Still lots of work to do

Okay - I forgot to take the camera with me today when I went over to the house - so I don't have new pictures to post - but I will get some this week to post later during the week. I think you will be surprised with the progress that has been made. Let me update you.

First, I need to explain the "patch in the ceiling in the guest bedroom". I don't know if you remember way back when Dan and I first bought the house we talked about a leak in the ceiling of the guest bedroom. We thought we had it fixed when we cleaned out the gutters and nailed down some shingles that had come loose. Well, guess what. We hadn't. The only good thing about that is - we found it while we were still doing work on the house and not when we had everything finished. So, we had to cut a big hole in the ceiling in the guest bedroom and the contractor went up in the attic and found where the leak was (thank goodness it was not anything major - we did have to have some of the decking replaced and some of the shingles). Now, the roof is fixed, the ceiling the guest bedroom is fixed, the room has been painted for the THIRD time and it is FINALLY the right color! (BTW, Dan painted the room while I was gone! - isn't he just the best?) He also repainted the inside of the two walk in closets. The painters had painted them the bedroom color and we decided that we just wanted them painted white. That way, IF at any time in the future we want to change the color of the rooms, we won't have to repaint the closets.

Now, what else was the completed while I was at the conference. Well, unfortunately, not as much as I had hoped. First, the tile in the bathrooms was completed and they look fantastic! They did a GREAT job! (Now, we just have to decide if we are going to use the same shower doors that we had before, or if we will have enough money left to have new ones - we will probably have to stay with the old ones - seems like the money is going fast!)

However, the wood floors were not completed because they ran out of wood - one box short (and not even a full box at that). About two pieces at the front door and inside the front entry closet. Anyway, they had to order a whole box to finish this little bit - it was suppose to come in on Friday and they are suppose to install it tomorrow - we shall see. Now, they are also suppose to put in the carpet in the bedroom tomorrow. Dan and I spent most of today making sure everything was out of both bedrooms and the floors were cleaned so the carpet can be laid with no problems. Of course, the electrician was suppose to come yesterday and trim out the bedrooms - didn't show. The painter was suppose to come and paint the baseboards - didn't show. Now, I really did not expect the painter to show up today - it is Sunday - but don't tell me he is coming and then not show. The contractor did say the electrician called and said that he couldn't come on Saturday but that he would be at the house early tomorrow morning and get it trimmed out before the carpet guy shows up - we shall see.

They were suppose to put all the new baseboards up Saturday as well as hang all the new doors - didn't get that done. They did get the bedrooms done so the carpet can go down, but like I said earlier - the baseboards are not painted. Don't know how that is going to work - we shall see.

I did get the floors clean in both bedrooms and the closets so the carpet will go down on clean concrete. I don't know what they would have done IF I hadn't gone in and cleaned. I guess they would have put the new carpet on top of the dust and dirt that was there. That would have really made me angry.

Now, let's move on to the kitchen. Well, Dan and I worked on Friday putting up some of the upper cabinets. Korey did come on Saturday (although he was suppose to be there on Friday AND Saturday) and he installed the refrigerator end panel, the pantry, and placed the base cabinets where they will go, but they are not attached to the wall. Dan and I did have to make another run to IKEA. Why, you might ask. Well, when we added the other pantry that I really wanted we originally thought we would take the extra space out of the laundry room. Well, we didn't - we extended it into the Great Room. Well, we didn't think about the other side of the kitchen. So, we had an extra 8 1/2 inches. We could have put in a 36 inch cabinet instead of a 30 inch one, but we already had the cabinets put together and I didn't want to spend another $600 that we didn't need to spend - plus have two extra cabinets we couldn't use. So, I started looking in the catalogue I found a wine rack and a book case that was 9 inches wide. I asked Dan if he could trim them down the 1/2 inch and he thought he could - the best part, not only would this look like it was really "planned" it was only going to cost an additional $130. This I could swallow. So, off we go to IKEA again. We also decided to go ahead and get the cabinets for the laundry room so we can get those put up also and everything will match. (I also ordered the pedestals for the washer/dryer). Dan got the wine rack put together and installed today along the last upper cabinet. Now, he just need to put the bookcase together and place it.

We were both hoping that we would be able to have the granite people come Monday and do the template for the counter tops, but that is not going to happen. So, we probably are not going to have counter tops before the 4th. I don't even see the kitchen being finished before the 4th. However, that does not mean that Dan and I won't be moving back home next week. We are determined to be back in the house by the 4th. Even if we have to come to Melissa's to take a shower we are going to try our best to be in the house by this weekend. We shall see.

