No more counting!! Babaam!

Ok, so it's not COMPLETELY finished, but now that we have a functional kitchen (not in the basement), I'm calling it a "renovation success"! Because of that, and blogging for 100 days, I'm about blogged out at this point. So since I'm sick of writing about the progress, I'll just show some before and after pictures (I mean, come on, that's what you all really pay attention to anyways).

It looks stark white in pictures but there are small,
dark specs all over to give a little texture.

David's plumbing job to give optimal space under the cabinet.

Yes, we still need to finish staining and installing some quarter round, crown molding, tilt out mechanism and handles for sink panel, frame out second skylight, complete odds and ends in the mudroom, touch up nicks with mud and paint, purchase area rungs, and probably a few more things. When it's written down it feels like there's still a lot to do, but now that my back is feeling relief from not leaning down to the sink basin to clean dishes, all is a-ok :o) AND, can I just say how spoiled we feel now that we have a dishwasher!! I spend so much less time cleaning up after us and get to enjoy having a clutter-free sink a majority of the time! And it's been entertaining to watch David head to the sink and say, "Oh hey! Look at that (as he puts his dirty dishes in the dishwasher)! Clean! Babaam!" We're livin' large :o)

It's definitely been one hell of journey, but glory to God for the work that he has done in David and me through out it all. If you want to test your patience, kindness and love for your spouse, commit to a 3 month renovation where you do 90% of the work yourselves. While we still have far to go, we learned how to better communicate our needs with each other through kind and respectful words. Through the countless prayers I lifted to God during this journey, he equipped me with patience, sensitivity, wisdom, endurance, peace and a blanket of His unconditional love at my darkest times. You learn things about yourself you aren't proud of or wish anyone to see, but through that awareness change can begin. I'm not sure if I could have done this project with anyone else but my patient and encouraging husband. Those days that I was upset over delayed glue or countertops or something stupid (I'm sure there were many of those), he was there to kindly bring me back to reality and how menial these moments would be in the end. This project was a huge gift and opportunity that not everyone gets, and everyday I'm enjoying that I'm enjoying the fruits of our labor, I pray that I continually thank God for his blessings. Thank you to everyone who offered advice, guidance, suggestions, and even a helping hand (Ben yours was huge!!). We look forward to sharing a meal with you all soon :o)

A little mood lighting :o)

Day 95 May 20

They kept us sitting in suspense all day, but by 10:30 we had countertops!!!! And yes, it was 10:30 at night. They came at 6 but because of a few hiccups I think it took them longer than they would have liked. We were also surprised that they made quite a few cuts right here on the spot. We figured because of all the measurements the woman took when she templated it that it would all be cut and just need to be slapped in. Not a problem though, it just made for a long night for those two men, but we think it looks gorgeous!! I just can’t believe how much countertop space there is! The past 3 months, and even in our old kitchen, I was probably working with 10 sq/ft of space, now I think there’s over 50!! I feel like laying on it because I could fit! Haha! No more mixing and cutting on the dryer anymore :o)

There was a time when we did get a little nervous when our bar top was not matching up. It dipped in the middle and our brackets flared down. Good thing David was there because he busted out his sander and shaved part of the end off. It still didn’t meet up flush but they made it seemed like it would work with some glue and enough drying time. Now I just need to find some bar stools!

So the countertop was obliviously the exciting part of the day, but I didn’t manage to get some other stuff done during the day. We had purchased a sprinkler yesterday so I watered the garden to get a deep soak in. I transplanted a few plants that were getting too much sun, and moved some hostas to a small corner where our shed is that I would always for get to cut, so landscape it is :o) I also came to the conclusion again that the stain was not right, so back to the store I will go. Fingers crossed that third time is a charm! I also started the process of cleaning at the fireplace. The cleaning process will take at least this whole week considering every nook and cranny or surface needs wiped down from all the construction dust. All in all a good/exciting/productive day!! Since we don’t have the sink or the range hooked up yet, I’ll leave you with a small portion of the countertop that is complete.

Day 94 May 19

I’ll start today’s post by sharing a comment by David. He was looking over my shoulder tonight while I was writing the blog and he said “Oh no… we can NOT get to 100 days!” Haha! I’m not sure what it is about 100 but he seems determined as ever to cross the finish line prior to 100 days. I just grinned and said, “Don’t get your hopes up” :o) Actually, David’s parents are coming into town this weekend which will be 100 days so I am hoping it all to be wrapped up by then. I know we’ll have touch ups here and there but I won’t count those. Once the sink, dishwasher, range and frig are working, I’m movin’ in!

Our morning went a little differently than planned. We intended on going to church, but instead we were in a hardware store until 1 o’clock! When we came home and looked at the clock we couldn’t believe it. It actually made sense because we had quite a few things to pick up, and when the first store didn’t have what we needed it led us to the other. All in all I think we got just about everything we needed, and the things we didn’t won’t hold us back from moving forward. When we were back I got to staining the trim with the new color we picked out and it’s looking promising. It still seems too light/yellow, but I’m hoping with the second/third coat it matches. This whole matching stains reminds me of my paint swatch debacles…fails!

While I was staining, David was working on connecting the water to the frig for our ice maker. In the hardware store he had picked up material for two possible solutions (we’ve learned it’s easier to return things than it is to have to go back in the middle of the project), and luckily one worked. After all that jazz, we secured the one frig panel into place and pushed the frig back where it will be staying for good. Yah buddy! About that time I was putting in a recessed outlet for the microwave cubbie so it has the capacity to sit further back. First attempt it was all put together but I forgot one thing. The outlet supplies the under cabinet lights, which are controlled by a switch, and then the microwave which will always be on. So to do that you need to break the copper between the two black wires. My bad. Not a big deal though, I just unscrewed, tore piece, put back together, and Vwalla! With that ready the microwave went in! The only appliance left to install is the range, eeeekkk!

