Hard Work, but We're Doin' A Heck of a Job

Everyone who stops by and sees the house says that we’ve been making a lot of progress. With our project list growing, we at least enjoy having a variety of tasks to do. If we get tired of doing one thing, we can switch to whatever’s next on the list. Even though it might seem a bit capricious, things do get done and we have a better time. And, that’s what’s it’s all about, after all.

The contractors finished putting in the tile floor in the kitchen, laundry room and pantry. That alone has really given the room a finished look. The kitchen cabinets are finished. This past weekend, we started setting the cabinets. We got as far as the two cabinets of either side of the stove. Since we’re having the countertop made to fit it, we had to make sure the cabinet was precisely level and plumb. Then we had to screw it into the wall without messing up our measurements. No easy feat.

Last Friday, we borrowed the truck and hauled four 4X8 sheets of beadboard paneling, six sheet of sheetrock, and a dozen different boards of trim (i.e., baseboard, chair rail, quarter round, etc.). I spent much of the past weekend staining this mountain of unfinished wood. On this bare wood, I’ve found that you have to use at least 2 coats of stain ("Special Walnut") to give it an even look.

Rob filled in the space underneath the south kitchen window with sheetrock. It had been left open, when they put in the last set of cabinets.

Prior to doing any of these fun, indoor activities, we spent all morning, Saturday, finishing loading the dumpster. Even though we super-sized on the dumpster, we still managed to fill it up. We even took off the trellises on either side of the front porch and pitched them in there. Anything that was too big and bulky for our trash cart got pitched in. It’s amazing how much trash can come from a project like this.

Our lights for the kitchen and pantry came. The contractor installed the pantry light, and Rob tried to hook up the main kitchen light; but didn’t have any luck getting it to come on. I left a note for the contractors, today, and hopefully, they’ll be able to figure out the problem.
It really is starting to come together. The guys are going to start working on the bathroom, next. They want to get the house livable as soon as they can. It’s doubtful that a moving day would happen any sooner than mid-March, but that’s fine. There isn’t that much rush, and it’s been nice to not have to live with the chaos – just visit it.

There have always been surprises and new discoveries, ever since we got the house. An even bigger surprise happened recently when we got a call from the former owner. She was very gracious, as I expected her to be. What I found especially interesting was that she always wanted to open up that inside staircase. She was surprised to hear that we already did that.