Gertie Has a New Hat!

The roofers finished the roof yesterday!!! Gertie has a brand new hat and she is looking spiffy! Yes, I named the house. Gertie is a woman that was a good friend of the family who passed away. She was a petite woman and she was feisty! The other night when I was pulling away from the house Gertie popped into my mind. This house is feisty! She is worn down from years of abuse and neglect but she is strong and with everything we have been doing, and plan to do, she is going to be like brand new. Maybe it is crazy to name a house. Not that I think houses have feelings but just like people- family- they have a past, a future, and a story to tell. They keep us warm and protected from the elements and the outside world. They hold our loved ones, our treasures, our memories. I think they deserve a name. Besides, calling it Gertie sounds so much better than just saying "The House" all of the time. And yes, I think I am getting attached to the house.

Anyway, Back to Gertie's new roof! I failed to take a picture of the front view in all of my excitement but I did get some side views. Although there is not as much color variation as I had hoped, the new black roof looks fantastic!! We had them use the dimensional shingles and they give such a nice touch!

I am planning on painting all of the shutters when the weather warms up. The black shutters are so faded that they actually look blue!

We have started hanging drywall in the kitchen and it is coming along nicely. Drywall is heavy and not my favorite thing to do but when you see the room starting to look like a room you kind of forget about how much hanging drywall really sucks.

Marc had to buy a new toy...........er...........I mean new tool. He picked up a spiral saw and it has come in sooooo handy already! He has been very clingy with his new toy though and hasn't let me play with it yet. Hmph!

Kyle and Bella had a ball creating an amazing masterpiece with painter's tape. These kids can entertain themselves for hours with the simplest of things.

They are so creative! Now, this isn't the type of things we would allow hem to do at home but they have a little more leeway at the house. It is, after all, a construction site and, well- they gotta have some fun!!

I met with the roofers yesterday as they finished, met with the investor, and met with the carpet person who came to measure rooms and give us an estimate. Marc will be installing the carpet but we found a wholesale carpet place where we can get nice carpet for dirt cheap! Less than half price of what you would paid retail. So, carpet man Brad came to get measurements and called today with an exact figure. I was SO excited to know that we will be coming in almost $500 UNDER budget on flooring!! WooHoo!!!

Well, that's it for today. We are going to try and get more drywall hung in the kitchen tonight and if we finish that we are going to start hanging drywall in the bathroom.

Have a great day!

~Heather:)

Hi Ho Hi Ho It's Off to Work I go!

Wow! What a crazy busy weekend. Marc had Friday off so we worked a full three day weekend at the house. While Marc was working in the kitchen on the new electrical I tore out the old fiberglass tub and surround and then removed the toilet. At some point this little window had been installed.........and whoever installed it apparently didn't use a level. We had boards literally off by as much as two inches!! How to remedy that? Well, I got the bright idea of using a chisel and a hammer to shave the boards to the point that they would be level- don't worry, it doesn't interfere with any structural stability. We just had to rebuild a "frame" that would be flush and level in order to hang he concrete backer board so that we could tile the tub surround.


Once the tub area was ready to go Marc replaced the toilet flange in the basement toilet so we could remove this toilet. Once I took the toilet out I discovered a.......................issue. The toilet and remaining wallpaper was covering up a large patch of black mold. We weren't planning on ripping out all of the drywall in the bathroom but we were left with no choice. We can't leave moldy walls! So, I ripped the remaining drywall out and we are left with this.............

The above picture cracks me up. This house is a three level split. Here, I am standing in the kitchen and can see straight through the bathroom!! Not so good for privacy, eh? LOL!!!

Poor Marc worked for days on electrical. There were more than a few wires that were left in the wall that someone had just cut and tucked up in the rafters. Problem was most of the wires didn't even have wire nuts and tape on them................Oh! And they were live!!! How this house didn't catch on fire by now is beyond me. Some of the things we are finding makes me think that these "Do It Yourself" shows are waaaaaaaaaaay too encouraging.

Marc is installing can lights in the kitchen, new outlets, switches, everything will be brand new and up to code.

