Hey there! This week we tackled a few renovation projects that were necessary, but not exactly glamorous. When we renovated bathrooms (this one and this one), we were excited to see the outcome and show off the fruits of our labor. This week, we just checked a few non-exciting things off our list.
We will not burn to death…theoretically
For longer than we would like to admit, the smoke detectors in our house have been non-functional. They were hard-wired into the house with a battery backup. They came with the house and were going on 25 years old. Since they were hard wired, they still functioned, but changing the 9 volt batteries every few years became a chore. After numerous evenings spent trying to find the random chirping of a dying battery, we just removed them all. Not our finest moment, we know. But desperate times call for desperate measures.
We avoided putting in new smoke detectors because when we looked online, we couldn’t find ones that were the same diameter. Every one we found was smaller, which meant we would need to add trim rings around each smoke detector in the house (we have a total of ten in the house).
Then, during a visit to Lowe’s, we ran by the smoke detector aisle and found the perfect replacements that fit perfectly in the space vacated by the old smoke detectors.
So now we have fully functional smoke detectors with a ten year battery life that do not need any wires or 9-volt batteries. It isn’t glamorous, but it is done!
Our trees got a much-needed haircut
Another non-glamourous task we checked off our list was tree trimming! Our lot has quite a few mature oak trees (and one lone elm tree) that have not had any maintenance in probably a decade. Over time, they have grown toward the house and, in some cases, were laying on or rubbing against the house.
We had our first snowfall last week and we got a random knock on our door from a crew offering to shovel our driveway (for a fee, of course – this wasn’t a charity!). Their truck advertised that they were, in actuality, a tree trimming service, apparently looking to make some money in the off season.
We knew tree trimming was on our list of things to get done before our countdown ends, so we asked their crew chief about it. It turns out, winter is the best time to trim trees, while they are dormant. They shoveled our driveway on Tuesday and were back on Thursday to trim all of our trees. Within a span of two hours they trimmed all of the dead branches, removed the branches encroaching on the house, put the branches through a wood chipper, and cleaned up all of the small branches and leaves.
The trees look a little naked right now, but in the spring, they should fill in nicely and look much less neglected than in recent years.
We do have some more exciting projects coming up. Tomorrow the contractors are coming to measure for our new quartz countertops (goodbye laminate!). Door painting is in process (not by us!), and we have kitchen cabinet painting and a laundry room makeover on deck for January.
But we also have more un-exciting tasks on the list. All are important and all get us closer to Week zero when we put a For Sale sign in the yard. Leaving this house will be hard, especially as we are finally upgrading all of the things we dreamed about when this house was full of kids. These projects keep us focused on the goal and also keep us from dwelling too much on the part that comes after Week zero.
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