The first major purchase we have had to make for the new house arrived today. We purchased this LG refrigerator and even though we verified all of the measurements before hand, it didn’t fit into the space between the counter and the cabinets, at first. The delivery guys brought it in and when we tried to push it into place we found that the space was about 1/16 of an inch to narrow. So we had them hook up the water and power and leave it in the middle of the kitchen, we told them we would figure out how to get it in place, somehow. Melissa was extremely determined to get this refrigerator to fit, she liked this one and wanted it, and in the end she got to keep it. Melissa removed some of the floor molding which allowed the cabinets to shift ever so slightly, but it was enough. Once we had that little bit of play in the cabinet we were able to slide the refrigerator back into place, now it is pushing the cabinet ever so slightly to the left and it is nice and happy in its new home. Melissa is even more happy that she gets to keep the refrigerator she picked out, and I have to agree with her, I really like it too. Now to continue with the cleaning and moving in of the items we can move on our own.

We finished up the attic insulation project today, and I learned two extremely valuable pieces of information:

1. Even in October it gets incredibly warm in an attic crawl space
2. I never want to go back into my attic ever again, or probably any other one for that matter

By the time we were nearing the end of the project the amount of space in the attic was simply not enough for two grown men to be in there. Or perhaps we just didn’t have the skill and maneuverability for both of us to be in there? Either way, I was thankful when my brother told me to get out that he could finish it up without me. He does have the advantage of being slightly smaller than me though, which aids in his maneuverability in the close quarters the attic provides. In addition to adding insulation while we were up there we also added some more baffles above the front soffit vents (we have no rear soffit vents, just front and about 5 can vents in the roof) in an attempt to help the circulation which will also improve the insulation effectiveness. The only downside is that I have no historic information in relation to a heating bill in order to compare the effectiveness of this project, however, I have to think it will be an improvement. Regardless, at least we now know that attic has sufficient insulation, even if we are unsure about the walls. One project down, I am sure there will be many others though.

The vampire taps have both been replaced and the line that will be connected for the ice maker on the new refrigerator has been run up to it’s location, so it will be ready and in place for the delivery in a few days. With any luck this will be the last time we need to call out a plumber for a long time.

Moving on to the next pre-move in project… Chris and I started adding insulation in the attic today. I had noticed during the inspection that, while there was some insulation in the attic, the amount of insulation for the R value was not going to be adequate. Considering the house was built in 1967 when energy costs were lower, and we bought it from the original owner, I am not too surprised by the need for more insulation. I wanted to make sure this was one of the first projects we did before moving in because the attic access is inside what will be Kylie’s closet. As such we didn’t want to have to cover everything in her room in plastic and take everything out of her closet in order to move the insulation into the attic crawl space. Based on the estimation of the R value of what was already up there and combining that with what we added, we estimate that the attic should now have an R value of around 42. The suggested value for this area is between 38 and 49, so this should be good moving forward. Unfortunately we were not able to complete this project today though, and will need to finish it up another time.

Plumber came out today and replaced the main shutoff valve for the water. The process was pretty quick, though we learned there is a distinct smell when a pipe is being soldered, a mix between general heat and something burning. Regardless, the valve is replaced and we can schedule with the city to have them come out, put the water meter back, and turn the water back on.

It’s incredible how quickly the joys of home ownership start to roll in! The city came out to install the water meter and turn the water on, just like they were supposed to, but we still have no water. It turns out that by them removing the old meter they apparently caused a seal to break in the valve. As such, when they put the meter in and turned on the water it just started leaking. Now we have to have a plumber come out tomorrow and replace the main shut off valve.  

We are officially homeowners! We closed on the house this morning and received the keys and garage code. The closing process wasn’t nearly as bad as everyone made it sound like it was going to be. I mean we had to sign a lot of papers and it got a little tiring, but it really wasn’t that bad. During this process we finally met a few people who previously we had only spoken to on the phone, like the lending agency and title company people; we also met another one of the previous owner’s sons. I think the process took about 90 minutes, but i honestly don’t remember. It all went by pretty quick. Afterwards Melissa and I went to our new house and started cleaning (we had a lot of stuff already in the truck at the closing), I also changed all of the locks on the property and learned how to change the code to the garage keypad. Call me crazy, but I think security should be the first thing done when buying a new home! Later in the afternoon my brother Chris came over and we went out to Lowe’s to purchase the new refrigerator that Melissa and I had already picked out, he was nice enough to let me use his veteran’s discount. Then it was back to do some more cleaning. The only issue we have run into so far, is that the city turned the water off to the house instead of transferring it to us. We think this is because the old owners realtor messed something up in the paperwork. The city will be out tomorrow to reinstall the water meter and turn the water back on.

The house inspection was today and it went really well. I used the same inspector that I had last time we made it this far into the process, as I really liked him. Nothing major was discovered, which is a good thing. It appears that some of the windows may be original to the house (1964) but not all of them, so at some point we would look into replacing those. Other than that the only thing that needs attention is the electrical box. It appears that at some point there was water getting into the box so there is some rust and a couple of the fuses breakers should be replaced. Other than that everything appears to be in good shape, looks like we are moving forward!