getting there!!

After MUCH hanging, sanding, painting etc...I am happy to announce that the largest part of the drywall project is complete!! we were walking around in a winter wonderland of sorts! there was white stuff EVERYWHERE! We really tried our hardest not to track it through the house, but it didnt work to well! especially with a dog who doesnt understand! but that part is behind us...now, our dining room is in the living room, so we are still all moved around. The only one who seems to mind is Barkley...he gets very nervous and doesnt understand what the heck is going on, and why do we keep moving his bed around!

Now David is in the dining room hanging away. The same process, just another room!

After this, he is going to attempt to patch the kitchen ceiling. It is not tile like the others, but it is popcorn. He plans to try and scrape it and patch some obvious mistakes from the previous owner. Hopefully it will go as planned! otherwise he will have to take down the old drywall and replace it with new...

In other news, we got the new hallway wall painted! now it blends in with the others and looks like its always been there!

it continues...

Well, the master bedroom is now finnished, and has become our makeshift living room for the time being...

Now, the hallway (which has also had quite a few changes) and the livingroom ceilings are being drywalled.while all this is going on, the big bathroom renovation has begun!

It all started a few weeks ago...here is what the hallway looked like before...there was a lot of wasted space here that lead you into a closet-like bathroom. most of you know just how small this bathroom is. just enough room for the bathtub, toilet and sink. it serves its purpose, but its time for an upgrade! Its also a good idea to get yet another (and possibly the final) big project done before the new addition to the family comes :)

The plan is to take just about all this unused space, even the old linnen closet and make a nice big bathroom.

David started by removing all the trim, baseboards, and linnen closet doors down. This was all the "prep" needed before framing out the new wall...for that he called in some professional help from over in Shelby to assist him.

Once the help came (aka Dad!) all the big work started. first with some assesing of the situation, then with a trip to the local hardware store to get all necessary supplies...Wood, screws etc...

They completely built the frame before actually having it in the hall. Before the end of day 2 the frame was built, put in place and drywalled!

yard guard

this is not exactly project related, but this guy is just so neat! he keeps around our yard...pretty sure its the same one...he seems to be the same size...just thought id share him :)

finnishing 3rd room, new bathroom fixture, finnishing the unfinnished etc...

Well, David is almost done with the master bedroom! here you can see him hard at work sanding! These jobs seem to get him very dirty! This room has gone a lot quicker since he knows more what to expect, and we dont have to worry about floors or anything. after this room is done, our living situation will get very interesting! we will be moving our livingroom into the master bedroom while david does the drywall in the living room! that should be fun! then the dining room will move...not sure how that one will go yet! after that we will begin the "Great Remodeling of the worlds Smallest Bathroom"! after much deliberation, we decided on a regular claw foot tub. We really wanted a slipper tub, but they are very expensive and hard to come by used, so to save well...a significant amount, david found a real good deal on a used claw foot tub on craigs list...now this tub is in need of some TLC, but when its all said and done, it will look new...and the best part of all, it was made right here in the US of A! cant beat that right?so here it is...cast iron, old fassioned! i love the old style of the claw foot tub. Its no slipper tub (they have the fancy high back on them) but its right for our little old house! now we need to redo the outside and get it reglazed, then find some fixtures.

Last but not least, just a quick note of sorts...The kitchen door is all done. I painted it and it not matches the rest of the kitchen! i was finally able to get that annoying tape off from around the door handle! so now, its done!!

New Kitchen door

here is the old door...this is quite an old pic, but we forgot to get a good pic before replacing it! anyways....

this was actually davids anniversary present to me! I was off for the weekend to hang out with the girls and celebrate an important bday! so david got off work that day, came home, stayed up until 4AM getting the NEW door in place! that boy LOVES projects!! we had been wanting to get a new door for the kitchen for a while. The old one looked like a dog had scratched at it pretty good, plus it wasnt very sturdy, and didnt like to lock well, and didnt let in a lot of light...SO here is the NEW door!!!

I LOVE it! it lets in sooo much more light! we keep thinking its open! he also put in a nice new screen door to top it off! it still needs to be painted to match.

You can see that Barkley really likes it! he can see whats going on out there!

im a little behind here!

Im getting behind on all the projects!!

so this will be a sum-up of sorts to get caught up!

On the last entry, we had finnished the floors...yay!

(of course this photo was taken before they were actually dry! but you get the idea)

Then came the odds and ends....the hardest parts were done! and thankfully! we wont have to sand and varnish any other rooms in the house, just dry wall!

next came patching up bad cracks in the walls. Our house was built in 1952, so naturally some settlement has taken place. David removed any loose plaster from the wall, then filled it with putty. After it dried, he sanded it down so it would be flush with the wall!

