unfinished
the story of the transformation of our home and our lives
You may remember that over 5 years ago the water in our house was really bad and turned my hair, our clothes, and our bathrooms orange. We learned that our water had manganese, lots of iron, and some other minerals. But we got a new water softener and Kinetico house filtration system and it fixed the problem... until 6 months ago when it happened again. Dot and I both had orange streaks in our hair: The iron in the water stained our shower, toilets, dishwasher, washing machine, sinks, etc. And the iron in the water reacted with the bleach I used to try to clean our white towels and bathmats and caused permanent orange streaks all over our whites. The Kinetico people came two different times to try to figure out what was happening but never quite fixed the problem so we lived with orange hair and nasty toilets and tubs for months. Not to mention having bad water to drink! We don't usually drink water from our faucet and used to use a Brita filter which worked well for a while. But then the filtered water started looking brown and I just couldn't let my family drink it. And especially not for formula in Kate's bottles. So I started buying water which was very annoying. Then, one day at Costco they had a Crystal Springs rep who didn't have to work very hard to convince me to get a water cooler for our house. What a game changer to always have fresh water that is ready to drink! We lived with gross water for months until, finally, a few weeks ago they replaced the resin in our water softener and that did the trick! We figured out the problem. When we got a new well pump a few years ago, they flushed the system with bleach which (when mixed with iron) caused all the resin to not work like it's supposed to. Slowly our water got worse and worse. But PRAISE THE LORD our water is clear again! Once the water was fixed, Mike went on a cleaning frenzy. I will be the first to admit I do not like deep cleaning and bathrooms are my least favorite part for sure. The Lord knew what He was doing when He paired Mike and I, because Mike really enjoys deep cleaning. So Mike bought a BUNCH of Rust Out (which I highly recommend for Iron Stains), multiple jars of Bar Keepers Friend (his favorite cleaner), a huge container of Zep, and some new brushes to attach to his multi tool (cause who needs elbow grease when a drill will do the trick for you!?). After hours of cleaning we finally have clean bathrooms, toilets, and sinks again. Now I don't have to feel guilty putting my kids in a nasty looking tub. Here are a couple before and afters: Our hair is mostly back to normal and I’m planning to return the Crystal water dispenser as soon as we finish our last few jugs. So let’s hope that this water saga is finally done!
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You may have thought we gave up on finishing our home. Or at least documenting it on the blog. But yall, updating this blog has been on my to do list for almost 3 years now and I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN. So here I am with another Houston Home update. And I'm feeling hopeful that it won't be another 2.5 years until I post again. Lots has happened and I don't have much free time, so I'll hit you with the two main highlights... A BabyFirst... we now have three kids. Sweet little Kate Wagner Houston was born November 23, 2022 and is adored by all of us. She makes life more full and more fun. Kate's arrival into our home led us to do a slight remodel of our newly renovated upstairs. Mike built a temporary wall in the playroom to create a tiny (but perfect) nursery. When we built the upstairs we knew there was a chance we might want a small room or large closet and so thankfully Mike wired the room in a way to make it possible. So adding this extra room was pretty simple and only took a couple of weeks! A BasementWhen I wrote my previous post (wayyyy back in Jan 2021) Mike had just started the next phase of our renovation: the basement. Up until now our basement has mostly just been the location of some utilities, where we do laundry, store deer/breastmilk/other frozen things, and a place where we put random things like folding chairs and coolers. I've never needed it to be pristine, but I have always desired for it to not be gross. Is it too much to ask for a basement without mold or weird smells and to not have to step over frogs and watch out for wasps and snakes when I do laundry?! Here are just a few of the lovely sights that you may have seen in our pre-reno basement: And here are some of the before pics of our basement in 2020: In January of 2021 Mike got motivated to start this next house project and checked a few things off the list: (1) He ripped out our old steps and some ugly wood paneling, dug out a lot of rocks and started the process of rebuilding the steps. After ripping out the steps it was months before Mike rebuilt them. So during the winter of 2021, I had to either carry laundry up and down a ladder or walk outside and around our house to the basement door (sometimes it was literally through snow). Eventually Mike built some "temporary steps" which turned out to not be so temporary because we have been using for the past 2 years. (2) Mike put moisture lock on the exposed brick (to hopefully take care of the mold) and added insulation (so now my feet won't be quite so cold walking on the hardwood upstairs). (3) He installed a new exterior door that actually locks and opens properly. The old would get stuck shut in the summer heat. (4) He framed the whole basement and framed new walls to match create a utility room to hide our hot water heater, water softener, etc. (5) He poured new concrete on the floor to help fix