Woo Hoo New Year's Eve, Let's.... Lay Tile!

Ok, so laying tile isn’t what most people had in mind for the New Year's weekend, but with all the rain, what else was there to do? Believe me, I'm sure I could have found at least 10 other things to do that would have been much more fun than laying tile but, the tile can't lay itself! I worked Saturday morning (12/30/06) with my dad, finishing the odds and ends of the porch roof and cleaning up a bit then Saturday night the real work started. 8:30pm-2:30am was spent installing all the whole tiles in all (3) bathrooms and marking the tiles for the (2) smaller baths for cuts. When I woke up Sunday (1:30pm) I headed to Lowes to have the tiles cut (I dont really like those cutters). Come to find out, their saw was broken and had been for 2 weeks. I ended up at Home Depot renting a tile cutter. This thing was HUGE - I've got a pic of it in my pics. It ended up being the best thing though. Went to work at 9pm New Year's eve and worked until 4:30am New Year's Day - got all the tiles cut and laid for all (3) bathrooms. Now I just have to pic out my grout color. I'll grout all (3) in one night, it's not that hard. Tiling is not that hard and I like to do it at night - dont ask why because I dont know... I just know I like tiling at night!

The house is within a month of being done. All that is left is: grout floor tile, install wall tile in shower and bath surround, install toilets, bathroom cabinets, sinks and shower hardware, install baseboards throughout house, install interior doors, finish installing oak treads and trim on stairwell (we're working on this now), install carpet in upstairs bedroom, install final cabinet when it comes in and have Corian folks install counter tops, finish porch then move my crap in! Not a lot, but it seems like FOREVER.
Oh yea, and I started back to school today... school, regular work, building this house, being a mother... yea I can do it all! Gotta jet PEACE OUT!

Where Does the Time Go?

Although we are working hard, it seems I can't FINISH anything. Guess this house is finally getting to me ~ should I even say it... sometimes I wish I had never done this. Ok, yea there it is... crash course in Negativity 101. We all do it, some more than others, but I really try hard not to. Try as I might, all this work, all this money, no rest for a year ~ yea it's gotten to me. But that's it, I guess it's ok to complain a little... or is it?
Immediately after my last blog, my power was turned on, the flooring guys finished my floors (oh yea - they look fantastic).

My dad and I had to change the layout of the kitchen cabinets, install them, uninstall them, change the layout again, install them again, return some and re-order others. While doing that, I bought the kitchen appliances... had to return the stove and get a special one (triple the cost - dangit!). We are waiting on a cabinet to come in and then the counter top guys can come in and make the template for the Corian (which will take another 10 days to make & install). Word of advice - if you dont know what you're doing ordering cabinets... dont trust HOME DEPOT to know either. I had a major blonde moment with those, but at least I know better now... yea... now... that the cabinets set me back a month.
SIDING - not sure if I mentioned this in previous blogs or not but I have to rip off all the hardie board siding that was already on the house and re-do it - apparently the guy that started this house didn't know you have to seal and paint it right away or it absorbs moisture and ruins it... yet another non-budgeted item to fix! That's being done this week and yes, I hired someone to do this. BATHROOMS - I installed all the rock/cement board on the floors of my (3) bathrooms to prepare for ceramic tiles and my dad and I continued to work on the porch - it looks good.

Christmas Vacation???

I know, Christmas is gone but I'm still trying to catch up from Christmas vacation.... can I call it vacation if I didn't get a break? My brother and his family came to visit and we put them to work - ha ha you got that right, no one is safe! We started and finished the roof that covers my porch, come to find out my sister-in-law has got a pretty mean hammer arm and my nephew does pretty good with a hammer too! I told you, no one is safe... my nephew is 11yrs old and when he wanted to help up on the roof that is 20+ foot off the ground I said.... there's the ladder! Ha Ha! They were a big help and we got that chore out of the way

Light at the End of the Tunnel

It is December 8 - Friday -one week from my last blog. Over the weekend and this week we managed to get all AC vents, outlets, switches, faceplates, lights and fans in. Everything looks great - is that the light at the end of the tunnel I see, or just the bathroom light ha ha!
Partial electrical and HVAC mechanical inspections were approved (everything is good) 5 minutes ago - My final power will be hooked up Monday.
Once they hook my permanent power up (Ive been on temp power), I can turn on my heat so my wood floors can "cure" and the wood floor installers can come back and sand and finish the floors.
My kitchen cabinets were delivered yesterday. We are installing the top cabinets this weekend. Once the wood floors are finished, we can install the bottom cabinets then my Corian installers can come in and make a template for my countertop.
Turns out, the siding guy was right and I have to tear off and install new siding and trim on the entire exterior. That's only $6K I didnt budget, but at least I won't have to lift a finger with that! It's been kind of nice hiring people to do the "labor". I've hired people for the drywall, wood floors and siding - that's not too bad that my father and I have managed to do everything else ourselves (with a little help from friends - I LUV YOU GUYS, all you who have helped me!)
Also this weekend I'll be installing rock board on the floors in the bathrooms so I can install my ceramic tile next week -keeping busy...Gotta Jet - PEACE OUT!