Day 93 May 18

Today was our townships annual waste drop off day in our so we took advantage of it this morning to get rid of some trash. We dumped our paint and glue buckets, an old rusted out burn barrel, and some other odd metal objects. Cleanse, cleanse, cleanse :o)

Just as I predicted, after putting on a second coat of the stain it’s not going to match. We’ll just add it to the list of things to get at the store. While I stained and watered the gardens, David finished up the small detail trim pieces. After the trim he went onto setting the toe kicks in place. Badda bing, badda boom, and he’s done! I could really tell David was enjoying his third day off of work to get at his long list of things still left to get done. Once he wrapped up the toe kicks, I helped him lay out the floor around the brick hearth. After some trial and error, we realized it worked best to template the curve out on a piece of paper and trace it onto the wood to be cut. It was definitely a more tedious process than David ever likes, so we managed to get one board done and then he was shot for the day. I templated two more pieces but we agreed to put those on hold to cut, finish work for the night, and grab some dinner. 

Day 92 May 17

LOAD…OF…HORSE…S#*^! Well that’s what I was thinking at 9 o’clock this morning when Continental Countertops called to inform us that our material didn’t arrive on the truck. I mean really! Where’s the accountability and confirmation system to make sure shit gets put on the truck?! Ohhhhhh, gasp!

Ok, rant over, we’re done with it, let us do what we do best and wait a little longer. So after the disappointing phone call, what better thing to do than plant a garden! And yes, we did run out of space. That was practically a given when you consider we were working to include 400+ tomato plants in the design. Hahaha! It always makes me laugh when I think about what we were trying to do. The whole process went relatively smoothly which was nice. We started with our plot behind the garage and was able to fit maybe 70% of what we had. We decided to leave out the asparagus and pumpkin, we planted maybe half of our peas and carrots, and probably got about 100 tomato plants in the ground. So after we recognized our lack of space we brainstormed where to put what we still wanted to plant, which were some more tomato plants, watermelon, and beans. David came up with the idea to create our new landscape out of vegetables! I think because I never considered it in my head prior, I initially had a hard time agreeing with that idea. But after considering our other options, which were none, it seemed only appropriate. We’re both really curious to see if anything grows. I think it’s the first time gardener doubts. We still had more tomato plants left, so I threw a few in pots and tossed the rest.

The remains

I moved onto staining the trim, which after putting on the first coat seems way too light. I know more coats will darken it up, but I don’t think there’s any chance this particular stain will reach the color to match the existing trim. I’ll put another coat on tomorrow and assess its potential then. While I stained, David continued with getting the rest of the trim done. That was about all the progress for the day since we wrapped up a little early and then left for small group.

Day 91 May 16

One more day and we’ll have our countertop!! Eeeeeekkk!! The day before the big event I had an extra helper around the house :o) David was “sick”, which meant shit got done up in her’. Actually he really was feeling like crap the day before because of his allergies so he figured he’d take the day to rest. But like always David doesn’t really rest when there is stuff to catch up on. He was a bit of a walking zombie but at least he was a zombie that was cuttin’ trim :o). He probably got to installing 70% of the trim, leaving some of the more detailed cuts for later. We also had received our brackets for the bar top yesterday so David cut out sections for the plates to fit in and screwed them it place.

While David was slaving away, I was planning the garden! I had waited long enough and now with the soil tilled up it was go time. After referencing each vegetable in a garden book, I planned out the plot and am keeping my fingers crossed that it all fits. While I’m trying to be optimistic, I think reality’s going to bite us in the bum tomorrow and we’re going to be left with quite a few seeds unplanted.

On my way to training I swung into the hardware store and picked up all our ¼ round for the trim, along with the stain. While I was gone, David added a few more finishing touches. He installed the last ceiling vent in the mudroom, as well as the wall vents in the foyer. 

Day 90 May 15

3 MONTH MARK!!

Let the cleaning begin! Today I, yes that’s right, just ME, hauled all those stones we used to put weight on the high spots of the floor, back outside. David was pretty impressed when he came home to see them all outside. He figures they each have to weigh at least 75 pounds. I’ll just round up and say they each weighed 100!! Either way, that task definitely made for a good legs and butt workout :o) After they all made their way outside, I swept and wiped down the boards. Since we’re both new to wood/engineered floors, I wanted to check out the safest way to clean them. After some reading it looks like a mixture of vinegar and hot water is the recommendation. I couldn’t clean it at that point since we didn’t have a mop, but I did pick one up in the evening so cleaning will commence tomorrow! That was all the progress for the day because David and I enjoyed a Pirates game in the evening with his work buddies :o) 

Day 89 May 14

Oh it’s getting exciting around here!! Considering I’m easily excitable, I wouldn’t get your hopes up. It’s not done yet but it’s starting to look it when we put some finishing touches up. During the day I mainly did things around the house, but I did get to planting my wild flower seeds. As usual, when David bought the flowers he got a little excited and purchased 5 pounds of seeds. After I had mixed some of the seeds with sand and spread them in the area David had tilled, there were still 2 more pounds left! Not a big deal, I’m sure we can find more spots to rake up the soil and spread the glory.

