I'm sure you thought you would never see another post since I haven't done any updates for four months, but I was reminded by Lawrence this evening that I need to let everyone know where we're at now, so here we go!
I'm happy to say that we are very close to completion on the inside of the house. There has been a flurry of activity, as well as a flurry of money going out for some big stuff. We now have all the new appliances purchased, delivered and installed in the kitchen. All stainless steel appliances include a big refrigerator, a huge gas stove with 4 big burners and a center elongated burner for a griddle in the middle, and a self-cleaning oven that also has convection. The dishwasher is in and very close to the large stainless steel sink with garbage disposal. The new tile supports all new solid wood cabinets, and the upper cabinets support a large microwave oven. The only thing missing are the countertops, which have been purchased and ordered and will be installed in about four weeks. The countertops are quartz from Spain and are being custom cut for us. The kitchen was repainted from blue to a pale yellow, the cabinets are oak, so they are fairly light in color, and of course the stainless appliances, so we decided to go chocolate brown on the countertops to even out the light and dark. I think it's going to look spectacular when it's all done.
When we bought the house, there was an small elevated wall behind the sink inside the opening leading into the living room. It was about eight inches tall, but not anymore. We decided to lower that wall so the countertops would extend out behind the sink towards the living room at the same level, and once past the opening they will have a curve. Perfect for setting up a buffet line or for eating at with stools. Lawrence cut out the wall and had to redirect plumbing and electrical to make it all work. He also installed a support system for the countertops with heavy lumber and braces. You could dance on the countertops and they won't budge....that's how robust the supports are!
All the tile is done in the laundry room, kitchen, both bathrooms, and the entryway. The only remaining tile work needed is the breakfast nook and a small patch that will be under the entertainment center along the huge living room wall. I decided on that because I don't like the entertainment center to be unstable sitting on carpet and padding. I want a firm base, and we'll have it.
Due to a hail storm that came through Houston a few weeks ago, we got a new roof! We needed one since the day we bought the house, and insurance paid for the whole thing, which I like. As is usual with everything we are doing to the house, it looks unlike anything the neighbors have. It's hard to explain the shingle pattern, but it's not just one color. There is a mix of light and dark, and it really pops. We also now have ridge vents to release hot air from the attic, and all new gutters. Lawrence installed two large rain barrels to collect rain from the gutter system, and he uses that water to take care of all the plants and trees we now have in the yard, which saves my water bill. Sadly, the hail also damaged the dogwood tree Lawrence planted in the front yard and it died. We're looking for a hearty replacement now.
Along with the kitchen cabinets, we also ordered vanities for the two bathrooms. The kitchen cabinets were in flat boxes and had to be assembled, but the bathroom vanities were one piece and complete, including granite tops with sinks, and they were very heavy. It took a forklift to get them into the back of the truck, and 3-4 grown men to get them off the truck and into the house. I have to say they are quite beautiful, and are not just cabinets, but actual pieces of fine furniture. Hand carved solid wood on sturdy legs, beautiful tops and sinks, and will look amazing when we install the new hardware on the sinks. In the guest bathroom we had to open up the wall to redirect all the plumbing for the sinks and to fit into the new vanity limited openings in the back. That set us back a couple of weeks. As with any large project, there are going to be delays, and we certainly have had our share.
So, here's what we still have to do to get moved in (not in exact order):
- Finish the tile in the breakfast nook
- Install plumbing to vanities in both bathrooms
- Install plumbing to dishwasher and sink in the kitchen
- Install hardware on both vanities
- Install hardware on both bathtubs
- Refinish both bathtubs to look new again
- Wait for countertops to be installed
- Make and install new shelving in the kitchen pantry
- Order and install all new carpet throughout the house
- Finish some base trim work
- Buy and install a new LED television in the living room (65" minimum)
- Start decorating walls and looking at new furniture for all the rooms
Later down the line I want to start installing my voice-over booth in the closet that is in the fourth bedroom, but will actually be our office. Also, sometime later this year when the weather cools off, I want to install a Bose ceiling speaker system in the living room (5 speakers), and an extra center-channel speaker in the kitchen so I can hear dialogue from the TV while I'm cooking.
Way down the line, we have had discussions of installing double-pane insulated windows all around, as well as a natural gas fed, whole-house backup generator system. We will also aggressively start work on the front and back yards once we get moved in.
I mentioned the house is a four bedroom house. There is the master bedroom, which is painted dark blue with white trim. Guest room #1, which is dark green with white trim, Guest room #2, which is dark red with white trim, and will possibly be turned into our photo studio for doing professional head shots and family portraits, and the fourth room which is our office and eventual voice studio. The office will have two desks and all the computers, printers, hard drives, large format photo printer, and everything else the modern home office would have.
The only deadline we are really under at this point is mid-October when Lawrence's parents come for a visit from Minnesota. We will definitely be in the house by then.
We look forward to having all our friends and family over to see what has taken us over a year and a half to complete, but even more forward to our new neighbors seeing the house for the first time. They have seen us go in and out all hours of the day and night, hearing saws cutting in the garage, hammering from inside the house, and probably wonder what has taken so long. They are about to find out, and I think we'll hear lots of "Holy Crap!!!" It will all be worth it at that moment.
Hopefully our next entry will announce that we have moved in and what it took do get that done. I'm sure it will be interesting.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
One Year Ago Today......
It's hard to believe, but one year ago today, on Valentine's Day of 2012, we closed on the new house and it became ours, and we haven't spent a night in it yet.
Also hard to believe is that we are still working on it a year later, and we still have a lot to do. Don't get me wrong...we have done a lot, but there is more to go. All the walls are textured and painted, all of the crown molding is in, most of the base molding is in, we just installed all new blinds in all the rooms, which really makes the place look great, and many other items completed. The main areas of concern right now are tile on the floors, then finish the baseboards, then carpet, as well as all the cabinets in the kitchen and both bathrooms, and new counter tops.