Where Are We?

Ok, so the last post was about footings - my how the time has flown by! We've got half of the porch done - not the top planks just the footings, support posts and "joists" I guess that is what they are called. It was tough work, the wood was heavy (pressure treated 2x8's in various lengths). The longest peice was 16' and assembled it was a double 2x8x16 with a 2x6x16 underneath (don't ask, I can't explain it but it's how it is done). We had to use my dad's tractor to lift that and put it into place. Dad and I worked all weekend and busted out the largest part of the deck, we'll begin work on the remainder after we get some stuff done inside.

Thanksgiving Holiday just didnt take place for me. I spent the entire holiday (Thurs, Friday & Saturday) priming and then painting the interior of the house - it is done and looks fabulous! Thursday I kept forgetting it was Thanksgiving... managed to get (2) of My Cafe Misto's from Starbucks before they closed at 3pm and my only meal of the day consisted of FRENCH FRIES! Yea, Whataburger was the only place open, being a vegetarian, I didn't have a huge selection to choose from. Thurs & Fri it was me, Ray and my parents and we got A LOT done. Saturday, my friends Wade and Amber came in and helped. My mom stayed home to watch the Seminoles get beat by the Gators - ha ha ha! I find watching sports extremely boring (of course my opinion only - and I absolutely love to tease my mom when her precious Seminoles get beat) My Dad spent most of the day trying to clean up his tools and get things in order for Sunday. Sunday, I finished up the last bit of painting then cleaned the house for the wood flooring guys who were coming in on Monday. After taking a look at what it would take to install my wood floors... i decided to hire someone for this task.Take a look, it's a lot to do http://www.remodelingmyspace.com/flooring/flooring-wood-hardwood/hardwood-flooring.htm
It's now Friday again: Wood Floors are in (but not sanded and finished yet). most of the outlets and switches are in, I've got to go buy my light fixtures and those go in this weekend. Kitchen cabinets are supposed to be done Dec 4th, I should get them by Dec 7th??? Trying to get all electrical in so I can get final sign off and get AC on so floor guys can finish the floors. I'm not sure which direction I am going in, lots of stuff happening at once so everything is a blur! I bought the ceramic tile for all my bathroom floors - got an excellent deal, which is good because I just found out that I have to rip all the siding off the house (it had 3 sides completed just not painted) because its Hardie Board and if you dont paint it, it can absorb moisture and ruin in - the vinyl siding guy says its ruined - yea, and he wants $7K to replace it with vinyl siding. So, that's where I am... where I'm going... not sure yet - probably crazy! ha ha! Gotta Jet - PEACE OUT!
ps - Special thanks to Ray, Amber and Wade for helping me paint, I know I am a bear to work with! Luv you guys!

Footings are not FUN!

Had a fun time Friday nite (11/10/06), went out with Amber and her friend to listen to a band. Good band, kinda scary place. Not too bad, just an older crowd - fun to laugh at! Well as the night progressed, drank a couple beers and a shot of Patrone (yea, I LOVE tequila) and had an interesting end to the nite - CODE OF THE ROAD ha ha!
Needless to say, saturday morning as I was digging the footings for my wrap around porch, I was not in "tip top" shape. none the less, the footings are done and Friday I will start building the porch - hope to have it done this weekend.
The drywallers are mudding the house now and I'll primer it Thurs & Friday and then start painting Saturday. Luckily I have a small group of friends to help paint - hopefully they can all make it.
Other than that, I'm buying my outlets, switches, face plates and electrical fixtures so I can install them all after painting and be able to work at night - yea I cant wait... i know, you can just feel the excitement hee hee.
Well that's all I have - oh, other than I had the BEST massage EVER yesterday. It pretty much kicked my ass and I feel goooooooooood.Gotta Jet - PEACE OUT!