When David came home we got to working on the mudroom ceiling again. Just as we predicted, we’re about two boards short, but it’s looking good so far :o) Then we started laying out trim to assess what we could use and where we may need some more. Not all the existing trim would work because at least three walls had baseboard heaters on them so the trim was chopped up. But this was the part where I started to get excited! I couldn’t believe how such a simple thing like trim around the floor could make the room look so polished off, but it did! After we laid out everything, it looks like we won’t need any more trim for the baseboards. We actually do have three walls that are too long for any piece, but we figured we’ll piece together two boards for those walls and see how it turns out. In the end if we don’t like how it looks, we can always come back later and switch it out with the proper length. Everything is laid out but we’re waiting to install the boards until we can get our hands on a finish nailer. David has his stapler/nailer we used for the mudroom ceiling, but I’m not a fan of how much it nicks up the wood. I’m sure investing in a finish nailer would be well worth it and definitely come in handy for future projects.

David then went to work on the trim around our skylight windows in the kitchen. The previous stuff was poorly designed with the corners coming together at a 90 degree angle instead of 45. So to improve the aesthetics of it, David was adamant to do it right. He made some cuts and by that time it was well past dark so he called it a night. 

Day 88 May 13

I don’t think I’ve updated the blog on our countertop update…it’s coming Friday!! CAN… NOT…WAIT!!! I have feelings of pure exhilaration, also followed by extreme nervousness. This whole renovation has opened my eyes to how easy it is for something to go wrong, and I’m just hoping Friday won’t be one of those days. We’re praying for it to be one of the rare moments with things smoothly fall into place. I’m sure we have had those moments, but now as I rack my brain nothing’s coming to mind ;o/

During the day I was able to help David out by getting the piece to fix the tractor that has been sitting in the lawn the past 3 weeks. I think I was as excited as he was for the part :o) When he came home he went straight to work and got that bad boy back down the hill and into the garage where it belongs! After dinner we tackled one more project and installed the dinette light! IT’s pretty, but man was it a bitch to install. Because of the design of the cables and cords, it just made for a difficult process to get it leveled and all lines taut. It sure does make you look at products differently and if their beauty is worth the purchase considering the potential head ache installation and maintenance may cause. Have I mentioned how much we are learning by being homeowners and DIYer’s? ;o)

Day 87 May 12

Lesson of the day: Use items sparingly and leave nothing behind.

It was a victory and defeat kind of day. After church, Ben returned to finish help us lay the rest of the floor. It worked out great with the three of us, David designated to spread the glue, Ben was good at measuring and cutting to length, and I was setting the boards in place and wiping off glue. We knew with the last pale of glue it was going to be close, but we were all trying to be positive, thinking that maybe that would will the glue to go all the way. Well it didn’t, and we cried. The worst part is that we have the smallest spot left! I think back to the other 2 pales we used and how we didn’t scrape them down, and how we didn’t really thin out the glue when we laid it. Doing those small things could have taken us all the way. But oh well. It sounds dramatic, but we’re over it and just plan on picking up a smaller bit of glue to finish the job. The delay will also give us time to map out the space around the brick hearth that will need to be cut out with a miter saw. The upside is that the hardest and most laborious part is complete! Practically all the wood is laid and it looks beautiful! Happy homeowners :o)

Day 86 May 11

This project has definitely shed light on what poor estimators David and I are. The lesson learned here is buy more than you think you need and you can always return it :o) This lesson came about when we mixed our last bag of leveler, poured it out, and observed the small area it was covering. Boo-hoo! That was us crying.

After we soaked in our stupidity, we headed out to pick up a tiller! Yes, this has nothing to do with the kitchen renovation, but as this blog has continued for almost 3 months, it’s inevitable to include the other facets of life that take up our days. The tiller was to finally tackle space to put our garden! If you haven’t already realized, our garden should be the size of a house considering the 400+ tomato plants we started growing. I’m totally ok with killing some/a lot of them off, but David is all for “the more the better!” so alive they have stayed. So after we got the tiller, I dropped David off at home to start tearing up the grass (what he does best), while I left to pick up some more leveler. We split it up since the tiller was rented and we were only trying to pay for a half day.

 

We decided on 3 more bags of leveler, thinking it SHOULD be plenty. Teaser alert…don’t worry, it was :o) I complete my errand and returned to David tromping in dirt (it had rained most of the previous day so the ground was a little wet, but still doable). He cleared a space behind the garage where we had designated the garden. When he finished the garden patch, he then moved to our back wooded area. Last year for my birthday David got me a ton of wild flower seeds. They recommended tilling up the soil before planting, so now was our time. I showed David the spots and he went to work. After he finished up that spot, he then moved to the east side of the house where I had marked out an area to extend our landscape. Yes, it might have been excessive to create that much more landscape, but since we had the tiller we figured we’d get to all the areas we were at least considering tearing up. He was able to take out a good chunk of the grass, but we’ll have to go in by hand to remove the stuff closest to the house. The tiller was a huge help but it did stall out quite a bit. David thought it was because of our thick grass. In the future it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to kill the grass before you till it up. But considering this part was a bit of a last minute decision, we worked with what we had.

Since we finished our tilling work, we sprayed and scraped it clean, then returned it back to the shop. Once we got back home we got to work on leveling the floor again. We ended up with plenty of material, dumping maybe a quarter of the stuff in the woods. I failed to get any pictures of this process, but a few good shots would have been David stepping in the wet floors twice. I’ve concluded he’s not a very balanced person. We also used a long piece of trim that worked great for us to slide it across a large patch. Continuing to learn.

Even though it was only the early evening, that concluded out work for the day. We both cleaned up and then headed to a BBQ put on by one of David’s coworker. It was a good stopping point though because David was feeling pretty beat up after working that tiller all morning. It’s a short rest considering we’re planning of laying the rest of the floor tomorrow!!

