The holidays are over and the house work begins! That’s how we like to bring in the new year. Ryan didn’t get to take the week off so while I was home by myself Tuesday and Thursday I worked on emptying out the upstairs diningroom and cleaning the house (Wednesday was a stitch day with the girls).
By Friday, Ryan was off from work, his dad and suzanne were out and we were ready to work on demolition. And demolition they did! The upstairs diningroom (that will become the master bathroom some day and a hallway) was emptied out and all taken to the dump (3 trips). It was a long and very productive day!
The new hallway entrance (well this will get reframed out but this is what was uncovered when they took out the built-in)
The wall toward the master bedroomThe door toward the hallway of the bathroom (this door frame is now gone too)The wall that adjoins the small upstairs bathroom - they have a double wall so the plumbing is hiddenAnd the demolished diningroom - to be master bath!
A great day! We ended the day watching Sherlock Holmes – the original one, we’ll go out to see the new one tomorrow night at Chunky’s!
Christmas came early to this Williams’ family. The main reason was that I wanted Ryan to get to use his main christmas present before christmas AND I wanted to give him all his gifts (since they all went with the main gift) at once. So ryan set my big gift up for the same day and on Saturday we had our mini-christmas.
We started out the morning with presents on Saturday, first Fitzy got http://groudasfamily.com/wordpress/wp-admin/post.php?post=2270&action=edit&message=6some gifts:
New toys for Fitzy-boy
While he played (he also got a new bed a couple of days ago) with his new toys and bone Ryan opened his main gift piece by piece:
New router table with accessories
I don’t have a picture of my main gift because you can’t really see it – my car got a remote starter! And I can start it from either a fob, or from my cell phone with an app (from anywhere), I can also track my car with GPS from the same app. (In case it gets stolen?). Very cool! I also got a Kindle Touch which I was up late Saturday night playing with (it has games unlike my second generation kindle which will go to Ryan now). I love how small it is and perfect for traveling next week with.
After presents (which included taking my car over to get the starter installed, and a trip to 5-guys!), we started working on the drawers for the built-ins. This was pretty intimidating, we bought the drawer slides and hardware a while ago (10 drawers total) but weren’t quite sure how to do the drawers to fit perfectly. We started by putting in some blocks for the slides, so the drawers could open even if the doors aren’t open ALL the way (on one side the door can’t open all the way).
Then we slowly planned it all out, starting with the left cabinet because it was very square and all 3 drawers would be the same sizes. We built one drawer and got it installed and working!
The first drawer installed! With slow close!
On Sunday we were able to get the other 2 drawers done pretty quickly now that we knew what we were doing (it took a while to figure out the drilling template the first time). So we have one cabinet filled with drawers! 3 down, 7 to go!
Slides all installedDrawers have locking mechanisms on the bottom, and cutouts for the slidesDrawers installedUndermounted slides so you don't see it on the sides at all.
All the drawers need are face frames, we haven’t decided how we want those to look (Ryan will probably route them to make them look a little fancy.). The drawers will fit our dvds hidden in the cabinets, at least the right and left most ones will be dvds.
Now it’s time to relax with Fitzy boy before driving him down to stay with Buddy boy for the week.
This weekend was quite productive, starting right out Friday night (I was working late upstairs but Ryan got home and started right in on the built-ins). When I came down later there were SHELVES in the bookcases! They were just plywood to start out but by Saturday morning he had face frame pieces glued and attached to each one so they were completely finished!
Shelves all finished!
Next up he made the side panel for the end of the built-ins. This is all sanded flush now and looks great!
End panel all finished up!
While he worked on this project I was in the basement giving it a good vacuum and organizing it a bit before winter. Just one more item checked off my list!
I have ordered a jig for installing the drawer hardware so we decided to wait on the drawers and instead do the crown molding to make the built-ins look more finished. I think we’ll try to get a start on the drawers over the next 2 weekends. By Saturday night Ryan had made and installed the bottom piece of almost all the molding we plan on doing for now (the rest of the room we are waiting until the steam pipe in one corner can be removed).
