Not too long after Michael bought the house, Tropical Storm Gaston sat on top of Richmond for a few days, dumping a lot of rain—so much rain that it caused the ceiling in one of the rooms on the second floor of our house to fall through, leaving a very large hole in the ceiling:
Whenever it would rain, the roof would leak in that room. Michael called this experience urban camping. Even though we're not using the room with the giant hole in the ceiling (yes, it's still there), the term "urban camping" still applies because the house doesn't have a good heating system. Right now we have our own system of space heaters and sheets and blankets covering the doors to keep us warm in the rooms that we're using, since the furnace heats only the first floor anyway. So the hallways and stairs can get quite chilly. We also have two fat cats to help keep us warm.
The progress so far? The house has a brand new roof, and the first floor is being gutted. We've found throughout the house that previous "improvements" were really just giant band-aids—layers upon layers of flooring, walls, and even ceilings to cover up mistakes or poor judgment. For example, this picture shows the layers of flooring in what used to be a bathroom:
One of the first steps will be putting in all new systems. The house was built before indoor plumbing and electricity came standard with new homes, so those systems need updating, along with a new HVAC system. So next winter, the house should be nice and toasty. Once work on the house starts to pick up, we'll post pictures as we go, so please check back soon.
