Home Improvement

Well, mom and dad got the first coat of paint in the bathroom and ran a bunch of errands while we were at work today. Thanks guys! Estela started the move in process too. This weekend is mainly about moving so we probably won’t get much else done. Next week we will finish up the bathroom and work on some of the electrical problems that are going on (and there are quite a few!) We found an outlet that when we plugged the Dremel tool into and turned on, a light in the garage came on. How awesome is that? And remember that ceiling fan in the living room? Yeah, we’ll try to wire that up properly, amongst other things. We’ll be pretty busy still. Anyways, the combination of beer and cold medicine is about to knock me out so… We’ll post ya laters.

Well, we started moving stuff over and settling in a little. Mom and dad got to texturing the bathroom and getting it ready for paint. Dad got the tile all sealed last night. It looks even better than I thought it would! Estela started decorating a little. We put the new cover set on the day bed in the office. It looks pretty great. Estela couldn’t resist trying it out.

So comfy... Must lay down... Couch Kryptonite...

It’s pretty darn comfortable. Well, other than that, not much else going on right now. Moving is the priority. But we want to get the bathroom put back together pretty soon too. After some paint tomorrow, the shower will be usable. How awesome will that be? Ask my parents, I’m sure they’ll be glad to tell you how nice it will be… Anyways, my allergies are still killing me, so I’m gonna crash out. We’ll post ya later.

Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet!

Woo hoo! We have new carpet! Heck we have carpet. There hasn’t been carpet in the house since day 2 when we removed all the funky old carpet. It was so exciting to come home and see the new carpet. It looks awesome!!! The first thing we did after removing our shoes ws to roll around on it, and yes, I made fists with my toes. Trust me, it works, so relaxing. I even made a carpet angel! I can’t believe 2 guys (from JW Flooring) did the whole house in like 3 hours, plus they even took away the old nasty carpet! Seriously, Home Depot has some awesome deals right now.

Can you see the carpet angel?

Everything is starting to come together. Finally, now the move in phase can begin. The carpet was the biggest exciting thing to happen today, but mom and dad also got someone to haul away all the trash and a bunch of the yard waste. We had a lot. The yard had become quite the swampland before we got the house, but now it is starting to dry out and look awesome. Keeping up with the mowing on it is gonna keep us busy. And by us, I probably mean me… Oh well, the price one pays right?

I don’t know why, but it was also exciting to see a dimmer switch on the living room light. Thanks pop. It’s the simple things in life really, you know? Anyways, Estela and I didn’t really do much today but enjoy the new carpet. I don’t think we’ll be getting much done for a while besides moving. That’s the next phase of homeownership, actually living there. I know, novel idea. Well, we do need to finish up the bathroom. Dad was finishing up the caulking and was going to seal the tile tonight. Thanks again pop! After that texturing and painting, then the toilet and sink can go in. I can’t wait to see it all done.

Anyways, my allergies are killing me. I’m gonna crash, we’ll post ya later.

Dang, My parents were busy today… even with dad avoiding painting a lot got done! Just kidding dad! Mom kept giving him tasks so he conveniently got out of painting today. Hmm, how’d he work that? I’ll have to find that one out. I’m sick of painting. Anyways, mom went painting crazy. We’ve got the new carpet coming tomorrow so everything has to be ready for that. After carpet, we begin moving in. Woo hoo!!! Saweet! Anyways, almost everything that still needed painting got painted. After work, I helped give the office another coat of  the glossy, it looks awesome. The texture came out even better than I thought! Now, I can’t wait for the carpet. That’s basically what today was geared towards, getting ready for the carpet to come tomorrow. I wish I could watch it get installed, but it will be nice to come home after work and rolling around on it! I can’t wait to take off my shoes and socks and make fists with my toes. That’s for all you Die Hard fans out there (one of my all time favorite movies!!!) Anyways, not much to show pictures of today but here’s a few shots of the great sunset as shot from the street in front of the house. I love the view from there.

And on that note, I’m gonna finish my Bud Light crash out. Good night y’all, we’ll post ya later.

