From the beginning...

So let's start from the beginning. 

My wife found our house a couple years back while I was in graduate school. Probably around the summer of 2007. It probably took her another 6 months to convince me to even drive out to look at the place. At the time I was about to start the graduate program and the "realist" in me had no desire to look at houses as 1. I had no money 2. It's be 2 years before I would have money 3. Any houses that we'd probably look at would have about a 100% chance of NOT being on the market when I graduated. 

But low and behold. We're in that house she begged me to look at. Not only did this house sit on the market 2+ years, it also had next to zero showings the entire time! Well...except for the frequent weekend visits Alison and I made to look at it for a year and a half. What can I say? Once I went out and looked at it, no other house would ever do! 

The house looks like it's in great shape in the pictures, but don't let it fool you!

Structurally the house was in great shape, but cosmetically it was and still is in dire need of repair. It has all of the things you'd come to expect from a house build in 1967. Green laminate counter tops and the ever sexy laminate floors that look like sherbet.

On the outside it has the typical rotting wood siting and window sills that need to be torn out and replaced. But the thing that was in most need of replacing was the deck.

This lovely feature was probably exquisite back in 1967 when it was built. However, it had not faired so well over the years. You could literally step through spots and squish the wood. We'll get to this project soon enough.