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We’re getting so close. This past weekend Sean and I hung the cabinets This Old House style and thanks to our neighbor Al, the counters are also installed in the kitchen. Everything is farm house straight:
We also spent a day attending to the yard and putting away materials in preparation for some more excavating work. We are extending our driveway along the house and adding gravel as well as preparing the site for our garage to be built next year. As it turns out, we are also having our septic repaired. (Sigh.)
The project list is shrinking, and we’re feeling the pressure to get the rest of it done… yesterday.
We need some help.
I didn’t have the walls ready to paint this past weekend because I’ve damaged my wrist (at least temporarily) from mudding and sanding. I’m going to keep it wrapped and pop lots of ibuprofen this week and do my best to finish the last coats of mudding in the living room, stairway, and one more bedroom so that all remaining rooms are ready for sanding and paint by Saturday.
If I can hang on and push one more week out of my arm, maybe our sweet little C. will not have to finish the rest of it up for me:
I’m feeling the burn to get this done. Can you help us!? For an hour? Or four?
Needed this Saturday September 26th
- Sanders (first thing Saturday morning!) and Dust Wipers
- Wall Painters (I know you’re all out there! About ninety-eight thousand people have approached me about helping with this in the past six months. The time has finally come.)
- Pressure-Washer Operator (for porch and window trim)
- Cleaning Helpers (to bravely take on The Dust. Vacuuming floors, walls, window sills; wiping cupboards, ceiling fans and light fixtures; washing windows and screens, steam cleaning the couch… everything is filthy. It just has to end.)
- Child Care! Okay A. and L. are too old to need this, but they are usually game for tagging along if you want to take the whole crew. Especially if it means getting out of doing yard work or other manual labor on the house. Or babysitting.
- Meal Preparation and Cleanup. Cook and serve food to our hardworking friends so that we don’t have to stop working except to stuff our faces!
- Roofer to finish installing ridge caps, top the chimney pipe and trim the valley shingle edges
Sean and I need to be able to finish installing floor transitions in two doorways and the wood treads and landings on the steps. The idea is to be ready for floor finishing during the week of Sept. 28 – Oct. 2, and to forge ahead full steam…
Next Saturday, October 3
- Exterior painters for porch and window trim
- Interior trim installers
- Gardeners/Grass planters
- Closet organizer installer
- Window insulator/sill-board installer/caulker
- Child care helpers
- Meal preparation and cleanup
- BONFIRE ATTENDEES! Yes, it’s time for a party. We plan to burn a huge pile of brush and junk wood. (And make merry drinking beer and pop and eating snacks. ) Fire starting around 7-8 PM. Bring your own chair and a song in your heart. Be sure to call us to let us know that you’re coming so that we can talk you into helping us at some point throughout the day too.
If arrangements work out, carpet will be installed upstairs between Oct 5 and 9… and we’ll be ready for the last wave of help by…
October 10
- LARGE ITEM MOVERS! The massively heavy couch (two recliners) is already moved, our giant living room armoire is sold and we are hiring out to move the piano… (“You’re welcome,” to everyone who has ever helped us move!) The bulk of what’s left will be managed in small bites as we go but we’ll need help with a few large items: stove, washer, freezer, desk, dressers…
If you can help with any or all of it, I can’t even begin to tell you how deeply appreciated it would be! We are SO aware that we can’t do it all alone.
We debated about whether or not to tear out the kitchen. We’d probably be moved in if we hadn’t torn it out.
I can’t help but think we made the right choice, even though this is arguably the most work we’ve done in one room yet.
Behold, the wall transformation:
That’s brick-patterned wallpaper. Complete with soot from some past toaster fire or something.
I’m loving the red walls, complemented by a tasty brown.
This kitchen is going to be awesome.
Anyone remember where we left off in the bathroom? Filled with ladders and buckets of joint compound, that’s where. It’s now painted a lilac purple, and all plumbing and light fixtures are installed and operational.
I should have snapped a quick shot tonight before we left… but I forgot the camera today. We’ve now installed an over-john cabinet, toilet paper holder, towel bars, and shower curtain.
Of course, the fridge is now in the bathroom, too, filling in the footprint where the stacked washer/dryer will go… it will stay there until the wood floors are finished. The linen cabinet works well for food and plates while all the cabinets are AWOL from the kitchen.
We stayed overnight last night (Saturday) and I even got to be the first one to shower in the new tub! What a treat, truly.
I’m a couple weeks behind posting photos. It’s a good indication that I’ve been too busy working to work on blog posts!
More to come from this past weekend! Windows are going in…
More bits and pieces as we speed toward moving day. I was looking at the calendar and realizing that we only have a month until our goal date.
I’ve had the inkling for awhile that we aren’t going to make that August 1 goal. But it’s okay. I would prefer to be living in the new place when school starts, but even if we don’t make that goal, it will be okay.
We can stay in our current house through December for sure, and it’s looking like that deadline may be extended to March 2010.
The header has been reinforced…
With Howard’s permission, the kids got to play in the large machinery. Howard fashioned us a driveway!
Eventually, the garage will be built attached to the house, with bedrooms above it, we hope. Doesn’t look like our initial budget will include enough to get it built this year. So we’re looking into getting remote car starters for the winter instead…
The next photo shows the path through the yard to the electrical pole. We are having the lines buried along with our upgrade in service.
Work on the roof has officially started, one section at a time. We are tearing off down to the roof boards–covered by layers of asphalt shingles and wood shakes–and putting all new plywood down.
