Flip This Piece

Light Fixtures and....BUYERS

2009-06-04T15:25:00.000-07:00

I forgot I had never even posted this picture. It shows the lights as well as the doors we put in. If we were staying, I would for sure put knobs on all the drawers and cabinets, but I'll let the buyers do that.

Speaking of buyers.......

We have one offer on the table already and another offer being drawn up right now as I type this! Yea!!! Both families really want it so maybe we'll have a bidding war of sorts? =)

The Back Yard

2009-05-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

So much more could be done in the back yard, but I'm thinking this is some pretty big improvement. The fence is complete, the grass is mowed, the porch is clean. I'm happy.

So much more could be done in the back yard, but I'm thinking this is some pretty big improvement. The fence is complete, the grass is mowed, the porch is clean. I'm happy.

The Patio and the Mantle

2009-05-26T21:10:00.000-07:00

We are in love with our patio furniture. We've never had any before and it's so nice to sit out there. There are always lots of pretty birds and squirrels running around to entertain us and the houses around ours are pretty. I'm going to miss it!

Remember the crystal ball looking light that used to be on the porch? I would show a picture if I could, but I'm using a different computer now. This was a very expensive light that John got for only $12!

The mantle is finally done! That was a long wait.

Here's a view from further away. (I also raised the curtains in the dining room. It made a big difference.)

And even further....

Flower Bed Pictures

2009-05-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

I've never really done a landscaping project before (not any that I'll admit to anyway!) so this was no small thing.

We bought and brought home all the pavers. I carried them all from the truck to the yard and then layed them in the pattern I wanted.

I dug out the grass that John had grown. (I kept telling him I wanted to do flower beds but he didn't believe me.)

I spent a couple hours at Lowe's in the blazing sun choosing what plants to use.

I made several trips to pick it all up because there wasn't enough room in one trip.

I dug big holes for the bushes. I dug smaller holes for the flowers.

I mulched.

I watered.

I LOVE it!!!

I wasn't sure what to do with this area down by the end of the driveway so I mulched it and added some flowerpots.

I thought about cutting down the big oleander bush on the end, but my dad said I should just trim it up like a tree. I'm glad I listened!

So much better now!

Here's the left side - that's the kitchen window there on the far left. It's much better view now!

The Master (mostly) After Pictures

2009-03-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

You have to keep in mind that we are still working on stuff as we have time, so most all of the after pictures I've been posting are "mostly" after pictures. The big project lately has been the fence and planting new grass. The fence lacks one front section, but John had to get the grass seed planted before it was too late. So the rest of the fence will come later.

Meanwhile, the inside still hasn't seen many of the finishing touches I'm eagerly awaiting - things like bathroom light fixtures, all the new outlets and light switches, and a light in our shower! I've gotten used to taking dark showers now though.

In case you don't remember how horrendous things looked before, here's the original slide show of pictures.

Here's the master bedroom from the doorway.

The view from the bathroom.

This is my little area where my computer is for now. I had the internet man install wireless internet and my plan was to set up the desktop in John David's room since he has a desk. After going to all the trouble to hook up my computer in his room I realized that there's no wireless card. So now I sit on the floor in the corner of my room.

Here's the bathroom entrance view from our bedroom. We have some really nice slatted doors that still need to go up. Also, can you tell that there's no base trim under the cabinets? And no drawer fronts on two of the drawers? Yeah. I'm patiently waiting. My patience is getting us our mantle for free though and that's worth about $400 so it's okay.

Won't new light fixtures be so pretty? =)

See what I mean about taking dark showers? I guess the people who lived here the last 30 years never wanted to see. Weird.

The cabinets still need the gloss finish, but again, we're waiting for our cabinet man to do some things first.

This is our tub and the new window. I really don't like that picture there because it seems too small for the space, but I had it on hand so for now it works.

Here's the ceiling fan in our room.

John put remote controls with all of the ceiling fans in the house. I love this little luxury!

Living Room and Dining Room

2009-02-28T18:32:00.000-08:00

This is the before picture for the living room. Pretty rough. We knew the shelving would all have to go and that the fireplace would need to be redone, but we didn't have a clue how we were going to redo it.

This is the previous breakfast area. The window to the right looks out to a covered patio that separated the breakfast area from the living room.

We took out those walls and enclosed the patio.

The old patio area is now indoor space. This view is from the entry area.

So you have to know that it's still a work in progress. We're having a mantel custom made and it's taking longer than we had hoped. All the cords that are hanging around the fireplace will be hidden by the mantel and behind the wall when we're done. I also made some matching floral arrangements for the top of each tower, but that wasn't done when the pictures were taken.

It's funny when I look at this picture because this room isn't really my style. I don't have the money to create what I want so I have to just do what I can afford - which I like, but it's not really me. Also, I think the towers look much nicer in person than in these pictures. They aren't solid black. They have a distressed finish with a wood color underneath. Not too important, I know.

Here's a picture taken from near the fireplace.

Our table sits where the patio used to be!

Here's that view from the entry area again.

And here's the view from the hallway. I can't believe the original builders made that an outdoor patio - it was such a waste of space! Right in between the two pillars was a big ugly glass sliding door. No thanks!

I would love to have a rug under the dining table, but with my kids I think any rug would be doomed from the start. =)

Some More After Pictures

2009-02-26T19:54:00.000-08:00

There's a good possibility that by this point nobody even cares......but for the sake of finishing what I started.....

This is the only before picture I could find of the entry area. To the left is what used to be the dining area (we enclosed it to make a fourth bedroom), the middle is the front door, and the right leads into the front room (which around here is often called "The Miss Goodbee Room" since that's where the girls' Miss Goodbee dollhouse usually resides).

Here's the new entry way:

I'm sorry to say that I have no before picture of the front door, but trust me, it was U-G-L-Y! Here's the new door that I painted green to match the trim which we also did in green.

Here's the view from the entry way when you come into the house. You'll notice that we are still lacking door knobs and many new switches and outlets. These are things that are coming slowly but surely.

Here's a before picture of the front room:

And after:

We took out the lovely paneled wall with the built in desk and added a window. It made a big difference inside and out! We love it!

Here's the view when you're sitting on the love seat in the front room.

Okay, more will come soon. Not everybody was awake when I was taking pictures so I couldn't get all the rooms....

They Have Shadows!

2009-01-23T08:34:00.000-08:00

I just went in the kitchen and there are ants all over the cabinets under the sink and near the dishwasher. These things are huge! They have their own shadows!!! Going to the store for ant poison now. Good grief.......

The Kitchen and Part of the Bathroom

2009-01-21T20:45:00.001-08:00

The kitchen is my favorite part of our house so far. It still lacks a few touches like new switches and outlet plates, bottles in the wine rack, and plates in the plate rack, but I think you get the idea.

(I love my new camera, but my computer does not. I'm having great trouble transferring pictures. You wouldn't believe the retardedness I just went through to get these up!)

Here's the view from near the table:

(oops! one can light is burned out!)

(do you like how I cropped out the sink? but not because there were dishes in there. no way!)

We had the tile guys lay this strip of stones across the entry to the kitchen to serve as a way to break up the flow of the tile. It allowed us to get the design we wanted. We did the same thing in the hall bath entry way.

And here's one picture of our bathroom. Those white lines are just from the flash bouncing off the mirrors. I'm waiting for John to get home to change out the light fixtures and I couldn't take pictures of the rest of the bathroom just because it's dark right now. The new lights for the shower and bath part aren't in yet so I shower by lamplight for now! Classy, huh? The cabinets are also not totally done since we haven't put the finish on them or any hardware.

If my camera and computer get along better tomorrow, I'll try to post more.....

Thank The Lord for Home Warranties

2008-12-17T11:58:00.000-08:00

Upon entering the house this morning, I smelled something burned. I couldn't find the source of the smell at first, but then I saw the hot water heater. It's a wonder our house didn't burn down! The plumber said if the door had been on that closet where the water heat is (we removed it for tiling) it most likely would have set the house on fire. Wouldn't that have been something. All this work and a lot of our stuff freshly moved over and then it burns down. Wow.