Well, this has turned into quite a long post - and I know that I have said "suppose" quite a few times. I'm really not angry - I just want things to be finished. I am ready to move back home. Dan and I are both ready to be back in our own home. We shall see IF we can do what we are hoping we can do. Time will tell.

Conference

At the conference in Leesburg this week with Melissa. Don't ask me why, just sounded like a good idea back in January when we signed up for it. Anyway, a lot of things that we were "suppose" to have - like private rooms and free wireless Internet - we don't. So, to say that this is going to be a very short post will be an understatement. (We are on a lunch break right now, and I'm running on my air card - I knew there was a reason I hadn't gotten rid of it yet!)

I was going to post pictures of the paint colors of the house - but it would just take way too long with the service that I have right now - even with the air card the service goes in and out. So, I will wait until I get home and post the pictures - let's just say that we are still having issues with the yellow bedroom - I was going to help Dan paint it for the THIRD time Saturday before Melissa and I left Sunday to come to this conference -but they haven't finished with the ceiling patch in that bedroom yet (another story I will tell you about later) - so we couldn't paint. I did buy some different paint (the THIRD color) and maybe Dan will have it painted before I get home on Thursday - but I wouldn't bet on it.

I will give you a little heads up of what it suppose to be happening this week while I am gone - the tile in the bathrooms is being done - the new flooring in the rest of the house is being done - that should take the four days we are gone. Late Thursday and Friday they are suppose to install the kitchen - then we can call for the template of the granite counter tops and then the electrician and plumber can come back and all the doors can be hung and the trim work can go up. There is still a lot of work to be done, but our goal is to be back in the house in two week - that would be 4th of July weekend. We shall see.

Well, I gotta run - got to get to class. Yahoo! (sarcasm!) Talk to you later!

OMG - Wrong Yellow!!!!

Oh my goodness! You really can not tell from this picture - but this is the worst yellow I have ever seen in my life. Imagine canary yellow on steroids. Not exactly the soft butter yellow that I thought I had picked out. So, we were at the house this morning bright and early and met with the painters. They are repainting the room as I write (along with the guest bath which is a bright clown blue instead of a soft sky blue.) Oh well, at least it can be fixed - just glad we caught it now.

Well, I will post more later, but Dan just called and wants me to come down to the house and check the new color out (he thinks it is still too yellow - we shall see). Wish me luck!

Dry Wall Finally!

Okay, Monday the crew did not work at all - something to do with already having their 40 hours in and the contractor not paying overtime. So, I was expecting a lot on Tuesday - I came in and found there was actually some drywall in the house. The only problem I could see was - there was only one guy there doing everything. Seriously. One guy. But let me tell you something - that one guy probably did more work, by himself, then some crews of three or four do. He doesn't take a break for lunch (he says that if he breaks for lunch, as hot as it is, it just makes him feel sick) and just works! Anyway, he has hung all the drywall in the entire house, has done all the taping and mudding, and now he is doing the texture on the walls.

You can really see the difference in the house now that the walls are drywalled. You can see the new shape of the house - and it is certainly going to be so different. Even the workers have said that the changes we have made have made such an improvement - and they haven't seen it finished yet!

So, let me walk you though a few pictures -----------------


This is looking toward the kitchen area from the sliding doors by the pool (and yes, that is my new washer/dryer that we have no where else to put right now).

This is the new wall in the master bedroom, with the master bathroom door to the left.

This is the kitchen - the half wall will be where the kitchen island will be.

This is looking to the front of the house from the sliding doors - kitchen to the left, dining room to the right.

Okay - this is an oops - I repeated a picture - so just ignore! (but in case you want to know again it is a shot of the kitchen)

The new fireplace! This is going to look SO much better (but it will one of those things that won't be finished right away, since Dan is doing the finish work on it - one of the continuing work areas)

Okay - this is looking at the master bathroom from the bedroom (another area that I really excited about). This area is so different than it was before!

This is the taken from the master bathroom looking back toward the bedroom.

This is the master bedroom closet (do you remember what the old closet area looked like?) Well, I can't wait to see everything finished.

Anyway, things are moving along with the drywall. Today he starts the texturing, will finish it tomorrow. So, we are about a week behind schedule. Painting will be Thursday and Friday. Next week, while I am gone to the workshop, the tile goes in and the new flooring. They might actually get the kitchen installed also - which brings us to the next problem.

Saturday, Corey and Dan put the kitchen cabinets together. There is one cabinet that we don't think is right - the one for the farm sink. So Dan open the box with the farm sink in it and guess what, it is broken! One corner of the sink is shattered! So, Dan is calling IKEA today about taking it back and getting another one. Hopefully, we won't have any problems, he is waiting for them to call him back. We shall see.

