Ranch Renaissance

I Win

2009-08-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

This week has been a test of wills and determination. Today universe I am the winner. I win, suck it. Yes, you leaked my toilet in the basement, the same night that we discovered our central air was leaking. I did not despair. I tackled the toiled with an arsenal of weaponry to leave Genghis Khan quaking in his boots.

Alas the weapons would not prevail. The frequent douses of urination had corroded the bolts. But the next night I came at you with a locking wrench and WD40. Yay, you gave way to me, after much grunting (which is usually reserved for sitting on the toilet not laying on top of it wrenching our the bolts). I wrestled you free and replaced the weakened seal broken by large arses such as mine. I prevail, not leaking and believe you me I put that toilet through it's paces.

I next tackled our leaky central air and we soon discovered the output nozzle was blocked. So we removed that only to have the unit belch out the contents that must have been gathering for quite a number of years. There were some problems with the seal of the nozzle as it's plastic and the output pipe is metal. I could not seal this thing for the life of me, and I really couldn't seal it once it cracked off in the pipe. !@#$. After a couple of minutes, I was able to remove the contents of the broken nozzle. Off to The Home Depot where I found a replacement part. This part was still not going in straight and I didn't know what to do. Until I had an idea. The output pipe is dripping into the Ale Pail, which is hooked up to the output hose draining into our sump pump.

Screw you universe, I win.

P.S. - Universe if you could see to it that you don't mention this to Brian and Patrick R., I would greatly appreciate it. I think this is somehow against the law of beer gods, but I'm not sure.

Backyard Renovation

2009-06-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

Last year I was somewhat rushed to get the backyard completed before the NARI tour (first weekend in May). The landscape designer waited until the VERY last possible moment to do any of the work in the back because it was so cold there was a fear our plants would be given a death sentence just so we could have a completed backyard for the tour. Trying to plant anything the last week in April is tough in Wisconsin because there really isn't a whole lot of plant matter available. Kudos to my mother who was able to locate almost all of my perennials needed. The day that we did the flower install (I did the flowers, the landscapers did the bushes and prepared the beds - basically all the hard work) I still needed six grasses to complete the design. For the sake of time we went to a local nursery and were able to get the six grasses. Since they were the only six grasses in stock (left over from a job recently done) I wasn't too picky. I'm guessing that I didn't even read the tag. Last year the grasses were perfect, not too big or full, just perfect.

There is a saying amongst gardeners about perennials: the first year they sleep, the second year they creep, the third year they leap. Well, I think my grasses skipped year two and did their leaping last week.
This needed to be dealt with, and fast. There is a lot of pretty stuff back there you can't even see!
So, the question then became what exactly to do with these Jurassic Park sized grasses. I had about a dozen different ideas but finally settled on tearing up the side of the house that faces Jake and Tonya. This bed really doesn't have a focus or purpose. We used to have a really pretty vine on the trellis called a silver lace until the Japanese Beatles ate it all. There was a small hops that we had going but as soon as I had Brian's blessing to dig it up the bed cleared out. Since I don't really do a very good job of maintaining this bed, moving the grasses here seemed like a good idea.

Another "before" shot

Turned out this was a much harder job than I anticipated and needed the help of my three men.

Here's where the grasses ended up. I hope they take, Tonya is thrilled with how it turned out. Plus, it covers our strange, ugly, yet necessary sump pump set up. This is for our old, or original, sump pump.
Now we can actually see the butterfly garden! I hope to fill in vacated areas with appropriately sized grasses this week yet. One large grass remains for two reasons. 1. We only needed five plants for the side of the house and 2. We couldn't get it out. I'll deal with that problem another day...
The next plant on the chopping block may very well be my bee balm. While I think this plant is pretty I just have never had much luck with it. I'm already treating a nasty case of powdery mildew and it's only the end of June. This is the story of my relationship with bee balm. I'd like to replace the whole patch of it with pink coneflower. However, it's starting to bloom and I'm feeling guilty so maybe it will come out in the fall or as soon as the powdery mildew becomes too much to keep up with. The bee balm is directly behind where the grasses were so now with an increased air flow back maybe the mildew will be done for a little while.

Finally, here is the bed affectionately referred to as, "the Compromise." It became the recipient of a couple of plants that I didn't want to give away that were aside the house.

Weekend Warriors...

2009-05-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

We have not stopped moving this weekend. You'd think that we would have moved everything back into the basement but alas, we didn't. You see, the weather was just too perfect for working outside to bother with jobs in the house. It rained Saturday morning so we were able to get the bookcase all put back together and that night we reinstalled the desk. Saturday afternoon, Sunday and Monday afternoon it was all work outside. The list of jobs to be completed outside is getting less and less so if the weather cooperates we should be, "maintaining and enjoying" by the end of next weekend.

I didn't take any "before" pictures but here is what we accomplished this weekend:

The ghetto trellis that was behind our garage is no more. After a substantial amount of nagging and convenient home projects by my brother and cousin, Brian was finally willing to do something about the disaster that was behind our garage. Granted, our garage sits almost right on the property line so there isn't much space to do anything which means little motivation on our part. There is still a disaster behind our garage but it's clearly not on our side of the property line. There is a rock wall that separates us from the guy behind us...can you see it in the picture?

This project should make my mother happy. Our neighbors and I cleaned out the entire back of our properties (I only took pictures of our side). I moved some grasses to the back of our property line and divided some hostas to fill in the empty spots. Pots full of impatiens are scattered around. There are still a crap load of weeds in the back but those are not on my side. Plus, in some circumstances weeds are better than the alternative. The disaster is behind those weeds too.

The area around the pergola and planters all got cleaned up and filled. In the background you can see my new chair, with a pot of wave petunias on it, for visual interest. The old chair had sat outside for at least 4 years and was falling apart. In fact, it fell apart into four or five pieces as I threw it away this afternoon. I might paint this one, I haven't decided yet. It very well might stay right where it is for 4 years.

This area, affectionately referred to as the "Great Compromise" by Brian and I, looks awesome so far. I thinned out the grasses and hostas and moved a planter/trellis to this side of the garage. I had a hard time getting things to grow where it was before so hopefully this location will be move successful. Right now there are some gorgeous peach colored putunias and morning glories planted in it.

We moved our little bistro set to the back door. We've actually had it here for a few weeks and I love it here. I can't believe I didn't think of this last year. The pots next to the stairs have my herbs in them. This seemed to be a good location last year so hopefully we'll continue to have luck. New this year is the hibuscus on the left.

Butterfly garden is growing...the delphiniums (in the back) are getting ready to open. Sadly, I think the butterfly bush is dead. The person at the greenhouse last year told me to be patient, that these plants look dead for much of the spring. Well, I'm giving it three more weeks and then I'm digging it up and buying a new one because I'm pretty sure it's dead. What's in three weeks you ask? The end of school!

Finally, our lilacs are blooming now. They are gorgeous.

Slight Change in Plans...

2009-05-20T20:07:00.000-07:00

1. Carpeting is getting installed/stretched on Thursday

2. Carpet cleaners coming Friday morning

3. WE MOVE BACK IN THIS WEEKEND!

Two weeks ahead of the schedule we set for ourselves.

A few major things will still remain: molding and doors, but who cares! We are going to be able to move all our stuff back into the family room!!!

The Home Stretch

2009-05-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

This post is long overdue but better late than never, right?

Last week Tuesday my uncle Frank came over and painted our basement. He made the offer to help months ago and trust me, this was not an offer I would easily forget. It's not that I hate to paint, I just don't think that I'm very good at it. Plus, it takes me days. Maybe if we had better equipment or if I just had a better attitude it would go faster. I don't know but I'm very grateful for Frank's help last week!

Here are the new colors! Flash photography doesn't really do the colors justice but you get the general idea. The color scheme now should flow nicely with the rest of the house and we already know that it looks awesome with the carpet. And speaking of carpeting...the carpet is going to get a new pad and be re-laid June 5. The carpet cleaners are coming June 6 and on June 7 we are moving everything back in. I can't wait!

This past week we also reinstalled the bookcase. Sort of a funny thing happened with this. Shortly after we had it screwed to the wall and it was clear that it was flush with the wall I made the comment that I had never noticed this slight gap that now appeared on the side. Brian looked at it and then it hit us both at the same time. Originally, the bookcase was installed PRIOR to drywalling. Now the part that was sunk inside the drywall is clearly exposed because the drywall came first this time. Oh well, this is what molding is for, right?

The first time we did the basement (five years ago) we took the doors that lead from the stairwell to the laundry room off and put them on the new closet. This way the doors matched the other closet right next to the new one. To solve our unsightly door opening we just hung a curtain. It was never meant to be a permanent solution but five years later we still had that curtain. Now, we decided to finish this they way it was meant to be. Brian and my dad are going to work on doors sometime in the near future. Due to scheduling, it probably won't get done until after the carpet is fixed but that's okay. Really, the doors are just aesthetics. You can see the difference in wall colors in this picture. the yellow on the right is the old "light" color in the basement. The other wall is the new color and the color on the left of the door is the color of the stairwell. The yellow wall will eventually be painted that color. I just didn't want to paint it knowing that work was going to need to be done and we'd probably just have to paint it again.

Finally, for this post, I'd like to leave you with some pretty pictures of my flowers!

Last year we didn't actually get to see this forcynthia bloom because it was done by the time it got planted. This year we got to enjoy it. I wish I would have taken a picture at it's "prime." This was taken the last week in April.
If I remember correctly, these are some tulips from bulbs that were brought back from the Netherlands. That was probably illegal but they got through Customs!
Our crab apple...all the flowering tress are so pretty right now!
And finally, my newest find: a bottle brush hanging basket! We had to get it, it reminded us of San Diego plus it's just so unusual! This was my little souvenir from Green Bay this weekend.

Quick Update

2009-05-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight Brian finished priming the walls while I started putting things away. Now that we are painting the whole freakin' basement there was a pile of our stuff that needed to be moved to gain access to the pony wall. Tomorrow I plan to prepare the other walls to paint, we need to make a decision about the bookshelf (push it all the way into the corner or keep it where it was), and we need to move a few more pieces of the bookshelf. It's a big bookshelf if you remember.

Figures

2009-05-10T11:45:00.001-07:00

Ok, so after learning that I needed a 14 inch taping knife, another coats, some pressure and a little patients, the walls ended up turning out good. I'm satisfied with them. The textured primer went on, albeit with help from Andi, a little slow, but looks good too.

Now we come to the problem. The color. We would have sworn that we had both colors of paint sitting with all of our other paint. As it turns out, we only had one. In a feeble attempt to get that paint, we headed to Menards hoping they were a little "Big Brother" and kept those records. They didn't. We have resigned ourselves to the fact that we'll need to finish priming all of the walls and Andi is heading to Ace right now for new paint colors.

!@#$

I think we'll be taking Uncle Frank up on his offer to help.

Check Out the Ugly Bathroom...

2009-03-31T18:38:00.000-07:00

Last week (yes I know, this post is very much over due), we said a final goodbye to our ugly pink bath tub and horrible brass shower door. I tried to make these pictures especially horrendous.

Like that?

Check out the mildew...that caulk always got the better of me as I would try to clean it

The grout was pretty good and I really didn't have any complaints about the tile...it was just the bathtub. We tossed around the idea of doing a tub liner or re-glazing but also wanted to update the pipes in the wall. Since there is no access panel, one side of the wall was going to have to be destroyed. Updating the pipes and covering everything up with a full tube liner seemed like the way to go.

And here are the results!

Beautiful, don't you think!

By the way, don't think we won the lottery or anything. This project was actually partially paid for prior to the drama of the basement and was how we spent our tax return this year. If the basement would have sprung a leak just a few days earlier, we probably wouldn't have done this project.

Now, we just need to replace the ugly toilet! Someday...

Now, onto the basement...
We are finally ready to start putting our lives back together. We had some concerns that a few walls were still wet so a technician came out today and checked everything out. He checked all the access points and bleeders and it all looked good so I guess I should just chill out. I think that once you experience water in your basement you spend a lifetime freaking out over little things that might mean problems. I really just want this to be all over. I want the file cabinet out of my living room along with the ironing board and the boxes of items we didn't know where to go with. It's pretty bad over here...

Day 7: New Reason This is an Inconvience

2009-03-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

We can't do laundry.

I don't know why this didn't occur to either of us during the planning stages. If you jackhammer concrete up to replace something, new concrete is going to be left. New concrete takes time to cure.
Washing machines, the tub they empty into and dryers generally sit along the wall. Drain tile is along the walls and therefore we have we concrete right where our washer, tub, and dryer sit. The dryer we were able to set up because the vent, gas line and other cords were long enough. However, the washing machine is going to have to sit for awhile.

Thank goodness we have such great neighbors. I've been running back and forth between our house this weekend doing laundry.

According to the basement people we should wait THREE weeks before we do much downstairs in terms of putting it back together. According to our friend who is a structural engineer, he said concrete will have 80% of it's strength after one week. I think we'll hook up the washing machine next weekend.

Catching Up on Day 3

2009-03-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

And we are done...with this part.

