Making the House a Home

For our two years in London we experienced the joy of renting. Weekends were not spent fixing things around the house or spending hours at the home center. (Let me interject that Brad Pitt and his kids were at the home center in our borough over Easter weekend. We left too soon!) We spent our weekends in the city seeing all we could see.

Fast forward to today, and we are in full homeowner mode. 

The first thing anyone should do upon moving into a new abode is clean the place, obviously. Upon first look, the place looked it would just need an easy scrub of the bathrooms, kitchen, and a cleaning of the carpets. However, that was not the case. We quickly learned that a deep clean had not happened at our abode in quite some time. Please enjoy a few examples.

Exhibit A - behind the oven knobs - Those had never been cleaned prior to my discovery. The insides of the kitchen cabinets were not much better. So many bleach wipes were consumed before any of our belongings touched those surfaces. I was also very thankful for the Bed Bath & Beyond coupons to buy copious amounts of shelf liner.    

Exhibit B - the master bathroom flooring (the cleaned portion is the top left) - This required a hands and knees scrub with a firm bristled brush.  And multiple refreshes of the soapy water bucket. In the three months we've lived here the floor still looks as good as the top squares.  Consider this your PSA against wearing shoes in the house.

The fireplace was not much better. According to the technician, it had been many, many years since it's last clean. The gas supply line entered the fireplace box through a hole that was not properly taped, and enough bugs had found their way in that an entomologist would think it was Christmas. Thankfully it checked out fine and all he had to do was vacuum out the box and a squeegee the glass.

Once the house was clean, we started with projects to make it our own. Matt installed a closet organizer in the master closet to replace the inefficient one we inherited. Check out Matt's fancy new drill. 

The inherited water heater was nearing the end of its life, and no one wants to figure that out in a cold shower. We had a tankless water heater installed, and so far it's been great with no conflicts between two hot water uses at the same time. Every attempt is made to not have showers and the dishwasher run at the same time, but no one complained when it has happened.  

The main living area of our house was painted yellow, not a pretty yellow. It actually hurt your eyes on a sunny day. The color ran from the living room into the entry, up the stairs, and down the hall.  Over the years many nail holes were patched, which were unsightly. Based on the size of the project we immediately knew that a professional would have to remedy this color fail. Our painter was phenomenal; he patched every hole and even sanded down the bad drywall joints up the stairwell. The new color is not a dramatic change, but I'll take boring beige over blinding yellow any day.    

Our neighborhood is hilly, and our back yard slopes to a dry creek bed. When it rains the water runs from the two side downspouts & from the driveway along the side of the house dragging the land along. A drainage system was in place from one of the previous owners, but it was blocked and useless. Matt had an irrigation contractor out to remedy the drainage by connecting the downspouts to a pipe that empties into the creek bed. We eagerly await a rain storm to see if the land stays put. If it's a good fix, Matt will start landscaping.

What's up next?  We have some short & long term projects that will keep us busy. Nothing is pressing so we can take our time and make smart decisions based on how want to use the spaces. The master bathroom and kitchen are high on the list, but those are big budget items that need saving and planning. Until that time I'll continue pining over bathrooms and kitchens on Instagram.

A4 Update - March 2016

We've worn shorts a ton in March.  Thought you'd like to know. 

 

The painter finished the hellacious job of patching & painting the living room, hallway, stairs, and main floor ceilings. Geesh that was a big job.  

Holly continues to volunteer at Youngest Kiddo's school once a week in the library & classroom.

We were supposed to have friends here for Spring Break but sickness in the house changed those plans. Once everyone was assuredly healthy, we hopped in the car for our first road trip to join our friends in Disney World. Oldest Kiddo was so happy that she could ride everything solo. The adults were just happy to be together.  

Youngest Kiddo started swimming lessons. 

We finally bought furniture for the living room. It should be delivered in just ten short weeks. Until then we continue to hobble by using a card table as a TV stand.  

Matt traveled a bit this month to Alabama & Indy.  

Matt's doing a great job working projects around the house. He built new shelves in the garage to replace the awkward ones we inherited. 

On the landscape front, a new surprise seems to pop its head through the mulch each day. There is quite a variety of plantings with no discernible theme, so Matt is formulating his master planting plan.

