Hey all! We are back at it – but slower than we hoped for the weekend. Chad was on call, so we had a couple stops throughout the weekend for him to do his real job. We did get all of the siding up, so that is good and the plan is to paint in Oct/Nov when it isn’t so hot, so that will now sit, but at least the outside walls are all sealed up.
We then moved inside to get the overlay on the new kitchen expansion. We should have fought the company that poured the concrete as we told them the new concrete needed to be level to the inside, but after many discussions, we are fixing it ourselves. Last time they cut my internet and I’m just not in the mood for that to happen again. Pick your battles and one I just don’t have the energy for. We have all of the overlay done minus the one section in the middle. The hope is that we will get that done this week so we can run wiring next weekend and if lucky start the insulation (fingers crossed for Chad having a good work week and I can call it a day by 6pm).
If all goes as planned throughout the upcoming weekends, we should have a completed kitchen by October. OMG that sounds so far away, but planning for the worse scenario so when we come in under that timing, I’ll be really happy!
This is how much they are off….yeah, I’m not putting that much mortar under tile to make it level.Overlay done on both sides with just the middle left. We had to prime it, let it dry, then add the sandcrete on top.
We went to see Ciera’s first craft fair on Saturday. She ended up selling 2 t-shirts and 2 crock mums. Not bad for her first one. She has a website and is on Facebook – believe it is under Spirit and Sparkle so you will have to check it out! I’ll make sure to get the right URL
Sunday we were back to reality with getting the rest of the siding up. We had a few rain delays as little showers would come through so we had to wait it out a couple times. We have just a few pieces to get put up and that will be done. Of course karma worked against us as we ran out of blades. and by the time we got them, then it would start to be too late to finish. That is ok as those few pieces, Chad can get them done this week (after he picks up some more blades). 🙂
Next week we won’t be around as we are going home to celebrate the 4th of July and taken Dylan and Ciera so it should be a blast! See you all in a couple of weeks and have a great 4th of July!
It was one of those weekends where we got stuff done, but yet it feels like we accomplished nothing. I thought we were really gonna kick butt this week/weekend. Monday night we got the soffit lights installed so thinking this week we would get something done each night and that did not happen. The weekend, was what I call a little step back. We decided we wanted the extra insulation on the outside of the kitchen expansion, so took out the windows but up plywood and re-tyvexed and put the windows back in, now we are ready for siding. We also were able to get the wall opened up from the expansion area to the living room. I gotta say Gamora and Rodney are loving it.
We also went to the Home Depot design center. I wanted to make sure what I had in my head (especially for around the middle of the kitchen) would look good. I’m fine winging things but this is a lot of $$ to drop on something I may not like. We knew we wanted them to install the countertops, so this way I get to see my ideas and be able to adjust as needed. Naturally that was time out of our weekend, so not a bad thing, but still wish we would have accomplished more.
This weekend we had to do some chores that we have ignored, such as my fish tanks. I am normally pretty good about keeping their filters changed and well, I have slacked. We spent Saturday cleaning the tanks, actually going in the store to get groceries and then decided to do a mini-date night. Sunday ended up only being a half-day of working on the house by the time we got things out and decided what we wanted to do (and a couple runs to Lowes so we had stuff ready for next weekend). We did get the outside wiring ran and the plywood up so we can put up the soffit on the kitchen expansion. This should have been easy but naturally this house was not built perfectly so we found that the beams are not the same, causing us to have to remodify the angle of the beams so the plywood would be level. Let’s just say there was a moment where Chad said we should have just bought land and started from scratch! LOL!
The lights hanging in the picture below will no longer be there. We are installing lights that will go into the soffit and shine down, those will end up being along the whole back side of the house.
Chad is on call for the shop, service trucks and service tech next weekend so we will see what we get accomplished. I think they took a play out of my team’s playbook where it was only Elise and I working for the week around Easter. Not the right play to steal! Anyway, hopefully we will get something accomplished next weekend since this one we slacked. If not, that is the ‘why’.
