Lessons learned

Well, I think we have learned we need to fire our electrician.  And, apparently electricians are always the ones that do this.

We also learned that if you order straight from the whirlpool VIP program (employee pricing), that.you need to inspect the appliance right away.  We got the fridge but it is still in its packaging, but thanks to Rick and Steve JUST now noticed this huge dent in the front!  Whoops!  Luckily, we are within 30 days and can do a warranty claim, but we are out of their 7 day 'window' for these types of claims...

Also learning that progress is slow.  We are frustrated.  And, these are emotions everyone probably goes through while doing this.

Our original proposed move in date was 9/1, now its going to be 10/1 or later.

Also, learned we can be damn good at playing tetris with kitchen cabinets!  Boo-yah! 

I'm too tired to reach to the ground and get the paper to take a pic of our 1st round of tetris... So,goodnight to all!

Happy brick-tearing-down-tomorrow-thanks-to-our-awesome-neighbor-Rick!

ADVICE needed please

I need your advice, seriously.  

We are contemplating taking all this brick down.  There used to be a false wall/soffit thing on one side of it - and we removed that wall so now there is an empty spot in the brick.  Also, where the bathroom used to be - it covered some problems with the brick (top right corner f the photo below).  So now that it is exposed, we would need hire a masonry expert to help and make it look good.  So, we are contemplating taking the brick down.  There is plaster behind it.  It would also add some more space to the kitchen (it looks so much smaller now with our island in it!)

I dunno what to do!  Tom wants to take it down.  I feel awful taking down beautiful brick someone took the time and effort to put up, but it all makes sense to me... 

Brick wall we are contemplating taking down... we would leave that fire pit open though - with the thought of eventually making it a brick oven pizza spot!! :)

A hard day's work

Its 9:34pm on a Saturday night.  My husband left home this morning at 7:30am to go work on the house.

Wowzers.

I knew we were asking for a lot of work when buying this house - but I didn't know it would be like this!  I am a single mom all over again.  But - that is okay.  Things could always be worse!

I spent my ENTIRE day procuring food for this man that is working so hard.  Seriously, I vacuumed some and did some laundry - but went to 2 grocery stores and spent my afternoon cooking.  If you've ever seen Tom eat, you know how possible this is.

So, honestly, I have personally not been able to spend much time at the house.  Just a few quick peaks because every time I go there I have Mary with me.  

The powder room on the first floor is looking pretty good actually.  Tom has been working hard on it.  He had to get the plumbing in - so that was not easy I'm sure.  Here is somewhat of an original shot (I did not do a good job of taking TONS of photos before we really got started working on this house)

What was originally left of the powder room.  I saved as many blue tile as possible - to use in the 4th floor bathroom (eventually)

Current powder room, enclosed.

Bum shot!  Building the wall on the other side of the powder room.  This used to be a full bathroom - complete with 40" vanity and tub with tile - we made it a 1/2 bath because there are plenty other bathrooms in this house and this was on the first floor with only the kitchen, dining, and living rooms.  PLUS - we added TONS of space to the kitchen.

Temporary kitchen island.  Those are the cabinets we got!  Also, notice the brick by where Tom is.

Its 9:54pm.  Tom is still not home.  

Goodnight too all , and happy remodeling to us!!

Electrical bohemoth

I need to post photos of this electrical beast in the basement...

Anyone in Pittsburgh know a good electrician?  We are struggling to find one...

Lunch time PROGRESS!

Picked up the fridge on my lunch break.  Holy moly its huge!

CABINETS!

Kraft Maid warehouse, Warren, Ohio.

Of course, the ones I thought were perfect, were sold to someone that got in 5 min before us.  It's a lottery system the way you get in, we were fortunate to be in the first group of 150 people that got let in.  And, actually, there was somewhat of a bidding war!  Another couple who was here two weeks ago, offered that lady $1,400 extra to buy that set from them. So, that means that couple there 5 min before us made $1,400! 

But, we found another set!  This one will be enough cabinets for sure.  It is 32 cabinets... And I am contemplating painting them!  I've been wanting white cabinets all along, they are the simple style I'm looking for.

32 cabinets for $6,000    Includes:  self-closing doors and drawers, corner lazy Susan, silverware tray drawers (some that are stacked too), and three half hexagonal cabinets for the island!

Some photos of our morning...

Hello 3am on a Saturday morning!

We are at the Kraft Maid warehouse in Warren, oh - about a 1.5 hr drive.

Got here at 630.  There are already 120 people here!

We already have two quotes for kitchen cabinets, ranging between $12,000 to $18,000.  We are not doing anything fancy, just plain shakers style, etc. 

We are hoping to get away with a while set from here for $4,000!  Lord help us today!

Someone's trash is my treasure - again!

Construction junction again!  I originally saw this and thought it was too much $ for something that someone got rid of... But Tom convinced me that if I love it just buy it!  Plus, we'd spend the money at a local non-profit instead of a big box store.

Plus, I think it will fit the house perfectly and its pretty stunning.  Definitely unique!

Future dining room chandelier... (That needs rewired and scrubbed well)

Seriously neat finds!

This past weekend, Tom had both Thurs & Fri. off work - so we made A TON of progress.

Filled up another 20 yard dumpster!

