Killer Week

My back is just killing me this afternoon. Just thought I'd share that with you folks. I need to make an effort to relax, stop doing stuff, and go to bed earlier. At least for a few days. It was a rough weekend.

The driveway stuff delivery did not come on Saturday as scheduled. They told Mike over the phone that there would be up to 5" pieces of cement in the reclaimed mix - too big for our taste. He cancelled it all and decided to go and look at our options before making a decision. When he came home Saturday night, he had been to the materials yard and decided that crushed blue stone would be a better way to go.

Lucky for us, they deliver on Sunday and the price wasn't that much more. $170 vs $120 for the concrete stuff. Done and delivered before noon on Sunday. What service!

Sunday afternoon, Mike was out of the house and I took it upon myself to paint the white on the porch steps.

Just tilt your head - this one won't turn in iPhoto for me. Grrrr!

 I may have failed to mention that I also wet wiped/dry wiped the basement tile grout on Saturday. Feeling motivated after finishing that job, I cleaned up the drywall mess in the tub and moved in the vanity and the bottom half of the toilet. (I should not have been lifting either.) Then, I put in the recessed light bulbs and trim on all but one recessed light. (Turns out the shower needs an R20 rather then an R16 bulb.)

I also brought more summer stuff on the porch - the cushion for the chaise and all the small plant holder tables. I checked BJ's, since that's where I got all my awesome porch plants at this time last year. But this year, they don't have anything similar. Just small ones. What a disappointment. Now I'll have to go on the hunt for similar ones at a similar price...

Anyway!

Monday, Mike gave the stairs a second coat and spread the stone. Turns out we just barely got not enough. There's a little portion across from the garage addition that will have to go without stone for a bit. Tuesday, Mike brought home a compactor from work and hit the entire stone driveway.

Meanwhile, I've been busy with preparations for Mikey's bday party saturday. Neither of us have been back in the basement, which is regrettable, but unavoidable at the moment.

Today I'm just exhausted and in total pain. I need to take it easy. It's not even Friday yet.

 

PS - Garage Trim. Very late in posting this pic!

Early Grout and Sunday Miscellaneous

Feast your eyes on the glory that is finished tile! Duh duh duhhhhhhh! Friday night, Mike and I sat down at the computer and picked out the grout color - Mist 939, a medium grey. My dad picked it up Saturday morning and arrived early Saturday afternoon to begin work. By late Saturday afternoon, the job was done - and beautiful.

Dr's orders, stay off the tile for a couple of days, then hit the grout with a wet - dry cloth. Good to go. Couple days = Tuesday. And I told Mike Saturday night, this battle station must be operational ASAP. Just Five Easy Steps! 1. Baseboard Trim. 2. Vanity and Toilet. 3. Plumb from pump to septic pipe 4. Lighting and fan fixtures. 5. Doors. I don't think we've ever had so much "in stock" and ready to go like we do in this room. Quite a satisfying feeling, knowing we're not going to be running out to the deepHo for anything major.

So with the bano tiled a day early, we had Sunday to tackle some other tasks and even managed to have friends over! (ooooooo!) The previous Thursday or Friday, I finally had an opportunity to purchase winter moth repelling tree spray, and Mike applied it to all our new trees Sunday morning... those bugs love the cherry blossoms and the two trees in the front yard have suffered hard for the past couple years. Next on the agenda, Mike trimmed the garage door and installed the weatherstripping. (Only been a year that this job has been sitting idle.) The garage finally looks finished now! Then, he cleaned up wood and logs from the tree we felled after Hurricane Irene and chopped up another tree that we'd lost in the backyard over the winter.

After a little bit of building material cleanup on the porch picnic table and cleaning of the kids' water table, we still had plenty of time for friends. (Awe, muffin.)

Headway Slows, List Grows

Time to dust off the 'ol keyboard. Yuck. I hate going this long between postings. When I finally return, such as now, I have a hard time remembering where we're at, what's happened, and why I should bother writing about any of it.

Starting in present time, we just returned from a family trip to Baltimore. Nice trip, successful. (Because when you're a parent, you give yourself a grade on your trip as if it was an exam. Mine are improving each time we travel.) While we were gone, my dad came to our house and tiled the basement bathroom! We obtained a tile saw for him to use and set it up in the garage, brought all the tiles downstairs, and cleaned up enough for him to be able to work. When we got home, the tile was laid and two marble thresholds had been installed in the two doorways.

Beautiful. The only thing missing now is grout, which I hadn't picked out yet at the time. Hopefully we can find some time this weekend to finish the job - Sunday, most likely. Once the grout is done, we can install the baseboard trim, which we should have enough of in-stock.

Come to think of it, we could even start cutting and staining that beforehand.... Hmmm...

After that, installation of fixtures (lighting and plumbing) and all doors. It's so close, I can just imagine myself in that new bathtub now.

Before we left for our trip, we managed to stain our side-porch steps. (They were too new to stain with the rest of the porch last year.) We hope to get another coat of stain on the entire porch in the coming weekends... Sunday, perhaps? (I sense a list coming.) Also, we seeded the side yard where we replaced the old trash hut around Christmas time. Grass is beginning to come in, but boy could we use some more rain to help it along.

On the list of Spring To-Do's, there's quite a bit more to be done. (Bathroom is behind schedule, as usual. But we can't complain, as we didn't schedule for a new kitchen in the middle of it all!)