The only new appliance we have purchased, other then the washer and dryer when we first got the house, is a new microwave. We're still using the refrigerator that came with the house, but that will be replaced sometime in the future.
We had plans for Lawrence's parents flying down from Minnesota in June to see the house and vacation around Texas for a week, but we are holding off until maybe October. There's just too much to do, and we didn't want that close deadline looming over us.
As usual, Lawrence is doing all the work, and I help when I can. I commented the other day that he seems to get so much more done when I'm not there so he doesn't have to babysit me. When I am at work he sends me updates throughout the day as to what he has finished, and it amazes me what he can do by himself. I just slow him down. I think he's good with the arrangement.
Back to the tile and carpet for a second. We have decided it would be best if we hired someone to do the tile work instead of us. We have participated in demonstrations at Home Depot on how to lay tile, mix the mortar, do the grouting, etc. and in fact we have purchased a bunch of tile and everything to go with it, even a tile saw! The only thing we are missing is the hands-on knowledge and willingness to take that first step. Once the tile is down, it's down. There's no going back, and that's intimidating as hell. I'm currently getting bids for the work. I figured we saved so much money doing the work ourselves for a year, we can spend some of it to have the tile done right. We planned all along to have someone else do the carpet. We didn't even discuss doing it ourselves. We pulled up and threw out all of the old carpet a long time ago, so it's all concrete floors under our feet. We're so used to it now, it's gonna be weird to feel carpet under our feet one day.
On the funny side....we installed a huge heavy-duty wall mount system to hold our future new monstrous LED TV that will be mounted on the living room wall. We're thinking something between 65-80 inches of pure television bliss. In the meantime, we mounted a very small TV that's about 24 inches or so, and it looks like a postage stamp on that huge wall. It doesn't even cover the wall mount! It does the trick for now.
Once the inside is done, whenever that will be, Lawrence will start on the outside. I'm getting the feeling that our backyard is going to look something like an English castle garden. Trees, flowers, shrubs, birdbaths, bird feeders, bees everywhere, and Lawrence is talking about digging a small pond in the backyard with fish in it!
I guess I'll be in the poor house a while longer, but it's all worth it. It makes him happy.
Also hard to believe is that we are still working on it a year later, and we still have a lot to do. Don't get me wrong...we have done a lot, but there is more to go. All the walls are textured and painted, all of the crown molding is in, most of the base molding is in, we just installed all new blinds in all the rooms, which really makes the place look great, and many other items completed. The main areas of concern right now are tile on the floors, then finish the baseboards, then carpet, as well as all the cabinets in the kitchen and both bathrooms, and new counter tops.
The only new appliance we have purchased, other then the washer and dryer when we first got the house, is a new microwave. We're still using the refrigerator that came with the house, but that will be replaced sometime in the future.
We had plans for Lawrence's parents flying down from Minnesota in June to see the house and vacation around Texas for a week, but we are holding off until maybe October. There's just too much to do, and we didn't want that close deadline looming over us.
As usual, Lawrence is doing all the work, and I help when I can. I commented the other day that he seems to get so much more done when I'm not there so he doesn't have to babysit me. When I am at work he sends me updates throughout the day as to what he has finished, and it amazes me what he can do by himself. I just slow him down. I think he's good with the arrangement.
Back to the tile and carpet for a second. We have decided it would be best if we hired someone to do the tile work instead of us. We have participated in demonstrations at Home Depot on how to lay tile, mix the mortar, do the grouting, etc. and in fact we have purchased a bunch of tile and everything to go with it, even a tile saw! The only thing we are missing is the hands-on knowledge and willingness to take that first step. Once the tile is down, it's down. There's no going back, and that's intimidating as hell. I'm currently getting bids for the work. I figured we saved so much money doing the work ourselves for a year, we can spend some of it to have the tile done right. We planned all along to have someone else do the carpet. We didn't even discuss doing it ourselves. We pulled up and threw out all of the old carpet a long time ago, so it's all concrete floors under our feet. We're so used to it now, it's gonna be weird to feel carpet under our feet one day.
On the funny side....we installed a huge heavy-duty wall mount system to hold our future new monstrous LED TV that will be mounted on the living room wall. We're thinking something between 65-80 inches of pure television bliss. In the meantime, we mounted a very small TV that's about 24 inches or so, and it looks like a postage stamp on that huge wall. It doesn't even cover the wall mount! It does the trick for now.
Once the inside is done, whenever that will be, Lawrence will start on the outside. I'm getting the feeling that our backyard is going to look something like an English castle garden. Trees, flowers, shrubs, birdbaths, bird feeders, bees everywhere, and Lawrence is talking about digging a small pond in the backyard with fish in it!
I guess I'll be in the poor house a while longer, but it's all worth it. It makes him happy.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
I Didn't Lose Interest!
I assure you I didn't lose interest in the blog, I have been very busy at work with my new position and just haven't thought about it. Lawrence has been very busy as well, but he only needed to remind me about the blog and I would have written something. So there! :-)
I'll just follow up on what Lawrence wrote. The house is coming along nicely, and no, we have NOT moved in yet. Looks like it will be close to one year from when we bought it before we do. We bought it in February, if you remember.
So much has been done it's hard to remember all the changes. Yes, we have repainted a couple of the rooms for a couple of reasons. Originally we painted all the walls with a satin-finish paint that looked great, but it had a shiny look to it, and we didn't like it on the darker colored rooms. We repainted those rooms with the same color, but in a flat finish. It looks a lot better! On the lighter color rooms we kept the original paint since it's not nearly as noticeable.
A family friend named Doug came over a few weeks ago and helped redo the main water piping into the house and put in a new type of main water valve that doesn't require a lot of turning to turn it on and off...just a quick flip up or down does the trick. It came in handy this past weekend when a certain someone (not me) decided to loosen a new sink faucet that this certain someone (not me) installed instead of tightening it. The water to the house was on and the new faucet went flying across the room and a tremendous amount of water filled the bathroom floor. When it happened, I was in the other room and heard this certain someone (not me) screaming to "turn off the water!". No harm done, but we sure have a nice, clean floor now. Oh, and this certain someone (not me) got soaked during the ordeal.
