In which she discusses home repair and other issues with the Universe

It went something like this.

*ring, ring*

Hello?

Hey, Universe, it’s DaniGirl again.

DaniGirl! Delightful to hear from you. How’s that new house of yours?

We love the house, Universe. We truly love it. It felt like home from the day we moved in. I still keep pinching myself, I’m so amazed that we’re lucky enough to live in this gorgeous neighbourhood.

And the boys are getting settled in their new school and with the new caregiver?

Yep, that’s all working out fine. More than fine, actually. That, and the amazing sense of community here, are giving me reasons to be grateful every day. Did you notice a few weeks back, before it got cold, that Saturday morning when the big boys disappeared from the breakfast table and played outside for nearly THREE HOURS, just rambling about in the yard, the treehouse and the porch?

I did see that. They have a lot more freedom here than they did in the old neighbourhood, don’t they?

And last week, when one of the neighbours invited me over for a street hen-party to welcome a new baby to the street, that was just amazing. The whole street gets together for social occasions — this is the kind of neighbourhood I’ve been dreaming of for years and years.

So what’s on your mind then, DaniGirl? You seem troubled.

Yeah, Universe, I got a lot on my mind. You see, as much as I truly love this house, and the neighbourhood, and the community, the home repairs are about to break the bank.

Well, you knew going in that you were buying an older house, right?

Yeah, sure. We anticipated a lot of expenses going in. The well upgrades, the roof replacement, that was all accounted for in the purchase decision. When that musty smell didn’t go away, we called someone in to check for mould in the basement and he didn’t find anything, but he did suggest a dehumidifier and to consider replacing the carpet. It was pretty old and on our eventual to-do list to replace it anyway, so we just bumped that up in the priority list.

And you are replacing the sump pump?

Yep. That one didn’t come up in the home inspection, but we could see that it was old and had another specialist come in to check it out. We’d heard that you should have a dual pump system anyway. The last thing you want is your sump pump failing during spring run-off season! So we’re forking over an unexpected $2,000 for that, but it’s the kind of investment that pays for itself over the years.

And the electricians are doing some work too?

They’re actually here as I type. The building inspector told us we need to upgrade a few things. Like, the dishwasher had an electrical cord from a freezer gerry-rigged to it and plugged into the same outlet as the fridge. And the sump pump and well pump were on the same circuit, so they needed to be separated. A few other small things. We can’t get the sump pump upgrade done until the electrical fix is in. We knew about all the electrical stuff when we moved in, though.

Okay, so it you’ve got a plan. You’re right, it’s a pretty big investment now, but at least it will all be taken care of. How’s it all going?

Not so good, actually. We moved all the furniture out of the boys’ bedrooms downstairs on the weekend to get ready for the new carpet to be laid. Yesterday, Beloved was pulling off the baseboards, when he found black mould underneath them, where the wall meets the floor. Not too high up the wall, but at least six feet or so along the joint.

Oh, that’s not good. Where do you think the water is coming from?

Well, there are two possibilities. The room where Tristan’s bedroom is used to be a garage, but quite a few years back they converted it into a finished basement and moved the garage to the other side of the house. The sump pump guy also does things like vapour barriers and other basement waterproofing, and when he came in to give me a quote on the sump, he walked in and said, “Hey, I’ve been in this house before!” Apparently the previous homeowner had some moisture issues and they’d installed a high-end moisture barrier. So that is one possibility, as it’s the same wall where we found the mould. BUT, the corner where it is most prevalent is adjacent to the shower in the bathroom and Beloved found evidence of water on the baseboards in the bathroom beside the shower. It actually looks more likely that the leak is coming from the seal around the shower or the drain.

Oy. So what are you going to do?

