Prep Work

Tonight we didn't get much done (seems we have a lot of evenings like that!)  We did get the Ditra cut for the bathroom floor though.  Tomorrow night we'll get that put down.  This stuff is so weird.  It's a tile underlayment, you spread out mortar, push this down into it, then you tile right over the top...just like you'd normally lay the tile.  Now I'm nervous about putting down the floor tile, lol.

There's Kade cutting the vent hole in the Ditra.

You just lay it edge to edge...and tile...you don't even have to wait for the mortar to dry underneath.

A little something for Bran.

Tomorrow the hardwood floor is suppose to be delivered...YEAH!!  Can't wait to get that installed (and yes, we're planning on installing that too, WHAT is wrong with us??)

MORE Tub Surround

Seriously...we thought we'd get to finish the tub surround today...but no such luck.  We were SOOOOO close though.  I got the tiles all cleaned up though...got the extra mortar out from in between, etc.  What a mess I made!

Look at how serious I am, lol.  Very determined.

The ALMOST finished product.

Seriously....3 Bullnose tiles short....so we didn't put the rest of it up.  We'll make ANOTHER trip to Lowes for tile and then get it finished up when we have everything we need.  Who figured up our supplies list??  I don't THINK it was me  ;)

More Tub Surround

We worked some more on the tub surround today.  Why is this taking so long??  Are we the slowest tilers EVER??  (I'm thinking the answer to that is YES!)

 

I had to have Kade help me with the "up high" areas...my arms were already tired, plus I can barely reach that high, lol.  I'm not even short...so maybe we made it too tall?

Look, I do exist...and I do actually work!

Had to have Kade snap a pic today as he was sitting in the hallway waiting on me to tell him what I needed.

Still not done...but close...It got a little too late so we decided to save the last wall for another day.

Here's a little closeup of the pattern...what you can't tell is that the dark tile is actually brown glass.  I just LOVE how this is turning out!

Tiled Tub Surround...the beginning

Started the tub surround today!  Talk about nerve wracking...lol...why do I let everything stress me out soooo badly??  I guess it's because I just don't want to screw it up.  I think it looks pretty good so far.  This is the first tub surround that I've tiled, so it's a new experience for me.  I did do the backsplash in our current kitchen though...I guess it's KIND of similar...just a whole lot smaller!!

 Had to stop at this point because I really felt like the mortar was a bit dry.  I'll work on it some more tomorrow when we've got more time.  I think I might be able to handle this  :)

My Favorite Wall

Finally...we got to work on the Dining Room/Stairway wall! (I was getting so sick of seeing those studs with nothing on them, lol)  This is one of my favorite things so far.  Oh..and the plan is to paint this one too  :)

 So...what do you think?  I think I LOVE it!

Do you see anything in this picture?  I SEE SPRINKLES :)

This is the FIRST time we've seen anything that even resembles rain in the last few months!  It's been soooo HOT and soooo DRY this summer.  Even I am praying for rain..and I am NOT a fan of rain!

Not a lot of waste so far...I'm doing pretty good!

My work station :)

DONE!

Well...at least with the part that's above floor level.

Kade still has to pull some wiring in the basement before we can finish down the stairs.

Sunroom Time!

Oh, I've so been waiting for this part!  I HATED the wood paneling in the sunroom :)  Dad removed the wood paneling last night while we went to Lowes & Home Depot...only to find out that it had drywall underneath it...and it was NOT a good drywall job, lol.  Sooo...had to tear that out too.  We got it all cleaned up though and Dad and I got started on the tongue & groove.  I am soooo excited about this room!  Since we had it all opened up we decided to go ahead and replace the insulation...we used the Roxul again...man I just love that stuff...so nice!  Then we put a vapor barrier up since it is technically an exterior wall.

All ready to go....let's do this!!

 

1st Wall done!  (well...almost)  Still need to do the bottom row...but those are going to have to be trimmed.  I got started and then Dad just couldn't stay away...I think he really wanted to get in on a relatively quick project, well...maybe we should just call it one that you can actually see progress on :)

More Framing & Drywall Finishing

Well...the drywall finishing has begun!!  I went to RP Lumber today while Kade was at work to get the lumber for framing in the basement.  That's about all we can work on while they're working on the drywall upstairs.  It's SOOOOO hot here...ugh!  I guess we should be lucky that we're working in the basement...but lets be real, when it's 106 outside the basement isn't really a "cool" place either, lol.

Here's my load of lumber.  I guess I strapped it down good enough....

nothing fell out on my way home, ha ha!

 

Dad and I unloaded everything as soon as I got back with it...

then we could get right to work when Kade got home.

Just a few finishing touches and the new 2x6 PROPER wall is in place!

I'll try and post some pics of the drywall getting finished tomorrow!

Oh how I love it when things are NOTICEABLY getting done :)

Just Amazing!

The main floor drywall is DONE!  By 10:30 this morning the guys were finished up and outta there!  What a RELIEF to have this done.  Yes, we could have saved some money by doing it ourselves...but there is no way on earth that we would have had the entire 1700 sq. ft. main floor done in less than 2 days!!  That is crazy!

Finally it's starting to look like a house again!

There is a reason that one wall is still studs  :)  

Don't worry...I've got a plan (mwa, ha, ha!)

Oh..I just love drywall, lol...

I just can't believe how different it looks...and it's only going to get better

We're taking tomorrow off for my Cousin's Wedding...then it's back at it!

WOW!!!