I can't remember what all Lawrence talked about in his eloquent post, so I'll just list a few things we have done with the chance of repeating something:
1. The old garage door opener, which a certain someone (not me) destroyed by trying to open the door with the door locked, was removed and the new one installed. Very nicely done by Mr. Fabulous (not me). I helped a little.
2. We have amazing new lights on either side of the garage and in the front entrance to the house, and they come on automatically when it gets dark, dim and brighten as needed with movement near the house, and they are quite the talking point of the neighborhood.
3. We bought and installed a nice new stainless LG microwave oven in the kitchen. We haven't used it yet, but the clock looks nice.
4. Lawrence built some temporary shelving in the garage to hold assorted bits of lumber up and out of the way. It beats having all that lumber all over the living room floor and getting under foot.
5. Both of us...Yes, BOTH of us, finally started working on the two bathrooms and removed the old countertops with their attached sinks and faucets, all of which were awful, then removed the cabinetry. Those old cabinets are now in the garage and fit perfectly along one wall to support Lawrence's new workbench he will build on top of them.
6. We ran some new wire from the outside telephone box to the study where our AT&T U-Verse wireless internet system is located. The old wire was in very bad shape and we were surprised when we took it out just how bad it was! I was surprised we had any signal at all through that beat-up old wire. The new insulated Cat-6 wire gives us amazing speed now.
7. We purchased a new television antenna and assembled it in the living room, then promptly put it away in another room. We will install it in the attic when we are ready for it...namely when we buy that new TV we are eying. We have a 40-inch LCD television in the apartment now, and that will go either in the master bedroom in the house, or in the study. The new living room will easily accommodate our new 65-inch LED television when mounted on the wall. I wanted an 80-inch television, but at $5000....it's a no-go. The measly 65-incher will have to suffice. Oh, and at the same time we bought the new antenna, we also bought the new wall-mount for the TV. It was installed in the middle of that huge wall, but we don't have a TV to put on it yet. We kinda do things in weird order in case you haven't noticed. The mounting of that contraption was quite the ordeal. We measured the wall top to bottom, then left to right to find the perfect center spot. We then got out the fancy laser-level device and got the level correct, and wouldn't you know it, the placement of the studs behind the wall don't match the center of the wall. We had to end up shifting the mount a little left-of-center, but it will work.
8. Lawrence bought a bunch of new plants for the backyard, and planted them. It looks great out there, and we have barely started on the outside.
A couple of weeks ago, we invited some of the neighbors over to see the inside of the house. They have seen us going in and out of the house, heard loud banging and numerous saws cutting, as well as everything else it takes to rehab a house, and they were quite shocked with what they saw.
Let me back up a second and let you know that all the houses in the neighborhood were built by the same builder, using the same awful light fixtures, ceiling fans, sinks, faucets, burglar bars, and all the other cheap crap they installed in our house. When the neighbors walked in and saw the beautiful colors, amazing light fixtures, cool ceiling fans, crown moulding, base moulding, and everything else we have done so far, one of them said "you're going to raise our property taxes!". And that's before we did anything with the bathrooms, no new carpet yet, no new tile, no new countertops, no new appliances, no window blinds, and the place was a mess. Wait until they see it all finished when we have our open house. I should have a video camera running by the front door when they walk in.
I know there is a lot more to talk about, but it's late and I have to go to work tomorrow. I think you get a general idea of how things are going, and we couldn't be happier. We are anxious to move in, but we want to make sure it's just right before we do, and it will be.
I'll try and be more attentive to the blog from now on. This story is far from over, and now that we have you hooked, we can't leave you hanging with suspense.
It will be a happy ending.
I'll just follow up on what Lawrence wrote. The house is coming along nicely, and no, we have NOT moved in yet. Looks like it will be close to one year from when we bought it before we do. We bought it in February, if you remember.
So much has been done it's hard to remember all the changes. Yes, we have repainted a couple of the rooms for a couple of reasons. Originally we painted all the walls with a satin-finish paint that looked great, but it had a shiny look to it, and we didn't like it on the darker colored rooms. We repainted those rooms with the same color, but in a flat finish. It looks a lot better! On the lighter color rooms we kept the original paint since it's not nearly as noticeable.
A family friend named Doug came over a few weeks ago and helped redo the main water piping into the house and put in a new type of main water valve that doesn't require a lot of turning to turn it on and off...just a quick flip up or down does the trick. It came in handy this past weekend when a certain someone (not me) decided to loosen a new sink faucet that this certain someone (not me) installed instead of tightening it. The water to the house was on and the new faucet went flying across the room and a tremendous amount of water filled the bathroom floor. When it happened, I was in the other room and heard this certain someone (not me) screaming to "turn off the water!". No harm done, but we sure have a nice, clean floor now. Oh, and this certain someone (not me) got soaked during the ordeal.
I can't remember what all Lawrence talked about in his eloquent post, so I'll just list a few things we have done with the chance of repeating something:
1. The old garage door opener, which a certain someone (not me) destroyed by trying to open the door with the door locked, was removed and the new one installed. Very nicely done by Mr. Fabulous (not me). I helped a little.
2. We have amazing new lights on either side of the garage and in the front entrance to the house, and they come on automatically when it gets dark, dim and brighten as needed with movement near the house, and they are quite the talking point of the neighborhood.
3. We bought and installed a nice new stainless LG microwave oven in the kitchen. We haven't used it yet, but the clock looks nice.
4. Lawrence built some temporary shelving in the garage to hold assorted bits of lumber up and out of the way. It beats having all that lumber all over the living room floor and getting under foot.
5. Both of us...Yes, BOTH of us, finally started working on the two bathrooms and removed the old countertops with their attached sinks and faucets, all of which were awful, then removed the cabinetry. Those old cabinets are now in the garage and fit perfectly along one wall to support Lawrence's new workbench he will build on top of them.
