Moved in and plucking away amid kid chaos

First of all, apologies to all of you out-of-state friends and family that have been waiting for an update... since July move-in. The upload cords were packed in boxes- never to be seen again. I have broke down and purchased new... just for your viewing enjoyment... or perhaps my sanity...whichever the case... here is a look at our evolving "dream" home.

The upstairs bathroom is close to being done... decided that floor tile is preferred to tiling verically. That grout likes to jump and ooze out of those vertical spots!

The above photo is the old dresser that I purchased at a garage sale. After a few set backs, the vanity is now being abused by 4 kids... primarily just to brush their teeth. They have decided that it is too scary to go into by themselves.
This is our entryway. The barnwood was salvaged from Chad's Great-Great Grandfather and we had it kiln dried to get rid of the creepy crawlies.... do not need to add any more of those...
This is the living room (or everything room really). Chad's favorite reading spot is to the left. The fireplaces are waiting for some stone/slate inspiration (on the wish list). Watching HGTV to figure out what to do with all the windows.... deciding that perhaps we have too many now:-)
Woo Hoo! The fish are finally gone.
Our kitchen is the room closest to being done. The backsplash is waiting until we can replace the window.... wouldn't want the masterpiece to crack. Also have some trim in waiting... but overall we are close. I love the fridge except for the fact the kids love to have ice wars with it.

Promise to have more updates... in a more timely manner!!!! Even though the progress is slow going now that the crazies have taken refuge in the house.... yes... I am referring to us...

Our love for high ceilings... has changed

We are working to repair the girls' bedroom walls from wall paper removal "blemishes". I think we may be hanging a lot of items on the walls to cover up all the holes.
Chad is always great at adding some comedy relief. Here he is "junior high"-initializing the red wall at midnight during one of our many late night work sessions.
The beams had collected dirt and dead bugs three inches high. Heights are not my strong suit. After hanging on for dear life for 30 minutes and only getting 1/2 a beam cleaned, Chad took over and finished all the rest in about the same amount of time.

The kids bathroom is still under construction. I found a dresser at a garage sale that is being converted to a double vanity... with a little help. Found vessel sinks at a bargain price online from a business that was closing... then we had to sink them down to accommodate the cheap faucets that I bought (I was not spending a small fortune for special vessel faucets)Again, too many HGTV ideas, and not always the knowledge to finish the project all the way thru. Alaina and Dan helped us get the shower tiled, the floor and vanity top now have tiles too... the grout however is still missing from all. I have a feeling that project will take on a crazy life all of its own!
Here Chad is showing his comfort with heights. A two-story scaffolding wasn't tall enough to get paint up to the peak... so he also added a foot stool... children don't try this at home! I think I need a sedative just thinking about it!... also somehow misjudged how much green paint was need... so if anyone needs a few gallons of cilantro cream, I have a "few".

Main floor painted (minus the laundry room and mud room) - CHECK
Tile in place (minus kitchen backsplash and all grout) - CHECK
Wood Floor with its final finish- CHECK

needing second floor drywall completed, primed, painted, grouted, plumbing hooked up, carpet, closet rods/shelves or both... by Tuesday?...

stay tuned for a Tuesday update...

Sand, polish, and "cut"

We have the floor sanded and the first two coats of sealer applied. Maplevalley Hardwood floors did the finish work and were great to work with. The color of the floor has really come alive.
Just
Thought we would share a view of why chainsaws should not come into contact with flesh. 20 stitches reattached all the skin that was still intact and looked amazingly well considering the condition it was in. Let's hope this is the only remodeling injury we have before moving in!

The insurance company wanted the outside shed painted and the doors retrimmed... so we had several soccer boys volunteer a day. Chad power washed the outside of it and got the new trim on with Ted's help. The helpers took care of the rest. Woo hooo!