To Do This Spring

Fertilize Entire Yard - ASAP

Install canopy on Mikey's playground set

Replace and change angle of slide on Mikey's playground set

Some material for side-driveway (now dirt)

Rubber roof the kitchen (has been tarped for over a month now)

Gut the old bathroom (upon completion of new one)

My List

Yard Sale (get rid of crap and old furniture)

Get new rug and re-arrange office to be shared with new baby

Create backyard seating with cinder blocks (Pinterest inspired project)

New plants for farmer's porch

More house plants

Basement cleaning (upon completion of bathroom)

So, I'm thinking that all can be accomplished in the next few weeks.... or not. A lot depends on money at this point. We're down quite a bit from dental work, new tires, and the Baltimore trip on top of our usual expenses. Mike is doing what he can. And my yard sale should generate something. (Thinking Memorial Day Weekend on that one.)

Stay tuned!

 

The QEP FAQ

It’s a no-go on the under tile heating. We measured our heatable space and went online to Home Depot. (Being of little cash and without desire to pay credit card interest, the HD and their 0% financing for large purchases was the only option we could consider.) The chain carries one brand of under tile heat, available online only. How convenient.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202805270/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=under+tile+heat&storeId=10051

The product description matched exactly what we wanted – quick and easy to install – ease of operation – quality heat. Mike wanted to know if we could cut it, so we went to the manufacturer’s website, www.qepfloorwarm.com to see if we could find out. We watched their installation video http://www.qepfloorwarm.com/Installation/Installation-Videos.aspx and read the FAQ. Everything looked great… but according to the FAQ, you can’t cut the stuff.

Now came the price tallying. We would need two 2x9’ rolls… at $215 a pop, plus $40 of floor primer, plus thermostat (not included), plus wiring up to thermostat (not included), plus junction box (not included)…. We were over $500 before we even hit thermostat.

Nope.

Just can’t justify over $500 for under floor heat in a basement bathroom. Sure would be nice… the product looks great… but it’s too much right now. The unfortunate thing is, we can’t shop around because we just can’t afford it in cash at the moment. Not with Mike having a root canal, me with a set of new tires, and a family trip to Balimore in under two weeks.

Good news? This means we can just tile away! I left a message for my dad today (retired floor man) and hope to have him scheduled to help with installation soon. All we need to purchase is grout. (I’m hoping dadoo can help me with color selection and amount for our space too.)

After that, a little baseboard trim and all the fixtures can go in!

Not Pickin Up the Call of Spring

Time marches on…. or maybe I should say, “April’s on.” Yes, hello, spring called a while ago and I seem to have forgotten to answer the phone.

Pretty much as soon as we had our kitchen organized and life back together, the boys were back to work on the bathroom downstairs. Our neighbor and Mike finished the drywall and paint in just a couple days. (Missed the “you need to blog about that” message too. This was ages ago… you know, like beginning of last week ago. Practically the stone age.)

And once that was done, we hit a brick wall. We have all the tile. Installing it is the next step. The problem? Mike’s thinking we should do under-tile electric heating. Apparantly, it’s super easy and inexpensive. The problem? We need to measure the square footage needed… no need to heat the entire floor, right? Just the traffic areas. The problem? Stoopid stuff. Laziness. Bruins games. Workin’ late. Excuses excuses.

I think we’re still in a state of epic come down from the whole kitchen re-do/bathroom drywall madness. Mike’s barely recovered from the workload and feels he needs an extended break. And I can only push so far too… after all, I’m tired too.

How To New Kitchen In Less Then 3 Weeks. The End.

I have been completely and utterly out of control for the last week. Yes, for some reason, I suppose I had gotten used to chaos…. so when the chaos suddenly ended, I was lost and confused, running around not knowing whether to scratch my watch or wind my butt.

The kitchen was completed last Friday – but basically done on Thursday minus the cabinet hardware. I remember walking in the house after work Thursday night… it was literally one of those HGTV “Big Reveal” moments. I had seen the layout. I had seen all the cabinets going in. I had seen the MDF countertop form. But to see the real countertop on those cabinets… and all the doors and drawers on… the sink in…and all the appliances in place. It was amazing. Drop dead gorgeous, I can’t believe this is my house, this is a rich person’s kitchen amazing. After our installer left, Mike and I just stood there like idiots, marveling over it. We were both blown away.

 The light colored countertop brightened the entire room and complimented everything – the cabinets, the floor, the appliances, the sink… And I just knew all my red accent pieces (toaster, knives, Keurig, etc.) were going to really pop against it. Not only that, the entire countertop was seamless – even in the corners! And the backsplash went up on the wall much higher then our old one. The countertop also butt right up to the stove, so no more dropping massive quantities of foodstuffs down there with no means to clean it up. It was awesome.

The sink fit so much more easily in our  new cabinets too – no more too-big stuffed-in-there look with no room to clean behind it. Now we have countertop behind and in front of the sink for easy cleaning. Plus, the sink light, which was always off-center above the sink is now truly centered! (You have to remember, we made yard sale cabinets fit the space, so we’re lucky the light made it in even the right vicinity the first time.)

The weird corner by the fridge where the old window used to be is finally looking like “part of the kitchen” instead of “a weird corner where a window used to be.” The upper cabinets on that side work perfectly, despite my hesitation at getting them. And the extra counter space on that side makes the whole kitchen look bigger, as it creates a better flow. (A U shaped, circular flow, if you will.) The large fridge finally looks like it was meant to be there, instead of a huge-ass fridge somebody stuck in a super small space.

