Day 70

Thankfully, a lot has gotten done this weekend.  Below is the list I made for the bedrooms and the hallway.  They are hung up in each room and says what needs done to complete the room.  It's mostly for my mom, so she knows what needs done if she decides to go over by herself.  Some things have already been crossed off.

 

 

Yesterday she put a third coat of paint in Penelope's closet, so that's done now.  No more painting for her room.  (I hope) She also put a second coat of grey and teal in our room so we just need our closet painted now. 

Josh has been working on building this little wall for the bar in the kitchen.  See our new door to the garage?  It has a built-in shade.  It's just covered in cardboard so it doesn't get beat up and scratched.

 

The kitchen lights are starting to go up too.  I really like how it looks and how big it is.  I can't wait to see them both up and working. The guys have been working on patching up the ceiling too.  But that is going to take a while still.  The walls seem done, just need sanded down.  Then paint!

 

The bedrooms lights are up now too.  All of them are the same and the one I have for the hall is just brown instead of silver.

 

 

The tiles from Menard's finally came in!  Thank goodness, I was getting tired of waiting.  Josh bought concrete boards and I'm not sure if we are tiling under the cabinets or not. It will probably be easier to just tile everything, but we won't use as much tile if we don't tile under the cabinets.  I'll leave that up to Josh. 

 

He also has all the tile glued down in the bathroom and just needs to grout it now.  Then the toilet can be installed.  Soon he is going to start building the vanity.   We know someone who can get things like bathroom sinks and toilets at cost, so we need to order 3 sinks and a toilet from him.  We have one toilet that is salvageable.

 

I'm not sure what the plan is for the week coming up.  Probably bathroom and kitchen stuff.



Day 67

I went over last night at 9pm to paint our bedroom.  I don't really like going over that late, but I feel like it's my only chance to because Penelope is in bed and Oliver is on the verge of sleep.

 

I figured out a quicker way to paint than what I have been doing before.  I think.  I do all the edges first, the ceiling and corners.  Then it's faster when I get the roller out.  I was doing it backwards before and after I was done with the majority of the walls, I would do the ceiling edges and corners.  But that's the worst part and you think you're almost done because it's mostly covered, but there is still 20 more minutes of painting to do.

 

I found a quicker way to paint the bottom of the walls.  I just line my roller up with the floor and the metal part rests on the bottom and I just run it along straight.  It gets pretty close to the ground and is all even.  This way I'm not going up and down and accidentally getting it on the floor.  Maybe everyone knows to do this, but I just figured it out on my own, lol.

 

Ta da!  It still needs another coat though, but getting the first layer on is the most important because it takes the most paint.  The second coat should be a breeze.  Still need another coat on the teal wall too.

 

My dad just left to go over today.  I think he is going to be putting up the light fixtures in the bedrooms since all of the ceilings have a fresh coat of paint now. 

 

I need to go back to Home Depot soon to get back porch lights and more paint.  I only bought a quart for the kitchen since I'm only painting above the cabinets but looking around, I think I would be safer with a gallon.  A quart doesn't go very far.  We also need to buy some white paint for the cabinets.  I'm really nervous about painting those.  I hope they come out looking nice.  

 

 

Day 65

On Sunday my Aunt and cousin came by the house.  We got a lot of wood from the backyard burned.  It's at least all over by the fire pit now instead of all over the backyard.  My mom also got to work painting.  She kept saying, "Well, as long as I have the white paint out, what else do you need done?"  She painted 3 walls in our bedroom as well as the ceiling.  She also did the ceiling in Oliver's room and added another coat to the wainscoting in the bathroom. I had the kids there for a while and all I do is chase Penelope around saying, "Don't touch that,"  And carry a 22 pound baby on my hip.  So, I don't take them often or for very long.  All I did was sweep up the bedrooms a little.

I had to order more gravel because 6 tons only did about half of the driveway.  Hopefully 10 more should do it.

We had to buy a new furnace.  Luckily, we know someone who knows someone and got it at warehouse prices.  Our dads worked on it last night and it's almost installed.  It needed converted from gas to propane, so it's almost ready to go. 

I'm getting a little tired of Menard's.  When they had their tile sale at the beginning of the month, I ordered 26 boxes because there we not that many in stock.  They told me to call back in a week.  I've called twice and it will still be at least another week.  I should have just bought all that they had in stock and ordered the rest.  At least we would be able to get started on the kitchen floors.  Josh still needs to buy cement floor first.  I don't even know if that's what it's called, but he's laying it under the tiles so they are less likely to crack or break from being walked on.

We need another coat of "mud" on the drywall in there and then hopefully I will be able to paint above the cabinets.  Then they can be installed.  Or they can be painted first.  I'm not really sure which way will be easier. 

