The Basement Wins.

So, small hiccup. About two weeks ago, Sam and I both noticed a small wet spot on the carpet that's in the spare bedroom in the basement. I chalked it up to the dog peeing there (I'm not sure why now that I look back on it...he does NOT just pee willy-nilly in the house). Sam, luckily, didn't easily let it go. Come to find out we had a leaky pipe that needed to be repaired immediately. The water had been leaking for a few weeks, it had soaked the floor and seeped under the carpet in the bedroom next door to the utility closet. Long story short, we got it fixed, pulled up the carpet and got everything nice and dry. We totally thought we'd lucked out. Not that big of a problem and we thought we'd salvaged the carpet. We'd just need to clean it and we'd be in business for a renter.

Then, Murphy, (as Dave says) knocked on our door. A few nights ago, Sam poked his head down the steps because he thought he heard something. Yeah, he did hear something. A burst pipe with water shooting EVERYWHERE. A couple inches of water coated our basement floor, many of our packing boxes with many of our belongings, and the carpet is dead. I'm not really into mold so the carpet, along with a few of the walls/drywall has to go.

It's fixed. Everything's OK. It really only cost a few hundred dollars (so far) but mostly, the basement is going to take a bit more work than planned. I'm OK with it. The basement, in its current state, is one of THE ugliest places I've ever been in. It needs some love. I'm learning to be as frugal as possible thanks to these sites. Check them out. Sweet inspiration.
Young House Love
Bower Power
Barefoot in the Kitchen
Ana White
And thanks to Sarah: Man vs. Debt
Happy perusing. Try to not be inspired.

That's where we're at. There will be before and after pictures.
n.