Walls and AC - Things are Taking Shape

Things are still underway but the end is finally in sight. Pesky things like jobs and such took priority and progress slowed for a couple of months, but June saw a fair amount of forward momentum and the house is starting to feel like a house again.  We have walls!!! And as of a couple days ago AC, so we can actually work without heat stroke, it's great.  

FRONT DOOR

There have been a number of things that have been decided then re-decided and a few even re-re-decided.  Things like stripping wall paper, refastening the drywall then deciding to tear the drywall out so we could insulate.  Hindsight and all that.  The front door has also succumb to this reconsideration.  Not the color and not the door itself, ,we still love the color and the door. However, it was apparent when you walked up to the front door that it has had a few colors over it's lifespan and the surface looked pretty rough.  Scraping the loose paint just didn't give it a nice finish. So we decided that we needed strip the paint so we could have a smooth surface for our new-old door. 

Evidence of years of scraping the loose paint and just painting
over it were evident when you actually came up to the door

Paint Stripper in Action

This is going to take awhile

Finally!!! It took awhile to get all that paint out of all those recessed panels,
But now the sad sad door is just waiting to be sanded and repainted

INSULATION

If you can remember way back to when we started this one of the first things we found out when we moved in was that there was 1-inch faced batt insulation in our exterior walls.  That nasty old stuff is no more. We now have lots of 3.5" R-11 insulation everywhere.  We had some extra so we also insulated all the interior walls that had the drywall removed, and lets be honest it was most of them.   Now that it's summer I can tell you that the AC at the sister house next door runs all the time.  Here's to hoping that removing the remainder of the drywall to add insulation pays off and we have manageable electricity bills.

Getting insulation into the walls

Hopefully a hot sticky bedroom won't keep anyone up in here

WALLS

We have drywall, this is when the house really started to feel like a house again rather than a construction site. Although, I lost the texture battle. I do not like it but I have been told on numerous occasions that smooth walls are just not an option in the south.   I am told we got a splatter and drag, I can't tell the difference between the types and I don't like any of it but I'll get used to it.

Living room walls

Master bedroom looking out our new doors

Master bedroom looking back 

 TRIM

Trim is where Robert shines, he's been working really hard to get it up so we can get ready to paint.  I have to admit that I am going to really enjoy the custom closets.  

Dining room crown, chair rail and trim (also new floor tile) installed 

Game room doors & crown installed
Looking from the game room back into the dining room

Custom pantry shelves, notched to keep the shelves from getting too deep
and to give us room to install a spice rack onto the door 

PAINT  

Yes, we finally have chosen all of our interior paint colors. Again, paint choices were decided then re-decided and with over $100 worth of $3 dollar samples now in our possession we are happy with our selection. Now just to get it painted before we change our mind again ....

I think we've bought samples of most of that PPG Color wheel

 FINALLY

A working toilet! 

Catching Up...

Progress over the past month... or two... has continued on the house but much of it has been behind the scenes.  Going through a couple month worth of photos though there has been some visible changes though.  

The electricity, once Robert and his friend Fred got into the attic and started looking into it they  realized the wiring was going to need more work than originally anticipated.  And isn't that the case with any remodel project.  So after a number of long weekend in the attic they have rewired much of the house and added a bunch of can lighting and a few outlets in the process.  

The game room has lighting now

Master bedroom lighting

Exterior lighting 

We have also started to modify the back of the house.  We are adding a couple of doors to the back of the house and due to the new master suite arrangement we needed to move the window. The window is moving from its existing location, which is now part of the master closet, into the new bathroom.

Opening up the walls

All the openings ready for new doors and window installation 

Filling in the holes

New South Elevation 

New bedroom door

New living room door

Then there is all the other stuff, the miscellaneous projects that have been tackled.

TV

We are going to be using one of the hall closets as an A/V room and since we won't need a tv stand for all the equipment,  Robert decided to build a pocket into the wall for the TV. So when finished we hope the wall will have a nice clean finished appearance.  

TV pocket framed out

WALLS

Trying to plan ahead we have installed blocking throughout the house in anticipation of hanging pictures, lights, handicap bars you name it.  We are hoping to be prepared for anything.  

Blocking installed

BATHROOMS

We also decided to not use an insert for the shower pan, since we no longer needed to conform to the prefabbed size, the guys decided they might as well make the shower a little larger.  But since the plumbing had already be installed for the smaller shower size the change required a little more demo to move the wall and vent that was already installed in the wall.

Expanding the shower

We are getting far enough along that we are starting to play around with flooring ideas.  The previous owners left some tile out in the workshop and we think there will be enough in there to use for the guest bath.  

Getting flooring ideas

THE UNEXPECTED

And don't think there isn't still a new fun surprise from time to time.  There was some bowing of the ceiling drywall. So as Robert began to add some additional screws to the drywall he discovered that the ceiling texture wasn't exactly adhered.  We know there had been some moisture damage and we suspect that this is just a result of leaks that occurred prior to the new roof installation.  