Crown molding base piece installed
While Ryan worked on that I stripped the wallpaper from the closet in the tvroom (the only plaster wall we kept in the house so far).
Sunday Ryan put in the last piece of base molding and then put up the crown. It really came out great. All we have left is doors and drawers to finish up then prime and paint!
Crown installed around cabines!
While Ryan continued with molding Sunday I got the durabond mixed up and patched the closet up as best I could. It will get probably 3 skim coats of joint compound but for now I wanted to get the raw plaster edges covered well and smoothed out at the ceiling where it meets the drywall. It’s still not dry (some very thick sections) but it looks 100x better all ready and next weekend I can start skim coating/taping!
Back wall (mostly just the edges of plaster needed sealing here)Side wall - this is where I stripped the wallpaper so the whole wall was in rough shape
That was our weekend, we also managed to relax and watch some movies (Water for Elephants as well as some cheesy xmas movies of course). Next weekend is an early xmas weekend! Plus the built-ins momentum will continue!
We had a very full weekend! Saturday morning we cut up the branches from the halloween storm and took them to the dump. Then we worked on the built-ins – first installing the bookcases and then building and installing the face frames for the bookcases. They look great and will look even better once the crown molding is installed across the top, it will really tie it into the rest of the room.
Bookcases with face frames installed!
The bookcases just need to be sanded and then primed and painted before we can install the shelves (which are adjustable and need to be ‘built’ still 🙂
We ended the day by taking out the last 3 livingroom windows and getting them sanded/prepped and primed on both sides. This is a very tedious task and luckily with both of us working on this we got them done by 10 I think, just in time to pass out for the night 🙂
Last three windows installed after getting primed and painted!
Sunday I cleaned up the livingroom (since the built-in work gets kind of messy/dusty) and then put the first coat of paint on the outsides of the windows while Ryan bagged up some of the leaves in the yard (this is a huge project and needs to get done before it snows again!).
Then since I had the paint out and the driveway side of the house really needed a new coat of trim paint (some damage from a fallen branch and I believe 2 of the window casings never got a second coat last year), I first cleaned (with a wet cloth) all of the trim on the driveway side and then gave it a fresh coat of yellow paint – just before dark.
A second and third (depending on the part) coat of paint on the trim - ready for winter!
It was getting late so I couldn’t take too long of a break for dinner before getting the final coat of paint on the exterior of the livingroom windows – that itself goes very fast (about an hour I think). While I was doing all this painting, Ryan was working on hinges/doors for the built-ins. He created a jig and then routed out the spots for the hinges for the cabinet doors. He got 4 of the 8 doors installed although they still need to be trimmed to have a matching gap all around but so far so good!
2 of the 4 cabinets have doors installed!
We also looked up what we have to do to build all the drawers for these built-ins (10 drawers that we have hardware for). It’s a LOT of work and I think we want to order a jig that will save some time on installing the lock mechanisms at least. The drawers are inside the cabinets so at least we don’t have to line up the face frames or anything. The slides are Blum Tandem plus Blumotion (they have slow close and are full extension). If we like them we’ll use the same for our kitchen drawers when we do that renovation ‘someday’ 🙂
We ended the evening by putting the windows back in. The best part was that between painting the final coat and putting them back in I ‘had’ to take a 5 hour break 🙂 So I read – currently reading Tasha Alexander’s ‘Tears of Pearl’. I accidentally read the 5th in this series and this is the 4th so I had to go back and read it of course. Almost done and need to pick something new to read over Thanksgiving!
Not as productive as some weekends, Ryan got very little sleep last week (getting up at 5am is definitely rough) and I was exhausted which meant I got a headache AGAIN on Sunday – fun times.
Anyhow, we did get some work done 🙂 Saturday we recycled half of the aluminum we’ve been storing, then drove over to my uncle’s house to get more scrap metal from him (including our old engine from the BMW) and recycle that – got back to the recycle just before it closed. So now the snow blower can fit under the back porch again this winter – yippee – instead of just out like it is right now.