the drainage issues And then we ran out of our basement reno budget and had to pause and save up some more money for the project. Then we got pregnant and had a baby. So we lived with a VERY unfinished basement for a couple of years. And then finally, a few months ago (after almost 2.5 years), we restarted the project! And this time we decided to just hire out some of the jobs so that things would actually happen. We had some amazing guys come install all the drywall in less than 2 days. Our sweet kitty Lucy is sad that she can no longer sneak inside our basement (and house) through the holes in the crawlspace and basement walls. Mike installed the cabinets and sink. But before he could put the sink in, the box with the sink fell and knocked the cap off the water pipe and water started pouring from the wall all over our new basement. Mike eventually fixed it, but whoops! Mike started working on the built in storage shelves and it was taking weeks and weeks and progress was SO SLOW. Praise the Lord that the only human he would trust to do trim and custom shelving (other than himself) happened to be available to come finish the project a couple of weeks ago. Robbie and Jordan came in and did an incredible job and were done after just a few days of work. Having them come do this work felt like a true miracle and has gotten us so much closer to being done. And now I can walk down real steps every time I do laundry!!! Then we found some vinyl flooring on sale at Costco and in less than one Saturday Mike installed the floor. We still have a good list of things left to do, but I am already enjoying going down to the basement to do laundry which is something I never thought I would say.
If you made it to the end of this very long post, thanks for listening. And I'm reallllllyyyyy hopeful that it won't be another 2 years before I post again. In addition to the inside projects I shared in the last post, there have also been some small and some big projects happening outside our home over the past year. The Dumpster DisappearsIt was a BIG day when we got our ginormous dumpster removed! I finally feel like our yard is a bit less of a construction zone. And it was great entertainment! BEFORE and AFTER: New Light FixturesWe got two new outdoor light fixtures which make our front and back doors look more complete (even if we do still need to paint out door and buy a new planter!) A New MailboxWe also got a new mailbox! I’ve been asking for a new mailbox for years and then a couple of months ago my wish was granted when Mike forgot he was pulling the trailer and knocked over our mailbox on the way to work! Of course Mike wasn’t interested in just any ol' mailbox but wanted to build one that would be almost impossible to knock over. So he spent days building a mailbox post that would attached to a metal pole cemented deep into the ground. I’m just exited that our mailbox is now big enough for me to put a huge stack of Christmas cards AND Stitch Fix return bag in it all at the same time. And I’m sure our mailman is pumped that our mailbox is no longer about to fall over. Oh and it looks great, too! A Paved DrivewayIf you’ve been to or driven by our house in the past few months you’ve probably noticed that the biggest change in our yard is our new driveway! The finished product looks so good and has provided so much space to ride bikes, use chalk, and run around outside. It also has made our house so much cleaner now that everyone is not tracking in little pebbles in their shoes from our old gravel driveway. This project was an investment for sure, but we are all loving it!! BEFORE: AFTER: Before we could get the driveway poured, we had to do some drainage work around the house. When it rains a lot, the water really pools up near our house which is obviously not good. mikes long term drainage plan involves pipes running under our driveway and taking water from our front yard into the pond behind our house. So we had to finish this project before we could pour concrete for the driveway. Mike rented a ditch witch for a weekend and worked a LOT of hours digging trenches in our yard. Of course he had a little helper by his side for most of the time. Dot LOVED playing in the mud and jumping across the ditches. Mike worked really late into the night. Our neighbors prob hate us for using so much loud machinery during the night. And I woke up to leave the next day to find a huge ditch at the bottom of our stairs. Our home is def not toddler proof. The day finally came to pour the driveway and both girls loved eating breakfast on the porch watching a concrete truck do it’s thing: When we returned home from work/school, the concrete was set! I was a little sad we missed the chance to put our handprints in but I’m sure there I’ll be other places to leave our mark. Dot thinks this is the best thing ever! It really does look amazing and it’s so wide that it provides plenty of space to park two cars and still have plenty of space to play! Once we got the driveway completed we gave Dot a peddle tractor that Mike has been saving since he was little. She LOVES it. In addition to the driveway, we had them pour a floor in the back shed which is currently used for lawn mower, leaf vac, and stroller storage. One day Mike hopes to convert it into a workshop... we will see! BEFORE & AFTER And we had them pour a little pad for our trash and recycle cans as well as a walkway to the garage door. It is so nice!! An RV ParkMike's dad and stepmom are in the midst of moving and needed a place to store their RV for a while. So, right after we paved the driveway, we added an RV to our yard. They just picked it up a couple of weeks ago, but up until that point our neighbors all thought we got an RV for Christmas. HA!
