Finishings Started

Gee, not sure how long I can type for as my arm is tired from holding it up for so long tightening screws.  I plan on drop kicking half my shoe shelf for my closet into next week.  I haven't grown my 3rd arm yet to smack it into place while I hold it so tomorrow I'll get the guys to trim it down a half inch to make it fit.  Being 4" too short and afraid of going up taller ladders doesn't help.  Got the other half of the 'L' in so there's that small triumph.  I REALLY wanted to get those shoes up there today darnit.

I have a sinus ache so I think I'm getting a little crankier than I should be, but that's me.  Some upsides for the day are... banister and railings are in, trim work is getting finished off, siding is almost complete, tub is now in the yard and not the kitchen (and listed on a used site), kids are happy with their new Halo 4 game, I got a scrap shelving piece for one shoe shelf side (say that 10x's fast) for free, and I had a very peaceful moment at the beach with my Salted Caramel Mocha made with Soy from Starbucks all by myself.

Some down sides are that there are new guys in the crew who didn't know the paint scheme plan so installed some pre-painted trim in the wrong place, defeating the purpose of pre-painting them.  I'll have to just let it go as we have to get up there anyway and do touch up so it'll get done then.  Too chilly and wet (sunny today though) to worry about it now. Woke to no hot water as after the electrical run through on Monday the breaker never got turned on again for the tank so it cooled slowly until today when it was icy.  Hot water breaker wasn't marked so it wasn't obvious what the problem was.  The electricians showed up promptly to deal with it and installed a new kitchen heater.  I think that's all for my grumbling.

Here are some new photos!

This is what it was like Saturday...

 ...and by Sunday - not finished by any means.  I've some lovely curtain fabric on order and it will be painted a gray/green called 'Juan de Fuca'

 By end of today.

 ooh, looky, more to clean and paint.

 No risk of people falling off the second floor - oh what a worry it was.

 All for Master Chief will be revealed shortly.

 AHH!  Funny thing at the lumber yard today...I was loading my shelves into the trunk where we had stored (don't know why there) our hallowe'en realistic skeleton.  A man walking from his car to the store looked very concerned, perplexed and a little curious if I had a cadaver in my trunk.  I assured him it was just a hallowe'en decoration and he was glad thinking it was my husband.  It really is a real looking item.  

 Gaping hole gone.  Foundation fixed ($3400 later).

Just things put wherever for now, but that ethanol burning fireplace by Blomus and Ikea drapes really do look sharp.

 Sectional and TV shopping this weekend I hope.  The litter box will not be staying in the living room!

Why you hire people to do this.  Someone will have a few words patching that spot!

3/4" trim decided on to finish off the edges.  Nice, chunky pieces would not have worked.  This will be fine when the bull nose is added.  Caulking, staining and painting await.

Until a few days when I'm sure it'll all look different again!

Half Way Moved In

This has been the busiest last few weeks of my life, easily.

Well our update now is that we are sleeping in the house and, of last night, able to eat in the house.  I took back the kitchen although there is the claw foot tub still sitting in there...like the old days when folks would bath in their kitchens.  Should give it a try.  We hope to sell it this weekend although there is the thought in our heads for a 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' style tub sofa out of it.  We still need the garage for entertainment such as TV and a safe place for daycare kids to roam.

Our Contractor believes that next week will be complete everything week, but I'm not so sure about that.  The siding is 80% up, trim still needs to be done on the outside and in garage, remaining shingles need to go up and the stairs and banister need completion. Mind you they work quickly and efficiently so maybe he can pull it off.

As I said before, I don't want to give away too much about each room just yet so here are some photos from along the way these last two weeks.

 Hmmm, wonder what this is for and why is my son using it as his head?

 Contents of future closet and linens, man alive!

 My closet - now complete, all hung and awaiting trip to lumber yard to make a shoe shelf on top.  I'm thinking though shoe storage may still be a challenge.  This took me ALL of Wednesday to sort and stock.

My sister of the weekend crew did all our ironing!  Those are the living room drapes.

 MY craft room drapes and new dining chairs which were assembled by Lisa of the weekend crew.

