Day Five: Fixing Our Accidents

It's another hot day.  Over 100 degrees with the heat index.

We had one goal in mind today:  fix what we had broken yesterday.  We had to cut out a fairly large hole underneath the sink to try to find the wires that I had hit.  I found two wires directly behind the bottom screw, but wouldn't ya know it, the wires seemed fine.  We debated long and hard about the condition of the wires, but they just seemed unscathed.  After much pondering, discussion, feeling for holes with our fingernails, we decided that maybe the screw just barely nicked a wire.  We saw absolutely NO damage.

The kitchen as we came back to it.  We would spend way too many hours in here.

With that in mind, Dad decided to install the junction box elsewhere under the sink.  He was trying to feed wire through his new hole over to the large cut-out under the sink but couldn't seem to line up the wire.  So I stuck my hands up in the hole and tried to feel for the wire.  "Um, Dad, there are two MORE wires up here."  He couldn't believe it.

Sure enough, these two wires lined up with the top screw.  He didn't think that made sense since I didn't get shocked at all when screwing in the bottom screw, but I told him I wasn't sure I had touched the junction box when I screwed in the bottom screw.  Because I didn't screw in the top screw all the way, I had simply let gravity line up the bottom hole, and used the screwdriver to start the screw in the hole.

So I used the Dremel tool to cut even more cabinet, drywall, and 2x4 out of the way.  And what a definitive answer we had.  I had undoubtedly hit one of the top wires with the screw.  A large black hole was so obvious in the middle of the wire.

The live wire that I had inadvertently screwed into.  We now had a LARGE project on our hands.

While pleased with the definitive find, Dad was not pleased with what that meant in terms of work.  This project just turned even harder...and longer.  We needed to replace the ENTIRE wire all the way back to the junction box.

After much confusion and misinterpretation over the four wires we now saw, Dad made some all-too-eager cuts of the wrong wires.  So that made our project even longer!  We now had to replace TWO wires back to the junction box.

The only real way of doing this was to rip off siding from the back and open up the walls.  I hated doing it, and every hole that we put into the wall was added labor to my siding contractor (and a weaker wall and vapor barrier), but we had an electrical danger on our hands.

Ripping up the aluminum siding to get to the damaged wire.

We made SEVERAL holes in the wall to follow the wire.  Sigh.

Long story short, the nearly entire day was spent replacing the punctured electrical wire.  We worked from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. on this project alone.  It really was a poor day in terms of productivity.

I was able to install a new garbage disposal (I figured I might as well since the age and long-term functionality of ther other was unknown) and replace the cracked and leaking plumber's putty on both sides of the kitchen sink.  But other than that, that was all that was accomplished today.

As painful as it was, both Dad and I can sleep knowing that the electrical problem was found and fixed.  The definition of frustration, though, is that this problem was self-induced.  I now have a new garbage disposal, but wouldn't ya know it, we did not install a junction box after all.  Sigh.

The heat outside was unbearable again, and that didn't help today.  But I had to have some sort of satisfaction.  The kitchen was left a mess, and I needed to get Dad home away from this harsh work.  So I went home for supper, then returned for more work.

I purchased and installed a P-trap to replace the illegal flexible pipe.  I also covered up our large hole where the whole electrical fiasco took place.  I also replaced the very dirty and unattractive linoleum cover in the bottom of the kitchen with new that I had from another home.

Below the sink is now complete.  New linoleum, some new P-trap, new garbage disposal.

All in all, the kitchen looks GREAT!  A working dishwasher, a new garbage disposal, two non-leaking sinks, and a deep clean with bleach.

The kitchen finally complete.  Just missing a refrigerator.

I knew a foreclosure remodel would come with some headaches, but self-induced headaches are so much more frustrating than ones you can't control.

Oh, well, life goes on.  We lost probably 15-20 man hours over the last two days, but at least we are back in business.

I started to patch up the bathtubs but quickly realized that what I thought was a white bathtub was actually almond or biscuit.  So I put that project on hold.  I was pleased, though, to find that the previous repair job was to cover a chip and not a hole.  That's pretty exciting.  :)

The previous repair job in the main bedroom bathtub.  I thought it was a hole.

After sanding, the fiberglass repair came off.  It turns out it was just a chip!  Woo hoo!!!

I sanded the woodfiller on the floors from yesterday and added a second coat of filler.  That project is now done.

Little by little.

I'm pretty excited for the future of this house.  It's coming together.  Now if only closing will come!!!

One more fun piece of information from the day.  On the drive home from working on the house, my realtor called.  "Andy, they found termites."  Yup, I'm not kidding.  I wasn't overly surprised and honestly was probably more surprised by my subdued reaction.  It was basically a business decision.  In my mind I was thinking, "Ok, so I looked at the foundation.  It's solid.  I saw no signs of damage.  I knew termites had been here in the past, as the wood floors showed that.  It's just a bummer that they are still here.  Ha!  My realtor's helper has been telling me for the past week that everything is fine with the termite inspection...that no news is good news!  Yeah, about that.  I kind of had a hunch and repeatedly asked her about the results.  Hmm, so that's a $700-$900 setback...I still hope they let me go through with this purchase.  So I lose $900, but this house is still in good shape.  It's a setback, but ok..."

Honestly, that was it.  I basically just treated it as a "bottom line" message.  My upfront expenses would now be more.  I was disappointed, for sure, but I still want the home.  There is simply just too much potential in this house, I feel, and I believe the termites can be overcome.

Oh, what a day.  So many steps forward...some big steps back.  But we're moving along.  Such is the life of a flipper!!!