Our stove, if you recall, we moved over about the space of one cabinet, at the suggestion of our designer. This too, I was unsure about, since I didn’t want to lose any cabinet space. But I’m so glad I followed his advice. Again, this one small change, a little tiny move to the left, makes a huge difference in the overall flow of the room. Before, the stove was too close to the fridge and, again, boxed in that weird old window corner. Now, the two appliances have room to breathe, and there’s still a ton of cabinet space, especially with the new above-microwave unit.

We are 100% satisfied. Expectations exceeded by leaps and bounds. Mike told the dude straight up, “You’re the only contractor we’ve ever had in here who did a great job.” And it’s true. In fact, he went above and beyond, taking his time with every detail of the installation. Everything is perfect. Perfect! There isn’t a thing out of place, and no compromises and no excuses (“Well,  X and Y aren’t working so we have to do Z instead.”) and no extra monies or materials or anything needed… And no mess to clean up afterwards. Our experience was unbelievably good.

After we got over being completely dumbfounded in our new kitchen, Mike and I re-installed the track light, re-moulding it to fit the new space so that lights shined now in both corners as well as across the front. (We ended up only using four lights out of 5, which is perfect since I broke #5 while cleaning back around Halloween.) We also put back up some of our wall décor. Mike, seemingly inspired by the meticulousness of the kitchen installation, took the time to measure and properly center everything too.

Last Friday, the hardware and bottom trim installation was complete, thus completing our kitchen renovation. You’d think after our installer said, “It’s all yours!” I would have gone gung-ho, replacing and reorganizing all the foods and dishes in the cabinets right away. Nope. As soon as those words were uttered and the door was shut and the van was driving away… My brain turned to mush.

 I began putting a few things here and there, but felt mostly like an overwhelmed zombie. Saturday wasn’t much better. Again, I continued to put away more stuff,  but felt scattered. Thankfully, I had somewhere to be in the afternoon. I needed a mental break from lack of chaotic activity. Sunday, Mike spent most of the day installing and re-plumbing the sink and dishwasher. We ran into a few hurdles, some leaks, some bad hose, a minor flood… the normal stuff. By the end of the day – and I mean truly the end because we had a hose go bad when I finally tried to run the dishwasher around 6pm – everything was back to normal and functioning well.

But the return of the sink F’d me up for an additional day or two. Knowing the day was soon at hand, I’d let dishes just sit for a while. So there were a lot of them. And we had run out of paper plates. So there were plates too now. If I can manage to put away dishes from the dishwasher tonight, I may be finally caught up after 4 days.

And at this point, everything is finally put away and organized after all the picking away at it. I think I did a decent job of figuring out the  most efficient arrangement. (Took me long enough though.) The plates/bowls are over the dishwasher for easy putting away. Pots, pans, bowls, and frequently used small appliances are in the lower corner next to the stove. Infrequently used items like good china and fondue pots are in the upper corner next to the fridge. Food items are mostly in the lazy susan next to the fridge with additional small and canned items in some of the upper cabinets around the stove.

The cutlery is below the cutting board work space. The trash cabinet is right next to the cutting board work space for easy cleanup during food prep. The trash bags, plastic wrap, etc are all in the cabinet next to the trash cabinet. The old trash can is out. (Let me say, it took us a few days just to transition to a new trash can… that’s how messed up I was.)

The cups and mugs are back where they were originally… and believe it or not, we have unused cabinet space. AND – all that bulky BJ’s food and potato/onion containers that previously had to be stored on top of the fridge because they didn’t fit anywhere else?! They all fit in this kitchen. No lie. The lazy susan is big enough to handle large and bulky items with ease. My only gripe is that items in the lazy susan must be arranged so as not to bump the hinge mechanism of the door. That’s a little bit annoying, but in no way am I dissatisfied.

The only other small inconvenience – my ice cream machine does not fit under the cabinets anymore. But that’s ok… because it fits in the cabinet with all the pots, pans, and other frequently used items.

We now have trim at the base of the cabinets, whereas before we had none and the grout from the tile was splattered messily on the bottom of the old cabinets. The hardware looks great and coordinates well. I just can’t say enough good things about this kitchen.

And here on Wednesday, I think we’re finally close to enjoying it. We have to clean the floor of all drywall mess… do those last remaining dishes… and reinstall the bag holder and pot lid holder.

How To New Kitchen In Less Then 3 Weeks. The End.

Kitchens and Bathrooms

It’s happening… the kitchen. It’s happening. Again, I can’t go into how or why, but I can tell you that the cabinets have been ordered and they’ll be arriving in 4 weeks. Current kitchen demolition begins in probably 2 weeks. I am literally beside myself.

The cabinets are beautiful – all wood, real wood, in a beautiful redish maple color. The hardware is hidden, the drawers pull all the way out, and the lazy susan is real wood too! Plus, all hardware, a pull-out trash can cabinet, and a cutlery divider were all included. Our kitchen design will change slightly, as the stove will move over to the left. We’ll have a new microwave-holding cabinet above the stove that can also accommodate a vent if we decided to get one. (New microwave and vent not included, but I’m sure we’ll find a way to add them before summer arrives.) We’ll have a new corner cabinet that abuts the refriderator – YES! Plus, two additional cabinets above that new corner cabinet. (Which originally I didn’t want, but they were also included with this special package deal… couldn’t resist.) Also, at the end of the dishwasher, where we currently have an oddly built shelf, we’ll have a cabinet.

And did I mention new countertops?! Not granite. More laminate. But they’ll be custom made and seamless. They’ll be light in color too – a change from the grey/black ones I’ve always loved. But I was talked into a light color and I’m really digging how it looks next to the cabinets. It coordinates well with the floor, which I hope isn’t too matchy-matchy. I usually prefer contrasting colors. But as I said, I was talked into it and feel good about it now.

