Tuesday, October 18, 2011

WEEK 20 of Remodel a House and Don’t Divorce or Die Doing It.

3 Oct thru 9 Oct
George and I have decided to go ahead and schedule a delivery date of the 28th of October of our Household Goods shipment from Hawaii.  That means it is time to kick this remodel into high gear.
I started off the week reinstalling the insulation in the floor of the powder room and closet.  Called for an inspection and Kenny was out an passed us before noon..


We finally decided on a Floor after a few months of research and going back on forth on what wood to choose and color.  We settled on a Santos Mahogany Engineered Hardwood Floating Floor with a hard rating of 4 on a scale of 1-5.  It also has a 25yr guarantee.
As usual I have no idea what we were thinking but we bought 2 pallets.  When the lady from the flooring department at Home Depot brought out the forklift with the pallets and sees George’s truck she said “no way could it hold the two pallets”. 
If we only took one pallet they would have to go to customer service and do a return for the other and then we would have to come back and purchase the pallet again.  To make it simple, George took the first pallet and drove home while I sat at home Depot with the other.  It made more sense all round and anyway I had my phone with me.  I called my daughter got a free cup of Java from the store and sat outside talking, smoking and drinking coffee while waiting on George to get back and pick up the other pallet. 
Also looked at color samples but could not make up my mind.








George is off to work and I am Tiling today.  Will these tiles in this Master Bathroom ever be done !!! I spent the day installing more of the glass tile border and finishing the main tile on the sink wall.







Today I need to get some of the ceiling and floor molding painted but as usual I have to clean up the work area where George has been last before I can get to work..He needs a little house cleaning class.  There was sawdust everywhere from the day he sanded the mantel.  I don’t want that blowing up and covering my newly painted molding.  I got one strip painted and decided to move inside since it was a little windy outside and there was dust blowing.  I don’t want to have to repaint.  I have done more than one project twice during this remodel and this is not getting added to this list. 

I am using the new Glidden Trim and Door , no drip or brush marks, Bright White.  LOVE IT…LOVE IT


Outside set up


Time to move inside






George came home and put more mud on the walls in the family room.  I know he is loathing that job just as much as I loathe tiling now.


George tried bringing the sockets out of the wall a bit as it was too hard to get the electrical cover to sit flat against the tile.

The excitement was building George was going to get to use a new toy tonight.  He set up his saw..Whoop..
Can’t believe he is actually reading instructions but I guess wonders will never cease.



We needed to put up the ceiling molding in one of the guest rooms before George started installing the floor.







Then George Caulks the corners and nail holes.

We were on a  roll so once the ceiling was done we started rolling out the underlay




Then it was on to the floor…now here is a funny part of the story.  The wood comes in a box with three planks together.  The instructions say to get the first row in straight ,lay the second and then you should be able to install without any trouble.  George was trying to lay the three planks at once which in actual fact was three rows.  It was not staying in place and when I looked at it, I did not like it.  So I go and look at the pic on the box and come back and ask George if the three planks separate.  There was the problem.  As soon as he separated the sets of three he was on a roll…I guess I am good for something…making sure stuff is done right…lol  Here you see him starting with the three planks together.  Sometimes you just can’t see the forest for the trees.  I think it was way to late to start the project and he was tired because he would have normally figured it out for himself.

Now he starts over with single planks…yahoo


Time to call it a night but the floor is looking good…Happy Dance..
Took the day off and headed out shopping with my list.  Stopped off at Anna’s Linens, Tuesday Morning, Kohl’s and as usual when I got to Lowes my blood pressure goes through the roof.  Their customer service sucks.   You practically have to beg for someone to help you.  I needed Electrical Socket extensions.  They were not out but way up high on a shelf.  When I eventually got someone, he acted like I didn’t know what I was talking about and when I pointed up before he would get the ladder he wanted to walk up and down the aisle looking.  I told him I had already looked THREE times and there were none out.  He got the ladder gave me the product and I went to the register and left the store.  I know I will have to come back tonight to get some other supplies..breathe Jackie…
We have ceilings that would take forever to plaster and they probably still would look awful.  So our only choice would be to replace all the drywall or cover.  After reading Layla’s blog we decided to cover with wood. Lowe’s price on this Ever true Plank Paneling was cheaper than Home Depot so off we go to pick it up.  Someone evidently had gone through the stock Lowes had and took the best of the bunch.  Most of the packs left were busted, dirty and had chips on the wood planks.  We did find an employee and asked if they had anymore in stock.  He told us no but would find a manager to see if they would discount what was available.  I think this is the first time we met an Employee in this store that was pleasant.  John looked at the stock and marked 5 packages down to $5 a pack and the other 11 packs he marked down to a $1.  They normally cost $10.97 a pack.  so we spent $36 with a saving of $140.  What a deal we got.  A big Thank you to Kevin and Layla from the The Lettered Cottage I read their blog on ceiling ideas and followed suit.




