We have gutters!!!! The gutter people came and went in four hours this morning. For some reason (and I'm sure there is one), there is a random gutter to the right of the front door almost on top of the front porch light. Hopefully they will be addressing that or my nice, new front porch lights won't fit. Other than that, I am thrilled to have this part of the project D-U-N, done. The gutters are one giant step towards us moving in the basement. Now, if only it would rain so we can test the water issue....
I was also excited to see that the framers were cutting holes and adding new soffit vents. The painters were working hard on the shutters. The outside is really coming together!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Weekly Update
Last week, the exterior trim painting was completed and the framers spent a ton of time reoncstructing the framing in the attic over the den. The ceiling had a pretty serious sag due to some inadequate supports in the attic framing. However, it is now raised up and re-framed appropriately!
The extended opening from the foyer/living room to the den is also well on it's way to being completed.
We also now have a nice new railing in the carport. I may have mentioned this before, but just now am getting around to posting the pictures.
Graham and I are very ready to be back on the eastside of town. It's crazy how different the westside is. There is so much traffic and it's busy busy over here. I miss Publix, my short commute to work, and believe it or not, eastside restaurants. It's crazy how far away it feels from here.
Anyway, gutters were supposed to go up last week, but for some reason the gutter people were nowhere to be found Thursday or Friday. Fingers crossed that they get started tomorrow. It's crazy how much rides on gutters! I never in a million years thought I'd care so much about them. Say a prayer that the new gutters solve our water issue in the basement so that we can have the floor finished, walls painted, and get moved in! It will also save us quite a bit of $$...so I am very interested to see how they work out.
Graham and I did make a final decision on appliances, the front door, and side doors. We had a wonderful experience at Bob Burnett's and really feel like we got a great deal. They were by far the most pleasant appliance store we worked with. I was very happy with the whole thing. We ended up deciding to leave the front door that is there (obviously it will be painted), and just add a storm door for now to let light/air in. On our 10 year plan, we hope to add a front porch and figured we could just put in a whole new door unit then.
I'm not sure what else is on the agenda for this week, but I'm hoping to see LOTS of progress.
I will try to do better on my updating...this one was just for you, Bryan Burnett! ; ) Hopefully there will be much more to share this week.
Thankfully, the framers blocked off the sunroom where all of our furniture is before they started tearing the ceiling down. They added these supports in the den while they worked in the attic. |
The extended opening from the foyer/living room to the den is also well on it's way to being completed.
That little section on the left will be sheet rocked over. That's where they went a little crazy with the size of the opening. |
We also now have a nice new railing in the carport. I may have mentioned this before, but just now am getting around to posting the pictures.
This is a picture of the steps before. It's hard to tell here, but the entire side leading straight out the door was no longer there. Slightly scary! |
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Happy to have a sturdy, safe railing. |
Anyway, gutters were supposed to go up last week, but for some reason the gutter people were nowhere to be found Thursday or Friday. Fingers crossed that they get started tomorrow. It's crazy how much rides on gutters! I never in a million years thought I'd care so much about them. Say a prayer that the new gutters solve our water issue in the basement so that we can have the floor finished, walls painted, and get moved in! It will also save us quite a bit of $$...so I am very interested to see how they work out.
Graham and I did make a final decision on appliances, the front door, and side doors. We had a wonderful experience at Bob Burnett's and really feel like we got a great deal. They were by far the most pleasant appliance store we worked with. I was very happy with the whole thing. We ended up deciding to leave the front door that is there (obviously it will be painted), and just add a storm door for now to let light/air in. On our 10 year plan, we hope to add a front porch and figured we could just put in a whole new door unit then.
I'm not sure what else is on the agenda for this week, but I'm hoping to see LOTS of progress.
I will try to do better on my updating...this one was just for you, Bryan Burnett! ; ) Hopefully there will be much more to share this week.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Progress...Slowly but Surely
Last week we took a breather from working on the house and left it to the professionals! We spent some time appliance shopping and trying to figure out what all we needed to buy. A good bit got done, and we were very excited!
