Remodel #3 Day 2: Fine Layer of Dust

Another day and quite a bit of progress has been made. I'd forgotten how dirty things can get with drywall. There is a fine layer of dust on everything, including inside our kitchen cabinets. I guess I have another chore for Saturday. The electrician was here and was able to put the light switch where I thought it should go upon thinking about it rather than where we'd planned for it to go when we made the initial drawings. No word, yet, on the tile but I'm guessing that won't be an issue either.

Today's pictures are probably the last of the interesting ones since the rest of the work is paint, trim, and finish work. Exciting things like that. Paul apparently thought we needed a picture of the electrical wire so there you go:
Looking from the living room, the new door into the guest room/den and Jub coming down the hall. I guess we'll need to figure out what that room will be called now. Of course, we still refer to the second bedroom upstairs as "the new room" even though it will be Baby's bedroom. Maybe when Baby is about 16, we'll stop calling it the new room. About the same time we stop calling him Baby.
And with both doors shut to keep the cat out. The doors will be painted to match the rest of the trim in the house.

Mud and tape on the inside of the room (also on the old door frame in the hallway) as well as trim. I'm happy he reused the some of the trim and drywall. Makes me feel all ecological and green (and like I probably could have paid less for this project since they're reusing all my stuff). I'm happy with how the electrician re-ran the wiring. We were told to be prepared for him to cut the ceiling to move it. This makes much more sense to me.
Looking out the new door into the living room (notice the cat in the picture?). The light switch was supposed to go to the right of the door or on the long wall, two feet over from the corner. MUCH happier with this solution.
There won't be an update tomorrow as the carpenter isn't going to be coming in--he's got a few loose ends on another project that he's going to finish up tomorrow and then will be back on Thursday to finish the trim and probably get started painting. This project is going quickly from the time Paul and I had the first conversation about it (late October) until it will be finished (late December). Considering I didn't call the contractor until the middle of November, this is a really fast turn-around.

Remodel #3 Day 1

This morning started the remodel to change the door from the hallway to a French door off the living room. I ran home during the morning to be with Paul when the lead carpenter came--he was scheduled for 9:00 but called to let us know that it would be closer to 10:00 because of the Monday morning meeting. Paul didn't want to be the one in charge of meeting him and going over plans but it's not as if he could really mess things up. Paul and I talked over where the new door would be placed as well as the option of having a border tile laid in the doorway from the living room into the new guest room/den. I showed Paul the house key as well as an index card with our cell phone numbers to give the carpenter. That's all I would have done had I been the one meeting the carpenter this morning. When I got home this afternoon and met him, all was well. The door was in the correct place and he didn't think there would be a problem with the tile. We chatted briefly about where the light switch would be located next to the new door as the electrician comes in the morning and I leave for work before the workmen arrive.

Today's progress--The new door way from the living room into the guest room.
No more door into the hallway.
The doorway from the guest room into the hallway. It took me a second to realize that the carpenter had reused the drywall which is why the hallway door and the bedroom door were the correct colors. I'm going to repaint the guest room--not 100% on the color but I've found a couple I like. I'm debating using the color that was in the guest room in Baby's room. I like it.
Looking into the living room from the guest room.

The cat is utterly confused by the changes that are currently taking place. Yesterday when Paul and I were finishing cleaning out the guest room and moving furniture, we left the door open and didn't scold the cat for going in the room. Up until then, that was always the "cat-free room" as a nicety to our guests and he was never allowed in the room. Yesterday and today both, he was standing in the middle of the room, meowing as if to get our attention to the fact that he was misbehaving. We just let him have his moment.

And because I love playing with things like this, even though we don't actually own the sleeper & ottoman, this is the plan for the room layout when all is said and done.

Sad, neglected little blog

Things have been busy around these parts and add in a good bit of laziness when it's not busy and this little place ends up a bit neglected. From my vantage point, however, things are going well for our little clan.

Paul had a business trip to Berkeley right before Thanksgiving. It was his first in many months--good and bad. It's always nice to have him home but since the lack of travel is due to lack of funding, it's not necessarily a plus. Because he didn't get home until Tuesday afternoon following a 24-hour shift, we opted not to travel any farther than his parents' house for Thanksgiving. It was just the four of us for dinner, football, and board games. A nice way to spend the holiday.

