He doesn't know what everything looks like right now. They'll be back in October for a visit. I anticipate fireworks. And I don't mean from Disney.
(it's our house, we are free to do what we want now, but still - you know he's going to blow a gasket)
I would send them pictures now..photos with the grandchildren in them to soften the blow. That way the fireworks might be downgraded to a sparkler by the time they come for a visit.
The difference really is amazing. Glad you removed the eyebrow. ;p
ITA with this. Pics now - let him get enraged while still hundreds of miles away.
My dad has a similar mentality to you FIL. He thinks anything green and growing is a good thing. Luckily he lives in PA where things don't grow so fast as FL.
My mom is like this. I think it's because she lived in HI until her mid-30s and tries to recreate the jungles everywhere she goes. Thankfully, things grow slowly in CO.
I would have NOPE'd myself right out of there. My nightmares are happier than that place!!!
I agree with PP - send some grandkid pics NOW with the house/yard in the background. Let FIL simmer down before his visit. GREAT work clearing all that out. I LOL'd that you 'found' a driveway!
Wow, if I had only seen your first picture, I would have assumed that you were my next door neighbor! I am incredibly impressed that you have been able to accomplish all that you have. Our house was only a fraction of that and it was a ton of work and took forever for my husband to fix it up. I can't wait to see what you've done with the inside.
I am seriously so, so impressed. Your neighbors must be thrilled, too! Can't wait to see the inside pics. You're going to have some of the best before/after pics ever when this is all done. Nice job!
Front door and porch is nearly done being painted. We've had bad rain the last week, so it's slow going.
The door is in bad shape; it had to be sanded down like crazy and putty all over. It's taken quite some time for the putty to dry, thanks to the humidity and the rain. One day we'll have to replace the door. Until then, this is it. New deadbolt and handle going on today.
(And I cropped out our house #'s - sorry this is the best pic for the moment because, believe it or not, it was raining yet again when I got home; gotta love Florida)
Did you know that there is a porch/lanai back there? Because it was basically invisible.
The tree/plant things will be cut down a little more, then the nubs ground away. Grass and nice flowers will be planted in the coming months. The torrential rain and extreme heat that we've been having isn't ideal.
Notice how the sidewalk has one block out of sync? Yeah, my FIL thought it added character. WTF? We will be tearing those up eventually and putting down new pavers.
We had rats and other animals living in the roof over our bedroom for ages. Found out that they gnawed a hole into the soffit over our bedroom window. The cat would go INSANE every single night because you could hear them running around and fighting. IL's said that they never heard anything like that, there was nothing wrong up there...well, we fixed that issue. All of those wires? They were all dead wires that lead to nothing, and apparently were dead for the last 20 years.
The front, aside from the door handle/repainting the putty around the lock, and the front porch being painted is now done (oh yeah, completely gutting out the rest of that plant in the front - that was a house plant my FIL planted and it went apeshit). I'm not 100% in love with the white borders, but my husband adores it (and he's humoring me with something I'm doing in the garage), so it stays. The porch can't be painted until we get a few dry days. The concrete is just soaked to death. I'm anxious for this to hurry up because I have nice planters to sit out front! That random cable to the right in the 2nd photo is thanks to our local cable company being rat bastards - they have to come out and fix this. The heart hides part of our address.
For funsies, this is what that area started out like:
I sent all of these pictures so far to my MIL. She cried. Not out of anger, but surprise that we turned it around so much. She apologized profusely that they let it get to the point that it was. We are waiting JUST a bit longer to show my FIL. She thinks it's going to be a massive shock to him, but he has no right to be angry. Crossing fingers this is the case.
Also, remember - the landscaping and grass will all be done after everything else is. I realize it still looks like crap.
Our newest adventure in the middle of this is that we've found out that the septic system has never been pumped. LIKE EVER. It's been backing up in the kid's bathroom on a daily basis, and these horrible rainstorms we've had is making it worse. Another nice fat chunk of change going down the drain (ha) next week when we have a service come out and do that. I'm praying there isn't massive damage due to them never taking care of THAT.
We're both tired and run down right now. The garage is close to completion. In between this (and having a 13 year old and a 5 year old), we both work full time and I'm training for several marathons in the coming months. All I want to do is snooze.
Post by polarberry on Jul 18, 2014 14:36:39 GMT -5
This transformation is incredible! Kudos to you to be able to live in it the way it was while working on it... whew, that is rough! What have the neighbors said? I can't believe the photos of the driveway... that's just insane!
I can't wait to see pictures of the garage. I'm glad your MIL approves. I wonder if she was thinking back to when they first bought the house and how it looked then.
Post by FishChicks on Jul 18, 2014 18:40:29 GMT -5
Wow, the work you've done and the transformation you've achieved are both amazing. My hat is off to you for taking on such a project and making so much out of it!
Except for painting the front porch floor and adding decorations - the outside of the house is done (well, the building itself - landscaping is a whole other story!).