Is it ever going to end?

I'm serious....plumbing and electrical...is it EVER going to end?  It takes so much longer because we have to decide where we want outlets, how we want switches to work, etc.  That's all we've been doing.  So tonight we took another little break to go help our friends, The Harmans at The Wildey Theater in Edwardsville!

Marky  :)

Mike & Stacy

Jeffie

Johnny

Playin' a little tun BACKWARDS!!

Look how proud they all are of Johnny!

Great show tonight...but back to reality tomorrow!

KITCHEN LIGHTING....AHHHHH!!!!

Yes, that title really is worthy of being in all caps!  We just can't make a decision on WHERE the lights should go!  We're doing can lights for general lighting, lights above the two windows for more of a task lighting (like when we're at the sink and such), two lights over the island also for task, and then under cabinet lighting.  So we know WHAT we want to have....we just don't know how to have it, lol!  We've already been dwelling on it for a couple of weeks, and I have searched and searched the web.  UGH!  I've come to the conclusion that there really isn't going to be an answer for me.  Every kitchen is different, so we're just going to have to make our own decisions, dang!  I've also been trying to find lights for over the island...there are the big bell pendants that I've been looking at forever....I ordered one to see if it would work....

 

Can you see it?  Hanging there above our mock up island?  lol!

I love it....but Kade thinks it's too big! (and yes those are Kade's legs on the ladder, ha!)

So no decision has been made yet.  Kade's working on installing the can lights anyway...and we'll just see if we like where he puts them, lol.  Electrical isn't supposed to be this difficult!  I can tell you one thing...I'm going to have to get MUCH better about making decisions if we EVER want to be done with this house!

Well, We Almost Had a Fire! (and I'm not talking about in the fireplace!)

Nice, huh?  Kade took down the old ceiling fan in the basement family room and this is what he uncovered!  We are lucky!!  Not sure exactly WHY this happened, possibly from a light bulb that was too big??  Doesn't matter now though...it's down and we are safe from that hazard!

So after Kade got the fan down he came in to the basement bedroom....he was tracing electrical wires...and here he found that all of the outlets for the big bedroom upstairs (our bedroom) are in a stinkin' junction box.  Ugh!  Hopefully he's not going to have to pull down all of the insulation from the ceiling and rewire the entire house!! (but I do know how he is...a little OCD on his electrical work)

 

Here's Kade giving the junction box the look of death ;)

 

While he was messing with the electric I started pulling out the beautiful (NOT) orange carpet!!  Got the bedroom done.  Will try and get the rest out tomorrow night.  I'm ready to be done with the demo!!  We're getting close now...all we have left to tear out are the wood boxes beside the fireplace, the orange carpet in the basement family room and the plaster/fixtures from the main floor full bath.  If we weren't trying to not tear everything up this would have gone a whole lot faster!!

It's Electric....

Boogie woogie woogie!  Sorry, but you know I had to say it!  I think it's the law  ;)  Anyway...back to the electric.  Tonight Kade decided he was going to get rid of some lights and rewire some other stuff.  So he's in the kitchen breaking out a few parts of the last section of soffit and he hits something metal.  Does a little more removal and reveals a junction box.  Here's what we saw...

Notice that it's PACKED with plaster!!

Pretty sure that's NOT the way you're supposed to close those up, lol!

After closer inspection...we also saw this...a SECOND junction box on the wall behind the plaster box, oh, I'm sorry, JUNCTION box.

So Kade digs around in the junction box and what does he find?

Well...had he not turned the power off they would have been LIVE wires!!!

Just wrapped in tape and smothered in plaster.  YIKES!!

Needless to say....he got rid of that mess!  I'm so glad that he knows what he's doing!!

Jack of all trades I tell ya!  He's the best!