THEN! FINALLY the room was ready for NEW paint! after much deliberation, we decided on a very nice yellow color. Since we are not finding out what the babys sex is, we needed something gender neutral.

so here it is, the big reveal (unless of course you have already checked out out flickr page!!)

We really like this yellow because its not too much, its a nice golden yellow!
hope ya like it!

as of now we are moved into the guest bedroom, and are preping our room for new ceilings!
in the meantime, mentions of bathroom remodeling have been surfacing...

yeah yeah i know...

Ok, so the 3rd time wasnt exactly the charm id hope it would be. i know its been quite a while..no good excuse either :)

so on the last blog, i believe we were sanding the floors in both rooms. we have come a far way since then!

after many hours of sanding and edging, we had to wipe down all the dust a few times before we could varnish. this can be a tedious job, especially when you are ready to see progress with the nice shiny varnish!

but we got it done.

after much wiping, we finally got to put on the good stuff!

This is the most satisfying part of it all because you can actually see the progress and the change. the first coat you do with a brush because the wood soaks it up pretty good.

then the 2nd and final coats you can put on with a mop type thing and it just smooths on easy. (well for me it did...for david, thats a whole nother story!)

3rd Times a charm

Here I am again!

Well, the ceilings are DONE!! woohoo! Here is the final product of Davids hard work! a nice smooth surface! Tile free!

They might just need a final coat of paint.

Now that thats done (for now anyway...plan on doing the rest of the house) we move on to the floors...another dusty project! Keeping the rest of the house clean is just not working out right now!

Ah yes, a formilliar friend!

When we first bought the house, apon arival, we began riping up the carpet! We were so excited to have wood floors! and how anyone would ever cover them with boring beige carpet was beyond us! This machiene does all the work! and its also a good arm work out! Thankfully, we only have these 2 rooms to do. (and when i say we, i mean David! but the first time around, i did run it)

Both rooms are now sanded and looking good! He is in the final stages before putting down a finnish. The machiene he is using here is an edger. The big machiene cant get everything unfortunately! and no, these are not new toys for David, they were rented! you can see that Barkley was very interested in what was going on!

Thats all i have for today!

Phase II

So, Here I am again! believe it or not!
Time to update Davids progress on the rooms...and maybe a little more :)

So far he has puttied and sanded to ceilings.
here he is putting the putty up... this seems like the type of job that would put a crick in your neck! There really isnt much for me to do, so i am just the photographer! plus, David does such a good job anyway, i wouldnt want to get in his way!


After much taping and puttying, came the dirty part...the sanding. and a lot of it. along with a few choice words! David was using a sander on a long pole that apparently kept flipping over and cutting into the drywall, therefore needing more putty to fix...and then again more sanding! good thing i was in another room!

It looks like snow! and there are foot prints and paw prints throughout the house!

here is a look at room #2--->


We hope to have both rooms completed by the end of the month. Sanding floors and lacquer, paint, and ceilings complete!

thats all for now! until next time...

another shot

Well, Im on and off of this...obviously! but, the Husband had an idea to track the projects we do on the house! so lets see if i can keep up with it! you know, the internet is quite a job...keeping up with email, facebook, flickr etc...

We have done a lot to this house in the almost 3 years weve lived here! from pulling up carpet, to the most current, drywalling the ceilings! Im not sure what David enjoys more than working on the house believe it or not! he is always thinking of more things he wants to do! really i think hes making up excuses to buy new tools :)

So...as you can see here, the ceilings have a tile look. Something we didnt like from the start. To me, it makes the ceiling seem lower...maybe because all the lines draw your eyes up? not really sure. David has been talking about doing drywall to cover them for a while...now that we are expecting a little Anderson, nows the time since it is messy, creates a lot of dust etc...

as of right now he is doing the old computer room (future baby room!) and the guest room. The house seems a little cluttered sice we downsized to 1 bedroom for now! another reason its good to do this now.

To make this job a lot easier physically, we purchaced this contraption known as a Drywall Lift. Sice we plan to do the whole house and eventually the garage, this was definantly a good purchace!! I can just see the 2 of us trying to hang drywall!! not a good idea!

This tool is really neat. It will hold the drywall at any angel you need it to. and all you have to do is screw it in place! I must admit, i enjoyed watching it in action!

So here it is in action...

and here is the first room completed!

The next step is to tape and putty the creases, then sand and paint!

Hopefully, ill remember to get on here in the next few days and show the update!