Well, my floor is finished. This picture shows the tile before grout and before the carpeting was fixed around it. Trust me, it's done. Now I have to stain the french door. I know, I keep saying that. It'll happen eventually.

The upstairs, on the other hand, is not done. It's not close to being done. It's rather ugly right now. In fact, the plan has changed again. The plan to put the washer and dryer upstairs isn't really going to work. Something about pitch and not enough room and blah blah blah. So, the laundry will stay downstairs spread all over the family room. It's pretty disheartening considering that was the reason we started all of this in the first place.

We start gutting Isaac's room next week - just in time for the first day of school. Isaac will be staying at my mom's house (thanks mom) until the upstairs is livable. It's going to be hard to be separated from him during his first week.

Sorry guys. No witty remarks. I'm a little discouraged with the construction at this point. That is the update - such as it is.

All I Can Say is "Yuck"

Words cannot express the amount of mess that is coming from my old bedroom. It's kind of creepy to think that I slept in that spot with all that disgusting stuff. I will never look at old walls the same.

We've already filled one dumpster and had to order another one - this time twice the size. You never really think too much about dumpsters until you have a ton and a half of gross stuff to get rid of. Dumpsters are very useful - and very expensive. Really, if I could go out and buy a few and rent them out, I think I could get rid of the school books covering my kitchen table. I could make some money hauling away other people's gross stuff.

Anyway. The bedroom looks even worse currently, but I haven't ventured up there with my camera. I'm pretending I don't have a 2nd floor right now. Kind of like I don't have a basement either. They are both "icky". I avoid them.

On the good news front - my bathroom countertop is in!!!! Yeah!!!!! It only took about 5-6 weeks (boo). I will go pick that up today and hopefully my new bathroom with be totally done by the end of the day on Saturday. Just in time - they're ripping out the upstairs bathroom on Saturday.

I will post shots of the completed bathroom as soon as I can.

In the meantime, I'm going to get ready for more dust and ick. Keep checking in.

Diann

A Break from our regularly scheduled blogging...

I thought I'd share some pics from our trip to the zoo - in case you were tired of remodeling updates. I realize that I have only 1 picture of an animal after spending 4 hours at the zoo. That's because it was sooo hot that the animals were in some man-made air-conditioned den-like habitat while us stupid humans were walking around in the heat. The boys found a way to cool off though. Putting your hands in some gross animal water did the trick!

I know I've done a lot of complaining about this trip - the heat and all - but truth is, I had a great time. I had so much fun with Dee. It doesn't matter what we do she makes it fun. This summer is flying by with most of it spent dealing with the remodeling job. It was so good to leave it all behind for a little while.

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Thanks for checking in.

Diann

Once again, these pictures were uploaded in the wrong order. Sorry. These first pictures are the ones from upstairs. We moved everything out of our bedroom and Alex's room so they can start ripping and tearing today. Looking at our bedroom makes me embarrassed that we actually slept there for all these years. What an improvement is ahead!

I also have uploaded the same picture twice and cannot remove it. I think it's a little too early to be doing this. I am just avoiding the painting I guess. Anyway, you get the idea. You're smart people.

Okay, this wasn't the best update ever, but it's going to have to do. I have cleaning and painting and dumpster deliveries, and oil changing in my car and cooking and laundry and clearing out the bathroom to do today. First, I think I'll go back to bed. :)

Now scroll down further and read the beginning of the blog. Oh brother!

Our bathroom is 2/3 functional now. Isaac christianed it with the first shower a couple days ago. (Please don't tell him I posted this picture - he won't be too happy)

We are still waiting for the infamous countertop to arrive so they can hook up the sink. But it looks pretty much like a bathroom. The trim work is almost all done, the door is up, I have bought hooks and a toilet paper holder and a mirror. There is some painting to do around the door and some touch ups around the shower and shelves, but all in all, it's done.

Today, we start upstairs. Our bedroom has been moved to the play room. My he-man husband moved some furniture to the attic, some to the playroom, and some to the garage. He went up and down steps all day on Saturday. He didn't ask for help (!). He's a little sore now. The ripping and tearing will start today.

Well, you can see that the siding is finished. It looks great. It makes the french doors look even better. Gary got my lights up, so we can see to come in the back door.

I've been painting the bathroom (and have the sore back to prove it). Paula came over with roller in hand to help me prime. She's great! I then did 2 coats on the ceiling the next day. Yesterday I did the first coat of green. It looks really good. I think I'll be happy with the color choice. Once the white wainscoting is up and the white vanity goes in I'm sure it will look great.

Today, Isaac and I are leaving the construction site behind to go to the Philly Zoo. It's something he's always wanted to do. Me, not so sure! It's going to be HOT and HUMID today. I'm trying to be positive about it though. At least I won't be making iced tea or folding laundry. I won't have to cook or let the dog in and out a hundred times. I won't have to think about paint colors and dust and such. I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun.

Thanks for checking in

Diann

OOO La La - French Doors!

Yeah! I have french doors. They are beautiful and leave in a ton of light. The family room looks totally different now.

It was touch and go for a little while. They put the doors in, leveled and shimmed everything and then couldn't get the doors opened. They thought maybe there were screws left in the top and bottom and that they would have to take the doors back out to remove the screws. Turns out that the doors were locked. Once the handles were on and they could be unlocked everything worked great. It's good to know that the lock works well!


Today they will be wiring for my new lights and putting the siding on the back of the house. What a difference that will make!

I realized that I will have to finish the doors. I thought they were already finished. It kind of freaked me out a little thinking about staining around all that glass. I'm okay now. I think I can handle it. I just have to pick the stain color and do it when Roy isn't around to make me a nervous wreck!

Yesterday was Friday, so it was supply day. We looked at tile and linoleum. We bought a toilet and paint for the bathroom. We were going to go to Lowes and get the trim for the bathroom so I could start painting, but we had a bad storm and the truck bed was soaked. That will have to wait until this afternoon I guess.

Next week I'll be painting the bathroom and going to the Philly Zoo with Dee and Garrett. The next week I will have to move everything out of my bedroom because they will be working upstairs soon. It's getting to crunch time. Now is when the fun really begins. Being displaced from your bedroom is a big deal.

Well, the crew will be arriving very soon. I better get going.

Thanks for checking in.

Diann

It's a Hole!

Ok. These pictures are backwards. I can't ever remember if they download top to bottom or bottom to top. You get the idea - we have a hole cut in the side of our house!

Right now, they hole is boarded up, but come Thursday afternoon we will have a french door. Yeah! We're very excited about the door. We really miss our back door. Pepper does too.

Before they boarded up the hole it was neat to see how much light we'll have in the family room. It makes the room look totally different.

So, Thursday they will put in the door and then work on siding. By the end of the weekend, we should be fully sided. It's back to the bathroom then - working on plumbing and tying into the septic system.

I just got another call from Lowe's. They are still having trouble drilling the hole for my bathroom faucet. They need specific measurements. I have to drive to Hazelton tomorrow so he can show me how to measure. How can I measure the vanity top if I don't have it? I'm not going to be too happy if I have a finished bathroom without a sink because Lowe's has messed up FIVE times.

Can't you just imagine a beautiful door there? Stay tuned for more pics.

Thanks for checking in

Diann