New House Day 10: Moving day…house becomes home

 

“What kind of house is this,” he said
“Where I have come to roam?”
“It’s not a house,” says Judas Priest
“It’s not a house, it’s a home”
—Bob, of course, and we take the term “a home” in both contexts

This whole thing has been strange.  That first evening when we were standing around the place deciding what to do on Day 0 (god…was that just a week and a half ago?), Jackie reached up and scratched a hole in a corner of some wallpaper then ripped a shred from it.  Later, we both admitted that a terrible feeling of, “should we be doing this?” ran through our heads.  We own the motherfucker…but it still seemed like nowt but a rental.

Then, there was all the work.  It was all too much to do and we set an ambitious and unattainable schedule with the goal of getting the bedrooms and living room painted and plastered and the other ceilings ready for plastering.  We completed all that and a bit more:

Day 0: Take possession, inspect/plan (DB 4 hours, J 2)
Day 1: Wallpaper, initial carpet removal prep (DB, J 10 each))
Day 2: Wallpaper continues, sanding and washing walls for paint DB, J 10 each)
Day 3: Locksmithing and painting (DB, J 8 hours each)
Day 4: Painting, wash ceilings,intercom repair, J met movers at old shack (DB 8, J 6)
Day 5: Painting, plaster ‘key’ coat (DB 11 hours, J 6 + half day NHS)
Day 6: Plastering ceilings in 2 bedrooms (DB 10, J at NHS)
Day 7: Plaster ceiling in living room, last of stairwell wallpaper, paint cutting in (DB 14, J 3 after full day NHS)
Day 8: Packing the move at old house (DB, J 10 each — not including what we’ve piddled with for weeks)
Day 9: First ceiling sandings, paint touch up, carpet removal, bath fixtures, clean up ahead of moving day (DB, J 10 each)
Day 10: Moving, unpacking (DB, J 12 each)
-> Total man hours moving house to home: 184 — equivalent of 4.9 work weeks at 37.5 hours per week not including the time and noble efforts of our three removals guys, today.

Now, surrounded by boxes in our own place it is finally beginning to sink in.  We’re home.