This has been our most-used sentence of the new year. I have pictures to post, but no camera cord, so those will come later. Even the pictures don't do our home improvement project justice.
Just to let you guys know what we have been doing in all that free time I mentioned a while back, here is a brief recap:
Several weeks ago we noticed a few cats by our front door. Then we noticed them going underneath our front steps. This is when the sentence was first used. Skip ahead two weeks- then we noticed this smell. And Ben and I both happen to be super-sensitive to smells. Sentence is now used with a little more gusto. (Oh, and just fyi Ben is allergic to cats, keep this in mind.) Long story short, Ben and his dad discover these cats have decided to use the crawl space of our home as their spacious litter box. Lucky for us we have vapor barrier and can just pull it up and clean up the mess easy, then block off the holes these creatures have been using right? Right. Did you know that cat pee is toxic? If you don't either get it up or put hydrated lime powder on it, it continues to smell. Forever. I cannot believe I am writing about this it is so revolting.
So we both get on our hands and knees, pull up the plastic vapor barrier, are about to pat ourselves on the back for tackling our first homeowners' nightmare, as Ben is wheezing and puffy eyed from being in the same area as the cats were, when Ben gets back underneath the house and sees two cats pop out of a little hole.
This hole is where the air ducts were inserted in the concrete wall that seperates the main part of our house from the master bed/bath. The master bedroom in our 1950's home is renovated from the old garage area, so the crawl space does not continue past the living room. This concrete wall goes through the ground. And is surrounded by brick on the other three sides. Our favorite sentence is now punctuated with throwing off gloves, masks, and staring into the oblivion of 'what do we do now'. Ok, so I forgot to say that the smell only happens to be in our master closet. No where else in the house. Just our closet. So after emptying the closet of clothes and racks, removing doors and tile, and cutting into our closet subfloor we discover there is no way for either of us to squeeze down there in between the support beams and water pipes. We need a bigger hole.
So we patch up the one in the closet. Out comes the bedroom furniture. Up comes the carpet and padding. Particle board and plywood are removed, and an 8x4 hole is cut into our bedroom floor. Ben cleans up the mess underneath, blocks of the access hole these devil creatures have been using, and we are now in the process of rebuilding our floor, one new Shopvac and jigsaw later. We would not be surprised if we were invited to the wedding of any Home Depot employee in the near future since we have spent so much time there.
I cannot wait to be out of the spare bedroom, hang up our clothes that are right now all over the office, and get rid of all the sawdust.
I said at the beginning of all this that 20 years from now we will look back and laugh. I have changed my mind. I won't laugh. I will look back and think "You have got to be kidding me".
We did take a few breaks yesterday afternoon to watch the playoff games, and eat some really good fried chicken and mashed potatoes courtesy of Emily. Even though the Colts and Cowboys lost by 4, we had friends and comfort food, and cats out of the closet.
And finally- a few shots of the floor. Unfortunately I didn't get any before we layed down the new plywood. Sorry you had to miss the deep dark hole of gross.
Just to let you guys know what we have been doing in all that free time I mentioned a while back, here is a brief recap:
Several weeks ago we noticed a few cats by our front door. Then we noticed them going underneath our front steps. This is when the sentence was first used. Skip ahead two weeks- then we noticed this smell. And Ben and I both happen to be super-sensitive to smells. Sentence is now used with a little more gusto. (Oh, and just fyi Ben is allergic to cats, keep this in mind.) Long story short, Ben and his dad discover these cats have decided to use the crawl space of our home as their spacious litter box. Lucky for us we have vapor barrier and can just pull it up and clean up the mess easy, then block off the holes these creatures have been using right? Right. Did you know that cat pee is toxic? If you don't either get it up or put hydrated lime powder on it, it continues to smell. Forever. I cannot believe I am writing about this it is so revolting.
So we both get on our hands and knees, pull up the plastic vapor barrier, are about to pat ourselves on the back for tackling our first homeowners' nightmare, as Ben is wheezing and puffy eyed from being in the same area as the cats were, when Ben gets back underneath the house and sees two cats pop out of a little hole.
This hole is where the air ducts were inserted in the concrete wall that seperates the main part of our house from the master bed/bath. The master bedroom in our 1950's home is renovated from the old garage area, so the crawl space does not continue past the living room. This concrete wall goes through the ground. And is surrounded by brick on the other three sides. Our favorite sentence is now punctuated with throwing off gloves, masks, and staring into the oblivion of 'what do we do now'. Ok, so I forgot to say that the smell only happens to be in our master closet. No where else in the house. Just our closet. So after emptying the closet of clothes and racks, removing doors and tile, and cutting into our closet subfloor we discover there is no way for either of us to squeeze down there in between the support beams and water pipes. We need a bigger hole.
So we patch up the one in the closet. Out comes the bedroom furniture. Up comes the carpet and padding. Particle board and plywood are removed, and an 8x4 hole is cut into our bedroom floor. Ben cleans up the mess underneath, blocks of the access hole these devil creatures have been using, and we are now in the process of rebuilding our floor, one new Shopvac and jigsaw later. We would not be surprised if we were invited to the wedding of any Home Depot employee in the near future since we have spent so much time there.
I cannot wait to be out of the spare bedroom, hang up our clothes that are right now all over the office, and get rid of all the sawdust.
I said at the beginning of all this that 20 years from now we will look back and laugh. I have changed my mind. I won't laugh. I will look back and think "You have got to be kidding me".
We did take a few breaks yesterday afternoon to watch the playoff games, and eat some really good fried chicken and mashed potatoes courtesy of Emily. Even though the Colts and Cowboys lost by 4, we had friends and comfort food, and cats out of the closet.
And finally- a few shots of the floor. Unfortunately I didn't get any before we layed down the new plywood. Sorry you had to miss the deep dark hole of gross.
3 comments:
I just knew I would be cited in that blog, but I guess not. Dad says he will send the bill for his consultation soon :)
Well darlin, you know my opinion of cats. However, they have just been tarnished in my mind. Nasty NASTY little mess they left you!
Girl, write a book. You're hilarious. Wish I could write like that!!
That is so gross, but also so hilarous.
Glad you got the smell gone!
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