Frankly, I don’t know. I’m trying to stay positive about this, but holy crap. I called the mould remediation guy back again and chatted with him, and he’ll come out and see how bad the mould issue really is. I’m just praying that it’s easily contained and removed. And then we’ll have to figure out where the water is coming from — cross your fingers it’s as easy as sealing the shower drain or something equally simple and not a foundation issue — and fix that. Then we’ll have to rebuild the drywall that got taken out.

What about the carpet?

Well, they were supposed to come on Wednesday to install the new carpets. We could either go ahead with one room and have them come back to do the second when we fix the mould problem and do the other repairs, or just delay the whole thing. I’m leaning toward waiting and having it all done at once, if for no other reason than it will be an extra $125 for the second half of the installation job.

Did you really send an e-mail to the people that produce Mike Holmes’ new show on new homeowner’s problems?

I did. There is nothing I’d like more than a hero in a pickup truck to show up and rescue us from this stuff. I don’t know anything about sump pumps or mould or electricity or well pumps or leaky showers. There’s been a constant parade of contractors for this, that and the other thing ever since we moved in and frankly I’m worried that every contractor that shows up is going to fleece us. I don’t know how to prioritize this stuff anymore, and I’m sick of the inconvenience, let alone the cost. But they don’t film outside the GTA, so I’ll have to find my hero elsewhere.

That’s a lot to take in. How are you handling it all?

Well, Universe, that’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. The past week has been crazy with decisions big and small. We finally decided to book a snow-removal service rather than buy a snowblower, partly because it delays the investment of $1000 or more on a snowblower AND gives me the luxury of staying inside and watching from the window the next time we have a blizzard. And no sooner had we decided that then we started wrangling the natural versus artificial tree debate. After much dithering, we finally decided on a natural tree if for no other reason than we just can’t justify $300 for a Christmas tree right now with everything else going on. See the theme of delayed expenses here?

And that was before the whole mould discovery, right?

That’s right. And the day we decided that was the day we got that dusting of snow, and I fishtailed twice on Prince of Wales. And then when I got home, I couldn’t get in the damn driveway!

Oh yes, I did see that one. You didn’t realize how much of a slope the driveway had, did you?

Well, I mean, I noticed it as in I said to myself that we’ll have to be careful that the kids don’t ride the slope in their plasma car and bikes and whatnot right on to the road. It’s a very quiet road, true, but it is a blind corner with those giant cedar hedges. But it never occured to me that with a bit of ice I’d have to take three runs at it to get my car up the slope. And so that led to a discussion on…

Snow tires?

Snow tires. Can you believe I’ve never put snow tires on my car before?

What kind of a Canadian girl are you anyway?

I know!! So I spent all day Monday getting quotes, with my head full of new versus used, and prices from $300 to $900 for just one car, and yeesh, then I come home and find out about the mould thing. I mean really, Universe. Could you lay off for a bit, do you think? Maybe take a vacation or something? Go see what that black hole at V4641 Sagittarii is up to?\

Hey DaniGirl, it’s only money, right? Let’s keep this in perspective.

Sigh, yes. It’s only money. I was thinking about that last night. In fact, I was thinking about our infertility days, and the dark nights when I was afraid we’d never have this beautiful family that means everything to me. Really, I know these are first-world problems and will eventually be resolved. But damn, it has been a long and expensive couple of weeks. And frankly, I’d like to have a weekend go by where I’m not frantically googling and information gathering on mould and snow tires and Christmas tree stands and PVC content in artificial trees and generators for sump pumps and GFI circuits and carpet versus laminate in a basement and acceptable humidity levels and the three hundred and fifty seven other home maintenance issues I’ve gotten an education in since August.

So tell me, do you still love the house?

You know what? I do still love the house. And the community. And the neighbours, and the yard, and the boys’ school, and even the new caregiver. There’s so much wonderful about this whole scenario that I’m willing to suck it up and deal with this other crap. But, Universe?

Yes, DaniGirl?

Lay off for a bit, okay? Give us a bit to catch up?

I’ll see what I can do, kiddo.