We bought our first home in Jan '99, a cute little bungalow on a smallish lot. It’s 30 years old but in good repair and well maintained by the previous owners. Due to the time of year when we bought, we could not appreciate the poor quality of the lawn area, and it has degraded further much to the chagrin of our neighbours.
We spent a lot of money the first year simply trying to aquire the tools and goods needed to run a home effectively. Our problem is that we didn’t want to buy some cheapo crap that will last 2 seasons and be broken down, so we got the really expensive crap that’ll break down in 3. Lawnmower, hedge trimmer, garden shears, extension cords, fertilizer thingy, hose, hose cart, garden shovels, wheelbarrow, step ladder, outdoor christmas lights, road salt, snow shovels, plus all the inside stuff that you need to get moving from a 1BR apartment to a 3BR house.
Over the last year and a half, I have seen a hawk successfully prey upon a pigeon in our yard, seen evidence of 3 birds being preyed upon (apparently the hawk doesn’t like wings), 6 birds striking our windows, a squirrel carcass under our deck, and a rat dead at the bottom of our garden.
We also have a strange semi-transient localized odour that appears at irregular intervals, but mostly in the evening, and mostly around the front door. It’s like a fishy-rubbery smell…kinda like the inside of an innertube?
Fall '99 we discover a patch of water spread across the carpet in the finished basement (enough to splash when you step in it). We plugged a 1" diameter hole through the foundation (looks like it was drilled there to pass a cable through). We cleaned that up in a few days.
April 23 '00 we inherit a 26 year old pregnant single verge-of-bankruptcy sister-in-law and her 2 cats to ‘help her out’. We set her up in the finished basement, and tell her she’s paying rent.
May 1 '00 the cats are peeing on our stuff…including our new leather chairs (got them March 24)
May 12 '00 big thunder storm for hours, power goes out and the sump pump can’t empty the rising water. We get 3" of water covering 1600Sq.ft of basement. This gets both our stuff and hers. We try to clean it up ourselves to prevent the hassle of going through insurance. We were bailing when it happened at 10PM, and were still cleaning at 3AM (just to get the thick out). The two of us were each shocked once during the evening (her-ground fault, me-lightning strike).
May 14 '00 the 2 of us are out of town for 4 days on business. We leave instructions to keep the basement windows open to air it out.
May 18 '00 we get home and discover the stench of old-water-logged carpet and furniture.
“It really smells here” the sister says.
“Did you keep the windows open?”
“No, I didn’t want to go downstairs. One of the cats is in a box (dead) in the root cellar”.
Turns out, the cats had been walking around in the soaked carpet downstairs where the litter box was (with clumping cat litter) and they were getting clumps on their feet. I’m guessing that he was trying to clean himself. She had put him in a box and left him there and waited for us (for a day and a half) because she didn’t know what to do with him.
May 19 '00 I take the body to be cremated, then we drive for 8 hours to their parents house for the weekend (which means our house is now locked up tight). We leave her and the cat there.
May 22 '00 we get home and are overpowered by the smell…we call the insurance company to gut the basement.
May 27 '00 we spend the weekend (14 hours each day) moving the sister out of the basement (we just moved her in one month earlier) and into our space. Our guest room is now being used.
July 1 '00 We start drywalling the basement because the insurance company doesn’t want to replace the paneling that was there. We are interupted by the leaking ceiling in the basement bathroom (directly below the main bath). I get covered with toilet water and soiled wet drywall as I investigate the source. I spend 2 days aquiring tools and parts to to repair a toilet wax ring, shut-off valve, toilet flush mechanisms. After 3 days, we have only 5 sheets of drywall on the walls.
July 23 '00 I can hear water dripping on a windowsill on a rainy Sunday. It sounds like it’s outside, but it turns out to be splashing on the inside. As I check out the roof, I have to go to a neighbours yard to see the shingles that have rotted (bird poo) and exposing the roof sheathing. This is the only part of the roof that we couldn’t see during the inspection. I’ve put plastic over the area temporarily.
August 1 '00 we call the insurance contractor to arrange for the carpet guy to come in. We want to have it installed by Aug 25.
August 10 '00 we get our first payment from the sister…it’s half of one months rent. She has a job, as well as getting money from at least three sources who feel sorry for her staying with use(!). She doesn’t buy groceries, but buys CDs, gas and her $400 CRV lease.
August 17 '00 we finally hear from a NEW carpet guy (who’s NOT trying to rip us off this time). He says it’ll take 3 weeks.
August 18 '00 we discover evidence that the sisters current/ex-boyfriend (who is ‘known’ to the police) was at our place (2 sets of dishes in the sink) while we were at work. We told her he was not allowed at our place EVER! This was later confirmed (unwittingly) by a phone call from him. We start looking at changing our locks.
August 21 '00 we finish painting the basement
the saga continues…