Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Day 19: Kitchen Remodel

I am so close to the end.

I took a vacation day on Tuesday so I can gain some sanity. I was handing over my key to the apartment and still had to clear out the remaining crap. My house was still a shambles and nothing was set up.

The electrician came to finish his piece of the insane remodel puzzle.

Now my lights work and whatever crappy, illegal, hack job wiring that was done in my crawl space was removed and replaced with electrical work that won't set my house on fire. Score one for the electrician.


Today I stopped by to see my countertops being installed!

Friday, April 26, 2013

Day 12: Kitchen Remodel

Did a drive by yesterday and the last of the cabinets pieces are in.


How I feel about it.

The flooring crew kicked out the contractors before they could install the crown molding and kick stops. Getting the floors sanded and finished is the critical element here. 


Thursday, April 25, 2013

Day 11: Kitchen Remodel - Cabinets

They're here! They're here!


My lovely Martha Stewart knock-off cabinets are here! And they're getting installed!


When I checked in on the house last night, here's where they left off. I"m loving the glass front wall cabinet in the corner.



Day 11: Kitchen Remodel - Floors!

The critical piece to me moving in my furniture in this Saturday is to get the floors done. Sanded, refinished, dried... done.

The small repair area between the two bedrooms is complete. This once was the location of we think was a floor grate. It might have been something used to pull hot air out of the home. Anyway, the previous patch job sucked and now its gone.


The sanding equipment is in place and phase one can begin.
My bedroom has already been sanded. Looking lovely!

Day 11: Kitchen Remodel - Electrical

It's been a week since I posted about the kitchen. After a few days of inactivity that caused some nervousness, there is a flurry of activity at the house again.

The electricians arrived and started making holes in the walls at proper counter height.




And that crazy old fuse box in the kitchen that still had some knob fuses has been removed.

And all those extra fuses have been relocated to the main breaker box. This was an upcharge. $$. Fail.

I now have a light fixture in the small hallway outside the bathroom.

Things are progressing, but slowly. Turns out the electrician crew did not run the outlet for my electric stove or move a light switch in the living room as requested. Fail again. They'll be back. 

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Most annoying dog

Yesterday I worked from home to let my poison ivy-ridden body heal. And because I was actually working and not taking a day to spend with Barry, he got a little lonely.

When he gets bored and I'm not paying attention, he does things to get my attention.

Like climbing on to my closet shelf.


Or tossing things out of boxes to sit in them.

Or trying to squeeze in really tight spots.
I bet I can get up here...

Oh, hai!


Umph, just gotta turn around...

Ooh.. balance...


Ta Da! Hey Mom, look at me!

He climbed my stack of boxes like a mountain goat.

And got all nosey in my stuff.

So I yelled at him finally and made him go outside.

Where he sulked.

My dog is an asshole.

Day Four: Kitchen Remodel

I have floors! Lovely, oak floors that will match the rest of the house. 



Next in, the electrician and the floor guy to sand down the rest of the house and then refinish everything.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Day three kitchen remodel

It's the third day and lo and behold, the sub-floor is cleared and the hole in the floor has been repaired. The wall has also been added. The shell of the kitchen is now complete. 


On deck are the hardwood floors that will occupy the kitchen. The floors throughout the house will be sanded and then the entire house will be finished together. Yeay hardwood floors. 


Boo price tag. 

Friday, April 12, 2013

Day Two: Kitchen Reno

It is a form of torture being at work, just two miles away from the house, knowing a transformation is going on. It was especially difficult this day because my attention was shifting from the house, to the poison ivy blisters. None of it was on my actual job.

I was thankful when it was 4:30 and I could drive over to the house to see the progress.

There is a clear sub-floor and the hole in the floor is patched. The walls are even prepped for a smooth coat of paint.

I can't wait to see what happens next.







Thursday, April 11, 2013

No going back

Now the truly HGTV portion of my home-buying experience begins. The kitchen renovation.

Gone are the handmade cabinets. Gone are the layers of linoleum tiles.









]

Instead it looks like this guy was let lose in my house.

Update
Here is the pile of cabinets and kitchen sink that will be donated to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Gotta pay it forward. 



Wednesday, April 10, 2013

A battle of wits


I took a closer look at the ivy growing on the tree and all along the fence line. The good news is that it looks like English ivy. The non-poisonous kind.


But that doesn't mean that poison ivy might not be lurking there. 

The bad news is that I really can't go all willy-nilly with the Round-up because that will kill everything. And while I really don't want ivy all over the place, I would rather be organic in its removal than getting all nuclear about it. Because I do want to eventually grow things there and I don't want to poison my dog. 

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

A battle against ivy

It's been a few days since the closing and it's only in brief moments where the realization sets in that I bought a house!

I spent the weekend clearing out the overgrowth of ivy and the three years worth of leaves that have built up along the house.


At first glance, those hedges on the right look full and lush. But that would be a lie. It was intertwined with ivy and suffocating underneath. 

There was about 1.5 feet of decaying leaves behind the hedges and thorny tendrils of ivy. 


As I reached my hand among the branches I kept praying that I wouldn't see a face of any creature staring back at me.

After many hours I cleared out all the crap.



All that's left now looks like a barren wasteland. But what is left are branches that are alive and have leaves on them. I'm hoping that they will actually bloom and come back to life.

I even cleared out the side yard of the evil ivy.
Since this area gets full sun, I think I can see some sunflowers planted there.

Here is the result of my hard work. Actually, that's not all of it. I need more bags. And a permit to get my yard waste picked up.
Oh, home ownership. We will have a bi-polar relationship.