Yesterday was day 1 of our HVAC adventure!  We found out that most of our duct work is in good condition (miracle), so luckily we won’t have to do too much there.  But both units – an AC unit and a heat pump – were completely shot, thanks to this fiasco.

Remember these bad boys?

Well now it looks like this:

Oh, and our yard looks like this:

I knew that taking out the units would have an impact, but I was totally shocked at how much space is now freed up in the basement!  All of a sudden it is double the size we thought.  Here are a few before shots:

And here it is now:

All gone!!  Of course, there will be some duct work running through when it’s all said and done, but it will be very minimal and take up very little space.  So here’s the scoop… we hired Jackson & Sons to get everything out and set us up for new systems (although we won’t be installing them until much later for fear of another theft).  They ripped out all of the duct work and shotty insulation in the basement, disconnected and removed the two outside units, and removed the basement furnace.  We plan to go back with a new heat pump and gas pack that will be much more efficient and cost effective in the long run.  Also, I really want to install a Nest thermostat like this one.

In other news, the entire downstairs, minus the kitchen, has gotten at least one coat of primer!  All of a sudden, the ugly green trim is almost gone and the walls are stark white and everything looks so much cleaner and so much bigger.  It’s a little overwhelming!

The chandelier in the second picture totally looks like a ghost, right? ;)

The walls are stark white now so that our painter can see any imperfections that need fixing, but the final primer will be tinted in these colors, mainly because the cost to paint right now is just not feasible.

Well, that’s it for today.  I hope y’all have a nice weekend.  I’m hoping these temperatures will stick around for a while!

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