There are so many projects that I want to share with you that have happened over the past year. It's going to look like we have been getting a LOT of work done recently, but don't be fooled. Most of the past 4 months have been full with everyday life like laundry, keeping food on the table, and trying to make sure our kids don't do something too stupid. Oh, and it's been deer season :). We are actually starting some new, big projects (more to come on that soon). So I wanted to be sure to share updates from all the work that has been done over the past year. I'll start with the downstairs hallway... CubbiesIn the midst of our upstairs reno, Mike spent a few weeks building cubbies for our downstairs hallway. I am very exited to not have a huge safe in my hallway anymore and to have more storage. It is also a dream to have a landing spot for shoes and bags so they no longer sit in the kitchen by the back door. This project was super practical but also looks really good. Mike did an amazing job! BEFORE: IN PROCESS: AFTER: Some highlights from this cubbies project: 1.Praise the Lord our kids are great sleepers because for many nights Mike was using the nail gun RIGHT outside of their doors while they were sleeping!! 2.The incredible number of clamps used to make the bench seat. When I told Mike he had too many clamps, he informed me that he actually needed more in order to make the bench. Oh and we got the awesome rustic wood for FREE from some demo on one of Mike's job sites. Def a perk to being a project manager! :) 3.Mike wired a new outlet and rewired the network cable so that now our router can be on top of the cubbies and out of the way! He is a genius! 4.A big hiccup in this project was that Mike somehow built the top of the shelf with his tools inside. So he spent hours trying to get them out without disassembling the whole thing. His hard work paid off and he eventually retrieved them! 5.Storage baskets : The baskets I bought to keep our shoes were a little too big. But no biggie cause Mike just shaved off some of the wood so they would fit! The baskets also started scratching the wood so I ended up covering the bottom w felt and it works great! And I’m so glad that (most of) our shoes are not thrown all over our house now! PantryAnother downstairs hallway project that Mike worked really hard on was redoing our pantry closet. He covered the gaping holes in the closet, made custom built ins, installed new trim and doors, and I reorganized everything. Another really practical project that has made every day life easier at home. BEFORE: AFTER: Some highlights from the project: We started with quite a few holes in the pantry walls (thanks to some plumbing and electrical projects upstairs). So Mike decided to cover the walls w plywood instead of patching. It turned out to be a fiasco trying to fit huge pieces of wood into a tiny enclosed space. But he did it (with only a few extra holes in the wall/ceiling). In order to have adjustable shelves Mike drilled SO MANY HOLES in the wood walls. But it is super nice to be able to adjust this as our food storage needs change. Of course Mike meticulously painted every square inch of shelves and walls. So once again our garage turned into a paint booth. Here is just a snapshot to show how Mike works: While we worked on this project for a month, our guest room turned into a pantry. Which worked fine except when Mikes family came to stay with us. Mike literally finished the project 2 hours before they arrived. It was a race to the finish line but we made it! And they didn't have to sleep next to the Costco size bottle of soy sauce. I spent a lot of time trying to think about the best way to organize our new space. I ended up buying some really great canisters from Costco and some plastic storage baskets from Target. They work great and so far (3 months in) our space has continued to stay organized! And of course this project is actually still unfinished. Mike is planning to one day build can dispensers on the side walls of our pantry for all our veggies, beans, fruit, etc. But with the quick finish, that was put on hold. So we currently have cans hiding in 2 different places in our home. Jane knows exactly where they are :)
Since we have been stuck at home so much of the past 5 months, we have spent a lot of time outside. I have been SO grateful for our huge yard, our garden and animals, and for a new trail through the woods behind our house. In addition to all of the projects inside our house, we have been working on some outside projects outside as well... Chicken Coop RenoWhen you're doing a home renovation, you have to give your chickens a renovation, too, right?! Mike decided to expand our chicken coop because he wanted to quarantine our mean rooster (before we finally gave him away… PRAISE THE LORD!) and because he wanted to get more baby chicks. So Mike got rid of our woodpile and closed in that half of our shed so that we could have two separate coops. He also built a separate run in the back and new nesting boxes in a whole new area for the hens to lay. We