One Sixty: Mike: The Next Generation

Mike: The Next Generation

Mike has been the nicest person ever since we got married. Maybe it's the release of all the stress. Maybe it's newlywedism. In any case, I like it. Just this weekend Mike helped me install the soap dispenser I've been wanting to install since August, 2005. Then he changed my oil.

And - Sunday morning I happend to mention that he should call our carpenter to come over and install our new stair steps. I go out to do a few errands - and when I come back, he's tearing up the old stairsteps to put in the new ones! When I walked in and said "What are you doing?!" he merely answered, "You said you wanted it done."

Well I just thought that was the awesomest thing ever. We installed the new treads and they look pretty good. We still have to trim them out and everything - but it's already a lot better then those old treads with the nails sticking out of them. Can't tell you how many times I nearly punch a hole in my foot.

This same weekend I also installed three new eyeball trims in the upstairs office recessed lighting fixtures. Looks a heck of a lot better I tell 'ya. That was my mini-project along with the normal cleaning.

Ooo! Ooo! Also due in early this week is our new furnace. I can't wait. Once we have that in hand, we'll head to the Deep-Ho and get a hot water tank. A nice biiiig one. (Because I've lived with short showers and no baths for waaaay too long.)

Also, we're going to try and get some seed/fertilizer for the front yard. Just some el cheapo bags. Couldn't hurt, and we decided not to spend big bucks on a lawn right now. Who knows. Maybe we'll grow some grass or something. Isn't that a novel idea?

Blog Story

My now husband Mike and I purchased this quaint home back in spring of 2004 - our first home - and, being the handy folks we are, expected to have the entire thing renovated in about a year or so.

And here we still are... renovating away.

This house needed a complete overhaul. Its plaster walls were uninsulated, its attic floor covered in 2" of bat guano, its basement - dirt and snakes, its exterior - asbestos siding, and lead paint windows in every room. The electric had not been updated and light sockets hung bare from the ceiling. Plumbing featured cast iron radiators - and only one for the entire upstairs.

We began by gutting almost the entire house from top to bottom. (sans bathroom - we needed to pee) We rebuilt the entire upstairs, with a new floor (not new carpet or wood - the once unstable framing underneath) and turned 3 small rooms into two. We reinvented the downstairs by turning a closet into a hallway and eliminating interior exterior windows and doors from old half-assed additions.

New insulation, windows, electrical wiring (including phone and CAT-5 internet), plumbing and baseboards, and drywall were all added.

We purchased kitchen cabinets from a yard sale. (None existed previously.) Our families helped us replace and purchase new appliances including the once also missing washer & dryer.

Then we had the entire house lifted - straight into the air - dug out the dirt, and had a real basement foundation poured. We updated our oil tank and burner and created heating zones.

Outside, we took down trees and planted grass. We dug out an awkward hill to create a 2nd part to the driveway and used the rocks our house once sat on as a retaining wall. We electrified and repainted the garage.

And of course, we spent many an hour on finish work like paint, trim, closet doors, lighting fixtures, hardwood floors, curtain rods, dimmer switches, and many other things everyone else takes for granted. We are still working to complete all this final finishing, but happy to report that we are FINALLY nearing completion of all little things in all rooms!

In 2008 we began overhauling the exterior by creating a new french door entryway and building a farmer's porch and garage addition. We replaced our roof and then stripped off our siding and replaced with new clapboards. We then planted two new flowering trees and a maple in the front yard - our first major landscape purchases. I'm happy to report that here in 2011, the porch is nearing completion and the back yard is on the road to recovery with some new loam and grass. More plantings soon to come!

In 2012 we plan to attack the last MAJOR (emphasis on major) job in the house - the dreaded BATHROOM! We plan to first add a second bathroom in the basement. Then, demolish our current bathroom and rebuild it, adding a second bathroom on top for the upstairs.

And that pretty much brings you up to date. The battle continues day to day as we try and complete everything.