But I’m leaving it in.
Since I’m going to need to move into this place sooner than anticipated, I’ve been cleaning up the stuff I thought I was going to just demo and be done with it. And it is DISGUSTING. Clearly, the last person who lived here didn’t bother to clean when they moved out. There is thick dirt and dust everywhere. The windows were filthy — on the inside. The dehumidifier and sump pump were unplugged for who knows how long so there was this mildew-y musty stench, well, its still there but its not as bad as it was. I didn’t think I had allergies, but this little house triggered something in me. For the first few months I wore a mask when inside the house because the furnace just managed to make everything airborne and I’d end up with asthma.
The drawer in the featured photo above was something I found today while cleaning. It’s filled with molded crumbs, dead maggot bodies and two whimsical ice cream spoons. I have no idea what was going on here. It looks as if the person had the drawer open while they did stuff like chopping on the counter. Whatever it was, its pretty nasty. I scrubbed it down and got rid of that contact paper. But I think I’m going to have to sand this one down and repaint it before I can feel comfortable storing anything inside of it.
Vent cleaning
Last week I had a new high efficiency furnace and air conditioner installed. This means I needed to tackle the vents and air returns. I’m fairly certain that its been probably decades since they were last cleaned. Good thing I purchased that Craftsman Wet-Dry vac. I really needed to get in there and get out years of dust and gross. In one cold air return I found a bunch of cigarette buts. Lovely. I have been taking a scrub brush with some Mr. Clean and scrubbing corners and edges while I vacuum up the soapy, filthy water, like the dental hygienist does when they clean your teeth. To do anything less just spreads the dirt around and doesn’t actually remove it from the floor.
This photo doesn’t really capture the level of filth on the floor.
After I took the vent off and vacuumed and scrubbed it, it still looked like this:
A clean vent?
I decided to take some spray paint to it. I don’t want to buy new ones quite yet because I know that some of the HVAC will get moved around after the 2nd demo. In fact, the location of this vent in the kitchen will one day be the location of my bathtub.
I have to say they look amazing with a coat of fresh paint.
This Vent is Good as New!
I kind-of wish I would have taken some close ups of the windows for before and afters. The years of yellow, sticky nicotine build up was really disgusting. But now the glass is so clear it looks like there is no glass at all. I plan on replacing all the windows as they are double storm windows and they were also installed incorrectly so that they all leak if enough water gets between them. I’m certain I’ll pull off that drywall to find some mold in the future. But I wanted to wait until I was ready to re-side the house before replacing them and reinsulating, so I’m going to have to make due. I did a pretty hack caulking job to hold them over until they can be replaced. Hopefully that will dry things out in the short-term.
Update: I discovered this disgusting pair of filthy used underwear while vacuuming under some shelves. -_-
ewwwwwww
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