Plumbing

I know what you're thinking. "It looks the same. Why is she showing me pictures I've already seen? What have those guys been doing, anyway? This bathroom should be done. I'm tired of waiting around to paint and do the things that will make it look like a bathroom" Oh, maybe some of that is what I"VE been thinking. Sorry.

Actually, if you look very closely, you will see the pipes and valves and other plumbing stuff necessary for the sink and shower. I didn't show the toilet pipe. I didn't think you needed to see that! Gary spent most of yesterday laying under my kitchen sink doing plumbing and tying into the water. I think we have water in the bathroom. I'm not sure because I was playing Scrabble with the neighbor. After cooking supper with a man laying in the kitchen and 2 others watching me cook supper with a many laying in my kitchen I needed to be around another woman. Sorry I missed your visit, Dad. You're the one guy I would have liked to see about then!

Isaac and I made our, oh maybe twentieth, trip to Lowe's yesterday. The countertop color we had ordered was discontinued, so we had to pick something else. While there I found a display that had an awesome green paint on the wall. So, Isaac and I spent another half hour running back and forth with paint chips trying to match it. That boy must love me. He puts up with a lot. However, I don't know if I'll ever get him in another Lowes.

I bought paint to paint the bathroom door. I asked about 5 people their opinon on color (the side that will show in the family room). I settled on a brown to match the woodwork. I'm not sure I'll like it, but as Roy said - "What's the big deal, you can paint over it if you don't like it." He always puts things into perspective. It's just paint - even though it looks like the color of makeup when you look at it in the can. Maybe it would have been cheaper to buy Maybelline or Cover Girl.

Today is grocery day and maybe I'll get started on the painting. I've been anxious to paint. Stay tuned, I'll take a picture of the door with the makeup on it and you can all tell me what you think. And, I don't want to get your hopes up, but we might see some drywall this week. Keep checking in!

Diann

Lots of Sawdust

You will recognize this as my doorway that lead to the porch (now bathroom). However, did you notice that it's 4 inches to the left of where it used to be? Yes. They cut my wall. I had about 5 minutes warning, so I threw old sheets over furniture and computer. What a mess. I guess I better get used to it though.

They are working on the plumbing. They've been working hard, but you can't tell what they've been doing. It's all things that don't show (except the moved doorway, of course). They won't be back now until Monday. Gary has some things to do at his house to prepare for a family reunion. The timing worked well. I'm having a yard sale Saturday. It would have been hard for Scott and Gary to manuever around that mess.

I'm in the process of going through everything I own and selling and throwing. There isn't going to be much keeping. I'm sick of everything! Everything I keep will need to be cleaned after construction - and you all know how much I hate to clean!

Well, thanks for checking in.
Diann

It's a room.

This is a picture from inside the bathroom. Yes. It's fully enclosed and the framing is done for the shower. Nice huh? I think they got the pipes run for the plumbing too.

Roy and I finished painting the window yesterday. We got all but one coat of paint done on the one side and discovered that they had given us interior paint instead of exterior. So, we just put one coat of exterior on the outside portion of the window. I hope that's enough. Lowes has made some pretty big errors with us during this project. I may have to turn into a Home Depot girl.

It was a beautiful weekend. Hot and sunny. We went swimming both days, I went to the cabin to visit my dad, spent some time with the neighbors, and we got some work done. All in all, perfect. I am loving summer!

Thanks for checking in
Diann

Enjoy the "View"

This is my kitchen window. It's the window I used to look through to watch Isaac swinging on his swingset. It's the window I looked out to see the squirrels eating my patio furniture cushions. It's the window through which I gazed while cooking healthy meals for my family.

Now it's the window that leads to nowhere. Do you think Scott and Gary could paint a little boy on a swing set on the back side of the plywood they'll be installing?

Thanks for checking in

Diann

Readers' Questions

To all my faithful readers (Mom), I've decided to do a weekly response to the comments I get here at Vera Family. Here goes...

can I put my car in the garage and dale;s car and maybe the swing set and my couch and sofa plus the kitchen table

Uh. no.


Keep those questions coming folks!

Progress!

Can you see them? The little holes? Look carefully. Use your imagination now. The hole to the left is where my shower will sit. The hole on the right is where the toilet will sit. There's another hole that you can't see where the sink will be. It helps if you squint when you look at it. I've done this and I can almost visualize a bathroom - almost!

They started on Monday at 3:30. They worked until about 8:30. They got a lot accomplished.

Do you see the holes? Nope. They are currently covered with insulation. The sub flooring is down.