I had a doctor's appointment just before Thanksgiving. I will admit that I have an issue with the nurse who does all the vitals--she won't let me pee before she weighs me. She's nice enough except for that because while I know I'm gaining weight at a healthy rate, I'm enough of a girl that I would prefer to be naked and empty before stepping on a scale. I did convince her at this appointment to let me take off the boots I was wearing because I knew they weighed about 2 pounds (I'd weighed with them on and off at home just to see). Small victories. I saw the PA for this appointment with the OB popping in briefly just to check that things were OK. He said that personally, I was quite interesting but medically, I was utterly boring which is just how he likes his patients to be. I've had very little swelling (only one day after a VERY salty meal), my energy level is still good, Baby and I are both gaining weight and growing at a healthy rate. I was sent with orders to return in four weeks, just before Christmas, and to have the 1 hour glucose test done before the next visit.

I played hooky from work on Friday to complete the glucose test as well as run an assortment of errands that just never seem to get done when I have to do them after work. I had been advised by several friends and my sister to select the orange flavor and chug it like I was back in college. And to hope it was cold. I did just that (and the drink was cold). I don't think there should be any problems with gestational diabetes. I've been asked by several people about traveling at Christmas--I've not actually asked the doctor (nothing like waiting until the day before we're scheduled to leave to do that) but again, I don't think there should be any problems. I've not had troubles with the pregnancy at all so while I know I'll be grounded to ABQ during January and February, this will be one last trip I can make. And if the doctor says no, we'll just pull a Smokey and the Bandit except for trying to run beer across state lines with a really cool Trans-Am, Paul will be transporting a pregnant woman in a Subaru Forester. Eh. (Oh, but I just looked on IMDb to make certain I had the right movie and Sally Fields character's name was Carrie. Didn't remember that at all but I probably haven't seen that movie in 25 years.)

And in other news, I met with the remodeling contractor and that is scheduled to get started on December 14 with a completion date of Dec. 22. We didn't get to add the lovely flooring I'd selected to the project at this point in time. Holy cow--I have good taste. When I saw that 1/3 of the cost would be floors, it didn't take much time for me to say that the current carpet will be just fine. It's not a big room so that might be a DIY project for us at a later date. In anticipation of the remodel, we sold the hall tree bench and the futon that was in the guest room on Craiglist last week. I probably didn't price them high enough since I sold both quickly but if I'd priced them higher, I might not have gotten any takers. Catch-22. But both pieces are gone and we've got a little extra money in our pocket to put towards new furniture for the room.

We've decided to go ahead and do the our neighborhood holiday party even though we'll have construction happening. I didn't wrestle up a Christmas tree this year because between the construction and the belly, it just didn't seem worth it. My MIL gave me a 4-foot pre-lighted tree so I've got that and will probably do the mantle and put out a few other things to gussy up the joint beforehand. Our neighbors probably won't even notice the difference in decorating that I normally do, and if they do, I think they'll understand. We figure that if nothing else, they will probably be curious to see what's up at our house when they see the contractor's truck again.

Some people move. We remodel.

When we first started telling the neighbors that I was pregnant, quite a few of them asked if we would be moving. We have no plans to any time soon. In fact, Paul has devised the four-year plan to pay off the mortgage and own the joint out-right. Instead, we remodel. Both Paul and I love our little house--it really has been a great place for us and we have really good (for the most part) neighbors. I guess this is our way of making the space even more perfect. And it is cheaper than buying a new house.

The first remodel we did four years ago added Paul's office space while enclosing a rarely-used yet enormous (9x11) balcony to expand the second upstairs bedroom and add a walk-in closet. The second remodel last year took out the two extraneous windows that I HATED in the living room and upgraded the kitchen countertops. And yes, we're planning a THIRD remodel on our house.

One of my complaints about our house has always been that the living room is too small. I think this will become even more evident when we add in a little guy and all his stuff. Heck, we just got one hand-me-down from friends yesterday (a glider thingy) and already, we're seeing how things can quickly grow out of control and we can quickly run out of room.