Day 78-85 May 3-10

It’s been a long stint from the blog world, but here’s a quick synopsis as to our last week:

-Traveled back to Columbus

-Celebrated Rick’s (father-in-law) birthday

-Hung out with nieces and nephews

-Enjoyed time with family

-David went to bachelor party

-I took David to airport to train in Houston for a week :o(

-I stayed in Cbus a couple more days to soak up a bit more time with family

-Returned to our house on the hill

-Finished painting loft and rearranged furniture to make for more walking room (I also started dusting/cleaning which got me really excited when everything started to sparkle!)

-Finished painting ceiling in dinette and attached vent

-Connected power chord to range

-Made cookies for mother’s day and mailed them out

-Weeded; bought some landscape plants and planted them; made a hanging pot arrangement; worked to keep tomato plants alive

-Picked up David at the airport

-Met up with some friends for dinner

Feeewwww! It’s been a lot and I’ve definitely been keeping busy even without David

home, but we’re hoping to get back to the kitchen projects on Sunday when we finish

laying the floor! 

Day 77 May 2

No work done today. This weekend we’re going back home so I packed and went to training while David relaxed for the evening. We’ll be gone for the weekend, then David leaves for Houston on Sunday for training for the whole week, so I’m anticipating a pause in progress. I’m sure I’ll be able to do little things here and there but as far as finishing the floor, that one will have to wait until he gets back. 

Day 76 May 1

Are we in Pittsburgh or have we moved over night to Tennessee or Arizona?? This has made three beautiful days in a row! And after checking out the weather forecast it doesn’t plan to change any time soon!! So while I did get work done today, I also soaked up some sun and finished the book I had started a couple of days ago. As far as the productive things I accomplished today, I got all the plants outside and watered them. It takes a little longer to move them in and out now considering we have quadrupled our containers that we started with. But it’s worth it since they are already showing some better signs of life with their new housing situation.

I then primed the loft wall, not knowing if the prime color will match the existing walls or if the white color is a ceiling paint. I’ll just have to wait until it dries and go from there. Then there was another reading break…I was determined to finish this book since I have another I want to read after it, and the mystery was going a bit slow for me. It’s kind of this bad habit I have of looking ahead to find out what happens. David hates when I do it. But instead of looking ahead I just read at lighting pace to get there quickly. After I read a good chunk, I got to cutting the ceiling panels for the mudroom. We decided to keep them partially because I like the warmth they bring, as well as it was one less thing to mud, sand and paint :o) So paneling it is! David and I agreed we could work on that tonight, so to speed along the process I could get the panels measured and cut during the day. It was a pretty easy task, I just hoped it went that smoothly when we went to install them.

When David came home he tinkered with the tractor a little, and then with his remaining energy for the night we started installing the paneling. It did go relatively smooth with the planks measured correctly to length, but then there was the nail gun jamming up every 5 nails or so. It was only $15 so what can you expect. That took some time and energy to manage, as well as cutting out larger holes for the light fixtures and the one new vent. Once we got to the second light, which was about halfway, we called it a night. With the addiction of the wood cabinets and floors, it’s one woody room. But I love it :o)

Day 75 April 30

After the weekend’s partial floor installation, we were intending to level and finish the rest of the flooring in the foyer by the end of the week. But the more David thought about it, the less he felt like we would have the time to do it with him working and not getting back until the evening. We would want to get it all down at once, so that would mean killing ourselves until probably midnight one of these nights to finish it. Our countertops won’t even come in for a couple more weeks, so after some careful consideration, we agreed to forego finishing the floor until the following weekend after David gets back from a work week in Houston.

So with that news, all my days work was gone! No, not really. During the second consecutive beautiful day (we all could get used to these days) I brought the table saw, horses and table top outside. I then moved other stuff around to clear the floor so I could clean it and start evaluating its levelness. I marked a few spots and had David confirm when he got home. He was noticing some larger dips and brought a long piece of trim to confirm. With that came a spontaneous solution that I think will work great! I’m tempted to take credit for it but it was David’s brilliant idea. We decided we’ll fill in where the dip is and then with each of us on one side, slide the trim along to make it level with the high parts. And it isn’t a problem ruining a piece of trim because we have some extra from a door divider we removed. Perfect!

I also got to sanding the loft wall one last time and feel it’s ready for paint tomorrow! I definitely will not miss the day when we are finished with mudding and sanding. Well that’s probably not the most realistic with our ideas for other areas of the house, but I’d be happy with at least a break for bit.

Day 74 April 29

The new week has brought be-a-utiful weather and I am livin it up!! I ran to the lumber and supply store to order one more pale of glue which should come in Wednesday, cleaned up the trash we left from the weekend’s work, and then repotted!

Our new home brought out the gardener in both David and me, however that inner gardener was a little naive overzealous. This manifested in us planting probably 400 tomato plants! Hahaha! I know, what were we thinking?!?!?! Obviously we weren’t because if we would have known the amount and effort it was going to take we would have scaled it down tenfold. But instead, we planted them all and David being the guy would doesn’t like to throw anything away has insisted on us keeping them all and seeing how they do. Sooooo, we had put all the seeds in two small containers (cardboard lids from cabinet boxes) and they were doing really well initially. Then about a week ago they weren’t growing and starting to lose their color. After investigating their roots, it was obvious they were large and starting to run into their neighbor, stealing its nutrients. So my task for the day was to build some containers out of our floor boxes, line them with trash bags, fill them with soil, then move the plants over where they’ll have more space. Considering how many we had, it took quite a few boxes. But in the end I think it turned out pretty good and we’ll see how they are looking in a few days!  

