renovation strains marriage

For years Kitt and her husband gritted their teeth as more and more things went wrong with their old house. When they finally got some money together they decided to raze most of the old house rather than fix it up, but it strained their marriage to the point where both wanted to walk out!

"We loved the area we lived in," says Kitt, "and because of this we put up with years of living in a dump."

"We didn't want to waste money fixing up one dead loss after another," explains Kitt, "so we waited until we had enough money to do something major with the place."

"Finally, we had the back of the house razed and a new section built," says Kitt. "It's finished now and it's great - but I'd never do it again - it nearly killed us living in the front two rooms while the work was being done out the back, and at several points both of us threatened to walk away and never come back."

"For three months while the new section was being built we had no kitchen, no bathroom, no sitting room and no laundry," laughs Kitt. "We had water and electricity, of course, and we were thankful for that!"

"We had to use buckets for washing and toileting - and we used a single hot plate to heat water and cook food."

"At the time I wasn't working and I just had one kid so it wasn't too bad," says Kitt. "My main priority was to get my husband and daughter clean enough to face the world every day - and I just had to let myself go."

"For three months I didn't wear make-up or smell too good," laughs Kitt. "but I only had to face the builders - not the world - so I didn't feel too embarrassed."

"One thing did happen that really upset me, though," explains Kitt. "A girlfriend living interstate called to say she was visiting and wanted somewhere to stay."

"I told her that our old house was razed out the back and we were living in two rooms without a kitchen and bathroom, and she didn't believe me!"

"She had the cheek to turn up at the old house a week later and when she saw the absolute mess we were living in she took off in a huff."

"I haven't heard from her since," sighs Kitt, "but I did hear that she complained bitterly to others about my expecting her to live in a pigsty!"

"Finally, after three miserable months - the worse time we had ever had in the old house - the builders left and then the real DIY work began."

"We did the plastering, tiling and painting ourselves," says Kitt. "Well, I did most of it because I wasn't working - and every time I wanted to scream about the pain of it all I counted my blessings."

"Not everyone can even afford to buy an old dump like the one we started off with," says Kitt. "A roof over your head, even if it is sagging a bit, is better than nothing."

"Honestly, though, when you start renovating you never stop," says Kitt. "And despite all the money, blood and guts we poured into this place it still looks the same from the front."

"If we had the money, we would have razed the whole house and built a new one," says Kitt. “The whole thing has taken a toll on our marriage that I never thought possible and I will never agree to go through another renovation.”