6. We ran some new wire from the outside telephone box to the study where our AT&T U-Verse wireless internet system is located. The old wire was in very bad shape and we were surprised when we took it out just how bad it was! I was surprised we had any signal at all through that beat-up old wire. The new insulated Cat-6 wire gives us amazing speed now.
7. We purchased a new television antenna and assembled it in the living room, then promptly put it away in another room. We will install it in the attic when we are ready for it...namely when we buy that new TV we are eying. We have a 40-inch LCD television in the apartment now, and that will go either in the master bedroom in the house, or in the study. The new living room will easily accommodate our new 65-inch LED television when mounted on the wall. I wanted an 80-inch television, but at $5000....it's a no-go. The measly 65-incher will have to suffice. Oh, and at the same time we bought the new antenna, we also bought the new wall-mount for the TV. It was installed in the middle of that huge wall, but we don't have a TV to put on it yet. We kinda do things in weird order in case you haven't noticed. The mounting of that contraption was quite the ordeal. We measured the wall top to bottom, then left to right to find the perfect center spot. We then got out the fancy laser-level device and got the level correct, and wouldn't you know it, the placement of the studs behind the wall don't match the center of the wall. We had to end up shifting the mount a little left-of-center, but it will work.
8. Lawrence bought a bunch of new plants for the backyard, and planted them. It looks great out there, and we have barely started on the outside.
A couple of weeks ago, we invited some of the neighbors over to see the inside of the house. They have seen us going in and out of the house, heard loud banging and numerous saws cutting, as well as everything else it takes to rehab a house, and they were quite shocked with what they saw.
Let me back up a second and let you know that all the houses in the neighborhood were built by the same builder, using the same awful light fixtures, ceiling fans, sinks, faucets, burglar bars, and all the other cheap crap they installed in our house. When the neighbors walked in and saw the beautiful colors, amazing light fixtures, cool ceiling fans, crown moulding, base moulding, and everything else we have done so far, one of them said "you're going to raise our property taxes!". And that's before we did anything with the bathrooms, no new carpet yet, no new tile, no new countertops, no new appliances, no window blinds, and the place was a mess. Wait until they see it all finished when we have our open house. I should have a video camera running by the front door when they walk in.
I know there is a lot more to talk about, but it's late and I have to go to work tomorrow. I think you get a general idea of how things are going, and we couldn't be happier. We are anxious to move in, but we want to make sure it's just right before we do, and it will be.
I'll try and be more attentive to the blog from now on. This story is far from over, and now that we have you hooked, we can't leave you hanging with suspense.
It will be a happy ending.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Resurrection
Since Bill no longer seems interested in blogging about the house, I'll try to pick up where he left off way, way back in July sometime. How naive we were to think we would finish it by late fall. Currently the thinking is the house will be done, when its done, no time frame, no pressure. I still try to go to the house every day, rain or shine, holiday or no holiday, and do something. It doesnt matter if its a small task or a large task, just always doing something makes me feel better. Back in July, we had painted 2 of the bedrooms, and since then both bedrooms have again been re-painted. But in our defense, they really do look much nicer than the first try. I could show you a photo of the new colors, but back in July, we had the old doors, and I think it was August when we decided that since we have a couple of interior doors to replace, why not replace all the interior doors while were at it. We had decided on getting 6 panel doors, and I spent a couple weeks replacing the 16 doors, all which involved cutting new hinges on the new doors before attaching them to the old frames which were fine. Of special note was the door on the A/C-Furnace, which I had to custom size, by cutting about 6-8 inches off the top and bottom of the door, and rework the door frame to its new length of 5 feet tall. I've included the photo of the A/C - Furnace door. Every door had to be replaced, if not, then it would give the feeling like "they replaced the doors" When you come into the house, since every door is a 6 panel door now, it doesnt stick out that its been changed, which is what I want. I want the changes to look as if thats the way the house was origionally done if at all possible. You know what I mean? All the doors are painted white, the photo taken was before it was painted, and by the way, Mr. Bill had painted every interior door, and did a good job of it, as with all the painting done in the house, it was done by hand. .JPG)
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Thats all for now, we have several other things to share soon. I need to take some photos if I'm going to share more stories with ya.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Brown Out, Red In
It was another busy weekend as I decided to take the entire weekend off from work to help Lawrence do a bunch of things around the house. I normally work on weekends, and it's not always easy to get the days off, but I got them and it payed off with lots of projects being worked on and some projects completed.
In the last blog entry I mentioned that we were getting a new, big, heavy, and expensive saw delivered to the house, and it finally came. It's amazing what that thing can do, and Lawrence uses it for cutting various types and sizes of wood for projects all over the house. The saw is located in the garage along with a smaller saw. I'm not sure what the difference is between them other than size, but I don't dare ask or I'll get "the stare". I can just tell you it's big, fairly loud, and thankfully it has retractable wheels on it so it can easily be moved around. Don't forget, we also have three other saws inside the house, including a router table, a "saws-all", which is a hand-held saw that is used to cut through just about anything, and of course the proverbial jigsaw. Yes, five saws total, and the neighbors probably wonder why it sounds like we're operating a sawmill in the garage.
In the middle of the living room floor sits the router table. We use this to create all the window, door, base and crown moldings for the entire house. The special bit spins at somewhere over 20,000 rpm and is extremely loud. It has an attachment on the back that allows the shop-vac hose to be connected to it to collect the sawdust, but when both of them are running at the same time, it's deafening. We both have to wear hearing protection when using them. We use some pre-fab moldings for around the doors and windows, but the base and crown moldings are made by us. We buy the raw lumber in various sizes, cut it to length, pass it through the router table three or four times, prime it, then apply a final coat of gloss white paint. The final product looks amazing. The hard part is cutting at an angle on the ends of the boards so they can be joined at 90-degree angles. It gets a little tricky, but with pen and paper in hand, Lawrence calculates it all out, and magically it works.
