It feels like an eternity since we bought our investment property. First day in had us creating enough of a clean space for us to get out of the motels and into the place.
Our general focus is to get the top unit ready before the bottom unit. So far we have made the bathroom good, cleared off all the window fittings (top and bottom) sanded windows at the top and begun painting, gutted the kitchen, cleared out miles of old cabling and filled all holes.
In between we have hired a truck and moved all our gear that was in storage into the downstairs unit (for now) then collected all the boxes to go to St Martin and taken them to the shipping depot. I have since learned I need to go back and let the air out of our scuba tanks.
Yesterday the builders started and gutted the basement. It’s mostly done but a lot of clearing is still needed. Once this is complete the basement will be reinspected and termite damage resolved. We have an engineer coming in on Tuesday to fully assess a bowed wall which will require bracing. Once this is done we will have the basement treated for mould. Finally we will have a lockable room put up in one corner where we can store some stuff when we finally get out of here.
The property agent has already been in to provide advice and get the ball rolling on marketing the place.
Today we are going to focus on the upstairs kitchen and more painting. Ben and Sam are coming over to help which should get us ahead of things. The kitchen is still quite disgustingly greasy. First will be to clean everything down. Then we’ll place Formica over the back wall and put down flooring. Then we’ll put on the cupboards and work surface / sink. We may leave plumbing in the sink until Monday when we have a plumber coming in for other stuff. I can handle most of it but the drain is a bit decrepit and in need of professional attention. Apart from replacing the extractor fan that should be it. We’ll probably pop by the carpet guy today and order an upstairs fitting. By the end of this week the top floor will be completely done and we should be well progressed with downstairs.
It’s now looking like we won’t get down to the BVIs until the end of the month. We will leave to St Martin as soon as possible as our gear arrives on November 2nd. Then it’s more projects. No rest for the wicked.