This weekend felt really good, but now am I a little anxious about the next steps of the kitchen remodel. When you still have counter space and a stove top, you know in a pinch you can use it (despite the mess). However, when it is gone, well there is absolutely NO turning back!
Chad and Dylan were able to get the 2nd header board in meaning the rest of the wall is out. You will see in the pictures that we do have one 4×4 board in the middle; however, it will not be there permanently. We opted to make this header board on Thursday night and I went a little crazy with the liquid nails and nailing, so this is more a precaution to make sure it cures before we 100% are confident that Ciera’s closet doesn’t end up in the kitchen. LOL! We also were able to start to take down the dropped ceiling in the kitchen, removed the island and the stove top. I think next weekend, we will get the rest of the cupboards out and start to remove the tile. Chad is on call for both the service guys and the shop as the new mechanics don’t start until mid-week, so depending on the calls, we will see what we get accomplished.
Chad finally has realized that his promotion is really real, so we did go get his toolbox from work. This meant some time in the garage to rearrange as we now have 3 of these things. I think we have enough tools! The plus, the more crowded the garage gets, the faster he will get the house done as the garage is always the last to get remodeled. I feel this is a win-win for both of us! Lots of pictures to follow!
This is the header board I went a little crazy on. Maybe the story here is, if you have frustration a nail gun is fun?This is how we are holding up the upstairs until the header board is up.Header board is in and the poles are in place to make sure all is good.Before this weekends full destruction. Notice the drop ceiling. After…no more dropped ceiling – Yahoo!!! We do have the one ledge where the cupboards are to remove and then that drop down will be able to be removed. Full view with what it should start to look like. Remember the one 4×4 pole in the left side opening is just there for peace of mind while the header cures on that side. It is home!
I hope everyone had a great Memorial Weekend! We didn’t get as much done on the house as we wanted, but that is ok. We did have a great time at the BBQ Cookoff with Ciera and Dylan on Saturday. There were 32 entries and Ciera came in 1st for her Ribeye entry and Dylan 9th on his Brisket. Congrats to them!!!
We did get the siding up (thank goodness as it is supposed to rain this week) and the way Chad took the photos, it makes the house look really odd. I didn’t have the energy to retake them, so it is what it is. We did get the cupboards and sink out of the kitchen. This is the next wall that we will be opening up and we wanted to have it opened and have the new header in. That did not happen. We are going to be raising the ceiling in that section of the kitchen, so yes, there are holes in the wall and ceiling and I couldn’t be happier! Let’s just say, I got a little zealous as I was destructing while Chad put in our temporary sink.
This was a slower weekend as Chad was on call and Ciera and I went to San Antonio’s Psychic and Spirit Fest. We did get the shutters up in my office (on the 3 little windows). The sun glare never bothered me until we painted the house, so I needed to get that solved rather than continued afternoon headaches. We did get the totes all bought as we are ready to remove the sink and some of the cabinets so we can install the final header board. I decided putting all of the kitchen stuff in totes would be a good investment. Meaning once the kitchen is done and I have all of these empty totes, that means, we need to fill them and what better to fill them with than more Halloween decorations?!?! Happy halfway to Halloween!
This is the true Annabelle from the Warren’s collection. I was really hoping they would also have brought the Nun picture, but unfortunately, they did not. Ciera and I had a blast!
This weekend was good as we got new plywood up, the new window on the west wall of the kitchen expansion in and siding started. We did also take the original window out and I’m not sure I have a picture of that. Normally I would make fun of Chad at this point but he admittedly told me he sucked this weekend at taking pictures. I think if you go back a few posts you will see the brown cedar siding with a window on this side. That is now all gone, sealed up and a new window at the top where there wasn’t one before. Yes, he really sucked this weekend!!! I’m going to give him a pass as he has been on call for the past 3 weeks, so I’m gonna say he was tired. In saying that, this weekend he is on call again and I’m taking Ciera to San Antonio, so I did tell him to rest and not do much. We will see if he listens! Therefore, there may or may not be a post next Sunday. 🙂
On the side to the right that sticks out was where there was still the brown cedar siding with the window. The window and siding is gone!Window and siding!
