A Personal Experience

By Richard A. Biggs.

Having grown up on a family farm, I knew that when I chose a place of my own it would have to be in the country. When you're used to the sight of a fox darting across a snowy, moonlit landscape, or the sweet aroma of new hay being packed away in the barn, or the sound of frogs croaking at the arrival of spring, it is simply impossible to consider any other way of life.

Soon after we were married, Nancy and I had the opportunity to purchase an old house and a few acres. The house had not been cared for properly for about 15 years, and needless to say, was in rather poor condition. There was no heating or septic system, the water pipes had all burst during previous winters, only three electrical outlets worked, windows had been broken, and the front porch floor had rotted into oblivion. The lawn had become a tall pasture and the shrub border consisted of lilacs supported primarily by honeysuckle, brambles, and poison ivy.

In thinking back, I believe the main reason we fell in love with this place was because it had been neglected so long. We realized that every single project we undertook would be a fantastic improvement. By squinting our eyes very hard, we could picture what the house and lawn must have looked like at one time, and we became determined to bring it back to life again.

Three years went by while we both worked to save money for the much needed remodeling. On weekends we would drive up to our "new" home and work out in the yard. At one point, I recall thinking that maybe we ought to slow down a bit, as there wouldn't be much left to do when we actually moved in. What a joke! (We've lived in the house for six years now, and I've come to the conclusion that we'll never really finish restoring the place.)

At the end of our three-year wait and save period, we decided it was foolish to delay remodeling any longer. The cost of building materials was rising much faster than our savings balance!

We contacted a local builder who gave us much needed advice on soundness of the structure, major jobs that must be done, and approximate cost. Nancy drew up a rough plan of the changes and additions we desired, and my father, being an architect, drew up the final plans.

Saturday Meetings

To help keep remodeling costs down, our builder agreed to meet us each Saturday morning and advise on how and what to start removing. This consisted of such jobs as tearing out walls, small closets, and the four brick chimney flues. These various tasks took several months, and finally we were ready for the carpenters, electrician, plumber, roof man, and heating system installers.

Before long we had a five-zone heating system, new electrical wiring, a septic system where the garden used to be, insulation and storm windows installed, a new front porch, and new wallboard tacked over the existing horsehair plaster mix.

Unfortunately, things did not go exactly as we had anticipated, and our remodeling costs began to soar way over the initial estimate.

When the roof man came to repair broken and missing portions of our slate roof, he found that each slate had weathered so much that it was impossible to replace one without splintering each surrounding one. Naturally, the only solution was to install an entire new roof.

On another occasion, we accidentally discovered a large colony of termites when I fell through the kitchen floor. This led to a rather extensive wood replacement bill.

The major remodeling took four months and we were finally ready to move in. There were still several inconveniences to contend with such as the eight-foot hole in the wall where the fireplace would eventually go. Fortunately it was springtime and these conditions were corrected by mid-summer.

We have been here for six years now and have found that this particular abode is not always the "dream house in the country" we first envisioned.

Our white frame house sits on top of the windiest hill in the area and heating costs are phenomenal. We thought we had taken enough heat conservation measures, but it turns out we were sadly mistaken. Additional insulation, plastic over the storm windows, and 100 pine seedling as a future wind break all help, but we still have a long way to go.

Termites have been a constant problem, and after unsuccessful trench and treating of the house myself, we finally had a professional exterminator in. We still have termites in the outbuildings that will have to be controlled this spring.