One good by-product of the saws is a large amount of sawdust, which is collected and dumped into one of our three compost bins in the backyard. Since the grass is growing so fast and has to be cut every weekend, we ran out of room in the first two bins, so off to Sam's Club for another one. Somehow, I have a feeling we're going to end up with an entire fence line full of compost bins.
All of the rooms in the house have been textured and painted, including both hallways, and all light fixtures and ceiling fans installed, as well as all wall plugs and wall switches replaced and covered. The master bath is untouched at this point except that we use the bathtub in the master to rinse out brushes, rollers, pans, buckets, and other painting items. That poor bathtub is now stained with a rainbow of colors that will be very difficult to scrub out. We might have to replace it completely. We did a little work in the guest bath by removing the toilet, which was interesting and somewhat gross, as well as the large mirror and accompanying ugly light fixture. We haven't textured it yet as there may be a small problem. When the previous owners decided to put up some awful dark blue wallpaper, they didn't use wallpaper paste. They used some kind of industrial glue that not only made it very difficult to remove the wallpaper, but now we have these random large glue trails all over the wall above the sinks. We might have to use some kind of large belt sander to remove it, so we just stopped at that point and moved on to other projects. We'll get to it eventually, and we're not looking forward to it.
In one of my previous posts I mentioned that we painted the two guest rooms, one being baby poop brown and the other a light green. After we did those rooms we decided to paint one wall in the living room, the same wall with the tan fireplace brick, brown as well. Now, we have way too much brown. I decided we need to repaint the brown guest room red, and red it is. So now, instead of baby poop brown, the room is "Velvety Merlot" as the label reads. It's a very dark red and is actually quite lovely. When we finally put up the bright white moldings and other items, it will really pop. I also had to go back and apply a second coat as the first coat streaked on me. My back is killing me, but it was worth the effort. One drawback to the red paint is I now have an abundant supply of said red paint all over my work jeans previously ruined during other projects, and now when we go to Home Depot or a local eatery for lunch, it looks like I either murdered someone or work in a slaughterhouse. No one speaks to us. I wonder why?
(As for the above pictures, the ugly carpet has yet to be replaced, the tile in the kitchen has not been replaced, none of the moldings are up, and overall the place is a mess. We're working on it.)
Another new addition to all of this is my Mom's Honda Civic. About two weeks ago it was really getting hot outside and I didn't want Lawrence riding his bike in the heat and local bad traffic, so I went to my Mom's house and asked if I could use her little 1993 Honda Civic until I could afford a new car. Mom is 90 now and doesn't drive very much, and since my brother and sister live with her and do all the driving anyway, it wasn't a problem for me to use the car. Besides, with all the driving I do everyday, the Honda Pilot explodes my gasoline bill so the little Civic is a welcome gasoline sipper that has dropped my monthly fuel bill dramatically. It's a lot smaller than the Pilot, so even a Mini Cooper looks big next to me. I won't even talk about passing an 18-wheeler on the freeway.
We have had an ongoing problem of bad cell phone service at the house, and since that same signal also covers our data usage, streaming music was impossible. I decided it was time to install some Internet service, and after doing some comparison shopping decided to go with AT&T U-Verse. There were some initial problems getting it to work, but after a visit from our somewhat friendly AT&T field technician, it's up and running with amazing speeds. It doesn't help with phone calls, but who cares....we have music now, and it makes working a little more enjoyable.
We did the usual weekend duty of laundry while working around the house, so we're good for another week or two on that front.
We brought Rusty McNose to the house on Saturday so he could romp around the yard and have fun, but apparently he overdid it a bit as today he is very sore and can hardly stand up, and can barely use his right-front leg. He's getting older now and is quickly realizing he can't run around like a puppy anymore, so we're giving him some baby aspirin to help the stiffness and pain and he seems to feel a little better now. We still get a good wiggle of that big fluffy tail and a warm lick on the arm telling us everything is OK.
What's going to happen between now and the next update? I'm not real sure, but we're on the downhill slide of all of this and the place is looking amazing. We still have to install all the carpet, floor tile, window blinds, kitchen appliances and bathroom fixtures, but the very distant light at the end of the tunnel, yet faint, still keeps us motivated.
In the last blog entry I mentioned that we were getting a new, big, heavy, and expensive saw delivered to the house, and it finally came. It's amazing what that thing can do, and Lawrence uses it for cutting various types and sizes of wood for projects all over the house. The saw is located in the garage along with a smaller saw. I'm not sure what the difference is between them other than size, but I don't dare ask or I'll get "the stare". I can just tell you it's big, fairly loud, and thankfully it has retractable wheels on it so it can easily be moved around. Don't forget, we also have three other saws inside the house, including a router table, a "saws-all", which is a hand-held saw that is used to cut through just about anything, and of course the proverbial jigsaw. Yes, five saws total, and the neighbors probably wonder why it sounds like we're operating a sawmill in the garage.
In the middle of the living room floor sits the router table. We use this to create all the window, door, base and crown moldings for the entire house. The special bit spins at somewhere over 20,000 rpm and is extremely loud. It has an attachment on the back that allows the shop-vac hose to be connected to it to collect the sawdust, but when both of them are running at the same time, it's deafening. We both have to wear hearing protection when using them. We use some pre-fab moldings for around the doors and windows, but the base and crown moldings are made by us. We buy the raw lumber in various sizes, cut it to length, pass it through the router table three or four times, prime it, then apply a final coat of gloss white paint. The final product looks amazing. The hard part is cutting at an angle on the ends of the boards so they can be joined at 90-degree angles. It gets a little tricky, but with pen and paper in hand, Lawrence calculates it all out, and magically it works.
One good by-product of the saws is a large amount of sawdust, which is collected and dumped into one of our three compost bins in the backyard. Since the grass is growing so fast and has to be cut every weekend, we ran out of room in the first two bins, so off to Sam's Club for another one. Somehow, I have a feeling we're going to end up with an entire fence line full of compost bins.