Flustered

Mr. C. is #1 on our list - not in a good way.  Excuse the rant right from the start.

The move to the top spot has been a slow move, but today sealed his spot.

Let me take you back to the beginning of the relationship. Mr. C worked on our house when Mr. D and the boys were here to construct the wall. Mr. C. was very cordial and appeared to work efficiently. He was recommended by Mr. D. as a professional to think about working with to replace our fusebox with a new 20th century circuit breaker. Mr. C. followed up a few weeks later to see if we were wanted him to work for us. We tried to call a few other electricians, but they either never called back or never showed up to give us an estimate. We really trusted Mr. D., so Mr. C. looked like our best option.

Mr. C. arrived at 7:30 on his first day and I left with the kids. He worked most of the day and ran into a few issues, as expected since many things are questionable in our house. He made sure we had electricity for the evening and said he'd be back the next day.

The next day I did not hear from him, but had no expectation of a phone call or text. As I was grabbing my bag to leave work, I received a text at 4PM saying that he didn't make it to the house that day. OK, things happen. Let's reschedule for the next day as Matt would flip if he arrived home from his trip and it wasn't done. The next scheduled day comes and he arrived around lunchtime and finished up. (That's number 1)

He went out of town for a week or so and we reconnected when he got back.

We set up some dates for him to start replacing the original, crispy, fire hazard, wire in the upstairs. He started the first day we could come back after Zak Brown finished the floors.

We figured he would not get a lot accomplished on this first day as he had to figure out how the rooms were wired and make a plan from there. He worked until late afternoon. He'd be back in the morning. Around 6:30 the next morning I receive a text that he has to get materials for the project and will be to the house around 10:30. Curious where he was going for materials, but whatever. Several texts around 11:30 indicate that he was still on his way. 12:30 was his official arrival time. He worked until around 2 and then called it a day (That's number 2)

Matt and Mr. C. made a plan for him to come back to the house on Saturday morning at 8AM to install an outlet on the wall so we can hang the television.  Can you see where this is going?  8AM came and went, without a phone call or text.  An 8:40 text and 11:15 phone call was answered with a 12:15 phone call to say that he was sick and just woke up.  I talked to him when he called to gravel about the no show, which sent me into an eloquent ripping of a new one.  I reminded him that this was now the third time that he had not shown up as promised, and that we had to decide if we even wanted him back to do the work.  His reply, "that's harsh."  OMG, that sent me into my "We are the two nicest people that you will ever meet (he interjected that he agreed) and I countered with when you piss us off we are two of the meanest people you could meet.  I was going to get back to him after I talked to Matt.  (That's number 3)

This is where the title comes in. 

Shortly after his phone call I receive the following text:

"Holly, I understand you and Matt are flustered with me today.  I didn't intend for this.  I need to redeem business with Matt and you.  I can assure you this won't happen again." (foreshadowing!)  Flustered?  Flustered!  I have an F word that I would like to use and flustered isn't it. 

The decision was that if he could come the next day (Sunday) to install the outlet we'd be on the right track.

He arrived at 10:30 and worked until 1:30.  He had some jobs on Monday and Tuesday so he would be back on Wednesday to get back to work on rewiring.

This brings us to today.  Mr. C. was to arrive at 7:30, but at 6:30 I get this text:

"Holly, I have a family emergency this morning.  I will not be able to make it." (That's number 4)

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!  I almost threw my phone out the window.  I called Matt and we both fumed for a few.  We knew it was time to call Mr. D. to let him know that his recommendation was not quite panning out the way he probably would like.  I could tell in his voice that he was disappointed and just as mad as we are.  My point was not to tattle on Mr. C, but I think Mr. D. needed to know.

Fast forward to this afternoon when I get this text:

Is 7:30 tomorrow okay?  I talked with Mr. D.  I will get this done ASAP for you and Matt."

Here is my dilemma, this guy has started our project and we just can't muster the strength to find another electrician.  Will the new guy say we need to redo some of Mr. C.'s work?  Will Mr. C. do a crappy job now that he knows we are mad?  Goodness gracious.  

