Pre-renovation Tour: Attic and Basement

This is part four of a four-part, pre-renovation tour of the house.

Photo above courtesy of Curbed Detroit.  

 Stairway to Attic

Last we left off, the ribbon oak floors ended and linoleum began as we headed up to the attic.

Notice the broken window leading out onto the roof. Last time I climbed these stairs, I stepped over a squirrel carcass.

Seems the raccoons couldn't wait to roast him in the fire place first.

There is actually liveable space up here.

But even I have to seriously question the color palette.

Again, tarp makes for excellent racoon nesting material.

Whoa, a bathroom in the attic. But check out that paint job on the windows. Did Jackson Pollack live here or something?

Photo above courtesy of Curbed Detroit. 

How about some before and after pictures? Here, the crew is tearing out the walls that carve up the attic.

We won't renovate this space during the first pass. But the plan is to eventually make this one open room and a small bathroom.

Photo above courtesy of Curbed Detroit. 

It's OK to be jealous of our claw foot tub. We don't mind.

OK, a quick trip to the basement. It's the least glamorous place in the house, but, hey, check out that old utility sink.

The previous tenant tried to add forced air to house that had only radiant steam heat. They didn't get very far. But the ducts there on the left at least give the house something shiny.

And is that a steel, supporting post leaning at an angle like that? Well, it was nice of them to add a two by four to help.

Pre-renovation Tour: 2nd Floor Master Suite

This is part three of a four-part, pre-renovation tour of the house.

Upstairs Hallway

Last we left off, you were standing in the 2nd floor hallway, looking into the blue master bedroom and the sun room beyond it. Let's step over the toilet on the floor and go there now.

Pre-renovation Tour: 2nd floor guest areas

This is part two of a four-part, pre-renovation tour of the house.

1st floor hallway

Now that's you've seen the first floor, ready to head upstairs?

Just to re-orient you: the dining room is on your immediate left, the kitchen is through that door on the far left, the living room is on the other side of the wall on the right (with the doorway to it on your immediate right), and the front entryway is just behind you on the right.

Pre-Renovation Tour: 1st Floor

Part one of a four-part pre-renovation tour of the house ....

Photo above courtesy of Curbed Detroit.

C'mon on in our front door.

Don't mind the dumpster and the dust.

We've had a crew in for the last week or so, getting rid of the, ahem, detritus left behind by the the previous tenants (both human and animal). Things we weren't sad to see go included dried raccoon poop, squirrel carcass, styrofoam take out container with what was once lunch still rotting inside, random bits of plastic tarp, torn lineoleum, falling down shelves, and molding cabinets. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's step inside ....

Life: Uh, fulfilled much?

So, Chai says to me last night, "Are you fulfilled?" It's a classic middle-age question and one that has come up a lot for us in the last few years. I can't say I had thought much about "fulfillment" before I hit my 40s. Maybe the only reason that I give it more than a passing consideration now is that there a certain amount of inertia that comes with being 20-some years into adulthood, a career, and a community.

OK, since one of my friends already got
mesmerized by all the skin and forgot my
love of irony, I should probably point
out that this is not actually my tattoo.

I mean ... years after having gotten that tattoo (which is now blurry and faded) and the body piercings (which never healed right), doing those protests and marches (which have yet to show signs of paying off), traveling the world (which yielded some equally scary and hilarious, fish-out-of-water moments), nearly failing out of grad school, and losing a friend to AIDS in my twenties; after the spin cycle of failed romances, the thousands of hours spent in therapy, meditation, and loneliness, a second graduate degree (this time, at the behest of my underserved right brain), the car wreck (in which my sturdy Chrysler P-body was totaled by a semi but from which I remarkably walked away), the ongoing years of physical therapy, the long-awaited flowering of a dear young person (who I had helped through a difficult adolescence and young adulthood), and the loss of my dog (my closest companion) of 17 years, all while still working full time in my thirties; only to close out the decade by actually finding somebody who wants me AND puts up with me, followed immediately by her diagnosis and ass kicking of Stage 4 cancer,  I'm tired. And, frankly, there's some really good TV on these days.

Shout Out: "Difficult Dealings in The D" from Curbed

Sarah F. Cox, over at Curbed Detroit, stopped by this week to snap some pics of the clean up progress on our property and share with you some "highlights" of our buying saga. Check out the photo spread and her article "Difficult Dealings in The D: What Two Gals Dealt With to Buy".

Be sure to add Curbed Detroit to your newsfeed so you won't miss the continuing stooorrry of what it has been like for us to buy and renovate in The D.