WEEK 2 of Remodel a House and Don't Divorce or Die Doing it...

WEEK 2
30 May 2011 thru 5 June 2011

Well it was Memorial Day and the start of our 2nd week.  Our Soldiers past and present were on our minds and we said a prayer for every Soldier's safe return home and for our families whose loved ones have given the ultimate sacrifice to this country with their life.

The goal for today was to put temporary supports up and take out the wall completely between the Den and Kitchen.

Wall Frame

Wall Frame Gone

That turned into an all day pain in the rear.... but at least the wall is gone..
still have to put in more pillars..

We also fixed a few rotten floor boards and rolled out the new tar paper on the Den floor...

New Tar paper down

First thing Tuesday morning we got up early and went to Surplus Warehouse http://www.surplus-warehouse.com because they stocked the tile we needed to match our existing kitchen.
George had measured the Den and Bathrooms so we selected what we needed, got a military discount, paid and George drove his truck round Back for the pick up. 
The staff said we would have to make two trips.  I don't know what the hell we were thinking but the next thing a forklift truck appears with a pallet of tiles.  They started to lower the pallet on to the truck and we did not think the suspension could take the weight, so we told them not to drop the pallet on the truck bed and just take it off.  I figured it is better to be safe than sorry.
As usual my quick thinking saved the day and that is why I consider myself the BRAINS!! behind this operation...
I told my husband that we should leave , go to Uhaul , rent a large truck and come back.  Typical man wants to argue, says it will take too much time..blah..blah...blah.  After a discussion on how we were going to have to make more than one trip anyway, the light bulb went off. 
So back to Copperas Cove we went and hired a Uhaul from a place just down from our home. 
This place is a story in itself.  It is called The Bru Thru Daiquiri Factory.  You can buy Daiquiris to go from the drive thru, liquor and beer, Seattle Best Coffee, they also sell propane, buy Gold and you can rent a Uhaul.  A one stop shop..I think it is hysterical...

Anyway we get 2 coffees and the truck and head back to Temple.
So since we have the truck we decide we might as well go ahead and get the new interior doors and the exterior back door.
It was hotter than ever when we got back to the store.  The staff loaded the two pallets of tiles and 10 doors on the truck and then George and I got everything tied down and then we headed back to Cove.

We had schedule an appt last week with Lowes for them to replace all of our windows. The sales rep had been out last week and the installer was coming out today at 1pm to do a final measurement.
When we pulled up in the truck we see two young gentleman waiting for us in the front yard.  Let's say we were not impressed.  They were the window installers.  NO customer service and their attitude needed a readjustment.  George called the sales rep after they left and he said Lowes would send out another installer.  Still no initial quote for the windows and my patience was wearing thin.  I got on the computer that night and after a lot of research on windows, set up a meeting with Home Depot...

We waited that night for the sun to go down and then unloaded the truck...Holy crap, it was still hot and exhausting...

Guest Bathroom tile

Den Tile

Interior doors

New Back door

Tile Mosaics for the doorway and hall

New Day and we start laying the new Sub Floor in The Den.  George measured and cut the wood and I screwed it down in place.  By the end of the day, I was a dab hand with the electric drill...

Thursday was the day of meeting, let's just say an interesting character from the power company.  We had scheduled to have a temporary disconnect of our power at 8 am and a reconnect at 3pm since we were having our electric upgraded by Deane Electric www.deaneelectric.com

To make a long story short, the power company said they did not have us scheduled when the power was still on at 8.30, then the guy from the power company called and asked if our electrician could just cut off the electricity himself since he wanted to take his personnel vehicle in for an oil change, REALLY....NO, it is underground and needed to be disconnected from the main line up in the utility pole.

The guy from the power company shows up, brings his truck in the backyard, goes up in his bucket, takes out a pair of large cutters and just cuts the line.  My husband and I could not believe it.  He also needed an attitude adjustment.  Anyway Mike from Deanes Electric shows up and starts the job at hand upgrading our electric boxes, inside and out..

Mike busy putting in the new meter box and electric box outside.  What an awesome Electrician...

We also had to upgrade the meter box as it did not meet city regulations and was attached too far up  our wall to meet city code.  The Electric company had got in touch with Mike in the meantime and told him he could upgrade the meter box and move it up or down but if he moved it to the left or right, they were going to charge us $600.  Unbelievable...  Mike made sure just to move it down and the problem was averted.  Just before Mike finished at 3pm the guy from the electric company called to asked George what size of wire he cut earlier in the day.  How the hell would we know, he was the one up on the bucket with the clippers.  Anyway we did eventually get the power reconnected...

Power company

Now while the power was off and the Electrician was here, Marco from Home Depot www.homedepot.com showed up to talk to me about new windows. 

Marco with one of the windows

What a great guy.  Well prepared, well mannered and professional.  He spent a good hour going over all our options and during our conversation I mentioned that we were also interested in siding and gutters.  He called his boss straight away and arranged to meet back at our home at 12.30.  They  showed back up and we spent another few hours going over materials, colors, measurements and we even got a Quote before they left.  There was no pressure to sign on the dotted line.  They left samples with us, so we could think about it overnight and then make a decision.

When Marco left the second set of installers showed up from Lowes.  They were very nice but Home Depot seemed to go above and beyond compared to Lowes. Marco from Home Depot brought out samples of windows, colors, pretty much the whole nine yards.  When Gene from Lowes came out, he brought nothing with him.  When we eventually got the Lowes quote that night, it was cheaper than Home Depot. 

George and I weighed our options and decided to go with Home Depot.  Marco's customer service and professionalism and the lifetime guarantee on the windows sealed the deal for us even though it was going to be about $5,000 more expensive.

Marco and his boss Glen came back the next day, measured again and drew up the paperwork.

Now while Marco and Glen were re measuring and doing paperwork, I was removing the pony wall , cupboard and moulding from the grotty laundry room.

pony wall gone

pony wall at back door

cupboard door/moulding gone

cupboard door

George got busy with the plumbing in the back bathrooms..  I told you the hole would get bigger...

Week 1 hole

no hole

week 2 Hole

George wanted to make sure that when he gets his man cave building outside that he can hook up the plumbing to our house.   He set out to dig a hole outside ( another hole), so he could run a drain and water pipes in preparation.  After digging the hole he had to grind away a part of the foundation wall to get the pipe in...

new hole

George grinding the foundation away

I got to work removing the last of the wood panelling and moulding off the kitchen walls.

Sunday I worked on removing the rest of the moulding and wood in the Family Room.

George worked on plumbing and putting in the Bathroom floor joists.

We had our 3rd load of Trash picked up by Perry and his friend..

This was another busy week and we are moving forward but I hurt my leg while doing the demo in the Laundry room.  When I was taking the top off the pony wall, it came down on my leg..ouch !!!!

While doing the plumbing George got his back all scratched up because he has to work in the crawl space under the house.

The end of work week 2

What I have learned...

It's hard work remodelling..

My Home Depot Project program ROCKS....

Keep an eye on the Power Tools your Hubby Buys.

I now think that was his motivation for doing this project...

Be Careful, safety should be first and foremost while working.

  George and I both got Boo-Boos this week.

Thankful that my husband is willing to get in the crawl space. 

 I could not go under there...creepy

Listen to each other's idea's, two heads are better than one...

But ultimately someone needs to be in CHARGE..

That would be ME..

THE PROJECT MANAGER...

until next week...