All of the rooms in the house have been textured and painted, including both hallways, and all light fixtures and ceiling fans installed, as well as all wall plugs and wall switches replaced and covered. The master bath is untouched at this point except that we use the bathtub in the master to rinse out brushes, rollers, pans, buckets, and other painting items. That poor bathtub is now stained with a rainbow of colors that will be very difficult to scrub out. We might have to replace it completely. We did a little work in the guest bath by removing the toilet, which was interesting and somewhat gross, as well as the large mirror and accompanying ugly light fixture. We haven't textured it yet as there may be a small problem. When the previous owners decided to put up some awful dark blue wallpaper, they didn't use wallpaper paste. They used some kind of industrial glue that not only made it very difficult to remove the wallpaper, but now we have these random large glue trails all over the wall above the sinks. We might have to use some kind of large belt sander to remove it, so we just stopped at that point and moved on to other projects. We'll get to it eventually, and we're not looking forward to it.
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| Guest Bath (note glue on walls) |
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| Master Bedroom |
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| Kitchen |
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| Living Room from Front Door (with router table and moldings) |
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| Living Room from Fireplace (the red thing against the wall is the texture gun in it's stand) |
In one of my previous posts I mentioned that we painted the two guest rooms, one being baby poop brown and the other a light green. After we did those rooms we decided to paint one wall in the living room, the same wall with the tan fireplace brick, brown as well. Now, we have way too much brown. I decided we need to repaint the brown guest room red, and red it is. So now, instead of baby poop brown, the room is "Velvety Merlot" as the label reads. It's a very dark red and is actually quite lovely. When we finally put up the bright white moldings and other items, it will really pop. I also had to go back and apply a second coat as the first coat streaked on me. My back is killing me, but it was worth the effort. One drawback to the red paint is I now have an abundant supply of said red paint all over my work jeans previously ruined during other projects, and now when we go to Home Depot or a local eatery for lunch, it looks like I either murdered someone or work in a slaughterhouse. No one speaks to us. I wonder why?
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| The Red Room (not as bright red as in the photo - actually quite dark) |
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| The Green Room |
(As for the above pictures, the ugly carpet has yet to be replaced, the tile in the kitchen has not been replaced, none of the moldings are up, and overall the place is a mess. We're working on it.)
Another new addition to all of this is my Mom's Honda Civic. About two weeks ago it was really getting hot outside and I didn't want Lawrence riding his bike in the heat and local bad traffic, so I went to my Mom's house and asked if I could use her little 1993 Honda Civic until I could afford a new car. Mom is 90 now and doesn't drive very much, and since my brother and sister live with her and do all the driving anyway, it wasn't a problem for me to use the car. Besides, with all the driving I do everyday, the Honda Pilot explodes my gasoline bill so the little Civic is a welcome gasoline sipper that has dropped my monthly fuel bill dramatically. It's a lot smaller than the Pilot, so even a Mini Cooper looks big next to me. I won't even talk about passing an 18-wheeler on the freeway.
We have had an ongoing problem of bad cell phone service at the house, and since that same signal also covers our data usage, streaming music was impossible. I decided it was time to install some Internet service, and after doing some comparison shopping decided to go with AT&T U-Verse. There were some initial problems getting it to work, but after a visit from our somewhat friendly AT&T field technician, it's up and running with amazing speeds. It doesn't help with phone calls, but who cares....we have music now, and it makes working a little more enjoyable.
We did the usual weekend duty of laundry while working around the house, so we're good for another week or two on that front.
We brought Rusty McNose to the house on Saturday so he could romp around the yard and have fun, but apparently he overdid it a bit as today he is very sore and can hardly stand up, and can barely use his right-front leg. He's getting older now and is quickly realizing he can't run around like a puppy anymore, so we're giving him some baby aspirin to help the stiffness and pain and he seems to feel a little better now. We still get a good wiggle of that big fluffy tail and a warm lick on the arm telling us everything is OK.
What's going to happen between now and the next update? I'm not real sure, but we're on the downhill slide of all of this and the place is looking amazing. We still have to install all the carpet, floor tile, window blinds, kitchen appliances and bathroom fixtures, but the very distant light at the end of the tunnel, yet faint, still keeps us motivated.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Divas Don't Bark!
Sorry for the delay in the updates, but we have been very busy at the new house, and I'm happy to say that most of the rooms have been almost completed, with a few exceptions.
First, We have purchased and installed all the new ceiling fans and light fixtures for all the rooms, and there is color on all walls of all rooms except the two bathrooms. We haven't even started on those yet.
The master bedroom is now a dark Midnight Blue color that will look great with the white trim and blinds. The master bath will have a lighter blue color eventually. The master closet is being rebuilt by Lawrence as I write this. He ripped out all the poles, boards, shelves, etc. and is starting all over. I asked him if he had the plans for the closet drawn out and he said no....It's all in his head. I see.
The kitchen is now blue as well, and I was surprised with it when I got there after work one day. Our friend Stephanie came over and helped Lawrence paint and miraculously clean the entire kitchen! It looks great, but we still have a lot of cabinets to clean, repair and refinish. The original wood counter tops are still in place and will eventually be replaced with some kind of stone, but that hasn't been decided yet. The black refrigerator that came with the house will eventually be replaced with a stainless version, and a new stainless stove still needs to be purchased and installed, as well as a new dishwasher. We always hand wash and dry our dishes, so I'd rather put in a residential ice maker in the spot where the dishwasher is now, but that's still under discussion.
The breakfast nook has all paint applied and a new ceiling fixture, and it looks great.
The dining room has all paint on the walls and a new fixture as well. Fabulous.
In an earlier post I discussed the main living room and it's new light fixtures and the now dubbed "big ass fan" we installed, and it's all painted. Try to imagine these colors working together: light gray, brown, and blue. That's what you see in this room, and as weird as it sounds, it still kinda works. If anyone says "ewwwwww", I'll just use my standard line: "Normal is boring". Once we get furniture in the room, pictures on the wall, and other assorted crap all over the place, the colors won't be so noticeable, I hope.