still need to paint the outside so that it looks more complete, but we will get around to that one day! A Lot of WoodWell, right after we got rid of the woodshed, THREE trees fell in our next door neighbors yard. Our neighbor Dale recently passed away and Mike asked his family if we could have the wood. Of course they were grateful to have someone take care of it so they said yes. So over the past 5 months, Mike spent a lot of time on all this wood... One full weekend with his chainsaw chopping up the treesOne full weekend splitting the wood (in the 95 degree heat)One or two full weekends building the woodshed (that still doesn't have siding or shingles)And part of a weekend moving all the wood to the shed. (and it was only part of the weekend because he decided to hire some wonderful humans to help move all the wood)We ended up with a woodshed FULL of wood (which we don’t even use that often) and still had huge piles in the yard. So, we are selling the wood by the truckload. Of course Mike spent a good chunk of time making the sign to advertise the wood is for sale. And in his typical Mike fashion went ALL out (using tape to make letter stencils before spray painting the words) I guess his sign worked because we have already sold 3 truckloads full. But there is more! So let me know if you want some firewood!! [Full Disclosure] These trees and this wood have been a source of tension in our home over the past 5 months as they have required a LOT of time and effort. But thankfully we talked it out, the task is mostly taken care of, and we have moved on. :) Six Baby ChicksAnd, in case you were wondering about our half empty chicken coop, we finally got six more chicks at the end of July! We had to wait 2 months for them to be born, because we are really particular and want only Barred Rock chicks which apparently are hard to find, because as Mike says "Because of the pandemic the city yuppy folks have decided to now raise chickens"). So, our current chicken count is 11: one (nice) rooster, 4 hens that are laying, and 6 little chicks. Once those chicks start laying this fall, we might be getting 10 eggs a day, so let me know if you’re interested in some eggs! I love that Dot LOVES to go outside in the morning and at night w her dad to see the chicks and collect the eggs. A GardenMike and Dot have been working hard to plant our garden from seeds this year. We started with seedlings that took over our dining room table for 3 months, but now we have a garden full of cucumbers, tomatoes, and squash! Dot loves to go out after dinner to pick veggies and water the garden with Daddy! Lastly, as Mike has been doing all this work in the yard, I had one small project of re arranging some bushes around the house and creating a small new garden. I was so proud of myself! But let’s be real, I spend most of my time running around after our kids (and not weeding), so the other day my garden looked like this: But then me and my helpers did get around to some weeding and now my little garden is a much happier place. I even discovered two little roses that bloomed in the midst of the weeds. #hope And lastly, I’ll share some pics of what life looks like in our yard most days…A lot has happened in our world since my last blog post. Our lives look way different than I ever would have expected. One side affect of COVID-19 quarantine (and working from home) is that I have significantly less “me time” and one of the things I decided let go was this blog. But so much has happened and I’ve been wanting to post about it. Now is finally the time! I'M BACK and I cannot wait to show you guys how AMAZING our upstairs looks! Right after my last post in early February, we hit some major milestones: Downstairs Hallway was PaintedStairway was CompletedLike our makeshift baby gate?! haha Shower Glass was InstalledAND THEN WE MOVED IN!!After these final things were checked off the list, we were ready to move things upstairs! In March, the week before COVID started we had Trosa come and move everything upstairs! I am so grateful that the timing worked out that we got it finished and things moved before the craziness started. I am so grateful that we were able to move upstairs and gain our house back before we started spending ALL DAY, EVERY DAY in our home. The Lord is good, yall. Our Master Bedroom is UpstairsOur New Closet is Organized (and we have access to ALL our clothing finally)A Work In Progress.... and Complete... Jane Moved out of our BedroomAfter 9 months of sleeping in our room, Jane was able to move to her own room. PRAISE THE LORD. I love that girl but it was time for her to have her own space and for me to stop tip toeing in the dark with a flashlight as I put our clean clothes way. Jane moved upstairs into her new bedroom (also the playroom). She slept in the Pack n Play for another month until April when Dot got her big girl bed and Jane FINALLY got to sleep in a real crib!! Daddy's little helper taking apart the crib and putting together her big girl bed... Please notice that in the picture above: (1) our stair railing which lived