The company that we hired finished up late Wednesday afternoon. They had brought an extra guy to work with them in hopes that everything would go faster since our city inspectors like to screw with people or have something personal against our property (seriously, I'm beginning to think there's an ordinance just for us. Discussing the drama we went through with the garage might make for an interesting post someday). Anyhoo, here's what Wednesday ended with...

That pipe coming up is one of four access points that will allow our system to be flushed out or have maintenance performed on it if necessary. This is in the "new" room...the dirty wall is our old exterior wall. Since there is old drain tile all along that wall that got replaced with new stuff. It might seem like overkill but once you have had water in your basement I don't know if you can ever be overcautious!

This is the wall/corner that had been causing us so many problems. Once everything is dry we can get started cleaning up and scrubbing the walls. Even though drywall is going back up I don't want all that mold/mildew on the walls.

Logan leaving his mark on the floor
Ethan leaving his hand prints in the basement forever
Why not? If you have wet cement, how can you possibly resist putting hand prints in it?

A while ago I stated, "This is not the most inconvenient project we have done." I'd like to retract that statement for consideration. Stay tuned...I'll explain why this weekend. It might move into 1st place.

Day 2 - Save the Drama for your Mama

2009-03-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

I really didn't know what to expect. The guys from Badger Basement came promptly at 7:30. There wasn't much of the hard digging left, since the new basement was pretty much dug, there was only some little digging or expanding left.

There was a lot of noise. Jackhammers here, gigantic masonry drills there, you know the standard work. I managed to log into work and get a crap load of stuff done from home. I tried to dial into a bunch of meetings, but it was hard to hear over all of the racket. I would hear the frequent cutting of plastic, as I was certain they were cutting the lengths of their patented "WaterGuard" system. It was right around lunch when I was I hearing the pounding of the jack hammer.

Then it stopped. Then I heard an "uh-oh."
I don't know if I want to hear someone with a jack hammer say "uh-oh." It would be that they were poking holes in the cement blocks to relieve the water pressure and build up along and inside the blocks, when magically they sprung a leak.

Now to Andi and I this isn't surprising, as some of those blocks looked water logged. They had to open the bleeder holes in order to all for the outside water to seep in and into their WaterGuard system. It was after lunch that the drama started.

I heard someone else come over, and I presumed it was someone that these guys knew. It turned out to be the city inspector. !@#%, I said mildly. This won't be good.

You see, there have been all sorts of issues with the city and the city inspectors. I swear to god, they find fault, just to make work for others. It's like they don't want their constituency to succeed in any way. When the guy left, one of the workmen came up stairs and had to tell me about the change in plans.

It would seem that the city doesn't like how shallow they are digging. But that's what they do. The whole premise of the WaterGuard system is that it sits on top of your footings to direct water from the high water table away from the walls and floor to the sump pump. But if they have to dig down into the footings, that's a crap load of more work, and harder too, since the footings are so solid. So, what they decided to do was to ditch the WaterGuard system, and give us something close to it.

They're replacing all of the drain tile with newer PVC pipe of some sort. It's not the same as the corrugated pipe that is traditionally put down, and does crap for actually draining water (I read about that.) This pipe is smoother, and will allow the water to flow easier. They are also going to put in the wall diverter. It's hard to describe, but essentially it's a piece of aligator plastic (it's got all of these ridges, hence the name) that sits along the wall and footing. This piece allows the bleeder holes to drain into the new drain tile.

So essentially we're getting the WaterGuard system, just not in one hand dandy do it themself installation product. Also, this is more work becuase now they are hammering out a little more floor, and all of the drain tile.

That works for me! After all, we're hoping that we can prove to the insurance company that the reason the basement flooded was faulty drain tile. The tile was so old and full of gunk that it could not handle the water load and backed up into our basement. I'll let you see the pictures and you can decide if the tiles could handle the load.

Work Begins - Day 1

2009-03-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

bye bye basement floor

The rattling started today around 8:30. There are two workers on our job and they jackhammered pretty much all day.

Today they made a trench around almost the entire basement, including around the old exterior walls since that area was wet too. Here Brian is admiring his busted up basement floor.

I know this isn't the greatest picture but you are looking at the trench along the wall that has given us the most problems. It's all full of water right now.

And here is the wall where all the new leaks were detected yesterday.
You can tell it's wet from how dark the concrete is.

It was loud today...an a little unnerving. However, given how much water is coming up through the trench I know that we made the best decision to get this done right now rather than waiting! The two guys that are here are very nice and even thanked us for giving them such a spacious and well organized work space. I'm so glad that our, mostly Brian's, preparation work did not go unnoticed. There was some talk about rerouting our old sump pump to the front of the house, which really made me happy. Right now we have some ridiculous job made out of PBC piping that has never given us any problems, which is why we haven't touched it. This is perhaps the one thing, other than the closet mentioned yesterday, that we haven't touched on this property. However, it is unsightly and generally is a topic of conversation whenever someone comes over and notices it. Unfortunately, Milwaukee county won't let them reroute it because they aren't licensed plumbers. If we lived in Walworth county this wouldn't be a problem. Stupid Milwaukee county. Either way, I think this is something we are going to consider doing...I may have to move it ahead of my Solor Tubes on the home wish list.

Look for Brian's post tomorrow night!

How Many Wet Dry Vacs Does a House Need?

2009-03-08T19:01:00.001-07:00

Three. The answer is three. Here's why...

Last June, two were a necessity because the water was coming in so fast that by the time one got emptied, the other was almost full. Brian and I were relieved we had two...for the hour or so we had them both going.

Today Brian ran to Home Depot to buy a third, one with a pump attachment. The flow of water coming into the basement/up through the floor was so constant that it again required the two of us and our two wet dry vacs to keep up with the water...all afternoon. At least with the pump we didn't have to constantly run the buckets out. So, there you go, we need three wet dry vacs to keep up with the water.

Today I felt like we were fighting a two front war. We are trying to beat the house at the water war by becoming allies with a basement company. Therefore we needed to take some time and prepare. Before this morning we were almost done. All we had to do was hang the plastic. However, our house didn't really allow that to happen because every time we turned around this afternoon water was coming in from a new place. A good 5 solid hours was spent trying to complete a task that should have only taken 30 minutes - tops.

I just keep reminding myself that at least we have a plan and are doing something about this. Tomorrow is the big day. Here are some shots from the weekend preparations:

Saturday, Brian worked very hard at removing the last of the drywall and cutting all the studs 8 inches off the floor. Since that needed to be done for the entire perimeter of the basement the closets also needed to be attacked. This closet was here when we moved in and nothing had ever been done with it. Therefore, we had no idea the shelves were secured by no less than 7 million nails. What were the previous owners storing in here? Gold bars?
Here is the wall of main concern. Yes, all the dark areas are water and those are sandbags. A feeble attempt to divert water under the stairs and to the sewer drain. It mostly worked...things could have been much worse.
Here is our bookshelf bench, all covered up
Just pretend E.T. and Elliot are at the end of all the plastic.

Every inch of the basement is impacted by this. Even the "new" room. If you look closely at the corner on the right, near the sump pump, you can see how dark our walls are. That's how high the water table is right now. While there is no water on the floor, there is in the cinder blocks.

Even the wall under the stairs had to be removed.

Date Set and the First of the Non-Fun Home Improvement Projects Completed

2009-03-02T19:48:00.000-08:00

We got more attic insulation today. Fun huh? This was a project we intended to do prior to the basement crisis and decided to go forward with it since we really needed it.

As for a basement update...Drywall is half down, studs have been cut 8 inches from the ground, what parts of wall that still remain have been braced and the closets are almost emptied. Brian's workshop is ready to go. The basement people are coming next Monday which doesn't feel soon enough. Last week we got rain on Thursday and the water was coming in so fast that it was whistling or gurgling. I think it's supposed to warm up again at the end of this week and if we get water again it will be okay...there is nothing left to ruin!

Option #2 It Is

2009-02-23T19:37:00.000-08:00

We have decided to go with Option #2 and are thrilled that an insurance adjusted is going to come out and take a look at our basement. While I highly doubt anything is going to be covered there is a small part of me that is hoping that SOMETHING will be covered. Even if that something is the carpeting or drywall - every little bit is going to help.

No date yet for the 3 day drilling out of the basement. Next week an insulation guy is coming to add more insulation to our attic, clean out the vents and properly vent our bathroom vents. Not exactly the sexiest home improvement project, but a necessity nevertheless. This was a project we knew we were going to do prior to the whole basement fiasco.

Like I said, our house has it's own Economic Stimulus Plan.

Three Options to Consider

2009-02-19T19:02:00.001-08:00

We know we need to fix the basement. It's hard to blame the company that did the addition because, frankly, they warned us that we'd have problems if we didn't fix all the drain tile...someday. We hoped "someday" would come later rather than sooner. So we have three different options to pick as we decide how we are going to fix this problem.

1. Just replace the drain tile where there is known damage and add a 3rd sump pump...based on experience, I feel as though you fix the problem in one spot and then the problem just moves somewhere else. This is exactly what happened to us. This is by far the cheapest short term solution.
2. Just replace the inside drain tile with their fancy system. The company that we are considering will provide a warranty so we feel pretty good about that.
3. Replace the inside drain tile, basically redesign the sump crocks and (shutter) dig up the around the entire exterior perimeter of the house. The saleswoman wouldn't say "excavate" which started to irritate me. Instead a couple of guys are going to come with shovels and dig down to the frost line. How is that not excavating?

Option three causes me to have visible signs of stress...we have all that brand new landscaping out there, brickwork, gravel service path and DRIVEWAY. Since our walls are fine (everyone agrees that) I have a very hard time accepting option 3. It's also twice as expensive as option #2 and about five times as expensive as option #1. Therefore, it's not really an option.

July 2008

Oh Good...

2009-02-16T18:58:00.000-08:00

4-8 inches of snow is coming our way by Wednesday. On Wednesday there are going to be a bunch of people coming for various projects around this house. Two different basement people are going to be here (we thought it would be responsible to get some other perspectives on our problem) and an insulation person. There is a chance that the snow will actually be rain. Perhaps the basement people will get to see a water show in the basement! I suppose, there really isn't anything left down there to get damaged. Bring on the leaks!

Our Own Economic Stimulus Plan

2009-02-14T20:22:00.000-08:00

A look at the mess

I don't even know where to begin. First of all, this mess is not the most inconvenient project to ever happen in this house. The kitchen is an obvious first and when we rebuilt the garage is second. I'm tempted to put refinishing the hardwood floors in third but since that only lasted two days it's going to be knocked out of third place by what we are going to call, "Our Home's Economic Stimulus Plan."

Thursday afternoon Rick was able to come over and assess the problem. Brian had already pulled back the carpeting and things were starting to dry out. Rick had a little gadget that looked like a plug that measured the moisture content in whatever it was touching. The drywall was dry...about 2 feet up. Everything below needed to be torn out, along with the installation. Without having an expert coming in, his initial assessment was that it was drain tile problems...again. Our half clogged drain tile (if you don't remember this go look through the archives...mid September 2007) are overwhelmed with water and we are suffering the consequences every time the water table rises. There was a hope that the second sump pump from June of 08 and the partial drain tile replacement of 07 would fix the problem but it hasn't. Without ripping apart the entire basement the easiest solution is to replace two walls of drain tile and, are you ready for this...a THIRD sump pump. We are getting a second opinion on this but I do have to admit I'm relieved that the suggestion to dig up the driveway and the front of the house to get at the exterior of the walls has not been suggested.

Today we started demolition of the basement walls and moving all the toys upstairs. Just as Brian was getting started Rick pulled up (he had forgotten something when he was here on Thursday). He hung around for a little while helped Brian. Rick even left his Sawzall for Brian to borrow. Talk about customer service...we love these people.

So, here is where we are and how our house plans to stimulate the local economy:
- Our carpet may be salvaged. Brian contacted the business that installed it back in 2005 and they can install a new pad and re-install the carpet (hopefully). This is going to cost almost half of what we originally paid...geesh!
- Some concrete people and basement people are coming this week to either concur with Rick or not. I shudder to think what the "or not" might involve.
- This isn't the only project we have going on. We are continuing work on the bathroom with a tub liner and shower surround. We bought the new shower door today. The quest for fixtures continues. I expect to be on that company's schedule by the end of the week.
- We have only 5 inches of installation in the attic. This really shouldn't go ignored any longer.

We are trying to be optimistic about all of this and looking at all of the positives. For example, because large scale projects seem to happen around here every two years or so we have a third bedroom that has never been committed to any permanent use. Whether it's due to a lack of imagination on our part or utter laziness, this room has never had a real purpose other than to be whatever we needed it to be due to a home project. It's been an office, bedroom, storage and now a true playroom.
I guess it's good that while we got rid of three large pieces of furniture in January, I haven't picked out a new chair for the living room. This has left us with a vacant space that is now occupied by the computer designated for Ethan and Logan.
While I see a pile of carpeting that makes me sick to my stomach wondering if we are going to be able to keep it or not, the boys see a labyrinth of tunnels and caves. The carpeting is draped over saw horses and chairs and the boys have enjoyed crawling and pretending they are snakes.

Here Brian is admiring his removal of the drywall. Shortly after I took this picture he began removing the installation.

The House Rebels!