So, what’s on the kitchen to do list in t-minus 2 weeks?

            Remove old cabinets, everything in them, and everything else in the kitchen

            Disconnect sink and dishwasher

            Fix and repaint all drywall (Except for the back wall, which we did last fall.)

            Temporarily remove one portion of the track light

            Move stove electrical to the left

            Move current outlet in stove’s way to the right

            Wire for new microwave/vent

We’ve decided not to re-tile under the cabinets. It’s just a pain in the butt and we don’t know if we have enough tile anyway. If we need to, we’ll use plywood to help level the non-tile cabinets with the tile cabinets.

Oh, and did I mention, we’re not the ones installing? Music to Mike’s ears. The first set of cabinets was such a royal pain that I promised him if we ever re-did the kitchen, I wouldn’t make him put the cabinets in.

There you have it. The countdown is officially on. I still can’t believe this is happening. Maybe I’ll wake up from it all tomorrow and be back in time to when we had no cabinets in the kitchen at all…

And the bathroom? Over the weekend I purchased ALL the electrical… or at least all I could think of. I bought a vent, one with high fan power, low noise, light, and night light. I bought a vanity light – modern design, nickle finish. I bought three Halo recessed light air-tight housings, two eyeballl trims, and one waterproof shower trim. I bought a dimmer switch. I bought lightbulbs for said Halo recessed lights. Dang it – I just realized. I forgot the closet light. Oh well. I bought a lot because I wanted to make sure I was over $299 to get 0% financing…. I made it! OVER $400 for all that.

Forgetting the extreme cost for a moment and returning to progress… Mike has already nailed up the recessed light housings and plumbed the vent. I keep reminding him to call our electrician, but I don’t think he’s done that yet. That will be next on the agenda. Once the electrical is complete, it’s insulation and drywall time.

Did I mention I picked out the paint color over the weekend too? It’s going to be perfect… with the tile… I can’t wait to see them together at last.

The Night Shift

Progress! Progress on a Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at that. Progress in the evenings at that. Progress.

Wednesday night, Mike framed out the bathroom closet. It's going to be a good size - which is good, since we shop at BJ's.

Thursday night, the plumber was over and he and Mike did EVERYTHING. They finished the tub plumbing, put the tub in its place, and tested the entire system. No leaks! (First time for everything, right?) Mike even began cleaning up after the plumber left... but didn't get too far, since our shop vac's filter was plugged to the max. (Dang you Sears - the only place you can purchase your Crapsman Shop Vac Filter.)

Then, just this afternoon, I got a surprise call from Lowes! The tile is in... Early! What a nice end to the week. I picked it up on the way home and I am psyched! Mike picked up his filter and he is psyched! Ok, so maybe not, but it's still reason to celebrate, in my opinion.

Next step - electrical. Mike's bringing in a pro to help with this too - just to keep things safe with all the GFI's and such. Never can be too careful around water. But it shouldn't be a big to-do. A few lights, a fan, some switches, an outlet or two here and there... Done! Stay tuned...

And now for the other big news of the week. Big BIG news. The possible kitchen I alluded to in a previous post? It's happening! It's really really for really real happening. I can't share too many details, since this kitchen is a semi-covert operation. But I will tell you that we had a dude come out and measure. He drew out and planned a new design for us and found a great, economical cabinet manufacturer for us. I went and looked at everything - loved everything - and the order will be finalized on Monday.

There's only a little bit of stressful news to accompany all this good stuff... in prep for cabinet installation, there's a lot to do in very little time while we have a lot of other bathroom-related tasks going on. Of course all the old cabinets must be removed. Drywall needs to be fixed on walls and ceiling and repainted. No tile existed under the current cabinets - so we will need to add tile. The stove is moving over - hopefully the wire will reach.

Sometimes I wonder if all this is really happening....

Is There Bathroom Yet?

Would you believe after our disappointing run to the HD, Mike went to begin plumbing and discovered that we’d purchased the wrong gauge of pipe? A fitting end to a trip fated for disaster.

But it all ended well, since on the same trip to return the pipe, Mike returned a bunch of lattice connectors (leftover from summer farmer’s porch work) that we didn’t need.

*And let me take a time out here because I had to FORCE him to take this stuff back. What is up with guys and returning stuff? Sure it’s been months. Sure we don’t have the receipt. But they’re Home Depot! Unless you’ve cut it, drilled it, or damaged it in some obvious way – they will take it back! But did he want to take it back? Noooooo. Not without me. I said, “Fine, I’ll go.” Then, the reply was, “But I’ll have to put away all the stuff in the garage…[that was littered about the driveway]” So I said, “Ok, then I won’t – but you’re going to take it back! I would do it myself, but it won’t fit in my truck.” He grudgingly loaded it up… And came back with nearly $50 in store credit from the lattice connectors alone! ($40 additional in cash from the pipe, which he’d had the receipt for.)

$50 that would have been otherwise just sitting in the basement until it was damaged and needed to be thrown away. GUYS! And by the way, I have embarrased myself plenty of times trying to bring stuff back that was cut, drilled, and/or damaged in an obvious way. So what? It’s worth the try every time.

Going back to the bathroom – Mike then purchased the pipe at his work for a better price. Boo-yah, meant to be. He’s been plumbing all week after a flair up of eczema on my face got us both back thinking about the ill health effects of that dang old bathroom.