Well, sorry this is a few days late in the coming. I’ve been too exhausted by the time I get home. I’m out as soon as I take a shower. I even came close to sleeping through work! At least we made it to work on time. Mom and dad were busy while we were at work. They got a lot more painting done, and Dad finished up laying the tile in the bathroom (it’s looking awesome!) Estela’s parents got more work done in the front yard. Estela’s mom even found another rose bush hidden in the front yard. It’s amazing what you find when you mow the lawn! (You might be a redneck…)

Estela and I finally got to play with the texturizing paint. We used another BEHR product. We should by stock… Are you feeling the love BEHR? Anyways, it worked really well. It took a few minutes of playing around with, we got the hang of it. The paint is like a really thick mud and you use the crazy roller brush in the picture to roll it on. You have to find a bit of a balance of how much you get on the roller and how much you work it. Be ready for a bit of a mess if you try this at home kids. Wear safety glasses! It’s pretty cool. We had been thinking about using the sprayer, but we all think this was a way better option. Less prep time, and definitely less clean up!

Anyways, I’m beat and my bed is beckoning… We’ll post ya later.

Leave no stone (or piece of drywall) unturned. Or the best laid plans… Well our goals got a little pushed back today. We found more of the dreaded “M-word.” Hopefully this will be the last of it. Luckily it was confined to a small area near a door frame. While cutting that out, I did find a little treasure trove however. 

More hidden treasures!

 I don’t even want to think what else might be lurking in our walls. As long as I don’t hear crawling, I’m not going to think about it!!! Dad did some finishing work around the new bathtub and the entire bathroom as well as getting our closet access panel ready for painting. I did quite a bit more sanding and mudding in preparation for the priming and texturing. Mom was Jenny on the spot. She was everywhere, helping and cleaning, as well as a dozen things I am sure I am forgetting. Sorry Mom. Estela and her family had to head to Bakersfield for the weekend, so it was just Mom, Dad, Myself, and the solicitors (Seriously, how friggin many water filtration guys are going to come by???)

Unfortunately we didn’t get to play with the texturing paint. I’ll have to review that tomorrow. The bathroom is almost ready for the tile. That should start going in tomorrow as well. The tub and shower are almost done. Things are getting there. Maybe slowly, but definitely surely. Time has come to sleep off another long, hard day of work so I’ll sign off once again. We’ll post ya later.

Dude, I feel like I did a bit of work today. I was a sanding machine… I spent most of the day sanding joint compound and applying more. I think the office is almost ready to start texturing and painting. At least that’s what my shoulders are telling me, when they aren’t aching! Ouch! Dad was trapped all day in the bathroom. We locked him in there and wouldn’t let him out. Actually, he was working like crazy on the bathtub/shower. Prepping for and then caulking all of it took a while, but it was worth the wait. It is looking awesome! We are so close to having a working shower now. Yay! Bill was all over finishing up my access panel in the closet and helping me get the last of the drywall up.

Mom, Edith and I tackled the backyard again. We are trying to get it cut down more and let it dry out. It stays really wet back there. As we get it cut shorter and keep it shorter it is starting to dry as we go. Mom and Edith pulled out 3 big bags of this crazy vine we’ve got growing back there. It’s kinda cool looking but it was literally taking over the yard. I think it was gonna eat the shed! It’s like something out of the Little Shop of Horrors. I think I’ll name it Audry III! Just don’t bleed on it right?

Anyways, we are getting closer and closer every day. This weekend’s goal is to have a working shower. We might start Texturing and painting. We’re going to try out some BEHR Texturing Paint. I’ll post how well it works. It looks cool. I guess it’s really thick and you roll it on with this funky roller brush that gives it the texture. We’ll see how it comes out and I’ll let y’all know. We might even look at laying the new tile in the bathroom too. Hopefully things keep moving smoothly (knock on wood.) And with that, the Red Beer I just downed while writing this is kicking in. I think I’ll sign off for tonight. We’ll post ya later.

We love our huge backyard!

P.S. Here’s a panorama shot of the backyard. It’s crazy! It looks twice as big as it used to before we mowed it and everything.

“I love it when a plan comes together!” -Hannibal (the A-Team)

It is sooooo cool to see things start to take shape. Bill and Dad are just going crazy on this bathroom. By the time they are done with it, it will be brand new from floor to ceiling. Seriously, new floor tiles, new sink with cabinet, new tub, new surround, new walls, new light fixture, new outlet, and last but not least… a new toilet! So sweet! Today they pulled the floor tiles (where we found more of the dreaded “M” word!) They have the surround up and curing. We can seal it up tomorrow an might be able to use it in a day or two! (And there was much rejoicing!)