My dad is up at the house now.  I never know what he's doing there ;)

Day 62

Haven't posted for a week!  I haven't done much at the house lately.  I painted the ceiling in Penelope's closet and did a coat of white on the wainscoting in the bathroom.  Josh has been working on finishing the tiles in the bathroom.  My dad has been working on the drywall in the kitchen and it's finally all done.  We get to start hanging cabinets.  They still need painted.  I'm going to paint the top of the walls above the cabinets before they go up. Also have a new kitchen/garage door that's really nice.

 

The tile that I ordered from Menard's 2 weeks ago is taking forever to come in.  They told me to call back on the 30th.  When they originally told me 1 week.  We also have to buy a new furnace because this one has been flooded so many times.  Should be getting that on Monday. 

I'm not sure if there's more.  I'm in a little bit of a hurry right now trying to remember and type everything while Oliver is screaming for food in the background.

Day 55

I haven't posted lately because most of  the work that has been going on is electrical in the kitchen.  Not much for pictures and not very exciting either.

But that did mean we had to buy lights for the kitchen on Thursday.  I don't think they have been installed yet, but we got two.

Today Josh and I went to Columbus to the Sears Outlet store for appliances.  We bought a matching Kenmore refrigerator, stove and dishwasher.  They were all at least half off because they were either floor models or returns.  They all have at least one little dent in them.  Nothing that a magnet can't cover.  And it's not like we would really want to spend $1,000 more for one without a dent.  We weren't sure if we were going to get the dishwasher, because it was the same price as the stove.  So, it was a pretty expensive dishwasher.  But it's nice and they had one that matched.  I'm sure if we didn't, I would end up wanting to take another trip back to get it, and hope it was still there.   I also found a sectional there that I really like.  But I doubt Josh will go for it.

I'm not going to paint tonight because my mom was babysitting the kids all day.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll go and finish up Oliver's room.

 

 I have to call next week to see if the floor tile has come in yet.  I've decided to do a herringbone design instead of the typical staggered look.  Here is an example:

 

That's all I have for you now!

Day 51

Again, I went over to start painting last night. I put a coat of gray on in Oliver's room.  I think it may be a little too dark though.  It's called "Wood Smoke" but I've come up with some better names for it.  Elephant Skin, Cement Mud and Duct Tape.  I think it will be fine for our room, but I may have to get a lighter gray.  Just seems so dark. Could be the lighting too; it was 9:30 pm.

 

Today my dad and his brother hope to tackle electrical issues in the kitchen.  Once that's sorted out, we can put up walls and cabinets.

Day 49

Went over to the house again last night with Josh.  I put the second coat of white in Oliver's room.  I think it will be ready for gray next.  Thank goodness.  I was having so many issues getting started though.  First, I had to scrape paint blobs off the wall that had dried from last time.  So Josh showed me the best way to do that.  Then I couldn't get the painted-over outlet cover off the wall, so Josh helped.  Then I started painting the second coat and it was so blotty again.  Called Josh over to help figure out why.  It was the paint.  I painted the section of wainscoting behind the toilet.  So I let him get back to working in the bathroom and then the broom handle holding my paint roller keeps falling off.  Then he helped my by putting a screw in it.  I felt so helpless trying to paint a stupid room.  I swear it took me two and a half hours. 

 

 

Josh put the tub walls up last night.

 

This is the bathroom tile that Josh started to lay.  He said that he had all of the tile cemented down and realized he forgot to put the wires and stuff down for the heated floors.  So he had to rip it all up and re lay it.  I'm just glad that he remembered before it dried completely.

 

Bad lighting and white wainscoting.

 

The entire kitchen floor is nailed down and completed! 

 

I took the kids to Menards with my mom to get the kitchen and dining room tile.  I was actually really excited about the carts because there were two baskets seats in the front of the cart and the one we got had a car in the front that the kids loved.  I could fit at least 4 little kids in the cart.  They were giggling and driving all around the store.

 

Thank goodness we took the sales flier with us because we couldn't find the right tile, then the sales associate told us where the one we were looking for was, but that wasn't it either.  Finally, we found it, but it wasn't marked with the sales price.  Luckily, he still gave me the price that was advertised. I said, "I'll take 26 boxes."  He said there weren't that many in stock (the website said there were) so he special ordered them and they should be in next week.

 

 

We wandered around the store for a while and I was totally overwhelmed by the cabinet knobs and pulls.  How does one ever decide!?

 

I'm so happy that (I think) I'm done painting Penelope's room because I'm getting so tired of painting.  I might be halfway done with the bedrooms.  Not looking forward to painting the ceilings and so so happy that I don't have to do the living room and dining room.

Day 47

Last night I met Josh at the house and he worked on the kitchen floor more and I started to paint Oliver's room.  We decided it might be better to put a coat of white on it first to even out what the drywall guy did.  His name is Troy by the way.  Maybe I should call him Troy instead of referring to him as the drywall guy all the time.  Oliver's room was a little more striped with the drywall compound.  And I'm really glad I decided to cover it with white first, because it still looks pretty bad.  I might have to do two more coats of white before the gray goes on.  And I will have to do this with our bedroom too.