Thomas is in town for a few weeks, and he stopped by to see the project. While he was over, he removed the old, rusted, metal awning over the back door to the basement. Yay! Left is a before picture of the back of the house with the awning. Below, the awning is removed. Thanks Thomas (hate I missed the photo-op of all that hard work)!
New awning coming soon. I'm thinking of a nice, black canvas one.
You can also tell in this picture how much cleaner the windows are and how much better the house looks with just a coat of primer on the trim!
Graham worked hard cleaning out years of leaves and yard debris. I'm ready to do some landscaping and get some color out in the yard! The parque flooring came out of the den during the week last week. The man who pulled it up said that there were 100 nails per sheet of plywood. Thank God we decided not to do that part! Left is a before picture.
The door opening in the back right corner will soon be twice that size.
Here's an after picture of the den minus the parque. What a lovely design underneath. I am anxious to see new hardwoods!
My most favorite thing that was done last week is the basement bathroom!!! We have walls, a working sink, and a working commode! There is also a ceiling in the shower and the pipes are covered. Woohoo! If you remember the before picture of this bathroom, you know why I am so thrilled about this! Scroll down the blog a few posts to see.
Today, the painters came over early to start painting the exterior trim. Unfortunately, I've yet to pick a paint color, and they left for another job. I managed to pick 3 of the 100,000 white paint samples that I liked this afternoon at Lowes. We hope to have some samples on the exterior for a final decision tomorrow. Paint and a new door is going to make all the difference!
Inside, they got started making the opening from the foyer to the den into a double sized opening instead of a single one. It's hard to tell in this picture (above with the parque floor), but that opening at the far end of the picture to the right is what's being widened. It's going to be opened another 3 feet or so. Anyway, I think one of the guys got a little sledge hammer happy because he started knocking out the whole wall! Luckily, Graham got there to stop him just in time for only minor repairs to need to be done. I'm anxious to see the progress this week! More pictures to come.
The roof is completed and all of the storm windows have been removed. All of the trim has been primed! We still have yet to buy a new front door.... |
Thomas is in town for a few weeks, and he stopped by to see the project. While he was over, he removed the old, rusted, metal awning over the back door to the basement. Yay! Left is a before picture of the back of the house with the awning. Below, the awning is removed. Thanks Thomas (hate I missed the photo-op of all that hard work)!
New awning coming soon. I'm thinking of a nice, black canvas one.
You can also tell in this picture how much cleaner the windows are and how much better the house looks with just a coat of primer on the trim!
The door opening in the back right corner will soon be twice that size.
Here's an after picture of the den minus the parque. What a lovely design underneath. I am anxious to see new hardwoods!
We are waiting on gutters, floor stain, and paint on the walls and the basement will be complete! Hopefully that will happen this week. We are especially hoping for gutters since Hurricane Irene is projected to hit the SC coast and come inland this weekend. Fingers crossed that all comes together!
Today, the painters came over early to start painting the exterior trim. Unfortunately, I've yet to pick a paint color, and they left for another job. I managed to pick 3 of the 100,000 white paint samples that I liked this afternoon at Lowes. We hope to have some samples on the exterior for a final decision tomorrow. Paint and a new door is going to make all the difference!
Inside, they got started making the opening from the foyer to the den into a double sized opening instead of a single one. It's hard to tell in this picture (above with the parque floor), but that opening at the far end of the picture to the right is what's being widened. It's going to be opened another 3 feet or so. Anyway, I think one of the guys got a little sledge hammer happy because he started knocking out the whole wall! Luckily, Graham got there to stop him just in time for only minor repairs to need to be done. I'm anxious to see the progress this week! More pictures to come.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Weekend Warriors
Our project home saw loads of work this past weekend! We called in all of the troops, and oh my goodness! Almost all of our part is completely finished. Thankfully, we had help from the Broome's, Bulman's and Dad. Some of mom's friends, Cindy and Dennis, even stopped by and helped out after they toured the house. I wish we had taken a group picture!
Outside
Work was going on all over. Dad and Gil got the carpet and falling down railing off of the carport steps.
