Our Slow Home Improvement Projects

Hayden's Almost Finished Camo Room

Have you ever had one of those years where everything seems to go wrong and nothing ever gets completed? Well, we are having one of those years. It started with my sons room. It was time to paint and update his room for a "Big Boy" His favorite color is camo so I had to somehow make his room camo without actually painting it in the traditional camo pattern. We chose our colors and paint went on the walls. New furniture was purchased. Window Treatments. That's where we stopped. He still doesn't have a door up and I need to get the moulding. I wanted to do a chair rail in his room to divide his color choices and well, I need to go and make the purchase. I don't know how to use the saw so I need hubby to make the cuts for me. Seriously one more day of work (two tops) and his room is completed.

All New Vinyl Windows

Our next project after that was to replace our aluminum windows with some new Jeld-Wen Vinyl windows. The front room was filled with all of our new windows. It was hard to walk in here because even though they are sort of thin they do take up a lot of space when you group them together. Our friend Scott came over and helped Brian put the windows in one day and all that is remaining is the trim work. The installation was really easy. Something we've never done before. With Scott's help he and Brian got it done very fast! We had intended on working on the trim the following weekend but then our house was burglarized.

New Unfinished Front Door

New Stained & Installed Front Door

The front door was kicked in and we needed a whole new door. It took two weeks for our Fiberglass Masonite Door to get here and then I needed to stain it. I'm the one who does all the painting in the house. He does all the heavy work. But Scott and his crew were here saving the day again. They did the instillation and again, he made things look real easy. Staining the door took almost two solid weeks because the humidity levels were so high the oil based stain took forever to dry. Then the poly took a while too. Now all we have to do is get the trim to complete the door. Do you see a pattern here? Well in our defense we were going to go shopping for the trim when the toilet gave us problems.

Hayden in his empty Bathroom

Did you know toothbrushes don't flush? Well my daughter learned they don't bend so much when trying to flush and they get caught up in the plumbing. Out comes to toilet. Hubby is determined to get that brush out of it so we don't have to get one of those - it takes 50 flushes "Green" toilets. Well naturally when he pulled the toilet he suggested we tile the bathroom. Then his mom suggested we change out the vanity since it's been a while. Then I took a look at the room and thought well maybe we should update the tub too so it's not the oldest thing in here. A 1976 tub in a 2010 bathroom? Nope. I think you get the picture. We talked about moving the furnace to the attic, using the closet space, and pushing out the doorway to the hall to give us a few feet but quickly changed our minds when we were told the furnace itself would cost us about $5K. Um, no.

This is where the tub will go

Well now here we are in a house with one working bathroom and a husband who is working hard and has very little time. The projects are piling up in our dated house and the New Year is almost here. We open our house to friends and family on New Years Day and well, we kinda need at least one more working bathroom. So the list of projects is ever long. I won't even begin to tell you about the backyard that needs to be completely re-done or the kitchen cabinets I'm thinking of painting, not to mention touching up the rest of the house on the inside, new carpet... Yeah, we have a lot of projects and not very much time when you think of it.

The tub is in!!!

I will however give my hubby some props for getting the American Standard Rope Twist Tub in today. When we pulled the tub we found that the space allowed was not quite large enough (of course.) So Brian had to cut into the studs in order to squeeze in the tub. It took him most of the morning but he got that tub in and set in mortar. So now we wait a few days for that to dry, then he gets to working on the walls. Then I paint. Then he works on the tile, and the plumbing, and the vanity, and the electrical. Did I mentioned I decided to replace the lights and fan too? Yeah, a whole new bathroom. I can't wait to shop for it's accessories! But for now I'll be happy knowing the tub is officially in! There is no going back from here! I just wish I would have thought to take some pictures before we yanked everything...

Until Next Time, SoCal Marisa