Update on the house project:
After the contractor took care of the floor and foundations last week (pictures will follow in a later blog), this week it was my turn. I took out the old kitchen over the weekend (for those of you that liked my kitchen: don't worry, I'm not going to change too much; most of it is coming back (just more built-in stuff), but I had to make room for flooring and such) and ripped out most of the old floor. I also chipped away tons of old plaster and kitchen tiles. My knuckle hurt for days after hitting it several times. Chisel that gets more and more blunt after endless square feet of chipping away = having to hit harder and harder throughout the day, and tired arm from hammering + tired Mill = less precise hammering action = less hitting chisel and more hitting hand that's holding chisel
. But the good news is that I finished most of the chisel work in one (looooong) day. Apart from a few tiles left behind the fridge (that I'm not moving untill the new kitchen is being installed) the kitchen is done, and the plaster above the windows I just might leave in place as it still looks decent.
Monday I picked up a lot of supplies, and Tuesday (today) I built both side walls for the extension. I also painted them, so when that's dried tomorrow, both sections can be installed in place. My cousin is coming over to help me tomorrow, and if everything goes according to plan, we should have the roof timbers up by the end of the day. I'm hoping we'll also be able to close up the roof tomorrow, but seeing he won't be here till 11 am and I'm not sure how long he'll be staying, I might have to leave that project for Thursday.
The kitchen should be arriving some time this week, but I don't think I'll be quite ready yet to install it as I still have to do a lot of framing, sheetrocking and mudding before the kitchen can be put in place. So I have to find a place to store everything for a few days. When the roof of the extension is closed, I can move some of the lumber outside, leaving me with a smidge more room in the house. So hopefully then I can grab something out of the fridge without having to climb over lumber and dodge power tools. My house is by no means small, but there's stuff everywhere.
I need to call the contractor this week to ask him about the door frames and window frames I'm having him make for me. Hopefully he'll have them ready before my vacation is over. One thing that probably will have to wait untill after my vacation, is the flooring. The floor I wanted was out of stock, so I had to order it, which takes at least 3 weeks. But the flooring should only take me a day or 2 to put in, so if that's the only delay, it should be managable.
Next week I should be starting on the kitchen. Once the framing is up, it's time for plumbing and electric. Which I'm both dreading and looking forward to. I like puzzles, so making up the wiring plan is fun. But actually putting everything in is a very tedious job. So hopefully I can get my cousin to help me again. He's off from school since it's summer, and he can always use a buck, so usually getting him to help won't be a problem as long a I ask him a few days in advance. I'm also going to get an electrician friend to help me a bit. I'll do most of the wiring in the kitchen and extension myself, but he'll check what I've done, and more importantly, he'll hook everything up to the circuit breakers.
To make a long story short: a lot of work has been done, but there's still a lot to do. Once everything is more finished than it is now, I'll post pictures for you.
After the contractor took care of the floor and foundations last week (pictures will follow in a later blog), this week it was my turn. I took out the old kitchen over the weekend (for those of you that liked my kitchen: don't worry, I'm not going to change too much; most of it is coming back (just more built-in stuff), but I had to make room for flooring and such) and ripped out most of the old floor. I also chipped away tons of old plaster and kitchen tiles. My knuckle hurt for days after hitting it several times. Chisel that gets more and more blunt after endless square feet of chipping away = having to hit harder and harder throughout the day, and tired arm from hammering + tired Mill = less precise hammering action = less hitting chisel and more hitting hand that's holding chisel
. But the good news is that I finished most of the chisel work in one (looooong) day. Apart from a few tiles left behind the fridge (that I'm not moving untill the new kitchen is being installed) the kitchen is done, and the plaster above the windows I just might leave in place as it still looks decent.
Monday I picked up a lot of supplies, and Tuesday (today) I built both side walls for the extension. I also painted them, so when that's dried tomorrow, both sections can be installed in place. My cousin is coming over to help me tomorrow, and if everything goes according to plan, we should have the roof timbers up by the end of the day. I'm hoping we'll also be able to close up the roof tomorrow, but seeing he won't be here till 11 am and I'm not sure how long he'll be staying, I might have to leave that project for Thursday.
The kitchen should be arriving some time this week, but I don't think I'll be quite ready yet to install it as I still have to do a lot of framing, sheetrocking and mudding before the kitchen can be put in place. So I have to find a place to store everything for a few days. When the roof of the extension is closed, I can move some of the lumber outside, leaving me with a smidge more room in the house. So hopefully then I can grab something out of the fridge without having to climb over lumber and dodge power tools. My house is by no means small, but there's stuff everywhere.
I need to call the contractor this week to ask him about the door frames and window frames I'm having him make for me. Hopefully he'll have them ready before my vacation is over. One thing that probably will have to wait untill after my vacation, is the flooring. The floor I wanted was out of stock, so I had to order it, which takes at least 3 weeks. But the flooring should only take me a day or 2 to put in, so if that's the only delay, it should be managable.
Next week I should be starting on the kitchen. Once the framing is up, it's time for plumbing and electric. Which I'm both dreading and looking forward to. I like puzzles, so making up the wiring plan is fun. But actually putting everything in is a very tedious job. So hopefully I can get my cousin to help me again. He's off from school since it's summer, and he can always use a buck, so usually getting him to help won't be a problem as long a I ask him a few days in advance. I'm also going to get an electrician friend to help me a bit. I'll do most of the wiring in the kitchen and extension myself, but he'll check what I've done, and more importantly, he'll hook everything up to the circuit breakers.
To make a long story short: a lot of work has been done, but there's still a lot to do. Once everything is more finished than it is now, I'll post pictures for you.
wyldesage:
Your lucky that you have your own place all to yourself to do whatever you want.
avidity:
you should still post pictures now. that's what i say