It's Really Moving

The drywall is 6 boards of being completely hung, then the mudders come in. They didnt work today, but they will be done Monday morning. I am trying to finalize my paint and electrical fixtures, take measurements for flooring, tile and cabinets... oh my goodness things are really moving now - there is much I can do all at once. Our next step is the porch (while the drywallers are working). Tomorrow we dig and set the footings and then we build the porch structure... we need to get the siding on though - only one side. I have given myself an Xmas deadline, it would be nice to meet it - wonder if I can acheive it. I'm going to try. Wish me luck, hopefully I will have enough time and evergy to update my blogs...GOTTA JET - PEACE OUT
ps - Una and I did a nice trail run in record time today, 25 minutes... now I just need to see how far it is!

Drywaaaaaaaaaaaaall

Yea, its really happening - drywall is going up Tuesday. This weekend was spent doing odds and ends finish framing... some areas around the windows... hanging the rest of the green board in the bathrooms (where the tile is going to be) and cleaning. We took down the scaffolding - after we reinforced the ceiling nailers with screws. The house looks much bigger when there isnt a lot of crap in the way. I think I'll take a pic tomorrow to remember what it looked like pre-drywall.... do I really want to remember that?I had to insulate the little closet/room where my air handler is - didnt really have to the thing is quiet as crap as it is.. but i guess a little extra insulation cant hurt. Although it DID hurt because I didnt have my mask or goggles and I am seriously paying for that shit now. Oh well, this too shall pass. Heh heh that phrase always makes me think of something else....Well its late, Ive been working all weekend - crap Ive been working since March ha ha! I'm tired and Im going to sleepPEACE OUT! Next time you read this will be POST drywall - wish me luck!

Through Rain, Sleet or Shine...

Here we are, October and I'm still trying to get my inspections to pass. Re-did the drain plumbing. Our errors cost only $300(ish) bucks, but it was the best we could have hoped for - I mean, it could have been the copper & that would have cost an arm and a leg... no seriously, because I'd have to get money from a loan shark. I must say, the error in plumbing allowed me to learn drain plumbing. Dad did the majority of the stuff we had to remove, so this time I was doing it right along side. I had upstairs and loft and he had the basement. It looks so much better. I'll attach some pics soon. I also had to get up on the roof and put that stack in - HOLY CRAP - scary as shit! I had to scoot up on my butt in a sitting position bcuz it was so steep, i was just sliding off. I did it though... part of the time my dad stood at one peak and then held a hammer on the roof and I propped my foot on the hammer - yea, that was my foothold! Then after he almost slid off, he decided to put a 2x4 up there. Definitely a video moment - I gotta get this stuff on tape! Plumbing passed, and HVAC mechanical passed. But check this out - I've got to get an elevation certification - yea! $350 to have someone tell me if my basement and 1st floor is high enough that my shit won't flood. I know, you're saying "well misi, that's kind of a good thing to know". But you see, where my house is, its not in a flood zone - got the flood letter that says it. But noooooooo since I have a body of water at the back corner on my property (3 acres mind you), i've got to have this. Bad thing is, if I get bad news, I'll have to rip out one of my stairwells, any wood I have in the basement (I have a bathroom down there), move my water heater and electrical panel. This could be bad - I'm trying to remain positive... ha ha ha! Now, I bet you're thinking - what is up with the title - where are you going with this? Well the good news is... my dad and I were able to remove the window in the spare bedroom, cut out the wall and install the header and framing for the french door. Then, some very good friends of mine from work came out in the rain and helped me install my heavy ass french door. Yea, good peeps! It was so nice to have help and so much easier than when dad and I have to lift everything. We had a good laugh when the scaffolding we were on (yes, still raining and we're holding the door up) happened to slip off one of the blocks it was on... we almost went tumbling. Another video moment ha ha! All in all, inspectors are tough, but I guess they gotta be - I'm just ready to get the drywall in. Gotta Jet - PEACE OUT!

Inspections

Here we are electrical rough-in, plumbing rough-in, framing, insulation, HVAC mechanical, Plumbing tub sets all these things are done and ready for inspection. It feels gooooood. The electrical inspector comes out, gives us a few tidbits to finish then signs off approved. There is an incredibly long and aggravating story about the main inspector (who will be doing our framing and HVAC inspections) but Ill sum it all to say that he is curt and condescending. He advises me at 9am that he is coming late in the afternoon, then shows up at 12pm and leaves a nasty gram saying that since the plumbing hadnt been done yet, he wont do the framing, HVAC inspections ASS! Anyway, plumbing guy comes out late and to make a long story short we gotta re-do all the drain plumbing (thank goodness the copper supply is all good). So, were doing well, dad cut out the drain plumbing today and well get back at it on Saturday. Worst part, I gotta get back on the roof. Even higher this time and there is no extra hole or valley roof to prop myself against. I gotta drill and its steep and scary. I think this time I will rig some type of safety rope I could really get hurt if I fall Not looking forward to this weekend ha ha!