The egress window was finally in.
The back porch had new footings. The front stairs were being repaired. A crew was cleaning the house and getting ready to haul away everything I had left behind.
I had already emptied the place for listing photos and accepted an offer from buyers who had not seen it in person. The open permit work did not disappear when the offer arrived. The basement still needed a legal path, and the house still needed the work that path required.
The final push was physical and ordinary. Install the window. Repair the stairs. Fix the porches. Clear the yard. Clean the floors. Finish enough trim and electrical work to let the inspector see what had changed.
When the crew asked whether anything inside needed to be saved, my answer was simple: “Trash or repurpose. We have everything we need.”
Two days later, the contractor sent an update before dawn. The yard was cleared. The foundation had been power-washed. Both porches were painted. Mulch had gone around the front porch “for some pizzaz.” The floors were next.
The building inspector had also made a preliminary visit. According to the contractor, he was impressed and said the improvements were far beyond what he expected.
That did not mean the house was finished. Trim and electrical work remained. The photograph from earlier that month shows one of the open control panels and the web of wires still inside it. “Electrical work” was a short phrase for a fairly specific mess.
The buyers were coming back for an updated showing the next morning. A few months earlier they had made an offer from the listing photos. This time the yard would be clean, the porches painted, and the egress window in place.
I thanked the crew for the update and for the diligence. Then they went back to the trim and wiring.