I’m pretty sure that’s about all we did on Saturday unless you count catching up on lots of tv shows on Hulu and finding some new ones 🙂 Sunday we got a nice early start thanks to Fitz wanting to get up at 8am on a SUNDAY. Ryan got to work on his second bookcase and got it put together…
Bookcases in place, not yet installed and still need face frames. The shelves will be adjustable so those go in very last.
Then Ryan installed the copper above the diningroom windows (and even soldered the joints as best he could in the wind). While he did the copper I raked the side yard (had to stay close to hand him tools etc). I also raked the back yard but only the side yard actually got the piles bagged up – Fitz decided to play in one of my back yard piles and pee on another – lovely.
Copper on the windows, can't wait to do the panels above the windows...
The rest of Sunday we relaxed some more (headache) – I read Inheritance and finished it up! I don’t remember for sure but I think it’s better than Brisingr and definitely better than Eragon and Eldest were (and I enjoyed them all). The story is complete and satisfying and I didn’t have to stay up late reading at all since I spent most of sunday reading 🙂 So goodbye to Eragon and his friends/family, it was quite a journey!
Working from home today because headache yesterday turned into migraine last night and only sleeping late helped, so to make up time I skipped the commute and stayed home to get all the work done 🙂
This weekend the weather was gorgeous and Ryan really took advantage. It was a little on the cool side at night but Saturday he got the first coat of paint on the diningroom window panels. While he painted I mowed the lawn, did the first round of leaf cleanup and then visited with Mom and Faye who came up for the Indigo Girls concert.
The concert was great, and tiring (I’m not used to staying up so late and it was only a 10 minute drive home – i’m such a baby) 🙂 Sunday we relaxed for most of the day, finally getting going in the afternoon and while Ryan started the second coat of paint on the panels I planted the bulbs mom gave me!
2 coats of paint on diningroom panels! Ready for winter!
When I finished with the bulbs I helped finish the painting and we also got a second coat on the one cupola window panel section that’s more exposed before it got too cold out to paint. For reference next year I’ll show the bulb placements….
I planted the dafodils in this corner that should get some good sun in the spring, it's also out of the way of mowing so they can stay as long as they need.This little front corner of the house is going to be a mixture of hyacinths. Eventually we'll have gardens all along the front so this is a nice little start and should get some evening sun in the spring.Along the front walk I planted the black (dark maroon?) tulips and white tulips, I think they'll be striking in the front and get a bit of evening sun in spring.In the 'rose' garden I planted the rest of the tulips, some leftover hyacinths, the black and whites leftover and the colored ones. This will definitely get sun in spring and be a wonderful splash of color to enjoy when i am in the driveway every day or walking the dog.
There were a ton of crocus bulbs too which I planted throughout the lawn, the blue ones and the colorful mix I planted in the back yard. I planted the green and maroon ones I in the front lawn and on our hill a bit. I can’t wait to see those. We get a few in our yard now in the spring and I love them! I can’t wait for spring and winter hasn’t even started yet 🙂
That was it for weekend work on the house. Now i’m just waiting for the rest of the leaves to fall and we have a little more painting we can do on the cupola if the weather is warmer again next weekend. We also plan to install the copper on the diningroom windows next weekend to button those up!
Due to the continuation of great weather I took a half day today off of work to continue the window panels. Around lunch time I did the final sanding of the diningroom panels and then primed them.
Diningroom panels primed!Another view
Once those were done, it was time to paint the cupola panels yellow (first coat)! Just as it was getting dark we got the last part of the cupola painted!
Cupola has first coat!
And just to see what it will look like, once the second coat is on we’ll be installing this red trim inside the panels. We’re trying out all yellow with red trim but haven’t ruled out having the recessed part of the panels be green yet. I think at this point there is a concern that the red won’t ‘pop’ on the green as much though.