2009-02-11T19:45:00.001-08:00

It's too bad that I didn't maintain this blog over last summer. My flowers were stunning and the yard was fabulous after the dirt we dealt with during the summer of 2007 while we were under construction. The solution to the water problem we experienced in June was a second sump pump crock in the new part of the basement. Over Christmas we experienced water in the old, finished part of the basement but attributed it to a frozen sump pump. After rerouting the piping outside it seemed our problems were solved. Tuesday night, during the big thaw, we again felt wetness in the finished part of the basement - along the same wall as we did around Christmas. This was just hours after I signed the contract to get a tub surround in the bathroom and rid ourselves of the pink bathtub and get our plumbing updated. Also, in that same afternoon we learned that we really should have another 10 inches of installation put in the attic. All Tuesday evening the wet/dry vac was going and we went to bed hoping that it wouldn't be any worse on Wednesday. Today when we came home from work it was so wet down there that the water was actually dripping into the drain - clear on the other side of the basement.

We have no idea what the problem is but have pulled the carpeting back and are bracing ourselves for the worst possible news. We can't ignore this water/basement problem any longer. There are a few things that we do know:
1. When we finished the basement in 2005 there were no obvious cracks or problems with the walls
2. Our drain tile is half clogged...which is why we had to have part of it replaced during the kitchen addition.
3. There is a corner of the basement that Brian has never liked how the drywall job turned out. I think he secretly is excited/anxious to fix it and prove to himself he has some useful skills. He won't admit to this.
4. Money is going to be flying out of this house at a crazy fast rate!
5. This is why we save money...if you can't afford to have your house rebel against you, maybe you shouldn't own a home.

This project isn't going to be fun. There will be no fixtures to chose from, no samples to show, no progress towards a dream. I suspect I'm going to become increasingly sarcastic about all of this.

We don't have a lot of "crap" in this house. There have been so many times of necessity to purge our house of all unnecessary items that we don't have a lot of "crap." It's been just about two years since the last purge (kitchen). It was two years before that one (basement, 2005). One year before that (built the garage and prepared for the birth of the boys). It's about time for another purge.

How I Spent My Day

2008-06-09T19:49:00.000-07:00

1. Stayed home from school because Kevin and Rick were coming out to check out the roof and basement.
2. Called our insurance guy to ask some questions. Ended up adding a large rider to our insurance policy that is specifically called, "Sewer Backup Coverage"
3. Increased our coverage amount to reflect the improvements we've made to the property in the last year (SHAME on us for not doing this sooner, although I swear we did. In any event, now it's done for sure)
4. Felt incredibly sorry for one set of neighbors that the city kicked out of their home. Until a plumber can address the backed up sewer they have been told they need to leave for health reasons.
5. Learned Kevin and Rick are going to install a second sump pump in the near future.
6. Rick sealed up some shingles that weren't "stuck" down properly. When rain comes sideways or up from the ground (it was raining in all directions) water can find any place to enter!
7. Had a lock box, once again, put on the back door.
8. Felt incredibly sorry for all the people on Lake Dalton. If you haven't heard (and some of you readers far away may not have), the large man-made lake in the Wisconsin Dells emptied itself when it created a new river on the side of the dam. Four homes are down river somewhere. This is the same lake we were just on a few weeks ago when we road the Wisconsin Ducks!
9. Felt sorry for really everyone who has had more damage than us. Really, we haven't had much damage. Our problems right now are more preventative measures.
10. Asked Brian if he was a little disappointed when there was no water under the bench in the basement. While it was good there wasn't, I'm baffled as to where one wet spot came from. I'm becoming more and more suspicious that perhaps the boys spilled something during the time they were left unattended while we were cleaning up the mess in the new part of the basement.

In case anyone is keeping track, we are nearing the one year mark of when the hole was dug! Since it's exam time, I have to go to school for the rest of the week. I guess I'll just be surprised when I come home to see if any work was done.

Are We Done Yet? Are We Done Yet?

2008-04-30T19:41:00.001-07:00

Really, am I ever going to be done with this project?

In the last week our landscaping has been completed, or as completed as it can right now. We are still missing a few plants but that's because they just aren't available yet. I was able to, with the help of my mom, get almost everything purchased and installed today. We had Hawk's do all the hard work like the service path, prepare the beds, brickwork and re-grate the lawn. Brian and I were left with a huge pile of mulch and to install all the perennials. Here is what everything looked like a week ago and what it looks like now!

Before
After
Before
After
After

I do have to admit, we were a bit surprised to see the re-grating. I guess I thought the yard 10 or so feet from the house would be repaired. That apparently wasn't the case! While this is somewhat an inconvenience for the boys since they can't play in the back yard anymore (hmmm...much like last summer) I know that once the grass grows the yard will be great.

The NARI Home Remodeling Tour is this weekend and our house is almost ready! While the people won't be visiting our house to see the yard, I feel much better about how things look now. It actually looks like we are done!

Accurate Record Keeping of Paint Jobs

2008-03-24T18:26:00.000-07:00

Today I painted our bedroom. Since I did it by myself (don't bash Brian, he did most of the prep work and will help tonight with the clean-up) I had a lot of time to think. I mostly thought about how much I hate painting and realized I was standing on a tarp of nothing but painting memories.

There were drips of the green we first painted our bedroom. That painting experience isn't well documented on the tarp because at the time we had carpeting in our bedroom. Brian ended spilling a lot of paint directly on the carpet thus necessitating getting rid of it. We decided not to replace it, but rather added another room to the upcoming floor refinishing project. Since we weren't replacing it we could be as messy as we wanted to be while painting. There were drips of the light purple/gray that ended up being our bedroom color after I decided I couldn't handle the minty green color walls from the first painting experience. Incidentally, I believe that all happened in one day.

There were drips of dark brown which confused me for a little while. Then, I remembered; those were from an old POS entertainment center Brian had in college that we repainted and redesigned. This was around the time Trading Spaces was huge on tv and I believe that's where the inspiration came from.

There were drips from the Alfalfa Sprout living room and hallway, white third bedroom, the quad color scheme of the boy's room (light blue, red, green and dark blue), yellow small bathroom, purple wall in the living room and then all the painting projects from last summer that I did. I was responsible for the living room, hallway and bathroom.

Lots of memories right there on the painting tarp. I'm amazed that for someone who hates to paint as much as I do, I sure have done a lot of it!

The Ranch Goes On Tour

2008-03-18T18:47:00.000-07:00

Late last week I got an exciting request. Stephanie, the designer of our beautiful kitchen, asked if they could use our home in the 2008 NARI Spring Remodeling Tour!! It feels so good to live in a space that someone, who doesn't live here, is so proud of they want to show it off.

The tour is going to be the first weekend in May so as soon as it dries up around here I'm going to have A LOT of work to do. The area around our house still looks like a construction zone and who knows what will come up in the flower bed next to the driveway. Not only was it deprived of water most of the summer it had a dumpster sitting practically on top of it too. At least I know there should be lots of pansies and other annuals available the last week in April. We are going to be doing a lot of last minute planting the week before I think.

The same day I committed to Stephanie I signed the contract for landscaping. While there is no guarantee the plantings can be done (really depends on what kind of spring we have) the brick work can be done as soon as all the snow melts. I was encouraged when Judy, the landscape designer, said that the outside work is a reflection of her business and so they will make an effort to get it looking presentable before the tour. I'm starting to stress a little about this!

I've had to submit "before" pictures and next week Stephanie is coming out to take new inside pictures. She took some before Christmas but now that we have the sexy new stove she's going to do new ones. Some of these pictures are going to be published in M Magazine. Stay tuned!

I Think We Are Remodeling Junkies...

2008-02-09T20:37:00.001-08:00

There are people who are addicted to plastic surgery. I think we may be addicted to home improvements.

About a week ago Brian contacted Kevin, from OAR, and asked if he had any extra tickets for the NARI Home Improvement Show. Brian and I went today, sans children, and walked through all the exhibits remembering last year when we were still searching for a contractor for our dream kitchen addition. Now twelve months later, we are done but still have a few areas in which we need some professional expertise.

1. Landscaping
2. SolarTubes for bathroom, maybe the hallway and perhaps the dark area of the kitchen
3. bathtub and tile in shower

By the end of the month, we will have a quote on the landscape plan that we got last fall, have two quotes for a couple of bathroom options and hopefully an install date for a SolarTube (which might be June). I know the landscaping is priority but knowing that we are a few thousand dollars away from getting rid of our gross shower and dark bathroom makes me really excited. I don't know if we can stop the home improvements.

We Haven't Stopped Working...

2008-02-07T19:17:00.000-08:00

Really, are projects ever "done"?

Today, our new stove was delivered. It's definitely goes better with the new decor than the white one did! Anyone need a white gas stove? Nothing wrong with it...it's just white.

Old stove
New stove...isn't it pretty?

It was pointed out to me months ago that I never posted a picture of the bathroom. If you recall, we had a window in the bathroom that was lost due to the addition. The space where the window was cut into the tile, which is probably 40+ years old, presented a challenge. Since the tile is so old we couldn't find an exact match. The color could be matched almost flawlessly but the size couldn't be found (isn't that strange?). So, Stephanie, the designer, came up with this idea. The new tiles are placed on an angle and go higher than the original tile. Really, you don't even notice that the size is different. I don't feel like we are trying to hide the fact there was a window there so I'm happy. I wasn't sure at first but am glad that we put our trust into Stephanie's design.

We've recently gotten a large area rug for the living room too. I can't believe it took us so long to just do it. I love the way it looks, love that the boy's toys are no longer rolling under all the furniture and I love that I can kneel on the floor and it doesn't hurt my knees. I'm sure you've seen the pictures on the the boys' blog of what it looks like.

And now, a few shots of yesterday's snow storm. It sure is pretty right now, but I sure am sick of snow!

Look at the fence to the left as a point of reference to how deep the drifts are!

New Year's List

2008-01-05T18:50:00.000-08:00

The first year we were married Brian and I started a tradition that on January 1 we would create a list of things we wanted to accomplish (in terms of goods, trips and improvements to our home) during the following year. The idea behind this was to prioritize our list of needs/wants and focus our spending and how we spend spare time. It's hung on our refrigerator and we cross things off as we can during the year. This year, our ideas got a little out of hand. Maybe that's because last year the only thing on the list was, "kitchen." In any event, 5 days into 2008, we've been able to cross off four items already:
1. Clean Spare Bedroom
2. Cabinets installed in Basement
3. Counter Stools for Kitchen
4. Table Saw

1. The room that we used as a "kitchen" for the summer was still a disaster. It was too easy to just shut the door and forget about it. And forget about it we did. It is now an empty room. We really don't have any plans for that space, but at least it's empty now!

2. While I was pregnant my dad built us some cabinets for the kitchen. We kept them this summer and planned on putting them in the basement somewhere. Initially we planned to put them on either side of the tv in the family room. This afternoon we set them where we thought we wanted them and realized quickly that was a stupid idea on our part. Then, I suggested a different wall and stacking them.
Brian likes this arrangement for a number of reasons but mostly because it covers up a crappy drywall patch from a few years ago. Some of you might remember there used to be a built in fish tank in this corner when we first moved in.

3. We have a breakfast bar on the island and no stools. Friday afternoon that all changed! I ordered three stools last weekend and they came Friday.

4. Brian is going to take up woodworking this year. He bought a new table saw earlier this week. A new table saw is a good place to start to building and refine his skills. Today we attempted to load his dad's old one, which we've had in our basement for some time, in the back of the minivan and take it to the dump. I decided it was physically too hard and suggested we just put it by the side of the road. We left and when we returned two hours later it was gone.

Little Things

2007-12-17T19:00:00.001-08:00

Ever since we "finished" we've been working on a lot of little things. One of my tasks was to fill the space, formally occupied by our stove and now home to our pocket door. The space was really only big enough to install shelves.

The challenge with these permanent shelves is that the wall they installed for the pocket door is not square. From the bottom of the floor to the top of the ceiling, there's about a 1/2 inch difference.

Essentially, I just created some supports (via dado joint) for the shelves to sit in. Unfortunately I don't have a dado blade, so I had to resort to the technique our fore fathers used, a series of cuts using one blade on my table saw.

The shelves were not even and had to be cut on some odd angles. However, I knew it didn't really matter as I would be putting some trim over the edges that would hide the imperfections and look nice. Well, look nicer that is. Each of the shelves are 18 inches apart and when finished looked rather good. Mommy will be looking for some nice looking baskets to complement the look.

This House Just Keeps Getting Better and Better

2007-11-18T18:37:00.001-08:00

Today Brian installed shelves in the old coat closet in the living room. With the new, larger coat closet in the mudroom (and since we rarely use our front door) I was ready to give the closet a new responsibility. Toys. That's right, we have a toy closet now and I love it. I don't want to hide the fact that we have children but I also don't want to have toys "put away" in the corner of the living room. Now the upstairs toys have a real place to go.

Day 156: DONE!

2007-11-14T18:35:00.000-08:00

On Monday the lock box was removed and we received the final bill with all the credits and extra things we added. We are DONE!

Now, I know that I haven't been very good about blogging in the last month, but frankly there hasn't been a lot to say. We reached, "substantial completion" a month ago.

The cabinet doors are now all installed and the stained glass is amazing! I know you can't see it very well in the picture so you'll just have to trust us.

