While Randy and Hans continued to tear down the ceiling someone had to go around and remove all of the drywall screws. I was just letting them drop on the floor when the children decided it would be a "great idea" to help pick up the screws. They were excited to help and more than eager to collect them so we can reuse them down the road. I couldn't remove them fast enough!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Good Bye Ugly Cabinets
The kitchen has an incredible amount of potential, but is (er was) poorly laid out. Leave it to my amazing cabinet designer of a husband to come up with an incredible design for my new kitchen!
Here he is knocking out the cabinets blocking my line of sight.
Day 2
Day two was filled with lots of excitement. First thing first--hydrogen peroxide is my new best friend. I dumped 1/2 a bottle in the two worse places as soon as I walked in the door. I can't believe how much it neutralized the odor!
The children asked to help right off the bat, so we gave them a hammer and said "GO!" They had a blast! I finished pulling up the carpet tack strips with Keira's help. Randy tackled the kitchen. The W family came for a lunch visit and helped tear down the ceiling in the basement. The babies were so dang cute and wanted to help in anyway possible. We gave them "drywall screw duty" and "stack drywall duty". Then it was time to remove tile in the utility room and from under the wood burning stove.
These was so much going on today...I I edited a few photos and posted them. Perhaps more later...enjoy!
The children asked to help right off the bat, so we gave them a hammer and said "GO!" They had a blast! I finished pulling up the carpet tack strips with Keira's help. Randy tackled the kitchen. The W family came for a lunch visit and helped tear down the ceiling in the basement. The babies were so dang cute and wanted to help in anyway possible. We gave them "drywall screw duty" and "stack drywall duty". Then it was time to remove tile in the utility room and from under the wood burning stove.
These was so much going on today...I I edited a few photos and posted them. Perhaps more later...enjoy!
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| 2nd worse spot in the house for cat pee, but if you look close (see next picture) it's a mix of cat-pee and water damage. |
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| See the snow coming in? Front door needs to have some re-sealing done. |
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| Worse place in the house for cat-pee. The bottom part of the wall has GOT to go too. |
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| Removing the carpet tack strips. |
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| The children wanted to help, so we put them to work in the basement. |
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| Both of them are sticking out their tongues! Daddy does this AND Grandma Culver. |
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| This wall has electrical for the stove. |
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| Move that wall! It's blocking my line of sight. |
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| Keira wanted to help remove this wall too. She got her hammer stuck on her first hit. |
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| Gah! Love this handsome man of mine :) |
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| Get it Randy get it! |
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| Good friends and a lunch break, two necessities of life |
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| Oh yes...my lovely GE double oven range! |
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| Where the wall was connected to the ceiling in the kitchen. |
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| Ripping up the fire place tile. |
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| View of the kitchen without the wall and fire place tile almost up. |
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| In the middle of ripping out the utility room floor and Liam decided that he needed some mama love. |
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| Ceiling is down and almost ready for the furnace |
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| I can't believe he stayed awake until 5 pm! |
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| Getting ready to head out for the day... |
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| The blizzard brought some more snow and more wind which means a much higher drift. |
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| My poor exhausted babies...they had a blast. |
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Day 2 Keira
Randy and I couldn't believe how much Keira wanted to help! She cleaned up, tore down a wall, helped tear up carpet staples and even cleaned out a drain in the utility room! She was (IS) a rock star! What an incredible daughter God has blessed us!
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| Keira's "mean face" |
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Staying Fit
I must admit. I was a little concerned cancelling our gym membership, but after yesterday--WOW! I am convinced the reason carpenters and construction workers stay fit is because they rip carpets out everyday! I have not felt this sore since I completed the Insanity workout about 3 years ago. It's wonderful.
Today's schedule consists of staying warm and safe inside while letting my sore muscles recover. There is a blizzard warning for the Elbert area. It's a bitter-sweet feeling. The snow is one of the reasons we chose to live in the Elbert/Black Forest area, but a blizzard makes it a bit unsafe to drive in the area. So while we want to continue work, safety comes first. That redirects my energies toward painting the master bath at my parents' house and perhaps some wall repair in the basement. We may venture out to Walmart and Home Depot to get a few supplies for tomorrow's venture to the new house.