Texture flaking off the ceiling

HVAC

The latest projects Robert and his friends have been endeavoring on is installing, repairing and sealing duct work.  The existing duct work had not been sealed and although you can't really tell from this picture the finger jointing connections had to have let a lot of precious AC out into the attic rather than making it to the actual house.  So there has been many painstaking hours spend back in the attic sealing the existing connection as well as installing new flex duct to the new master suite.  

Unsealed duct joint

OUTDOORS

We never really got around to building the raised garden so Robert was nice enough to get my plants into some dirt.  The peppers may be struggling a bit, but the tomato plants and herbs seem to be taking off just fine.  Hopefully in the fall we can plant a bigger garden.  

Potted garden

A couple windy days eradicated all my hard work from a couple months ago.  So this is round two of spring raking.  We LOVE the trees in our front yard, but that doesn't mean that I am not slightly fearful of what fall raking is going to entail.  

Finally, the simple pleasures that didn't require any work on our part.  We were really happy to see a couple weeks ago that the last tree in the back yard was starting to bud.  This is the bigger and prettier Pecan tree in the backyard.  The rest of the trees, including the other pecan, had already begun to bud so we were beginning to worry, but it looks like it's coming to life.

They are small but there are buds

Painting Snafu

We all know what happens when you assume, for us you end up with peachy colored out buildings.  Funny that this brown color was the one color that Robert and I both agreed we did not like.  

The scenario went something like this, I went to Home Depot and picked up three samples one red for the door, two light brown for the eaves and out buildings.  I realized they had labeled a couple of them wrong when I discovered one of the light brown colors was labeled brickdust, a dark red color. But I ASSUMED that they had just swapped the two labels and when we liked the other brown we went ahead and gave the painter the sample color without verifying it was labeled correctly.  Therefore, we now have peachy out buildings and really they look downright pink in the right sunlight.  

So now we are back to sorting out what brown color we want because I cannot find the red with a brown label and don't remember the name of other color I picked up that day. So we are going through all the light browns I have picked up, which is a lot, and we will have a polka dotted garage soon.  

Back buildings being painted in the wrong peachy brown

We were shooting for the color above the dark brown,
which is apparently NOT Fond Memory.

Love our new door color!

New facade 

Things are Taking Shape

Lots of progress this week. In the bathroom the new section of sewer main was installed and the bathroom was stubbed out.

New sewer main installed

Bathroom stubbed out

Once the plumbing was installed, the dirt was back filled, reinforcement dowels were carefully drilled into place and a new vapor barrier was installed. The area is now just waiting for concrete which should happen during the early part of this week.  

Vapor Barrier and reinforcement in place

The same day the plumbers were working on the bathroom we had the carpenters on site.  In the main area of the house they installed a new beam at the kitchen opening, framed the pass through opening and installed a header for the new exterior living room door.

Kitchen opening all framed up

Pass through opening framed

Also a lot of progress was made in the bedroom. The bedroom wall was relocated. However, the wall we were moving was a load bearing wall, so it required some additional work.  The ceiling joists had been spliced over the existing wall. Therefore, all new ceiling joists had to be installed with the splice located over the new load bearing wall.  Additionally, the roof supports had to be re-positioned onto the new wall.  The second half of the closet framing will have to wait until the concrete is poured. We will also have a bathroom window and a bedroom door framed in and a few studs that will need to be replaced due to termite damage but all in all things are taking shape nicely.  

New bedroom and bathroom taking shape

New bedroom door location and bathroom entry

View from the bathroom looking towards the bedroom

While all that fun was going on inside the house, I busied myself raking the front yard.  20 bags give or take and a slightly pulled back muscle later all these leaves have been hauled off.  

The front yard with leaf pox

One last pleasantry in case anyone forgot what a nice clean process home renovation can be, more cockroach ca ca falling from the walls.  At least it wasn't more cockroaches.... 

Eww 

Concrete and Colors

During the option period we chose to have the sewer lines scoped with a camera and knew going into this that there was a belly (low spot) in the sewer line underneath the master and second bedrooms that had been holding water and sediment and would need to be repaired.  Knowing the plumbing was going to have to be addressed anyway played a big part in the decision to go ahead with the major bedroom suite remodel.  With the plumber was scheduled for late this week, the guys started with the concrete demo. 

Saw cutting the slab in preparation for the jack hammering

Roughly where we believe the lowest point is so a test opening
so we can assess the extent of the  deterioration.

We also discovered that the floor slab is thin, probably only 3" and the welded wire mesh reinforcement is laying below the concrete slab. Welded wire mesh should be supported just like reinforcement bars, but it is frequently "pulled up" or "walked in" to poured concrete. Neither method is recommended because it will end up at the bottom of the concrete and serving no purpose what so ever.  OK I will get off this soap box for now.  I am sure I will find more things to rant about as we go along.  

Existing sewer pipe approximately 16" down from the top of slab

So much for the floor slab.  Here they have both exposed the existing pipe
and are creating the paths for the new plumbing to be placed.  

View from the new bathroom looking back into the office.

While the guys labored away in the house with the concrete, I have been having a bout of indecision-itis.  It took numerous trips to Home Depot, and more red/red-orange paint samples than you see here, we have finally come to a decision on the exterior paint colors.  I think... The painter doesn't come until this weekend, so I may still change my mind. All this for the door color, I may never select wall colors.

Indecision Central