The porch/landing/deck was recently completed as well. Now we can use our back door.

Here is a better shot at the stained glass, but I still feel like it's much prettier in person. Due to our blog neglect, our faithful readers have been spared (or denied depending on how much whining you'd like to read about our microwave curse) the continuing drama with the microwave. This is a shot of microwave #2. After two tries of trying to fix microwave #1 and Sears canceling try #3 because the parts were back ordered, Brian got involved and invested more time with managers on the phone than I would of had patience for. In the end, his perseverance with automated messaging and years of experience in customer service got us a brand new microwave. I found this all rather interesting in terms of cost of services and warranties. Obviously, the microwave was under warranty so none of this nonsense cost us anything other than irritation. Every time the repair guy came out to fix it we got a receipt with how much the part would be if he had them and how much his time was worth. In the end over $500 was spent on the stupid microwave that couldn't be fixed. We didn't pay nearly that much for the original one.

I LOVE the hardware. I'm so pleased that I didn't back down and buy hardware before I was ready and had the guts to go and cancel a large order when I changed my mind. We are every pleased and especially like the long handles. I think it looks much better than two small ones on either end of the drawer, which was the original plan.

A few weeks ago Brian and I had a funny, but serious, conversation about how it was going to feel when we were really done. This is what we came up with: It feels like we are ending a relationship that was good. The best piece of advice that we received was this (and it came from another contractor):

"Any company can come up a good design and use quality materials. Costs should be relatively similar between companies. What should play heavily into your final decision is, who do you feel comfortable with in your house?"

I couldn't agree more. Incidentally, we didn't go with the guy who said this. The people at OAR practically became members of the family. The boys knew them and recognized their trucks. The workers seemed to know where everything was in the house and garage. At some point I stopped going to meet them at the door when they came to work. They had keys, they could let themselves in. While I made sure I was dressed everyday before anyone came to work, make-up was optional. In fact, I have taken two sick days this year and both days Rick has let himself in the house while I was sleeping. It didn't even phase me. I wasn't even embarrassed I was wear sweats. We got very comfortable with these people!

Our relationship with the OAR Group is over. It was great and I'd recommend them without hesitation to anyone who is looking at remodeling or adding on. They weren't the cheapest company we interviewed but we sure felt comfortable with them in our house.

So, while we will maintain Ranch Renaissance, it will now focus on smaller projects. Here is our short list of things that need to be done:

1. shelves for cubbies in the mudroom
2. area rug for living room and runner for hallway
3. new toilet for big bathroom
4. do something about the grout and faucet in the bathroom
5. outside landscaping
6. paint bedroom and get curtains
7. old exterior wall framed and made to look nicer
8. install old cabinets (the nice ones my dad made) in the family room for DVD/video game storage
9. tentative...new appliances. The white ones just aren't working for me.

Thanks for your interest in our big project. It's been an experience we've enjoyed sharing with all of you!

Day 137 - Cars Are In The Garage!

2007-10-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

After 120 days of parking outside, our vehicles are tucked neatly away in the garage. We would have been able to park a few days ago but a certain phenomena happened this summer. I believe it had something to do with the Law of Empty Spaces. Shortly after the pile of lumber arrived and we could no longer get into our garage, every single toy, piece of garden equipment and just random crap found it's way into the large vacant spots where our vehicles once were. It's amazing how much space all of our summer toys take up! Ordinarily, our garage is a real life game of Tetris that results is plenty of space for the toys, equipment, vehicles and the rest of the crap out there. We now have it cleaned out and re-organized. Welcome home mini-van and car!

Today the bathroom was finished and our stain glass cabinet doors were installed. We also got the call that our door hardware is in. I'm planning on picking it up Friday afternoon. Maybe next week it will get installed,

Day 127: The Ranch Plays Host to Family

2007-10-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight we hosted my parents, brother, aunt, uncle, two cousins and one soon to be cousin-in-law (is that what you'd call them?) for dinner. Patrick was in town for just the weekend so we all got together for dinner.There really are six people around the table and plenty of people to move around (just a crummy picture). The boys got a little table this weekend. It's actually the same one that Patrick and I had when we were little. Brian and I have began a quest to find little chairs for it.

It was awesome. Of course the company was great; I always really enjoy getting together with this side of the family. Our house was awesome. My mom, aunt and I were able to hang out in the kitchen and get dinner ready without tripping over one another. Everyone else was downstairs being entertained by the boys. People could have been in the living room but chose not to be. Six were able to sit around the kitchen table, four at the card table and the boys sat at the kids' table. It just felt good to be able to have 10 adults and two children in the house and NOT feel crowded. I never would have said that 127 days ago.

Me, cousin Eric and Brian. While we still needed a card table to seat everyone, we all sat in the kitchen. No one in the living room or in the basement!

We are on the home stretch now, here's the list of things left to be done (as best I can think of):
1. HVAC...sometime this week
2. Bathroom tile
3. Railing on back porch
4. Installation of hardware (10-14 days my order will be in)
5. Fix very small water leak in basement

Here are things that we want to get done:
1. Get microwave fixed
2. Area rug for living room
3. Shelves for cubbies in mudroom
4. Bench or chair for mudroom
5. Landscaping outside...will do next spring. I have the plans and it's going to be a beautiful butterfly garden.
6. Really, are houses ever done?

On Day 125, We Reached "Substantial Completion"

2007-10-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

According to our contract substantial completion means that the new space can be used for it's intended purpose. On Friday the back splash was completed and our stove moved back into the house from it's summer home in the garage (I predict it won't be much longer before we are highly motivated to get new appliances so we can get rid of the white). We celebrated by heating up a frozen pizza for dinner.

Since last week when I ordered the pulls for the cabinet I've had a little sick feeling about them. The price just seemed crazy high but Brian was okay with it so I was trying not to get too antsy about it. Once our dishwasher was installed I decided that what I ordered really wasn't what I wanted to today I went back to inquire if I had any options in regards to the other order (which was for $510...or so I thought). They canceled the order with no problems and it turns out the amount wasn't even close. My real bill would have been $220 something!

Having gone through this once before, I had a little more knowledge about what I wanted. A very nice woman named Sue helped me this time and provided catalogs and a price sheet to take with me. Then, she started to figure out some amounts and I noticed I was getting a substantial discount...the coveted, "builder's discount." I love this discount! To sum up, the new handles will be in 10-14 days. Our stain glass will be in any day and sometime next week our little deck/stairs in the back will be completed and the bathroom will be done too.

In other news...our addition is going to be featured in M Magazine! How cool is that?

Day 123: The Microwave Saga Continues

2007-10-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

What is it with us and microwaves?

Last night Brian was heating something up and the *new* microwave just died. It's like there isn't any electricity going to it. Oh but there is, the outlet was checked today. The Sears repair guy will be here on Tuesday afternoon.

Our slate back splash was started today, the gas lines were installed and upgraded so as not to "starve" our appliances of fuel and the dumpster has left the property! As soon as the stove gets installed and we put everything away we can move the cars back into the garage. WOO-HOO, just in time for frost in the morning. (btw, it's cold now. The temp has dropped 40+ degrees since the blistering heat on Sunday. Too bad Brian's marathon wasn't this week!)

Yesterday, I met with a landscape designer for the backyard. She designed a butterfly garden and has incorporated plant material that will provide some blooms all spring, summer and fall. I'm pleased and look forward to moving forward with my yard in the spring.

Other than that, I don't think there's too much more to report other than I want my house back, which I think you all already knew.

Day 118

2007-10-07T18:43:00.000-07:00

Friday was Day 118 and this is where we are now. A working sink but no garbage disposal yet. It doesn't even matter right now...I didn't do dishes in the bathtub all weekend. What a great feeling that was!
After all the fretting about sinks, this is the one we got. It's a solid surface product, that can be installed above counter tops (which we needed) called SwanStone. I think we are going to be VERY happy with it.

On Friday the carpenter took our glass doors off so we could go shopping for glass and get it installed. I'm sure Rick will be pleased I picked something out but will be annoyed that it's going to have to be ordered (he will be happy to hear that I FINALLY picked out and ordered the cabinet hardware). Here is a sheet of the glass I picked out. While my china dishes are very pretty, I don't feel like I need to display them which is why we didn't go with clear glass. Since I don't intend on having the light on inside the cabinets I made my decision on what glass looked pretty without light behind it. I think this is going to look awesome. Brian is going to place the order on Tuesday and hopefully we'll have it by next weekend.

We Get To Move In!

2007-10-05T19:54:00.001-07:00

Counter tops were installed today, we have a sink and all the shelves have been installed. We have to wait until Saturday evening to use the sink while we wait for all the adhesive to dry so tonight was our last night of doing dishes in the bathtub.

I finally found hardware that I liked this afternoon. We are paying a fair amount more than I was hoping, but they are PERFECT. I had come to the realization that there really is a difference in the less expensive pulls and knobs compared to the ones found in designer showrooms that need to be special ordered. I had not found anything that really "grabbed" me at Home Depot, Menards or Lowe's. The place I went to today was awesome. They were so helpful and friendly, I'd absolutely go back (although we won't be needed hardware anytime soon!).

Tomorrow I'm going to pick out and purchase (I'm so optimistic) stained glass for our glass faced cabinets. We debated briefly about putting clear glass in but then opted for something funky. Really, it's easily changed if we want a change sometime.

Monday or Tuesday the plumbers are coming back to finish up the water and get started replacing our old gas pipes and installing the new gas lines. We were told that our gas pipes don't have a large enough diameter to be effective with our appliances. Funny, we've always been mildly disappointed with our dryer because it seemed like clothes took a really long time to get dry. Maybe this will make a difference.

This weekend, any spare time will be spent moving in to our new kitchen and putting our house back together. wha-hoo!

Finally, pictures of everything that's new

2007-10-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, so now I do believe everything is going to happen. I believe that because so much has happened. We've gotten all of the molding in place and all of the window trim. The floor has been installed and "thank the maker" we have lights. Not only do we have lights, but we have under the cupboard lights, in the cabinet lights, and lights upon lights.

Tomorrow, the counter top, sink and plumbing is supposed to be installed. I think we jinxed ourselves, but we didn't do dishes tonight because we're gambling that we're going to have a dishwasher. Fingers crossed!
This is the new mudroom. The back door will be the last thing painted. Hard to believe that the bulk of our old cabinets were exactly where the new closet is now. You can see the old windows that used to be above the sink.

New kitchen prep area with just the flood lights.

Same area with just the under cupboard lights on.

New floor. Do you notice that white thing with handles sticking out? That would be the refrigerator not in the middle of the floor, but rather exactly where it's supposed to go. You'll see more pictures of that tomorrow most likely. Also they'll be putting up the blinds in the windows too.

Day 115

2007-10-02T19:33:00.000-07:00

Attribute it to laziness but I don't want to hunt down the cord to download pictures. I have a general idea of where it is. It will show up - eventually.

Lots of exciting things have taken place here in the last two days. First of all, we have lights - lots of them! There are three zones of can lights, pendents, a chandelier and under the cabinet lighting! The under the cabinet lighting was somewhat a surprise to us since we didn't remember ever discussing it (but really, why wouldn't you want it?). Then, today the electrician was back and started installing a plug in the island and put lights in our china cabinets. It's all beautiful.

The electrician might have finished his job except he got kicked out by the flooring people! I couldn't even remember what the flooring looked like since I picked it out months ago. I love it, it's beautiful. We went with a linoleum for many reasons, but mostly to save money. In the grand scheme of remodeling, flooring and counter tops are easily changed. Cabinets and square footage are not and that's where our money has gone. When we need a change in 10 years we can upgrade the flooring. Until then, I'm liking my pretend tile print with the grout that already looks dirty. This will work very well in our home!

Flooring continues Wednesday, counter tops on Friday morning and the plumber is coming Friday afternoon. I don't know how realistic it is to think I might have a sink or dishwasher for the weekend but I like to dream! We are so tired of doing dishes in the bathtub!

Day 110

2007-09-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

We've been led to believe that everything is going to happen next week. Oct. 3 is going to be a huge day; I think that's when the flooring is going to be installed. Then, on Friday countertops and plumbing is going be completed. Sometime early next week electrical will finish up and that includes the work outside so we can use our garage again (there hasn't been any electricity out there in 110 days).

The trim work was completed today and looks awesome.

Rick, the expediter, keeps asking me for the pulls and knobs. The truth is I haven't even looked. Kevin had told me not to worry about it. If I buy something 6 weeks from now they'll still come out and install them. We've decided to make an effort and get this taken care of this weekend.

I can't wait to "move" in.

Update so far

2007-09-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

We continue to see progress, albeit slow, but still some progress. The stuff they are doing now is tedious work that needs to get done. They have completed most of the trim work. This includes the window and door trim that I have stained. There is one window left that they ran out of trim, and the pocket door too.

This week they continue to rip out the linoleum and lay down some very thin sub flooring to even everything out in the old and new parts. This is tedious since they have to make custom cuts around the cabinets. Speaking of cabinets, they are also leveling off all of the cabinets as the people who actually hung them, just hung them. As it turns out, they hung one about 7 inches too short and the guys yesterday raised it up. It makes sense now as the cabinet now has space above the counter and the outlets that were hidden are available.

