A LONG Working Weekend

Hampshire County Courthouse Dome
Hampshire County Courthouse Dome

Did I mention that the weekend was a long one? Hubby and I spent the Memorial Day weekend cleaning up our WV Place. Three full days of cleaning, painting, cleaning, making repairs, and more cleaning.

You regulars may remember the frozen pipe disaster of January 2014. If you’re new here, or simply missed that post, take a peek. It was awful. More messy than structural, which is good, but who wants to deal with mess?

Wondering why it took so long? First, the place needed time to dry out completely. Second, we had to find a contractor to make repairs. Neither of us is keen on ever hanging and/or finishing drywall ever again. Finally, the contractor had to actually do the work.

In addition to making repairs, we also had the guy add closets in each of the small bedrooms. Without a closet, a room isn’t officially a bedroom. Oh, we had him remove our junk pile, too, in addition to all of the mess from the clean-up.

Why do we care about “official” after all this time. I’ll get to that.

No more junk pile.
No more junk pile.

 

The contractor we hired actually did a great job. The new ceiling and walls are nice and smooth.

 

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New ceiling and walls.

 

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New ceiling and walls.

 

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New ceiling and walls.

 

The contractor primed all of the surfaces. The touch-up painting was left to us.

 

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Hubby painting.

 

It was just like old times. I got to say fun stuff like, “I need a progress picture. Pretend like you are working.”

That Hubby of mine is particularly fond of comments like that.

 

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Hubby painting.

 

The paint made a huge difference.

 

Bedroom wall restored.
Bedroom wall restored.

 

The dogs enjoyed their time in the woods immensely.

 

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This is Meg’s favorite place on Earth.

 

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Younguns hunting.

 

While the girls entertained themselves, we worked. And worked some more.

 

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Hubby painted the back wall of the garage.

 

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It made a HUGE difference.

 

While Hubby labored inside, I got to use my favorite power tool… the pressure washer. (No sarcasm intended, I really do love the pressure washer.)

 

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Really dirty patio.

 

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Before & After of Propane Tanks

 

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Dirty A/C thingy.

 

The best thing about the pressure washer is seeing immediate results.

 

Yuck
Yuck

 

Pressure washing is such a great way to spruce things up.

 

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Me, cleaning.

 

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Cleaning made a big difference.

 

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Meg “helped” me paint the trim around the garage doors.

 

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Amazing how a little bit of paint can brighten-up things.

 

As for the interior…

After Hubby did all that painting, he cleaned. Not only did each room get re-organized and dusted completely, he swept and mopped the floors. And then he waxed them.

Remember, the floors in the WV Place are acid-stained concrete. The best floors ever. They look fabulous when properly maintained. We hadn’t waxed them for a while, so they were looking a bit dull. But now they really shine.

 

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Looking from living room into kitchen.

 

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Bathroom

 

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Living Room and Back Hall

 

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Master Bedroom (the wrong quilt is on the bed)

 

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From back hall.

 

I did my share of cleaning and waxing, too. In fact, Hubby left a bit early on Monday with two of the dogs so I could finish the floor cleaning. It’s much easier without dogs tracking in and out. K, who stayed behind with me, was too busy lizard hunting to bother going indoors.

 

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Hubby enjoying a well-deserved break before he left.

 

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K waiting to leave.

 

The place looks so much better. It’s all comfy and cozy again.

We really love our WV Place. But, since we moved to Virginia in late 2011, it’s gone underused and has become neglected.

We built the place when we still lived in Maryland. The purpose of the little house in the woods was to serve as a base for our motorcycle rides.

When we lived in Maryland, our house was in the suburbs, about halfway between Baltimore and Washington, DC. Our neighborhood was surrounded by more suburbs. Not to mention a mega-mall. And a casino. There was an airport, too, which was convenient for travel, but quite loud.

Although we live in the middle of a town now, it’s small. And the town is surrounded by horse farms. It’s awesome.

Here’s a pic comparing the two locales.

old_vs_new_surroundings

To make a long story short, we no longer need a remote base for motorcycle rides. Amazing motorcycle roads are two minutes from our door. Literally.

Two of our three kids live on the West Coast, and the third kid is moving to Spain. So the kids won’t be using the place. The grand kids won’t be visiting us there, either.

We no longer have the time or the desire to keep the place. Yes, we built it with our own hands, but if we don’t visit and maintain it regularly, it’ll deteriorate. And we don’t want that. So we’re selling it.

One one hand, it’s sad. A lot of work went into that place. But on the other hand, all good things must come to and end. Plus, with one less property to maintain, we will have more time to ride.

Here’s hoping it sells quickly. Before we change our minds. 🙂

5 Replies to “A LONG Working Weekend”

  1. Kathy:

    I often thought I would be able to see your WV place with my own eyes, one day. With so many photos over the years it would have been deja vu. You know how it is when you see something for the first time and then think you’ve been there before ?

    It’s no use to keep something that requires maintenance and if it won’t be used then you can spend your time doing other things

    but sad nevertheless

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

    1. Bob, it’s not exactly a great market in that area. If we don’t get close to our asking price, we may just keep it and rent it out. There’s hope for you still.

      1. Kathy:

        I hope it sells then, and I have my fingers crossed

        it’s better not to be burdened with something that needs to be monitored and going back and forth in bad weather to make sure nothing has happened to it

        once it is rented then it is harder to sell and then may need to be refreshed again

        bob
        Riding the Wet Coast

    1. Thanks, Andrew. It’s just a liquid wax that gets applied with a sponge mop. Easy-peasy. We’ve buffed the floors before, but it didn’t make a huge difference. Just clean, wax, and they’re good to go. Until it rains and/or there’s a heavy dew. Twelve dog feet get it printed-up in no time. 🙂

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