Before...nasty carpet and a broken, very scary railing. |
After...Carpet and railing gone. Ready to be refinished and re-railed! |
The brick wall came down the rest of the way and the root that ruined the wall in the first place was removed.
The men used lots of methods for getting that root out. Each of them took a turn with the sledge hammer and Graham tried to saw it apart. |
Eventually, they decided to hook it up to the trailer hitch and pull it out. It worked! |
Inside
Pam and I removed wallpaper from the foyer and dining room. We were so lucky that the wallpaper was vinyl and pulled off very easily. We spent very little time getting it down!
It's hard to tell in this picture, but 1/2 of the wallpaper is gone. I actually could have liked the wallpaper if it weren't for the horrid smoke stains and dirtiness! Definitely time for it to go. |
No more wallpaper in the dining room, either! And, the toppers on the curtains came down! |
In the kitchen, Graham and the dads removed all of the appliances, the set of cabinets that blocked off the den, and Russell got all of the cabinet doors and hardware off.
Mom, Pam and I did lots of work in the basement. The walls and windows were scrubbed from top to bottom and every corner was vaccummed. It finally feels clean(ish) down there! At least there are no more spider webs, etc.
While Russell worked on getting all of the cabinet doors off in the kitchen, Graham, Dad, and Gil got the awful shag carpet off of the basements steps. |
Lexie had to be all in the way, of course! The steps are actually really nice...they just need a coat of paint and stain. |
I don't feel like this post gives all of our hard work the justice it deserves, but we were so proud of all that we accomplished, and especially thankful for all of the help! Many hands make less work!
We met with Simon, the contractor, Saturday after our long day and made a plan for the rest of the project. We are focusing on the basement and completing the outside. Hopefully the basement bathroom, floor refinishing, and painting will be done this week. Then, we have to wait on the new gutters and a hard rain to see if they solve the water issue. If all that goes well, we'll be able to move into the basement while the upstairs is completed. Simon says 6 weeks for total completion. Fingers crossed, prayers being said!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Week One
So much is getting done this week! Tuesday morning, August 9th, I went by the house on my way to work at 7:15. I was so excited to see the framing people there! They were getting started on removing the rotten soffits so that they could be replaced and/or repaired where necessary. We also have a dumpster! Never thought I'd be so glad to get one of those in my driveway.
I took some teacher friends over during our lunch break and gave them the tour. I think the framers, Simon, and Tyler were a little surprised. But, everyone from work was glad to see the house! Simon told me that the new wood flooring was being ordered on Wednesday. Woohoo! Seeing some actual flooring is going to be exciting!
Graham went by after work to finish knocking down the brick wall. The majority of it is done and cleaned up. Getting the root out is going to be interesting...
On Wednesday, Mom and Russell came over to see the progress. Graham was steady busy knocking out the gosh-awful tile counter tops in the kitchen and the roofers were steady working on the outside. Russell even helped out on that part a little while they were over.
We also decided that we are going to put up a wall in the basement to make a shop area for Graham and his tools. We originally planned to put it in front of the windows, but the Broomes suggested putting it on the other end. I think we will go with that. It also looks like the basement will be getting finished sooner than later. We are still waiting on the gutters to be able to be put on (which is still a ways away), but the contractor is going to get walls put up in the bathroom and the plumbing ready for Graham and Russell to add the fixtures. As soon as we get the gutters up, hopefully next week some time, we will be able to move along with finishing the floor in the basement, etc.
On Wednesday we found out that the wood on the roof under the shingles was more rotten and soft than we thought and that all of it would have to be replaced. That threw a slight wrench in the plan and budget, but has to be done. I guess that's our first surprise. Probably the first of many.
I had "Meet and Greet the Teacher" day at work on Thursday. It lasted close to 12 hours, so I didn't do much at the house. Graham finished off the counter tops and the roofers got even closer to finishing the new roof! I managed to go by with a pizza and to take a few pictures of the progress.
I took some teacher friends over during our lunch break and gave them the tour. I think the framers, Simon, and Tyler were a little surprised. But, everyone from work was glad to see the house! Simon told me that the new wood flooring was being ordered on Wednesday. Woohoo! Seeing some actual flooring is going to be exciting!