When we built the house a little over 9 years ago, we had an option on what we wanted to do with a front room. Some neighbors left it open, others enclosed one wall, others made it into a bedroom. We opted to make it a guest bedroom with a door onto the hallway. We also added a shower to the downstairs bathroom, making it a 3/4 bath. This worked well since the bedroom door was next to the bathroom door. Except that in nine years, the guest room was used about one week out of the year so we have 1oo sq. ft. of usable space that hasn't been used much. Earlier this year, we moved the bed out and I bought a small desk and a new futon for the room to make it more of an office/den space. Still not used much but a little more usable than it had been.

I'd been plotting for a while another remodel that we might do to open up the living room space and make the front room more usable. I even tried to convince Paul to do it last year but he didn't like the idea. Enter the positive pregnancy test. Now, even Paul has had to admit that it wouldn't be a bad idea to change the house one more time.

The plan right now is to make what is the guest room into more of a den space, opening it to the living room. To do that, we'll enclose the door that leads into the hall from the bedroom and make that a solid wall. We'll then open a space on the wall that faces the living room and open it up with skinny French doors--something like these. I'd like to rip out the carpet and put in hardwood flooring of some ilk. We're then discussing buying a twin sleeper chair and storage ottoman and probably a twin air mattress as well for guests. The remodel will require a little bit of electrical work since we'll have to move the light switches and one electrical outlet but hopefully, it won't be too time-involved. We're not sure when we're going to do this--maybe even before the holidays. I've asked my friend who is a realtor about the ramifications of changing the room but because it will still have a closet, technically we can still call it a bedroom if we do decide to move (you know, since we've pretty much exhausted every remodel option).

Of course, of most pressing need is to call a roofer to come out to the house. It seems that the two inches of rain a couple of weeks ago and then last week's snow both found the leak in the roof. It's in the new bedroom upstairs (what will become Baby's bedroom) where old-meets-new after the first remodel. It had a two year warranty so we're out of luck there but thankfully, the damage inside isn't too much so hopefully it won't require an entire roof. Just one more of the joys of homeownership.

To give some idea as to what I'm talking about, I found this old picture from Christmas two years ago. The hallway door just visible on the left will be enclosed and the new doors will go roughly where the hall tree is--a little to the right actually.

Not quite

Since one of the main goals of my spring break was to take care of that huge box that's been hanging out in my living room for the past five weeks, yesterday's One Productive Thing was going to be to get the futon put together and get that room mostly finished.

Yesterday evening, Paul and I got everything out of the big box and moved it into the the guest room. Paul hurt his back helping his friend move a huge projection TV from a 2nd floor apartment on Thursday so I was going to put the futon together myself. The directions didn't seem complicated since the majority of the construction is the four sides of the base and I'm typically pretty good about putting together ready-to-assemble stuff. Not so much this time. I couldn't even get the first bracket attached. After fiddling with it for a bit, I finally hollered at Paul to come help. He fiddled with it for a bit and came to the same conclusion as me--it doesn't fit. The screws that were in place for the bracket are too far apart.

Of course, we started this project after the helpline was closed so our attempts to get started on it, much less finish, have been thwarted. We've got a couple of ideas as to what we're going to do--1. call the helpline on Monday to see what they say/suggest 2. go back to World Market to see how they assembled the floor model (we'll just look it over and see if we can make ours work) 3. head to the hardware store to see if we can find something to make what we've got work or 4. load the whole thing up again and return it to the store. It's all very frustrating--it was supposed to be all finished and I was going to finally get rid of that box. I'm glad it's no longer taking up space in my living room any long--it's been moved to the guest room for the time being, until we can get it assembled or returned. Paul, ever one to look on the bright side, gave me just a little bit of time to wallow in frustration and then he commented that at least I had something to write about on the blog now. True but I would have been happier to be able to write about how great the new futon and everything looks.

Hopefully, if/when I finally get a new dining room table and chairs, it will be much less frustrating.

Remodel Day 2: Not Much

After all the excitement yesterday, today was pretty slow around these parts.

No stucco guys.

No countertop guys.

