Awaiting rebirth
Yesterday was the day that the new people started scraping off the popcorn ceilings (we didn't do them, but I liked them, especially after they were repainted and didn't glitter) and whacking out the parquet tiles of our teak floor. Tuesday was our final clear-out, a two day extension from our agreed timetable, because they were understanding and we were pushing as hard as we could.
Thirty+ years is a long time. The young couple who will live there are excited to see the possibilities and how they can fit them to their own needs. Their vision is not identical to the one we came in with, all enthusiastic, when we were the young couple. That doesn't bother me a bit (at least so far) and they have invited us to stop by often and see what is happening. Her parents are doing this work with them, and they all have experience redoing prior properties. The last one they gutted to the studs.
Some differences are a reflection of fashion and changing sensibilities, such as uncovering and restoring the original wood floor. There was carpet when we got the house, and we were not encouraged to try to deal with that original floor underneath; there was a budget and a deadline on our rehab program--all work had to be completed 60 days after it was started-- and the guy assigned to our house told us that there was no telling what condition it was in, the wood used in the period and locale was fir which wasn't a true hardwood, and it might not be worth worrying about. We were told that we had to replace all the floorcoverings, because the house had been vacant for two years and there would be mold. Nowadays, refinishing wood floors is a major big deal, and it's a priority to the new prospective owners.
One of my friends says she loves her hardwood floors now, but she's not sure that she would have loved them in her old house when she had little kids--they take more maintenance, and sustain more damage. I don't mind that we had carpet; it was less cold with the drafts and didn't require us to shell out extra money for area rugs, which was a factor. (Carpeting went on the loan, not out of pocket after.) We basically followed most of the recommendations from the man with more experience than we had. If we were young and dumb, well, that's life.
One thing I did want, though, was not to have wall-to-wall carpet in the dining room. With a (normal) baby who threw food on the floor, and small children who dropped it, I wanted a rug I could roll up and take out to launder. That meant a hard floor in the dining room, and I had my heart set on teak parquet instead of oak. You could go to Home Depot and buy parquet tiles, 1/4 inch thick, by the box, and I had grown up with Danish modern furniture, and I wanted the warm color of teak.
I got that approved, told to identify the exact item so that the bids would be comparing the same thing, and it could be done. Of the $20,000 of work (1980 dollars) we put in, $1000 was that floor. I was horrified to see them lay it, certain that it wasn't my teak, because it didn't have the color. The guy who did it told me that instead of the pre-finished tiles listed, this was better stuff and would be finished all in one piece after it was laid.
It was beautiful, though as Singapore teak it did not match the color of the Danish bookcases I intended to buy and line the room. (Note to my kids: low bookcases, tastefully available for books, not swallowing up the space. You can all laugh now, knowing how your father engulfed those walls eventually with high cases full of movies--which are now alphabetically tucked away in the basement, available but out of sight.)
Most of it is still gorgeous, but it has to go. I feel kind of sad about that.
Trouble is, the passage from the kitchen, just visible on the left, goes into the dining room and turns to the living room, the camera's vantage point. That's probably the heaviest traffic pattern in the house. Here the pad under our area rug is pulled back, and the first section at the living room edge has been knocked out. I went back later yesterday and they had removed about 20%; most of the tiles splintered, ending any hope that they could be salvaged for someone else's entry, for example. There is no way to undo the wear, even if I had been able to keep up in the last few years.with the care it needed. (They are offering salvage to Habitat for Humanity.)
And they want to uncover and restore the original floor. They have every right to do that. That's what excites them, that's their adventure. What will they find?
I have been asked if it's hard to give up the home we've had for so long. If it's hard to leave the house where we raised our family. My answer is no, because it's time. We couldn't keep it up, and there are three flights of stairs. The Lord has brought all this together so unmistakeably that I cannot be dismayed. The memories and experiences will never leave us, and the house is ready to be the blessing the Lord gives to someone else. That was the so-quiet whisper of the Spirit a few weeks ago, when we were looking for somewhere to go, that He desired to use our house to bless another family now. After so many months of anxiety, of uncertainty, nearing desperation, it all came together, boom! and there is no question of happenstance. Our needs are being solved, and so are theirs.
I may have a tear or two when it actually passes out of our hands, but right now I am filled with joy. I hope they have a wonderful life in the home they create, however they change it around, whatever they need most. The house gets a new family. We have what we need most, and all will be well.
Our Father in Heaven gives us chances to retool our lives now and then. Houses are not the only things open to rebirth, and what a gift that is. Fresh starts, second chances--we will all need them sometimes, and He is very generous with both, for which I am grateful.