Our tiling has begun. The day I picked up the tile, I changed my mind against the fun, trendy tile and decided to go with something a little more neutral... was afraid I would hate the fun stuff in 8 years or so... and tile is something I don't want to redo. We tore up all the original living room tile in this house... and I don't want to have to remove tile again!
Mr. Harvey came and helped us get more of the light fixtures up. We also got the front entry lights, door bell, and outlet working.
Ralph, a neighbor, is helping build my "command center" that I drew up on paper. Probably too much HGTV again on my part. I am excited to say that each of us will have our own "locker" space. I hope this helps with the chaos of shoes, coats and such.
Chad and Dad got the barnwood entry way wall done. The wood is from a great grandfather's barn. We had it kiln dried to kill the creepy crawlies. It was another way to add a unique element and also tie is some family history.

We are still far from painting. Walls still need to be prepped, but the house is coming together. Chad had a chainsaw accident yesterday and ended up with a sewn together foot. Luckily everything is still attached, but he will be sore for a while. Another small "stumbling" block, but we are pressing on.

We have water...

The highlight from the last few weeks was the installation of the countertop. The slabs that I originally picked out were not big enough once they tried fitting the templates on. After a couple hours of trial and error, they finally decided to piece in a remnant slab from another lot. I was a little nervous about the final product, but once it was all in place, my reservations vanished. Now when I get tired of the construction debris and never-ending projects, I take a minute to admire the new countertop and then everything seems a little more attainable again.
Uncle John was home to enjoy a family wedding. While he was here he graciously spent some time trying to piece together our upper cabinets. He got those in place along with some cabinet "jewelry" (or trim). Our microwave also was secured in place. Things that I thought were basic (like the microwave) ended up being very intricate procedures and we were thankful to have someone who knew what they were doing. One cabinet ended up being the wrong size... our refrigerator wouldn't fit. So, that had to be uninstalled.. and we are now waiting for a special shipment from Lowes.
One major setback was that I found mold in two of the walls. One was worse than the other. We had a remediation crew out to tackle that one and I worked on the area upstairs. I had on my moon-suit, mask, gloves, and the like. I was gearing myself up to find gross mold once I tore the drywall out. I found minor mold along the header and instead discovered some major mouse nests and hornet nests (luckily nothing alive). Good thing no one else was in the house at the time because they would have heard muffled screams escaping the respirator. I sucked everything out with the shop vac... only to have it jam a short time later... and then I had to clean all that stuff out of the shop vac with my gloved hands. Eww... I am not a cat person.... but after seeing those nests, the thought has crossed my mind that having a cat on the premises might not be a bad idea.
Mr. Harvey came over and helped install two new SEXY ceiling fans. He had to add some wiring for the extra one and luckily that went quite smoothly. I purchased the globes several months ago and remember putting them in a safe place so that they didn't get broken. Now if I could remember where that safe place was... we would be all set!

Plumbing has been moved out of the upstairs hallway and across the bathroom to where the kids tub will be going. That room is now ready for drywall, vanity, and tile. I found an old dresser at a garage sale that will be converted to a vanity... but who knows how exactly to do that? Chalk it up to watching too much HGTV!

As of today, our professional floor sanders have arrived to sand the floor and put a coat of sealant on it. The project should take about a week. In the mean time I am trying to scrape off the rest of the wall paper and get the newly dry-walled areas wiped down so that we can be ready for a painting party Father's day weekend. Any takers?

Hope to have you all over in about 6 weeks for a move-in celebration!

No more Studs?

Oh where does the time go? Soccer begins and house work slows to a crawl. I thought we had made little to no progress since the posting from three weeks ago... but after seeing the pictures... we have indeed been crawling in the right direction.

I only have one word to describe the last few weeks.... DRYWALL. I have a few four letter words that I could pair up with the term, but we will leave it at that.

We are STILL hanging drywall. Tearing out is so fun and quick, and hanging the new rock up is anything but. We have the main floor 90% hung. The upstairs is about 50%. We also have a few walls in the basement... which might need to wait until the next millenium, but we will keep them on the list.

Our sexy kitchen cabinet that took its good old time arriving is finally in place. The counter top gods came and templated for the counter. I will have to travel to Bridgeport this week to work out the details. Once the counter top is in place, the abode will almost look habitable. Funny how one item can make such a huge difference.