And as for the tile? My sweet sweet sweet tile. I asked Mike to measure and give me the amount of tiles we needed. (12x12 makes it simple – one square foot each.) The grand total: 120 tiles, and of course we’d need extra. No problemo. I hop back onto Lowes.com, find my tile, put the price into my caculator and…. HAD A FREAKIN HEART ATTACK.

A box o tile contains 11 tiles. A box o tile costs about $58. I estimated we’d want to get at least 13 boxes. THAT’S OVER $700!!!!! Plus tax, thanks Massachusetts.

I was so flabbergasted.  I thought about it for over a week, looked at other tile on other websites, and even visited Lowes the store. $58 for 11 was a comparable price. Plus, I didn’t like anything else I saw anywhere else. There’s just not much choice in the Blue color scheme. Much of it was 12x12 squares made up of itty bitty mosaic tiles. No thanks.

I thought about it. Thought about it. Then last night, Mike gave me the news… he was going to be finishing up the plumbing. The closet would need to be built – a fairly easy task. And then the tile. That was just the next step.

I had to make a decision and I bought it. My plastic is still steamy hot from the transaction. Ugh. Who would have thought the flooring would have been nearly as expensive as all the fixtures?

It will be delivered to the store 2/8. Almost makes me wish I had ordered it a week ago, but no matter. Plenty of time to finish up the plumbing, closet, and tie up any other lose ends.

And we may be getting a brand new kitchen… yes. Maybe.

DeepHo Lack of Anything

With the beginning of a new week, Mike and I were all fired up to get back on track and back downstairs a-workin. But, first thing was first. We needed more materials! So Mike made a list on Monday and we packed up the fam and headed off to the Home Depot around 6:30pm.

Upon our arrival, we decided to pick out the tile first. They had NOTHING. And I mean NOTHING besides gross, ugly, mundane, monochromatic, or cheeseball. I couldn't believe it. No brilliant colors whatsoever (besides black - cheeseball) and no aesthetically pleasing textures or designs. It was all these boring earthtones - brown, brown, lighter brown, greenish brown, etc etc. They reminded me of tile you'd find in the bathroom at your local Casual Family Dining Establishment Chain. Ew and gross. No.

What I'm looking for is a brilliantly interestingly textured dark blue (like the deepest depths of the ocean and you get lost at sea just looking into it) tile. Big tiles - 12x12. Here's ones I like from Lowes: Awesome Tile This will be in stark contrast to the walls, which will be a light (but still "deep" if you know what I mean) grey. Think of that same day on the middle of the ocean... the sky covered in clouds - but not storm clouds. Peaceful, quiet grey... no harsh sun beating down on you. You're all with me on my design vision here now, right? The white tub and toilet, brushed nickle fixtures, and dark wood trim and vanity hint at a nautical feel without putting stupid boats and life preservers on the wall. Because I'm not "beachy," despite being a native Cape Codder, and I'm not "boaty" either. In fact, I have an aversion to either theme and all the related items sold at Christmas Tree Shops.

Long story already made long, we left the flooring department empty handed. I'll go to Lowes, where the tile selection is so much better. (This is where I purchased my mudroom tile.)

Next stop - plumbing, for all the copper piping and fittings. Only one problem. Hardly ANY copper pipes. And I mean there were like 5 for each size category. I'm not exaggerating. We picked them dry of the category we needed, (with 5) leaving a warped 6th pipe on the shelf. It was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever seen, especially since all the other shelves of PVC were stocked full. As you can imagine, this did not satisfy our list. Mike picked out all the fittings he could, but still couldn't find many of the other things on his list.

Mikey and I left him for a bit to pick out a fan/light fixture in the next aisle. (Didn't quite plan on it, but sometimes I don't get to go on these DeepHo trips. May as well pick out what I want while I'm here. Plus, we wanted to get up to $299 to avoid interest on the DeepHo card... fat chance with the lack of copper, but we would soon see.) So there we two were, in the fan/light fixture section. I picked out one at a median price that moved a lot of air while still being very quite - plus had a light and night light feature. Just what I wanted!

Problem was, they didn't have any in stock. I even got down on the floor and searched through all the boxes. No luck.

Mike and I met up shortly after. He had bad luck, I had bad luck, and the cart wasn't very full at all. It was very frustrating for the two of us, who were already frustrated that we were behind schedule and hadn't been able to get out and purchase these materials. The one night we decided to just do it - we're sh*t outta luck and outta stock.

Needless to say, we did not make the $299. I'll have to buy tile in cash since I don't have a Lowes card. (And don't want one at the moment.) Urg. Not as planned.

Maylay and Delay

It's been a full 10 days since I last said of our progress, "Wow." Today, on the other hand, I say, "Eh." Eh because we've accomplished nothing substantial. Eh because I've been just flat out dead tired and not feeling well. Eh because I had to work last weekend and that sent me into a spiral of exhaustion from which I am just now starting to escape from. Hey, other then that, things are just peachy keen.

I'm hoping we can start turning all that around this weekend. Already this past Tuesday night, Mike brought home a new filter for our furnace and installed it. (Whole house still smells like oil... or maybe I'm just super sensitive to it.) But we're both pretty happy since that seems to have fixed our whiny, noisy furnace issue.

The cement is probably dry downstairs at this point and ready for tile. Too bad we have yet to purchase the tile... It's on the shopping list along with all the copper piping to finish the rough plumbing. If we can purchase all that this weekend, great. If we can start plumbing this weekend, even better. If we can schedule the tiling... well, that would just be ice cream next to a cake that had already been iced.

No Clothing!

