Prep work, prep work.

Oh how I love prep work....its the type of work that is a necessity for the real work to get done, but most of the time it's work that no one really wants to do, or no one really notices when it is done. That's what this weekend was, a prep work weekend. We were really hoping to have all the prep work done, but it hasn't been that way. So this is what we spent most of the weekend doing.


Yup, we were patching drywall. I went through and removed what hardware was left, and then Mike came behind me and patched drywall. I even learned how to do it as well.

Pretty exciting stuff, I know. While we were eating lunch on Saturday, I made the comment that it didn't seem like we were making any progress on the house, even though I know we are, but it's because we are doing all the prep work, that things just don't seem to be moving along.

We had a little bit of a surprise on Friday night. After spending the evening working on the house, I was in the middle of doing laundry when the dryer in the house we are renting decided to go out. Of course that is when it happens, when there is a load in there, and one in the washer. So after realizing that the one we bought wouldn't fit in the house we are renting, we decided that we would move both the washer and dryer out to our house, since we are spending all weekend out there, and that is when we do most of our laundry. So I finally got to use the brand new dryer that my sweet husband bought for me before we owned a house to put it in. Good thing we did things like that.



One thing that should have been an easy fix when we bought the house, but has been everything but, is one of the toilets. It went from just needing to replace the guts of it, to pretty much replacing everything but the actual porcelain, which at this point looks like we've should have done in the first place.



Now all this prep work is for the fact that we need to get paint on the walls. I did get started with that today. I started in our bedroom, since the ceiling in it has been painted and is no longer white.


And here it is after one coat of paint. Turns out that I ended up putting it on a bit thin and had to go back and apply a second coat. Learn something new everyday.


Even with the first coat of paint on the ceiling, it looks like a totally different room, don't you think?

Now the color that we have picked out for our room requires a tinted primer to make sure that the color is as true as it can be. I started to cut in around the molding after I painted the ceiling, and Mike decided that he would help roll some of the room.

We didn't get the room finished, but we did get two of the four walls done, so that was a good stopping point. The nice thing about this room is that we are painting all the molding and trim, so it didn't matter if we got either the ceiling paint or the primer on anything, since we will just paint over it. Made things super easy!

Now it's nice to see that we are indeed making progress, even though we have been all along.

Stair Day Take Two

Today there was thing on our mind that needed to get done....the stairs. Micah came out today and finished up the stairs and rails. This a major step in the remodel process, since it's starting to look more like our home instead of the home that was bought.

We had be trying to decide if we wanted to have wooden balusters or iron ones. I always thought that the iron ones would look much nicer, especially against the colors we have chose, but they were quite a bit more expensive then what we wanted to spend. Then comes along deal maker Micah. He had found some iron balusters that he would sell to us for half price, so of course we jumped on the option to have iron balusters.

In order to help speed up the process Mike helped Micah cut the balusters.


Now cutting solid iron balusters is very very loud, and it's hard to be anywhere near the saw.


Taking a quick break to pose for the camera. Love the ears don't you?? He is such a goof at times, but he always can make me chuckle. Silliness!!

The rails are up!!

The finished product....well almost. We still have to sand and stain the oak, but that won't happen until we are ready to put in the floors, so for now, this is as good as it's gonna get.

The view once you walk into the house.


So pretty, don't you think?

It was a very productive day. We accomplished the major project that we wanted to, plus made head way on some of the smaller ones around the house. Things are coming along quite nicely.

Do you know Tread and Riser??

Until this today, we didn't either. But our good friend Micah introduced us to Tread and Riser. The main project for this weekend it to refinish the stairs and put in the balusters and railings that go with them.

Mike and Micah wasted no time before they got to work on the stairs. When I got there this morning, this is what I walked into.

Makes it kind of difficult to walk up the stairs when they look like this. It was bad enough without any railings or walls to hold on to, but this one takes the cake.


Here is the mid way finished project....all brand new treads and risers. The treads are unfinished red oak hard wood, which will match the floors perfectly.

A view from the front door.

Of course what you do to one set of stairs, you need to do to the other one. Here are the boys hard at work getting the second set of stairs prepped for their new treads and risers.


The downstairs at the halfway point in their remodeling process. Looking pretty good if I do say so myself.

For those of you who are wondering if I am actually taking part of this remodeling project, besides taking pictures and outside work, these next few pictures are for you.

See I can have fun with power tools as well.

While all this fun and cool stuff is happening inside the house, I was still picking a battle with the ivy in the back yard. Many of you will remember what it looked like when we bought the house, but in case you don't, here's a reminder of what it did.