To the left is my faithful and brave cousin Brian. He’s up for anything. I wonder if he knows how much we appreciate that. And behind him, yes, that’s Sean on the roof. (He hasn’t been cleared by the surgeon to go back to work yet.) Our crazy friend Andy is taking a break and watching here, but don’t let it fool you. He’s an animal when it comes to destruction.
I forgot to grab the camera the day that my cousin Neal joined the roofing crew. After he took a tour of our place and came up from the basement, he made a comment that I loved.
He said that our house was just like all the cars he’s ever owned. Crappy on the outside but totally rebuilt from within.
It made me smile, because it’s so true. And it felt nice to hear the genuine acknowledgment of all the hard work we’ve done on the house’s systems. So thank you for that Neal.
Little by little, we make progress in the bathroom as well. Here’s the framing for the dropped ceiling above the shower. It will make room for installing a vent and light as well as the dryer vent duct work:
Yes, it’s a toilet. It even flushes. Yes, it’s a door. It opens and closes. The simple pleasures.
Yes, that’s a container of screws sitting on the toilet tank.
Chad returned and worked his magic over the stairs: No more heads bonking! Woo hoo!
Is is a secret passageway into the bedroom? Or just a neat little slide?
Yes, Sean is updating the electrical for the entire house. I have much respect for this process. I’m grateful that he knows how to do it because I don’t have a clue.
My brand new, ten-inch-deep sink with a high-arc faucet. THIS is the sink you get when you have four kids and no dishwasher.
Hundred year old wood next to wood so new it’s weeping sap.
Uninhabited.
My sister Becca and I had such a fun email exchange last week. She asked how Sean was recovering from knee surgery (they scoped him and removed some torn cartilage), and I told her that he was up and moving around without crutches.
I was worried that he would push himself too quickly and that recovery would take even longer. I went on to describe the many ways that our house projects are gaining momentum and all the different people who are helping us make it happen.
She has been renting the Little House on the Prairie series for her girls and my comment reminded her of the episode where Pa breaks a rib and has to finish stacking the bags at the mill to pay the mortgage. Mary and Laura try to do it for him, but of course the men of the town swoop in and stack the bags and save the day.
I vaguely recall the episode… I remember the tape wrapped around Pa’s ripped abs. Well, maybe he wasn’t THAT ripped.
Anyway, she said that it sounds like our house project is coming together Walnut Grove style.
I like that.
I’m cheesy that way.
The latest project includes a new staircase to replace the steep farmhouse steps we ripped out last week.
Our skilled friend Chad brandished a tape measure, saw, and nail gun to make it happen. It was amazing to witness the process. It started with a TON of measuring and dividing and marking on the walls. Apparently there are more rules for stairs than just about any other place in a house. A few cuts into the first boards and we had a platform:
Once the boards dry out well and the roof is fixed to prevent more water (and the resulting mold) problems, we will be able to finish treating the mold, and then insulate and sheetrock the walls inside the staircase hall.
Here’s our hero of the day! A million thanks Chad! If anyone out there is looking for a contractor to hire for a remodel job, I know of a really great guy…
We still need to cut into the ceiling to make more headroom. For now, the opening is perfect for munchkins.
C has decided that the platform is a stage. What a surprise. Like mother, like daughter.
There will be finished southern pine boards for the skirt along the wall and the edges of the steps, and we will install a carpet runner in the center of the steps.
This last one makes me smile.
Geez, maybe someday we’ll look back at all this and say, “We were crazy.”
I’m sorta basking in it for the moment.
Prize Mania! Thank you kids for picking up sticks!
I ended my Memorial weekend feeling absolutely blessed. Blessed by fabulous friendships and by God’s amazing and humbling synchronicity at work as we charge ahead.
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We have bartered a wood stove for window installation (and are getting the windows at a deep discount besides!).
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The labor for our roof tear off and installation is being donated.
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The application for a permit for our driveway has been approved, mostly because of who we know.
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The labor for our stairway installation is being donated.
Each one of these items has a long involved story to explain how they came about. The point of all of it is so clear: We are being blessed!
I also have to interject a few words about partnership and marriage. I have felt for a long time that this project is one giant metaphor for me and Sean and us taking time and energy to rebuild our life together. Moving forward prayerfully and intentionally. Establishing new financial habits. Being kind and respectful partners with a common goal: a safe, functional, spirit-filled home for our family. Few goals are so worthy!!
With that said, we were blessed this past weekend with a visit from the Malveys, who maintain a permanent spot on our list of our favorite people in the entire world.
I get giddy when we have plans to visit and our time together is never enough. Thanks for your help with everything this past weekend Malveys! I have a few more pictures I didn’t manage to get resized last night with this round, so keep an eye out for another round of Memorial Day shots!
Sean, Craig, Me and Lori hanging out on the stoop:
The ceiling above the stairs… or where the stairs USED to be!
My new favorite picture.
In the interest of preserving our lawnmower blades, we had a contest to see who could pick up the most sticks out of the yard. Complete with cheesy prizes! (Photos forthcoming.)
The kids formed alliances, in true reality TV style. J and L formed a team:
Against J, C, W, and A. Forces to be reckoned with for sure!
After a Saturday full of destruction and a Sunday full of mud and tape, the tile floor is installed at last… the plan is to apply grout this coming weekend. My knees and back will live a happy and complete life if I never install tile again.