I don't know what more they'll be doing. I keep hearing that next week is when everything will happen. I'm so tired of waiting right now, I'm being very pessimistic. I don't know if all sorts of stuff will happen next week. I hope it's sooner so that I have something more to tell and take pictures of.

We Purchase Sink #3

2007-09-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

If you recall, we returned the first stainless steal sink for a higher quality stainless steal sink. This weekend we were at a friend's house and saw their sink. I need that sink. They weren't
quite sure of the material but described it to us. Today Brian spoke to Stephanie, our designer, and they determined it's probably Swanstone. So, even though I stayed home sick today I was well enough to go purchase/order a new sink. Swanstone is a middle of the road solid surface material...not as expensive as granite or Corian, but a huge step above stainless steal.

Since the dealer is going to work with our designer and bill her it's a done deal. No more debating! Counter tops are going to be ordered tomorrow or the next day (they are waiting on the specs of the sink, hence why I was well enough to go buy a sink). Our project manager asked me where all the other items were like dishwasher, hood, lights, garbage disposal...maybe the end is in sight?

CABINETS!!!

2007-09-16T05:59:00.000-07:00

Friday evening we got a call letting us know that a crew would be out Saturday morning to install our cabinets! This was exciting because we thought the install was Monday (so now maybe something else will happen on Monday?). It's much easier to visualize the finished product now!

Here is where our refrigerator will be housed along with the microwave. The microwave is going to have a "built in" look.
This is one feature that I wanted in our new cabinetry...garbage/recycling bins that are built in. Currently, our garbage is in a hall closet near the "old" back door. While this wasn't terribly inconvenient in the old kitchen, it is a considerable walk from the new kitchen to the old garbage. Ah...yet another closet in this house that will be freed up as a result of the addition! I haven't yet decided what's going to become of that closet.
After seeing how large the corner cabinet is with the lazy Susan, Brian and I both commented on how this is approximately how much space was in our old kitchen. I really believe I could put the contents of the old kitchen on those two shelves!

Last night we were at a friend's newly built house and I took notice of their sink. It's made of a material that I haven't seen before and I think I'm ready to return sink #2 and purchase sink #3. I'm just hoping that if it's something we need to order we'll be able to get it in time so we don't hold anything up in terms of installation. The research begins today to find out what kind of sink it is!

Day 93 - Wednesday

2007-09-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

I just got a call from our HVAC guy. They're at the house right now setting up all of the heating ducts, ventilation, A/C and gas pipes. I hope when we come home today we'll have working A/C. What sucks about this right now is that it's been in the 60's all this week, getting down to the low 40's at night. Hello fall!

Perhaps, we'll have one more scorcher so we can use the A/C just to say we did.

Day 93 - Tuesday

2007-09-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

Our painter came yesterday and stained the windows. They look good. I'll be taking pictures later for this. The window and door trim is supposed to be delivered today which presents some issues we'll have to decide on.

Originally we were going to have the finish prestained, so the painter wouldn't have to worry about that. However, since we went with a different color (trim only was available in four that didn't match our cabinet) they are now going to be unfinished. The painter is coming today to varish the windows and work on the other painting, mudroom, outside door and stairwell.

When the trim comes in, he's going to call me and give me a quoate on the labor for these. Here's the dilema, the trim is straight and easy, but there's going to be a lot. I didn't want to do the windows because they were so intricate. I'll have to decide my breaking point with price, because with he and his partner, they'll be able to stain a lot quicker than I would be able to do.

Rick, from OAR, came by yesterday too. He picked up the check and change in project form. I haven't gone into this, but here's a quick synopsis of our scenario. Our drain tile sucks. It's been building up sediment for years and now is halfway plugged with a concrete like lime deposits. Long story short, if we don't get this fixed, there's a possibility that soon, our drainage won't be able to handle any more water. Supposedly we've been lucky. This is something that needs to get done and the consequences of leaving this for the future just doesn't make sense. I have to tear off one of the 'studded' walls leading up to the sump pump crock.

Update on everything else is that cabinet installation is scheduled for next week, hopefully Monday. Please please please God, let them come and finish. I so want my kitchen back.

On Monday it is Day 92

2007-09-09T18:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we are at the three month mark since we broke ground on this adventure in building. Since the last post the drywall was completed and sprayed. On Thursday the subfloor was installed and on Saturday the kitchen and dining area got painted. On Tuesday night he's coming back to stain the windows and tomorrow the cabinet installation is going to be scheduled. Is the end in sight?

Day 86 - Sort of new Bathroom

2007-09-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

I thought I would tackle the bathroom this Labor Day and finish it once and for all. Ohhhhh...was I wrong on that whole finishing thing. It didn't actually take that long to remove the sink from the crappy old counter top. It was screwed in with some kind of brackets, there was about 20 of them. Once I discovered that removing the keystone bracket would cause the sink to come crashing down on my beautiful face, I enlisted the help of Andi to assist with it's removal.

Once that was gone, it was really just a matter of yanking a little bit and viola, no more counter top. A lot of that old hard ware was a pain the arse to remove, and I bought some turn of the century (not that century the other one) PVC pipe to replace everything. As expected, the wall wasn't square which meant the counter top would have to be shaved a little bit.

This little shaving was actually about 1/2 inch at the thickest, a little more than my belt sander could chew. !#$%, now what? I know, a call to Papa R for some home fixin' advice. The advice was sound and it turned out great. I made a series of small shallow cuts with my scroll saw, and then used a chisel to cut the pieces off. After that, sanding was no biggie. The top fit perfectly.

Now the drama started. The sink went in good, but by this time the boys were waking up and I didn't want to rush things. It turns out that the back splash on the new top was smaller than the old. As you can see, that left a nice space of whiteness that has to be cleaned up. I decided to do this right so I sanded, mudded, smoothed it out, primed (created my own textured prime) and painted with the new color. This all sounds simple, but what I just described happened in a 24 hour period and required me making two trips to Home Depot.

Once I was ready to install the counter top, that went quickly and the boys even helped to level it off. The sink installation required more drama, as it turns out I bought the wrong size braided hose for the faucet connections (double !#@!%). Also, when I went to install the J-pipe to the drain and wall connector, I discovered that connecting a new sink to old plumbing doesn't always connect so well. Another !#%&en trip to the Depot was in order. I didn't know how I was going to bridge a 2 inch gap between the drain and pipe.

The next day (see Ethan and Logan drama) Logan and I went to the Depot yet again and found some nuts, washers, and a bendy connection. It kind of reminded me of a child pop toy. Well, with some handy connections, I managed to decide I was one part short of completing, which meant another trip to the Depot. Tonight, I am glad to say, I didn't need that trip to the Depot, and I have everything installed. It works, no leaks and looks great.

Next weekend, or the weekend after, Andi and I are now inspired to replace the toilet since that is the last piece (forget the tub) to be done.

Day 80 - More stuff

2007-08-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well, the dry wallers have been here every day. They've totally mudded and sanded the new dry wall. There is dust everywhere. Every day we sweep up dust and every day there is more and more dust. This isn't much fun to take pictures of since there really isn't that cool of progress to show.

We've had a bit of dramma with the fake/missing window in the bathroom. Andi said we were supposed to get a frame and plexiglass window so that we didn't have to worry about how stupid the tile work looked with a missing window. Well, it looks like the dry wall dudes got a little over zealous. They threw away the window and dry walled up the hole. Now it looks dumb and they've allready mudded and sanded, so apparently we're commited to this now. Kevin (from OAR) seemed to feel bad about this since it wasn't what they told us would happen. It sounds like either way OAR is going to work with us to get it right and that makes me feel good.

Today they also opened up the doorway in the basement and straightened up the edge. Now the opening is a lot cleaner. There's also a giant PVC pipe in the basement, presumably for plumbing.

And, good news! Our cabinets were delivered today. I wanted to post pictures of them, but sadly (and for a good reason) they're all boxed up. They fill up an entire parking space in our garage from floor to cieling. Perhaps when they prime the walls we'll have some pictures.

Day 78 - Dry Wall

2007-08-27T19:39:00.001-07:00

Right when we were leaving this morning (6:45am), I noticed a flat bed truck drive by, heading east, with a huge load of dry wall on it. I knew this week they were supposed to deliver the dry wall, but I didn't think anything of it. Then, as we were pulling out of the drive way, the same truck sped past the house, going west.

As we caught up with the truck after our u-turn, they too, performed another u-turn and started heading east again. They pulled over and stopped to check addresses presumably. Andi and I both stopped (in separate cars) and thought that maybe they were looking for our house. Well, we just assumed they would eventually find their way.

They must have found their way, because when we came home, there were walls! Dust too. There are little white foot prints all over the house and dust every where. I imagine the dust will only increase after they mud and sand. However, right now it's looking like it's shaping up rather quickly. Who knows what will happen tomorrow, if anything.
Here's the back door/mudroom.

The new eating area.

Looking east towards drive way. This will be the majority of cabinets, sink, stove and island.

Living Room Pictures

2007-08-26T20:11:00.001-07:00

Here are pics from our painting project on Friday. The light and table are going at some point; we need an area rug, new throw pillows, install the cellular shades; move some furniture and not all the pictures are hung. But, for the most part, everything is done now.

Day 76

2007-08-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

We got installation earlier this week (Wednesday) and, well, that's it. I've been told drywall should be expected next week. I guess with the crazy amount of rain that we've gotten in the last week that we got gutters before the drops began to fall. I'm getting anxious for this to get done.

Last week I got it in my head that I was going to get the living room painted and done. We taped at night and during naps (we aren't all that great at painting, taping is necessary and we do it in excess). Friday the boys spent the day with my parents and I painted. Brian came home early and we were pretty much done by bed time. The furniture has been rearranged and it looks awesome. We are so pleased. Tonight we hung the new curtains and I love it. It won't be completely done until we can move the table into the new kitchen and move (or sell) the hutch (haven't made a decision yet on that one), purchase a new area rug, and hang pictures. Most of that won't be done until the kitchen is done.

Day 71

2007-08-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

Oh my God...are we ever going to finish this? Our timeline was three months. In nineteen days we will be at day 90; that's three months in my book.

While not having a kitchen hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought (we've only eaten out twice as a result of not having a kitchen!) I'm getting really tired of not parking the cars in the garage, crappy backyard, walking through plastic every time we go outside or downstairs, cleaning food out of the bathtub after washing dishes, using plastic silverware and paper plates, not knowing if people are going to be working or not, oh the list could go on and on...

I just want my house back.

On the flip side of all of this, there are a few things that I have enjoyed about this process. Whatever they did during the sump pump/water drama last week caused our sump pump to become almost totally silent (which it's supposed to be). We actually were getting a little concerned because we hadn't heard it go off and it's rained for almost four days straight. Upon inspection, it was working exactly like it should! The other little perk has been in our basement washtub. There was something weird with the pipes and faucet. Whenever we ran the water everything would shake and it would spit the water out in spurts. We tried bleeding the lines and never worked. Since the water was rarely run it was a problem that had not been addressed. I was rinsing something a week or so ago and realized there was no shaking. It was working like you'd expect it to. The plumber had been here but I have no idea what he did or what he was working on. Whatever it was impacted our possessed pipes going to the washtub.

Gotta keep looking for the positives!

Day 67 - Less drama

2007-08-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

Not too much to update here, other than they broke through the basement and it's finally dry. They broke through the floor and connected the new basement to another drain tile in the old basement. This time they were able to drain everything and as soon as they did it, the sump pump started filling up and working overtime. Even with all of the rain we've had this weekend, the basement has managed to stay dry.

Now all they need to do is plug the hole.

On Thursday, the siding people came over and....yup, you guessed it, they sided. Looks nice doesn't it? Everything blended so well together.

Day 65 - More drama

2007-08-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

Today they came over and put up the gutters. Those are no fun and I don't know if you really want to see pictures of gutters. I also noticed (only this morning) they put up part of the ventilation duct for the stove. However, the whole thing isn't complete, it's only partially installed. They also cleaned up the pile of rubble and pumped out some more water from the new basement.

That leads us to the drama. For a long time Andi and I have been asking about the basement water. On no more than four separate occasions from four separate people, they all basically said "it's because you don't have gutters." Even the people who put up the gutters said that to Andi. I guess I didn't realize the importance of gutters. Still, we were both skeptical.

Then we get home last night and there's a message on the machine from Rick (from the OAR group.) "It's Rick, just wanted to let you know that we were there today, and we were testing your sump pump, pouring water into it. So if you see water around don't worry. There's something not right about your drain tile. It doesn't seem to be working correctly. We'll be there tomorrow to look some more."

(In George Costanza voice) AH-HA! We knew it. We knew something was wrong, but nobody wanted to believe us. Well, the contract we signed indicated a sump pump to be installed in the new basement anyway. We'll see what happens. Look for an update.

It is Day 64...

2007-08-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

Before...should have thought to take the picture before we started painting.
New color! North Hampton Putty
Still playing around with odds and ends to decorate with but I think a new toilet is in order...don't you Brian?

7-10 days our new counter top will be in and can be installed with our new sink.

New back door

Bathroom window is ready to be covered up.

Hanging out in the new closet

A lot has been going on and today we had the electrical inspection. Tomorrow is the rough plumbing inspection and once we get the go ahead installation drywalling can start!