A look with the red trim to get an idea
I finished up the night (after getting a few hours of work in) by getting the second coat of paint on the window sashes so tomorrow they’ll be all dry and can be put back in the diningroom since it’s getting cold out. It would be nice to get a few more windows done, maybe the next 2 on the cupola which are more exposed to the sunlight. Since they’re under the porch I can keep the sashes out even if it’s raining but not if it gets too cold.
Wow, October and it was in the 80’s! Perfect for finishing up window panels! So Ryan and I worked hard this weekend!
Friday night Ryan got home and started right away working on the built-ins! He got the box for one of the bookcases put together so we could see what they’d look like installed – it will be so great to have the storage when those are done. I know he wanted to work cabinets all weekend but due to weather he was compelled to get the outdoor work done before it got cold out.
Saturday we started by getting the rest of the panels installed, it was just a few vertical panels and we were done just after lunch!
Diningroom panels finished!
Back side of diningroom panels
Once they were installed Ryan got to work on finishing up the sanding of the cupola panels. He was able to sand the last 2 of the cupola windows, the large diningroom window panel and we got the cupola windows all caulked. We ‘ended’ the light hours of saturday by priming the first 3 windows of panels (it was pretty dark when we finally stopped).
Cupola windows - all sanded and caulked!Main diningroom window all sandedFirst 3 window's panels all primed!
We didn’t stop there though, we stayed up until midnight priming (inside and outside) of the 3 diningroom windows themselves! They are exposed unlike the cupola so it was important we get these ones painted. It would be great to get all the windows painted but the cupola ones are at least under the porch during the winter and have been primed.
Sunday it was back to windows! I finished hand sanding the last 2 cupola windows while Ryan finished sanding the diningroom windows and got the panels all caulked and ready to go.
Diningroom window panels, ready for primer
Before lunch I got the last 2 cupola window panels primed, including the post against the house which came out great after a good sand.
Cupola - primed!
After lunch we had some surprise company! Ryan’s sister and her husband came up with the nieces for a few hours! The girls were a lot of fun, after a tour of the house progress we went to the park down the road while the guys watched football 🙂
After they left we finished up the outside work, Ryan finished caulking the diningroom window panels and I put the second coat of trim paint on the front of the house (so that is FINALLY done). I continued painting until dark, after dark moving inside to get a coat of paint on the diningroom windows.
Front of the house finally done! (window panes still need to be painted)And started painting the cupola. We've decided we might do the cupola all in yellow with the red trim (still to be added) as an accent instead of green on the recessed parts. The all yellow idea is growing on me and it's definitely easier to paint that way 🙂Window panes everywhere - drying!The large diningroom window panes
Painting just one side of the windows goes MUCH faster than priming the night before so I actually finished up by 9 and went to bed early. With the nice weather sticking around I’ll probably get the final coat on the windows tonight and let them dry through Tuesday before we put them back in. I’m taking a 1/2 day today off of work to maybe get the diningroom window panels primed?? We’ll see how it goes, it’s hard moving the ladder by myself and they should be hand sanded still which is a lot of work.
Great progress for a great weekend though! Almost ready for winter! I still want to get the copper caps on but we can do that on a cooler weekend since it doesn’t involve paint 🙂
I never did write about last weekend, we went to my sister-in-laws so Ryan could help his Dad and brother-in-law work on the roof and add a new dormer.
This weekend we had planned to work on the window panels however the rain kept us inside all weekend instead. While I puttered and did various things Ryan worked on the built-ins! First he put the backs on, then he attached them permanently. Then he made a counter top and installed it, it came out great!
Built-ins installed with backsPoplar counter top Ryan made
During this time I did some various electrical (a few outlets in the built-ins had to be installed and I started installing the ceiling fan which did not go that well unfortunately so it’s still not finished) 🙂
At dinner time I met up with the cousins and they came over for the night to work on Halloween costumes! While we worked on costumes Ryan continued on built-ins by starting the bookcases that will go on top.
Start of the bookcases
In preparation for the girls coming over I spent Friday night getting the patterns ready for Georgia and Chloe. Then I put together the skirt of Maia’s costume so it was done enough that she could try it on (it still needs a lining and a zipper but it’s close).