Jill stopped by and helped me battle the fish wallpaper in the bathroom. It is STILL not done. There have been a lot of helpers and man hours on that project. Those darn little fish are hanging on for dear life! Steam, fabric softener...and elbow grease... the buggers are fighting the removal...and every once in a while I swear I see a smile on their faces. Chad has reminded me several times that he LIKED the fish wallpaper.

Chad also put the wood floor down in the main floor bedroom. He did a cool striped pattern in the closet (getting creative with the left-overs). That is the last of the wood floor installation. Bring on the sanding and finishing!! I am super excited about this phase....because someone else is doing the labor!

Soon I hope to be inviting you all to a painting party with beer and bbq. (Beer to arrive towards the end of the work)... wouldn't want to leave any visible signs of the fun...

My most immediate goals are to finish the drywall and scrape the nicotine-stained popcorn ceiling from the upstairs area. I have been told by several people how simple a job it is. If I have learned anything during this remodel... it is that nothing is as easy as it seems.... so we will see.

Holiday Progress

It seems like the theme for this last week was "where did the time go?". We spent a lot of time at the house working (3 nights until midnight), but it doesn't seem as though we are any closer to moving in. I spent a whole hour just trying to carve and sand out some uneven patches in the floor so that we could continue the wood floor into the pantry. Chad's biggest project was cleaning up the construction debris from the yard. He spent an entire day picking up and burning trash so that the mess could be contained with just the dumpster.
Another one of our "oops"... Chad and dad spent around 6 hours insulating the new addition. When we wanted to begin drywalling we figured out that the insulation was supposed to be attached to the inside of the rafters and not the bottom. An afternoon was spent fixing the insulation (see picture) so that the rafters would be exposed for the drywall glue to adhere to.... now we know.

Our friend Bob stopped by to get us started with the drywall. He explained the basics and loaned us some useful tools that we had no idea that we needed. An entire working day was spent attaching 4 drywall sections to the ceiling... who knew... I thought we could get the entire entryway done in one day... not just part of the ceiling. So, we still have two big stacks of drywall begging us to be put into place, both downstairs and up. Unfortunately, as spring break ends, soccer begins... so I am not sure when the two Kennys can team up on the house again before the end of soccer season.... Marie is in need of a home renovation team mate for the time being. And Chad would love the rest that a substitution would provide!
We continued the wood floor into the pantry. We used the left over cherry in there. The room was so small that we were sure that we would have it done in no time. Cracks, gaps and an uneven floor.... that is what our opposing team consisted of... and our quick project ended around midnight again ... but it is done!
I got a call that Home Depot had their composite decking on clearance. So, Dad Kenny and I made a trip and loaded up around 24 boards for the front porch. When we got them home and unloaded, I found several had chips and fading (must have been the trick lighting at the store)... and I (acknowledging that I can be pickier than some) reloaded all faded and chipped boards and Chad and I took them in a few days later for exchanges. Chad worked his magic and had the top surface decked after a full day's work.... why it took a full day... don't ask... that has just become the standard for the house renovation. Nothing will be as easy as it seems.

I have come to the conclusion that our first house renovation wasn't on a grand enough scale. If we had done more the first time around, we would be making less mistakes on this project!

Kitchen update... the missing cabinets that were being "rush" delivered in 2 weeks.... were back ordered another two weeks... So I had to move the countertop template yet again.

The plumber who repaired the frozen pipes during the house purchase negotiations and said that we were sure to have more leaks pop up once the water was on and that he would fix those new leaks as they occured (covered in the original quoted price)... decided that our new leak occurred because of something that we must have done.... the slow leak (that has taken 3 months to puddle around our hot water heater) couldn't possibly have been an existing condition. Everyone... remind me to always get those promises in writing... and that saving a $100 on a home inspection may not be worth the end results.. should have stuck with my initial plan.

Our current goal is to get the drywall done. Then paint, finish the floors... and hopefully be close to moving in by then. Barring any unforseen complications...