Exhausted...

2007-08-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

The Weekend Warriors are exhausted. This weekend was spent painting the ceiling and walls in the bathroom and lots of shopping around for all the things we need to get this house in the same color scheme as the kitchen. I'm trying to get as much done as humanly possible before I go back to work (two weeks). There shouldn't be a problem getting the hallway and living room painted, it's just we won't be doing much else between now and then!

Pictures coming soon

2007-08-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

Andi and I have been busy with bathroom remodel and painting and haven't got to post much in the way of pictures. There has been many new things to see today and yesterday. We'll get pictures soon, but here's a quick update.

Mudroom closet framed.
Back door installed.
Soffit framed.
Bathroom window removed, walled framed.
Basement window installed.
Basement opening created!

Pictures hopefully tonight if we're not too tired after painting.

Bathroom Project - No Turning Back Now!

2007-08-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

On Monday replacing the counter top and sink in the bathroom was just an idea...

It must be done now...we painted the bathroom a color Stephanie picked out for us. No turning back now, the bathroom is getting a new look.

My Pleas for Decorating Advice Has Been Answered

2007-08-06T14:21:00.000-07:00

...or much to my delight, done for me!

This morning (early) I mobilized the troops and got them packed up and ready to spend the morning at one of our friend's house. By 9:30 I was back home, quickly straightened up and was ready for Stephanie.

Stephanie is one of my favorite people right now (my other being Anna, who had the boys at her house). Stephanie is our designer and today she came over to tell me what I should paint everything. When I say everything, I mean everything. We picked colors for the stairwell, the mudroom, the kitchen, the dining area, the hallway, and two for the living room. Then, we discussed this horrible place in my house: the bathroom. It just wasn't in the budget to role the bathroom into the remodel but she gave me some great suggestions on how how to make it better. One of which is to just replace the counter and sink rather than the whole vanity. So, think we'll find the money for that. Our bathroom is awful and since the rest of the house is going to look awesome in a few months, it just doesn't seem right to have such a crappy bathroom.

Then, after I was done with Stephanie I had an appointment at Sears to pick out a microwave. This microwave is holding up the order on the cabinets so I'm glad I have it done now! Everything should be ordered today and be delivered in about 5 weeks.

Finally, I asked if our new island would be long enough to double as a breakfast bar. With a little tweaking it will! Whoo Hoo...Now we have a breakfast bar!

Slight Change in Plans & Electrical is In Place

2007-08-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

Due to this whole soffit nonsense our plans needed to be modified just a little bit. Here is what the new drawings look like:

Above the refrigerator is the soffit that was our first unexpected problem.

New cabinet configuration

A much larger island is going to installed! Who cares about the soffit, we just gained more counter and work space!

In other Ranch news, our dryer is broken. For real this time. A few weeks ago I commented that I had a suspicion that something wasn't right with it. I guess I was right! We also need a new shower head since our current one is spraying water out of places where water shouldn't be spraying. Appliances and fixtures not connected to the project shouldn't be allowed to break during the project!

Day 53 - The Day of Power

2007-08-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

Today started and ended with power. When I woke up to go running, I started the coffee like I normally do and then went to get ready. When I came back for my coffee and flipped on the light to see what I was doing I tripped a circuit.

!#@%

The "kitchen" and bedroom lost power. That meant no A/C and no alarm. Andi was non too happy with that situation. After some struggles with turning on the right circuit and resetting clocks, I headed out and finished a quick run. After I was done and the up and dressed, promptly at 7, Kevin showed up. Two minutes later the electrician showed up.

I thought they were only coming to take a look around and get a feel for the project. Noway, they were here to work. After a couple minutes discussing layouts of switches and placements of can lights, I had to leave. When I came home today, they had most of the power run as well as switch boxes and breakers installed. The can lights were delivered and would be they are next for installation. You can see them in the middle of the floor.

These pictures you most likely haven't seen. I am standing in the new part of the kitchen and the entrance is where the bay window used to be. The pocket door and wall separating the mudroom have been framed out too.

You can see the where the switches are going to go and just to the left of the window is where the stove is going to go. They couldn't move the fridge out of the kitchen because it was so huge and for the entire project they'll have to work around it.

The next picture is me standing behind the pocket door in the mudroom looking into the new kitchen. Next to the wall where the fan is, is where the fridge will go. The can lights are in the boxes. I'm not sure when they are coming back or even what they have to do, but hopefully it will be tomorrow and we'll have some kind of make shift lighting in the kitchen.

After I came home from work, this is the state I found the progress of the work in and I was pleased to see they accomplished a lot. When I walked into the bedroom to change, the clocks were blinking.

The power had been cut again. Figures.

Day 52...I've been led to believe 6 more weeks...

2007-08-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the basement was cleaned out and continues to dry (water entered when the addition wasn't weather tight, no need to panic just yet). Tuesday, much to our surprise, our dishwasher was delivered. Good thing one of the workers was here because they had to sign for it! It wasn't supposed to be delivered until we called to arrange for delivery. Obviously, we aren't ready for it.

Today Kevin and Stephanie, our designer, came over to confirm measurements for the cabinetry. Brian and I got homework for the next few days: determine where we want cable (why?), phone and pick out a microwave. There needed to be a few changes to the plans because the dimensions of the addition changed a little. The good news from all of this is that we get a larger island...that should make Brian happy :-) The bad news is that the old roof line is *&^%ing up the "seam" between the addition and the existing house. The implications is that this happens to be right where our range is going to be with our amazing hood. It looks like we may get soffits (only 5 1/2 inch ones) back :-( Brian is super pissed about this...we'll post more once we fully understand the implication. Just in case you are wondering, I don't really care. At this point, I just want my kitchen back, for it took look nice and my AC.

Not Sure What to Title This Post...

2007-07-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my ideas on a title:

1. My Mudroom/Entryway is going to be sooooooo Cool!
2. WOW! This Kitchen Is Going to Be Big!
3. "I saw an Central Air/AC circuit breaker"
4. Scott's Parting Words Were, "I'll Call the HVAC Guy"
5. Scott is My New Hero
6. Day 50

A lot happened got done today; some outside work (on things I can't spell like fasia and sophets), the plumbing from the old kitchen is now totally gone, a 5 inch header was put in and is necessary given the old roof line, we have the wall separating the mudroom from the kitchen in, pocket door wall was installed and some electrical mysteries were solved.

I'd love to post pictures but Brian is right...there is something wrong with our camera/computer connections and downloading. I'm bummed, it looks like the problem lies with my computer. So, long story short, no pics today.

Today the men came to work pretty early. The first person here looked strangely familiar and once Kevin introduced us it was evident he knew me too. He was the first contractor we met with back in January or February. We felt it was obvious to that he didn't want the job since we were quoted $120,000 and we had to keep our cabinetry. Just as an FYI, that's not nearly what this is costing us and we are getting all new cabinets. Later in the day, Scott (one of the partners with our company we are using) filled us in on the contractor's story and I will no longer refer to him as, "That Jerk."

It was hot today. The boys and I hunkered down at my parents house and enjoyed the coolness of Central Air. When we came home the living room was 87 degrees. Imagine my frustration when I couldn't get the AC window unit on. After sweating profusely I determined that it didn't work because there was no electricity in the living room. Scott quickly took care of that. Before Scott left for the day he asked about the AC/Central Air switch in our circuit box. He hadn't realized that we had Central Air but just couldn't use it because it was disconnected to make room for the addition. Scott told us he was going to call the HVAC guy right away and see what could be done. Scott is my new hero.

Day 48 - No kitchen

2007-07-29T19:27:00.001-07:00

Well, they were supposed to come on Tuesday. They didn't.

Wednesday came and went, and we were disappointed.

Thursday...we thought we heard something in the morning like a car door slam, but it was only the grounds keeper across the street at the school. I swear Andi and I have been like little kids waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. For the most part we have still been using the kitchen. After all, they only took the cabinets hanging up, we could still use the counter tops to set stuff on and even prepare.

Friday, as a family we planned on going to German Fest. So, Andi and the boys were going to take me to work with the intention of picking me up and heading to the big German party. About the time Andi got home, I got a call at work.

"They're here."
"Really?" I asked apprehensively, because I wouldn't put it past her to yank my chain.
"Ya, there's three trucks here, we couldn't park. J.J. (demolition guy) said it's going to be a whole day of work. Kevin said they're going to put in the door too.(big loud noise interrupts the phone and i can't hear her)
"What was that, I couldn't hear you."
"That was a big sawzall. They're cutting out the wall. They've already cut the window out. I have to go buy a door knob."
"You're right, we don't have one."
"I'm going to finish feeding the boys, and then we're going to Home Depot to get a door knob. Then we're getting out of here. I think we're going to the zoo."

Just like that, we officially have absolutely no kitchen. We have a fridge because they couldn't fit it through the doorway, but everything else is gone. We don't know when they'll be back, nor what will be done next time. But, if they decide to put a door in, at least we'll have door knob. I just hope it's not like when we built the garage and one day four Russians showed up and build it in a day.

This is where our new back door is going to be. The sink used to be on the left in the corner, the dishwasher was right there and the fridge was just to the right.

This is looking out the old window into the new kitchen. The fridge will actually be sitting just a few inches to the left of where it is now. Where the two new windows are is where our eating area will be.

This is looking into the old kitchen from the new. The doorway you see there leads from the side door. That whole area will be walled off, with a pocket door to create a mud room off of the new back door.

One of the things that makes the kitchen seem so much larger is that they tore down the soffits that were running along the perimeter. It looks a lot bigger with them gone.

This we post for posterity. As you can see, when they ripped out the old cabinets, the originally linoleum was able to make an appearance into this new century. I can only imagine our house with this floor and the green siding. It must have been the toast of the town.

Some Thoughts About Leisure

2007-07-22T19:29:00.001-07:00

While in college I took a handful of Women's Studies courses. One of the things that I found very thought provoking was the emergence of hobbies and leisure time throughout history. It seems that with every generation, women have more leisure time than the generation before. This has been made possible with modern day conveniences like the microwave, dishwasher and I would even argue that Super Wal-Marts and Target with their Market Pantry have made me more efficient. Going back further in time, as the middle class began to form ordinary people could afford housekeepers to clean. Hence, more free time. We, here at Ranch Renaissance, have taken a step back in history.

Granted, we did spend the morning and part of the afternoon doing family things or spending time with friends but at 9:30 pm we finally declared it was time to stop doing "stuff" around the house. The "stuff" I speak of is laundry, preparing food in our meager excuse for a kitchen, cleaning up around the house, preparing a grocery list and washing dishes. Yes, that last one is my least favorite. I miss my dishwasher. We hate doing dishes so much that we had to make a committment to one another that no one could have any fun after the boys go down until the dishes were all done. I really shouldn't complain, it's not that many dishes. We have switched to paper plates and plastic silverware but it still stinks.

I was hoping that Brian might write about what he worked on today while the boys were sleeping but he's been dying to dig into Harry Potter. I'll sum it up: He installed a new bathroom fan (and there were a lot of problems so this was quite an ordeal but only a one Lowe's trip and that was to purchase it so it doesn't really count). If he was to write about it the title would something like: "I AM A MAN!" or "Gosh, It's Quiet Now That Andi Has Stopped Nagging Me and the Fan Isn't So Damn Loud" or "Super Cool Man Installs Super Cool Fan" or "Ah, It's Down! Now I Can Have Some Leisure Time!"

Day 39, 40 & 41

2007-07-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

!%#^en microwave.

I'll get to that in a minute. So, luckily while Andi was gone all week, absolutely nothing was done to the house. There was no adventure for the boys to have, exploring new cracks and crevasses or regaling carpenters with tales of juice boxes and McDonalds.

On Monday, the contractor from OAR called and asked if the lumber yard had been there yet? They were coming by to pick up the unused lumber and they should have been there by now. As I had two boys and a grandma ready to leave for haircuts, I really didn't care if anyone was there. He told me on Wednesday the remaining window would be delivered, and on Thursday the dumpster would be there. Most likely on Thursday someone would be there to start some demolition.

Well, just like clockwork, as I was stepping out of the house there was a flatbed truck backing up the driveway. On Wednesday, a Ryder truck stopped in front of the house and two dudes got out and rang the doorbell. They were there to deliver a window from Pella. On Thursday after the boys and I returned from play group, there was a gigantic red dumpster in our driveway (we're definitely not parking in the garage now.)

The boys and I met a new man, J.J. He was there to do demolition. He was tearing out the old exterior of the house down tot he studs. Today, J.J. and another 'guy' showed up and started more demolition. They managed to clean up the large pile of stuff that had accumulated on the side of the house and removed the rest of the exterior siding where the new door is going to go.

The following pictures I took after we moved entirely out of the kitchen along with the cabinets they tore out today.

As a little side note. As of today we have no functional kitchen. The water and all the plumbing were cut. While the fridge and stove remain, they really don't help all that much when we're washing dishes in the bath tube and drying them on the bathroom sink.