Anyway, the plumber is already there doing his thing. They'll put in a brand new one tomorrow and all for just the $60 fee the warranty company charges. Sweet.

Who Knew?

2008-12-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

A ventahood (is that how that's spelled???) has to actually vent somewhere. Really? The previous owner's must not have known that since there was no venting route in place. And since there was no venting route in place, we, of course, never even thought about it.

Until yesterday.

Our kitchen is all but complete and we were just in there to talk about installing the appliances. That's when the vent bomb was dropped. Bleh. Now we have to cut through the cabinet over the microwave, cut a hole in the ceiling, and run a venting duct through the attic. We may even have to take down a section of cabinets to do the job and then put them back up. You can insert any exclamatory remark filled with frustration and annoyance HERE.

I Stink

2008-12-14T19:59:00.001-08:00

I had great hopes of what this blog would be, but the honest truth is that I can only do so much. I figure I should probably keep feeding my kids and occasionally dressing them, and every once in a while I need to sleep an hour or two. The only thing I can cut out some is blogging. =(

I'm kind of bummed and kind of excited all at once because we started moving our stuff over today (the good part), yet not everything is done yet (the bummer part). Things will get finished this week but due to several different factors, we needed to go ahead and move a lot of things over. We put a lot of it in the garage (the carpet isn't in yet) and only some in the house on the tile. It was SO thrilling to see my things that have been in a lonely storage room for over a year, but it's frustrating that 1) I didn't get pictures of everything all finished before stuff was brought in, and 2) I didn't get to clean everything before stuff was brought in. I'll definitely have to mop a number of times to get the floors good and clean. I wish I had a Shark Steam Mop!

All of this to say that pictures will be posted, just not yet. We're going to be crazy busy finishing everything and moving in this week and then we're going to Colorado for the rest of the year. I can't wait to post an awesome before and after picture full post!

And don't let me forget to share my cabinet staining fiasco! I'm going to have to blame it on Kablot, I think, due to her down right frightening warning of a comment about my body now being poisoned with toxins! ;) It sure feels good to have someone else to blame for your mistakes. Thanks, Kablot!

My body is screaming for bed after a very long day of church (complete with curling both girls' hair this morning - about a 45 minute job, working in the preschool class, and then the preschool Christmas program, and touching little boy pee when a 4 year old wet his pants), lunch, trying to edit John's paper for school (I fell asleep trying), moving lots of heavy boxes (some of them up the ladder and into the attic), overseeing the completion of a 2nd grade school project (no small thing if you've met his teacher!), and getting all tired and cranky children into bed. Good night!

a VERY helpful hint I wish I had known before....

2008-12-10T00:49:00.000-08:00

I stained cabinets for the first time tonight. I've been dreading this task because I was terrified of messing these custom made beauties up. The blood was flowing through my veins pretty fast when I sat down in the bathroom to get started (staining that is). I thought about it, I prayed about it, and I repositioned myself a half a dozen times. Finally, when I could put it off no longer, I began.

One rule to remember, which I knew, is to always start your staining job at the back of the cabinet. The reasoning for this is just less mess as you lean in. I did a great job following this rule.

Another rule to remember is to never stir your stain midway through your project. This could result in an uneven finish on your wood. I was good at following this rule too. Stir it once and put the stick in the trash. I can handle it.

But this last rule is one that nobody bothered to share with me - probably because it's just so obvious. When you are going to stain something, anything, wear gloves! This is especially important when you are using a rag to stain and not a brush. I did not know this was a good idea until it was too late, and by that time by hands were already well on their way to turning a very dark brownish black.

I can now tell you some things that do NOT get stain off your hands:

dish soap
lemon juice
bleach
ammonia
sos pad
boiling water
flaming fire

Ok, I didn't try everything single thing in that list, but nonetheless, those things don't work. If you are a dodo like me and happen to get stain all over your hands, then you better pray to God Almighty that you have some vegetable oil in your house, because that's all that's getting that nasty, sticky stuff off!

The cabinets are looking great though, so I guess it's worth it.

Pictures. Tomorrow. On it.

I Owe You

2008-12-08T18:09:00.001-08:00

I know I owe you soooo many pictures and I really do keep meaning to get them! The problem is that I'm too stinking busy doing all the work to take pictures of the work that is happening. I can tell you about some of the things that have happened, but that's kind of boring I know. Hmmm....How about I tell you now and then add the pictures very soon. (I promise, very soon.)

baseboards are all in and painted
all painting is done, save a few touch up places
master bath is done except for staining the cabinets
outside trim is about halfway done and we changed our color choice - I love it!
new bedroom door and closet door are installed

And this week the following things are happening:

ceiling fans and lighting fixtures installed
final electrical work done (I hope it's the final work anyway)
carpet gets installed
granite goes in
kitchen back splash is done
fireplace is tiled (mantel will probably come a little later)

See? I told you I owe you pictures! We've got a marathon work week looming over us right now though. Sorry! =)

Painter's Neck

2008-12-06T08:08:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure if that's an actual term, but I've got it. It's caused by painting ceilings and it's not fun (the neck and the painting both). The good news is that other than a few places that need a touch up, the painting is done! (Ok, that's not including the base boards either but they are almost done too!) I can't begin to describe my elation - imagine the elation level once it is actually, totally, completely done. To think that in two weeks we will be sleeping in that house with our own furniture, well, that's just unimaginable right now (which is unfortunate because it MUST happen). Our deadline is firmly in place:

December 14th - all the guys go to the Cowboy game (no drooling please)
December 15th - carpet installed (this is tentative as I have to make sure the installers are good to go for that day, but it shouldn't be a problem)
December 16th, 17th, 18th - move in and unpack
December 19th - John David's Christmas party at school (remember, I'm Marge)
December 20th, 21st - Christmas with John's family
December 21st - fly out to Denver for Christmas with my family
December 22nd, 23rd - packers and movers arrive and Clay and Sandy's house to move everything that's left to go to Tulsa (that's why we have to be moved!)

Surprisingly, I'm keeping my cool pretty well, I think. Mostly anyway. ;)

Someone Call the Trophy Shop Please

2008-12-03T07:13:00.000-08:00

Seriously, because I soooo deserve the dodo award. I'm so annoyed with myself! I have painted bedrooms 2-4 count it.....one....two.....THREE TIMES!

But that's not the worst part. After three times, it's still NOT the right color. And do you know what color I will probably use? The color I painted it the first time around. I told you I deserve the dodo award. It's really no wonder that the painting will never end. I'm way too wishy washy on my color choices.

In case you're curious....

Round One: Nomadic Desert (same color as the living room and kitchen)

Round Two: Dove White (a very creamy off white that just ended up looking way too blah)

Round Three: Tea and Biscuits (supposed to just be a lighter version of what's in the living room and kitchen but ended up with a freakishly orange hue)

Sigh......

So now everyone knows why the posts here have not been too frequent. I've been grunt slaving around with the paint roller on a never ending quest to find the perfect color. How wonderfully frustrating.

The Light

2008-11-20T17:21:00.000-08:00

I can see it! The light at the end of the tunnel, that is. There's still so much to be done, but everything is really coming together. I'm dying to post pictures of what the master bath looks like right now, but a) I don't have time, and b) any pictures I took right now wouldn't be good anyway because it's too dim as the light fixtures aren't all in yet.

We're taking a few days off to spend some time in Dallas (yea!), but then it's back to grunt slaving around......

Lesson of the Day

2008-11-19T19:32:00.001-08:00

If you're going to get new doors, you should paint them before installing the hardware.

Having...Heart....Attack.....

2008-11-18T15:40:00.001-08:00

I just paid for the granite. That is all....

Hall Bath

2008-11-17T20:26:00.000-08:00

The babies are in Tulsa this week (I will not cry, I will not cry) and John David was at school, so I just had Julia with me. We spread out a blanket and took a bunch of things to do. She played on the blanket for several hours while I painted trim.

