We Might Actually Pull This Off...

We have.... drywall.

**Clouds part, rays of sun shine down**
**Choir singing**
**Angels playing harps and trumpets**
**Puppies and kittens, living together in harmony**

Lets do some remembering, shall we?

Bedroom

 

Bathroom

 

Stairwell

Studio

Attic

It'll probably be another few days (ok maybe a week) until its all taped and sanded and such, but then it's on the fun parts!!! In the words of Peter Griffin, this house is [gonna be] freakin' sweet...

Pink is My New Favorite Color

Oh, to not see those bare outside walls anymore... 

Our furnace guy said just with the insulation alone [not running any heaters] the temperature went up from 51° to 58° up there... 

Oh my goodness, could it be... drywall this week?? EEEK!

Psssst!

{we have tile}

 !!!!!!

Door No More

When giving the Money Pit tour, I always felt a little like Willy Wonka opening the door to the factory when we would get to the door at the top of the front stairs... Except instead of a colorful, magical room full of candy, it was a dilapidated war zone with boarded up windows and bare wall studs... But it was still a pretty interesting juxtaposition of demolition next to the relatively finished first floor...

(just realized this was the best pic I had of it... lame.)

Well, in our grand attempt to convert the house BACK into a one family home (as it originally was) this doorway had to go. And the wall enclosing the stairwell at the top of the stairs. 

Which luckily was only that horrible MDF panelling...

Bye bye paneling...

Thankfully this was done circa the 1960's, so it was all drywall, panelling, and easier-to-cut-through "2x4s" that are actually only 1.5" thick... not like our 1900 old growth redwood forest over 2" thick studs the rest of the house is built with...

I love you '60s construction materials for your easy cleanup, if nothing else... 

Yeaaaaaah reciprocating saw...

And there you have it... a... railing? Ok it's only temporary, for OSHA, but look how open that is! Hooray!! It's actually starting to look like a real house!

Holy Guts, Batman!

So... renovating newsflash... the most important thing to spend money on in your house is the stuff that nobody sees. Furnaces aren't sexy. Tankless water heaters aren't sexy. (Though once Nick saw the computer in ours, he may disagree...) Ductless heater/AC units aren't sexy. But they're necessary. And smart buys. And more important than (le sigh) marble floors or fancy light fixtures. A tough lesson learned... but that is where we are at this week as our furnace, plumbing, and utility work is being finished up...

Ok, sexy it is not, but I'd be lying if I said having water upstairs didn't make me a little giddy...

Holy crap is that drywall?? And...

 Laundry hookups!?? BE STILL MY HEART!

 The aforementioned tankless water heater... see that little silver foily thing inside... near the bottom...

 This... this little smaller-than-a-loaf-of-bread "tank" is all the water this sucka holds... as it flash heats it... Goodbye waiting 5 minutes for the shower to heat up... ahhhhhhhhh....

But... I assure you my lovelies, this week has not gone by without it's "sexy" purchases...

Oh, hello gorgeous...

Where to Begin...

It seems surreal that after having weeks and weeks of nothing to report, I finally have too much to report! There was much excitement while we were gone! Lets start with our quick walk through... possibly the most exciting; electricity, and LIGHTS!

ALL the new windows are now in:

Some of the framing is done:

And even some insulation - this is the laundry/utility room which will need to be drywalled/finished before the others due to the hot water tank and furnace needing to go in ASAP.

So my big fears of coming home to nothing done (yes, that and the toilet being installed in the middle of the bathroom were my biggest fears... don't judge me...) were unfounded! Much more to come!

OH EM GEE...

I found this in my drafts... embarrassingly enough from before I went away... so "Friday" is really September TENTH! **shame** Many, many updates to come this week!

I got home Friday to see this...

"GASP! Are you doing what I think you're doing?!"

I think the words, "I have never been so happy to see someone do something in my entire life!" [I am, perhaps, prone to exaggeration...]

Goodbye you horrible green monster.

And now we have:

[gigantic sigh of relief] It makes such a difference, even though I'm now even more painfully aware of how badly the garden needs weeding... and I don't really care... and I love it.