• day 28

Today was the day we were getting carpet in our master and guest bedrooms. The guys were getting to work at 6:00 am- we had to get up super early today! We were a little nervous in the beginning because the carpet installers had to put down some new tack strips. That means lots of hammering early in the morning. While the installers worked upstairs David and I moved the tools table outside and started vacuuming up the cement floor.

Soon the carpet was finished. Hooray! It looks fabulous!



After the cement floor was cleaned up we rolled out the pad that goes under the laminate wood floor. We used duct tape to tape the seams between the pads.



We started laying the floor in the left corner of the room. Our walls were not straight so laying the first two rows were super hard. We used the full boxes of wood to help hold things in place while we laid more floor.



After a few hours we were pretty far.



Instead of stopping work we called my mom to order us some pizza. After the pizza came we realized we didn't have any plates- including paper ones- so we used paper towels instead.

• day 27

Have you ever seen the underside of a dishwasher? Well, here you go! Snapped this photo before it was installed. Looks like one big mess.



Today our appliances were being delivered, which was amazing. Yesterday (yes, I said yesterday!) we went to the store and paid for them - we had put down $50- and they delivered today! How's that for speedy?! And, the installer called before 8:00 am- we were first on the list of deliveries! Sweet! I felt sorry for the guy who showed up- just one guy to unload, unwrap, bring in, and install all 4 pieces. It was sooo hot this morning! Meanwhile, upstairs I was finishing painting the master bedroom window sill for the blinds to be installed. Oh wait, what's missing?



Yes, that's right...the refrigerator! Apparently it was 3/4 of an inch too wide. So, the installer had to reload it back on his truck and take it back. This evening we went back to the store to pick out a different one. Long story short- instead of a 35ft fridge we have a 33 ft wide fridge coming tomorrow to be installed. Crappola!

While the installer worked on the other appliances, I left to get a haircut (must look good for the new school year!) and David and Ralph (David's dad) made a trip to Floor & Decor for some baseboards. Carpet is being installed in 2 of the 3 upstairs bedrooms on Thursday. Baseboards have to be installed first- it's easier for the carpet guys...

After the boys got back from the store they worked on installing the blinds in the upstairs windows. A while back we bought 2 in. white faux wood blinds with a valance for all the windows. I worked on rewiring new white oulets to replace all the old beige ones. With the exception of the bathrooms, laundry area, and upstairs hallway (since these have yet to be painted) all the outlets and switches have been changed out. I even checked each one with my meter to make sure they work!





We borrowed a miter saw from my mom to make the angled cuts for the baseboards. (Oh, and we bought a pancake compressor with 3 different guns- a finish nailer, brad nailer, and stapler- add more tools to the storage shed!) David and Ralph worked on the baseboards in the master first. In the afternoon Cyndie and my mom stopped over for a visit. I put Cyndie to work with me cleaning the linen closets upstairs. They were super gross with dirt.



So, what's left? Cyndie and David installed the kitchen window blinds this evening. The blinds for the living room windows were not cut correctly so plastic remains on those windows for now. Tomorrow David and I will cut and nail the baseboards in the second bedroom. If we didn't kill Ralph today with all the work he did, he will be coming over to paint our hallway upstairs. After the baseboards are nailed on we will have the caulk the seams and paint them white. Oh, and we have to get to installing the flooring downstairs. And, we need to install our kitchen and bathroom sinks. (Just watched a video on how to do it online- LOVE the internet!) Not too much on our to-do list (said with a hint of sarcasm!) It will all get done!

• day 26

Please bear with us as we show you tons of photos of our countertops. We are super excited!!

The two installers came over to the birdhouse with 4 pieces of quartz. Two of the pieces (over the island and between the fridge and stove area) were already cut exactly, shined, and had the bullnose edging ready to go. The other two pieces had to be fitted together with one seam and then polished. See if you can find the seam!









