Renovations, anyone?

Over the past two years, Aaron and I have become infamous for our last minute renovation projects. There was the bathroom re-caulking project that turned into a full blown bathtub renovation....twice. Then there was the kitchen reno, which started when Aaron began ripping out the cabinets while I still had things on the counters and in some of the drawers.

The latest project started this evening when we were moving furniture. This past week, an opportunity to rent our basement suite arose, and because the timing seemed good, we decided to take it. The above picture was taken 2 years ago, before we bought the house. There were only a few things to be done to prepare: put up a door to separate the suite from the rest of the house, remove personal items from the rooms and clean up a bit. At least that's what we thought.

While moving a shelf, the corner of it caught on a corner of the carpet (a remnant the last owners put down over the original lino tiles)and pulled it back. To our shock and horror, we saw that the underside of the corner of the rug was completely BLACK and soaked. MOLD.

So, needless to say, we find ourselves in the throes of yet another renovation. Now come all the decisions. How much of the basement do we renovate? Do we just do the rooms in the suite, or do we do the 2 other rooms that are not part of it as well? Do we rip up and renovate the suite bathroom while we're at it (it does need to be done)? And, of course, the kicker...how do we pay for all of this. It makes me happy to know that things will be new, clean, fresh...but the thought of the work and the money just makes me crazy.


This picture was taken about 20 minutes after we started the "demo"