another typical day

The house next door is officially condemned; we continue to frantically work on fixing where the leak is/was before the rain comes.

Condemned!

While we were out, someone from the city came by and boarded the up all of the doors of the abandoned house next door (even the entry to the crawlspace). There is now a big orange CONDEMNED sticker on the front door.

I have been calling the city about that house for a while. There has been some traffic in and out, though less than I would’ve expected. It definitely had potential to turn into something bad. I recently found the Richmond City Citizen’s Request Page, which seems to get a faster response to things.

That house fascinates us — how did it end up empty? what were those people doing in the crawlspace? why did the previous owners stop in mid-repair? what will happen to it? If it ever goes to auction we’ll have to buy it somehow, if for no other reason than to get rid of that vinyl siding…

More Leak Repair

If you look at the picture of the house from last time, you might see that there is plastic above the window upstairs. Nice, eh? That area has been fixed, but there is still plastic beside the window under where the drain tube is. We’re simultaneously fixing the house AND making it more getto.

We spent most of today replacing rotten sections of the siding under where there has historically been a leak (and which was fixed and which recently returned). This involved pulling down the old wood, and cutting, priming, installing and caulking the new wood. This also meant being way up on the ladder while using tools.

Pulling the old siding also gave us a new perspective on some of the termite affected areas, which really a little depressing. The areas with the new siding look great, though, and it comforting to know that at least one little piece of the house is solid and waterproof. There is a great sense of accomplishment, tempered by not quite being finished and not quite knowing if the situation has been taken care of. If we can get a dry morning tomorrow, I’ll be able to have all of the rotted siding in that area replaced; when it rains again we’ll know if this has worked or not.