From my last post I told you about the holes in our flooring upstairs. Today while I was at a meeting David pulled up the broken pieces, put in 2x4 brace pieces, and then screwed down the new piece. Fit like a gem! During this process we ended up buying a circular saw (no one nearby had one to borrow) and returning to Lowe's in the early evening to get the right size plywood- we measured 1/2" the first time and then realized it was 5/8" thick instead.

Quick story- David went into Lowe's in the morning while I was at my meeting at school. One of the Lowe's employees recognized David and said, "Where's your other half?". Later David had to go to the office and I was at Lowe's picking up more outlets/plate covers and at the checkout stand the Lowe's employee said, "I've seen you in here before, just tell me the last 4 digits of your card number." Oh lord! Had I realized the number of trips to this store in the beginning of the remodel I would have bought stock in Lowe's!



It's starting to look like a real kitchen now! Tomorrow the appliances are all coming- holy cow! We still have quite a bit to do before moving in but we'll get it done!

• day 25

I must have been quite tired when I posted our last work day. I was rereading the post and sounded so whiny! Yikes! Today was definitely a progress day!

We got up this morning right at 8:00 am- we've been hitting the snooze button a few times the last few days. We were super excited. The other day we got a coupon for 2-for-1 massages at the massage therapy school that's right down the road from us. A 50-minute massage for $12.50 each. How can you beat that? Well, apparently everyone was thinking the same thing we were- get there in the morning before the rush. We got over there at 8:17- one hour wait. OK- we've got birdhouse work to do, so maybe next weekend!

First thing we did today was hang & wire the two other ceiling fans upstairs. Looked fantastic! We had to wait until my dad came over to help us with the wall wiring before we could actually see if they worked--it's a long story!!



We picked out our carpeting for our bedroom and the guest bedroom- yeah! David's mom, Cathy, went with us since she knows all about carpeting. In another lifetime she helped run Besst Floors, a family carpeting business. We brought our dimensions and a paint sample of our wall color and Cathy helped with the rest! We went with a smaller flooring place since they seem to have the best deals and no extra random charges. Carpeting will be installed on Thursday! (Right before move-in day!)

After our carpet encounter (and a quick trip to Costco) we headed back to the birdhouse. I was super tired the day before. Today must have been David's turn!



While I cleaned the downstairs windowsills David painted our downstairs registers with spray paint. Right before I finished painting the sills my dad came over (with my little brother Andy) for some wiring 101. We found out we had a "dummy" outlet in one of our walls where we were planning to put a t.v. The other electrical box was chock-full of wires and there was no way we were also going to be able to fit an outlet. So, dad to the rescue! He cut a small hole in the drywall, put in a drywall electrical box, drilled a hole in the stud, daisy-chained a new wire from the full box to the new box and connected it to the new outlet. You followed that, right?! Basically, we now have an outlet on the wall where we need one!



David and my dad finished wiring the fan downstairs, which has a fancy-schmancy remote, and wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am we have lights and fans in all the rooms! Hooray! Now all we have to do is the rest of our list!!

Tomorrow is a big day! Our kitchen countertops are being installed! I can't wait. Then our appliances will come another day and we'll have a working kitchen! Plus, we'll be able to lay down our laminate wood floor and the downstairs will look like a real home. It's so nice to finally see that all your hard work is starting to come together- especially when the end of the month move-out date is quickly approaching!

A little help from our friends

Here's some of the people who (did a great job and) have helped us along the remodel road.