And just to give you an idea of how much we have gutted so far......................this is the trash and demo debris we have removed- thus far from the inside of the house................

To put this in perspective the house has a three car garage. The trash and debris take up a two car garage area and the pile is between 3 feet and 4 feet high!!!

And as much as I am for recycling and reselling to people who may be able to use this stuff, NOTHING and I mean NOTHING was salvageable. All of the doors had huge holes in them, cabinets were overtaken with mold, carpets were stained with animal......stink. Apparently the dogs were never taken outside to use the potty. Yuck.

I did something Friday that I never thought I would have to do. I fired an Amish person. I did. I feel terrible. However, when I spoke with him Thursday he had still not pulled the permit and was trying once again to push the start date back another two weeks. URGH!! We can not wait that long...............or try and count on him then and have him push it back again. We can not hang drywall until the roof is complete. So, I called four roofers Thursday afternoon, had three bids in by Friday morning and hired a crew Friday morning. The owner was back within an hour with the permit and the supplies were delivered within two hours. Now THAT is what I am talkin' about!

I was so happy until we pulled in the next day and found out just how bad the roof was. When all of the old layers were removed we were left with the bitter fact that over half of the boards on the roof are bad and need to be replaced. cha ching! cha ching! cha ching! Well, there goes an extra thousand bucks. But, it has to be done.

We were actually surprised that the roof hadn't collapsed with the weight of snow!

The crew was very busy this weekend and I think they are hoping to finish by Tuesday if the weather holds out.

Kind of weird to see big gaping holes in the roof!!!

It is so exciting though and I can not wait to see what the finished roof looks like!! I was left in charge of picking the shingles so hopefully they will look good!!!

When the drywall finisher came out to price his labor he advised us to rip out the remaining kitchen drywall so that we would get a smoother finish. Which means- easier and less time consuming for him which means- cheaper for us!! So, we gutted the rest of the kitchen. I do have to say the pry bar is, by far , one of my favorite tools!! I think every girl should have one!! LOL!!!

My husband told me Saturday when I was gutting the bathroom that I work like a man. I got all sappy and thanked him. I thought it was a huge compliment. I asked him if ,when we got married , if he had hoped for a prissy ladylike woman for a wife or a crazy tom-boy that isn't afraid to get dirty. He laughed and said he had hoped for a good combination of both! And that I could be a tom boy while we are working on the house but he would prefer I go back into "lady mode" when we leave!!! LOL!!!

We picked up the flooring that we will be using in the kitchen and living room. We don't need it for a while still but it was on clearance and it was too good of a deal to pass up.

Bruce laminate flooring- actually looks pretty darn close to real wood and even has the wood texture. The color is "Brazillian Cherry" and I think it will be gorgeous. All 25 boxes of it.

We also have a window!!! Woohoo!! This was Marc's favorite project so far. I thought the kitchen needed to be open to the living room so that it would have a more updated look and to allow the kitchen to seem larger than it actually is. So far, it is doing just what I had hoped!!

On the living room side here will be a little bar area where people can sit on stools and watch the cook in the kitchen. The wall is high enough on the kitchen side, however, that all of your dirty dishes and kitchen mess will be hidden when people walk in your front door.

Marc and the kids are very happy with the way it turned out!!

After a VERY long weekend we were all tired and ready to go home. I can't remember the last time I was this tired or this sore but I am turning into my kids. Every morning I think "Can we go to the house now!" It is that that great novel that you just can't put down. You stay awake until all hours of the morning because you are so eager to see how it ends. Although we still have 6 weeks left in our time frame and a lot to do, we are excited. We are now at the point where stuff is being put back together and we will be able to see big results with almost everything we do.

The kids are still having a great time and so are Marc and I. Maybe I am officially nuts now. We have had so many people tell us that we have taken on too much, that it is going to be impossible- especially with three small kids in tow. Although I admit that it is a huge undertaking.............. we will be able to do it. Our kids are amazing and enjoy being at the house. I just hope we all keep this same enthusiasm for the remaining 6 weeks!!

~Heather:)