This is part 2 in the saga of fixing up a neglected house and making it happy again.
A couple of days after I had seen the property for the first time we had another meeting with the agent so that Lynton could also see the house we had agreed to move into.
I took photos of every room, measuring everything and making lists of the work that had to be done, listing everything according to urgency and according to who was responsible to do it.
My dad came along this time and was able to point out things to the agent like the gutter above the back door needing work and water lines running down the walls from a leaky roof. Luckily they knew about it and the roof had just recently been sealed.
We brainstormed about the bathroom and how to make the bath into a shower. The Western Cape Province is still in a drought after all.
We needed the garage electrified and plumbed for our washing machine. I had plans to use the grey-water from the washing machine to water the garden.
The garden needed to be sifted to get all the junk out. There was a lot of glass, random bits of broken toys and goodness only knows buried in the sand. Then we needed to lay down plastic and spread the gravel again.
The owners were willing to pay for things inside the house that had to be done as well as for plumbing and electrifying the garage. The garden was my responsibility.
During this time it became clear that the terracotta tiles throughout the house needed to be stripped, cleaned and re-sealed. The owners had no desire to do this so it was up to us.
And so a week before moving in I rented an industrial wet and dry vacuum as well as a floor polisher/washer for the weekend from the Hire-it around the corner. We were all set with floor sealer and spreaders and gumboots and gloves to tackle the unholy crud that was on the floor.
We unleashed the fury gave the floor a good scrub down.
First going through with a scraper to get candle wax, press-stik and chewing gum off the floors.
Then going though with the washer and scrubbing the floors. It took a while to get the hang of the machine as it would just go run of in it’s own direction as soon as it was turned on. It took some muscle to keep it tamed, so that task fell to Lynton.
I would follow with the vacuum to get the water off the floor. It needed to be completely dry before we could seal it again.
This was the water in the vacuum after cleaning.
eeeeew!!
During the cleaning we realized a lot of the grout was missing. So under the tutelage of Graham, a wise old builder who was handling a couple of tasks around the house, I learned how to do grouting correctly. ( I know it's not strictly the same color- there are patches that were done with cement. But this whole area was going to be under a rug and a couch.)
Graham would also later teach me how to install a door handle and change the direction of a lock which has come in handy since then. He thought it was hilarious that I was so into DIY.
When he told his wife about his day she asked if I was a Tomboy and he said “No, she’a a Boerevrou!” Meaning a 'farmer’s wife.' A compliment meaning you’re not scared of manual labor. Also meaning 'of the Afrikaans people', the ‘Boers’ as you may know us. My maiden name is Venter, which is as Afrikaans as they come.
He has a daughter who has a very similar temperament of getting things done. He taught me very patiently and took time to answer my questions. Even joking he could take me along to his job sites as an apprentice if he kept up the training 😊
Back to the floors,
When they had dried out for a day we spread the sealant and locked up behind us, again giving the floors time to dry.
Here is a before and after shot sandwiched together. It’s rather hard capturing on camera the difference we had made.
After and before
The house sure smelled a lot better 😊
With the floors out of the way we were ready to move in!
End of part 2
Join me next time in Part 3 where I explain the finer points of getting cigarette burns out of a bathtub. Wait.. What?
Read part 1 here https://steemit.com/life/@moderndragon/operation-house-rescue-part-1-finding-a-home