Day 73 April 28

So after today’s work I have a little more understanding and empathy for David doing this kind of work two days in a row. My back, knees, quads, and finger tips are killing me! But more progress was made today!! With the last pale of glue we had, David and I managed to finish the mudroom, kitchen, and continued a few slats into the dinette. It looks and feels great! Heathens we are, but we chose to skip church this Sunday and start working around 8:30. With only a lunch break we worked until about 5 and called it a day after that.

I felt like we completed a lot, but it seemed to take forever! What I thought made it the most difficult was how easy it was to get glue everywhere, so you were constantly wiping your hands or boards to keep the spread somewhat controlled. We used blue painters take to keep the boards from shifting, and added some extra weight to spots that wanted to bow up. It was a successful day that left us both battered, bruised and sore, but was quickly remedied with some pizza, beer and a movie :o)

On a side not, at the end of the night I came down stairs to find a HUMUNGOUS spider in our foyer!!! YUCK! AH! PEE IN MY PANTS!! Well not that last one, but I did do a little wiggle dance while calling for David to get his butt over here and kill it for his terrified/pathetic wife who was 50 ft away (but I still had an eye on it in case it wanted to flee). He came to my rescue and killed the SOB with his shoe. I think it was God trying to be funny and put me back in my place when I start to feel really confident in myself and my ability to do just about anything. Funny God… real funny.

The remains. Look at the size of those legs!!! BLAHHHH!!

Day 72 April 27

The cement stones were for high spots

Let there be floor!!!! It looks beautiful! David and Ben kicked ass and got as much done as they could. When I left for training, Ben had arrived and him and David were already breaking into the flooring boxes, getting measurements and making cuts. It was going to be a perfect day outside so we had taken the table out on the deck and that’s where they set up the table saw to make cuts. Did I mention it was seven in the morning? Ben is nuts and David and I couldn’t love/appreciate him more for that :o)

Ben had to leave around 1:30 and after that David pretty much crashed. By the time I came home around 2:30, I found David on his hands and knees in his boxers wiping down the planks where there were glue smudges. He looked and sounded exhausted. He said he was tired from the beginning so to get through as much as they did he was pleased. They got about ¾ of the mudroom and kitchen space completed, and came out a little into the dinette. They went through one pale of glue and little of the second, so my only concern is how much more we’ll need. I know the second won’t be enough, but hopefully we’ll only need one more total.

After David cleaned up a bit he tried to continue to work around the yard. I say “tried” because every movement was preceded by “OH! Ouch! Grunt…owwww!” So after I installed our new printer, I forced him to at least take a load off and lay down a bit since we were having friends over that night. Initially he was resistant but once he was off his feet he was soaking in the moment. The rest of the night we hung out with friends, grilled burgers, and got back to burning our pile of 2x4s and drywall in the back. It was definitely more successful that our last attempt, but I still don’t think it will be gone by morning. Rural/hill billy lesson learned, it’s not worth it to try and burn drywall. Just throw it in the garbage! 

We've completed 4 seasons in our home :o)

Day 71 April 26

Before David left for work he checked the floor and there were STILL areas that were too high or needed filled it. So while he was working I was on the task of making this the last time we had to level this area (we still have the foyer to do but that’s where all the appliances and supplies are now). Before when we were doing a larger area of the floor we would use a squeegee broom and David would come in afterwards and feather out the edges with a trowel. Since I was doing a lot of small areas I just used the trowel, and surprisingly really enjoyed it! I think it was the back and forth gliding motion you make and feeling the liquid underneath. Slightly reminded me of icing a cake :o)

After that I went to the loft to finish the wall. While I was mudding the seams for the last time and finally feeling as if I figured out how to do a 45 degree angle wall semi-well, a thought came into my head. It sounds funny, but I felt sorry for this home and the renovations we’ve done because most of it has been the first time we’ve done this stuff. This has been our starter project/guinea pig to our creative minds. Don’t get me wrong, I think it has turned out really well, it’s just the details that maybe only we’ll notice but that I think back to on how that was the first wall I attempted to mud a seam, and that’s why it looks like shit. I know it’s the nature of the beast, and I think it’s also why I can be hesitant to start something new because of the initial mistakes I’ll make and how it won’t be perfect at first (I know, I sound like a perfectionist nut). That is where David and I are completely different and he’s helped me learn, and feel more comfortable to take that first step, as well as accepting that mistakes will happen but in the end we have learned how to do it correctly.

David came home early knowing he wanted to run an errand before small group to get a piece for the tractor to restore its health. With the previous problems with the truck, and the riding lawn mower and tractor not working, it all culminated when David was upstairs trying to scan and print something and the printer wouldn’t’ work. It led to a slight meltdown on his part. He got this crazed look in his eyes and said, “I’m sick of everything being broken in this house!” So David did what he despises most and ran errands to pick up a battery, printer, and tractor attachment. We were successful with the battery and printer but no luck with the tractor piece.

We are both anticipating tomorrow’s progress with the floor, and praying for as smooth of sailing as is realistic. David’s coworker, Ben, has offered to help AGAIN and is coming over tomorrow morning at 7. Have I mentioned how much of God sent he has been? What a guy :o) I have training tomorrow until 2 so depending on their progress I may or may not be of any help. We’ll see!!

Day 70 April 25

Sanded and spackled wall again. I think it’ll only need one more pass after this one. I left for training in the evening while David laid some more of the self-leveling compound on a few spots that were still causing some problems. I’m thinking we’re doing something wrong or this stuff doesn’t necessary do what it says it does. When it says “self-leveling”, I think it really means it just dries smooth so you don’t have bumps. But if you poured it over a high spot that high spot will still be there when it dries. It doesn’t flow over the spot and fill it the low spots on either side like we assumed it would. At this point we just go around the floor with the level and mark areas that need to rise to meet the high spots. If you don’t have a level you could also use a long board or stick and mark the spots where the floor isn’t flush with the bottom of the board. Our floor never really seems to “level” because it appears to have a gradual slope toward the deck, so using the level is kind of pointless other than it a long flat object. It hasn’t mattered too much that this process is taking a little longer than we expected because we don’t plan on laying the floor until we have a full day/weekend to get it all done at one time. 

