The work is ongoing, and as things move along, it seems to cost us more and more. First, we have decided to upgrade the type of lights used in the house, so we have to pay for that. Then, we wanted to run a few additional outlets and lights, so we have to pay for that. We wanted to do something special in Steven's room, so we need to pay for a few things there. We wanted to make some upgrades to the appliances, out of pocket. These are all things that we made a conscious decision to pay a little for. If it stopped there, we would have been fine.
Then, we realized that the chimney is falling away from the house. The people that inspected it suspect that it is because the footing (and they haven't determined that there is a footing) is inadequate. The chimney was added after the house was built, but we don't know when. It has been standing for many years, with no issues. Now that they are doing work on the house, the chimney starts to fall away from the house. I don't think this is a complete coincidence. I personally feel (and this is just my own opinion) that it has something to do with the huge (and heavy) dumpster that is sitting on the grass about four feet away from the base of the chimney. Regardless, the insurance company doesn't feel that this is a result of the fire or the work, so we need to pay to have the chimney taken down. We will not be putting another one up. The 5-year plan included getting a pellet stove insert for the fireplace. Now, we will get a freestanding one when the prices come down after the winter season (assume this to be fairly soon). The contractor provided us a quote to take the chimneyt down and reside that side of the house (since there will be a huge area without siding where the chimney was). He asked if we would like to look into residing the whole house. The difference in price between doing one side and doing all four sides was less than we expected (more than we were looking to spend, but probably the cheapest we will ever get, since they are already on site), so we have decided to reside the whole house.
As if that wasn't enough, we have a small attached storage shed on the back of the house. While we were getting an idea of what it would cost to reside the entire house, we realized that the foundation of this shed has shifted. Again, not an issue before the fire and the work started, but it has happened since the fire. Again, not considered to be caused by the fire (or the firemen ripping the door open since this was close to the area of the basement where the fire occurred), so it is on us to get this repaired.
All in all, we are spending more than we were expecting to spend, but we realize that these are the pains of being a homeowner. If what the professionals are saying is true, these are repairs that would have been needed in the next few years anyway. As I said, the costs to us will probably never be lower for each of these repairs. However, incurring them all at once is a bit overwhelming.
This probably sounds like I am complaining. I am not complaining, I am not asking for sympathy. I use this blog to express frustration, because I am just tired of being out of the house, and it just seems like I am never going to get back in, and it feels like each of these things is just going to extend the time that we are out of the house. Since these things are all exterior to the house, I really don't thgink that they will, but it is the unknown that bothers me.
I have felt this way twice before, when I was in boot camp, and when I was in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. Both times, it felt like the day I was waiting for was never going to come. In both cases, that day came. Ironically, boot camp was far shorter than this experience, and i certainly hope that it won't be the length of my stay in the desert.
Current estimate of getting back into the house is mid-May. My Birthday is on May 12, and the keys to the house and permission to move back in are all I am asking for.
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