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| Looking into the kitchen--passage on left to dining room, the refrigerator gone--last pass |
Thirty+ years is a long time. The young couple who will live there are excited to see the possibilities and how they can fit them to their own needs. Their vision is not identical to the one we came in with, all enthusiastic, when we were the young couple. That doesn't bother me a bit (at least so far) and they have invited us to stop by often and see what is happening. Her parents are doing this work with them, and they all have experience redoing prior properties. The last one they gutted to the studs.
Some differences are a reflection of fashion and changing sensibilities, such as uncovering and restoring the original wood floor. There was carpet when we got the house, and we were not encouraged to try to deal with that original floor underneath; there was a budget and a deadline on our rehab program--all work had to be completed 60 days after it was started-- and the guy assigned to our house told us that there was no telling what condition it was in, the wood used in the period and locale was fir which wasn't a true hardwood, and it might not be worth worrying about. We were told that we had to replace all the floorcoverings, because the house had been vacant for two years and there would be mold. Nowadays, refinishing wood floors is a major big deal, and it's a priority to the new prospective owners.
One of my friends says she loves her hardwood floors now, but she's not sure that she would have loved them in her old house when she had little kids--they take more maintenance, and sustain more damage. I don't mind that we had carpet; it was less cold with the drafts and didn't require us to shell out extra money for area rugs, which was a factor. (Carpeting went on the loan, not out of pocket after.) We basically followed most of the recommendations from the man with more experience than we had. If we were young and dumb, well, that's life.
One thing I did want, though, was not to have wall-to-wall carpet in the dining room. With a (normal) baby who threw food on the floor, and small children who dropped it, I wanted a rug I could roll up and take out to launder. That meant a hard floor in the dining room, and I had my heart set on teak parquet instead of oak. You could go to Home Depot and buy parquet tiles, 1/4 inch thick, by the box, and I had grown up with Danish modern furniture, and I wanted the warm color of teak.
I got that approved, told to identify the exact item so that the bids would be comparing the same thing, and it could be done. Of the $20,000 of work (1980 dollars) we put in, $1000 was that floor. I was horrified to see them lay it, certain that it wasn't my teak, because it didn't have the color. The guy who did it told me that instead of the pre-finished tiles listed, this was better stuff and would be finished all in one piece after it was laid.
It was beautiful, though as Singapore teak it did not match the color of the Danish bookcases I intended to buy and line the room. (Note to my kids: low bookcases, tastefully available for books, not swallowing up the space. You can all laugh now, knowing how your father engulfed those walls eventually with high cases full of movies--which are now alphabetically tucked away in the basement, available but out of sight.)
Most of it is still gorgeous, but it has to go. I feel kind of sad about that.
 |
| .Beginning the removal |
Trouble is, the passage from the kitchen, just visible on the left, goes into the dining room and turns to the living room, the camera's vantage point. That's probably the heaviest traffic pattern in the house. Here the pad under our area rug is pulled back, and the first section at the living room edge has been knocked out. I went back later yesterday and they had removed about 20%; most of the tiles splintered, ending any hope that they could be salvaged for someone else's entry, for example. There is no way to undo the wear, even if I had been able to keep up in the last few years.with the care it needed. (They are offering salvage to Habitat for Humanity.)
And they want to uncover and restore the original floor. They have every right to do that. That's what excites them, that's their adventure. What will they find?
I have been asked if it's hard to give up the home we've had for so long. If it's hard to leave the house where we raised our family. My answer is no, because it's time. We couldn't keep it up, and there are three flights of stairs. The Lord has brought all this together so unmistakeably that I cannot be dismayed. The memories and experiences will never leave us, and the house is ready to be the blessing the Lord gives to someone else. That was the so-quiet whisper of the Spirit a few weeks ago, when we were looking for somewhere to go, that He desired to use our house to bless another family now. After so many months of anxiety, of uncertainty, nearing desperation, it all came together, boom! and there is no question of happenstance. Our needs are being solved, and so are theirs.
I may have a tear or two when it actually passes out of our hands, but right now I am filled with joy. I hope they have a wonderful life in the home they create, however they change it around, whatever they need most. The house gets a new family. We have what we need most, and all will be well.
Our Father in Heaven gives us chances to retool our lives now and then. Houses are not the only things open to rebirth, and what a gift that is. Fresh starts, second chances--we will all need them sometimes, and He is very generous with both, for which I am grateful.
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