It's Friday and we've officially been stepping on the new tiles since yesterday. It's great to finally be able to come in and out of the correct door, but now there's a new problem.

Mike hasn't been able to paint the closet and get the washer/dryer back in. He's come down with this terrible cold and should be home in bed right now. But no, he's been going to work for the past couple days despite feeling absolutely terrible.

Unfortunately, I'm leaving for a business trip to FL (woo-hoo warmness!) and I really need to do laundry before I go. Not mostly for me because all my warm weather gear is clean, but so Mike will have sweatshirts, socks, and underwear while I'm gone.

I'm so frustrated because I'd love to just paint the closet. I keep thinking, well what if I wear a respirator and open both windows and both doors... but I know that's just stupid. I can see myself with the doctor now...

Dr. - Well, these birth defects could have been caused by exposure to dangerous toxins!
Me - But I wore a respirator and opened both windows and both doors!
Dr. - Well, it just wasn't enough.

This is why all this stupid stuff just needs to get done ASAP - it all gets so frustrating when your body is so susceptible to, well, everything! Ah I remember the good ol days, vacuuming up bat sh*t and taking a hammer to horse hair plaster.... then there was the cutting of insulation to fit in the non-standard wall holes, burning of old wood in the back yard, taking down of the asbestos siding, digging out the basement, tarring the foundation, painting everything, demo-ing the old chimney, inhaling all that drywall dust.

When I start to think about it - nothing is really safe.

Anyway, I'll have to see how Mike feels tonight and tomorrow. I was hoping we could just chill out all tomorrow... but the whole laundry thing is just out of control at this point.

Grout

All my concerns about grout color flew out the window last night when I got home and saw the awesome awesome results. The tile looked incredible - the grout color was perfect, and even my dad commented that it was a great choice.

Just a couple more days to dry and we can officially cross mudroom tile off of the project list. It's nice to have a quick and painless project once and a while, don't you agree?

This pic was taken this morning before I sponged down the tile. You can see the dried grout dust mostly in the corners of the tiles. Shortly after this was taken, I wiped them all down with a damp sponge and then with a dry dish towel to get rid of that.

Here you can really see how great that grout color matches up with the tile. We're really happy with the look of it all. It's perfect.

Next order of business will be to get the washer dryer back in... laundry is piling up already.

Summore Floor!

Dadoo came early early Saturday morning to start on the mudroom tile. Mike had borrowed a tile saw from a friend of ours, and my dad brought the rest of the tools and materials, so after moving the washer, dryer, and everything else, he could start right away. And he didn't want any help, which was fine because Mike had to head over to TJ's place anyway to finish up his driveway. Me? I set upon the task of getting out all the Halloween stuff out of the attic and pulling out a few select decorations.

Here's a shot from around the middle of the day. We went with three rows of tile by the door - so you can get a good couple steps in on tile. The laundry closet would be completely tiled. (On the right hand side of the picture - but you can't see inside the closet from this angle.

Because we're transitioning from tile to hardwood, we were very conscientious about the meeting point between wood and tile. We wanted to make it as smooth as possible without having to use a threshold piece. So my dad picked out a tile adhesive as opposed to the traditional grout, which can be very thick. And it seemed to work, the tiles laid pretty flat as far as I could tell.

Despite the small amount of tile area, it took all day to get it down - till about 5. We locked the french doors to prevent accidental entry through that door - before grouting between the tiles, the adhesive would have to dry all of Sunday and Monday at the least, especially in these colder temperatures. (No, I haven't turned on my heat yet - I'm really trying to grin and bear it until it's freezing.) But at least the pitter patter of cat feet weren't enough to upset the tile, because it's always impossible to keep those two away from the action.

(We call Kamikaze "The Inspector" because he always has to survey all home improvements carefully.)

Here's the inside of the closet, all completed. Notice how the tile comes to the center of the closet frame, this way, when the bi-fold doors are on, they will completely conceal the tile when closed. Coo, huh?

Also, and I hated to admit it with Mike being as busy as he is, but the closet needs a coat of paint before the washer and dryer go back in... and I can't paint right now. (Which is so frustrating because it would be so easy for me to paint some night this week!) Anyway, we have a limited time before our clean clothes run out, so unfortunately for him, it needs to be done ASAP. You can even see in the picture all the scuff marks and lint grossness from moving stuff around in there so much.

I can't even tell you how many times we've moved the washer and dryer since renovating this house. I bought the set before we even had walls up and they sat in the kitchen in their boxes for months. Then they were finally installed only to be removed several months later when we lifted the house and they sat in the kitchen for months again until we finally got a floor in the mudroom. Then we had to add another layer of subfloor - so the washer dryer needed to be moved in and out - again! And now we had to move them for the tile.... so you can see why we'd like not to have to move them again.

Here's the finished part at the door. I decided to carry the tile all the way to the left wall instead of cutting in with wood just because there's no room to cut in with wood on the other side of the french door - the closet comes right up to the edge of the door. So I figured it would have looked lopsided to only have it on one side. I was nervous about that decision, but now I'm really happy about it - I think it's going to look good.

And I love the tile itself. Mike told me initially that it looked like "old people tile." But when you put it up against the blue of the walls and the white of the doors - it really coordinates perfectly. Plus it will be a great contrast to the cherry hardwood.

Speaking of which:

Look how close the matchup is. The wood is still a little teeny bit taller, but may not be once it's nailed down. As is, I don't think we're going to need the threshold.

