Who's Afraid of a Little Inspection??

The inspector did his look-see (several hours worth) on Friday, sent his report today. Luckily he walked me, my brother and F. through the highlights on Friday (The Husband is away in the homelands of the Midwest, being a good son and making his wife proud.). The two big issues: the house needs a new roof - and gutters, and eave works; and a new circuit board - there are several old fuse boxes in the house, all with larger fuses than they were designed to handle, but still not enough to power modern appliances. There are wooden (wooden!) gutters on the lower level of the house, and the inspector illustrated the need for new ones by taking his poking tool and reaching up to poke a hole in the gutter over the garage - with no apparent effort. Yikes.

The inspector waxed rhapsodically about the state-of-the-art furnace, installed in 2006, with 97% efficiency rating and sparkling new ductwork. His enthusiasm was infectious, but our spirits dimmed a bit when he told us there was absolutely no insulation in the attic, and several upstairs windows did not close all the way. So much for furnace efficiency! Quirks all over the house, including a panic switch in the second bedroom; when switched, it rings a very loud alarm bell outside. Say wha???

F., my brother, our friend who stopped by, all tried to persuade me to keep the giant banquette and matching mod lighting fixture in the kitchen. I agreed to consider it, but the butterflies have GOT to go.