The contractor was able to do a few smaller things--get the plumbing ready, put the insulation and dry wall on the window holes, redo a wonky electrical box. He also ran errands to pick up paint and tile and was able to knock off a bit early which was great since today is his birthday (I didn't know or I would have gotten him a cupcake).

Tomorrow with either be super-busy if both countertop and stucco guys show up, moderately busy if one or the other show up, or we'll just be staring at drop clothes all day with nothing being accomplished. Here's hoping for super-busy.

In the name of staying out of the way, I spent the afternoon in the yard getting it cleaned up and ready for spring. I can't decide if my face is still red because I got hot or because I got a little sun. I'm saying overheated. Future diversionary tactics include a pedicure, possibly a nap, and catching up on the pile of Netflix movies I've acquired. Oh, and leaving town on Thursday evening.

Remodel Day 1: The Beginning

1. The cat and all his accoutrements have been moved into our bedroom. Not so sure how the litter box five feet from the bed is going to work out. Thankfully, this remodel projects should only last about 10 days.

2. We have no countertops. Or sink. Not sure when the new countertops will be installed--the counter guys said it would be Wednesday. Or Tuesday. Or Thursday. Hopefully one of those days. Thankfully, we do still have access to the refrigerator and the stove, which is being used as a make-shift countertop in the interim.

3. The windows are no more. Of course, there is no wall there, just the framing. But I love the way the light in my living room comes in now--it's softer.

The house is a mess. There are drop clothes everywhere, plastic covering the carpet, a fine haze of dust covering everything downstairs, including the cat. It's a maze to get in the guest room where all the kitchen stuff is hiding. To find the menu to order Dion's tonight, I had to slip between the foot of the bed and the side chair, step over the magazine basket, move a picture and dig through the sack containing the phone message center where we keep take-out menus. I would post pictures of all this madness but I'm not sure where the camera cable ended up. As soon as I find it, and the camera, I'll share the joy of home remodeling with everyone.

The end of Carrie's Discretionary Spending Fund in one fell swoop

Today, we FINALLY signed the contract for new countertops and backsplash. Yee! We started this process in October, I believe. Between my being totally overwhelmed at the options and Paul being out of town, like, all the time, we couldn't make a decision. I've finally settled on quartz countertops in Storm Grey (I can't make only the color link so the link goes to all the quartz colors). The backsplash is going to be 8x12 tiles set in subway tile fashion in three slightly varied colors that coordinate nicely with our floor tile which also has the same colors (I can't find a link with these tiles but these are other tiles in the same line). The tiles have a small relief in the middle of each tile and the 4-inch tile (listel or lisette, I believe it is called) also has a relief pattern--understated and subtle yet not boring. Just like me. And! We'll be getting a new undermount sink. I think Paul would fit in this sink--it's huge and deep. It's not exactly what I thought I wanted but I already have a little crush on it so I'm sure I'll learn to love it quickly.

We're also going to have two windows in our living room removed. I've had to argue with several men on the removal of these windows and have lived with cardboard in my windows to prove my point. There will still be 6 clerestory windows and 3 humongous (2-3'x10' and 1-4'x10') west-facing windows in the living room. If anything, it is a nicer light in the living room without these two south-facing windows. I disliked these windows when we built the house but 7 years ago, I was too young/naive to speak up and say so when they went in. I'm sure I would have had to argue with men then as well and I'm not sure I would have won the discussion at 25. The windows are on either side of the fireplace/TV nook and the bottoms of the windows are at 6-feet. The windows are 2' x 4'and have no point. They don't open. There is no view out them. I've never even opened the blinds on them. And if viewed from the outside, we have a "face" with the windows as "eyes" and the fireplace vent as the "nose." So, away with those silly things.

Next up isn't cosmetic but one of the homeowner-has-to things. I need to make a variety of phone calls to have windows that have broken seals replaced. According to a neighbor, the windows are supposedly still under warranty but I haven't called to confirm that. I think 4 of the 6 clerestory need to be replaced, one of the 3'x10' windows, and the upper-half of the window in the guest room. What I heard from another neighbor is that aside from the weather in ABQ which definitely affects the windows (all that contraction and expansion), the windows were not manufactured here so they aren't made for our altitude. It does make a bit of sense to me--our house is at 6000 ft. Apparently, my windows have a little altitude sickness.