Yesterday, we had to go into Sebring to take some insulation back to Lowes (Dan put insulation in the new bedroom walls) and then we went down to Walmart to pick up a few groceries and we found a patio set for the new outside deck area. We had been looking for chairs to go around the fire pit and hadn't been able to settle on anything. We had been looking at some chairs that were over $200 each. Anyway, we went out to the patio department at Walmart and they had a fabulous sale going on - there was a nice set, but it had a couch and a coffee table that we don't need - but it was only $148. We really thought about it, but we would have to get rid of the couch and the coffee table. Then I looked over and they had a dining table with four chairs for the same price. We figure we can have it out on the patio - pull the four chairs around the fire pit when we need it and if Dan needs a table when he is grilling he has it - and if we want to eat out on the patio we now have a table to do that with. (Now we just have to get an umbrella)

Well, that should catch you up with what happened last week - I'll try and keep you posted on what happens this week before I head up to Leesburg for the workshop. You guys have a great week and I'll talk to you later!

But, I'll leave you with a couple of pictures - this is taken from the foyer --------

In the living room looking toward the master bedroom.

I did it!

Guess what! I did it! SCHOOL IS OVER!!!! I made it through the year! I can now change my status back to RETIRED! I can honestly say that there were times during this year that I really didn't think that today would ever come! However; it has and I can finally relax and concentrate on things that I want to concentrate on - like the house.

Tomorrow, I will go in and turn in my keys, cover my computer and go to the luncheon at 12 and then I will walk away from the school and know that I have done the best that I could.

This weekend I will post more about things that are happening at the house - I think you might be surprised!

Take care and I will talk to you on the weekend! (I'm DONE! YAHOO!)

A Little Disappointed

Okay - in my post on Thursday I told you that the contractor was suppose to start hanging drywall on Friday and I was so excited to come home from work. I so wanted to see how things were coming together with the dry wall up. Imagine my surprise when I pulled up to the house and there were no trucks at the house - no electrician, no contractor's - nothing except Dan's truck. Then I pull into the driveway and I could still see all the way through the house!

I walk into the house and ask Dan what was going on - or more to the point - what wasn't going on? He told me that the drywall hangers didn't get there until about 11 and had to leave at 3 because they already had their 40 hours in and they couldn't get overtime, and - then to make matters even worse - their work week runs from Tuesday to Monday - soooo - that means they won't be at the house on Monday! To say that I was disappointed would be a HUGE understatement!

Now, they did get some drywall hung - but most was in the guest bathroom ----- Let's look at what was done.

This area is where my desk will go - with the master bedroom in the background.
This is the inside of the master bedroom closet.

This will be where the pantry will go in the kitchen -----------------------------------

Now, we get to the guest bathroom - of course this area is over the jetted tub, with the shower to the right.

This is the inside of the shower. We found out that we are not going to be able to raise the ceiling as high in the shower as we had originally hoped. There is a vent pipe that can NOT be cut or moved - so we will have to frame in the ceiling area some and we have decided to tile the ceiling in that shower too since it will not be as tall as we thought it would be.

Then this area will be where the vanity will go and well as the toilet.

We also found out on Friday that the tile guy that the contractor wanted us to use will not be available for 3 to 4 weeks - which will NOT work into our schedule. So, they have given us a different name, which we have already called and Dan will be meeting with him on Monday to get an estimate. The good thing about the change is, this tile man is local (not in Sarasota) and he just finished a big job and is available to do our job now. (Real good thing.)

Tomorrow the man is going to be at the house to refinish the jetted tub - we are going to go with a bisque color instead of a white - Dan wanted bisque and I don't have a problem with that. We had to buy a new toilet anyway - so we will put the white toilet (which we bought when we moved into the house) in the master bathroom and buy a bisque toilet to go in the guest bathroom. Not a big deal.

Yesterday, Dan and I went into town and ordered the blinds for the dining room and for the other window in the master bedroom window. We also picked up all the paint chips for the painter. I called him today and he will pick them up tomorrow. Now, I don't have to worry about that anymore! I think we have pretty much done everything we have to do - we have picked out the tile for the bathrooms, bought the light fixtures, ordered the blinds (we can buy the blinds for the guest bedroom and the kitchen straight off the shelf - no special order required), picked out the granite for the kitchen, vanity for the guest bath ordered. I think the only things we really have left to buy for the house now is the toilet for the guest bath and the new fans (one new one for the living area and one for the guest bedroom), and I still need to find the right headboard for the guest bedroom - I saw one at IKEA but I'm not sure. We also need to buy cabinets to go over the washer and dryer in the utility room from IKEA but that can wait (I just don't want to wait). We'll just have to wait and see how the money holds out since we have added the painter, fixed the sliders to the pool area, taking the old stone off the fireplace and having it stuccoed, and adding the new entry doors. We just have to wait and see how it works.

