This cOld House 3.5

Many of you have shared sympathy and even concern about our trials and tribulations in our home. Please understand that I am writing about our plight merely as a means of expression. This house has been a very emotional choice for us and I have to have somewhere to put those emotions. Rest assured that we knew we would have a number of issues and that we currently remain sanguine about the situation, even with our latest discoveries.

Really, what can one do when a major structural element is discovered to have been reduced to sawdust? (Call the general contractor and hope for the best.)

I am sad to report that as much as I wanted to believe, (and believe in,) the former owner, he did turn out to be a bit of a spiv, (loosely translated, that is) as he certainly sold us a bill of goods of dubious quality and origin. Having said that, once I abandoned respect for the guy and started to take everything he said with a grain of salt, I am finding it much easier to approach the house as more of a wounded child than a money pit. We are still in contact with the guy and he has proved helpful in that he knows where all his duct tape is. I don't want to ruin that relationship until we too know where it all is. And pending other discoveries, we will decide whether legal action is warranted.

I have begun taking some pictures, and once I settle on a site I'll transfer all of these e-mails to a blog. Unfortunately I didn't get a before picture of the sinkin' living room. You'll have to take my word when I say that walking towards the corner it felt as though I were sliding off the face of the earth.

- Robyn -