I've joked with Paul that if he's going to make me stay in this house (which I actually really like), I'm going to keep doing things until I get it perfect (and up to par with what is in our development). Remodeled upstairs two years ago, new A/C last summer, new countertops this year--we're getting there. And we're both still plotting enclosing the back patio. . . .

Day 4: "Call your dad"

Paul and I had a little project to do this afternoon. We recently purchased this switch to replace the light switch for the outside lights. For most DIY-ers, it would take about 10 minutes to complete--turn off power, unhook one switch, hook up new switch, turn on power. And continue with the rest of your day.

Because we aren't the handiest of people, we typically plan for at least three times as long to complete any project. After 30 minutes, one fuss over which switch to flip in the fuse box to turn off the power and why do I need to flip the switch back on if we know the power is off just to check to make sure that's the correct switch, and both of us staring at the electrical box trying to decide what order to hook up the black-blue-white wires since we have a black-red-white combo, we decided that we need to enlist the help of either of our dads or my granddad C. who was an electrician back in the day and still can't feel a 110-volt jolt. Seriously--as soon as we pulled unhooked the light switch and saw that the wires didn't jibe, Paul said, "Why don't you call your dad?" You know--because my dad who is 1000 miles away will totally be able to fix this problem and hook up a light switch (Paul's reasoning: Dad helped installed a couple of dimmer switches during one visit). Paul's parents will be home on Tuesday. Maybe his dad will be able to figure out this conundrum. In the meantime, our fancy new timer switch with latitude/longitude coordinates is back in it's packaging, taunting us with its super-simple instructions and blue wire, letting us know that, once again, we are proving ourselves to be the Worst Adults Ever.

Loving the new A/C

He normally spends the better part of his days sulking under our bed--he's like a sullen teenager without a basement or room of his own to retreat to to play loud music and glare at us. Since the installation of the new A/C, he has been gracing us with his presence as it is cooler in the living room than under the bed. As much as he'd hate to admit it, Jubjub is a refrigerated air junkie.

One very big check later. . .

I am enjoying the wonders of modern air conditioning.

And about the time the workers finished up with everything, a little rain shower came through and cooled it down. The ceiling fans are more than adequate this afternoon. I don't think it's supposed to be hot in ABQ until the end of the week.

But I've got refrigerated air and I'm going to use it. I think I'll use the oven tonight just because I can.

Day 2 in the A/C switch or "But I'm totally fine with them cutting a hole in the roof"

Yesterday was more of the "fun" part of the switch to the refrigerated air, what with crane and all the hoopla and the "Hey, look at your lovely new condenser and your new high-efficency furnace."

Today, it's more about, "Hey, can we drill a hole in the side of your house for this big pipe? Oh, and then we're going to drill a few more holes in your walls because we can."

Today, we're discovering all the downsides to installing something in the house that wasn't here before. There are all kinds of pipes and wires that have to be added and holes being drilled to accomodate these pipes and wires. The workers are doing a great job of keeping everything neat and the pipes and wires are concealed as well as possible in plastic casing. Most of it is in the garage so it's not a huge deal. And then came the request to drill a hole in the side of the house. Something about the way the new, totally rockin' 2-stage furnace vents makes it unable to use the same vent as the previous furnace. Actually, the new furnace could use the same vent as the old furnace if we don't mind tearing up the wall in Paul's nook to get to it. That didn't seem like a very viable option to anyone. Option #2 was they would drill a hole in the side of the house for the 6-inch PVC pipe with the funky vent cap on it that would protrude 8 inches from the side of the house. My frustration level was pretty high when I called Paul with that tidbit of news. We're already concerned that the placement of the new condenser unit will draw the ire of our HOA, which is very strict with making homeowners adher to the C&C for the development and we didn't exactly get their permission before we started this project. When I mentioned the new PVC vent to Paul, he was worried about that upsetting the HOA with that as well. I was just concerned about how ugly eight inches of PVC pipe would be sticking out of the side of my house (even though the A/C guy, who is all of 20, was so nice to add "But we'll definitely paint it for you!").