This is the doorway from the hall into the bathroom. It's not grouted yet, but isn't it pretty?

This is the shower for the hall bathroom. I really like the way it came out and I'm totally wishing I had used those stones in the master! I didn't want them to look the same though....

Master Bathroom

2008-11-17T20:09:00.000-08:00

The master bathroom is coming along - finally. They worked a lot more after these pictures were taken but this what I have for now.

Has anyone else noticed that blogger now inserts pictures in opposite order than it used to? Totally annoying because you have to think backwards!

Moving right along.....

This is the (ugly) view from the outside of the bathroom (remember there's a door in there that leads out to this patio area?). The window that was there just had to go and we're replacing it with a glass block window. The bricks that were there were apparently very loose and will now have to be set back in (at our expense I'm sure). I know it wasn't our contractor's fault because the bricks beside the new back door were the same way, according to the door installer.

I know all you can see when you look at this is a big mess, but I see candles and bubbles and a very relaxed La who is no longer remodeling a house.

Here's the shower. I have been very torn over those little square stones ever since they first put them in. They look blueish to me which, as John pointed out, is clearly because of the blue colored spacers. But still. I'm just not certain about them.

Go ahead and say it, Johnny. "I told you so." John wanted me to use "Noce" pencil tiles as a border around, but I was concerned about the lack of color interest since the Noce tiles were the same color as everything else. I thought the squares would be a nice break. The floor of the shower will be all of these tiny squares too. (I changed my mind from the picture I posted earlier of the floor tiles.)

Would you think I was crazy if I went in and ripped out the squares and replaced them with the Noce tiles? They're the same size so it probably wouldn't be hard. Crud. Why can't I ever make the right decision the first time???

It Takes a Certain Kind....

2008-11-13T20:57:00.000-08:00

....of personality that is. Or at least someone who can play the part. In this business (look at me - I said that as if flipping is my "business" - how cute!), everyone is out to get the most money they can for the least amount of effort and if you're not tough, they'll try to screw you over. I learned this lesson today as I had to put on my big girl pants and get a little mean.

I'm so not a hard person to deal with (am I?) and I'm super nice normally. I talk to our workers and today I had even taken them a couple dozen cookies from a bakery I had gone to. I'm pretty sure they like me, but they still try to get by with stuff.

I spent two hours today (that sounds totally ignorant now, but trust me) tracking down the soap ledges for the showers. The kind of ledges that are tiled over so they match your shower. My "guy" told me they would be at Lowe's or Home Depot, either one. Strike one. Strike two.

Next I followed the tip of the (seemingly quite knowledgeable) man from Lowe's and went to the big plumbing supply place. In retrospect, I should have called first to check, but I was quite sure they would have it. They didn't. Strike three.

At this point, I called our "guy" and asked him where in the world I was supposed to find this thing. He was no help. Grrrr...

The man at the plumbing place suggested somewhere else he was quite positive would have them. Thankfully, he was right and I left that store with my ledges in hand.

I delivered the ledges to the Piece and went on to the granite warehouse where I received a call from our "guy". He said those weren't the kind of ledges he needed and this kind was going to take much longer to put in and cost way more labor. According to him, he and John had never discussed using these and now the dura-rock was already put in and he didn't want to have to tear it out. I kindly told him that was indeed the kind he told me to get and that I had spent TWO hours to find those ledges and that was the kind he needed to put in. I ended up going to the Piece in person and, well, let's just say that I will have my ledges.

I don't enjoy being mean, but I can put it on. So in an effort to finish this house before the 30 year mortgage is up, I'm going to start wearing my mean pants. Well, maybe. I'll try anyway. I'm just such a nice person. Sigh......

November 12th

2008-11-12T21:18:00.000-08:00

The tile is done now and will be grouted tomorrow. It's amazing how much farther along everything seems with the floors done. (Well, we still have to lay carpet, but that's last, it's quick, and it's not messy.) Here's part of the kitchen design. They wanted to do just a straight square design throughout, but I insisted on some various diamond patterns. It just looks so much better! So although the tile could have been done a couple of days ago, I think it's very well worth the wait (and the extra money!).

You win. Here's a picture of one part of one side of the kitchen. This was taken from near the bar. It will be a couple more weeks before we get the granite counters and after that we'll still have to do the tile back splash.

In other news, we've been given the victory over the ugly green linoleum floor. It was a hard fought battle indeed.

Our appliances are ready to be installed! Any takers? (on the installing, not the appliances themselves.) I always have wanted an over the range microwave to call my own. [insert dramatic princess sigh here]

Check out this bad boy of a stainless steel stud muffin!

There's a dishwasher too, but he's in his box so that's no fun. (Notice I referred to the dishwasher as a "he". Obviously, that is not inspired by real life.)

Time Spent Thinking Instead of Working

2008-11-11T19:16:00.000-08:00

If you've ever been shopping with multiple kids, then you know how hard it can be to make decisions (good ones anyway) when you are simultaneously feeding someone goldfish and wiping something brown from someone else's hands that you can only hope is chocolate.

So while I like to busy myself painting or working at our house while all kids are in school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, today I found it much more necessary to stroll through Lowe's thinking and choosing and comparing. And then on to another place.

While I did make some progress, in some ways I was even more overwhelmed when I left. I've learned that I have a difficult time seeing things in my head beforehand. For instance, the shower tiles. I can't design these things in my head - I really need to have a great big play shower that is magnetic and I can walk in and arrange and rearrange all the tiles (which would have to have magnets stuck to their backs) to my little heart's content. Whatever home improvement store implements that idea first is going to make a lot of money. Seriously.

Anyway, as I left I was in a give-up kind of mood. I was tired and obviously not too good at all this picking stuff out business. I prayed that God would send me to the right place and to the right people to help me figure things out.

Next thing I know, I had the good sense to call our cabinet maker to help us with our fireplace. (It is apparently much too large for any stock or even special order mantle.) He's coming over tomorrow to help me design something!

Then, I remembered a small place called Decorator's Outlet that I had driven by a million times but never thought about. I went in and there were two awesome women who helped me pick and choose from so many beautiful tiles and stones. I think we came up with a beautiful design - time will tell. =)

So, although I didn't get any work done at the house, I got a lot accomplished just by clearing my head and figuring things out. Now I guess I'm going to go catch up on some physical work while the kids snooze away. (Which is something to be thankful for after this.)

In Progress

2008-11-10T10:46:00.000-08:00

The tile is still being completed as I type.
I took a few pictures on Saturday so it's further along by now.

This is the wall cabinet above the hall bath toilet. It's still unfinished since I have yet to decide on a stain color. The walls and ceiling are painted a green color. I've used green before in our last house, but this shade is the best so far. I'm considering repainting one of the bedrooms this color. Except then the painting will never end. Hmmm. Can't decide.....

New Doors

2008-11-10T10:38:00.000-08:00

Hey, the internet is actually working right now! I'm going to post while I can before it goes out again! Knock on wood....

Here's the new front door, unpainted though it may be. We'll probably paint it the same color all the outside trim will be - a totally bold beige.

These were the old garage doors. While it was tempting to keep them, we decided to part with them in favor of some that weren't falling apart.

Like these! They'll look even better once all the trim is repaired and painted the same color. They are things of beauty though. John picked these out and I think he did good!

Right After Lunch!

2008-11-09T07:12:00.000-08:00

I took pictures but have had no internet to post them (that's a whole different post). It's working again now but it's time to go to church......As soon as we're done with lunch they'll be up - as long as the internet hasn't gone out again!

How Could I Forget?

2008-11-07T07:49:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that as I got dressed this morning, I flexed my muscles in the mirror. I was just positive they would be huge since yesterday I transported three pallets of boxed 18x18 tiles from the store to the Piece. Unless you have personally done this, you probably can't imagine just how much three pallets really is. Let me tell you - it's a lot!

Oh, and in case you were curious, yes, my muscles were indeed quite large looking.

No Pictures Still!