on the floor of the playroom for MONTHS before Mike actually put it up (at the end of July) and (2) our built in shelves that remained unpainted and un-installed for months until July as well. But even with these minor projects left unfinished it was SO GOOD to get settled in. Our Attic Items Moved Out of the GarageAll the boxes first made a stop in the new playroom while we purged, sorted, and organized everything before putting things back into the walk in attic... And here is the current state of our attic: a hot mess that needs some serious attention (one day). The Safe is in the ClosetThis dang safe has drive me CRAZY. You may remember it has lived in our hallway, in our dining room, and now finally rests in its home- a custom built cubby in our master closet. I want to give a shoutout to the amazing men who moved the safe up the stairs for us- they are my HEROS. And I'm sure Mike would will want you to know that the shelves to the left of the safe are perfectly measured and removable, making space for the bigger safe that he is hoping I will let him buy in the future :) We Have a Guest Room Again (Downstairs)There is so much more to share but this is all for now. Of course Mike didn't take one day off before starting the next project, so there are lots more updates and pictures. Plus, I have finally started to work on decorating and one day will share some pics of that.
Thanks for being on this journey with us, friends. And just in case you forgot what we look like (since it's been SO LONG since we have seen you in person) I'll add a family pic from Jane's 1st Birthday! Things have been rocking and rolling over the past month. Lots of loose ends have been tied and this week we hit a HUGE milestone and passed our final inspections. So legally, we are now allowed to move stuff and start living upstairs! We do still have a bit more work to do before we can actually move things, but we are sooooo close and it feels really great. Our upstairs looks dramatically different since my last post. Here is a peek at all the things that have happened: Hardwood Floors are Sanded, Stained, & FinishedAfter one day of sanding the new hardwoods upstairs, we had dust EVERYWHERE. Dot (and I) both enjoyed making some art out of it. We quickly decided which stain we wanted and the guys came back for the next two days and then BAM! Our floors were done and completely changed the way things look upstairs. I love the floors SO much. They don't match our downstairs stain but we will eventually refinish those. So for now I've gotta let go of the mismatched floors. Countertops are InIn a matter of a couple of hours our bathroom was transformed with the installation of the countertops on the vanity and in the shower. I remember going to pick out the countertop in May 2019 (VERY pregnant with Jane). Thankfully they didn't mind holding it for almost a year and thankfully I still liked what I picked out so many months ago. The bathroom looks SO GOOD. I keep going upstairs and just standing there enjoying the space. Paint Color Decision (FINALLY) MadeAs I mentioned before I (unfortunately) didn't love the color I picked for both our Master Bedroom and the upstairs and downstairs hallway. So, I went back to the drawing board and painted 9 more samples. I could really write an entire blog post about picking out paint colors. But here is the summary: I was really hoping for a white(wish) color but I had no idea how hard it was to pick out a white paint color that works with the lighting and other details of your home. The colors changed dramatically on the walls and were even completely different upstairs and downstairs. I actually felt like I was going crazy (and Mike didn't hesitate to agree that I was being irrational). After covering almost all the hallway walls with samples and calling on a friend's keen eye to help, I finally decided to ditch the white idea and go with what I know that I like...grey. I ended up choosing a lighter version of "Seagull Grey" which is the same color as the other 3 bedrooms in our house. But it was the safe option and so far I like it. Still waiting on the painters to complete the hallway. Bathroom Details are InThe plumbers came and installed the toilet and faucets. Mike put up the mirrors. We picked out drawer pulls and are almost finished getting towel bars and hooks. The bathroom really is looking ready to use! And we actually have been using the toilet up there. It works great! Stairway and Downstairs Hall are Ready for PaintWhile I was away on a girls weekend (and Dorothy stayed with my parents), Mike and Jane worked really hard on finishing the railings and pickets on the steps and getting the downstairs hallway prepped for paint. And I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised to know that Mike marked EVERY imperfection in the paint so that the painters wouldn't miss the touch ups. This is after he used bondo to fill in a bunch of other mistakes. I am married to a perfectionist...that's for sure. But I sure do love him and how he is making our home an even more beautiful place.