Mom mowed the rest of the back yard. It now looks twice as big! Now maybe it will dry out. It’s kind of been a swamp with all of the rain we’ve had. I’d hate to breed West Nile virus back there or something! Now we just need to keep it short. I love having a big yard. I was running around with Maggie (the dog) and it’s just awesome! We can’t wait to have a dog of our own… That’s another one of those infamous “down the road” happenings. Anyways, Tony got some more exterior painting done and got some of the water out of the moat. In all it was a good day. It doesn’t seem like much happened, but a lot is going on. This weekend is going to be a big one. I’m off tomorrow and hope to actually be of some help finally this week. Here’s a few pics of what’s going on. Hopefully this bathroom will be pretty done by Sunday. We’ll post ya’ll later.

Well another day, more progress. Dad and Bill are going like gangbusters on the shower surround (or as Edith calls it, the sound around.)

The tub surround starts going up!

We all can’t wait till it’s done! It’s kind of a slow process, especially for something called an Easy Install Surround! Bill’s glad we didn’t buy the Hard Install Surround! He he he! Anyways, it is definitely coming along. After quite a bit of research, this seemed the best option for dealing with the window sitting so low into the shower. It’s something that goes up (fairly) easily and could be cut to fit the window. More work was done on the office walls too! Even Estela got into the act, mudding some of the closet.

Not bad for a girl that doesn't like to get her hands dirty!

Yet again, it was another day where Everyone did a lot more than we did (which was about nothing.) Estela and I only ended up going to Home Depot to pick out hardware for the shower. We got some cool handles that match the knobs on the sink. Oh, and Bill and Edith gave us the gift of a new toilet. Thanks guys! They know me well… it is truly a gift that keeps on giving (or should I say taking? I’m sorry, that was bad. I really should avoid the toilet humor. Oh no, I can’t stop the toilet jokes!!! Make it stop.) Wow, now that I’ve regained what little sanity I had, I’ll continue.

Mom and Edith finished up the painting on the living room, it looks so awesome. I don’t know why, but we loooooooooooooooooooove the high gloss white. Thank you Behr for making a great product and thank you Home Depot for having a good sale on it. Anyhoo, another day down and big steps made. We are getting closer and closer every day. As my dad said the other day, “We can see a light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s not even a train!” Ha ha, he has an interesting sense of humor. I guess that’s where some of mine comes from… We look forward to getting some more done and maybe even moving in. I know, it’s a crazy idea. Buying a house to actually live in, not just work on. That’s just crazy talk. Maybe I should lay off the Miller Lite! Oh well, we’ll keep you updated. Post ya later.

Hey kids, sorry it took a couple of days to update the blog… It’s been a tough week. But that’s another story for another time (actually a couple of them really.) Anyways, day 18 showed even more progress. Mom, dad, Bill, and Edith continue to bang it all out while everyone else is at their jobs. They have done some serious damage. Mom and Edith were painting fiends almost finishing the living room and even slapping some primer on the kitchen! There is less and less of the ugly colors every day! Woo hoo! Dad and Bill are just cranking on the bathroom. They finished all of the green board in the bathroom and drywall in the office.

New valves in addition to the green board. Thanks guys!

Bill had a good idea to leave a plywood access panel in the closet that is on the plumbing side of the bathroom in case we ever need access to the plumbing. I was thinking of using a cabinet door but this is even easier. Just remove a few screws and the entire lower wall comes off if we need to get to the plumbing. “I’ll buy that for a dollar!” Good idea! In addition to they framed out the window that is in the shower too. Bill went nuts mudding the office and sanding. In all a good day. I’m sorry that I haven’t gotten to do much so far this week, but gotta pay the bills too. We appreciate all the work that they are putting in. Can’t wait to see the bathroom when it’s done, and they can’t wait to use it I’m sure. A big thanks to Tony and Anna letting everyone come over for showers. That’s about all for today, I’m sure I missed a bunch but things are really coming together now. We’ll see you next time on the next installment of this old blog.

PS. Here’s a pic of Maggie. She’s been a big help too, keeping Estela sane and giving me some exercise. We’re really glad Bill and Edith brought her with!

Maggie Joe keeps us all entertained...