The First Improvement

Well, maybe not the first improvement- as Tim has already mentioned, I think the 7 hours I spent cleaning the bathroom may have been the first improvement we made to the house. But, one of the first things that we accomplished was removing the woodstove. For one reason or another, previous owners had decided to install a massive woodstove in the middle of what would be the dining room. We assume that they used it to heat the house- judging by the layer of smokey-grime that was all over the walls. It was also a mere 12 feet from the wood burning fireplace in the living room. Design genius!



I should also mention that before moving to Oregon, Tim and I made a list (it started as a list at least) of what needed to be done to this house when we arrived. For those that know me, you won't be surprised to learn that the list quickly morphed into a 99-line-item Excel spreadsheet- complete with estimated costs, estimated time for completion, and each major project broken down into phases and much...much...more. To bring it back to the story, I had originally estimated that it would take an entire day to remove the woodstove. It was big, metal, heavy, and mounted on a brick foundation. It also had a faux-brick backer board behind it. When thinking about this daunting task, I imagined we may even need to rent a jackhammer to break out all of that brick. At the very least, I anticipated toiling for hours with a chisel and hammer breaking out each brick one by one.

Imagine our surprise when we attempted to remove the brick and found that the previous owner had laid the brick over the existing (awesome 1970's) linoleum! It literally came up like butter- if bricks and linoleum can be accurately described as a diary product. Thankfully, Tim's Dad hadn't left yet, so together they were able to carry the stove out onto the back patio and get it OUT of the dining room. If it had been left up to me, I may still be huffing and puffing trying to push that thing out of here.


So- First Improvement: Woodstove gone! House saved from numerous fire hazards and general ugliness!