Junk Removal
Name: Maurice, Weston, or Matt
Company: The Junk Guys
Phone number: 602-788-JUNK
Web address: http://www.thejunkguys.com/
Email: thejunkguys@aol.com

Window replacement
Name: Jeff Wright
Company: Wright Choice
Phone number: 480-329-8726
Web address: http://www.wright-choice.vpweb.com/
Email: wright-choice@cox.net

Custom Cabinets
Name: Tom Fink
Company: T & F Quality Woodworking
Phone number: 602-290-1725

Palm Tree Trimming
Name: John Forrester
Company: Forrester Land Management
Phone number: 602-909-4068
Email: forrester1530@gmail.com

Home Handyman
Name: George Martinez
Company: George's Home Handyman
Phone number: 602-290-0698

Tile
Name: Tom Steimer
Phone number: 602-488-4548

Plumbing
Name: Scott Booth
Company: Scott's Plumbing & Rooter
Phone Number: 480-707-1841

• day 24

I don't feel like we got as much accomplished today as yesterday. Maybe just because our to-do list is so long!

The plan for today was:

* paint sills
* start flooring

* screw down plywood in master

* paint registers & put them up downstairs

* clear away junk from back patio

* put up all ceiling fans

* paint 2nd coat in office

What we accomplished:

* screw down plywood in master

* clear away junk from back patio

* put up one ceiling fan- but we're waiting for my dad to come back over to help with this one

* paint 2nd coat in office

* fill in holes in our cement before flooring

There's probably more that we actually got done but today was a long day! One new thing to add to our list- pull up a few pieces of plywood in the upstairs hallway that are caving in and have small holes in them. We bought new plywood today to install in its place.

• day 23

It seems like every morning we're having to make a stop at some store to pick up more supplies for the day! This morning was no different. We started at Home Depot to pick up one more gallon of Light French Gray and then headed to Floor & Decor to pick up sealer for our travertine. While we were there we realized we also did not pick up spacers for the floor the day before.

BTW- thanks to the girls at work for your Home Depot gift cards for our wedding. They have helped us buy a ton of paint for the birdhouse!

I started out wiping down all the travertine (downstairs bathroom floor; upstairs bathroom floors; upstairs shower) and only did the downstairs floor and the shower. I spent a ton of time on the shower getting off the grout that had not been totally wiped off. As I worked on this I noticed a small wet spot on the floor under the new toilet. Turns out the tank might have a small leak- we'll deal with that later! So- we scratched sealing the travertine for now.

David worked on taking out the electrical boxes in two spots in the hallways so we could put in two more recessed lights. I worked on taking out more staples from the master bedroom floor. We both got to a stopping point and then went to Lowe's. We went for the two recessed lights and ended up also buying our 4 ceiling fans! Doesn't that always happen!?!



David had to go in to work for a bit so I worked on painting. First I edged then went around and rolled our bedroom. I hate putting on the second coat- you don't want to put on too much paint but then you look when it's wet and everything has streaks. David assured me when he got back that it would turn out fine. And guess what- it did!

The night before David and I had connected our bedroom wiring to the light and fan dimmers we bought. When I turned the breaker on to check it out the lights were on even though the switch was off. So, David pushed the switch to on (to turn them off) and *pow* the switch blew and tripped the breaker. So, apparently something went wrong! My dad came over today to help us out. Turns out there was a lot going on- not completely our fault!



Today we took home some work with us. The duct registers that we have are currently painted an ugly green or gray and they are filthy. So- instead of buying all new ones, we are cleaning them up with soap & water and will paint them white. We don't have any sinks installed at the birdhouse so we took the 5 downstairs registers home with us tonight. Tomorrow we will take all 5 upstairs registers with us and get those cleaned up.



We were going to start the floor today but held off because we already had a lot of projects going. So what did we get done today?


• scraped the master floor for staples


• installed two more recessed lights for our hallways- they do work!!


• painted (2nd coat) the master and guest bedrooms


• installed microwave outlet in the cabinet (thanks dad!)


• put in new breaker for the microwave outlet in the breaker box (thanks dad!)


• installed fan speed control dimmer & light dimmer in master bedroom (thanks dad!)


• cleaned all our downstairs registers

Tomorrow we'll finish painting the office, paint the window sills, spray paint our duct registers and hang them back up.

Update- the pesky pigeon family has now moved in to our neighbors overgrown palm tree! :)