 View from above - oh boy do we ever need a railing - freaky stuff.

 It looks SO nice in person - very grown up.

 I gave the kitchen a first floor clean last night - here you can see why we use this product, it cleans up beautifully - perfect for a house full of boys.  (sorry, fuzzy photo, this gal needs a new camera).

Dine and bathe anyone?  Normal me would never allow a tea towel to look so messy on it's rack.  

Soooo Close

Sometimes Facebook gets the updates first (and tend to be a little more personal) so stop on by and 'Like' A Home Revised on Facebook!  Also I plan on making 'pages' for this blog when it comes time for room decoration.  I think that will force me to complete each room before I move onto the next.  That's how projects don't finish as it's so easy to lose focus when your thoughts are on another project.

It's so close to move in time I can taste it.

I have neglected most other parts of my existence, including this blog, to finish up the interior painting to both last week ready for the plumbers and this week ready for the electrician.  We are good to go!  We've painted everything except the doors and trim, which are not installed yet, and have completed all flooring installation but the living room.

A sink!!!!  With running hot and cold water!!!! (that's not the final paint job, btw, details to follow)

We have a shower people!!!  I took the longest, hottest bath I could stand on Saturday and it was heavenly. I had no door, no heat and no light mind you, but that was fine I had a shower curtain to hold in the heat.  We've a washing machine, but we'll have to wait on the dryer for the electrician and new laundry hose.  I'll just hang things all inside the garage to dry for now, it'll do.

We've had two rather expensive hiccups.  One was the skirting all around the house being rotten and the other was the discovery of a 10 foot length of foundation that was in ruins under the front door.  That has been a gruelling task for the workmen - just a couple feet tall under there and surely didn't smell to nice with all the raccoon activity we've had.  With those two glitches we could've bought a rather nice used car and a trip to Disneyland!  That's a huge reason why you don't go into a project like this with your maxed out budget.  We would've had some serious tears if we had, right now it's just an irritation and perhaps a hold on the 70" TV and sectional.  Booooo.

 The skirting repair has been mended and belly banded, but there's still this wonky bit.

How the damaged foundation was discovered...when we were deciding if the porch was rotting from underneath.  That turned out fine, but opened up a nasty can of mean ol' worms.  Hi Olivia!

A very small area for the workers.  Today the prepared hole will be poured.  He was able to cut down on our costs by putting our order in with another's foundation pour on the same day.  THANK YOU!

This was all inspected by an engineer so it'll be built to last.

My other annoyance was the shingle staining.  My first two bundles went swimmingly using the oil based product that I could just dip the shingles into a terrific speed then hang to dry. I quickly ran out of that stain so went back for more.  When I opened it up at home I thought "this looks weird" so I called them up to query why the base number was different.  Well to my dismay with the VOC regulations in Canada changed now only water based products are available.  I do not like this product!  It went on more like paint so dipping was a time consuming task as was using a brush.  Not only that, but the colour was more opaque.  The WORST part was when I finished up my hands felt like icicles so I decided to leave the last batch to dry flat where they were.  Bad idea.  It rained the next morning washing away the top layer, leaving behind a streaky, uneven mess.  I need to sort this out but it's too cold out now to fix it.  I'll have to wait for us to move out of the garage so I can use the space to start again or fix it, then it can dry with the heater and be protected from the elements.  It's getting chilly here in Western Canada, we get little snow, but make up for it with rain.

I feel defeated and sad about this.  Very sad.  

On the bright side, this does not need to be finished for us to move in so I'll run with that thought.  

It all looks really smashing inside and we know the outside has had all issues delt with and is now safe.  That's what matters.  Another 100 years are left in this baby.

We really are renovating still...

PROMISE!!!!  New post this weekend.  We've been so super busy that I've barely a moment to spare.

Termite Update

Phew, the pest control people said it's nothing to worry about and doesn't even suggest spraying.  Most of the wood had been replaced and was likely caused by a rose bush that gets watered in the spot they were found.  Not even a charge for the call to come out so that was a nice and rare surprise.

