More Renovation Updates

 While we had a few days off from work (due to furlough days along with holidays) and headed to Boston, our contractors only took Thanksgiving day off then were back to work.  Doug and I were anxious to get back home today to see what had been done. Doors were hung, shelving was built, baseboards, crown moldings and window moldings were put up, and cabinets were installed...

Door at top of stairs was hung

Crawl space doors were hung

Crawl space, closet and entrance doors were all hung in the upstairs bedrooms.

Crown molding was put up

As was the molding around the windows

Shelving for shoes in largest of two closets

Small rod in closet to hang long dresses

Other side of closet with shelves and rods

One of the saws that the contractors are using

New shelves in linen closet in bathroom. Uh--oh, I thnk I forgot to tell them that the wall paper was supposed to go! I hope they can paint over it.

Shelves in smaller closet. More will be added.

Cabinets in the hall area were put back in. These had to be taken out when the tile was ripped out.
 

Thanksgiving Day

This Thanksgiving we decided to do a "Non-Traditional" Thanksgiving. Kristen had to work Thursday and Friday so she couldn't be in Boston until late Friday night. Chad also couldn't make it on Thursday so we decided to cook steaks on Saturday when we could all get together. So.....Amanda, Doug, and I decided to participate in the Thanksgiving Day run/walk in Valdosta. This was a "no frills" race, meaning you did not receive a T-Shirt for participating. You did get to donate canned goods and pay a small fee of $5.00 to participate.  

Doug, Amanda, and I all started out together walking...

All the runners took off and left us in their wake. BTW, I'm in the blue shirt, A is in the pink shirt and D is behind us in the white shirt. It was quite warm and humid on Thanksgiving day.

I think Amanda was already looking for a ride and we had just started!

 

Amanda decided not to catch a ride after all. She and Doug ran together and she finished right before him.

Doug trying to catch Amanda

I was in major  pain and praying I could make it across the finish line. I attended a "boot camp" exercise class with Amanda on Wednesday and was feeling that on top of trying to run! Hey,  I got second place in my (old) age group!

TDSW

TDSW? Bet you are wondering what in the world TDSW is? Nope, it does not stand for  "The Discount Shoe Warehouse",  which is my favorite shoe store in the world (actually that is DSW). Since I couldn't think of a catchy title for this blog, I just decided to use the initials of what I'm blogging about today.

T is for Tile(s)
The tile for the shower & bathtub should be completed soon. The contractors ran into some "no so squared walls" and are having to improvise and make some corrections, which is taking longer than expected. In the meantime, I have to decide on grout color. Should I go with a darker or lighter grout? I keep thinking a darker color will hide any hints of dirt. Any suggestions are welcomed!

Shower with border and soap dish

Shower floor, wall, and border

D is for Door(s)
As I mentioned in the previous post, the doors for upstairs were delivered and have been moved from the front porch to upstairs. They have not been installed but are waiting on that special day.

Doors for rooms

Door for crawlspace. These doors have a weatherized strip on backside for added insulation.

Doors for the crawlspace will go on left and right of dormer area

S is for Sheetrock.
The sheetrock guy has completed sheetrocking and the walls are ready for paint. Anyone who chooses sheetrocking as a career is a very special (or totally insane) person. I have no idea how someone can stand to work with all the mud and dust involved! There is a constant film of white dust everywhere.

Sheetrocked walls ready for paint. What color should I pick?

W is for Window(s)
All the new windows have been installed and the insulation foam has been sprayed. Yay for no more drafts after all is complete.

Vinyl windows that will pop out for easy cleaning

Window in bathroom. 

The new windows upstairs across back of house.
Notice the pipe that runs up the back of the house? That should be removed this week if EMC shows up as planned.

Upstairs Update

The  bathroom tile is looking so good! The floor has been completed (except for the grout)  and now the tub and shower tiling are under construction. In addition to the bathroom work, the sheetrock guy has been working steadily in the bedrooms & closets and should be completed soon. New windows have been installed and the new doors along with the molding and shelving arrived today.

Charkee checking out her tub

Shower floor and part of the wall

Another shot of shower floor, bathroom floor, and shower wall

Princess Kami



Seating is limited at my house right now so I have to sit on top of the table!



Tile and Deck...

The contractors started installing the tile around the tub on Friday. They also worked on installing the liner in the shower for the tile.

New tile around tub

Another shot of tile around tub

Earlier in the week the contractors started tearing down part of the deck. After all the deck is gone, they'll begin building a 12x12 dining room and a 12x28 covered porch with a 10x20 deck attached to it.

Lower deck has been removed.

Upper deck will also be removed.

 With all this construction going on, our house now has a permanent coat of dust and a lovey aroma of glue. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining!

Do we really want to keep....

I mentioned in the previous post that we were going to keep the tile in the bathroom. Well...when one is putting in a new tiled shower  how can "one" keep the old tile that is on the floor and around the tub? What would "one" be thinking after the renovation has been completed when looking at that new tile and then the old tile? "One" would say "Why in the world didn't I just go ahead and replace that nasty tile?" Guess what this "one" is doing....Yep, getting new tile in the bathroom. I have already broken the renovation "stick to the plan and budget" rule.

Tub & floor with old tile

Tub & floor waiting on new tile

House Renovation is Underway

November 7, 2010

Our house renovation is officially underway.

We had a pod delivered to the house on Oct. 28th and Doug started moving boxes into it on Sunday, Oct. 31st.

Pod

 Doug rented a U-Haul on Oct. 29th and he, Kristen, and the three pups loaded up and headed south to drop two pieces of furniture off in Sasser for Alice to do her magic on and try to sell. They then drove to Valdosta to deliver our living room furniture (sofa, loveseat, chair) to Amanda. Once again, we're without living room furniture.

The trash dumpster arrived on Nov. 3rd. What a lovely addition to our driveway! (BTW...Doug's truck "Old Blue" disappeared during all the packing, moving, delivering...thank you Michael!)

Lovely Dumpster

 Doug and Kristen moved Kristen's bed downstairs and set it up in the TV room on Wednesday ( I was in Atlanta at a conference....they accused me of conveniently finding a conference to attend during this time).

Kristen's temporary bedroom (very cramped)

 Kristen now has boxes and one small armoire set up in the great room for her clothes!

Notice the basket in front...that's the dogs' basket with their clothes and toys.

The pups were very concerned about all this packing and were crawling in boxes and bedding down in them. At one point Charkee decided to just camp out in the pod in hopes of not getting left.

The contractors came on Thursday, Nov. 4 and started upstairs ripping up carpet and removing baseboards and doors. On Friday they removed the tile in the hall and took down fans and light fixtures. Below are some pictures of upstairs after two days of work (Kristen took some pictures before the contractors started the demolition but we can't find her camera now).

Windows on West End of Kristen's Room

Dormer on East End of Kristen's Room

Hall Area (the cabinets had to be removed to tear up tile)

Missing Ceiling Fan

View of Closet and Door to Hall in Amanda's Room

Below are pictures of the bathroom. We plan to keep the tile, tub, and cabinets but will replace the counter top, mirror, light fixtures, window, toilet, shower, and all faucets. Plus repaint!

Tub

Shower...soon to be ripped out and replaced.

We're still trying to decide if we're going to replace the basins...they are in good shape and will save us a few bucks if we keep them.

View of bathroom & Kristen's room from Amanda's bedroom.

The contractor wants to go ahead and put the new roof on ASAP to stop some leaks that we have. We plan to put a metal roof on and are trying to decide on a color. Looking at small samples is no help so we plan to make a trip to the roofing place tomorrow to look at colors.