2008-11-07T06:54:00.000-08:00

We have made some great progress, but can I show you? NO! Why? Because my camera charger is still missing. Whah. It's just near as interesting to tell you about it as it is to show pictures. I guess my mission for today should be to either find the charger or get a new one. Ughhh.

A few things to look forward to seeing would be:

a new front door and back door (yet to be painted, but whatever)
new garage doors
the painted hall bathroom (I am in love with the color I used!)
the tile laying in progress
the master bath taking shape
the color we used in the master room (can you guess what it is? If you know me you can.)

Hopefully, I'll get some pictures up by the end of the day. [fingers firmly crossed]

The Pressure is Too Much!

2008-10-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

I do have a few pictures that are more interesting but they're sitting on my camera and getting them off would require way too much effort at this point, soooooo, I hope these will do. Just humor me and pretend to be interested.

Here's some of the things I bought that are currently sitting in a closet waiting to be installed. I think those are also my jeans sitting there. Wait a minute, maybe these picture are totally captivating, after all!

Here's the main tile we're using in the master bath. The small tiles are for the shower floor. I don't think I've shown this yet, or have I? Who knows. Anyway, I love those small tiles and can't wait to see them in the shower!

Holy Cow, I've Seen the Light!

2008-10-30T19:48:00.000-07:00

I never, and I mean NEVER, want to paint with a roller and a brush again! I've learned to use a sprayer and geez louise, I've wasted half of my life painting when I could have had this contraption. I painted three bedrooms (walls and ceilings) in 15 minutes flat today and then moved on to paint another bedroom and bathroom. Granted, it's kind of a pain to clean the sprayer out when you're done or switching colors, but you're going to have to clean something up no matter how you paint. So please excuse me while I go continue my new love affair with the greatest invention ever.

While I'm here I might as well take the time to say that our entry doors and our garage doors are all being installed on Tuesday morning! What a difference that should make. Then, as soon as I can finish all the painting (I mostly have trim and base boards left at this point), our guys will be working to finish everything else. They're scheduled to be finishing up with most stuff next week. But like I said, it kind of hinges on me getting the painting done too. I'm thinking about going over there tonight since the kids are asleep, but I figure I do need to sleep at some point....

M is for Monday and Mowing

2008-10-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

I mowed the knee high grass today. That is one stinkin' huge yard - especially when you're using a mower that is near death. It sputters non-stop like it's going to die and every so often it will just stop. Then you have to go get the huge gas can and lug it to wherever it stopped and fill it back to the rim. Then, if you're lucky, it will start again. Yep, it was fun. (I should mention too that I was power walking with that thing because I had to get it done quickly before it was time to get John David from school. Now that's a workout!)

Moving right along, tomorrow I'll be learning how to use a paint sprayer so the rest of the painting won't take the rest of my life. I'll let you know how that goes......

No, We Haven't Given Up

2008-10-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you're probably thinking that we finally gave up on our miserable piece due to the lack of posting around here, but you would be wrong. Although I don't have pictures at the moment to prove anything, we are making progress. Slowly but surely.

The bathroom cabinets were custom made and they are partly installed. They will be fully installed once the plumbing is reconfigured for a double sink. They're nice though and I'm glad I didn't go with just unfinished cabinets from Home Depot or Lowes. These cost a little more but I think we'll definitely see that money again. I need to choose a stain now.
The painting has continued. Even though I don't particularly enjoy painting, I always love the huge difference it makes. It's just so dramatic!
The master bathtub is in place. Now if we can just get our slow-poke plumber to come do his thing, we can get some more things rolling. A slow worker can really mess a time-line up. It's one big domino effect and a lot of times, you're just at these guys' mercy. Apparently, plumbers have no trouble finding plenty of work so I don't think they're too concerned about losing your business - hence, their total lack of regard for when you would like the job done. He keeps saying he's coming but then he doesn't. Why are we even still trying to use this guy????? Grrrrrrr.......

This week I'm very hopeful that our new doors will be installed, including the garage doors, the painting will be finished, granite counters will be ordered, and the master bathroom will be shaping up. We'll see though. My hopes do not always equal reality.

My biggest obstacle has been trying to get things done while taking care of my kids too. When we started this whole thing, we had grandparents living with us. That's not the case anymore. So even once the kids are in bed at night, I can't go over there and work like I had before. I will say that their great-grandmother has been a help though. She will often stay at our house while the babies are napping. That's a big help at least!

In closing, I would just like to point out that flipping is not for moms of little children. =)

Lest you think I've been slacking.....

2008-10-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

My arms hurt. My shoulders and neck burn. Whah whah whah! I've been painting this week and as much as I love to paint, I'm ready to be done. The bad part is that I'm nowhere near done! It's so awesome to see how big of a difference paint makes though. It's very motivating to keep things going.

Now I'm going to reward myself for my hard work with a big glass of chocolate milk and a new episode of Law and Order SVU. All of this will take place in my bed, under my down comforter because it's in the 50's outside! Woohoo! Fall has arrived and La is one happy girl. =)

Along Came A Spider

2008-10-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of nights ago John, Kara and I were at the Piece when John hollered out that there was a huge spider. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to grab my camera.

This thing was awful! Do you see its eyes glowing???
I think I need to use the red eye tool in my editing program on this bad boy! Yuck!

Clearly, he's looking at me.

We threw a penny down there for size reference. Aren't we smart?

After watching him for a little while it was time to kill him. John got the shovel and I got ready to video the execution. Check it out....

We finally found him on the floor a foot or two away. He must have fallen off of John's shoe. We discovered that the spider was a "he" not a "she" and all of her little babies were running wild. John quickly tried killing as many as he could, but they were fast. Eek! That's a lot of spiders growing up in that house!

This Past Week

2008-10-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

Little by little, I'm beginning to see what it's all going to look like. I think we're finally getting to the fun (comparatively anyway) part. This past week was NOT fun. I spent my work time scraping floors (I still have the blisters and callouses on my hands to show for it) and John spent his work time crawling through the attic trying not to breathe in the insulation as he installed can lights and tried to figure out all the wiring. He's still not done with all of that, but he's at least a lot closer. We hope.

The biggest thing that's happened so far are the kitchen cabinets. They are SO beautiful! I'd love to show you a picture now, but I'm going to be mean and make you wait until the granite is installed and the sink and appliances are all in. They are so very, very lovely though. Sigh.

This picture is taken from the edge of the kitchen. That's the front door (which will soon be replaced) and that angled wall is for a picture and maybe a small entry way table. See the yellow cord hanging down? That's for an eyeball light to point at whatever is on the wall. This is one of my favorite things.

Here's some proof that I'm actually doing some work too, since so far I think I've only posted pictures of John working. We wouldn't want him to get all the credit, now would we? Notice the darker color on the ceiling - that's not due to a shadow or lighting. That's the original color we were going to go with in most of the house, walls and ceilings alike. I think I'll devote a future post to this topic alone, but suffice it to say that Walmart stinks at making paint and after a couple of time wasting trips, I headed over to Sherwin Williams to get some real paint. Some good paint. This is all still a sore subject so I won't delve into any further details at this time. The happy ending, however, is that we LOVE the color we ended up getting from Sherwin Williams. It's called "nomadic desert". Thanks to my fabulous sister Kara for meeting me at the store and helping me pick it out!

Here's Fernando's dad texturing the walls in the new room.

Somehow John David always ends up on the floor whenever we go to Home Depot or Lowe's. Silly boy. (That's Uncle Maka in the picture, not Daddy.)

I saved the most exciting picture for last. This one is of dirt. Yep, I said dirt. John is having to fill in all the low spots in the yard. I told you it was exciting.

I Accomplished the Impossible!

2008-10-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I made so many calls to electricians, trying to schedule one to come sooner rather than later. Like I mentioned in the last post, we couldn't move forward with things until electrical stuff was done, we had a permit, and it was all approved by the inspector. Everyone I talked to said it would be at least a week or two before they could come out. I just kept calling.

Finally, I talked to an electrician who said he could come out on Tuesday or Wednesday. I talked him into coming Monday morning (today). So at 8:00 this morning I met him there and by the time school was out, the work was done, the permit was on the wall, and the approved box was checked. Woohoo!