Old Island Pest Control was the name if you need a pest control company :)

1921 with Termites

Simple, to the point, termites :/' 

During the removal of the old house's shingles they found termites had done their thing in one section...so far.  The other part uncovered looks fine, but another part will need it's wood removed then the exterminators have suggested spraying the new to prevent any damage in future.  He'll come by tomorrow am to have a look.  Another expense, but hopefully with them just being the rot wood kind vs subterranean will be a manageable cost.  We'll see what the rest of the house reveals.  

Oh and a sheet of newsprint from 1921 was in the exterior wall.  Back then you could get coal for $11.80 per ton and a corset in medium bust style, well boned and neatly trimmed for 98 cents.  As well as a news story of a "Los Angeles policeman killed and another probably fatally wounded in a pistol duel with bandits..." A few other interesting stories and prices as well.  We'll put it the attic along with a paper from now.  Fun find.

Breakthrough

Came through the front door to put down my day's purchases only to find the most awesome of sights, my living room!

It's so bright and spacious and we have sooo done the right thing in doing this renovation.  Seeing all the white drywall makes me also think white should be the wall colour in there.  Keep it bright (makes cutting in not so fussy too).

 See, there's the kitchen!

 View from the stairs.

Patio door is in, but alas there was a mishap installing the doorknob so a repair or replace is in order tomorrow.

Epic Painting

We ended last week with a dry walled upper floor and a delivery of the remaining Hardie Siding and trim pieces.  Our endlessly dry summer is to end Monday so we hope to have much of it painted this weekend.   Really, we only NEED to pre-paint what will be on the higher parts, but it sure would be nice to have it installed with only caulking needing to be painted at the end.  We'll see how we do.  

So next week is the taper coming to work upstairs while the others continue on down then after that it's over to us to paint inside.  Can't wait!  While the taper is working (and they're done the drywall) they'll start work on replacing the rotten wood bits around the old house. 

 Boys' closet

 Master - spot where the bed will go

Upstairs bath

 Master - TV wall

 Staircase.  We really think we should've installed a fireman's pole from the boys closet to below...DARN IT!

Last weekend's painting (those are stacks of Hardie on the left, not just a few.

 

Our next lot :/ Hardie on the left, trim work and belly bands on the right.

 

Insulated

We end this week with an insulated house, new skylight, all windows installed (except kitchen replacement), temporary stairs in, shower/tubs in.  Oh, and the outside wrapping done.  

Today we'll continue painting the Hardie Siding so we don't need to venture up on tall ladders too much.  Such a nice day out so we must take advantage while we can.  Dry, dry summer.  

Downstairs bath on the left, living room tv area on the right.

 Purchased via brochure - a little nerve racking in case it wasn't deep enough, but they're fine.  Only $602!

 Boards in the way from the skylight install to get upstairs, but this is a view of the kids room with ours to the left.

 Skylight

 Shhh, secret room under the stairs for the kiddos.

 Recessed lighting

 From the front it doesn't look any different really

 but...from the side, HUGE!

I *think I like the garage door colour, still another coat to go.  I mixed it myself with the sill and house colour.

BLOMUS

I am so hugely stoked by our day.  Savings were all around and it's making me think all that luck should send me out to buy a lottery ticket.

Firstly, my sourcing of the ethanol fireplace via a used website played out so well.  When we decided against a wood stove due to the cost we decided ethanol would be a cool alternate.  I used to work in a store that sold them so checked there first - my favourite one was discontinued so I went on the hunt on the internet.  Found it at four other places - all sold out.  RATS!  It hit me - check a local used site.  Wa-hoo, the exact one I wanted for $500.  Keep in mind these particular fireplaces originally priced at $2000, now around $1500 for their discontinued prices so this was a steal.  Not only that, but it was being sold by a business that was re-doing their showroom so it had never been fired and came with 16 litres of ethanol.  

Our other score for the day was finding two one-piece shower/tubs for $602 each.  I was expecting to pay over $1500 for each but I was hugely surprised what we ended up spending.  It was bought via catalogue so here's hoping they look good in person.