I called Mr. C. and gave this ultimatum, he can come back tomorrow and Friday.  The job will be done on Friday.  If it is not done on Friday he is done on Friday.  Capish amigo?  I think he understands, but I'm not betting on those odds.

The Dust Is Done!

The floors are done!  Oh.my.goodness do they look ah.ma.zing.  Who knew that they could look so great.  However, the dust it left behind is not so attractive.  I suppose this is a reason to clean the house obnoxiously well this weekend.  I took the afternoon off yesterday to start putting the house back together.  Mr. C was there to start replacing the wire on the main floor.  As we both worked we chatted about our kids and general chit-chat.  Come to find out he grew up in the same hometown and Matt and me!  He went to a different high school, however, we could reminisce about places we liked to go in town.

We are now back to a family of four.  When Mr. C finished up yesterday I left to pick up G.  I am again so thankful for our parents who watched G for us while Zak Brown finished the floors.  

This might be the last time we see Zak Brown on the blog. 

When I walked into my parents’ house G gave me the biggest hug I’ve ever gotten.  For the next two hours he made up for his daily quota of calling my name.  He demanded my attention from the moment I walked in the door.   I think I heard “Mama” about 200 times.  When we got home Matt and M were not quite back yet.  Once M joined us downstairs, he called her name and gave her a huge squeeze, too!  She was pretty happy to see this love from her brother.  

We are going to wait another day or so before returning the furniture to its rightful place to let the stain cure a bit more.  In the meantime, the living room is an echo chamber for the kids to scream and play flashlight tag.  We have to get some more felt pads for the feet of all the living room & dining room furniture.  I do wonder how quickly G will figure out that with just a little of his brute strength that he can slide the furniture across the room.  I give it three days.

A Little Smelly For A Lot Of Pretty

I left the house early this morning before Zak Brown arrived.

He never called me today.  That could be a good thing as in the project moved forward as planned and I did not need to be involved.  Or something could have come up and he never showed up.  So, I stopped by the house after work to see what was happening.  Whew, the project moved forward!

The stairs leading into the kitchen

The dining room & living room

I have no idea when Zak Brown left, so I did not have a good gauge if the stain was wet.  I went no further than the doorway threshold.  I've got to say that was about all I could handle because the fumes were overwhelming.  Tomorrow brings the final coat and one step closer to the main floor being done!  Notice I said the main floor......We still have a basement.

Meanwhile, M and I are in a hotel for the night since the fumes are horrible for us to inhale for an extended period of time.  We had a friend and her daughter meet us at the hotel so the kids could have pizza and swim.  Who doesn't like a Tuesday night playdate?

M kept busy while I dried her hair by talking to Matt.

 

She's got it good, eh?

Just a little bit

Yesterday Matt and my dad moved a little furniture to prepare for the living room floor refinishing.  I wanted them to move the furniture to the basement for the duration of the project.  In order to get to the basement stairs they had to take the furniture out the front door and around to the back door.  They used their Tetris skills to figure out the proper angle to push the couch down the basement stairs.  They pursed their lips and tilted their heads trying to see how it would fit.  Dad started to take the stair railing off while Matt measured the couch and the stair opening.  I really wanted the couch downstairs instead of on the sunporch since the thought of potential bugs hanging out on my couch gives me the heebie geebies.

Dad - "Do you really think it's going to fit?"  

Matt figured that the opening was "just about the size of the couch."  The official decision was that "just about the size of the couch" was not a precise enough measurement to figure out halfway down the stairs that it was not enough.  The couch was going to the porch.  I guess the vacuum will get a good work out when the couch comes back inside.

Good bye nasty, gross, worn, stained, blech carpet.  You've served your purpose.  Rest in peace at the dump.

Zak Brown and his co-worker arrived a little after 8:00 this morning.  I was already at work, so all seemed to be OK.

Until around 9:15.

My co-worker tells me that she hears my phone ringing - this can't be good.

Zak Brown tells me that when they pulled up the carpet in the living room there was a problem with the transition from the original floors under the carpet to the newer floors in the hallway.  The planks matched up on the long side, but the short ends were off "just a bit."  Multiply that "just a bit" times twenty boards and it becomes a "whole heck of a lot."