So today was the HOTTEST day of 2012 so far I'm pretty sure...and doesn't that just make sense?  It was day 1 of drywall hanging - and NO AIR CONDITIONING IS ALLOWED WITH ALL THE DRYWALL DUST!!  The guys got here right at 7 a.m. (ewwww...I don't want to be up and moving yet at 7 a.m....but I drug myself up since this was such an exciting day!)  It was absolutely AMAZING how fast these guys can work...I think I may have gone in to momentary shock while watching them, lol.

When I came to check around noonish they already had all of the ceilings done...

 

Look at how much better that looks without old insulation falling out of the ceiling, ha ha!

Front Bedroom

View of the Kitchen area...it looks SOOOO different!

The laundry half of the "clutter" room.  Kade walked in here tonight, came back out and said

"Our laudry room is so cute" lol.  I would have to agree with him on that one too!

Master Bedroom Bath & Closet

View of 1/2 Bath/Mudroom/Clutter Room from the Kitchen. 

I just can't believe what all they got done today...absolutely AMAZING!!

On a side note...a little damage has been done to my Grandma's old sewing table base that I was using for the sink base.  :(  I guess to much moving it around - the back support bar broke.

 

Hopefully we can figure out a way to still make it work...I just loved it together with the sink top I found.  Remember how cute they look?

 I still love it :)  We've just GOT to make it work!

 

It's not SUPER obvious where the break actually is!

Since the guys were working upstairs on drywall, we worked in the basement.  The bedroom wall was originally a 2x4 wall with cedar boxing in around the post.  We knew we weren't going to be happy with that.  The light switch for the bedroom and the outlet were both on that post...so you had to walk into the room about 6 feet before you could even turn the light on.  Pretty annoying if you ask me!  So we removed that wall and will rebuild it with 2x6's...completely enclosing the post and moving the switch to its proper location.  It's going to be so much nicer!  Ya know...sometimes I do wish that we could just skimp on our work, lol, we probably would have been done with the entire house by now if we didn't want to make everything perfect!

 It looks HUGE without that wall there...not that a 16x18 bedroom is small even with the wall up, lol

We finally got the old insulation out too...I can't wait to see how the basement turns out!

The guys will be back around 8 in the morning to finish hanging the drywall.

How come we can't work at the same pace that they do?

Drywall Time!

The day has finally come!  We went to get the drywall late this afternoon so that we'd be ready for the drywall hanging guys tomorrow....I can't wait to see what a difference it makes to have the drywall up!  I couldn't believe how HEAVY the loads of drywall were.  We DID get the help of the Harmans again...Mike & Johnny went with us to pick it up...this way we had 2 trailers to bring it back with...and we filled them both to the brim!  Well...I guess there's no BRIM on a trailer...so let's just say we filled them to the MAXIMUM WEIGHT CAPACITY!!  It was interesting to say the least!

Oh and one more thing....WHY IS IT SO HOT OUTSIDE???  lol.

 

Here's the load we had with our truck....notice that they had to stack pallets so they could get the drywall up high enough over the wheel wells, lol.

Here's the load Mike had on his truck...(and Carl Becker...how did he end up helping unload drywall??  I thought he just came over to Mom & Dad's for dinner, lol!!)

two wide of course....his truck could pull more than ours could!

It's in the house!!  Yeah!  

11 buckets of drywall mud...do you think that will be enough?

Thanks so much to Mike, Jeff & Johnny Harman for all of your help delivering and moving in drywall....your muscles are greatly appreciated  :)  Also thanks to Kade, Dad & Carl!

DRYWALL STARTS TOMORROW!!!   CAN'T WAIT!!!

Scrappy!

Today I asked Dad to go with me to take all of the scrap metal to MAW Salvage in Fosterburg.  I just love going there, lol, I'm so weird!  Seriously though, think about it.  Where else can you go take your JUNK..and get money for it?  We're talking rusty old crusty metal = MONEY!!  We've saved all of the wires that Kade has pulled out, old pipes, the old furnace, duct work, etc.

Threw the aluminum cans on there too since we were going.

It really doesn't look like that much stuff!

$200 WORTH OF TRASH!!!

You've gotta love that!

Drywall Ready?

Well, we've been workin' hard upstairs finishing the new insulation, cleaning up, and getting ready to go get the drywall.  Hopefully we can do that in the next couple of days.  Hoping for a little "Harman Help" on that one!  Why does it have to be so hot right now?  Ugh

Here's a little tour of what the upstairs looks like now...6 months into the renovations...

Kitchen area on the left, the new 1/2 bath, Mudroom and Laundry in the middle (behind those new walls) and the Dining Room on the right.

View of the Kitchen when you come in from the sunroom.

 View of the Dining Room if you're in the sunroom doorway.

View into the Master Bedroom from the sitting area.

Master Bedroom

Entryway...not much room there...but it's better than walking straight in to the stairway wall!

Middle Bedroom.

Front Bedroom view from the hallway.

Front Bedroom.

Front Bedroom Closet (one of the only things we didn't change on the main floor!)

Front Bedroom - insulation between the bedrooms.

View out of the front bedroom and down the hallway.

Thermostat  :)

Hallway - that's the other closet that didn't change on the main floor.

The doors are being replaced though!

View from the Master Bedroom through the sitting room and into the kitchen.

The doorway farthest away goes in to the garage.

So that's it for now....time to go get some drywall, the hangers are coming Thursday morning at 7

...this oughta be fun  :)