Well, most of it. This set up really has Pepper confused. It's hard to maneuver those 2 by 4s when you have to pee! So, we are really making progress. They say it should be fully enclosed and the plumbing started by Saturday. We're waiting to see if it rains today. If it rains a lot, then they won't work. I want them to keep going, but Roy is getting about 5 hours of sleep each day. He would benefit from some catching up. We'll see.

I've been doing a lot of cooking and laundry and sorting through closets and such. It's been a really good start to summer vacation. Today, I plan on painting the window. It will be my first official contribution to the construction effort. (Other than writing the checks and cooking the food!)

Come back again. I promise more updates.

Thanks for checking in

Diann

Big Purchases

We finally ordered/purchased the items we will need in the downstairs bathroom. We went to do all of that yesterday, but our Lowes didn't have the things we saw at Hazelton Lowes' so we had to go there today (Sunday).

We ordered the vanity. We bought the shower door, sink, faucet, shower, and paint for the window. Tomorrow they will call us to order the countertop. Wow. It was a lot of decisions and a lot of money in a short amount of time. I guess I better get used to it.

We picked up the french door yesterday. That was interesting. It's a very big door and we took it home in Roy's pretty small truck. He tied it and I followed him home to make sure it didn't blow off the back of the truck. Like Isaac said, "What happens if it falls off? We lose a door and a car. Should we really be following him?" Luckily we didn't have to answer that question. We got it home and it is intact. Of course, it's in the garage with all of the other items for installation. The worth of our garage is really going up!

Scott and Gary are supposed to come tomorrow. They said that this week we should have the porch enclosed. That will be exciting. I will post pictures as we make progress.

Thanks for checking in
Diann

All Quiet on the Construction Site

There is no constructing happening here today. Gary isn't allowed to work after his catheterization. However, we are on our way to Lowes to order our sink, vanity, shower door, faucet and countertop. We're also picking up our french door from Home Depot. I'm trying to stay ahead of the construction so I don't hold them up. I have no idea how long it will take for these items to come in.

Roy is yelling "ok, let's go".... so I'm going to go! Update soon.

Diann

Status Update

As you can see, our window is now framed out. I'm starting to talk like a construction worker, aren't I? This was done yesterday. The guys won't be working until next week now. Gary had to have a heart catheterization done today. He's fine. Everything checked out okay. Thank God.

Looking at the picture, the vanity will be on the left, the toilet in the middle (right under the window) and then the shower in the back corner. It still seems so small to me, but I'm not good at visualizing. They say that by next week they'll have the pipes layed in the floor and then they can start enclosing everything. That will be exciting. I better get vanity shopping!

For this bathroom I'm thinking of going white bead board on the bottom and green paint on the top. The vanity will be white bead board. We'll have a green/frosted/glass vessel sink and a green frosted shower door. Green flooring with some accent color mixed in. Sounds cottage style, huh? My sister will be so proud.

I have 3 half days of school left and then I can really start to purge the upstairs. I'm planning a yard sale at the end of the month which should bring in some extra cash and help me get rid of some stuff. I'm so looking forward to starting fresh upstairs. Let's get this summer started!

Thanks for checking in
Diann

The Fun Begins

Well, this is what our porch/bathroom looks like today. They made a lot of progress. They had to pour cement in the bottom of the "pit" to put the tank in. They did that first and then started framing out the walls. Do you see the bigger gap in the studs? That's where my octagon window is going to go. We bought that last night. We shopped for tile and a vanity and paint colors. Roy loved it!

Isaac found a job to do. They had to tear off a lot of our aluminum siding. Once we explained to him that if he took the foam backing off the siding, he could recycle it and get some money. He loved that idea. He was all about scraping the foam - for three whole pieces. Then he got hot and went swimming! He has a lot of scraping to do.

It's hard to believe that we are actually under way. It will be so great when it's all done. Stay tuned - I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for checking in.

Diann

June 1 - So it Begins - Or Does It???

Today was supposed to be "C" day - Construction Day. I cooked, I planned, I cancelled a dentist appointment and then I got a text from Isaac on the way home saying Scott and Gary weren't coming. I don't know why as of yet. Roy is sleeping and he's the one who took the phone call.

I'm frustrated. I want to get started. However, I guess the mess can wait a day or two. In the meantime, I thought I'd show some pictures I took this weekend. We're enclosing the back porch first so that we can make it a bathroom. Roy needed to rip up the carpeting and remove the ceiling. The pictures show our "naked" porch just waiting for Scott and Gary to come and get started.

Tune in next time - hopefully we'll be making some dust!