Also found most of the remaining light fixtures and all bought using our military discount the store offers.  

Time for a beer and put my feet up after all that shopping!

BLOMUS

'Chimo, Wave'

Our new beauty, can't wait to hang it!

2 Months In (house)

Yay, the temporary stairs went in today giving me the chance to finally see the upstairs.  I'm very pleased with all that's been done.  Until now I've been relying on my husband and kids to go up the ladder and report on progress up there.  Very frustrating as you can well imagine, a four year old doesn't quite my design direction!

Pretty big glitch today, the first two feet of the original house is rotting away to powdery dust.  We knew it might be the case with such an old house, but you hope for the best.  Our two options for dealing with the issue are a).  To install the Hardie Siding over top of the rotten wood in which case our contractor would not put his name to it as it would fall off within a year or b).  Remove all the rotten bits and replace with pressure treated wood and do it properly.  Option B is clearly the only choice but comes at a price.  Don't know the price to the dollar just yet but it's looking in the couple of thousand mark.  Bummer, but this is why we didn't budget the project with our top dollar.  Plan for a house you'll be happy in at a conservative budget and have a reserve for the unexpected.  We'll still be fine with our budget so it is what it is. 

Our stairs have taken some fine tuning as well.  We gained another 7" when the project started moving ahead thus making the stairwell one step taller, thus making it one step further into the hall and into the support beam.  They've solved this by making the entry into the hall a foot narrower and creating a landing between the kitchen into hall steps and the stairs bottom step.  Hard to describe, I'll take a picture.

Our only other change, made while camping, is that we'll be nixing the wood stove in the living room for now.  Our Contractor called up to say that the installation of all the parts, minus the stove itself would be about $3100.  Then add to that another $2000-$3000 for the stove itself!  No thanks, we don't want to spend $6000 on a stove when we already have one.  If we didn't then we would've gone through with it.  The solution is an ethanol burning wall mounted "fireplace".  They are very slick looking, attractive, give off a pleasing flame and require no special installation or clearance.  It's on par with burning candles.  They don't give off much heat, like a candle, but do warm the area close by enough to take the edge off.

Big shopping day tomorrow with a friend.  Here's my list...

2 x Shower/Tub
2 x Shower taps
1 x Toilet
2 x Sink/vanity
Fireplace (found a huge score on a used website, I'll post if the deal pans out)
12 x Door and closet knobs

8 x Various light fixtures

Phew!

Better go clear out the trunk for all those lights I'll hopefully smoothly find.

 See, the last step is very close to that beam.

 Hard to believe that was a rubble pile a month ago.

 Doodles of ideas for the stair solution.

 My closet (hubby I suppose can use the small one on the right if he must)  with bathroom beyond (insert Angelic singing here).

 Blerg

 Call me crazy, but I'm really digging the white on the original house.  Hubby would have my head since we've already painted the garage the 'seaweed'.  Oh well, I've lots of white happening inside to keep me happy.

 After all that stink about which Goose Neck Light to buy, they were sold out of the one in our price point and the electrician needed to know where to put the connection.  I ran out yesterday with my youngest in tow and burned through 4 light stores to end up with this one.  Not my dream fixture but I do like it's simplicity, size and price ($89).  With all that savings of over $100 not buying the Goose Neck it afforded the prints I bought online yesterday.  Win, win!

Artwork!

I am so pleased with the 4 pieces of art we've purchased for the new house.  Beyond happy with all of them and am busting for the day when they can be hung.  Today I purchased 3 prints online that I found via someone's 'pin' on Pinterest that led me to someone's blog that featured the artist's work.  Pinterest is a wonderful thing!

House build update coming your way soon!  It's busy with electricians right now.

My (our) treasures...

'Round the Bend' 

original art by:

Anne Bowen

www.annebowen.ca

'Tinkerbelle' 

Print by:

Janet Hill Studio

http://janethillstudio.com/

 'This Is The Place She Had Been Heading All Her Life'

Print by:

Janet Hill Studio

'Starlight' 

Print by:

Janet Hill Studio