Deferred maintenance

If a man's house were a reflection of his physical condition, then I'd be hooked up to tubes in a nursing home.  I took possession of my present habitation yea, these many years ago.  For the most part, aside from re-roofing and replacemen of gutters, I've relied on its original good condition ever since. 

But like teeth that are never brushed, the problems of a house that receives minimal maintenance can eventually no longer be concealed. 

So what do you do when you're essentially an idle dreamer, with little interest in caring for your own possessions?  Easy answer -- you call upon the services of your experienced, energetic, do-it-yourself-er brother!

And so, my brother and his wife have trekked northward from southern California for a week, and have been sizing up what needs to be done.  He has leapt into the role of a general contractor -- lining up subs for some of the more specialized work, while planning (along with his wife) on doing some of the more basic work himself.

When the project has been completed -- sometime in mid-summer -- I'll have new insulation, newly finished floors, new bathroom fixtures and kitchen appliances, and a renovated back deck.  I'll also have the minimum seismic retrofitting necessary to obtain earthquake insurance -- in preparation (financially, if not physically or emotionally) for the Big One for which Seattle is said to be overdue.

Left to my own devices, my home would gradually crumble into ruins about me.  My brother's enthusiasm is catching, however, and the battle against Deferred Maintenance will soon be under way.