Mike and I went last night to buy the grout and caulk, which will be used at the junction of tile and wood and tile and french door flashing. (Allowing for expansion and contraction, whereas grout in these areas would crack.) My dad will be over this afternoon after work to grout. Then after another period of drying - we'll be ready to rock on paint and wood and everything else needed to finish up this room.

Speaking of which, we had an extra extra box of tile leftover on Saturday. (I kept one box of tile in case of broken tiles, and still had one leftover.) So I brought that back to Lowes on Sunday morning. And would you believe, lo and behold, Linens 'n Things was going out of business. I couldn't resist. I high tailed it over there and went straight to the curtain section - where I had been eyeing these cool string curtains for months. They were still in stock, so I grabbed a couple. Then I went to the hardware section and grabbed some rods. I would have gotten the other curtains I needed too, but they were already sold out of the size I needed in the color I wanted.

It was so exciting, and pathetic. But now I had my mudroom curtains and rods! One thing I couldn't find was the double rod kit that I needed... You know, allowing you to hang two sets of curtains on one window with a rod behind a rod. So while Mike and I were at home depot I picked up a couple of cheap brackets and rods for the back rods. I've got an idea of how I can make them work without having to buy a more expensive double rod kit. We'll see how that goes. I can't even attempt it until the tile is finished - the washer and dryer are currently in the way of the windows. But I couldn't resist, I was just so excited after getting the curtains I had been wanting - at a discount!

And the Halloween decorating? That was fun. I got all the lights on the farmer's porch and most of the ones around the living room, kitchen, and hallway. Plus some of my favorite pieces.

The Microwave

The Kitchen Window Sill

The Hallway (Looks like it's on fire!)

A Good Sign

I may be jinxing myself here - but I haven't received any callbacks from the home insurance co after placating them with a couple tasty improvement morsels. I really expected them to schedule another visit, but no news is good news in my book.

And I'm sorry to say that despite last weekend's three day length, nothing much got accomplished. Mike has more work to do for everybody else that's been helping us out this summer - fabulous trade offs, I love it. But that means now that our roof and porch are done, it's time for him to really spend time with our neighbors and friends. And that's ok.

I managed to clean up the rest of the roofing mess from around the yard and tidy up tools that were strewn around the house. So everything looks kosher, and I feel good about that.

Dadoo will be over this coming weekend for some mad tiling. I think it'll just be he and I, as Mike has more obligations to fulfill. That's ok - it's not a lot of tile and we'll manage just fine. As for the wood portion of the show, I'm not sure. Mike's been so tired from his misc jobs every night and weekend of the week, I feel horrible asking him to do anything. I might just wait until next weekend, or even after that, depending on how he feels.

Like I said, the room is small, so I imagine we could even bang out that floor some weekday evening. I'm not too worried about it. We already have the wood, and the home depot rental department is just minutes away for the stapler. I will be upset if it's not done by the Halloween party on Nov 8th though.

I'm not even worried about the closet doors. Although I have a 10% off coupon at the home depot that expires tomorrow. I was really thinking about using to at least purchase the doors. Again, I can't do it without Mike, so if he's tied up or tired out, I'm just going to let it go. He's really just been exhausted!

Finished!

The roof is finished - 100% done. The guys finished it up over the weekend - even Mike worked his butt off, despite looking like a chipmunk and feeling very shitay. I must say it's quite a relief. We still need to do some cleanup around the yard - small stuff. Luckily one of the guys had a magnet, so I think we managed to get most of the nails out of the yard.

And as if on cue, I got a call from the home owners insurance company, checking up on our progress. I was proud to tell them they could come by whenever they wanted. True, we were not able to complete everything on their list - but we put $10,000 or more into the house this summer, so I don't think anyone could argue that we've made no progress.

Let's see, the roof alone was $2700 total - materials and labor. The farmers porch was at least $6,000. Interior stair railing materials came to $1,000. Then there were little things like paint for the garage, misc home depot trips, storage stuff, etc. that probably add another couple hundred bucks. So, yeah - $10,000 is a pretty reasonable estimate. Wow - isn't that crazy? We would have never been able to do all that without the sale of Mike's motorcycle, all Mike's side jobs, my injury settlement, and psychotic winter saving.

I am just so proud! I can't wait to really show everything off at the upcoming Halloween party.

And in case you were all wondering, I was able to make it over to dadoo's house on Saturday with my one tile and pieces of hardwood for him to inspect. The good news is - we think it's going to fly. He's going to try and make the tile as flush as possible with the wood, so we're going to use a tile adhesive instead of traditional grout, which can be thicker. Unfortunately, we don't really know how it'll turn out until we do it. So much depends on how you lay down the adhesive and all that too. But worse case scenario, we'll just have to put a little wooden transition piece between the tile and hardwood.

So we scheduled that install for the weekend of the 18th! Purchasing the tile is no biggie, since it'll only be for under the french door and in the laundry closet. Turns out, we don't even have to rent the tile cutter - our friend TJ has one that he'll probably let us borrow for the day. Too coo! We'll definately be able to crank down the tile in a manner of one day - probably less.

If I can motivate Mike a little, I might be able to get him to install the hardwood the same day. All we'd have to do is rent the stapler again and I'm sure once we get our hardwooding system down again (he staples 'em, I cut 'em and lay 'em out for him) we'll have that one small room done in a matter of a couple hours or less!

I mean, come on, we did the entire upstairs in just two days - and the only reason it took us that long is we had to keep moving furniture around as we completed the rooms. Plus we were new to the whole process, so it took us a while to really get going with our system.

This weekend hopefully Mike will get to have a break and do something fun. Either that or he'll be working at TJ's house. Either way, I won't make him do anything after this past weekend... well, I might make him take out the window air conditioner....