Well, that's about it for the last couple of days - other than we have new babies at the house. We have a cardinal that built a nest in the hibiscus tree right outside the kitchen window - she laid two eggs and they hatched yesterday morning while we were there at the house doing work. It was so neat to see these newly hatched babies. Oh, and Dan and I took the rest of that ugly wallpaper down in the utility room today!

I guess I will close for today - just know that Dan and I can not wait for all this to be over with and we are able to move into the house and get all settled! But in the meantime - I will keep you as up to date as I can. Take care and I'll talk to you soon!

Things are coming along

Well, things are happening at the house, but you really can't tell anything from pictures - because it is things like moving some plumbing (for the washer and dryer, will explain more later) and all the electrical. There is a lot of electrical work being done. With all the walls coming down and us changing so much of the wall placement - the electricians are just about having to rewire the entire house. We are getting new lighting in the bathrooms, kitchen, dining room, and of course, in the living room. They should just about have it all done today, except for the two floor receptacles we are having them put in. They did not have the saw to cut the concrete today, and won't have it until Saturday. So, they will be back Saturday morning to finish that part of the job up.

Of course, this is just the rough in. After all the dry wall is hung and everything is finished they will come back and finish all the work. You know, hang the chandelier in the dining room. Put up the new wall sconces in the bathrooms, and the chandelier in the guest bath over the jetted tub. Things are looking so different - it is hard to remember what it looked like with the all the angled walls.

The plumber has not had much to do yet - but he will do his thing after the all the tile goes in. That should be the end of next week. Dan talked to the tile man today and he is suppose to come over and give us the final estimate, probably this weekend. We have picked out the tile - Dan's is a little different than mine - but they are basically the same (mine is just a little lighter).

We made a major decision in regards to the laundry room last week - we were having problems with the layout of the master bedroom walk-in closet. It just wasn't going to be big enough because of all the space that the laundry room was taking up due to where the hot water heater and the washer and dryer were located. I suggested that we move the hot water heater to the garage and put the washer/dryer at the end of the laundry room - which would allow the laundry room to be skinner allowing more space for the closet. Well, it was actually a good idea. There was a utility sink in the corner of the garage that we never used and Dan wanted to get rid of - that was the perfect location for the hot water heater. So, the plumbing had to be moved - and we thought, at decision time, that is was going to be a fairly expensive move - since we thought we would have to cut into the concrete to move all the plumbing, but when the plumber came he said, nope! All he had to do was cap off where the old hook up was and use the plumbing where the hot water heater was for the new washer/dryer hookup, and, as far as where the hot water heater is going - he can use the plumbing that was for the utility sink. So, it won't be as bad as we thought!

Dan has also had the contractor fix the huge sliding glass doors that were always hanging up when we tried to open and close them and he is having them take off the old gray rock on the chimney and putting stucco on to match the rest of the house. We are also replacing the outside door that leads in from the pool to the guest bathroom and from the garage to the laundry room. Things will certainly look different when it is all finished!

We have also hired the painter. I know, I know. Dan was suppose to do the painting, but things were getting down to the wire and things were going to be waiting on him to get things done. So, we had a man come in and give us an estimate on doing all the painting for us (including the new ceilings, since we had all the "popcorn" taken off). So, that is something else that Dan won't have to worry about.

Memorial Day weekend we spent most of the time buying all the stuff that we need for the house. I ordered (and have already received) the new front load washer/dryer and I also ordered a new over the range convection microwave (that's my second oven, and it is nice in the summer - it doesn't heat up the house). We also ordered the two chairs that will go in front of the fireplace, the two other chairs for the living room (what I call Melissa and Justin's chairs), the new dining room furniture (table, chairs, buffet, and hutch), and the bedroom furniture. Of course, none of this stuff came from the same place - or even from the same city for that matter! Oh, and we had to go to Lake Alfred to pick up the vanity for the master bathroom, since Saturday was the last day they were open for the season. We also finalized the order on the vanity in the guest bathroom, the granite for the kitchen, and the flooring for the entire house. We were busy little bees!

We even found time to go out on the lake one afternoon and spend some time with the "extended" family and soak up some sun. We took mom out on the boat with us and I think she enjoyed herself.

This pretty well catches you up to date with what is going on in the house. I hope to be able to post some pictures tomorrow showing the new drywall up. So, while I might not have pictures to show since last week - lots of things have been going on! Stay tuned, I can't wait to start showing pictures of things coming together!