How It Feels To Take On a Huge Renovation Project
The Overwhelm is Real
It’s been almost four weeks since we got the keys to our dream house. It still doesn’t feel real and I’m sure, at any moment, someone will say it’s all been a mistake. It just doesn’t seem plausible that we actually own a house, let alone a 7500 sq ft Victorian with six acres and outbuildings. I wander around it and can’t quite wrap my brain around all the things I want to do, all the things we need to do, just all the things! To say I’m a bit overwhelmed is a huge understatement.
Between Two Homes
Part of the problem is that we haven’t moved in and so are living between two homes. They are an hour apart so I’m spending a lot of time driving back and forth. It’s hard to imagine living there, especially at the moment when we have no hot water! Then, there’s still so much to do at the old house. Packing, cleaning, clearing and all the things you have to do before you hand back a rental. I love this house and we have been very comfortable here so it will be hard to leave that comfort and move to a building site.
Where To Start
At the new house, there are a million jobs to do everywhere you look. It’s very easy to get distracted and start 10 different things only to find you’ve wasted the day and haven’t actually finished anything. I’ve started setting myself tasks and sticking to a list so that I don’t get distracted.
Part of the problem is that we are having to do a number of things ‘out of order’ because we have to get moved in by the end of March. Ideally, at this point, you’d rip out all the plumbing and electrics, renew everything and then move in. We just don’t have the time or money to do it that way. So, we’re having to juggle around with the order of work to get two working bathrooms, a few half-decent bedrooms and some kind of working kitchen. Then we can go from there.
Power Up
Getting the electricity sorted has been fairly straightforward. Thankfully, we have an amazing electrician who has quickly set about rewiring the rooms we want to use for now. There’s still a lot to do but we have some function if not form! The main supply into the house was shockingly unsafe (pun intended!) but National Grid have been very good and have a plan in place to relocate and replace the incoming supply. It involves new poles, digging a trench and all sorts of exciting things. Best of all, they take care of all of it as it’s their part of the supply. Excellent! Oh, and we already have internet and WiFi working so we can google everything else!
Water and the Lack of It
The plumbing on the other hand has been a lot more complicated. Mostly because we didn’t have a plumber that we knew already lined up but also because everyone seems to come to the house, spend hours looking around, marvel at all the old boilers and pipework and then run out of time before making any kind of decisions! Then they tell you that they’re way too busy to do any of the work before April. I think we now have a plan involving three different plumbers all doing different parts of the work. It’s not ideal but I just hope we can get some kind of working system in before we move!
Then there’s the existing pipework that is like a museum of plumbing through the ages. We have, for instance, four boilers in varying stages of decay. Some modern plastic pipework, some metric-sized copper, all fairly modern. Then there’s some lead, some extra thick copper (none of the plumbers had ever seen such thick threaded copper pipe before) as well as a number of pipes that I still can’t figure out where they get their water from. It’s like some sort of crazy 3D jigsaw puzzle. And it’s really easy to get distracted with trying to figure all that out when we need to focus on just getting the new supplies in.
Stay on Target
So this has to be my mantra. I can’t wait to get out in the garden. There are a million and one things to do out there too but we have to focus and get moved in. Bathrooms, bedrooms, cooking area and somewhere to store all our stuff. Then we can play. Thankfully, what we do have is plenty of space. With a bit of effort, we can keep the second floor completely clear and that will be where we start the proper renovations. I’m excited about that. So, when people ask me how I’m feeling about it all it is just that, it changes from moment to moment. I’m very excited, and grateful for the privilege, I’m also stressed and exhausted with millions of things to do and a tight schedule as we count down to moving in. So, a little overwhelmed really, but that’s okay and I feel like it’s to be expected. For now, I’ll breathe, take one thing at a time and just hope those pipes lead somewhere!