Officially Oct Reality Check

Happy October 1st. Can't say that I'm all that happy about it. This week is all about it's own crazy end. It's like the world is imploding around me. And it all starts tomorrow!

Mike's getting all four of his impacted wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow morning. Lucky for me, his mom could take him and bring him home, since I have my own first baby-related Dr's appointment at 2:00. So he's been nervous about teeth complications, pain, and the thought of eating nothing but oh-so soft stuff with no beer. (The no beer will be the toughest part, I'm sure.) Meanwhile I've been nervous about my own appointment - what if they tell me something's wrong? What if it's multiples? What if I can't go to Czech for Christmas? I'm preparing myself for the worst of bad situations.

Then there's the roof. The guys are coming by, starting today, followed by tomorrow, and then the next day and possibly the weekend to finish the final side. Mike and our neighbor Rich set up the scaffolding last night, but after tomorrow, Mike will be of no help and feels terrible about it.

Friday night, right after I get out of work, we have to high tail it to a bday party... that is, if Mike even feels like going. Even if he does, we'll be a barrel of fun since neither of us can drink. Double Designated Drivers - WooHoo! It's almost funny! Normally, I'd say forget it under these circumstances, but this is a very very very good friend of ours. Even if Mike can't make it - I will definately still go.

Then Saturday morning I've got to grab my Halloween invite supplies and go back down Cape to meet up with my gals so we can get these things done and in the mail.

While I'm at it I should grab my single tile I bought last weekend. Yes, I bought a single tile from Lowes to see how it would match up in the mudroom and to see how it would line up with the 3/8 hardwood flooring we have. Good news, it matches perfectly. Better news, it appears as though after the grout is in place, the tile will fit perfectly with the hardwood. But seeing as how we're no experts, I have to have my dad look at it. So maybe Saturday is just the perfect time to get that taken care of.... and perhaps schedule him to come down and do an installation?! I would just love it if he could come, say the weekend of the 18th? That would be ideal!

Now, of course, with the roofing finished this weekend, the next order of exterior business becomes siding. The usual questions come into play - how much, how much money, how long etc etc. Against my normal procedure, we'll probably have to Home Depot the siding. After the roof, our savings is pretty much nill. (Except for that approx. $5,000 cushion I hold in there - that's in case of emergencies and I don't advise anybody to ever empty themselves completely. It's just not a smart idea.) Plus you have to remember that the holidays are fast approaching, and we've got a Halloween Party in just over a month, a possible Thanksgiving trip to Baltimore, and of course the big Christmas trip to Czech.

The next three months are going to be soooo tight. After the siding and the mudroom floor and in place - that's IT until January. We may be able to finish the rest of the stair railing because we already purchased the materials for that - but seriously, no new projects. In addition to the money, Mike needs a break. He's been working like a dog all summer - home improvement projects, helping friends with their projects, working mad side jobs.... he's exhausted and asking for some R&R time.

When the first of the year hits, we've got to start worrying about the baby room. We need to put in a new floor, fix the drywall, and paint in there. (When I say "we" I mean Mike because I'll be completely useless at that point.) Nevermind stuff like furniture and other supplies. But I'm not going to even worry about that now. My goal is to make it through the rest of this year - get as much done as possible and have as much fun as possible on all our trips.

Brewing Sinister Plots

This weekend was yet another indication and example of how absolutely insane and out of control summer has become. Let me explain - so, despite exhaustion from a mad week, we awoke early Saturday morning and hit the dump. From there we drove 30min in traffic to my parent's house to meet the boiler man. (A friend of ours who promised to take a look at their exploded oil burner - yes exploded.) A couple hours later, we're at the ATT store to consolidate more phone lines into our family plan. A half hour after that we're driving another 40min with heavier traffic back near home to the super market to pick up food for that afternoon's bbq. The store is madness and we barely escape with our lives and our food. On the way home we hit the liquor store. Then, finally home, we have barely enough time to shower, change, and cut up the veggies before heading out to the bbq. Traffic is horrible and we're a bit late to the bbq.

The bbq is fun and we eat and drink. Night falls and we dance and get ready to hit the town. So we drive another 20min to da club. Surprisingly energetic at 1am, we hit McD's on the way home, and then once at home, eagerly eat up and hit the hay.

Early Sunday AM. Mike's phone is ringing. We have to get up, wake up, drink water and get ready to eat clams at the annual Marconi Club Clam Bake. By 11:30, we're out the door and on our way - although still a bit groggy. But by the time the clams hit the table, we were feeling much better and each ate about 5 baskets. Arriving home at 3:30, we were bushed again and could do nothing but sit around watching TV. I slept for about three hours and could have slept for more, but forced myself to stay up until 10 at which time we finally went to bed.

So as you can tell by that madness - there was absolutely zero time for anything else! I'm lucky we managed to squeeze going to the dump in there!

This weekend though, I thought we were through with summer festivities. Ahhh, a weekend of work and relaxation ahead! And then Mike drops the bomb on me last night - fishing trip. Fishing trip?! Of course, not for me. It's one of those manly man fishing trips.

But then it hit me... What if.... what if I was to purchase the tile for the mudroom... and what if I had my dad come over on Saturday since he's not working Saturdays anymore to help me put it in.... (he used to own his own tile and carpet business and also did our kitchen tile) It's only Tuesday. And at this point a lot is riding on the fact that I have to do some financial juggling after paying off the DeepHo card last week.... But what an opportunity.

I'm glad I have some time to think on it....