Before

After

I ordered more backsplash samples and they came in the mail today.  It's like Christmas morning!  I ordered 4 of them from Glass Tile Oasis and one from Amazon.  I'm pretty sure the one from Amazon is the same from Tile Oasis.  About a month ago, I ordered a sample from Tile Bar.  I don't know if I have a picture of it, but it's the right color, just not glossy, so it will scratch easily.  We are still a ways from installing the backsplash but when I get the green light, I want to already know exactly what I want.  I think I like the medium sized light blue best.  I like the color more of the large one, but don't like the size. I'll keep looking just to be sure though. 

I remember to get a picture of our less creepy basement.

 

What else?  Hmmm. For the family room/playroom we are going to put down those foam puzzle-piece-looking things for the floor and then cover it with linoleum, probably something that looks like wood.  That's also where our computer and "office" is going to go.  We were both worried about putting a computer desk where the playroom is because Penelope loves to crawl on desks and make a mess of things and Oliver likes cords and wires.  Josh said he is going to build a half wall on one part of the room so it will be blocked off from them, but we will still be able to see them.  Probably right under the dining room.

 

For some reason, I'm so interested in the previous tenants.  Always wondering about how the house used to look like and why they did what they did.  I did find out that the man lived there alone, was on oxygen and his wife died years before. And he died in the house... dun dum duuuuun!  I think I'm ok with this though because his bedroom was downstairs where we are putting the laundry room, so we've totally demolished it.  I'd like to hope he died in that room, for my sake.  The propane delivery guy also told us that the previous owner was a "collector" (hoarder).  The garage was piled up and the backyard was full of crap. They loaded at least 3 big dumpsters with things from inside. I guess that's why it took them 5 months to finally have the estate sale.

Day 46

Two nights ago I went over and finished the second coat in Penelope's closet and finished the top part of the teal wall in our room.  It might be because of the drywall compound that was put on the wall, but there are some spots that show up, even after two coats.  You can really tell on the walls opposite the windows.  We are going to ask the drywall guy about it when he comes back to paint the living room and dining room.  Don't want to spend money on more paint if that's not the problem. 

 

While I was doing that, Josh was ripping up the subfloor in the kitchen.  I'm not sure of the progress because neither of us have been there since.  Josh has been studying for mid-terms.  My dad goes up every morning to work, though.

 

 

Josh is going to be pretty busy these next two months because he is starting work as a CNC Machinist.  He is also going to school at night 4 days a week.  That just means his plans for the next 8 weekends are so, involve the house.  But the quicker we get it done, the quicker we can move in and relax!

 

Menards is having a sale for the next ten days and their porcelain floor tile is half off!  This is what we want to use the kitchen and dining room.  We just have to get the measurements soon.  We aren't going to put any under the appliances or cabinets to save on money.  I'm so anxious to get these because they are the ones I want and are only $1.49 per piece (6"x 24") and I've seen them as high as $4 per piece.  I think we are really lucking out by finding things on sale.  Remember we bought tile for the bathroom for $30 and it would have originally been about $130. 

 

Josh also spent hours painting the basement walls to seal them.  Some spots need a second coat because some water still gets in, but it looks a lot better.  The basement isn't so creepy anymore!  The walls are bright white instead of dirty looking cinder blocks.

 

Our propane tank was filled yet again.  My dad was at the house and asked the man if there was a leak or something since we went through most of it in 5 weeks.  He said that this is typical.  Everyone is going through propane quickly since this is the coldest winter on record.  Well, now that we are in March, I'm hoping for the weather to be about 50 degrees warmer than it has been since the beginning of the year, so hopefully we can make it last longer.  Or else, we are in trouble. 

 

My mom brought home the mail yesterday (to 1422) and there was a piece of mail for "Current Resident" addressed to 1313.  We were so confused.  I don't get any mail sent to the house and I don't even think there is a mailbox there.  The house is over a mile away, so how could it just accidentally get put in the wrong stack of letters?  But there's no way the mailman could know we own the house and decide to deliver it here instead.  It's just weird.   

Day 42

Last night my friend Lisa came over and helped me paint Penelope's room.  We got the first coat on, then called it a night.  The drywall compound that was used to patch up the wall really sucks up the paint, so it took a full gallon.

 

 

My dad and Josh were insulating the kitchen while we painted.

 

Today my dad spent a lot of time cleaning the kitchen and it is now the cleanest room in the house.

 

Today I painted Penelope's closet and can now say that I hate painting closets!  It looks really bad and will definitely need a second coat.  After I was done there, I did a second coat on the rest of the room.

 

My last project for the day was the accent wall in our room.  The rest of the walls will be gray.  I'm hoping it will look nice.  I'm kind of nervous with such a bold choice.  This is where our bed will go, so even if I hate it, it will be covered up a lot.

 

I was so messy when I got home.  Penelope got a dry dish towel and tried to wipe off the paint from my pants and hands.  "Help you clean up, Mommy!"

 

 

Also, the snow was really pretty when I left, so I tried to capture it in a picture.