We had a few choices that needed to be made in a short amount of time:

1.  He could lay a few planks running the opposite direction that would follow the path of the just removed carpet.  The planks would not be a straight line from the hall closet to the front door since they are offset by a foot or so.
2.  Re-lay the hallway planks so they will match properly
3.  Re-lay some of the living room planks so they will match properly

Each one has their pros and cons
The planks in the opposite direction would essentially section off the hallway and entryway from the living room.  Much the same as the carpet did.

Re-laying the planks in either option two or option three would cost additional money and time, but it would give us the look we wanted.

Ultimately we chose to have Zak Brown re-lay the planks.  He said that he would measure both areas to determine which option would be more cost effective.  Turns out that relaying the living room planks was the more cost effective option. 

Hello pretty, unstained, beautiful floors.  Welcome to the family.

 He was able to sand 90% of the area today.  Tomorrow he will finish sanding and the start the stain!

The end is in sight

We are finally getting all of our belongings put into place after the room renovation.  However, more upheaval and changes are in store for us this week.

Remember Zak Brown?

He is coming back on Monday to start the final leg of the floor refinishing - the kitchen, hallway, and living room.  Once again G was shipped off to the grandparents for a few days.  My dad helped us prepare for Zak Brown's arrival by relocating the stove and the couch to the back porch.  We made sure take full advantage of our hillbilly porch and piled the living room furniture in there, too.  Too bad there was not a gas hookup out there so we could have cooked some dinner out there.

After the three of us (Matt, M, and I) got back from dinner it was time to clear the kitchen counters, linen closet, and hallway coat closet/pantry.  It's a good thing G is gone because he would have a blast playing in the boxes of spaghetti sauce and canola oil in his room. 

Then on Thursday Mr. C. will be back to start replacing wire on the main floor of the house.  This is a continuation of his project to add a circuit breaker a few weeks ago.   

His return to our house later in the week will increase the renovation snowball just a bit more.  Since we got rid of the entertainment center last week, we really started to enjoy the extra space in the living room.  Now, we think mounting the television on the wall will be the best option to keep maximum floor space.  There are two problems with this.  One is that we do not have electricity wired to where we need it.  Second is that we do not actually own a television that can be mounted on the wall.  This should be interesting....

13 hours later

We have a circuit breaker.

It may not be the most glamorous way to spend your hard-earned money, but for the safety of our family it was a necessity.  The electrician, Mr. C., came back to bring our house up to this century.  Mr. C. is recommended by Mr. D. and the boys.

For those born after 1980 - This is Mr. Cunningham from Happy Days.  

The Fonz called him Mr. C.  Our Mr. C. is not nearly this old. 

Mr. C. is an interesting guy; I think he has adult ADD.  He has a lot to say and switches topics as they fly into his mind.  That being said he worked straight through all day, and into the night.

The other interesting thing is the electricity in our house.  Looking at our panel you would see at least two auxiliary boxes and other random bits of conduit.  When I came home at lunch he gave me the rundown of what he'd done so far and a few head shakes about what others had done.

Fast forward to dinner time tonight.  I've picked up the kids and we're home for dinner, but there is still no power in the house.  The kids are cranky and G is hanging from the refrigerator handle demanding "Milk!"  The best I could do was open the door super fast and hope that breakfast's sippy cup is on the top shelf.  Then what do we hear......

The whir of the fridge! We have dinner!

As we continued with our evening, Mr. C. continued his day in the basement.  When the clock ticked past 8pm he lumbered upstairs with all of his tools.  Done.  I knew that he had not eaten since breakfast so I made him a pb & j sack lunch for the road.  Yeah, I'm a food pusher.

New closets!

Matt has been working a lot!  He spent a mid-week through last weekend in Düsseldorf, Germany for a trade show, home for 18 hours, then on to LA for a day, and end the week in NYC.  Whew!