Paul came to the rescue with Option #3--vent it out the roof. (Oh, sure--it seems so obvious now.) It means some extra feet of PVC pipe in the garage that will partially block one of the glass block windows there. That I can live with much easier than pipe protruding from the side of my house. I think we have one more day of A/C work--I know the cat will be thrilled when it's completed. He slinked in to the guest room while I was doing some work in there and is now refusing to come out from under the bed. Typically he's not allowed in that room but I decided that one time wouldn't hurt. Especially after he hissed and did the low, gutteral meow that indicates he'd just prefer to stay where he is. That pretty much sealed the deal.

Update @ 5:00: The workers finished up for the day a little after 4:00. When I went outside to move my car back into the garage, this little guy was bumping his way around the garage. I was a little antsy about getting it out of the garage both because I didn't want the possibility of a dead hummingbird and because, quite honestly, I'm a little freaked out by hummingbirds. They're spastic and you never know where they're going to go and they just flit around too fast.

But I braved the hummingbird long enough to get a few pictures. Here Zippy, as I named him, is in front of some of our new wires and pipes and things (happily, the PVC pipe didn't have to be in front of the glass blocks). I kept trying to convince him that the best way out of the garage was not through the ceiling but Zippy was very persistent in trying. And a super-zoom of Zippy resting on the garage door opener, hopefully rethinking his ceiling plan.
After a stressful 45 minutes for both of us (I had to keep checking every few minutes because I'm obsessive like that), Zippy finally found it's way out of the garage and I quickly shut the door.

How I spent (the second week) of my summer vacation

1. I went to Amarillo to help Amy paint her master bedroom, do a few little projects there, and entertain her children. Amy chose a great paint color called "Linen" which is a nice taupe color--not too gray, not too tan (and not at all like my house paint, Amy--apparently, I'm color-blind as to what color I've been living with for 2 years). It looks wonderful with the new bedding she picked out. Then, in a burst of creativity, we created a "no-sew" headboard for her bed. Batting, fabric, quarter-inch plywood, and the staple gun (with a whole bunch of staples). I didn't have my camera but maybe she'll pass along a few pictures of the finished project.

I also created a new game with 20-month-old Benjamin. I was playing with him and "dropping him on his head" (holding him upside down and touching his head to the floor). I would tell him to "give me your feet" and he'd lie down and put his legs up in the air so I could pick him up by the ankles. A few times, he'd do it unprompted--just lie down in front of me with his feet up. I know he'll have forgotten about this little game the next time I see him but it was fun while it lasted.

2. I drove home in fierce wind yesterday with gusts of 50+ mph between Amarillo and Albuquerque. Outside one town, I saw an RV that had rolled a few times and was lying on its side 100 feet or so off the road. Thankfully most drivers were being smart and trucks weren't speeding so it wasn't too bad. Just had to hang on and drive. But I had to be home so I could hang out at the house today because...

3. Paul's parents were super-generous last year for his birthday and gave us money to upgrade from evaporative air (a.k.a. the swamp cooler) to refrigerated air. And today, we're getting the new air conditioner. Of course, it's cooler today so there's really no need to even turn it on once it's hooked up. We decided to upgrade our furnace at this time (that's the new one near the ladder; our old one is in the right of the picture). We now have a 2-stage furnace which I'm not entirely sure what it does or why it's fantastic but it was recommended by both my brother who does HVAC work and the sales rep. from the A/C company. But come winter we'll be rocking the 2-stage furnace.

That's it--our new air conditioner. I have to admit I was expecting something a little more, I dunno, more. I don't think I knew what an A/C is supposed to look like. I don't think I didn't realize that the condenser unit wasn't the actual air conditioner. I swear I don't know why I've been allowed to own a house for seven years.
Now for the fun part--the crane came to remove the swamp unit and place the new condenser on the roof. Here they're hooking up the condenser to the crane.
The new unit being lowered into place--when we'd done the remodel, we left this strip of roof so we'd have easier access to the 2nd story and the swamp cooler. It was also the perfect size for the new condenser. Who knew?
The really fun part--swinging the old unit down. It's wasn't too windy during this part but it did get to swinging. And it brought out several neighbors to inspect what was happening.
4. Dance lesson #2 tonight.