With the roof repairs done, it was time to tackle the water damage left behind.
It looks both worse and better than it was.
Pro-tip: Clean up your damaged materials before the roofer’s dumpster is removed. 😉
First, the challenges: conducting major home repairs with no electricity can be tricky. Props to my partner, Sergiu, for making it work.
Making things more difficult, we don’t and did not live in this house yet (obviously), so every time we wanted to do any work we had to battle NYC traffic, a toddler who hates his car seat, a 9 year old with too many weekend obligations, and freezing temperatures (it took months for the wood to thaw out enough to dry after the roof was replaced).
Also, for the entirety of months February, March, and April I was chained to my computer, trying to complete my master’s thesis by the deadline (spoiler, I did! but it was a rough go there for a while). Add to that a narrow staircase with a sharp corner (PIVOT!), and the entire process was pretty comical. And a bit irritating, as Sergiu had to hand-cut a lot of drywall in order to get it up that staircase.
Finally, the easy bits: He had a great helper in our 9 year old, who has been a bit obsessive about keeping those stairs clean ever since we bought a broom.
And Sergiu is a straight-up pro. He knows what he is doing, he does it well, and he knows it.* It took him but a few hours to insulate, patch, replace, and drywall/plaster up that hole. I try not to give him too many compliments (or his head won’t fit through that stairway, either!), but he does nice work.
*Cocky bastard.
The Wassaic Maison 