You also might be wondering about that !#%en microwave. After I had cooked the sweet corn for about 15 minutes, it decided it was done working for the night and just blinked out. Screaming expletives I ensured that I hadn't blown a fuse. Everything else worked, coffee maker, toaster, but not this $40, P.O.S microwave. I gave it the finger and unplugged it, vowing to sacrifice it to the god Shiva later that night. After the boys went to bed, I plugged it in just to see. And with a smug little beep. It came to life.

!#%^en microwave.

Day 32 & 33 - Our first set back

2007-07-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

On Thursday this week, the windows were delivered. Immediately Andi suspected something with the windows, as they did not look exactly the same. It was easy to tell, as we have two large windows and two small windows. We had two small windows delivered and they looked alright. There was also one large window delivered, and that looked ok too. However, the last windows...well, I'm not sure what it looked like, but it wasn't the right size.

Well, what do we know? We're not window people, still something about them didn't look right. Any way, when I was inspecting the windows I noticed that none of them had finished woodwork. WTF? I asked Andi about it and of course the conversation went like this.

"It says in our contract that we are responsible for painting the window trim. They aren't finished."

"Why the hell would I order unfinished windows? That doesn't make any sense."

"Well, we did. Go check the contract."

"!@#% you're right. !%$^ this is going to be a lot of !#$%en work to stain these. They're freaking pine. That's a crappy wood for staining. You're going to help me. This is going to be a lot of work."

I think that we'll try to finish the staining/painting when we have to paint the walls. That way we don't have to mess around with counters and cabinets. Andi called and spoke to Kevin since the whole window thing was bothering us. As it turns out, the one odd window, was from one of our previous orders that we changed. The correct one should be delivered, Monday (tomorrow.) He also said that his partner should be there on Tuesday to start removing cabinets.

I spent the rest of the night removing the rest of the stuff from the kitchen. Here is the picture of the addition with 3 out of the 4 windows installed.

Day 27 and Temporary Kitchen

2007-07-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

Much to our surprise the roofers showed up Saturday morning at 7:00 am. They told us that they had a big condo job (complete tear off) that they really didn't want to start with the projected heat were going to experience that day. Our job was easy; only a few hours and they'd be done.
This weekend has been spent finishing up packing the kitchen up and relocating down the hall. We decided not to have our stove for the summer, which I think will be just fine. We bought an electric frying pan and we have skillets for the grill. I imagine that the refrigerator is going to be moved into the living room in the next few days.

Packing had been going really smoothly. I was able to easily categorize everything and all my boxes are well labeled. However, there were some areas that were tough. Having minimal moving experience (April is probably laughing at me right now :) ) there were things I couldn't categorize. Every house has it, a drawer or cupboard where random crap seems to end up. Well, we had both; a cupboard and drawer. I had been avoiding these two areas and today was forced to address them. Rather than addressing what I kept, here's some of what I threw away:

1 cell phone charger for a phone we no longer have
4 hands free ear pieces for cell phones we no longer have
appr. 1000 twist ties
couple dozen chop sticks
2 coupon books full of coupons that expired in 2005

Rather than try to sort the rest of the stuff that I deemed important (like two rolls of undeveloped film that must be from before the boys were born), I put it in a basket to address another day. That day will probably be when I decide what new drawer it's going to end up in once the kitchen is done. We had a cork board for the front of one of our cupboards that has hooks for keys. We both felt that if we loose this door to the construction we'd be screwed...those keys would always be lost. Therefore, Brian just took the door off and hung it on the wall. Perfect!
Here is our new "kitchen." I think we tripped the circuit four times this evening. I think if only one appliance is being used and no air conditioners are being used we'll be okay (oh, it's going to be a long couple of months!). Basically, we have three areas where kitchen stuff is. One is in the pantry closet in the hallway, our third bedroom which housed the treadmill and finally the living room. I packed away all my china and we are using the hutch for some food but mostly the stuff I couldn't categorize from our "junk" drawers and cupboard.

What I didn't photo document was the dozen or so boxes in the basement full of stuff I thought I could live without for a few months. I also didn't take a picture of under our bed where all the china is!

Day 26 - Preparing for the Heat Index of 100

2007-07-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

Brian called earlier this afternoon and asked if the shingles had been delivered. I said no and we went on with our days. This involved me moving the car just in case a big truck showed up with the next load of materials. As I was walking back to the house I noticed piles of shingles on our roof along with other materials up there. I quickly called Brian to let him know that something did happen - the delivery is on top of the house.

Kevin said that the roofers will be here Monday or Tuesday and asked when we'll be out of the kitchen. Sunday night we'll be out for sure. I find it difficult to be highly motivated to work at packing because we are still using the kitchen and the addition is clearly NOT weather tight. I'll take some pictures of the "set up" that will have to work for the next month or two.

With a heat index projected to be 100 this weekend Brian is stopping to get another air conditioner. This will bring the total up to 4...one in each bedroom, one in our temporary kitchen (although I don't know how much that one will be on) and one in the living room. Hopefully the one he's borrowing today will fit in the living room. Those windows are new and don't have as large of a clearance as our older windows do.

If you leave a message on our answering machine, please indicate the time you called. We've given up resetting the time after every time we blow a fuse around here.

Day 25

2007-07-05T19:19:00.001-07:00

The carpenters left this afternoon and I'm guessing they aren't coming back since they took the trailer with them. We now have a roof! Far from being weather tight, you can still get a good idea of what the finished product is going to look like. It is a little disturbing how dark everything in the house is now. While disturbing, the overhang is going to be awesome for casting a shadow over the windows. Our current kitchen is VERY steamy since there is no shade. We had once tossed around the idea of doing Solar Tubes somewhere in the new space but then decided to put it off and wait to see where the dark spots were going to be. Well, I think we'll be saving like misers to eventually put in the Tubes.

Thanks for the votes on the sink...however what about WATER SPOTS? I hate, Hate , HATE cleaning the scuff marks off of my white cast iron sink, why would I want to clean water spots, daily, off of my new black sink? See, these are the things I need to know before I return the stainless steel sink we already bought.

It's Day 24

2007-07-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

Our dryer situation was fixed Monday - thank the Lord given the flu bug that struck the boys Sunday and the loads of clothing and bedding that needed to be done. We also had to make a decision in regards to the length of our eves because our current kitchen walls are a foot shorter than the rest of the house (not really but it has to do with the stupid sophets in the existing space). I can't really explain it, but if you were here it would make total sense. Anyway, our overhang on the addition is going to be larger than "normal" but right in line if we were building a "green" house. How trendy...our house is environmentally friendly.

Over the weekend we devoted almost the entire day to shopping for things we need to get. For instance, a garbage disposal, new back door and storm door, dishwasher, faucet, lights, etc. I've already changed my mind about the sink. At least I think I have. Initially I declared we were getting a stainless steal sink because I hate the cast iron one we currently have. I hate how every time a pot goes in the sink I have to bleach the walls. Well, we purchased a stainless sink and now I think I might like a black cast iron sink. The reason being this is the faucet we picked out:
I can't put this on a stainless steel sink...can I?? Please readers...pontificate to your heart's desire about the pros and cons about a cast iron sink. Right now I hate mine. But, it is who knows how old and white. The new one would be new and black. Our new dishwasher is also going to be black (it's awesome...the buttons are on the top and not visible on the front. Take that little boys! No more stopping the dishwasher mid cycle or randomly starting it!) We are keeping our stove and fridge - both white and not in the budget to replace so it will have to do for right now.

First Problems...

2007-06-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

What remodeling project has even gone perfectly? I discovered the first major problem today. We can't dry clothing. A few weeks ago I asked Kevin if we'd loose our ability to do laundry. His exact words to me were, "I'll take your kitchen but I won't take your laundry. I'm not that mean." Well sir, you did.

You see, there is a floor joist right in our dryer vent. There is no where for the dryer to vent to. Consequently, when I tried using the dryer (because both you and the carpenter said I could) the tube blew right off the wall. I also have a sick feeling there is something wrong with our dryer but I'm remaining cautiously optimistic. So, right now I have a bunch of laundry that needs to be done and a dryer full of wet clothes. We used to have clothes line but that was eliminated the day the hole was dug.

Also, earlier this week the circuits were being played with and now one of the outlets in Ethan and Logan's room doesn't work.

Day 18: Walls!

2007-06-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the day we just had a platform and now look at the progress!

Hanging out in our new kitchen...imagine Brian in front of the new island and next to the sink. That "pole" won't be there in the end, it's just holding up the skeleton of a roof.

Day 17: Floor

2007-06-27T19:35:00.001-07:00

The floor is down, no more big hole! We were under the impression more work would be done today but that's okay, we have been very impressed with how fast everything is going. I also have a date in which we need to be out of the kitchen...July 9. Our contractor gave me one more week, which is greatly appreciated! What has been most difficult about getting the kitchen packed up is the heat. We are averaging upper 80's in the house during the day and who wants to be packing in that kind of heat? The heat is supposed to break this evening so maybe I'll be more productive in the next few days. Otherwise, I'll be getting up at 4:40 am, with Brian who gets up to run, to pack!

Floor is Starting to Take Shape

2007-06-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

At the end of day 16 we have floor joists!

Day 16: A New Folder Has Been Created

2007-06-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

I have organized my pictures according to the stage of the project. One folder is "planning", another is "non-construction", while another is "digging." I have started a new folder titled, "building." We have entered a new stage...

The wood was delivered today and the carpenter is expected anytime now (although honestly, if he doesn't come with his crew I'd be totally understanding. It's 97 degrees out there according to our thermometer).

I was rather curious as to how the wood was going to get off the truck. During all of our other projects (basement, garage, pergola) the wood was removed by fork lifts. Here you go, it was "dumped" off the truck.
Another tight fit! He was hoping he'd be able to make the turn and get into our backyard but no such luck. Our cars now are going to be spending the night outside.

Day 15: A Clean Sweep Approach

2007-06-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

We have had to rid almost every area of the house of stuff we don't use at least once in the last three years. The one room that has been largely untouched is: the kitchen. Since it's so small there really isn't a lot to get rid of or a large stock pile of food to eat but there is some. Today I started "packing" up the kitchen.

Below is my strategy; three piles. One for "I want to keep it and it needs to be accessible", another for "Pack it, we're keeping it" and finally, "Pitch it or Goodwill it." My strategy worked well and kept me organized. After all the stuff was gone off the table the Post-Its remained. I think I'll leave them there for the next time I tackle the cupboards.

And tackling cupboards is going to become a daily job because tomorrow the carpenter is coming to start his part. He told me that by Tuesday evening our hole will be gone...a platform will left!

Days 9, 10 and 11...Catching Up

2007-06-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

Here we are 1 1/2 weeks into the project and have a basement floor! The cement guy, Adam, was here today around 4:00 and poured the floor. Here is a summary of the last few days:

The cement truck was a tight fit between the two houses

Pouring the floor

All done!

Day 10

Wednesday, or Day 10, the basement was prepared for the pouring of the floor. They came with a water pump and pumped out all the water that had accumulated in our hole, laid down plastic on top of the rock and punched a hole in the wall. The hole was necessary so they could measure the floor height (or something :).

Water pump in corner

Day 9

After learning that cleaning the "new" interior wall was our responsibility, Brian borrowed my dad's power washer and cleaned the wall. What a manly toy to play with...

Day 8: Backfill

2007-06-18T20:32:00.001-07:00

While the boys and I were out terrorizing the local grocery store (see their blog for that story!) today, the addition got backfilled. Our mound of dirt is no more! While I didn't see the building inspector come I guess we passed since work continued.

Day 6: The Day We Became Everyone's Favorite Neighbors

2007-06-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

(note to readers: Day 6 was Saturday)

On Saturday we once again earned the titled of, "Favorite Neighbor." We first earned this titled on a hot Sunday morning, around 7:00 am in September 2004. This was the day that a very sketchy looking, foul smelling, shirtless guy showed up with a jack hammer and a pair of sandals to bust up our concrete slab during our new garage project. Yes, you read that correctly and are inferring beautifully...7:00 am, jack hammer, Sunday morning - who wouldn't love us? Since neighbors on either side of us are new (since Sept. 2004) it seemed appropriate for us to remind everyone why they should love us.

Saturday morning we knew someone would be at our house around 7:00 am so at 6:20 when I heard some pounding I just assumed it was the boys. Brian had gone running and was showering while I was in the basement getting caught up on the blogs (incidentally, I was dressed, presentable and ready for my day). I kept thinking, "why don't the boys just get up? They are in beds, nothing is holding them back!" when Brian yelled down, "The masons are here!" The pounding that I was hearing was them walking on our roof as they prepared to rebuild our chimney. Shortly after I went out and wished them a good morning their saw was busy sawing bricks. At least Jake and Tanya are early risers, Jake had just come back from his run when things got started.

Around 7:00 the other crew arrived to install the egress window well and put up pink foam. We continue to be amazed at how fast this first part is going! We *might* have a basement floor and backfill by the end of this week, but maybe not. Initially we were told we shouldn't expect anything this week so we aren't expecting anything.

Brian did remember to ask about the exterior wall that is our new interior wall...it is our responsibility to clean it. He borrowed my father's power washer and hopes to get down in there this week and start washing. Otherwise, that room might get framed out and drywalled very quickly this fall!