Y’all! It finally feels like we are on the home stretch! I am excited and I think Mike is even more excited. He finally hit the point where he is over this project and ready to move back upstairs. (I think I hit that point in May 2019, so I’ve gotten over that feeling haha). But now that Mike has hit this stage, he has been working even harder (and staying up till midnight most nights) to complete the final tasks. So much has happened in the last few weeks. We have big updates to share and over the next week the space is going to change even more dramatically! Here is what’s been happening: Bathroom Tile is FinishedAnd it looks SO good! I really love how the floor tile ended up and the shower also looks great! Walls and Trim are PaintedThe painters came to prime the walls, and trim and doors and everything! So the time finally came to pick the paint colors. I’ve been thinking about it all along the way but hadn’t landed on final colors. So over the past couple of weeks I've spent hours online doing researched and ended up with a TON of samples (thank you Riverbank for letting me borrow some samples!). After painting samples on many walls and staring at them forever, I finally landed on colors. I decided to do the playroom/nursery the same color as the two downstairs rooms (Seagull Grey). For the bathroom I went with Smoke. And for the Master Bedroom and hallway I chose White Dove. The painters came and did a great job! The good news is that I LOVE the bathroom and the playroom colors. The bad news...the color I picked for both the master and the hallway is not what I thought it would be and I really don’t like the way it looks in our house. So, now I have to get more samples and ask the painters to repaint...whoops! Mike's Other Random ProjectsMike has also been hard at work on all sorts of odds and end things. You can see a small part of his list written in a random piece of wood. Apparently this is better than a paper list?? Mike installed smoke and carbon monoxide detectors ...his dad should be proud :) He finished up trim, installed the pocket doors, and and he installed the pull down stairs to give access to all the mechanical stuff in the rafters. Mike installed the light fixtures in the bathroom and started hanging the mirrors. He installed recessed lights, switches, and a new fan for our room. Lastly I wanted to share what it looks like when I leave Mike in charge of babysitting on a Saturday... Dot reading Christmas books (that she found hidden in the attic) and watching Daddy work. This girl's life is hilarious. And in other news...Sweet little Jane Mae is eating solid food Dorothy ended up at Urgent Care and praise the Lord her arm wasn’t broken! We are excited for 2020!!
This is a pic that Dorothy made at school this year of her house. I don’t think she realized just how accurate this art really is. A door off the house and a crooked roof...I really feel like this picture sums up our 2019. Maybe because it’s been forever since I posted on this blog or because the outside of our house looks awesome or because we were hoping to be finished with this project by June... but most people assume we are finished with our upstairs. Oh how I wish that was true but NOPE. We are still in the thick of it. Here’s what’s been happening in the past few months: Exterior PaintAfter paining so many sample squares and standing in our front yard staring at our house for hours (our neighbors prob think we are crazy), we finally decided on an exterior paint color. All the deliberating was worth it because I LOVE IT and our house looks beautiful!! Once the painters were finished outside we quickly got the exterior trim painted and new gutters. I love pulling into our driveway each day and looking at the (almost) completed exterior. CabinetsOn the indoor front, Mike installed our upstairs bathroom cabinets and they look great! I’m super exited about all the storage we will have. A big shoutout to Michael who helped Mike carry the huge pantry cabinets from the porch to the upstairs bathroom. Indoor Trim and PaintMike finished installing the baseboard molding upstairs and so now all the trim is done! He worked so hard on that! Then, the painters came to prime the walls and trim upstairs. Before they came mike had to clean up his tools so now it doesn’t look so much like a construction zone. And with the white walls it is really starting to look like a place we could live. We have heat!Earlier in the summer we got all set up to convert to gas heat (for our whole house) but we were waiting to hook it all up until after the final inspection. But as the weather got colder and colder, I finally complained enough that Mike ended up installing the heat pump so we could heat our house. The big plus is that now the upstairs and downstairs are climate controlled and have their own units and thermostats. We will save money and be so much more comfortable. The StairsThe project we (and by we, I mean Mike) have been working on the most over the past couple of months is replacing the stairs. Mike first had to take down the temporary wall and door to the upstairs. I admit I did question the necessity of this barrier at first but oh my gosh I’ve been so thankful. Ever since we took the wall down our downstairs has been so much more dusty and loud as work has happened upstairs. Also, with the wall coming down and the need for Mike to work in the hallway, we had to move everything out of our hallway to other parts of the house. So now we have a huge safe in our dining room and a changing table and dresser blocking our front door. the timing of this extra clutter in our already maxed out space is not ideal. With Christmas decorations and Christmas gifts and travel during the past couple of months, our house has been looking quite cluttered. If I’m being honest, most days walking into our house has pushed me over the edge. I am really ready for everything to have its own place out of eyesight. Mike has worked SO hard on rebuilding the steps. He took everything down to the stringers and then started the rebuilding. I’ve been so impressed at his ability to make everything straight and level and make it look so good! Dot has been a good little helper as well. TileWe have been waiting almost 6 months for the tile work to start in the bathroom. So when Mike told me they were staring the week before Christmas I felt like this was one of the best gifts I could have gotten. Tile is one of the last big things we were waiting on so it feels like the end is in sight!
