Weekend Work

Right now, I have 2 objectives:

1 - Get the yard to where my two dogs can hang out there and I don't have to worry about what they're getting into, and 
2 - Get the house to where the occupancy inspector doesn't give me a giant list of things that need to be done for me to get an occupancy permit. 

The yard is far from decent, but since it rained all weekend I spent my time inside the house, alternating between plastering bad spots in the walls and ceilings, and painting. 

Why am I painting, if I'm going to rehab the place? Because the house stinks. Bad. 

It's a story for another day, but the house smells like a dog's restroom, X 6-10 dogs. The 5 gallons of Kilz I went through was an effort to knock down whatever the dogs did to the walls, and I probably still need another 5 gallons. The kitchen, which is drywall, just soaked up the paint, which means it's been forever since it was last painted and/or it's only ever had a coat or two of paint in its life. 

I'm not aiming for pretty, or good, or even decent; I'm just trying to get paint on the walls in the quickest manner possible. Plus, the previous paint job wasn't done very well - drips and runs everywhere - so it doesn't make sense to spend a lot of time getting everything just right. So far, I don't think the paint has made any difference in the funk.

​After doing a little googling, I figured I'd try a different plan of attack: baking soda. The front room, which is really like 3 rooms put together, has a wood floor (though not the original). 

There are stains all over the floor, and the closer I get to the floor, like when I'm painting or grabbing tools or whatever, the worse it smells. From what the neighbors have told me it sounds like the dogs had the run of the place, and it shows. And smells. I'm guessing the wood floor, and the wood floor underneath it, which might be the original wood floor, is where the odor is headquartered.  

So, before calling it a day, I dumped 4 boxes of baking soda on the floor in the front room, and broomed it all over the place. I'll let it sit overnight, or maybe even for a couple days, then vacuum the floor, and probably mop it, and see what happens. I'll replace the floor eventually, but right now having a gross floor I don't care about is pretty nice, because it means I don't have to worry about drop cloths or dropping tools and denting anything. 

Of course, if the smell doesn't go away, floor replacement may quickly rise on the priority list.