So Saturday night while Maia worked on cutting yarn for her Rapunzel braid and Chloe cut out her pattern pieces, Georgia and I made the dress for her costume. She’s going to be a witch and it’s a 2 piece costume, a dress and then a lined jacket. Georgia did most of the cutting and sewing of the whole dress and just before bed I did the final hem on it so it’s completely done!
Witch dress for GeorgiaAnother view
After the girls went to bed I helped Ryan move the tv lower finally.
TV lowered
Sunday morning was Chloe’s turn, we started making just the top of her costume, it’s a victorian dress but it’s a 2 parter, skirt and top. She helped cut out all the pieces and sewed most of the straight seams. There were a lot of curved seams so I did have to take over for those trickier parts. At one point we took a break and braided the yarn/hair for Maia with some ribbons so she could take it home and attach it to a crown or something. (I forgot to take a picture unfortunately). I did however take a picture of Maia’s costume so far:
Tangled costume, skirt is finished but top needs to be lined and zipper added still.
When we got about a 2 hour extension of time together I decided to continue Chloe’s top and we managed to get it completed! Grommets and all! I think it came out great and Chloe learned how to do Grommets!
Front of Chloe's top with the fancy sleeves and the lacy detail added over the seams.Grommets and lacing up the back with a few pleats at the bottom.
All in all a VERY productive weekend! And I ended the weekend by baking up some blueberry muffins that Fitz will NOT get to eat this time!
This past weekend was awesome! My parents came out Friday night and we spent the weekend putting up drywall in the front hallway/entry and closets. It’s not ‘finished’ because of some areas we left out strategically and also some areas we just ran out of drywall. Plus it was getting late on Sunday for them to drive home.
First up (after tons of prep work), Dad drywalled the closet in the tvroom, some of the plaster walls are staying so it was one wall and a section of ceiling to do.
Tvroom closet wall finishedAnd the closet ceiling
Ryan and Dad framed out the wall at the end of the staircase (we wanted to open up the front entry a bit more) and this adds support under the second floor.
New supportFrom the other side
Next on the list was the front hall closet (coat closet), this was finished up Saturday…
Closet drywalled!Outside of the closet (actually done on Sunday)
Next Ryan and Dad drywalled the stairway, this will keep Fitz from digging the insulation out of the wall so he can hide his bone in the pile of insulation he would make.
Walls!3 pieces high (less than a full sheet to go - but the ceiling has to be done still)
And finally a view of the front hall itself, the exterior wall is finished, the wall leading into the tvroom is finished (so we can install the door now), the wall under the stairs is finished and the wall with the arch is started (ran out of drywall), we also still have to finish the other wall in the stairway area.
Exterior wall finishedThe wall under the stairs (hidden here) is finished, and hte wall to the tvroom is finished!The wall to the livingroom area is started, leaving the easy pieces for ryan and I to manage on our own.
It was a productive weekend, I barely did anything though (never do when they’re drywalling), i mostly hand the screw gun to someone and maybe screw some of the smaller pieces in while the big pieces are getting hoisted by Ryan and Dad. Much better than when it’s just Ryan and I 🙂
Mom was not sitting idle this weekend either, not only did she cook/clean up, she also picked up the yard and mowed for us! Something we just haven’t had time for. While she mowed I weedwacked which I don’t think has happened since early summer at least!
And Sunday evening after getting cleaned up I headed down to my sisters to play with my nephew for the evening! Then driving up to see my nieces on Monday and spend the day with them! It was a great break. Finley is at a wonderful age for playing even if I can hardly understand her ‘conversation’ 🙂 And by hardly I mean she mostly uses 4 or 5 words that have real meaning but she can babble on about something, luckily not caring if I just babble back. We played princess and shopping and baby doll all day until Emily got home at which time we got into a few bigger girl games. It was a great day and I can’t wait to see them again this weekend!
In the meantime, aside from working, I hope to get some costume progress made. Spackling is on hold until costumes are done!