Now tomorrow morning Fernando can start working again and the walls will soon be closed up. I've got to get the kitchen painted and dried before Wednesday evening when the cabinets will start going in. The guy we hired does it on the side so he'll work a few hours each night starting Wednesday and will be done by Saturday or Sunday afternoon. It's going to be so great to really get things going again.

My hands are blistered not from scraping more stupid linoleum today. I have mentioned that I hate that stuff, right? RIGHT? I even wore gloves. I got almost all of it up in the bathroom but the power was off in that part of the house because of the work being done so it was kind of dark. As I neared the toilet I was less than willing to get too close since I couldn't really see what I was doing. There were a few things back behind there that I couldn't quite make out so I decided to finish the job some other time. Call me squeamish, but I know those construction guys have been using that toilet. I'm quite positive because they bought a family size pack of toilet paper and put it in there.

I wish they had bought some air freshener too. =)

Permits Schermits

2008-10-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

City permits are such a pain to have to deal with! I understand the necessity, but they are wreaking havoc on our time line.

And here's a tip for you: electricians are not generally readily available to come whenever you need them. Be prepared to wait a couple of weeks. Therein lies the problem with our permit issues. Our main construction guy won't/can't finish sheetrocking and completing his work until John's wiring work is complete. And in order for it to be complete, we have to have a licensed electrician get a permit and check off all of his work.

If we actually lived in the house already, this would all be a different story. But we don't live there - yet - so everything has to be inspected and given the okay before we can move in. I told John that he should just haul a mattress over there and sleep there one night so he can say he lives there! He didn't think that was a good idea.

Here's what needs to happen:

electrician gets a permit and checks off John's work
Fernando sees the permit and feels good about closing up all the walls since they've been checked
Fernando's dad finishes fixing all walls and scraping the ceiling where we removed cabinets
I paint the kitchen (where the cabinets and back splash won't be) and the bathrooms
The paint dries
Cabinet installation begins on Wednesday and continues through until Saturday

None of these things can be out of order. So you can see why getting an electrician out there right away is kind of crucial to things moving along. I finally found one who could be there at 8:00 Monday morning.

Have I mentioned that we aim to be done with the house (at least with all things inside) by the end of the month. Yep, we're crazy. That's what everyone tells us anyway. I guess we'll see.....

September 29th - Fan Shopping

2008-10-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

Don't do it, John David. Don't do it......

Uh oh, you shouldn't have done that!

Daddy's big booty knocked him down!

Of all the fans to choose from, you would think we could find one we liked.

I like this one for the living room, but John thinks it looks like big airplane propellers. We ended up leaving the store without any fans. Boo. I want a fan!

Yea for Craigslist!

2008-09-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

I've never used craigslist before since we didn't have one in SA, but I realized we had one here the other day. John suggested I list the double oven on there instead of just chunking it in the dumpster. I didn't really know if anyone would even want the thing, but craigslist is free so I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. It only took a couple of minutes to list and within 12 hours I had an email from someone wanting it! Clay and I met them at our house at 5:00 and they paid me for it and put it in their truck. I listed it at $25 so it's not like I'm rich now, but hey, it's $25 I didn't have before! And I was just going to put it in the dumpster. I like this craigslist thing. =)

September 22 and September 26

2008-09-26T19:14:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been much time between traveling for work, but John was working on the wiring this week. Here he is up above where the dining room will be.

I wasn't fast enough with my camera for this one - John had just thrown a big hammer down to Jake. I think Jake is happy to still be alive!

Awww, poor John. He got an "owies", as Aulora would sadly say.

Speaking of Aulora, here she is driving the orange cart at Home Depot.

Julia was not impressed at all to be at Home Depot again. It took some convincing to get her to smile for this picture. (Thanks to Davus and Biggie for the visa card that bought her new outfit from the "monster store".) That girl loves to shop! Just not at Home Depot.

Daddy had to figure out exactly what kind of thingy mabob we needed.

The problem with shopping with kids is that there isn't room in the basket for anything else!

Try to Contain Yourself

2008-09-23T22:08:00.000-07:00

Things are getting boring around Flip This Piece - we sincerely apologize. Things are happening, but they're small, mundane things that nobody cares about. The wiring is almost done. Woo! The rocks are mostly gone from the front patio area. Yeehaw! The dumpster was emptied today. Hi ho cherrio! I took the kids to Home Depot (again) and paid for the appliances. Cool beans!

See I told you. Boring stuff. I'll try to bring more excitement your way later......

September 21

2008-09-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

Today I worked on the piece while the babies were napping. My arms ache from scraping all of the kitchen floor.

I HATE LINOLEUM!

Ok, I got that out of my system. I fee better now.

Anyway, I scraped the floor, went to the hardware store to get a few things, dug up the ugly border along the front sidewalk (with some help from Jake who is apparently a much better border-digger-upper!), swept, and started scraping the bathroom floor, but the linoleum in there was so stuck that it broke my scraper! It was around that time that I screamed out in frustration that I hated linoleum. I wonder if the neighbors heard? =) hahaha

When we got back from the store, I walked in the house and started shrieking because there was a big black bird flapping around in there! It kept ramming into the windows and just couldn't find its way out. Jake finally managed to shoo him out the back door. Too funny. I only wish I could have videoed it!

Oh, we also hauled the dishwasher out by the curb. I really hope it's gone in the morning. Surely somebody wants an old, ugly dishwasher that probably, maybe works. Surely......

I have to say.....

2008-09-19T22:28:00.001-07:00

in every picture of the front of the piece, I just want to reach in and pull out that goofy looking white globe on the front brick column thing. It IS going to be gone one day - just in case any of you were feeling the same way.

There. Now I can go to sleep.....

The Brady Kitchen is No More

2008-09-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

Isn't it beautiful? I mean really, don't you think we increased the value of the house by thousands of dollars just by removing the yellow and dark brown Brady kitchen? I don't know if I can stand waiting for the new cabinets to come in. Two more weeks I have to wait. TWO! As busy as I've been though, I suppose it doesn't even matter. It may as well be two days 'cause that's how fast it will seem.

Would anyone like a free double oven or dishwasher?

Or a stove?

Moving right along.......

The sprinkler system is done! Well, except for that one stupid spot where I took the picture, I guess. We haven't covered that pipe yet because there's a tree root in the way, making it hard to dig the little trench. But we will prevail!

The Back Porch

2008-09-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Now you see it

Now you don't!

The screened in porch had to go since it was all rotted out. I doubt that we'll rebuild another one. I think it would look good swept off with some rocking chairs. Wouldn't it be nice to sit there, rocking away while shelling some peas for dinner? Or snapping green beans. Either one, as long as I get to rock on my nice porch. =)

New Front Window

2008-09-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

Before

After

So far our favorite changes are #1, the walls knocked out to create the big open flow, and #2, the new window we put in the front wall. It used to be a big solid brick wall - weird and foreboding looking, if you ask me. It looks SOOOO much better now and that front room is going to look great from the inside too! I'm glad we spent the money on it. What do you think?

Btw, the krudcutter stuff that was recommended for the brick stains did not work. =( We'll have to try something else......

Not So Easy

2008-09-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update to say....this remodeling thing is not so easy. Something is always going to come up, go wrong, cost more, break, or whatever. That's ok, because we expect it, but it sure does keep you busy and moving.

Our original time line was to be finished and moving in after about 4 weeks - that's what John said anyway. I'll admit I secretly laughed at that. It looks like it's going to more like about 6 weeks total. That's really not too bad considering how much John is traveling. Last week and this week both he's pretty much been non-existent around here. He is making money though so who am I to complain. Praise God for a great job! After this week his traveling will be much less.

I will do my best to post some pictures of progress tonight. I've got to go to Home Depot again now. Luckily, it will not be with four children. ;)

Don't Try This at Home

2008-09-16T21:10:00.001-07:00

Right after work today, I went to Home Depot and Lowe's with all four children. There should be rules about this type of thing.