Graham went by after work to finish knocking down the brick wall. The majority of it is done and cleaned up. Getting the root out is going to be interesting...
On Wednesday, Mom and Russell came over to see the progress. Graham was steady busy knocking out the gosh-awful tile counter tops in the kitchen and the roofers were steady working on the outside. Russell even helped out on that part a little while they were over.
The top layer of tile (this awful orange, dirty stuff) came up fairly easily. However, it was sealed on with concrete and the bottom layer is much more difficult to remove. |
On Wednesday we found out that the wood on the roof under the shingles was more rotten and soft than we thought and that all of it would have to be replaced. That threw a slight wrench in the plan and budget, but has to be done. I guess that's our first surprise. Probably the first of many.
New roof is coming right along! That yellow front door...ugh. It still has to go! |
I had "Meet and Greet the Teacher" day at work on Thursday. It lasted close to 12 hours, so I didn't do much at the house. Graham finished off the counter tops and the roofers got even closer to finishing the new roof! I managed to go by with a pizza and to take a few pictures of the progress.
Luckily Graham was able to remove the top layer of plywood instead of having to bust up all that concrete! |
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It's hard to tell in this picture, but there was a huge antenna (I called it a lightening rod) attached to the chimney. So glad that the roofers took it down! And, so happy to see the new roof and no more rotten stuff!
Monday, August 8, 2011
The Work Begins....
After closing on both houses and a nice, relaxing week in Edisto, we came back and got to work on some of the demolition at the new house. Before the hard part, we did some shopping! We bought a pedastal sink, new commode, and new faucet for the basement bathroom. We also got 2 new outdoor lights for the front porch and one for the back door. Since we are doing a lot of the demo, we had to get started so the contractors could come in on Monday (today) and start their part on the exterior of the house.
With some help from Gil and Dad, we got gutters down, part of the brick retaining wall down, and the shutters pressure washed.
This lovely root grew up between the patio and the brick wall that separates the patio from the carport. Unfortunately, the carport is supported on the brick wall and the brick wall can't be saved. Slight problem.
Since the carport is supported on the wall, Graham, Gil, and Dad had to get it supported before the wall could come down.
Once we got the carport supported, Graham decided that the wall could just be pushed over. I was unsure.
Graham took the sledge hammer to the first column support...and then we decided that we needed to support the carport with another 4x4, so we left the rest until Graham could get another support and finish the demo.
The gutters came down pretty easily as well! Graham and Gil worked so hard on getting them down. It was ridiculously hot, and I am so thankful they were able to get this done. It's amazing how much money can be saved in doing most of the demolition ourselves.
For some reason, the shutters from the front of the house were being stored in a corner in the carport. They were absolutely filthy. I manned the pressure washer (which I'm so mad we don't have a picture of) and managed to get them clean enough to be ready to be scraped, repainted, and re-hung.
Lexie made her first visit to the new house. I think she loves it!
So....after a pretty successful and extremely hot day, we got a lot accomplished. Now it's time for the real work to begin! A new roof, new gutters, and painting are on their way. Plans have been made and work will be in full swing starting tomorrow! The exterior of the house should be looking more and more presentable every day now!
With some help from Gil and Dad, we got gutters down, part of the brick retaining wall down, and the shutters pressure washed.
Graham took the sledge hammer to the first column support...and then we decided that we needed to support the carport with another 4x4, so we left the rest until Graham could get another support and finish the demo.
For some reason, the shutters from the front of the house were being stored in a corner in the carport. They were absolutely filthy. I manned the pressure washer (which I'm so mad we don't have a picture of) and managed to get them clean enough to be ready to be scraped, repainted, and re-hung.
Lexie made her first visit to the new house. I think she loves it!
So....after a pretty successful and extremely hot day, we got a lot accomplished. Now it's time for the real work to begin! A new roof, new gutters, and painting are on their way. Plans have been made and work will be in full swing starting tomorrow! The exterior of the house should be looking more and more presentable every day now!
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