This was the first weekend he was home were we could do some more work in the house.  Our closets were on the top of the list today.  Since we have down sized our room so much, we wanted to make the best of the closet space.  We made the trek to The Container Store, with the kids.  We knew it was a challenge to our sanity to take G since the stroller is not his favorite spot these days.  We basically tag-teamed the closet planning process.  I told the lady what I wanted and passed it off to Matt once she started talking measurements.  Thankfully there were many, many things to keep G busy.  I don't think The Container Store meant for the props to be played with, but it bought us at least an extra 20 minutes in the store.   

He only knocked one stack of buckets all over the floor.  Not too bad!

Did you know The Container Store has a teacher discount?  It's 15% and it's awesome when you are buying a closet.  Teacher friends, sign up!

We hit G's shopping time limit and decided it was in no one's best interest for us to wait for them to cut our shelves.  We zipped home for lunch, put G down for a nap, and I painted our closet.  Matt went to gather our closet purchase.

Once we got all the pieces home it was time for Matt to get to work.

Before - check out that paint job

During

After! Shelves from floor to ceiling

After! Long & short hanging

A short time later - voila!

Did You Hear It?

You had to listen carefully, but when I turned off the shower this morning I heard it.  I heard the birds singing outside the window!  Spring is on its way!

Good Morning Sunshine!

I don't think I posted a photo of Zak Brown's pacthwork of the pocket door space.

He put some kind of wood glue/spackle over the new planks to fill in the seams.  He will sand that off in a few weeks.  We are trying like heck to not trip over the loose edge of carpet.  Surprisingly G has no interest in the very tempting flap of carpet.  At least the tack strip is removed so no Tetanus is coming our way.  Once he sands the kitchen and living room, it will look like it was always there.  

The electrical change over from fuse box to circuit breaker is going to happen.  It has weighed on our minds quite a bit since I saw the sad state of the wires in our house.  From what we have been told a switch to a circuit breaker and replacing the current cloth-covered wire to up to code wire would take one day for the circuit breaker and one day to pull and replace wire.  We need to have a sit down with whichever electrician we choose to teach us a bit about our pending purchase.  We seem to be on the cusp of high season for construction so we're going to make a decision in the next few days to hopefully capitalize on the slow season.

Done x 1 1/2

The bedrooms are complete, but the pocket door project is not quite finished.  Zak Brown was back this morning to patch the floor.

The hole from the wall was temporarily filled with a piece of 2x4 (random thought - is it still a 2x4 if it has been cut shorter?) and covered with a tarp.  Shockingly G has not bothered to lift it up once.

Zak Brown thought it would be best to fill the spot properly so when he returns to stain and urethane the floor he can get started right away.  Here are some before and afters of the pocket door project.....

I think that's a nice difference, don't you?  Just a few more weeks and the construction dust will be adios for good.

We had a pretty full agenda for today.  The list was mostly created so we'd be out of Zak Brown's way, but the list lasted well into dinner time and Zak Brown was done!

1. Drop M at Spanish class and go to butcher shop
2. Zip back at home to let Zak Brown in and do a few dishes
3. Pick up M and get emissions test done on car
4. Go to the mall for new shoes for the kids, Matt's birthday present, and some make-up
5. Grab lunch on the way home
6. Put G down for a nap and work on report cards
7. Go to Home Depot for primer & stain (Talk to Matt on Skype while he's in Germany in the parking lot)
8. Go to grocery store at the height of the dinner hour with a boy who really, really didn't want to sit in a cart
9. Make dinner for the kids while preparing for dinner with my parents tomorrow afternoon.
10. Prime the pocket door opening so we don't get plaster dust on us every time we rub past it.

We didn't have the chance to get to Staples today, but there's always tomorrow.

Done!

One week and one day later, the room is complete!  There are a few things that we have to complete, but that will happen in due time.  We need to paint our room and G's room and stain all the new doors.  Everyone is sleeping in their own room.  Amen.

Pretend there is paint on the wall

Pretend the doors are stained

Pretend there is a rug and some decor on the wall

Let's hope it stays this clean :)

House Renovation, Day 8

Today is Presidents' Day and we do not have school, but that does not mean that we get to rest. 

Mr. D. had to put another coat on the former pocket door wall and finish up a short punch list of things.  Zak Brown has to sand, stain, and top coat our bedroom.  We are all packed up to go back to the hotel for one more night.  Then....