Lawrence has replaced all the wall plates for the phone outlets, power outlets, light and fan switches, and cable outlets. Most of the air conditioning vents are replaced also. All in bright white, of course.
On the weekends, we do our laundry in the weird washer and dryer system, and it gives us a nice break to have to hang and fold things. Let me clarify that by saying I hang and fold things...Lawrence dumps everything in a basket and considers it done. I don't let him touch my clothes!
Rusty is still prancing around the yard driving the neighbor dogs crazy as they bark and bark and bark, and he ignores them. Divas don't bark.
We made another big purchase this week as we ordered a very large (and expensive) circular saw system from Home Depot, and it's so big and heavy that it has to be delivered by a truck! That 300+ pound behemoth probably wouldn't fit in my Honda, so for $100 extra, they'll deliver and hopefully help us set it up. It's being delivered later this week and we have yet to clear a spot in the garage for it. It will probably be a last minute scramble to make the clearing, but we'll get it done. It will be used for the master bedroom closet project currently underway, as well as all the base and crown moldings for the house, and whatever else Lawrence wants to dive into. There was some discussion of extending the back patio out a bit and putting up a lattice-style cover over it for shade, and possibly an outdoor ceiling fan for a cool breeze. Yes, he'll do it all himself. It's what he does.
Other than the three new appliances for the kitchen, we still need to purchase blinds, wood for the moldings, tile and carpet. I'm shoveling away as much as I can into savings in preparation for all of this, but it's a battle.
Lawrence has also been installing attic insulation as there was not very much up there to begin with, and in some areas, especially over the living room, none at all. It has made a big difference in the amount of time the air conditioner has to run, and since I pay the bills, I like that. He goes over early some mornings at the break of dawn to work in the attic as it gets very hot up there very quickly. To also help keep the attic a little cooler, Lawrence purchased a solar-powered roof vent that runs whenever the sun is up. It moves a lot of air and will help a lot. I plan on buying one or two more of those things to install later when we will eventually have to replace the roof. The roof has minor damage from past storms, but nothing serious, and it can wait a couple of years if need be. We still need to install all new gutters around the house, and we'll probably do that when we replace the roof. Lawrence wants to install a rainwater collection system that will collect water from the gutters and store it for all the watering needs on the outside of the house. I'm going to need a lot more money in the savings account for all of this!
The backyard looks good as Lawrence mows the grass about every other weekend, as well as uses our new electric trimmer. All the clippings are dumped into our two compost bins for future gardening use. There's a bunch of flowers and small trees planted, and even a tomato bush, but the birds ate all the tomatoes. We hope to have solved that problem as we have invested in a large bird bath and large bags of bird seed for the little tomato eaters. Somehow, birds have a way of letting all their bird buddies know that there is free food and a clean bath at our house as a large amount of birds of every shape, size and color dine and bathe at their leisure throughout the day. So now I'm not only having to feed myself, Lawrence and Rusty, I'm also having to feed all the damn birds within a 100 square mile area! My food bill is enormous, but at least I don't have to actually cook for the birds. At least, not yet.
We get asked all the time "when is the house-warming party"? Well, it's gonna be a while as we still have a lot to do. A few more months and we should be able to sleep, shower and cook there some of the time. I'm already working on party plans in my head, but I'm going to need some help. There will be lots of food, an open bar, and lots of good friends, so get ready! Well, maybe not right at this minute, but I'll give you plenty of time to prepare for the gala.
First, We have purchased and installed all the new ceiling fans and light fixtures for all the rooms, and there is color on all walls of all rooms except the two bathrooms. We haven't even started on those yet.
The master bedroom is now a dark Midnight Blue color that will look great with the white trim and blinds. The master bath will have a lighter blue color eventually. The master closet is being rebuilt by Lawrence as I write this. He ripped out all the poles, boards, shelves, etc. and is starting all over. I asked him if he had the plans for the closet drawn out and he said no....It's all in his head. I see.
The kitchen is now blue as well, and I was surprised with it when I got there after work one day. Our friend Stephanie came over and helped Lawrence paint and miraculously clean the entire kitchen! It looks great, but we still have a lot of cabinets to clean, repair and refinish. The original wood counter tops are still in place and will eventually be replaced with some kind of stone, but that hasn't been decided yet. The black refrigerator that came with the house will eventually be replaced with a stainless version, and a new stainless stove still needs to be purchased and installed, as well as a new dishwasher. We always hand wash and dry our dishes, so I'd rather put in a residential ice maker in the spot where the dishwasher is now, but that's still under discussion.
The breakfast nook has all paint applied and a new ceiling fixture, and it looks great.
The dining room has all paint on the walls and a new fixture as well. Fabulous.
In an earlier post I discussed the main living room and it's new light fixtures and the now dubbed "big ass fan" we installed, and it's all painted. Try to imagine these colors working together: light gray, brown, and blue. That's what you see in this room, and as weird as it sounds, it still kinda works. If anyone says "ewwwwww", I'll just use my standard line: "Normal is boring". Once we get furniture in the room, pictures on the wall, and other assorted crap all over the place, the colors won't be so noticeable, I hope.
Lawrence has replaced all the wall plates for the phone outlets, power outlets, light and fan switches, and cable outlets. Most of the air conditioning vents are replaced also. All in bright white, of course.
On the weekends, we do our laundry in the weird washer and dryer system, and it gives us a nice break to have to hang and fold things. Let me clarify that by saying I hang and fold things...Lawrence dumps everything in a basket and considers it done. I don't let him touch my clothes!
Rusty is still prancing around the yard driving the neighbor dogs crazy as they bark and bark and bark, and he ignores them. Divas don't bark.
