A remodel distraction

Since we're sort of in a holding pattern on the upstairs, here are a few pics from the backyard garden. How nice and relaxing is this scene? We need to finish up those stairs and plant some lush greenery along the fence.

Blueberries! Almost ripe enough to pick. Of course, the rhubarb is encroaching.

Look at those Hops! Can't wait to pick them and make a hops pillow this year. I'll be falling asleep to the smell of hoppy beer.

And here are the embarrassing tomatoes. Yikes! No sun this summer.

Three red little grape tomatoes is all I need.

Micro-lettuce! These starts got off to a bad start. But now they're trying to grow...we picked some tonight and had a wonderful salad. It's almost time to plant a fall crop.

And below is the famous rhubarb... I picked some last weekend; only three stalks as suggested online. Apparently any more than that would be too traumatic. So I'm done with you rhubarb. Have fun tiny little black bugs...it's all yours!

So that's it for now. We're waiting for the electrician next Saturday. Everything is read to go, including a list of wants/needs. Should we put a X-mas lights switch in the closet upstairs? We'd never have to run extension cords and plug in lights in the snow!

Upstairs skylights, plumbing mistake

The skylights are in and the roof is patched! The roofer only charged $150 to add flashing and fix a minor mistake. Everyone should add skylights...it makes such a big difference. There is so much light upstairs now. The morning sun just streams in. It's absolutely wonderful.

The electrician comes next Saturday to rework everything. We cannot wait to get that behind us so that we can move on to insulation and drywall. It's not going to be an easy feat.


We had a bit of a mishap the other night. We heard a huge crash as we were getting ready for bed. It sounded like someone fell. Upon further investigation, the light cover in the baby's room full of water crashed down onto the rug below, sending at least a gallon of water splashing across the room. Luckily, the baby takes after his grandfather and didn't even stir, even during cleanup and the split-splat of water collecting in the 5-gallon bucket below.

After a quick solder attempt (fail), two tests, and a removal of pipe and then a re-solder, the elbow on the last run to the water heater was repaired just before 11pm. The baby's rug is still outside drying. We just hope the bay between the two joists is drying as quickly.

We'll add a few nailers in the closet, so that it's easier to hang rods and shelves, and where we may hang a TV brace. We also have to run our cable to a spot for the computer.

Keep you posted on the electrical....hoping it doesn't run us any more than $2500.

Probably not going to be moved up there by Labor Day weekend, but hoping for October 13- birthday! Wondering if it's all worth it now?

This next set of photos shows the progress of framing. You can see in the above pic we had to replace some of the wall. The studs were a bit "off" and some were pretty beat up. Some are spaced further apart; this is where we'll add attic access. You might also notice the new PEX plumbing and the new bathroom floor, which was pulled up to deal with drains and vents.

You can see the new ceiling nailers. We're not going all the way to roof line, but leaving some space to allow for better air flow and for lights. In the below pic, you'll see the new home of the water heater! It used to exist right, smack in the middle of the bathroom. It'll be enclosed in a closet. It was moved in half a day. The roof guy came out and was slipped a $100 to patch up and add a couple vents. Money well spent.

And the real framing commences! These are the two closets. The window will be at the end of a somewhat narrow hallway. You can barely see the water heater in there (left)

The below pic is looking north to the main stairs. On the left is a linen closet that will be full of shelves. To the right is part of one of the main closets. It's shaped like an L and butts up against the bathroom wall (shower). It's a hefty closet, which is needed in a tiny Bungalow with no garage.

And there's the bathroom! That bucket is where the shower water spout will one day fill. The shower has a lack of headroom, but enough for one person to stand and wash his/her hair. We decided upon a full bath, so someone could soak in a tub rather than mess with the ceiling. If you were to turn to the left, you'd hit the toilet and sink. The toilet area will have slightly less headroom as the sink is located in the tall area. A pocket door should remedy the space issue.

Wondering about the shower curtain issue? Dad assures us he can weld something special...and there are plenty of options online. We'll see. This coming weekend we plan to block up the bathroom wall to give the tub something to rest on and cut out two holes (one in the bathroom above the toilet and one above the stairwell) in the roof for skylights (2x2). This should help with the lack of lighting.

We're sort of in the middle of a battle with the window company, which has always been really good for us. We had to special order two double-hungs (to keep the kid from falling out), but the other company screwed it up and gave us sliders...that are too small. Still working it out.

Electric scheduled for Aug. 13! And then insulation the week after. We should be hanging drywall by Labor Day, at least!

Upstairs remodel begins!

These are our before photos of the upstairs. We're in the middle of a remodel, but I wanted to post these first. We began demo the second week of June, maybe June 10. So it's been a little over a month and the framing and the plumbing are about 90% complete. The plumbing required us to remove some panels downstairs (behind the bathroom sink, in a bedroom closet, etc) to get to the old pipes. We used mostly PEX, and a little copper for the new shower. The tub is already waiting upstairs.

We added a few roof vents and drilled 100 new bird block holes for better ventilation. We hope rigid board insulation against the roof will help block out heat and a better R rating on the half walls should also help.

The electrician is scheduled to do his thing either the last week in July or first weekend in August. We're very excited!

Then insulation guys will come in. We could do it ourselves, but by the time you pay for it, it comes out just a bit more for labor. Hanging drywall may fall on our shoulders. Our quotes are about $1500 more than we want to spend. Plus, we have a guy that'll do mud and tape for pretty cheap.

Take a good look at these before shots because the next photos you see will be during framing.... big changes!

Back patio done!

First off, check out the house this summer! It looks so much different than last August. Our grass is green! And the house is blue! It's so cute and happy this summer, despite all the rain. At least the blueberries are in full swing. The fall garden is planted and we're hoping for a much better yield than the crap summer disappointment. We'll replace "crop" in November with red clover. The clover will add nutrients to the soil. Is all you have to do is "plow" in March and let nature take its course. It's a much easier process than hauling in new dirt in 2011.

Okay, check out the new patio! Here we just swept in the last of the sand. New pavers! Can't wait to enjoy gallons of margeritas next summer! Nice job husband!

Beautiful yard

First off, there's Buddy! He's taking a break from babies to play ball...like the old days when it was just him at the center of attention. Poor Buddy.

Check out the window box (below). The Nastershums already have little black bugs on them. Every year that happens and yet, every year I plant them. Arg! Don't let me next year.

There's the lovely house. It's so different then the brown grass of last August. It's such a mild summer. I'm sure we're in for a harsh winter and you'll soon see a snow picture posted here. We're still thinking about the upstairs. I have already begun to pack away all the crap. I spent $80 on 30 gallon plastic bins at Lowes a couple weekends ago. Rather than chuck stuff in them, we're actually sifting through and sending things off to the Goodwill and the dump. ...Making progress!

Patio nearly finished

While one of us is inside all summer raising a baby, the other gets to escape outdoors to work on projects. A new patio is just one of the items on the baby-raiser's to do list. This weekend is the final trip to Home Depot for the last load of pavers and sand! We're not filling in the whole area. We feel like it's more unique this way, provides better drainage, it's cheaper, and we can do other things in the gravel.



Still thinking about upstairs!