done a terrible job making time to keep folks updated. So let’s get you up to speed!
Let’s start with the crappy stuff and just get it out of the way. When one starts this kind of endeavor, there’s a whole list of things you have to be prepared for. Things you know can happen, but you really really hope won’t. We got hit with a few of those things back to back to back a few weeks ago, which is what prompted our silence. We were really overwhelmed. I wouldn’t say nightmare-level, but we weren’t in Kansas anymore.
The Roofs
Long story short, we were misled by the sellers regarding the age and structural integrity of both buildings, and we have met with a few lawyers to discuss our options. The roofs of both buildings need to be replaced before anything else can happen, the cost of which exceeds the entirety of the loan we got for renovations. Not the way we’d like things to be unfolding, but we’re not going to let this defeat us. We still have a few tricks up our sleeves.
The #94 roof will be done by the end of May, and #92 will happen later in the summer. Once #94 is properly roofed, the rest of the work should be pretty quick.
Fun Stuff!
While we were figuring out how to handle the roof nonsense, we managed to get a whole lot of other work done on the properties that I hope will be far more fun and satisfying to read about.
The plumbers got the water turned on, and so we used the first warm day we got to powerwash #92.
We also decided that the big white retaining wall next to #94 needs a mural on it. So we powerwashed and painted that wall. I’ll be designing a “Greetings from Bellows Falls” kinda thing for it over the next few weeks.
And since we were in a painting mood, we also painted the shed under the deck.
On the inside of #94, we decided to knock down the wall between the front and back areas. I don’t have a great before picture for the wall. The space looks so much bigger with it gone, so we’re super pleased with the decision.
We’ve also continued regrading the hill to the right of #94 by hand. We’ve made a ton of progress over there and will eventually get the trees removed and put up a little retaining wall to hold up the hill. We also trimmed the tree in front of #92, planted flowers in all the beds and put out planters in front of #94.
At the end of they day, we’re just trying to make the buildings look as if someone cares about them. Maybe we’re hoping that if they feel loved and supported they’ll stop dropping horrendously expensive bombshells on us and just let us open our businesses in peace.
Thanks for reading friends! Stay safe out there.
Erica and Tim
