The house is already 100% better after cleaning out all of the trash lying around, removing the carpet from the 2nd bedroom, and in general sweeping up to start with a true "blank slate". Here are a list of the other things we have done so far:
1. We have totally cleaned out the standing/decomposing sewage from the basement (gross). According to the neighbors, the sewer line was backed up or otherwise disconnected for 6-7 months. The residents of the house KNEW this, and continued to use the facilities, with all of the waste emptying directly into the basement for that amount of time. In the corners of the basement, there were piles of sewage about knee high. The rest of the basement was flooded with about 1-2" of waste, decomposing and attracting flies. Luckily there was a break in the hot weather, and with coveralls, rainboots, plastic gloves, a shovel, and 4 5-gallon buckets it only took 2 days of work to empty the basement. (The basement is only below the bathroom and kitchen, so it is a small space compared to the rest of the house.) This was a huge deal, because without cleaning out the basement we can't work on the plumbing or electrical.
2. New electrical panels and circuit breakers are purchased, ready to install. The utility company disconnected the main power on Friday, so now the panel can be replaced. Before this happens, we have to secure the basement- it currently has an access from the outside via an opening in the basement wall. Since the copper wiring has already been stripped once by someone, we need to secure this so we don't run the risk of losing all of our new copper.
3. Trash has all been removed. It took 2 loads that filled a double car-hauler flat bed trailer (about 20' long). We lost track of counting, but there were well over 60 styrofoam cups from the gas station down the road that used to hold 30 oz sodas. The former owners loved their Polar Pops!
4. Cleaned and swept out all of the rooms, and we have started on demolition. This part is fun!
5. Secured the garage. We will probably use the garage for staging and storing materials, as we buy them and bring them to the house. Since we are using as many found, recycled, craigslist, and salvage materials as possible, this will be key! Having a place to store doors until we get to the point of actually using them means we can shop ahead and shop around to get the lowest price for the best quality we can. The garage was missing windows, so we re-purposed old single-pane storm windows by nailing them over the openings on the inside. With some curtains to conceal the materials we are storing inside, this should be OK for security. Also a combination lock for the hasp on the regular door, until we get a new exterior door that includes a lockset and/or deadbolt. The garage door has a new lock from the inside, preventing anyone from opening it.
6. Tested the sewer line. The former owners did go to all the trouble to dig (by hand) a ditch for the sewer line, and install new PVC pipe. The neighbors confirmed the installation was finished, but the trench never filled in again. I guess they ran out of steam. So, before we fill in the holes (which I've already tripped over several times) we wanted to make sure everything was in good working order. It is. :-) So tomorrow a friend with a big yard tractor is coming over to use the loader to fill in the trench, and he'll use the tiller attachment to smooth out the rest of the yard, too. It's not the best time of year to be growing new grass, but we'll probably throw down some seed and spread out some straw in the attempt to keep the weeds at bay during the summer. We also don't have water, so watering the lawn to make the grass grow is not an option right now.
7. The neighbors have confirmed seeing a massive raccoon who is apparently making his home in the crawlspace/basement of the house. We have rigged up a live trap, and hopefully we will catch him or he will move on before we get to doing any wiring down there. :-/ I would hate to meet a raccoon face-to-face while on my belly in the dirt under the house.
Next steps:
A. Install the new electrical panel, crawl into the crawl spaces and attic to check out the wiring that is left after the copper miners came through. Determine the full extent of the re-wire (planning on all new wiring as the worst-case scenario, and this is probably the course we are going to take)
B. Finish demo of the areas we know will be completely redone. Demo the existing trim, some to salvage, and the rest for replacement. Remove extra electrical boxes (in the middle of the walls instead of down by the floor?? Don't know why they would be in those locations.)
C. Walk through each room, and list the scope of all the work that has to be completed in the room. Determine a plan for the 3rd bedroom/Mud room area, how to maintain access to the basement but seal the exterior entrance (might mean rebuilding new cellar stairs).
D. Change all the deadbolts/locks. We only have one key, for the front door, and who knows how many keys still exist out there that still have access to the house. This will happen tomorrow.