The last couple of days have not been good. I have been feeling overwhelmed again, and my thoughts have been stuck in “what if” mode. If only it was possible to go back in time. I would certainly go back three and a half years to the time before we bought this house. But time travel is impossible, and we have to live with our decisions.
What if we stayed in our old house?
This thought is the one that is the most painful. Not only did we have fantastic neighbours, but I had already finished most of the renovations. The next big renovation would have been the kitchen, and would have only involved replacing the cupboards. More importantly, by now we could have had the mortgage just about paid off and had more money for travel, toys (plasma tv, hot tub, boat), and a pretty decent nest egg. It was also a lot closer to my job, so there would have been significant savings in fuel and maintenance for our automobiles.
Reality check
Our old house was small. We likely would not have been completely happy staying there. My wife and I searched off and on for a bigger house since we got married. Hindsight is always 20/20.
What if we chose to build instead of buy?
We could have had the exact house that we wanted, built according to the current codes. The house would have been new, and we wouldn’t have had to do anything other than keep it clean.
Reality check
New houses require a certain amount of work, that may not be completed by the builder, such as fencing, landscaping, driveway, and deck or patio. Then there is the stress that goes with having a house built in the first place: all the decisions that have to be made regarding materials and fixtures and colours. Plus what looks good on paper may not be ideal in reality, so how soon would it be before renovation fever struck again? For all the stress I feel right now, how happy would I be if I wasn’t working on some DIY home improvement project?
What if we never saw this house?
Ah, but to dream! We may have found a better house with fewer problems. Then again, we may have found a house with more problems (it that’s possible). Who knows? Every house has mysteries and secrets. It could always be worse.
Hindsight is 20/20 I already said that. Enough of my whining!
More problems in the basement
I strongly suspect that the moisture infiltration in the recreation room can be solved with landscaping.
Water problems
A couple of years ago I removed the wooden porch because the wood was rotted. The area that was under the porch is significantly lower than the rest of the front yard. I didn’t want to spend money on filling the hole since we will likely have a new porch built in a few years. However, it is obvious that we will have to do something about it now. Often water infiltration such as this can be eliminated by landscaping: building the yard up near the house so water will flow downhill away from the foundation. Feelin’ overwhelmed I have now gutted approximately 60% of the basement. The rubbish bin is about 97% full. I only have a few days left before I return to work. Every day I keep the bin costs money…..
State of the bin
Picture was taken at the end of the day on July 17.
Rubbish bin July 17
I’ll probably have the bin hauled away tomorrow or Thursday. The rest of the scrap I will have to take to the dump myself. This is the last picture that I will take of the bin….