This was the first day we started on the ivy project, and when I say project, that is what I mean. This is by no means a small task. It's going to take several weekends to get all this cleaned up. But I did make some progress today, so it helps with the massive task at hand, to know that I have one small area cleaned up.

Can we say yeah for progress?? I know it doesn't look like it should have taken that long to get to this point, but let me tell you, ivy is a force to be messed with. Some of the root balls that I pulled out of the ground were massive. One down, only two more tree areas left...

Before we called it a day, the guys made some more progress on the stairs. They got on the pieces that we will eventually attach the balusters and the railings to.

So far we've had a very productive weekend. Hopefully tomorrow will give the same results!

When the walls come tumblin' down....

Well, they didn't come tumbling down, but they sure did come down. Today was mostly a day of demo work inside the house. This is what things looked like when we started this morning....

Mike wasted no time, he was very eager to get this wall to come on down.

We even got Robert to get in on the demo fun. Here he is with some of his fine handy work in removing this half wall to open up the foyer.

It might not be the straightest lines, but when you are cutting dry wall to remove a wall, it doesn't really matter how straight the cuts are, especially when it's just preliminary cuts to remove the dry wall sheets.

No dry wall, and studs exposed..

Now that the studs are gone, and the dry wall is trimmed down, it's almost ready for the rails that are going to be going there.

A view from the kitchen

These two walls were also tackled today. We didn't get them finished like the other one, but we did make a good amount of progress on them....



Even though today was pretty much about demo, it's still a good idea to clean up after yourself, that way no one gets hurt when they walk through the construction area.






Even the girls are enjoying this time at the new house. The weather has been beautiful this weekend, and they are enjoying it to the fullest.

One weekend of home remodel in the books, only several left!!

Happy Birthday Melissa

Today we were able to celebrate my sis in law's birthday, with her family and friends. I always love a time to get together and eat, so what better time than a birthday.


This is the usual group of suspects. We always seem to get along great, and have a wonderful time when we are together, so why change a good thing?

Michael was in charge of the grill....the rest of us brought in a side item to go with the burgers and brats that he cooked. There is something about the nicer weather that makes those burgers and brats taste that much better.



The yummy spread that we all put together and thoroughly enjoyed this lovely afternoon.


The birthday girl herself, with her homemade strawberry cake that was oh so yummy. Don't ask what went into the frosting, but let me tell you man it was yum-o!


Of course Katelyn had to help mommy blow out the candles on her cake....she is such a big helper.

We sure do love birthdays around here.....it's always a great time!!

Let the remodel begin....

Ok, now that the house is officially ours, there is a TON of work that we want to do to make it that much nicer. This weekend kicked off the remodel of the new house. There is a slew of things that need to be done, but like anything else, there is a priority list.

First things first, the fence needed to be fixed. There were two sections that were laying flat on the ground.

Now that it's all fixed, we don't have to worry about the girls getting into anything they aren't supposed to. In fact, they pretty much spend most of the time outside while we are working inside.


Priority number two was to get the ivy cut off the bottom of the trees, in hopes that the trees will survive and bloom this year.

Mike started to remove the ivy, and of course, Sidney was there ready and willing to help. I started to help Mike with the ivy, and by the end of the daylight hours, I had taken it over. By the end of the day yesterday, there had been some progress made.

These are the same trees that Mike and I started on. They look so much healthier without all the ivy around their bases.

This is just the start of what will be a very large pile of ivy, once it is cleaned out of our yard.


Ahh the sweet sign of progress. When I started today, all these trees were covered, and now they are ivy free. Well at least around the bottom half they are.


Here I have started to dig up the ivy roots that surround these trees. It's quite the project, and is going to take a few days to get them all dug out.

The last project that was outside was a very simple one. In fact, it only took Mike and Robert a few minutes to get it done.


When we started to look at this house, the mailbox was in the front yard, covered with snow. Mike decided that we needed to put the mailbox back on it's post, since this is now a owned home that is undergoing remodeling.

Upstairs just off the kitchen is what we are calling the sitting room. We will eventually have some chairs to sit and and just hang out.

This is what the sitting room looked like when we bought the house. After today's remodel this is how it looks...

Things look a little different now....the carpet is gone, and we have all the doors resting against the wall. It is serving as a sitting room, at least while we eat our lunch.

Hallway with carpet...


Hallway without carpet....

Pulling up carpet is a group effort, as you can see. Each one of us pitched in, and we got quite a bit done today. Tomorrow brings more projects and hopefully more accomplishments.