Floors!

So our part of the house was finished by Saturday night. The small bedroom and kitchen/hallway in the rental side was finished before that. Then we began on the master bedroom of the rental side - and saw that we had a 4 day job in just that one room. We worked on it a bit yesterday but knew that there was so much left to do. Today Bill came with lots of energy and he and Vicki worked hard all day sooooo when I got home from work, there was not only the master bedroom all sanded, but the living room of the rental was ready to go too!!! Vicki had just put on a coat of finish on the master and was starting on the living room. We had planned that I would put the finish on the living room, know that we probably couldn't finish. But they worked like machines! I got to help just a bit on the last coat of one room this evening but mostly this was a Bill and Vicki day!

Living room is totally a bonus - I surely didn't expect it!

There are more flattering shots of Vicki, but here she is with some of her labor.

This is my cameo. Hey, but I learned to sand and put down finish.

E. spent another day pointing the bricks.

A bit more

While Mike works on plumbing, the washer is running!!! Can you hear it?

Our living room after 3 coats.

OK - shutters- open. Because I got all of them, now.

Shutters closed.

Not much more to post today, partly because we went to a reception and then to visit with my parents for a few hours today. However, Mike did do some more plumbing and has only one leak to stop! We figured out today that if he were paid the same way Buck pays his plumber i.e. by the installation, Mike has saved us at least $8500!

What a day!

Well, the day really began with a full and busy day yesterday. But today a lot of the results are showing, so look and be excited with us. In addition to all of this, we have our washer and dryer working and our bath almost finished (after all, it's only 10:30 at night)

On Friday, our bedroom, etc. was finished with 3 coats of finish.

Another shot of our bedroom.

Mike used Vicki's help to hook up the rental washer and dryer - and then she crawled out!

There it is: washer and dryer in the bath. Maintenance means moving the toilet!!

Bill did a lot of sanding, but for expert finish, it was VICKI!!

While work was going on inside, E. pointed the bricks.

The small bedroom on the rental side has great variety in the wood.

It's a shame that much of the kitchen floor will be covered with cabinets!

View from the kitchen toward the bath.

Last bits of the kitchen/hall.

Moving to our side of the house, Vicki has our living room almost finished.

Here she is, putting coat two on our living room floor.

Rush again

Today was momentous in many ways. We talked with the bank and made progress there; we found out some things about final inspection; we rented a good sander and Bill has done a lot on the floors. However, the most wonderful part of the day is that our girls conspired to help rescue us from the panic of not having time to finish everything. Together they are sending in the troops i.e. Vicki, who is the hardwood floor finisher for Sands Contracting!! And she puts tile on countertops. Both of these skills are sorely needed at this point. Mike is working long hours at school but tonight he managed to get home in time to install the washer and dryer!!!!! And he worked on the shower/tub upstairs while dear friend Trish helped me begin to clean up grout around that tub. We're aiming to finish in the three weeks we're supposed to!

Cabinets are coming along - soon!

I love the floor upstairs! Sanded today - tomorrow??

Probably the best thing of the day! No more laundromat tomorrow!!!

Still more cleaning to be done on this, but it's gonna be something I love!

More paint!

Vicki and Buck, Molly and Fred came this weekend and added the last bits of textrue and paint to the house. There will be touch-up of course - maybe a second coat in places - and lots of trim to paing, but it is substantially finished! Sprayre make a huge difference - i in the hands of experts. I did not take any work pictures this time, sorry to say. But you can look at some of the end results.

Old doorway between the rental side and our side being closed.

Closed - from the rental side.

Doorway with drywall mudded.

Now - no doorway at all!

Looking up.

View from the top of the stairs - all white!

Bath, too, is white - tile is almost finished!

Baths and wheelie bins

In order to get the rental side of the house finished we have to tear out the old bathroom there - the one we use. So we must finish A bathroom in our side of the house first. That's where Bill and Rick have spent most of the last week - and Mike is there a bit in the near future. It reminds me of a billboard near my folks' house "Coburns (or whoever) Plumbing Supplies - We've been in the bathroom for 36 years" But the tiny shower bath should be usable by tomorrow night!! And Rick is working away on the big one upstairs too. We also got wheelie bins!! Finally. Well that's what they called them in England when we lived there and I like that "evah so much bettah" than "garbage can".

Let there be . . .

Today we left and returned to find that even with both of us going hi-ho-hi-ho-to-work, there were several things done when we returned. More tile was laid today. We WILL get the little bathroom finished before too many more days. Also, there were window balances put in and one more window has trim now.

One more thing happened today - EARLIER than promised. The pictures below are of our part of the house (not the rental side). So can you figure it out? (Please ignore the spots on the camera lens. I'll have it cleaned AFTER construction is finished!)

Bill kept working while we were gone, and has continued to do so since we're back. The things done don't look that big, but they are significant. I will post later a photo of the floor of the small bedroom since I forgot to take a shot of it. However, all of the floors are in except the tile ones, and those are only in the 3 bathrooms. The little bath downstairs on our side is coming along but the big ones both have a lot to go. We're doing as much as possible on the air conditioned side since we're in the same heat wave as most of the country. What is getting done now is trim, doors, and tile in the little bathroom.

Finished the upper block boards in the whole house now!

Using the borrowed trim for the storage area in the rental hall.
We're re-using old doors in the house. Fran, you'll have a door when you come!!

My 1 project is glazing the windows of the interior French doors. I'm learning!

Before we go

We will be traveling for a few days and so we will be surprised by the progress as much as you are when we return. Today we found cabinets that we'll use in our kitchen, bought a toilet, got wood for the small rental bedroom and Bill finished the living room floor. Can you tell where the old corner was??

PASSED!

Well, there has been a good bit of progress, posted below, but the most important thing happened at about 4 PM today. We passed electrical inspection. That means we should soon be able to get electricity on both sides of the house. It means we don't have to do anything more with electrical stuff - though we'll probably do a bit more. It means we can soon have a working fridge, etc!

Finished beam in the kitchen.

Frame around the closets.

Nicely grouted kitchen.

Bill working upstairs in the heat - on the side without electricity.

Floors nearly all laid in our bedroom!

No, the kitchen's not in - but we're playing with spacing!!