Day 69 April 24

I played the role of house wife today. Completed laundry, washed the pile of dishes we had been avoiding, ironed the stack of David’s shirts I've accumulated over the past couple of months, and cleaned the house (that is as well as you can clean a house in construction). Mainly that was straightening up the family room, our room, and vacuuming up stink bugs that are slowly infesting our house. I then started sanding the loft wall. I managed do get about half of it done, but I had to wait on the other half because it was still damp. To speed up the drying process I bought our fan out from our bedroom and pointed it on the problem areas. Should be good to go by tomorrow! There wasn’t much to do by the time David came home, so I convinced him to watch a scary movie with me. Those are his favorite ;o)

Since we've moved to PA I've grown a few extra appendages :o)

Day 68 April 23

Light day today. During the day I started mudding the seams in the loft where David had built the wall. If anyone has any tips/tricks on how to mud a 45 degree angle I am all ears! I think I figured something out but I'm open for other suggestions. I also picked up our glue! It is so refreshing to work with kind and helpful people. People that aren’t just doing their job for the paycheck, but instead have a true passion for their craft and enjoy using that to help others. That’s the experience we’ve had with this local lumber and supply store. I think you just can’t go wrong with small town locals :o) When David came home we ate dinner and then curled up on the couch to watch The Voice.

Day 67 April 22

It was a double edge sword kind of day. We had our countertop templated, YAY!, and then she told us it would be three weeks, tear tear :o(. Aaaaand, a section of the cabinets weren’t in level with the rest so they needed to be dropped about ½”. I would strongly guess that was the first time david wanted to shed a few tears too, or punch something. Either way, we got the ball rolling on the countertop so all we can do now is wait and get everything else done.

David had come home early in an effort to ask questions and confirm details the lady may have. Which she did have a few and I was glad David was there. After she wrapped up all her equipment, went over some details, had us sign a few things, she was out the door and we were breaking cabinets apart. Sad, sad day. There were definitely some frustrating moments, but It actually went smoother than we thought it would. Once we managed to lower it a bit, our next concern was to make sure the dishwasher would fit. David said when he and Shawn worked on it before, it was an extremely tight fit, and was very hard to come by. So once the cabinets were in place and we were pretty positive there was enough space, David craved a little more confirmation and we dragged the dishwasher over to put in the spot. After struggling to get it off it’s wooden base, we slipped it in and it couldn’t have fit any more perfectly! You rock David :o)

After we wrapped up the cabinet debacle, we both headed outside. I worked on draining and refilling the hot tub, which we didn’t use all winter but David is convinced Spring and Fall are it’s prime season, while David worked on the truck. The past couple of months we have had major issues with the brakes sticking real bad, but it was still drivable. But then the other day as I was heading down the driveway to take the trash down it got really bad and started screeching it’s tires on the pavement which it has never done. So I backed it up the driveway and left it waiting to be looked at. So while David was manning that job, I pulled out the push mower (tractor and riding lawn mower currently out of commission) and got to town on some of the taller areas of grass. It was the most perfect night and I could have walked that thing over our entire three acres, but my stomach was growling and the night was getting dark. David finished by the end of the night and it feels like a new beast :o) Not too shabby for his first drum brake job.     

Day 66 April 21

A little hodge podge day today. Actually that seems to be how most of the days are lately. After hitting up early church we came home and jumped right on laying the compound. David figured the floor would be done in two stages, considering the entire space we are working on is a heavy trafficked area, and it’s has both of our areas of access in or out. So for the first stage we’re focusing on the mudroom, kitchen and dinette. By the time we were done, we used up three bags, leaving three more for the rest. The process went rather smoothly, afterward leaving us to wait for it to dry.

I then got ready to leave for a baby shower while David geared up to work outside with the tractor. The rest of my day was consumed with the baby shower and running errands. I picked up the sink, as well as some items for David after he ran into a crappy situation with the tractor. He was leveling out an area of the yard with the bucket when he started leaking oil. He diagnosed the issue as a hole in the pipe line which needed to be addressed immediately. He was able to drain all the oil, as well as the transmission fluid, while I picked up some steal pond stuff and more diesel oil, a more difficult task than you would think. I came home to a tore up yard and broken tractor. Actually the spot he tore up looked really nice, I’m just anxious to plant grass there now. Takes me back to last year at this time when grass was tore up everywhere while we tried to lay electrical to the garage :o)

Since the tractor was out of commission, David went to work on the riding lawn mower which offered him no greater comfort. That failed to turn over due to a dead battery, at least a simpler fix than the tractor. Once I came home with the goods, David started working on repairing the pipe on the tractor. He did what he could and closed out the night with the bond drying on the pipe line, him covered in goop, and the tractor lying lifeless in the yard. It’s hard to say if this was a successful weekend or not. I think we can compromise and call it a semi-success. 

Day 65 April 20

Well not the day any of us were hoping for but the necessary steps were addressed. It first started when Ben came over and him and David started evaluating the levelness of floor. (Side note, David hoped to get to the leveling part yesterday but as the night got later he just ran out of steam, and figured him and Ben could do it the next day.) To say the least, it was awful. Pretty much there was no space that didn’t need work. We originally figured we would need to level some spaces and had picked up self-leveling compound a few days ago, but we completely underestimated the need.

