We've actually been done for a couple of weeks. I've been ignoring the blog for various reasons. Check out our pictures over to the right. Also, here are some links to pictures that the contractor had taken. She was able to get better angles.
http://www.mosbybuildingarts.com/portfolio/details.php?project_id=116
http://www.mosbybuildingarts.com/portfolio/details.php?project_id=115
Doesn't it look great? Did you notice Nathaniel's porcupine fish made out of popsicle sticks hanging in the hallway? If I would have remembered that it was hanging there, believe me I would have taken it down. But, you know, I think it adds something, don't you?
And no, I haven't done much cooking yet. I haven't actually unearthed too many of my pans yet. I did bake a frozen pizza in the oven and it spurted stuff on my pristinely clean oven. I was deeply depressed by the experience so I haven't cooked anything since.
We're not unpacked yet. We're not even CLOSE to being unpacked yet. Our kitchen table has been returned to us all nice and refinished. The phone line and ice maker have been fixed. Our car is acting up but that doesn't have anything to do with this project, just adds to the list of things that we have to have taken care of soon.
This weekend we are heading out for a few days to celebrate the boys' fifth birthday which of course I'm going to use as a reason to procrastinate some more on the unpacking.
I don't know if I'm going to keep this blog up or not now that the remodeling project is done. I enjoy reading blogs but not so much writing them.
Here's a conversation I had with Gregory (4-year old son) the other night -
G - It's going to be just SO sad.
Me - What sweetie?
G - You and Daddy are getting a new toilet, and we're NOT!
Yup, that's right, no new toilet for the boys - maybe in 10 years when their aim is a little better.
Here's the latest tour -
The little sink has managed to find it's way back to it's rightful room. It's not quite in the right place yet though.
The new cabinet in the little bathroom. I basically had them put up cabinets on any wall that had space on it. I love storage, don't you?
Well, the goal of this picture was to show how nicely the peach color of the walls went with the new floor but darn it, it's just too dark.
Maybe you can tell better here. The floor definitely needs to be mopped. I was going to show a picture of our new (very large) mailbox but it's too dark too so I won't bother. I tell you, it's relief to have it. We've been using an old recycle tub which was fine before the monsoon season hit. I just love digging my mail out of three inches of water.
New cabinets and toilet in master bathroom. I actually didn't notice the new toilet until I took this picture. What do you think? Am I getting enough storage? It may be a little claustrophic but hey, I got my drawer space.
We're down to one sink now but I plan to hog the bathroom to myself so it won't be a problem.
That's it for this week. We might have kitchen counters next week.
Our cabinets are here and more or less installed. And guess what, we have a special cabinet for spice racks. We didn't order one but we sure enough have one now.
Boxes and boxes of cabinets. That's Jill, she doesn't know that Paul's spying on her with the camera.
Now for a long weekend.
We just completed four weeks and it seems like forever. The estimate was 11 weeks but maybe, just maybe they'll finish earlier than that. They laid down tile last week and we've been walking around various taped areas while it sets (I guess that's what it's doing). It hasn't been grouted yet, that I picked out last week. Today I picked out the paint colors for the various rooms. I am NOT good at this - too many choices. At least paint is easy to fix if we hate the color. Last week, I also finally found two lights for the bathrooms. I kept hoping I would fall in love with something; I never did. I found two that I liked well enough and decided I had shopped enough. Drawer pulls have been ordered and I think I have completed all of the tasks on my to-do list. That is until Jill assigns me something else.
Next week, Paul is taking the boys to Indy to visit Grandma and I will be in the house by myself....mostly, I do believe my brother Jeff is stopping by.
Okay, I've been a little lax in updating this blog. We got back from Wisconsin last Wednesday (had a great time except for the last night....long story). Jill the Carpenter has finished the demolition work so now we are down to just two bathrooms. This doesn't seem so bad until I try to actually get ready in the boys' bathroom upstairs which is quite small especially with two 4-year olds running in and out announcing that they need the toilet NOW!
During the demolition of the master bathroom upstairs, Jill the Carpenter discovered that the floor underneath the shower was rotten. She thinks it might have been a grout "issue". The leak was between the shower and the tub; not even close to where we thought it was. This actually reassured us that just maybe we were justified in spending this horrendous amount of money on our house. Of course, nothing was wrong with the kitchen so that justification only goes so far.
