It’s been a while since my last update, and while life has been busy, there hasn’t been much progress to share.
We’ve been dealing with a lot of personal adjustments lately—settling into a new house, preparing the old one for sale, and navigating a lengthy daily commute to work. The cats are still getting used to their new home, which means we’re not getting much sleep. We knew this would be challenging and it’s certainly taking some energy out of us as we adjust.
Another plumbing task on our list was installing a water softener, but we hit a snag: a portion of Milton’s crawl space isn’t accessible. It seems that during a previous remodel, the access was either removed or covered over. We’ll likely need to create new access, which will involve some exploratory work (cutting a hole in the floor) for an upcoming weekend.
I spent several days working and arranging for new gutters for the house. We really need to address the water issues around the foundation before starting any repairs, which we hope to do within a few months. After researching various DIY solutions and considering the size and scale of our home, we decided to go with LeafFilter. Yes, they’re expensive, but it was easier and quicker than trying to handle it ourselves. So, we’re getting all new 6-inch gutters with LeafFilter, and eight new downspouts to control better the water coming off the house.
Last night was quite eventful. The cats caught their first mouse around 11 p.m. and their second around 2:30-3 a.m. It wasn’t unexpected, given the signs and the fact that the house had been vacant. This weekend, we’ll install new crawl space vents and seal up the HVAC lines where the mice are likely entering the house. And since I’m sure they’ll continue to get in after that, we’ll keep looking for other entry points – perhaps in one of the pocket door pockets.
All in all, it’s not bad.
Finally, the garage building project is still ongoing. I think I have a better idea of what we want to do, but no surprise, it’s turning out to be more involved than we initially planned. So, we’re still on hold for that one.