So while David and Ben worked on the floor, I ran to the local lumber store where we had ordered our glue. We were supposed to receive a call yesterday when the shipment was to arrive, but since we never got the call, I just figured I’d swing in. Once I got there I got the bad news that the glue wasn’t in because the truck bringing the order had broke down and it wouldn’t arrive until Monday. Shitter sticks!! I relayed the news to David and he took it better than I thought. I think he realized that the leveling would take a few days to lay and then dry, so we wouldn’t be able to glue the floor anyways until the beginning of next week at the earliest. We’re so naive. To be expected though when it’s your first time I guess.

About that time Ben left since there wasn’t much left to do after they laid the leveling compound we did have, and I left to get my haircut. When I came back a few hours later, David had changed directions and built the wall in the loft to close in the new duct work. It looked great! What a stud :o) He had also assessed the materials we would need for the floor and we made a trip to Lowes. We figured while we’re there we could pick up our sink too.

Aaaaaand NO! To make a long story short, basically the person who pulled the sink when I ordered it online pulled the wrong one, and the only other one was purchased, leaving no sink for us. It was disappointing because we have had such great customer service with Lowe’s, and this was a complete crap shoot. We had to have the sink by Monday and they couldn’t get another one to the store until Wednesday, leaving us to drive 30 minutes out of our way to a different store where they put one on hold. This situation shed so many problems with their system and customer service, but after we bitched about it for a little bit to each other, we sucked it up and decided I would pick up the sink tomorrow after I went to a baby shower. On the positive side, we were able to pick up more self-leveling compound in the hopes to complete that process tomorrow after church. 

Day 64 April 19

David's efforts really paid off, it looks fabulous!

A refreshing day in the sense that it was actually a bit of a day off for David! He stayed home AND received maybe only 4 phone calls throughout the entire day! We’ll take it :o) David and I started the day prepping the doorways of the 2 bedrooms and bathroom downstairs. David wanted the seam of where the wood and carpet/tile meet to be in the center of the door, so you don’t see the opposing material from the room you’re in. So I tackled cutting back the carpet to the bedrooms, while David manned the small tile pieces in front of the bathroom.

I finished earlier than David so I worked on wiring the outlet for the range. I managed 3 of the 4 wires, but after about 10 minutes of shear frustration with the last not going in its hole, I thought it best for all of our sakes if I just walk away and work on something else. David ended up coming back and finishing my work… hmmm, I’m noticing a theme with David finishing my work :o). He struggled as well, and felt frustration when we couldn’t locate the one screw we were saving that attached the cover, but in the end he managed a different screw to do the trick.

The last little detail we had was to install the track lighting. I had attempted to hang it yesterday but it was too heavy and cumbersome for just one person to do it safely. So in no time with the two of us working together, it was wired, secured, and with a flip of the switch it glowed bright! As of now I’m sitting in the middle of keeping it or returning it. It gives off great light to the space, but with that light also shines bright on the imperfections in the walls from mudding and painting. I also seems like it adds just too much “fixtures” in the space, but I figured we keep it for now and if I’m still hesitant about it in a few months, we can take it back and just put a cover over the space in the ceiling.

Once we completed the small tasks, the only thing left to do to prep for the installation of the floor tomorrow was to clear the space out. I worked on cleaning off the supply table so we could move it outside later, while David swept and vacuumed. I haphazardly threw stuff into boxes and put them in the garage, hoping if we are to need anything in them I could remember where they were. We’ll see how well that goes.  

Day 63 April 18

Workedy work work. During the day I hung the pendant light fixtures which I love!!! They are so pretty and emit a really nice glow. My only concern is that they might be a little too low, but we figure we’ll live with them for a bit and if need be we’ll change out the length later. But for now I think they look great :o) Next was to pull up the rest of the carpet. Looking back I don’t really know why we didn’t just pull it all up at once in the VERY beginning before we had so much crap in the space, but who really knows why we do the things we do. I had to shimmy the range and dishwasher over and then up it went. Wahoo! Carpet done!

After completing my labor intensive tasks of the day, on to ordering our sink. This was a bit of challenge considering our time frame of Monday, as well as different amenities offered for different products. In the end we went with a sink from Lowe’s that they had in stock, which would guarantee meeting our deadline. The only other thing is a faucet, which we have already picked one, we just need to confirm that it will fit. It was a typical Thursday night when I left for training, but not so typical for David because instead of taking the night off he tore up the last bit of ceramic tile in the foyer. There actually is a little bit smaller tile by the bathroom but the large sections are completed.  

Day 62 April 17

The other day during our hardware store run we picked up some laminate samples. The sales rep told us you can order larger samples online for free, so this morning that is just what I did. You got to get the ball rollin’ sometime! Today was my day of running errands, and once I was finished I popped on over to David’s work to hang out since it was be-a-utiful outside! And yet again, any excuse to get out of the office David was all for, so when we offered for one of his coworkers to borrow our car while his was in the shop, it was only appropriate for David to finish work at home. I CAN justify that he worked the rest of his work day, but with much better scenery. You don’t get the feel of the wind blowing, the heat from the afternoon sun, or the enjoyment of listening to birds singing when you’re working in an office building :o)

While David was sun bathing and working, I was inside rebuilding the wall next to the fireplace. Awhile back when David opened the wall he found rotten base boards, so I replaced those and secured the studs. I also added horizontal studs as a nailer but for reasons too difficult to explain in words, they ended up being pointless. Oh well, in the end while I was off at training David finished putting up the paneling and the only thing left is the trim! He also added padding and carpet to the landing which now feels so good on my feet when I come down the steps!