They climbed into the dryers and closed the doors on each other, they pushed their way through huge, hanging rugs, they hid behind boxes of tile, and they tried to use the long pieces of accent tile as drum sticks.

I tried bribing them, I tried scowling at them. In the end, I decided to just get out of there as quick as we could!

The end result was the purchase of beautiful tile for the shower floor. Hopefully, it will look good enough to be worth that tortuous trip! ;)

September 16th

2008-09-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

We bought our bathroom tile today finally. I guess we'll still have to go to Lowe's or Home Depot tomorrow to get the accent stuff though, since they didn't have what we needed at our discount place. What we really wanted was a beautiful travertine tile, but at $7+ a square foot we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it. Especially when we found a 20x20 ceramic tile that looks and even feels so much like the travertine we wanted. It was only $1.45 a square foot! Yea!

Here's one of our workers knocking out the hole for where the new window is going in the front of the house.

I'm glad I wasn't having to do this job - it didn't look fun!

The view from the inside. I think it will be a lot better once the white pick-up is gone. And the worker too.

I forgot to take a picture of this wheelbarrow the other day. We couldn't track our big nice one down, (I think we finally figured out that John's brother has it) so Clay let us use his. He was quick to say that it wasn't that great but we were welcome to it. I'm pretty sure that those neighbors who were entertained by me yesterday in the dumpster were also entertained when they watched me transporting broken pieces of tile in this thing. I was tempted to leave the wheelbarrow itself in the dumpster! I didn't though.

September 14th

2008-09-14T21:34:00.000-07:00

I went over today and worked while the babies were napping. I wish I could have stayed longer, but at least I got to go for a while. Jake was there too so we spent most of the time hauling out big stuff to the dumpster that he couldn't do by himself. I was feeling like quite a "she-man" doing all that big lifting. The worst part was being terrified that you were going to get stabbed by a nail when picking something up. My leg got it a couple of times and then my chest. I lived. (Obviously.)

The dumpster is filling up. See my fancy little ramp I made when I needed to dump the big trash can in there? It was sooo heavy! You should have seen me trying to turn the stupid thing over to dump the contents out. I'm sure any neighbors who happened to be watching were quite amused as I twisted this way and that and heaved and hoed and jumped and pushed, trying to get that trash can emptied.

I cleared out the living room. It's so much easier to imagine exactly what I want to do now!

We hauled out the blue counter.

Jake took down the mirror and it fell over. Oops! That should be fun to clean up.

The New Windows

2008-09-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

The place where we knocked out weird walls and brought it out even with the rest of the house is one step closer to being done. When I walked in on Saturday and saw it, I immediately knew we had made a great decision. Our original thought was to move the sliding glass door out to that wall (it was on one of the walls we knocked out.) I sat up in bed one night and realized I absolutely did not want a door there. I wanted windows! A glass sliding door in a nice dining area just didn't sound as pretty as windows. So I went to Lowe's and there you go.

Are you confused as to where this window is? The picture below shows the end of the kitchen area. To the right would be the three walls we took out. There were three walls that formed a rectangle shaped patio area right outside. We took out the walls and made a new wall even with the rest of that side of the house. It meant a nice open flow from kitchen to dining room to living room. Not cheap, but probably one of the best changes we'll make.

September 12th and 13th

2008-09-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

We are so relieved the rain has finally stopped! It wouldn't have been so bad except that they were in the midst of digging for the sprinkler system so there was dirt everywhere. That dirt turned to very slippery mud that covered our sidewalks! Very messy and very dangerous.

The dumpster in all its glory. It's pretty huge. And that red car? That belongs to a friend - it needs a little work done on it and they don't have anywhere else to park it right now. So we're not even living there yet and we've already got a junker car in the driveway. Awesome.

Bye bye ugly 70's green tile. John David made sparks when he was helping to bust it out with the hammer!

You're next, blue counter top. Don't forget, if you want your own bit of "Piece" history, become a "Piece Partner" today! =)

The tile in the hall bath will soon rest in peace in the dumpster.

The master bath is preparing to be beautified.

And All God's Children Said....

2008-09-12T07:25:00.000-07:00

"Praise the Lord!"

The sun finally came out yesterday and today it's out again! I love rain, really I do, but when you're trying to work on a big piece like we've got, the rain is just ridiculous.

Pictures will come later when I have time, but yesterday I had a big dumpster delivered to the Piece and the work has once again commenced. Still not in full swing due to various reasons, but it's going. John is still gone and Clay and Sandy left on a trip last night so I have all three younger kids this weekend by myself - this should be interesting. I do feel way better just having the dumpster there so we can clear out the demolition junk. I can almost think when I'm in there now!

Rain rain and more rain

2008-09-10T10:59:00.000-07:00

I don't have any pictures right now so you'll just have to take my word for it - the Piece is the biggest stinkin' mud pit ever right now. Ughhh. John and Jake were nearly finished with the sprinkler system when all of this rain started. Jake continued to work for a a day or so but it's just not possible at this point. There's mud everywhere outside that house. I almost fell flat on my back when I was walking down the sidewalk this morning and my shoes starting sliding. Wow. What a mess that would have been.

All the rain also means most of the inside work has really slowed down. Construction guys must melt in the rain because they do not want to work in bad weather, let me tell you. At this point, with all the mud everywhere, I'm almost ok with that. I really don't want all the muddy mess coming inside too. The only problem is that this rain is not stopping anytime soon! Hopfully, I'll make it over to the tile store to pick up our bathroom tile today so that at least they can get the master bathroom going. All of the shower and tub tiles have been removed already.

I braved the weather with the two babies this morning to go to Lowe's for a comparison quote on our kitchen cabinets. The place we're getting them cost less than half of Lowe's price for the same thing! So the trouble of going with a small, non-high tech place is definitely going to be worth it. I've got to call them now........

The Cat's Away

2008-09-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

The main cat anyway. John left for LA this morning and so now I'm supposed to be in charge of things at the house. I went by around 11 and things were ok. All I know is that my spanish is not so great and it's not so easy for me to be over there a lot. Like right now, two babies are napping (a very celebration worthy event) so I can't go over there like I want to. Hopefully all the "mice" will behave and get the work done.

I just got off the phone with the store where we are getting our kitchen cabinets. The man who helped us on Saturday is off today even though he specifically told us he would be there first thing this morning to run the numbers and officially place the order. So guess who didn't get any cabinets ordered this morning? Some (not too smart sounding) guy was going to try to find the papers so he could run the numbers for me. There's a price to pay for using the inexpensive places, you know.....

September 6th

2008-09-07T20:37:00.000-07:00

One of our main goals for the day was to get all of the kitchen cabinets and counters ordered. In order to get some of the measurements we needed, it was helpful to take out some of the existing cabinets. I can just hear Doug from King of Queens saying "Demo-li-shi-on"! I love that show. =)

It was so great to see at least some of those ugly cabinets come out. We got our measurements and went up to the store to plot out the cabinet design only to realize that we didn't have every measurement we needed. Oops! Back to the car, drive across town and measure again. Live and learn.

The store we used is kind of like a handy man depot (a store that SA used to have). You can save a lot of money but they're not as user friendly as Lowe's or Home Depot. This store currently has no computer program to help in the kitchen design process. Lucky for us (and for the store employee) John had his graph paper and calculator and figured it all out. It doesn't seem like it would be hard, but it's like a big puzzle. The store was closed when we finished designing it so the worker man is going to call in the morning with the actual cost and then I'll go up and pay for it all. I can't even tell you how excited we are to get those cabinets in there. That's when it will really all start to come together!

Late that night, we went back to the house with John David since he had been wanting to help. I didn't have my camera with me. =( John David helped shovel out rocks from the front patio area and he helped hammer out the entry way tile. So cute! I kicked myself for not taking my camera.

Here's a video of John working. Not so very exciting, but I went to the trouble of loading it to Photobucket so it's getting posted. I have to keep taking the videos because you just never know when something funny might happen. And sorry it's kind of dark - the electricity is shut off in that room due to the construction going on.....