George gets up bright and early, busts off two tiles and moves the socket. 


Then I replace the two tiles


George finished the flooring in the first bedroom..



We get the base for the closet organizer put back together


We then moved to the other guest bedroom.  George puts the trim back on top of the cabinet.  I still have to coat with Polyurethane.


Then it was on to the ceiling molding.




Now I know I shouldn’t laugh but every time I looked at this pic I giggle.  This is George after he just got smacked in the head with the ceiling fan..


After I quit laughing we continued.  








Then it was onto rolling out the underlayment.


 


Then I left George to install the floor.




I was painting more molding and when George finished the floor, he primed the corner pieces of molding.


Now when George bought this gadget I thought it was an over priced tape measure but now I have to admit that it is well worth the money.  It takes exact measurements.  It has an infra red laser.  You point and press and get your measurement.  You also can get the square footage of area’s and it has a memory so like us if you were buying flooring for multiple rooms you can have it add it all together with just a click of the button. They run about $99 at Home Depot   Bosch Digital Laser Distance Measurer
It is a must have when remodeling and would be a great Christmas gift for anyone who works in the remodeling or Interior design business




Today we is tackling the Master Bedroom Ceiling molding.


Then I put the drawers together for one of the closet organizers.

Then George moves on to the floor Baseboard molding in the guest rooms.

Can I say again I just love the wood flooring…
Then he moves on to putting in the sub floor in the Powder room and closet and finish the electrical in that area.

He finishes up the day by installing the Flood light at one side of the house.


I was not sitting on my buttocks while he was working.  I was busing putting grout on the wall in part of the Master Bathroom





After a long hard days work we were blessed with our Neighbor Steve and his family.  They invited us over for dinner. Steve BBQ’d and it was Delicious.  Chicken, Steak, Shrimp,Corn, Potatoes and Beans..YUMMY…



Thank you Steve, you and the kids are the best…

Today we are going to tackle the first ugly ceiling with the Ever True Wood Planks.  The Master Bathroom.  Yikes

We are off and running..
George measures and I am in charge of cutting. 



George Nails in place when it is small pieces.  I have to get up the other ladder when we are putting up the full planks.  Not quite sure how I ended up doing the running back and forth and up and down a ladder. Can we say IDIOT..





Then George finishes off the floor modeling in the second guest bedroom





I on the other hand had to prime the ceiling in the master bathroom.  Now if truth be told I wanted to paint before we installed but lost the battle and ended up doing the painting.  I really should have made George do this since it was his bright idea to paint after installation.


George finished off the electrical switches in the Office…



 
Another busy weeks comes to an end..
What I have Learned this week
Take your time when picking out Wood Flooring.  Get what is right for you
There is so much out there to choose from.
I LOVE OUR CHOICE..
I hate tiling with a passion now
Some Gadgets are worth their weight in Gold..Bosch Laser Distance Measurer
Stick to your guns, unlike me, Painting a ceiling is a lot harder than painting flat planks of wood..
Be careful when working around ceiling Fans..DUCK…lol

Until Next Time
As always feel free to share this Blog on your Facebook or with friends, post comments, become a Follower by hitting the follow button or ask a question...
Jackie D Winking smile

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow! I'm exhausted just looking at all the work you have done, but GREAT JOB! Thanks for linking up!

The OutPost said...

@One Tough Mother
I enjoyed reading some of the other links and look forward to following your blog. Thanks for stopping by...

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