Today's schedule consists of staying warm and safe inside while letting my sore muscles recover. There is a blizzard warning for the Elbert area. It's a bitter-sweet feeling. The snow is one of the reasons we chose to live in the Elbert/Black Forest area, but a blizzard makes it a bit unsafe to drive in the area. So while we want to continue work, safety comes first. That redirects my energies toward painting the master bath at my parents' house and perhaps some wall repair in the basement. We may venture out to Walmart and Home Depot to get a few supplies for tomorrow's venture to the new house.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Day 1--Demo
I went out to the house with intentions to tear up base board and come home...to say the least...MUCH more happened.
End result? All base board upstairs is up and stacked in the garage. Closet doors are off and stored to the side. Carpet and carpet padding is rolled and stacked nicely--ready for the dump. A list of items to shop for has been compiled-ear plugs, adhesive remover, power drill, 50 gallon trash barrel, trash bags, tile and mortar, grout, cleaning supplies and food. Lots and LOTS of food.
End result? All base board upstairs is up and stacked in the garage. Closet doors are off and stored to the side. Carpet and carpet padding is rolled and stacked nicely--ready for the dump. A list of items to shop for has been compiled-ear plugs, adhesive remover, power drill, 50 gallon trash barrel, trash bags, tile and mortar, grout, cleaning supplies and food. Lots and LOTS of food.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Quick Update
Sorry I have not updated for quite a while. Life has taken a toll on this Culver Family. We sold our house in December and moved into the basement with Ma and Pa. We are currently known as the "basement elves" or "basement trolls". It depends which side of the bed we roll out.
After the selling of our house we expected to hunker down and live in the basement for about 18 months before looking for houses. However, Mom sent us a link and we decided to drive out and take a peek. As soon as we pulled up to the house our curiosity was peaked. We called our Realtor who immediately received access to the house. As soon as we walked in the house we knew...just knew...we had to make an offer. We didn't know how we were going to make it happen, but we it was everything we were looking for, stinky carpet, wall paper and all.
We called Tom and immediately placed an offer which was declined. They wanted us to make an offer with a 203k loan (huh?). After researching 203k loans (renovation costs are rolled into your loan) we decided we could deal with the higher costing loan for the house. It was our dream house after all. We quickly put in a 2nd offer only to find out someone else made an offer too! Freddie Mac (house owner) asked both of us to put in our "best offers"--how nerve wracking!!! We wanted this house badly...and didn't want to lose it because of another bidder. We prayed about it and made the same offer minus the closing costs. Two weeks of torture now followed. We had a hard lesson in "just letting God do". And He did just that. We won the bid! We are now 2 months into the loan process and hopefully close on the 7th at 3 pm. We are praying...praying hard that the 203k loan officers approve the loan and the documents are finalized without error. Lesson #2--letting God do....again. :) We should know more tomorrow...
After the selling of our house we expected to hunker down and live in the basement for about 18 months before looking for houses. However, Mom sent us a link and we decided to drive out and take a peek. As soon as we pulled up to the house our curiosity was peaked. We called our Realtor who immediately received access to the house. As soon as we walked in the house we knew...just knew...we had to make an offer. We didn't know how we were going to make it happen, but we it was everything we were looking for, stinky carpet, wall paper and all.
We called Tom and immediately placed an offer which was declined. They wanted us to make an offer with a 203k loan (huh?). After researching 203k loans (renovation costs are rolled into your loan) we decided we could deal with the higher costing loan for the house. It was our dream house after all. We quickly put in a 2nd offer only to find out someone else made an offer too! Freddie Mac (house owner) asked both of us to put in our "best offers"--how nerve wracking!!! We wanted this house badly...and didn't want to lose it because of another bidder. We prayed about it and made the same offer minus the closing costs. Two weeks of torture now followed. We had a hard lesson in "just letting God do". And He did just that. We won the bid! We are now 2 months into the loan process and hopefully close on the 7th at 3 pm. We are praying...praying hard that the 203k loan officers approve the loan and the documents are finalized without error. Lesson #2--letting God do....again. :) We should know more tomorrow...
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