30 December 2015

Week 3 Completed



23 August 2014


Week 3 Completed

Another week has come to a close, and I'm sure you're all wondering what we've been up to, right?

In my uber-optimistic little mind I thought we'd be in the finishing stages by now, as I had always hoped to be moved in after 4 weeks.  Well, we're not exactly there yet.  In fact, we're probably only halfway there (and that might be a tad optimistic too).

At the halfway point things start to get a little discouraging.

A little tiring.

Make that a LOT tiring!

Both Carl and I had moments of discouragement this week, but then we would talk things through, come up with solutions, revise our plan, and the light at the end of the tunnel would start flickering again.

But, it's Saturday night, and as I pause to reflect on the week, we did accomplish a lot this week!  Carl was back at work full-time (at his normal day-job, that is), so we weren't really sure how this week would go.  I went to the house first thing every morning to open the doors and touch base with anyone working.  In the evenings, Carl and I rotated either staying with the MiniMen or working at the house.

Enough with the wordiness...I'll let the pictures do the talking now!

One of our evening jobs included prepping the main floor to begin laying the laminate flooring.  Carl went around and jumped (aka did a little jig) to find all of the squeaks in the floor.


He measured out all of the joists and then screwed 1-3/4" wood screws through the parquet, the subfloor, and into the joist.  Usually a 2-sq-ft area of screwing took care of each squeak.  I'm pretty sure we're going to be glad we did this step.


My evening job was painting the brick fireplace.


This is the fireplace after priming and 1 coat of paint.  I'll give it a second coat and then do a separate post of the materials and procedure I used.  But I'm really happy with how this is coming along!

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Another job that began this week was painting!  A friend of Carl's is a professional painter, and while I had originally thought that I could do the painting myself, I had to weigh the pros and cons of the time it would take me to get the job done.  With the MiniMen around, it just wasn't possible in the time frame we're working with.

He began with the ceilings and fixed the terrible job that had previously been done with painting over the stippling.  Originally we had considered scraping the ceilings, but it was too labour- and time-intensive, and the stippling is covering a multitude of original drywall sins.  So, in the end another coat of paint was the only option, and it looks decent now.

Here's the living room with 1 coat of paint...


 And the kitchen...

And the dining room


I flip-flopped on the paint colour again!  The final decision was Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter, and I'm already thrilled with it.

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Another job done this week was plumbing.  All of the bathrooms and the kitchen are now roughed-in for sinks (which we'll need to plumb in later), the toilets have been relocated, and the tub and shower is installed.

The company came in with 3 guys and had everything done in one day.  It was expensive, but it's done.

(I'm going to highly encourage my MiniMen to consider a career in plumbing!)

Seeing a bathtub installed was a highlight of my day!

Opposite the tub is where the double vanity is going to go...


Even the new drywall looks good to me!

The ensuite is similar in size to the main bathroom (and right beside it), but instead of a tub we're installing a 32"x60" shower.


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Today Carl's friend Brad came and helped him with leveling the main floor joists.  I'm so incredibly thankful for friends like Brad who volunteer their time and expertise to help us!  We had a professional come and tell us what we needed to do, and since then we've had jack posts in the basement slowly lifting/leveling the joists.  Today Carl and Brad laminated each joist with a 1/2" piece of plywood on each side (they glued it to the joist and then screwed them together).

This really needed to happen before we can begin laying the laminate flooring and the tile in the foyer.  So, another huge step is completed!

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Tomorrow we'll be heading to my in-law's cottage after church to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday.  Going to the cottage usually involves a lot of food, and I'm usually asked to bring a salad.

This summer I've been using a lot of recipes from The Pioneer Woman, and tonight's concoction was inspired by Ree's Pesto Pasta Salad.  The dressing is so simple and yet incredibly delicious!  I added green pepper, red pepper, celery, cucumber, kalamata olives, and fresh tomatoes from my garden!  This salad will probably feed 25 people.  There's something so satisfying about cooking in large quantities...so many satisfied tummies!

Alicia

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