Jill the Carpenter also got the attic fan installed in probably the second hottest week of the summer (the first being this week). The hubby has been playing with it even though the temp outside is above 100. He sets a thermometer on the bench underneath the fan and watches to see if the temp is going down. After a walk outside Sunday, I sat there because it did seem to be cooler than the rest of the upstairs. It comes with a remote to turn it on and we would like a hall switch with a timer. Jill promised to look into that. The hubby asked her what would happen if we lost the remote and she just said...Don't.
She also reported that the electricians were very impressed with the fan. It had kept the attic cool for them while they were working which was quite a feat considering it was the second hottest week of the summer. No report on the family of baby birds that were living up there. I suspect that they are toast.
During the demolition, one of the guys (not Jill - she's perfect) accidentally punched a hole in the tub. The tub that we were planning on keeping because we really like this tub. It's a good reading tub...very comfortable. So we might be getting a new tub after all; it hasn't actually been determined yet whether or not the hole can be fixed.
The electrical and plumbing is all done and there were a bunch of inspections last week that we evidently passed. Jill the Carpenter reports that she is ahead of schedule (gasp! Does that actually happen?) and will start dry walling next week. She says to expect a lot of dust.
We have discovered that all of these boxes we've got stacked around make hide-n-seek a lot more fun. A four-year old could actually hide pretty effectively. If it weren't for the ever present giggle, we'd never find them.
That's the report for now. It's been two weeks and we've been gone for four days of it but I'm pretty tired of the mess and am ready for it to be done.
The rotten floor is the upper left.
This shot is where the sinks used to be.
Our little bathroom.
Jill the Carpenter has framed the island that really isn't an island and also the new closet in the dining room. She has decided to hold off on the rest of the demolition until after we leave for vacation. That way we can keep the master bathroom operational when we have company Friday night. Do my brothers know what kind of mess they'll be sleeping in Friday night? I don't think so, unless they've been reading this blog. Saturday we are off for five days to join in the Flippo invasion of Wisconsin.
This will be the new island though it really isn't an island because it's attached to the wall. Jill the Carpenter put down cardboard so that we would have an idea of where the new cabinets would be. Someone told me that the white stuff half way up the wall was to kill any mold. Sounds like a good idea.
Moving the closet would have been easier if we didn't this laundry chute to worry about but we do and we want to keep it. How else would we get toilet paper down to the basement?
The new pantry and coat closet which is now located in the dining room. Looks kind of small and I'm wondering if the wild wallpaper is going to remain inside the closet. Could be interesting.
That's it for Day 3 and 4 also because I didn't take any new pictures. The only thing that stopped working today was the cable for the upstairs TV. I really don't think it's connected to the remodel but who knows.
Tomorrow I have off to get ready for our trip.
When I came home Tuesday, the kitchen floor and hallway closet were gone. I decided I needed to cover everything in our makeshift kitchen in the basement with plastic. The demolition upstairs is causing dust and dirt to cover everything. A guy came to pick up our kitchen table; he's going to refinish it for us and it'll be one less thing in the way. No new pictures today.
Monday, the basement bathroom sink wasn't working but Jill the Carpenter fixed that so it's working now.
Yes, the Luther's are renovating and no, we are not doing it ourselves. This project is the result of finally deciding to fix the leak in the bathroom. Ever hear of Scope Creep? The blog is my attempt to keep track of our progress and hopefully manage my stress level. The estimated length of this project is 11 weeks. Think we'll make it? Come, help me stress over it!
This is what I found when I came home from work Monday evening, day 1 of the renovation. Where did everything go?
Found the cabinets out on the deck. A friend is coming by to pick up a couple of them for their renovation project. The rest are destined for the landfill I fear. Please don't tell Al Gore!
This is how we get to the rest of the house, through this zippered plastic sheet. The boys found that particularly intriguing.
Wondering where we stashed everything? Why in the living room of course.
Here's where the contractor is keeping her stuff. Yes, I said "her". Our head carpenter is a woman and is evidently, very strong. She did get help to move the refrigerator downstairs but other that that, she moved everything out herself. Don't laugh at the wallpaper, I picked it myself.
Found - a Lighting McQueen car underneath the stove and two bibs that hadn't fallen underneath some drawers.
Lost - a library book, hope we find it before it's due.
To Do - pick out lights, drawer pulls and a mailbox.
That's the tour for today.