MANY MANY MANY thanks to my father and mother-in-law for helping so much!  David worked on the house all weekend, and Beth watched Mary Alice most of the weekend while I helped on the house and did some shopping.

Also, same amount of MANY thanks to Josh Sand - our neighbor who is helping us with this project!  AND, just as much MANY thanks to Rick and Steve who always seem to be around and offer a helping hand (they have been to the house at least 3 times to help?)  AND AS MUCH thanks to my brother, Thomas, who helped for 7 hours or so last Saturday!  (who am I forgetting?  we are lucky people for sure!)

David removing a closet in the dining room.  This will eventually be a built-in cabinet (2+ years from now?)

Tom removing the kitchen cabinets.

Josh removing the carpet, padding, tack strips, staples, etc. from the stairs.

Finished stairs - how AWESOME!  Too bad the original railing no longer exists (do you see those holes?)

 David also found this awesome gold wallpaper, with raised velvet print.  Man, I actually would love to have the still on the walls!

Former dining room wall paper

Some more finds... 

Newspaper found in the wall. Circa 1967-Vietnam War.  Its not everyday you see something like this, too kewl. 

ORIGINAL tile flooring!  Yes, those are individual pieces of tile, all individually placed.  We are going to do our best to save this!  White tile was on top of this and the tan stuff you see on top of the black/white tile is glue.

Kitchen demo complete.  Breakfast nook going to the left of this photo, kitchen sink will be on the right.

Cabinets going on the left, breakfast nook/bench seating to the right.  Doorway to dining room in middle

Bought us a fridge last night.  Whew, this is all getting to be expensive! :)  Can't wait to start showing some pics of the finished product... we are a ways from that though :(

Happy plumbing and electrical work for now!!

What a difference technology makes!

We spent our 4th of July working on the house - of course! :)

Most of it was spent stripping paint.  Found some mint green trim, and GOLD!

I was using a pretty old heat gun (thank you Uncle Brad) - and was amazed at how much quicker David's progress was than mine!  It was discouraging.

So, a few hours later he insisted on switching heat guns - so I could use the newer, lighter weight one.  It was more ergonomically friendly for sure!

And, three minutes later, we both came out to the garage to share with Tom our discoveries.  I said, 'MAN!  This thing is great!  It works so quickly!' and David came screaming, 'I'm not using this #$%%Q@.  What a hunk of junk!'.

BAHAHAHAHA!!!

Here's a video of some heat gun magic.  MUCH more progress made this weekend, will share tonight!

One man's trash, is another man's treasure

Went to Construction Junction today... its a 'upcycle' store where everything is pretty much really old and really dirty.  You can get a set of 18 kitchen cabinets for $720 - I thought about it... but we are having a local woodworker come to the house on Friday to look at our space, give some ideas, and a quote for custom cabinets!!  I really hope he beats the price of Lowe's!!

Also, I found this gem.  $25 for a chandelier!  Yeah baby!

I think you may cringe - but I can't wait to show you the after picture!  Did you notice the broken part?  

David and Beth (Tom's parents) are coming to town tomorrow to help with everything.  I'm so excited!  I LOVE to spend time with my daughter, but I can get so much done when I'm not with her.  Autumn, our sitter for when I go to work, watched her for me this morning so I could do some shopping.  I really made some progress!  (I have to buy A LOT of stuff!)

ANOTHER 20 yard dumpster is on its way for this wknd... more to come!! :)

THE HOUSE!!

We did it!  

Bought a fixer upper.

Foreclosure.  1930's - very oddly shaped home but very unique.  Has sadly been neglected but we will be working diligently to restore it!  We have already been stripping paint from the woodwork - I can confidently say that ALL the trim in the house was at one time:

• pastel pink (current)
• pastel blue
• pastel yellow

And there is a LOT of trim in this house!  I think we can already fill one garbage bag with paint scrapings.  We started using paint stripper... 4 man hours later and 1/2 gallon of paint stripper, we only have the baseboards of the dining room stripped.

So, we are now using a heat gun with a putty knife.  HELLO super high electricity bill  (we are currently paying for two electric bills, to add to that!)

At any rate - I need to post pictures for a myriad of reasons! (I won't lie, I'm hoping this will spark the interest of some of you... ah-hem, Uncle Pat!!!)   I hope you all enjoy reading this blog.  I am looking forward to sharing it with you :)

Picture of the front

Closer up view...

The back

The kicthen after one night of demo.  Sadly, I didn't get a shot before we really started!

Another view of the kitchen (18x19)

The living room (25x17)

The monster... AKA the basement.  Electrical Beast. (or, nightmare)

Dad - this ones for you!  Hoarders owned the home before us... the bank cleared everything out of the home except this!!!  I tried to save it... it was too wet!!

The BLACK basement full bathroom

The fully black tiled shower in the basement!!

The entryway.  The half stripped woodwork that someone else did :)

The master bedroom.  YES, those are closets.  The one on the left is a walk-in and part of it is cedar lined!!!

The master bath.  That half circle back there is a make-up nook!

I do have some more to share... but running out of time!  Its taken me way TOO long to just get this blog up and running... 

We are ordering another dumpster for this wknd.  Filled up a 20 yarder already :)

Will hopefully share some updated photos this weekend!  Thanks for reading!