The tile isn’t finished but the walls and floor are prepped and hopefully it will go in soon! People frequently ask me if the renovation is done or how is it coming along. Done? HA... Nope. Not even close. It is coming along, but slowly, slowly these days. Our everyday life is full and we have been in the phase where Mike needed to complete the trim work upstairs. Outside of job, his time is spent helping with the kids, mowing, and now deer hunting. Nevertheless, there have been some updates to show and I'm hopeful that we will be on the home stretch soon. Electrical Work is Done!I'm finding that this renovation is like the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie". We do one thing which effects three other things and we end up having to do way more work than I realized. For example, we got a new HVAC unit upstairs which apparently requires more electrical input into our house. So, Mike decided that when they came to increase device to 400Amps That we might as well get them to change our above ground power lines to underground; cause...why not?! So, after two months of waiting, Duke Energy finally came and dug a HUGE trench across our entire front yard (and if you read my post a while back, you'll notice this is trench number two in our yard). I guess it is nice to not have a power line hanging across our yard that a tree or branch could knock down? It took Duke forever to finally come and do the work. But, they came two days before Mike's Dad and Stepmom came to park their RV at our house. It worked out great because they had the right amount of power for their RV. The only bummer is that they had to walk through clay every time they went in and out of their RV. Mike made a RamBoard red carpet for them haha. Upstairs Trim is DoneMike worked really hard and completed the upstairs trim except for the bathroom (which has to wait until we have the tile installed). He finished the baseboards, installed the doors, did the trim on the windows and doors, and finished the closet built ins. Everything looks amazing; Mike is just so talented! Exterior TrimOnce again, we have an "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie" situation... We needed new trim and gutters on the new second story wall on the back of the house. But apparently it makes more sense to install new trim and gutters on the entire house? To prepare for the trim guys coming, Mike worked a couple of nights after bedtime ripping off all the old trim. He was making a racket and wearing a headlamp outside while Dot was trying to fall asleep and she must have heard or seen him through her window. She started screaming and talking about a "scary guy" outside of her window. It's been a week now and the poor girl still asks us to check outside her window to be sure there is no scary guy. Exterior PaintBecause we had to paint the new siding on the second story on the back of our house, why not paint the whole house?! Although this is a serious undertaking, I am personally super excited about painting the brink on the whole house. I've wanted to do it since we moved in and now is apparently the time! The painters showed up unexpectedly one day and primed our house in less than a day. I left in the morning and when I got home from work, our house looked TOTALLY different. I honestly love the color of the primer, but Mike said we have to actually use paint too :) We have narrowed the exterior paint color down to a few options. Feel free to cast your vote: Some Glimpses into Everyday LifeIn addition to the big changes at our house, there are everyday occurrences that really show what our life is like in the midst of the renovation. I wanted to just share a few:
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About UsWe are the Houstons and in 2014 we began the renovation our first home. We are doing most of the work ourselves while living everyday life with three kids. We are excited to share with you the stories of our home and lives as both are transformed one day and project at a time. Archives
September 2023
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