Mr. D. gave me a panic when he said Zak Brown’s van would not start for him this morning and he might come tomorrow instead.  He was hoping to hear from Zak Brown shortly as to the status of his ride.  I graciously held my tongue and waited for the call.  If he can’t come today, then the whole week is off to an interesting start.   I did offer to pick him up, but he lives almost 40 minutes away.  That would not be cool for the kids.  Thankfully the stars are aligned and his van started!  The late start had a potential to push the job into tomorrow and another day at the hotel.  I think he realized the hullabaloo involved in moving two kids out for just one night, and agreed to push through and get it all done today!

We had to make ourselves scarce around 11:00.  That worked perfectly as that was just enough time for lunch then back to the hotel for naptime.  When we checked in the fire alarm was sounding quite obnoxiously loud.  The desk clerk said this was the annual test and check of the fire alarm.  This meant the alarm company and a hotel employee had to physically enter every room in the hotel to make sure the alarm sounded.  That put a potential damper on the nap, but again the stars aligned for us and it stopped just as she handed us our key.  The nap has been saved!

After G woke up, it was time to head over to the park district for his weekly tot music class.  I will say it's not my favorite but he gets to play with tambourines, bells, maracas, etc., and occasionally smack another kid.  What more could you ask for?  When we were there two weeks ago the teacher said that was the last week of class and there would be a one week break between sessions.  That worked perfectly since G would be with Grandma & Grandpa last Monday.  I had M with since she did not have school today.

As it has become habit G loves to push the button for the elevator to get down to music class.  The funny thing is that he calls it a "butt."  He calls it a "butt" really loud whenever he sees them.  Slightly embarrassing, but good thing he is cute.  As I went to open the door to the classroom I noticed that the lights were off and all the fun toys were missing as well.  Now, I immediately figured I had made a mistake.  The finer details in life sometimes pass me by.  Did the teacher say this week would be the break?  Did the class move to another room?  I traipsed the kids back to the car to double check the email on my phone.  I did not want to look like a moron to the desk clerk if I was off a week.

No, my email said 2/21 was the start date.  So I called the desk clerk from the parking lot to see if I was an anonymous moron.  She concurred that the class started today and was confused that no one was there.  I asked her to look up if the class had been canceled.  She asked me, "is your son G?"  I was impressed with her telepathy skills.  She said, "yeah, you were the only ones signed up for that class so it was canceled."  Thanks for that email, park district.  I suppose the stars were not aligned for us on this one.  You can't win them all. 

Now that we were all dressed with no where to go, we went for dinner instead.  On our way I had to stop home to see how Zak Brown was doing.  His van was gone so I kept the kids in the car (I cracked the window for some ventilation!) and zipped inside for a minute.  Our floors look awesome.  While I could have gotten used to the zebra stripes in our bedroom, I think a cohesive color fits much better.    

Furniture goes back in on Wednesday, and we’ll dusting for the next few weeks.  Zak Brown will return to our house in a few weeks to take care of the hallway, kitchen, and living room.

Anyone want to buy an entertainment center?  We are selling ours because it won’t match the new floor finish, and it’s just a bit big for our postage-stamp sized house.  The finish is cherry and it's made by Pennsylvania House.  The shelves are adjustable and there is a hole made by the manufacturer to route electronics cords from the shelves to the TV area.  It's heavy and quite a lovely piece of furniture.  Send me a message if you are!

Yeah, I know the TV is a bit small

Day 7

Now that G is back in town we have to have a place for him to sleep.  The goal for the day was to get the kids’ beds set up so they can start getting back to normal.  Matt and I, however, will still be schlepping it in the basement on the aerobed (aka pumper bed as coined by M) and couch.

These are gorgeous!  The daylight makes them sparkle.

Zak Brown said that we can’t slide furniture on the floor, even if it’s on felt sliders.  The finish coat will still scratch.  We slid M’s dresser down the hallway on the yet to be finished hall floor and then carried it into place in her room. 

G was the most excited to be home.  When we showed him his room, he kept yelling "Room! Room!" and opening & slamming his new door.  Goodness I hope the novelty of that wears off soon!  

Welcome home!

 We are all so happy to be home!  For now....