It's quite official now - we own our Piece!

2008-09-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

September 4th

2008-09-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

I was able to swing by the house for about five minutes today in between a doctor appointment for Julia and going to Wal-mart to get her prescription and groceries for dinner. It's killing me to not be over there more but there's only so much I can do. Being a momma to all the babies keeps me pretty busy!

They had made great progress in taking out those walls I mentioned in the last post. It was exciting to see such a big change!

The sprinkler system is close to being done.

We got to see a lot of it in action today!

My favorite thing so far! This picture was taken from near the front door.

That's Fernando, our contractor. (He's the one who will send you your blue counter top if you become a Piece Partner!)

This picture is taken from the kitchen. We can now see ALL the way
straight over to the end of the living room! How great is that???

The Front Room

2008-09-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

I love the idea of this front room. I love it because I have no plans for it yet. I mean, we know what we're doing with it remodeling wise, but once we're living there......it can be anything! Formal living, play room, formal dining, office, 5th bedroom, piano room....whatever I want! It has french doors going into it and although it has one window now, it will soon have a second window that will look out into the front. It's going to be so pretty! I guess I'm just enthralled with my family of six having an unclaimed room. Very, very nice....

September 3rd

2008-09-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

The biggest structural change we're making is to enclose what was a patio space and to incorporate it into the living area. It's not a very cheap thing to do, but it's so worth it already! We will now have the beloved "great room" feel....

What you see in this picture sits right between the kitchen and the living room -
it will soon be a dining area!

Here's the walls after they were just beginning to be stripped.

The view from the outside (which is on the side of the house).

We're not filling in the hole with brick. It will be a sliding glass door that leads to the side yard.

Big mess = Big progress
(at least in this case anyway)

September 3rd

2008-09-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

There were some title problems (on the seller's part) that have delayed our closing to tomorrow morning, September 5th at 10:30. Regardless of the fact that we have not yet closed, we have continued to work. John leaves on Sunday for LA (he's actually staying in Beverly Hills......ooh lala!) and we just couldn't keep holding off. We aren't paying the $250 a day to be in there - not sure if that's because the seller's realize it's their fault that closing has been delayed or if the agents are just turning their heads to the fact that we're in there or what. We let them know what we were doing and we've never heard anything in response. Things are moving fast so I'll be posting lots of pictures....

This is John and his brother Matt measuring to figure out
where the holes needed to be cut for the recessed lighting.
Check out Matt's stilts! John wore them later and almost smushed me
when he took them off because he used me to steady himself jumping out of them!
All of the white specs in the pictures is because of all the stuff in the air from demolition.

Here's a hole that John cut and quickly realized there was a stud there. Oops! I guess "tapar" means "fix what the stupid white boy did" in spanish! hehehe! Just kidding....

John and Jake loading the ditch witch that we rented for four hours
from Home Depot. And you know we kept it every second we could
and then had to race it back up there to avoid extra charges!

John was proud of his little home depot flags marking where sprinkler lines would go.

Pretty ditches all dug.

Tomorrow's the Day

2008-09-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

We close tomorrow! Yea!!! The work will finally get to really get going. We're so excited!

Today John found a great deal on a whirlpool tub for the master bathroom. It was normally $700 and we got it for $400. I think Home Depot had some other good deals too, but we had to get home because Aulora has learned a new trick and Sandy needed help! Maybe we'll go back tomorrow.

We also finalized our choices on the cabinet, granite, and tile. It's ridiculous to make a granite choice based on little 2x2 sample squares, let me tell you. But we did it. We kept second guessing ourselves over an over and finally I looked at John and told him, "Enough! This looks great! We have good taste, we do know what we're doing. We can do this." It gets a little intimidating at this early stage when there's soooo much to be selected and you know everything kind of depends on everything else. If we choose poorly in one area, it's going to be a big domino effect and the next thing we know the whole house will look like poop. I think we felt better after my self-prescribed confidence talk. And I know we'll be able to choose things better and faster once we've got some headway going on. Surely.

Let me know if anyone needs to let out some aggression in the next couple of days. We'll be sure to save you some wacks on the walls!

Flat Screen TV Question

2008-08-31T21:57:00.000-07:00

I'll say upfront that this post is not to debate whether or not it's a good idea to put a tv about the mantle. We know some people like it and some don't - we do and we have no shame. Plus, the layout of the living area we're working with will work out best this way.

This post is about what to do with all the extra components - the cable or dish box (woohoo DISH SATELLITE!!! We've missed you!), dvd player, the wii, etc. It looks like our options are:

buy some type of cabinets to go on either side of the fireplace to house the stuff
use a nearby closet to put them in (which isn't really an option with this floor plan)
do built in shelving/cabinets
put all the components in some kind of "something" in the room and get one of those infrared remotes - although I don't know how that would work with all the things other than the dish box?

Here's an idea of what the built-ins would/could look like, minus the funky lights and picture and rug. Also ignore the brick fireplace since we won't have brick, but that probably doesn't even matter right now, huh? Ok, so basically just look at the things made of white wood. Thoughts? Does this seem like the best route for all the tv stuff? Is there something we're just not thinking of? We're just trying to get this wall settled in our thoughts. Somebody help a girl! =)

A New Roof

2008-08-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days have been a blur since I've been sick with what I think is strep throat. We don't have insurance so I can't go to the doctor so who really knows - but that's another story.

The owners of the house are officially insane as they decided they wanted $250 a day for us to go in early. They can go find some extra spending money somewhere else though 'cause they're not getting it from us. We'll just wait for Tuesday.

In other news, the seller's disclosure noted that the roof was in good shape. Our offer was made under the assumption that the disclosure was correct. However, the inspection we ordered showed the roof to be in very bad shape. Totaled actually. They are selling the house "as is" so we proposed that they make the claim on their insurance to get it taken care of and we in turn would give them $250 for their trouble. They refused that offer - we think because they probably had already made a claim and then pocketed the money instead of replacing the roof.

John was tired of playing nice though. They should have taken our $250 offer because his next move was to have our agent tell their agent that they were going to lose the deal. Their disclosure was wrong and they needed to give the money for the roof to be replaced. I guess they finally had one moment of sanity since they agreed to give us $6500 at closing for the roof. Woohoo!

I wish I could have seen their faces when they had to agree to that. hehehe. These people have been irritating to no end and I'm so glad that we won't have to meet them at closing since they are doing it all through the mail. Why in the world are some people just so ridiculously mean and grouchy? Two more days and this part will all be behind us......

August 28th

2008-08-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

We still can't go inside the house to work so the day was used to work on the fence. My big contribution was going over to take the few pictures you see in this post. Oh, and cooking dinner for the hard workers. I grilled chicken and everything so it's not like I was being lazy. (besides, if you think for a moment that I was hanging around on the couch being lazy today then you obviously have not read my main blog.)

John learned today that putting up a new fence is no small or easy task. If it were I suppose they would be done. They did make a lot of progress but it's a big yard and they had to get materials and everything. They'll work on it more tomorrow as well as putting in the sprinkler system, I think.

John and Jake unloading all the fencing from the trailer.

The growing stacks in the garage.

A sampling of the classy fence we inherited with the piece.

A slight mess from where the water line was cut! Oops. =)

This is the screened in porch. It's not in good shape and we're still thinking about what we want to do with the area. We may just let it be a covered patio.

August 27th

2008-08-27T21:34:00.001-07:00

Today the sprinkler system was mapped out and all the materials purchased. The fence was mapped out and the grass was mowed. John David got to help dig up a post so he was thrilled. Oh, and I found out tonight that our guy from Dallas who's helping us cut through the water line when he was digging for the sprinkler system. Oops. The city came out and fixed it. Tomorrow the fence goes up - that's the plan anyway. No pictures today since I didn't really have a car and was stuck at home. I'll have to send it with John tomorrow. I'm falling asleep now so I really, really need to go to bed. Less than 6 hours of sleep a night on a consistent basis is wearing on me. Off to dream about tile colors......

Lots of Drama for your Mamma!