A touch of Spring to brighten your day :o)

Day 61 April 16

Nowadays David is looking for any excuse to get out of work early. Today is was to make a trip to Lowes and Home Depot to check out sinks and faucets to have in time for our counter top appointment on Monday. It was disappointing on both fronts because after looking in the stores we realized they don’t have many on display. We both prefer to be able to see and touch what we want and the internet just doesn’t give you that privilege  But considering that looks to be our only option that’s just what we’ll have to do. While we were at the store we also picked up more of the pendant lights we decided on and a dinette lights as well. They’re really pretty! A nice yellow/gold tone to them. Should be a good match for the rest of the décor in the kitchen.

David was pooped when we got back so we opted for a movie instead of work. But during the day I did accomplish a few things. I painted the exposed wall near the fireplace with the same stuff I used under the cabinets to prevent moisture damage since that part of the wall is under ground. With two coats applied it will be ready to be rebuilt tomorrow :o) With instructions from David I also attached the dimmer switch to the dinette light and  prepped the wires to be connected to the light. With the volt meter I checked that it was registering, but we’re waiting until we have the light hung before securing the plate cover. 

Day 60 April 15

Booyah! Counter top scheduled! I received a call from the manufacturer today and we agreed on next Monday to have someone come out to template the counter top. I can see the light!! The only thing is that since we are doing an undermount sink, we need to have the sink and faucet because at the house the time of the appointment so they can be templated into the design. That being the highlight of my day, next came cleaning. I’ve come to realize when the weekend comes I have no desire to wash dishes, put away clothes, or straighten up kitchen supplies. I really think it’s because I prefer to hang out with David as much as I can instead of doing all those mundane chores. It works out in the end because I have the time during the day on Monday to catch up on cleaning while David is at work.

David had another late evening so we didn’t do any work but we did come to a decision about the floors. This whole time we’ve been talking about the floors we have been searching for a definitive answer as to if we should glue or float. It’s obviously incredibly cheaper to float, but considering our concrete slab that is half above, half below grade, gluing would be ideal. We had a role of the foam stuff so we laid that out and set a few boards down to consider how the possibility of floating would feel. After a few passes by both of us, we came to the conclusion that the boards just moved and flexed too much with the pad. So glue it is! The rest of the night David was researching different glues we could use.

Day 59 April 14

It’s Sunday so guess what? That’s right, church followed by hardware store run. It just wouldn’t be a Sunday without the two. This trip to Home Depot was a big one though because we finally purchased our counter top!! I think we finally made the decision because the day before I asked David how long it would take for the counter tops to come in and he said probably 3 weeks and I almost cried. We are sooooo close and fatigue is starting to set in so any extra time was making me feel sad. So we buckled down and just picked one! Last big purchase…CHECK! Man that felt good. We were told we would receive a call later in the week to schedule an appointment for someone to come out and make a template.

For your viewing pleasure :o) 

When we came home it was cabinet time again, and David was determined for it to be the last. We brought the single 18” base cabinet into the mudroom to meet up with the larger cabinet David had built yesterday. They were leveled, attached to each other, then attached to the wall. To make sure we had space for the doors of the base cabinet and pantry to open freely, we had a space that needed filled on the left side. There would also need to be a filler on the right side to make up for empty space that the cabinet didn’t take up. David snapped his fingers and POOF! There were fillers! Ha! David wishes it was that easy. He actually did a great job using our supplies from the store to create a seamless transition of the cabinets.

Now for the pantry cabinets. We had two 24” cabinets that were 12” deep, and then two 18” cabinets that were about 30” deep. The 24” would be perfect and require no modifications, but then there were the 18”. They were custom built to fill the space on our angled wall, but for our design we needed to cut them to 12” deep to align with the other cabinets. We measured, cut, rebuilt, and then brought it inside to a surprise. The cabinet was about 6” taller than the other ones. We’re idiots. Didn’t even think of it. DUH! Fatigue brain is setting in. What’s funny is that I even said while we were carrying it in, “man, this one is smaller but feels heavier.” As we were setting it into place David was talking about it being made of a better quality wood or something like that, and then we looked up. Haha! It was actually pretty humorous. We talked about cutting off the top and jerry rigging a door, or keeping it as is, or moving it around, but in the end we figured something out. As I was taking off the doors to get it ready to be secured to the last cabinet, I stepped back and realized, “hey, that doesn’t look half bad”. I was a little hesitant at first how the top jutted up, but when you take off the doors and make it just shelves, it made for a nice accent piece, I guess that’s what you could call it :o). We got the last cabinet in and we were pretty excited, it looked really nice! Especially in my head when I’m picturing the shelves filled with cookbooks and cake pedestals. Now there are a few more details to be ironed out. First, the one cabinet never had the two top doors, well it did at one time but were removed and we’ve never found them. With the middle cabinet being open I would prefer a symmetrical look for the other two cabinets. So we’ve started an internet search for two oak doors. Second, since we’re keeping the middle cabinet open we need to add a couple of strips of finished wood to give the front of the pantry a more refined and polished look.

With the cabinets in, now we just had to decide on what we’re going to do with the counter top. Originally I was thinking a wood cutting board look when we were going to paint the cabinets white, but when I opted out of painting them it would just be too much wood. So then we were thinking of continuing our kitchen counter top into the mudroom, but considering it will mainly be used for storage space and wouldn’t really be a place for cutting or extreme hot and cold, we couldn’t justify the high cost of a nice material. So when we figured we could go cheap, laminate it is! We were going to go with one of those pre-made standard sizes you can find off the shelves, but with our weird spots that jut out we’re thinking we’ll need to have a template made. So close, so close, so close! Another productive weekend on record.