February 28, 2018

Early last year, when we were looking ahead to what life would be like for us once David retired, he had said he wanted to perhaps sell our house. It was a bit of a wild hare on his part. I think he was just caught up in the idea of having a brand-new beginning. He said he wanted a new beginning in a nice, new house. I could certainly sympathize with that sentiment, and so we seriously looked into the logistics of such a move. Eventually, he realized that it wouldn’t be a good idea. I’ve often mentioned in these essays that our house is no palace. That’s not a complaint, it’s simply reality. As such, it’s not worth all that much at all.

Since we were mortgage free, it seemed wiser just to stay put. However, there were a few things we needed to have done around the place, things that had been let go. The first, and a major repair we saw to in the early part of last November. We had new 50-year shingles put on our roof.

The other major “repair” we needed to do, had been in disrepair since our son died. He and my husband were doing renovations on the house, and one of the things they did was to put on a whole new roof—rafters, sheeting and shingles (the last of which turned out to be 10-year shingles, and not the 25-year shingles we’d believed, which is why we had to replace them this past year).

In creating the new roof, our son extended the height of the upstairs walls by just a over a foot, and combined with the style of roof he chose, this gave us a more usable “upstairs”, one that actually had headroom. Prior to this, and until all our kids moved out, our bedroom had been up there, and five foot nothing me could lay my hand flat on the highest part of the ceiling without even stretching.

Unfortunately, the day they pulled off the old roof, we had an unexpected rainstorm, and the kitchen ceiling was adversely effected. The living room ceiling was damaged when he cut the hole to install the new staircase (he changed the stairs from ascending north, to ascending west, and made them less steep, and also less invasive in the living room because they aligned with one of the walls).

After our son died, my husband couldn’t bring himself to return to working on the renovations. The new upstairs has electricity and sub-flooring, as well as new windows. There is insulation, and a vapor barrier, but no drywall. That area is used for storage and not living space as originally planned. Perhaps now, over time we’ll finish it off—install that drywall and think about finishing the floor.

But those ceilings in the kitchen and the living room? They really couldn’t wait. Since 2006, we’ve lived with those ceilings. The living room one looked like it might come down at any moment, though it proved to be sturdier than it appeared, because it didn’t get worse in 11 years. The kitchen one was just a mess, period. Before the damage, it was a painted, stuccoed surface, and didn’t look too bad—except whoever had sprayed on the Stucco-Tex, sprayed it over top of a stove pipe cover that had been in the ceiling. And one day about five years after we moved in, that puppy just let go. So even before the rain damage, there was damage to one small part of that ceiling. After the rain event, half of the plaster on the kitchen ceiling was on the floor and the room looked like the sort one might find in a hovel. David had re-done the floor in the kitchen several years ago, but the ceiling was left in all its shabby glory.

This month, February 2018, we finally did something about those ceilings. We had an excellent team come in and install drop ceilings in both rooms. Since what was in the living room was plaster—the old wooden slat and horse-hair kind of plaster—we decided that it would be less headache and less mess to install drop ceilings. We lost only six inches in room height, making our ceilings now just short of ten feet high. But the difference in appearance is amazing. They look wonderful! We had new light fixtures installed, and I no longer am embarrassed by the appearance of my home. Yes, there are a lot of little things that need doing, and maybe a major renovation down the road if we decide to re-do the bathroom.

But for sheer impression, for the way we feel now looking up in those two rooms, I can tell you that in choosing to stay and fix-up, my husband and I, in essence, have ended up with his desired “fresh start”.

Love,
Morgan
http://www.morganashbury.com
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury