Trying to Hold it Together

Have you ever had to deal with contractors? If you have it isn't always fun. Fortunately for us we don't have to use contractors too often because Marc and I know how to do most everything ourselves. However, our project house needs a new roof.........and it's a big one. With the weather in Ohio as it is right now we would have to take a week off to get it done. With Marc's busy schedule at work that is not an option. So, we hired a roofer to do the roof. An Amish crew that claims they will have it done in two days. It is a three layer tear-off with damaged wood replacement and new dimensional shingles. Two days. I suppose with their 12 man crew it is possible..................IF they would ever get it started. They were supposed to star this past Monday and with scheduling conflicts, permit issues and now bad weather...........possibly Friday.

As you can see in this picture they roof is desperate. See the pretty blue tarp on the roof? That is covering a series of holes that are leaking into the house. Fortunately all of the water is running down the outside of the chimney so the damage is staying to one area. However, we are going to come to a point where work will be haulted until the roof is complete. No sense hanging new drywall when there is water coming down! I have made several calls to the roofer and he is HOPING to be on the roof Friday. I certainly hope so, otherwise I will have no choice than to fire the poor Amish man who hasn't even technically started and find someone else. Don't want to do that. And in case you are wondering- no, we have not paid them any money yet.



Last night I finally figured out how to convert the weird bedroom layout into a more conducive space. Two of the bedrooms are connected due to a more recent addition. You have to walk through one bedroom to get to another.

So, I got out my tape measure and my painter's tape and played around with a "chalk line" as my husband calls it, until I go it right. I won't leave the door there though.

The "new" room will still be a decent size at 10x10. So that works.

I also removed all of the old door casings and prepped the spaces for the new, pre-hung, white paneled doors.

Picture me jamming the pry bar above the top casing and hanging from it like a monkey trying to get that bad boy down. Fun.

After that I started removing the wallpaper from one of the bedrooms...........

Stripping wallpaper is SO not my favorite thing to do.

We framed in one of the doorways that leads into the kitchen to allow for a better layout and more cabinet space. Marc had the frame ready to go and asked me if I would go cut the stud for him. I told him no, no way. I am terrified of the miter saw! So, he gave me an "Okay, I understand" look" and asked if I would measure and mark it for him. To that I happily agreed. As I was measuring the board I had this terrible wave of guilt come over me. I thought to myself, "we are in this together.............Marc can't do all of this himself.......it's time to step out of your comfort zone Heather." And without dwelling on it further I grabbed that 2x4 up, marched out to the garage and made my first ever cut with a miter saw. It was still scary, but I did it. Power tools do not bother me, I love them actually, but the miter saw scares the daylights out of me. However, I know I can do it now so I will keep cutting............and hopefully keep all of my fingers in the process.

Marc was extremely proud of me to say the least and I even had to mark my stud.........

LOL!! Doesn't our wall look good??? To the right of the newly framed wall will be a large opening/window to open the kitchen to the living room. It will span about 7 feet and really give a nice look. There will be about a foot of wall to the right of the opening and then the entrance into the kitchen.

Our plans to vault the kitchen were going to be costly and set us back quite a bit so a window is the next best thing- if you can even compare the two plans. As if!

While we were busy working Kyle was busy on a project of his own. He was building a "bench" and spent about two hours just like this hammering nails into the boards.

Bella ended up falling asleep while she was drawing so we decided to pack up and head home for the night.

Cali..................what a hoot she is. While we were sawing and hammering and demolishing this is what she was doing..............

Hee Hee!!! Isn't that funny!!! She is a great sleeper. I could watch her sleep for hours though. I love how she pulls her little legs up. She looks like a bug on it's back!!!

Again, first thing this morning the kids were asking if we could go to the house!! They love it there! One of the reasons I am sure is because-unlike our apartment- they can run and jump and be as noisy as they want and not disturb the neighbors. The house is a lot bigger than our apartment too and with no furniture in there they have a LOT of room to run around and play.

Have a great day!!

~Heather:)

PS Thank You ALL for your sweet comments............... you are all so encouraging!!! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!!!

Flippin' Houses & Holdin' Babies

Yesterday was another busy day for us. We started off our day shopping at the Home Depot for materials. Good way to start a day, right? hee hee Once we got to the house Marc installed some overhead lighting in the family room so the kids could play down there even after dark. Then, while Marc was in the kitchen getting rid of multiple "mystery" electrical wires I started demo on the bathroom.

Here is the before...................


The medicine cabinet and vanity was not only disgustingly dirty but it was covered in mold. Can we say rubber gloves?? And the tub......well, there are no words. Hopefully they wore shoes when they bathed in there but I doubt it.

I went to work and ripped up the old linoleum and cove base............

And then I removed the yucky vanity which it turns out was a condo complex that housed many, many spiders. They were not happy about being evicted. The plumbing went smoothly and I had it out and carried to the garage in less than 10 minutes.

When I pulled the sink off the cabinet section this black glob went flying through the room. The kids screamed! It looked like a mouse but it was a ginormous glob of nasty, sink clogging hair and yuck. I am wondering if these people ever cleaned!

Since Marc was still busy with the electrical I moved on to removing the doors and trim throughout the house. By this time Cali started getting fussy.

So, I literally had the pry bar in my right hand removing trim from around the doors and windows and Cali was nursing while I held her in my left arm!!! My husband, bless his heart, said "I don't know how you do that! I wouldn't be able to!" I didn't tell him that with one pull the trim just popped off!!! LOL!!

Baseboards, doors, trim, and window casings are gone. And as soon as the drywall is finished and the walls are painted we will be ready to install the new white trim and six panel doors. I can't wait to see the house then!!!

When we were at the Home Depot yesterday I found the tile I want for the bathroom. The floor tile just happened to be on clearance for 68 cents a square foot!! We needed 3 boxes and spent about $30 for the bathroom floor. Once the new tub goes in I will be ready to install the floor and the tile for the tub surround. This is the tile I will be using for the surround......

It is so much prettier in person and I love it! The floor tile is a light creamy beige much like the bottom left piece of tile in the above picture. We will be using brushed nickle finishes throughout the house and purchased the faucets and light fixture yesterday. We were going to wait for those but the clearance isles were full of treasures yesterday so we couldn't pass them up.

Here is the new light Marc installed in the family room yesterday.....

He installed two because it is such a large room. Again, they look better in person but you get the idea!

Bella had a ball playing with the box. She turned into a Doritos eating Robot!!

And Marc gave Kyle bags of plumbing pieces and he was content for hours making the most amazing contraptions!!!

As soon as the kids woke up this morning hey asked if we could go back to the house!!! When I told them we had to wait until after nap they were both disappointed!! LOL!!! It really eases my mind that they enjoy it there. Maybe my husband is right- maybe I do worry too much.

Tonight we have to build a temporary support wall so we can cut an opening in the kitchen to open it into the living room. If all goes well and we stay on schedule we hope to be hanging drywall by this weekend. Woohoo!!!

Have a great day!!

~Heather:)

A Good Days Work

Today Marc and the kids and I spent over half of the day at the house. There is a lot to do and we jumped in head first. I started ripping up carpet while Marc set up his tools and showed the investor our plans for the renovations. Later, we did my favorite part- DEMO!!! There is something about demo that makes me very happy. Ripping out the old to make way for the new. Once the dust settles you are left with an empty shell of opportunity. It excites me! My head has been spinning with all of the ideas for this house but the kitchen has been "my baby" in this house. It is very small but that isn't stopping me from big ideas. Right now it is a narrow, galley style kitchen but we will be opening it up to the living room to make it feel larger.
Today was a good day. And although there is not one part of my body that doesn't ache..........it feels very good that we accomplished what we did.

So, here is what the kitchen looked liked until yesterday.............


Cabinets are removed...................

And this is how it looks now.........................

Ahhhh..........possibilities. Kyle and Bella were right beside us swinging their hammers (which I failed to get a picture of- URGH!) and knocking out the walls. I gave them small hammers and then wrapped a sponge around the claw and then covered the sponge with a sock so that when they swung the hammer it wouldn't come back and hurt them. They had a ball! And they were very proud of their work!!

When it was time to clean up Bella wanted to help with that too!! She loved the little dust pan!! She would sit it on the floor, pick up handfuls of trash, load it on to the dust pan and then dump it in the trash can. It was so fun to watch. Kyle was exhausted and chose to supervise!! LOL!!

We took a lot of toys to the house for the kids to play with. There is a nice size family room in the basement for them to play in. However, they thought what we were doing was more fun!! I have to brag on my kids here- they are fantastic! Little helpers every step of the way. I was so proud of them today. They never cease to amaze me. Marc and I were worried when we decided to take this project. We weren't sure how the kids would feel, if we would be "losing" time with them. if they would feel left out, etc. We had the best time the last two days and it has become a family affair. And although we know it won't be this easy every day, we are doing this for our kids. If we do well on this flip, or maybe two, we will be able to get into the neighborhood we want. The school system is one of the best in the state and the neighborhood is extremely desirable. So desirable that we otherwise couldn't afford it. Yikes!

I want to share a picture of the living room. The house is a split level and this is the first room you walk into when you come into the house. The entry door would be to the right in this photo. The kitchen door is the opening you see on the left. When I took the picture I was standing upstairs on the landing. I love the vaulted ceiling. I am trying to convince Marc to vault the kitchen too so that the entire room will be open with soaring ceilings. We have some concerns with wiring and a gas line though. If it was going to be our house we would probably do it, but being a flip house that may be too time consuming. We are on a two month schedule for this house so time is money.

Can't you picture it though?!?! Yes, it would be beautiful. I guess we'll see what happens!!

Well, that is all for now. More to come. Much, much, much more!!!

~Heather:)