It generally looks worse before it gets better...

What lies unseen, can be a scary thing.

Luckily this is mostly just some mildew.  I am very glad J decided to coat most of the surfaces with a protective layer of paint before laying the original flooring.  I wasn't able to keep the floor in the kitchen like I originally planned, it was mildewed and buckling, and there was just no saving it.

I removed 95% of the paper I had glued in  for the kitchen to strip it down and get an idea for what I was actually going to be dealing with.  J's younger kiddo helped peel the paper and take the sanding block to some mildew on the floor.  His smaller hands could reach some of the corners I could not.  I love that he likes helping me.  Below is the much cleaned up floor and nearly clean walls.  I will need to take some water and a scraper to it before I either paint or repaper the walls.  I will also need to decide how best to restick the siding where the glue gave way.  You can see the bottom two inches or so lifted away from the wall on the left below.

Speaking of dexterous little fingers... The paper had to come off of the dormer for the attic, as it was just too waterlogged and stained/faded. My construction manager made quick work of removing it and gave it a quick sand.  Chip came by to supervise, and decided that we had things well in hand.

Because I cannot be patient, I decided it is cleaned up enough at this point to try out a new flooring option.  Just to see what we think...

Scrap book paper that resembles linoleum.  It would keep some green in there and allow me to make other choices on the walls.  I think this means I may be repainting the stove, and now have more research to do on the colors used at the time.  I may also need to put something under this if I am still going to make my own floor in the living room. Need a smooth transition rather than a step down to the flooring  in the kitchen. I can figure out what to use after I lay down the wood in the living room.

Finally I took some thieves oil cleaner and wiped down the floors to remove the last of the dirt, leaves and whatever else I can't see against the brown.

This spot was just a super temporary one to assess and clean up.  We are discussing options for a workspace inside.  Thanks for reading, and we will update when we can.

Until next time...

In which we encounter a storm...

So, last week the greater Sacramento area had winds with gusts between 55 and 70 miles per hour.  My lovely little house was out on my friend's porch, as we hadn't thought to bring it in, and I hadn't worked on it in months, due to weather and life both interfering.

Along comes last Wednesday... Sometime overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, J's pergola (which had been screwed down to the deck) gets a leg loose and bangs slightly against the house. The wind and rain are driving full force.  At some point the pergola breaks free and cartwheels around the yard.  Thinking quickly J throws blankets over the area where our dollhouse resides, after replacing the split plastic bag we were using as a dust cover.  Wednesday morning comes along and J tells me the backyard is trashed, the pergola did a cartwheel around the side of the house, over the fence into the garden, where it pole vaults over the garden to land right by the side door to the garage. 

She can't bring herself to look at the sodden pile of blankets and debris where our House that J's build once stood.  She has insurance claims to file, a house to manage, and a family to keep on track at least until Monday when the adjuster will be there.  I totally understand.

We schedule for me to come over while there is daylight on Sunday, help remove the garbage debris from the patio and have the fateful look...

I remove soggy blankets, paper and cardboard debris, and finally see the plastic covering the house.

It is surprisingly rather intact...

Looking at the kitchen and living room, it does indeed look like it was hit with a 1/12 scale hurricane.  There is some mud on the floors, the wallpaper in the kitchen will need replacing as it is sodden, warped and stained.  The floors are buckling in the kitchen, in exactly the way they do in a full scale home when you have heavy water damage. The siding on the exterior kitchen side wall is peeling up.

But the supplies I had bagged inside the house in the bedroom upstairs are completely dry and usable.  The front door is only damp.  We did have more wallpaper loss in the attic.  A piece I wanted to save is unsalvageable and will need to be scraped, removed, and replaced.These are all relatively minor and it could have been so much worse.

Below are a couple pics taken mid-clean-up of the supplies.  The plastic drawer had two inches of water in it. Most of the shutters were gross and black and not worth saving, some of the trim lived.  The shingles came out unscathed because they were in a bag.  None of the tools were harmed beyond a little rust on a hand saw that came right off with the sanding block.

The original box and directions were too sodden to save. As were many of original porch rails. (That is alright as I had other plans for porch rails anyways...)  We reboxed supplies, dried them off, and made ready to bring the house inside.  It will live in the office closet for a bit while we strategize next steps.

 

Rest assured there was much bumping of elbows, and happy dancing, and perhaps a few tears at the revealed fate of our little home.

Her big home is okay too, insurance will be helping cover the damage so she can once again have a lovely little haven, blooming, green, shaded, and comfortable.  All will be well again, I know.