Ok, our 2 weekends off are done so we are back to getting this thing DONE! This weekend, we took out the wall that was on the one side of the kitchen sink, put in a new header (so Ciera’s bathroom didn’t come crashing down), and ran some wiring so Rodney has a light outside when he needs to go out. We need to still open the side that we opened up where the sink is at with a header board and that should be next weekend. Once that is done, cabinets come out, flooring comes out and then we can start to really plan where things will be and do all of the wiring.
A HUGE shout out to Dylan as he has been a trooper helping Chad and he helped with the wiring today and found that this house does have a mind of its own!
I have Tovola ordered again for food as we are going to be going back to college living after next weekend – paper plates, microwave meals and plastic utensils!
This is the side to the kitchen sink, this did have all of that cedar siding on it. Now it is opened up so we can make the wall straight.These are the temporary jacks holing up Ciera’s bathroom while we got the new header installed.Header is in! Naturally Rodney has to come and check things out… silly boy!The kitchen looking out to see the header from this angle.This is my funny picture – they had wallpaper on this wall and instead of taking it off, just textured over it. Yep, that is the way to do it – LAZY!!!! Thank goodness all of those walls are coming down!
Before I get into what we did this past weekend, from here on out it will most likely be a combination of the kitchen expansion/remodel, master bedroom and bath as there will be times when we need one of the projects to “set – i.e. drying time” so will move to the other project. May all of the chaos begin, but in the end it should be functional and fabulous! We keep debating on the timing to get it all done. I want the inside 100% done by end of year so by this time in 2026, we are working on the pool, grilling area and sitting area. Chad is being a pessimist and thinks that isn’t going to happen, we will see who is right!
A special thank you to Dylan who came and helped this weekend!
This weekend it was all about getting in the windows set in the kitchen expansion area, moving the old door out to where the new door will be (we have the new door, but when you see the pictures, you’ll understand why the new door isn’t in yet). We also were able to get the window in the master bath installed and pulled out old original windows in the kitchen.
We will be going slow the next couple of weekends as my mom is coming for a visit and then we have Easter, so if I don’t post anything for a couple of weeks, that is why. We also are trying to be very diligent with the kitchen to make sure we put plugins in the right spots, lights were we want them, pool bench where it is functional, all that stuff, so I may need time to just “sit” and think, but worth the wait. I have it in my head, but don’t want to forget something and then mad at myself. We did get the new built-in stove/microwave as they were having a great sale, so that is in the garage waiting for us to catch up. I’m so excited!
Expansion to the kitchen – this is the old door that we moved out as we think the floor that was poured isn’t deep enough, so until we are ready to tile and can verify, the new door is going to stay in the garage. We also are waiting on one window that we are putting in on the wall where you see the ladders, I don’t think it gets in for another week, but it will be up high and to the left of the ladders.
So this was from a previous post, but look at the top open triangle area, that is where we will be installing the window we are waiting on.
outside looking in.
If you look closely at where the door area is, there is about an inch worth of mortar…umm we are a little scared to figure out why, but that can then throw off the whole floor, hence why not installing the new door yet.
This is where the old door was, and we removed the windows, so that is now all open. This gives us the ability to ensure we know where we need to have the supports to hold Ciera’s bathroom and closet (those are the rooms above the current kitchen area).
master shower area and the window. We are going to also replace the skylight with one that you can open, I need to get that ordered, but that will be replaced as well.
Inside ow what will become our master shower. We do not show it here, but there are a few angles in this room so it is going to be unique….just like the rest of the architecture in this house, so it should be perfect.
Bones to Beauty 