Hudson Valley Home Ownership: What’s Behind your Walls

Ever wonder what is behind the walls in your house or possibly under the floor you are walking on. Sometimes you have a pretty good idea and sometimes you don't. I have always heard that my house was in pretty good shape but today I saw the proof. And no I haven't found any buried treasure, yet.

The house I live in I bought almost 20 years ago. When I moved in things were a bit dated but for the most part, the house was in good shape. The original portion of the house was built in 1950. I always had plans to redo a few things but as you know "the best-laid plans" sometimes go unfinished.

I was lucky that the family who built my house also took a lot of pride in keeping it up and using good materials. That could be the reason why so much of the house has held up so well over time. The gentleman who built my house was named Roy and he took a lot of pride in crafting his own work into to the house and its wall.

Much like Maren Morris' song "The Bones" I am happy to say the bones of my house are good. The engineer who first inspected my home when I bought it said that the house was actually really overbuilt and should stand for a long time. Well, all I can say is he was right and Roy truly was a craftsman.

This week I have begun a job in my house that needed to be done probably 5 years ago. I have a one and half bathroom house and both bathrooms needed lots of work. Again the bones were good but the cosmetics had gotten pretty bad. So I grab a great contractor who also happens to be a great neighbor and by the end of the week, I should have a new bathroom.

The best part is he isn't really having too much trouble with the renovation because the people who did the work before him seemed to have done it right. I put off this job for a long time because I was sure it was going to be a nightmare and it turns out I couldn't have been more wrong. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith.

So far so good. The only thing that could make it better is if it turns out someone hid a secret stash of money in the wall so I can afford to do the kitchen.