2008-08-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

One thing I haven't mentioned is that we're on a tight time line with this house. John leaves for his one week of job training in California around the 7th of September. Immediately after his training he will start working - not a 9-5 day job here in town but rather 4 nights a week teaching LSAT classes wherever they need him to. So basically he'll be home Friday through Sunday every week for this job.

All that to say.....we're trying to get most of the work done before he leaves for training or it will be forever before we finish this piece. When all of this first started we asked if the sellers would be ok with us going in before closing to start working. We even offered a big deposit check in case we messed stuff up and then backed out of the deal. They said we could start working once our financing was sure and they declined our deposit offer.

John went over yesterday to see if he could get in and start working. He found the back door unlocked so he went in. Soon our contractor showed up and surprised us by having his crew with him to start the scraping process. John let them start and he went about tearing out bookcases and stuff. Before long, the owner's brother came by and was quite taken back by lots of construction work going on. John explained everything though so the brother handed him his set of keys to the house.

Upon leaving, the brother called the owners and told them we were in there working and they called their agent freaking out that we were in there. Did we miss something here??? Apparently they are older people and now they're scared we're going to sue them if we get hurt while we're in their house. It's so annoying because from the beginning we told them it could be a deal-breaker if we couldn't get in early. Now they're saying no?

Our agent and their agent are now drawing up a paper that releases them from all liability so we can start working over the weekend. The weekend. Bleh. So in the meantime we're supposed to stay out of the house. John's been over there just working outside anyway. We brought a man from Dallas here to do the fence and sprinkler system because we were told it would be ok. Arghhh. Closing is set for Tuesday still.

August 26th

2008-08-26T19:32:00.000-07:00

Hmmm....maybe we could salvage the carpet to save some money in the budget??? (I am definitely joking. Although, if we were really smart, we would just live on the cement floors underneath until Aulora is potty trained!)

Some classy garage doors, wouldn't you say?
And look - it has a pet door built right in! How handy!

The bookcases are gone! We debated for a time about whether or not to remove them, but they were just too outdated. Even paint wouldn't have helped enough. Besides, now we can dress up the fireplace like we want to. Oh, the paneling that was above the fireplace is out of there too.

Here's the beginning stage of the fireplace tile being taken off.
By the day's end they were all off but my camera was no longer there.

This is the area in the front of the house. It's kind of weird and so far, we have no big visions for it yet. The gravel has to go for sure, but what in its place? And then what? Nice patio furniture? Some really cool landscaping stuff? Somebody help a girl!

This picture is again of that weird front area. That light is soooo gone. A big beautiful pot with flowers and vines will sit in its place, I think. The left window belongs to the front room (the one that currently has a desk and a closet on either side). The right window is the current dining room. We're actually making that a fourth bedroom though.

The previous owners put up this awful rock border. We quickly realized each of those rocks are cemented into the ground. Won't that be fun getting the up?

Alright, enough for now. Off to look at sink bowls.....

Video Walk Through "Before"

2008-08-26T19:14:00.001-07:00

Here's a video of a walk through John did today. You can see that a work crew was already scraping the ceilings.

Won't You Be My Neighbor

2008-08-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

Here's just a few of the houses right by The Piece. There are some more that are gorgeous but I was in a hurry to go pick up Joshua's strep throat prescription. =( I wish I had taken a couple pictures from the end of some of the streets just to show all the big trees. I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood just like this one!

What Would YOU Do???

2008-08-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

Do you see the stains on the brick? We're considering painting the house anyway, but if we don't.....how the heck do you get those off? I saw a home show a few months ago that dealt with this exact problem and they showed how to get rid of it with a simple homemade spray solution. Why didn't I write that down and file it away? Arghhh. Anyone know what to do? Talk to me......

Kitchen Picture

2008-08-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

Here's an idea of the look we're creating in the kitchen (picture from kitchens.com). Obviously, the layout won't be the same (too bad! I love the bar!) but the cabinets, granite, and tile will be very, very similar. Paint color on the walls will probably be some kind of slate green. Does that make sense to anyone but me? Sort of a grayish green - a very subtle color. Thoughts? I wish I had a scanner to show the layout we're thinking of. Hmmmm......

Way to save, Johnny!

2008-08-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

There's no question about it - the fence definitely has to be replaced and the cost involved was beginning to worry us. As I called around to get some estimates (which I quickly found out are very difficult to squeeze out of someone on the phone - come on man! just give me ballpark here!) we learned that we might be looking at around $8,000 just for a 6 foot high wooden fence and over $11,000 for an 8 foot high fence. Those fence people are running some kind of scam if you ask me. But whatever. And in case you're wondering, we're not talking acreage here. It's a yard about the size of our last house - 325 feet around.

John scouted out fencing materials today and boy did he do good. At Home Depot he spotted their sectioned fence materials and they were marked down to $25 for each 8 foot section. They're normally about twice that, but for some reason they were trying to get rid of these. He bought all they had (which is more than what we even need) and he did it just in time because there was another man lurking around wanting it too. Sorry Lurker Man. Better luck next time.

The second part of the fence news is that an acquaintance of ours does fences and he's going to do the labor for just a couple hundred dollars. Sooooo........

Cost of fencing materials: $1800
Cost of labor: $200
Total Cost: $2000

Estimate Given: $8000+

We saved over $6,000 today! Can I go furniture shopping now?

The Stats

2008-08-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

3/2/2 built in early 70's
1977 square feet
listed 30k below tax appraisal (appraisal based on current condition)
purchased for 48 below tax appraisal

Projected Budget:
~~$20,000~~
~~$24,625~~
~~$26,825~~
~~$27,125~~
~~$28,125~~
$32,000

note for kablot: no that is not green indoor outdoor carpet in the laundry room - it's a beautiful green linoleum. if you wish, we can roll it up and ship it to you. and I think we have the painting covered this time. =) thanks though! hehehe

Today

2008-08-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

Since we don't know when exactly we're getting the key, it's hard to say just what work we can get done today. There's still plenty to do to get ready though. We need to do all these things right away, hopefully today:

shop around for new fencing materials and/or fencing people
go to the store to order our kitchen cabinets, counters and tile, that we have picked out
order garage doors and purchase openers

John may have already done the first and last things on the list so we're looking good.

It's not easy to know how much money to put into a house sometimes. Our last house had so many more things we wanted to do but we couldn't because it was at its price cap for the neighborhood. BUT, this neighborhood has houses selling for 200,000+ and some are even over 300,000. That means the potential is so much greater. We're definitely going all out by gutting everything and putting in super nice stuff. Granite, recessed lighting, stainless steel appliances, new doors, new, new, new. New, new, new = lots more money, but honestly, there's not much to salvage anyway. Did you SEE the turquoise counters? I wonder if I should put those on Craig's List? Any takers?

I should add....

2008-08-25T10:57:00.000-07:00

the pictures you see below were taken by the sellers' agent. In other words, they were taken in a way that make the house look as good as it could. I'll soon be adding our own pictures. We're hopefully getting the key today to start the work.

It's Really Happening

2008-08-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

After not having our own house for nearly a year now, it's weird to think that so very soon we'll have to be responsible adults again. Living with parents hasn't been all bad you know. In fact, if it was just the two of us, we probably could swing it a few more months until moving out of town. But as it is, 2 adults + 4 kids + 4 kids' toys all in 2 bedrooms = some pretty crowded living space. So we found a house.

It's dog ugly right now. Let's just get that out of the way, because we don't want anyone thinking we have that kind of taste in counter tops and bathtubs and linoleum. Trust us, though. It's going to be classy.

Our closing date is less than a week and a half away, but our work will start before that. It actually already started today when John dug up some ugly rose bushes. He had some nerve not taking before and after pictures of the first project - sorry. He will be severely reprimanded.

In the days to come you can have many sleepless nights looking forward to before and after pictures, how-to (according to us and our handy man "Fernando") videos, and many ~~sleep-inducing~~ edge-of-your-seat-exciting tales of demolition and construction woes. Woohoo! It's going to be great. Off to look at door knobs.......