August 20, 2012

It's been a week, but some important things were done.  First off, Kyle laid the tile in our upstairs bathroom.  He did a great job!  I really love the floor!! 

Our new washer and dryer were also delivered on Friday.  Can't wait to do some laundry in those beautiful machines!  (I probably won't be saying that for too long, I'm sure.)

Late Friday night, Jay decided to do some painting. Around 10:30 Friday night, we carried up the vanity and placed it in the laundry area. Jay stayed up until about 3:00 that morning to finish painting and then he moved the vanity into its spot Saturday morning. 

We have such a great plumber (Chris Freund), who came in on a Saturday morning just so we could have a toilet for Carter's birthday party. This was a very important moment right here!  It's been almost three months since we've had a toilet in this house.  This is the first time a bathroom has been upstairs in this home.  What a joy!!

Chris preparing to install the toilet.  

Carlee was the first one to use the toilet.  I promise I wouldn't have taken a picture of Jay if he would've been the first.  :-/

This is Jay painting the laundry room, which is adjoined to the new bathroom.  

Saturday we received a lot of compliments on the project, but I think what everyone liked the most were the windows in the upstairs hallway.  Everyone loved them and so do we.  :-)  It sure brightens the whole area.  It evens brings light down stairs.
Saturday night was the first night we stayed in the house for good.....no more going back to the camper!  Hallelujah!!

We finally picked out the vanity light for the upstairs bathroom and wall sconces for the hallway on Sunday. Things are starting to all come together at the end quickly now.  A lot of painting to do yet, refinishing of the hardwood floors will be another big job and a little more electric and plumbing work.  We're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

August 14, 2012

It's 11:50 p.m.....I'm still awake....listening to the sound of texture being sprayed on the ceiling.  I'm staying awake with Jay so he has some company. We're in this together, even if I can't do the work like he can. :-)  Figured I'd upload some more pictures and videos while waiting for him to finish up.

This first set of pictures show Jay spraying primer.

A video clip of Jay mixing mud to spray on the ceiling for our ceiling texture, knock down.

This clip shows Jay spraying the texture. 

This clip shows him "knocking down" the texture on the ceiling.

Just some samples of what it currently looks like. 

And now it's officially my birthday.  Happy birthday to me!  I couldn't ask for a better birthday present.  Jay is putting in SO much effort in this project.  Gotta love him!  Wish I could help out more in this department.  You would never have guessed he spent about 15 years doing drywall because he really can't stand it now! He's so fussy with finishing, I just wanted him involved with it to get the best end result.  I think it's looking great!  Even though he "can't stand it" anymore, he still does excellent work.  No surprise!

August 13, 2012

Yesterday, we installed two more windows.  (Yes, I even helped.)

This is the opening of one of the windows that was accidentally insulated.  Here Jay is cutting out the opening.  

Exterior of where the opening will be.

Short video clip of the opening coming out.

This is how we got it down.

I lifted Jay and the opening back down.  This probably was a sight to see....as well as when I lifted him and the new window UP.  I only jerked a few times.  Hey, I'm not used to the tractor like he is.

All ready for the window.

Look at that!  Wow....did that brighten it up!

Won't it look nice when the other two windows upstairs are similar?  In time....

Putting this window in on the opposite side of the hallway was easy peasy compared to the other side.

Today....

sanding

Later today he will start the spraying.  

A bit of a bummer, but we're back in the camper until the end of the week.  There's too much going on to try and live in there right now.  Flooring in the upstairs bathroom will be done on Wednesday and Thursday.  Chris, the plumber, will be back towards the end of the week.  My washer and dryer are scheduled to be delivered on Friday sometime.  It's all coming together...

I hope to get some spraying pictures up tomorrow sometime.  :-)

August 11, 2012

Below are some random pictures of finishing drywall.  

Carter and Carlee think the stilts that Kevin is wearing are pretty cool!

Carter's first lesson on spotting screws.

Carlee, Jay & Kevin on break.

Had to show my favorite rounded corner beads.  We did these in our place in Medford and I really loved them.  Not what they did back in the day, but I chose them anyway.

What this guy will do for me!  :-)

3rd coating

Tomorrow or Monday, we (meaning Jay) is planning on spraying.  Thanks to Kevin Friedel, who put aside this past week to help us out.  We can't thank him enough!!


The past couple of days I've been working on paint colors.  Thanks to Tracy Lang, who has been helping me make some decisions on that end.  I always seem to choose my "safe" earth-tone colors, so I needed somebody else's opinions.  It's nice to have fresh ideas.  Plus, I got an evening of going out to dinner and shopping without the kids...now that's REFRESHING!    

August 8, 2012

Day #3 of hanging drywall.  Kevin came to help out again and they were able to finish up hanging today.  Tomorrow, first coat!

Living Room (southeast room)

Living room ready for the first coat of mud.

Closet to the left

Upstairs hallway.  Don't mind the spots in the picture....it's actually from dust particles floating in the air.  We've had plenty of that lately.

Tomorrow they will be applying the first coat of mud.  Kevin is so graciously coming back again.  We'll have some exchanging of labor to do once him and Connie buy their house.  :-)  

Also today, Mark came in and did some more electrical work.  He updated our basement's wiring also.  It feels weird going down there and not having a switch where I'm used to.  It's just around the corner instead.  All of the switches feel so good!  I still can't get train myself to remember to turn the switch on in my bedroom.  I always go to the closet and turn the light on instead.  Hopefully soon I can remember to do that.  Well, it's been three years without one.....it's a little hard to get used to!  

Seeing the drywall mess reminds me of why Jay's business was called "All White Drywall".  It's white everywhere and we haven't even mudded yet!!

Time to start thinking about paint colors!