We made another big purchase this week as we ordered a very large (and expensive) circular saw system from Home Depot, and it's so big and heavy that it has to be delivered by a truck! That 300+ pound behemoth probably wouldn't fit in my Honda, so for $100 extra, they'll deliver and hopefully help us set it up. It's being delivered later this week and we have yet to clear a spot in the garage for it. It will probably be a last minute scramble to make the clearing, but we'll get it done. It will be used for the master bedroom closet project currently underway, as well as all the base and crown moldings for the house, and whatever else Lawrence wants to dive into. There was some discussion of extending the back patio out a bit and putting up a lattice-style cover over it for shade, and possibly an outdoor ceiling fan for a cool breeze. Yes, he'll do it all himself. It's what he does.
Other than the three new appliances for the kitchen, we still need to purchase blinds, wood for the moldings, tile and carpet. I'm shoveling away as much as I can into savings in preparation for all of this, but it's a battle.
Lawrence has also been installing attic insulation as there was not very much up there to begin with, and in some areas, especially over the living room, none at all. It has made a big difference in the amount of time the air conditioner has to run, and since I pay the bills, I like that. He goes over early some mornings at the break of dawn to work in the attic as it gets very hot up there very quickly. To also help keep the attic a little cooler, Lawrence purchased a solar-powered roof vent that runs whenever the sun is up. It moves a lot of air and will help a lot. I plan on buying one or two more of those things to install later when we will eventually have to replace the roof. The roof has minor damage from past storms, but nothing serious, and it can wait a couple of years if need be. We still need to install all new gutters around the house, and we'll probably do that when we replace the roof. Lawrence wants to install a rainwater collection system that will collect water from the gutters and store it for all the watering needs on the outside of the house. I'm going to need a lot more money in the savings account for all of this!
The backyard looks good as Lawrence mows the grass about every other weekend, as well as uses our new electric trimmer. All the clippings are dumped into our two compost bins for future gardening use. There's a bunch of flowers and small trees planted, and even a tomato bush, but the birds ate all the tomatoes. We hope to have solved that problem as we have invested in a large bird bath and large bags of bird seed for the little tomato eaters. Somehow, birds have a way of letting all their bird buddies know that there is free food and a clean bath at our house as a large amount of birds of every shape, size and color dine and bathe at their leisure throughout the day. So now I'm not only having to feed myself, Lawrence and Rusty, I'm also having to feed all the damn birds within a 100 square mile area! My food bill is enormous, but at least I don't have to actually cook for the birds. At least, not yet.
We get asked all the time "when is the house-warming party"? Well, it's gonna be a while as we still have a lot to do. A few more months and we should be able to sleep, shower and cook there some of the time. I'm already working on party plans in my head, but I'm going to need some help. There will be lots of food, an open bar, and lots of good friends, so get ready! Well, maybe not right at this minute, but I'll give you plenty of time to prepare for the gala.
Monday, May 21, 2012
We Have Light! (and some color, too!)
Another action packed weekend at the new house, and we got a lot done.
Poor Rusty McNose, he got textured by his daddy again! While Lawrence was texturing the dining room and the front entrance, the dog once again walked by and got splattered, as well as brushed up against one of the textured walls, so this time he had texture on both ears, his snout, the top of his head, and along one side between his front and back leg. It was so bad this time we actually had to cut out some of the fur to get it all, but he's so fluffy anyway, no one will notice.
The two guest rooms and the study all have ceiling fans with lights now, and the living room has a big ceiling fan with new light fixtures on either side of it. This living room fan is 5'8" wide! The blades have a deep pitch to them so even on low, it moves a lot of air. It looks like an airplane propeller...very cool!
Lawrence climbed into the attic early on Saturday morning before it got hot outside to roll out 3 rolls of insulation in areas that had none at all. We can already tell a difference.
We finally got the garage door opener that came with the house working, even though it will eventually need to be redone as it was very poorly done the first time. We had to make arrangements for power and a switch in the garage to activate it. We also programmed the built in remote device in the Honda so Lawrence can take the actual garage door remote with him on the bicycle to get in and out of the garage. Because we got the garage door working, we had to also replace one of the locks on one of the doors leading into the house.
We still need to tape and prepare the kitchen and master bedroom for texture and paint, as well as both bathrooms.
That's it in a nutshell because I wanted to post some pictures of various things:
Here's the new living room fan and one of the fixtures. We were lighting it from directly below so that's why the shadow is so big.
Lawrence installing the fan. You get a good idea how big the fan is compared to him.
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Blue tape and plastic everywhere. The place is a mess, but one day it will be beautiful!
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Some of the beautiful flowers around the yard....
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Poor Rusty McNose, he got textured by his daddy again! While Lawrence was texturing the dining room and the front entrance, the dog once again walked by and got splattered, as well as brushed up against one of the textured walls, so this time he had texture on both ears, his snout, the top of his head, and along one side between his front and back leg. It was so bad this time we actually had to cut out some of the fur to get it all, but he's so fluffy anyway, no one will notice.
The two guest rooms and the study all have ceiling fans with lights now, and the living room has a big ceiling fan with new light fixtures on either side of it. This living room fan is 5'8" wide! The blades have a deep pitch to them so even on low, it moves a lot of air. It looks like an airplane propeller...very cool!
Lawrence climbed into the attic early on Saturday morning before it got hot outside to roll out 3 rolls of insulation in areas that had none at all. We can already tell a difference.
We finally got the garage door opener that came with the house working, even though it will eventually need to be redone as it was very poorly done the first time. We had to make arrangements for power and a switch in the garage to activate it. We also programmed the built in remote device in the Honda so Lawrence can take the actual garage door remote with him on the bicycle to get in and out of the garage. Because we got the garage door working, we had to also replace one of the locks on one of the doors leading into the house.
We still need to tape and prepare the kitchen and master bedroom for texture and paint, as well as both bathrooms.
That's it in a nutshell because I wanted to post some pictures of various things:
Here's the new living room fan and one of the fixtures. We were lighting it from directly below so that's why the shadow is so big.
Lawrence installing the fan. You get a good idea how big the fan is compared to him.
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Blue tape and plastic everywhere. The place is a mess, but one day it will be beautiful!
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Some of the beautiful flowers around the yard....
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