Tools.....

I thought I would put together a list of some of the tools that we have found helpful in this process.  Many times it is cheaper to buy tools and do it yourself rather than hire it done.  On some jobs we didn't have experience doing I've found the internet more than helpful.  There's a YouTube video for everything!

We bought a wallpaper steamer and borrowed one as well.  I had bad luck with the first one I bought and had to take it back.  I returned it for another and it didn't work either.  I did return for the third time and got one that worked well.  Go figure.......  Aaron was the main man in wallpaper removal and he thought the steamer worked the best in getting off the paper and the glue. 

I have used this little orbit sander a ton and love it.  I've used it to sand trim and doors as well as some furniture I'm refinishing.

Over the years I've had need for an air compressor and just never did justify spending the money.  However, knowing we would need one to use a nail gun we did end up purchasing a small one to use with the stapler and finish gun.  I do wish I had a bigger one that would keep up the pressure a little longer, but I like the size and portability of it.  I have also used it to blow off dust and will use it a lot more once I begin to paint trim.  Aaron particularly likes the stapler and finish gun.  I admit they're fun to use too.....

I have not used the miter saw yet, but Doug says it makes nice clean cuts and he's done several straight and miter cuts with it.

We also bought a paint sprayer to prime the walls, ceilings, trim and doors.  I will have to let you know how this works out.

We chose to purchase the things above for a couple of reasons...... first, they are things we will most likely use again and have had need for in the past.  For instance, I wish we would have had that paint sprayer last summer when we painted our deck!  Also, we figured the cost of paying someone else to do it and by purchasing our own equipment we were WAY ahead financially and we learned a new skill in the process. 

There are some things that we will choose to rent.  We have a circular saw, recipricating saw and miter saw.  Although a table saw would be nice for installing flooring the cost outweighed the benefit.  A jig saw would be nice to have as well but again, not enough need to justify the cost.  We are in envy of people who have all the fancy tools and maybe someday we'll collect some more good stuff too......

Because the house has 10 ft ceilings and it ALL has to be painted we did buy scaffolding to assist in the painting.  The last time I painted on a ladder it took several chiropractor visits to get me put back together.  So in this case the cost of the scaffolding is much less than a few Dr. bills.

We are taking the weekend off and enjoying time with family in celebration of the Lord's resurrection. May you all have a blessed Easter holiday!

Getting Ready to Paint

The paint prep is taking forever!  The walls are ready thanks to my drywall guys--great job and super shout out to Clint Garey and crew!  However, the trim has been scraped, scrubbed, repaired and sanded and we're still not done.....

Snow!

I think they're saying we got 17" of snow yesterday.  It is gorgeous!  We didn't realize how bad it was though and sent Abby back to school yesterday.  The normal 70 min. drive took her over 3 hours--not fun!  Aaron has a snow day but got up at 6:30 to help clear a car lot, Doug has a meeting in Canton and I am at work.  No rest for the weary I guess.......  We didn't get everything on our list done this weekend at the house so painting is postponed this week........  happy Monday!

Shopping

I've been doing a lot of shopping lately. Here are some of my purchases......

This is the flooring for both bathrooms from Home Depot. I've used this flooring at our house and it's one of my favorites--looks great, durable and easy to clean.

Also from Home Depot is the new door for the side entrance. I love the craftsman look of it.

We will be sanding and refinishing the existing hardwood floors in the house but will be adding this new wood in the kitchen and 3rd bedroom to match the existing.

We decided to go with Ikea Ramsjo in white for the kitchen--super excited about this!

The new bathroom will be decked out in white Ikea Hemnes

Thinking of going with this or this for the majority of the walls. With this or this for the trim color.

Doug will be installing the rest of the new windows tomorrow.  I have trim and door scrubbing, filling, and sanding on my list before we can paint.......  There's also 8" of snow in the weekend forecast.....

Have a great weekend!

Out with the old, in with the new.......

This may not look exciting but trust me--this is super exciting! That's brand new plumbing and electrical you're looking at! The house had an updated electrical box when we bought it. However, the upstairs was still knob and tube wiring which had to be replaced and that tied into all the ceiling fixtures on the main floor as well. Since we were putting in a new kitchen and bathroom that brought another level of electrical needs and before we were done basically the entire house is rewired. We had a fantastic electrician--can't say enough good things about Steve Brown and his boys! I had trouble finding a plumber because the one we had always used was busy and couldn't get to this job. Steve recommended his friend Ron Fleshman and Ron's brother Dave. I can't say enough good things about them either--fantastic job! With the exception of the existing bathroom the whole house has new plumbing. They took out old gas and water lines, replaced and relocated the water heater, added a new bathroom and upstairs laundry, brought the kitchen up to code and tidied things up in the basement. All that said, when the guys who are skim coating the walls are done today we're on our own the rest of the way and the list is long......... Also, our college girl is home this week for spring break and has a long list of favorite meals she wants. I informed her that food preparation has been at the bottom of the list these days as home renovation has taken it's place. We'll see how much gets done this week. I'm tired thinking about it!

Tired

We're done with demolition and on to renovation. This week has been the big $$$$$ stage. Between electrians, plumbers, drywallers, kitchen cabinets, bathroom fixtures and flooring the budget is inching to the top. So I guess this is the place in the project where exhaustion and discouragement comes. It took 5 hours to get our kitchen ordered and loaded yesterday and 35 trips to unload at 10:30 p.m. I'm sure the neighbors think we're nuts.......

Still ugly.....

We're getting there...... slowly but surely. My goal was to announce that all of the wallpaper is officially off...... but I'm about 2 hours shy of saying that--soon though! This weekend the electrician was hard at work--love him and his sons! Three drywall guys got started on the skim coating and I officially hired a plumber. Finding a plumber proved hard! Anyway, things are moving along. This week I will order cabinets and purchase all the plumbing supplies.......

The Ugly Stage....

We are in the ugly stage right now. Kitchen is down to the studs. New bathroom framed. Wallpaper down. Big mess everywhere. Waiting for electrician and plumber. Even in the mess I still see the possibilities. I now realize this ability to see past the ugly to the possible is something you either have or you don't...... I don't know if it's God-given or learned but some can and some can't. I remember learning to sew when I was young and learning to pick a pattern then material and picturing what the end product would look like in my mind. In those days the end product always looked better in my mind than in reality though! Some major design decisions have been made as well. The kitchen is planned and waiting for me to purchase--it rocks! I can't wait! I ordered flooring to match the hardwood we are refinishing. We decided to do the right thing and skim coat the plaster walls so they are nice and smooth. I've been prepping the walls for this and my arms are SO SORE! I honestly don't know how people finsih drywall and paint for a living--it would kill me I'm sure! Pictures to come soon......

New Use for the Crock Pot

One of the neat things about this house is the old doors and hardware. However, the hardware had all been painted over multiple times. Don't people know you're supposed to take the hardware off when you paint the doors? I guess not..... So anyway I wanted to restore them to some sense of their former glory and had read the best way to get paint off hardware was to use the crockpot. So I went to my local thrift shop and bought a crockpot for $4 and started cooking! It took a few times in the pot to get it all off and then I used some metal polish and wa-la! They'll look so nice on pretty white doors--can't wait!