Once again, as has happened every year for the past three years, things have gone horribly wrong. Shocker, I know. Every time I think I’m going to commit to posting more frequently, something comes up and ruins the plan. Maybe I’m the problem, or maybe it’s just dreadful luck. This year, the plan was to do some simple home renovations, modernize things a bit, do some energy efficiency improvements to help save money over the next few years.
What. A. Joke.
What happened next was like leaping off a cliff into a deep, black pit of financial drain. After peeling that first hideous layer of 1970’s wood paneling, I beheld the deep dread of the household insect world: The Termite.
So the chaos began. I disassembled that whole room, scouring for termites, spraying anything with termite tunnels, and replacing any damaged boards with pressure treated lumber. When I tell you there were thousands, I’m not even approaching exaggeration. During this process, I also found that I would need to disassemble the opposing room, the master bedroom and bathroom. I also uncovered the fact that there was ZERO insulation in either room. Just big, blank, empty spaces behind cheap old wood paneling. What a time.
So, another trip to Lowe’s and the insulation goes in. Mind you, I am deeply, deeply distractable, so I absolutely did not do all of this at one time, instead choosing to break from one task by engaging with another, and cleaning as I went along. Not the most effective, but it kept me working without getting too sidetracked. When i finally got the drywall in, we elected to move our bedroom into the spare, instead of finishing it, so that I could start clearing the infestation in the master. Unfortunately, I also wound up having to drop the whole ceiling in the process (yay!).
So with the old ceiling dropped, and the old insulation on the floor, the new insulation is now in and the new ceiling is mostly back up. For the walls, I used R-13 (the only thing that would fit), and also used the same thing for the ceiling (bad idea, fixing that later down the road). Then I pulled out the shower, and replaced it. Around this time, our A/C went out. With 100 degree temps rapidly approaching, there was no chance on waiting for that to get fixed, so we coughed up the 10K to get that fixed up. During this time, I also swapped in new wiring into the master bedroom and ran it to the circuit breaker.
So what’s left? Well, a lot of plumbing, then finally closing up the attic. In addition to the new A/C unit, I’m installing an attic gable fan with solar power to help lower costs further and cool the house more efficiently. After that, I can work on finishing the drywall, paining, putting up trim, and any other small things that need doing.
In the modern world, preparedness isn’t necessarily about beating the odds against enemy combatants, or how much food storage you can get your hands on. Sometimes, it’s about being adaptable, learning new skills, and just having the money set aside to handle emergencies. The costs have been brutal, and my time limited, but things are still getting done. What more can I ask for?
modernsurvivalarkansas.com 