Day 5: Much to Our Surprise

2007-06-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

Today Brian had a comp day so he joined us on a visit to see my grandmother. Much to our surprise we came home to tarred (I think that's what you'd call them) walls and some new supplies.
It's hot...and it's only the beginning of summer. It probably will get a whole lot worse. The air conditioners that I got yesterday from a friend unfortunately won't fit in the boy's room. The windows are new and don't open as wide as we need them to. Lucky for us though, our old crappy windows fit the air conditioner perfectly. We bought a new dehumidifier today because after a little research we determined that our other one had bit the dust. While it ran, it really wasn't doing anything (the lack of water in the collection tank; the hot, humid basement; and the iced over innards were our clues). The new one has been running non-stop for the last 6 hours and there is a noticeable in the basement. All these small appliances...I retract the comment I made to Brian a week or so ago that went something like this, "Without central air, I wonder what our electric bill is going to be like?"

We were wrong about the work stopping...our egress window well is going to be attached to the cinder blocks tomorrow and there is a possibility our chimney is going to be rebuilt (and that's a whole 'nother story and project!).

Now We Wait...

2007-06-14T19:22:00.001-07:00

My guess is that it will be about a week in a half before we have any more work done. We won't leave anyone hanging, if there are no posts there isn't anything to report. See you soon!

Day 3 - We Have Walls!

2007-06-13T19:44:00.001-07:00

The "hole" early in the morning...

The new foundation in the evening!

It was decided today that we just can't take it (okay, Ethan and I). Tomorrow I'm picking up an air conditioner from a friend who is going to lend it to us for the summer. Ethan complained today about being too hot. Poor kid...

Day 2: Footing and Masonry

2007-06-12T19:19:00.001-07:00

Here are the materials that were delivered later in the day. I guess it's a cinder block foundation; we weren't sure if it was going to be block or poured concrete.

Footings were poured today and we should have walls in the not to distant future! Both Brian and I went to work today so we missed all the excitement but I guess a remote controlled crane came and the boys called all the concrete, "mush." Our kitchen window is filthy with little boy face prints and hand prints; I guess it wouldn't take a detective to figure out where they are spending a lot of time these days!

It occurred to me recently that we never posted pictures of our dirt moving project from a few weeks ago. You are looking at the back of our garage and approximately 3 yards of dirt. After the garage was rebuilt in November 2004 we really needed to fill in the back. There was 6-8 inches of exposed foundation. Since the boys were born just a few weeks later it just never got done. We kept saying we should do it, but never did. This year was time. The stakes are supporting Brian's hops experiment and the clumps are a sedum ground cover. Eventually, this could look really nice!

Sunday afternoon our friend, Red Fox paid our yard a visit. I'm giving him/her all the credit for the lack of rabbit sightings we've had recently! One of our neighbors admitted he's a little cocky about his vegetable garden. He's not messing around with chicken wire because the fox has been so efficient this year.

Day One - Hole

2007-06-11T18:20:00.000-07:00

(Brian) The renaissance has begun. At approximately 9:00am after taking the boys to the playground (they were up at 5:30am) we got the call that the digger was here. I practically ran home to see this thing with two boys clinging to their wagon.

Sweating and already hot, I pulled the boys into our neighbors yard and watched them as they tried to take in the digger.

For the most part the boys were a little scared of the digger and that is not a bad thing for what was going on.

It was neat to watch the bucket dig everything out. We forgot to trip the circuit breaker for the power to the garage and when he hit the power, there was a little spark. Ooops.

So begins a new list of items and I'll try and find a way to keep track of them. Today began the first day of no air conditioning. That was disconnected.

Today began also, the first day of no power to the garage, thanks to the spark. Today also began the first time that Andi is/was right with a prediction.

She said we would be without air conditioning for this project. I said they would simply move it. Well, they moved it alright, they moved it out of the way.

The boys and I spent most of the day watching the progress and conversing with Jeff, the excavator. I asked him if he ever dug up anything neat. As a fellow dude, I thought this job would cool if you dug up some treasures or dead bodies.

Well, as it turns out, he's dug up dead bodies before, but they were for graves. He said that during one job, his buddies buried an iron box that was all rusted and taped dollar bills on it. He thought he had dug up some hidden treasure. Too bad it was only a joke.

At the end of the day, we were left with a big hole and a big pile of dirt. The pile wasn't as big as our friends, Jeff and Bridget, but still a lot of dirt. We have one corner of our driveway that was cracked and tread marks from the tires all over the back yard. Luckily we were able to avoid hitting the patio, but just barely.

Tomorrow Kevin and the mason will be out. I'm not exactly sure what they'll be doing, but I imagine they'll be eying up the job. Kevin told us, that by the end of the week we could have a basement floor and wall. Next week he'll be on vacation, so nothing will be done, but that's ok since you want stuff to cure for a bit. Look for an update tomorrow.

***(Andi now writing in response to a comment left by Jeff) This is what was left for backfill...the other (approximately) 11 dump truck loads left as they got filled up. It was a constant rotation of dump trucks throughout the day. Kevin did make a comment about your dirt pile and how it sat there for months...hee hee hee

****(Andi still writing) I think I've written about my regrets in life before...I don't have many but one of them is planting Chinese Lantern behind the house. It's a weed by my definition and has been impossible to kill/get rid of the last few years. Today I turned to Kevin and said, "We are paying $XX,XXX for this addition, do you think you could kill the Chinese Lantern? It upsets me that the plant I hate the most might survive this construction project." He got the attention of the excavator and instructed him to shave the top 6 inches of the remaining flower bed. Excellent, although this is the most expensive Weed-B-Gone we've ever purchased.

Ready or Not...

2007-06-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

Many weekends have been spent giving my plants away and transplanting. Many hours have been spent thinking and planning how this whole not having a kitchen is going to work. Many dollars have been spent already preparing the house and purchasing some appliances. We are ready.

Tonight I gave my plants in the backyard a good drink of water seeing as I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to water the next few months. Our spigot is right where the hole is going to be so that will make water problematic. We have the best neighbors, three have already offered to let us hook our house up to their house so that's probably what we'll be doing. I have shown great restraint this year in purchasing plants...I didn't purchase any. Only two hanging baskets; which will be easy to water. There aren't any planters of annuals on our property which is quite a change from last year.

Yesterday I hung clothes out to dry for what might be the last time this year...at least until we have new grass.

It's definitely a nervous excitement on my end. I'm trying to keep focused on the end result!

They're coming

2007-06-10T19:43:00.001-07:00

Today Andi and I cleaned the basement and garage today in anticipation of getting a hole installed in our back yard. We were making room and filling in spaces, while taking the opportunity to purge the basement and garage too. There was a knock on the door in the mid afternoon and it turned out to be the excavator, Jeff.

He was here to take a look at the site and get some measurements. He was kind of eying up the drive way and noticed our nice new concrete driveway. "Did Kevin talk to you about the driveway?"

"Yes," we answered him "we know that we may get the concrete all busted up."

"I'll bring some wood planks, maybe that will help a little."

"It's going to be a tight fit."

They must be bringing a rather large digger to be concerned about the width of the driveway. Also, our dirt pile won't be taken away immediately, as some of it will be needed for back fill. I think our entire back yard will be disrupted.

We asked if he was still coming tomorrow and said that they should be that be by 8:30. I think tomorrow will be a very exciting day.

We'll have a hole!

New on your Ranch News at 10

2007-06-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

Cheap shitty replacement microwave creates disappointment among ranch owners.

I mean come on, I know I only paid like $40 bucks for this dam thing, but you'd think it should be able to pop a f@#$ing bag of popcorn. Consistently this thing has gotten more temperamental. Last night it took like 20 minutes to microwave two potatoes. I can't stand this already. I don't want to have to go out and buy a new new microwave just yet. WTF?

Kevin, please build us a new kitchen as the one we have right now is very inadequate. We have even less space now that our replacement microwave is taking up valuable real estate on our counter.

PS - we also have ants. This kitchen sucks.

The house is winning 1gozillian to none.

Genesis of a Ranch Renaissance

2007-06-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

Wednesday began like any other for us. The routine was normal and we were all pretty much normal. I woke up at my normal 4:45 to go for a normal 5k run. Andi woke up 15 minutes later for a normal day of correcting papers or creating tests. The boys woke up at 6 and by 7 we were all hydrated with coffee and milk and happily watching Little Einsteins.

I left for work and shortly after getting settled in, the normal day turned out to be not so normal. Andi called, speaking rather frazzled, "the electricians are coming!"

"What? Who?" I said.
"The electricians are coming to move the power, they said they'll be here by 10. I don't know if I can take off of work. What should we do?"
"I'll call Kevin from OAR and find out what's going on."

As it turned out the electricians were indeed available today to come and move our power. See, if you can't tell from the picture, the main power for the house is smack dab in the middle of where our new kitchen is going to be. That presents a problem if you're going to be prying thing off with large metal tools.

Luckily my boss is cool and told me to go home. I said I would dial in and reconnect, until they cut power that is.

I got home to a fleet of trucks (literally there were four trucks from this company) and two little boys playing outside pointing to all of the commotion going on. In this shot you can see the new junction box which is to supplement our already maxed out circuit breaker. They had to dig a small hole, trample our garden flowers and drill through the brick to get this installed. Don't worry, it looks a lot more put together now that it's done.

For most of the time they did a lot of putzing around, but I know there is a lot of putz work when it comes to power and electrical installation. After all, one small mistake and you're able to make light bulbs glow like Uncle Fester.

I was a little unsure if the boys would be able to nap while all of this stuff was going on. Soon after this picture the dudes took their own lunch break and at that time, the boys went down. They slept through the rest of the experience.

The dudes told me WE Energies would have to come out and verify their work before actually moving the power. So, I was a little surprised when they said they were just going to move the power now. We did end up losing power for about 1.5 hours which wasn't that big of a deal. I read on the couch while the boys slept.

The electricians were here for most of the day and didn't end up leaving until about 3:30, right when the boys woke up from their nap.
They ran to the front windows to wave to the big trucks leaving.

After speaking to our contractor, Kevin, he indicated our dig date is still slated for this coming Monday. He didn't want to firm up any days until the weather and electricians were done. As you can see the only thing remaining to move is the cable.

From the looks of the weather, we should be all clear for the next couple of days. I hope everything works out. I think I'll be having a mental health day on Monday.

Confirmed Reports of Rabbit Carnage

2007-06-05T19:35:00.001-07:00

We used to have a few stray cats around here. We also used to never have a bunny problem. Now there are no cats and lots of bunnies. We also happen to have (believe it or not) a red fox. The fox was looking pretty bad earlier this spring and all the neighbors thought it was going to die soon. There were a few weeks when there weren't any sightings so I assumed it was dead. Then, a few days ago it was spotted looking healthy. It was also spotted surrounded by pieces of a rabbit. Maybe the fox was just hungry!

Summer Dinning Room

2007-06-03T19:47:00.001-07:00

We built the pergola during summer of 2002. Five years later our dream and vision is becoming a reality! (still no furniture...just haven't found what I want. Until then lawn chairs and portable picnic table have sufficed.)

House: 1 million points, Us: 0

2007-05-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

EXPLETIVE, EXPLETIVE, EXPLETIVE! I cannot believe this.

Just in case you don't know, the title of this post has to do with the little game Brian and I pretend we play with our house. It's hard to describe the rules but trust me on this one. The house just got a MAJOR win.

Our microwave just died. It just gave out mid popcorn bag. At least this is one appliance we were considering replacing.

New Dig Date

2007-05-27T07:27:00.001-07:00

It would seem I heard what I wanted to hear with the last dig date possibility. We now are looking at the week of June 11. Other than exam week being the absolute worse time to be absent from school (since I was fully planning on staying home one day when the hole got dug) it's a perfect week to get started.

Stay tuned...

The House is Currently Winning

2007-05-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I was in the bathroom and I heard a small crash from the kitchen. I went in to see what made the noise and discovered our ventilation hood partially fell down on top of the stove. Two days ago I looked at the Roman Shade in the kitchen and noticed that something wasn't right. One of the shades is broken. Two of the loops that hold the string in the proper place have been ripped out. I have no idea how that happened. I think I need a new kitchen.

Oh, ventilation hood...we will win this battle.

Dig Date and the Fleeing of the Flowers

2007-05-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

We have a date...well, week for the big dig to take place. We are looking at the week after Memorial Day. We could have gone as early as next week but frankly, I'm not ready. Plus, I'd like to stretch this period of waiting as long as possible to avoid our babysitter having to deal with the safety issues surrounding a big hole and three toddlers for any long period of time. So, the week of Memorial Day is the big dig and I'll be off of work in about two in a half weeks after that. Perfect.

The back perennial garden is almost all gone. My co-workers have jumped at the opportunity to provide some good homes to my plants. This weekend we are getting 3 yards of dirt delivered for another little project I'll leave for Brian to report but I think the last of the plants will go with the dirt guy. He's taken plants off my hands that I wanted to get rid of before and I told him to take whatever he wants when he brings the dirt. There are just a few things I'm going to put up against our neighbor's fence and then I think I'm done transplanting and saving what I want. Oh, it's going to be fun to design the new area!

Ranch 1 - The Man 0

2007-05-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the Design Review Board meeting. To put your mind at ease, in case you were wondering, we got approval. This wasn't the same board that gave us so much trouble with our garage. In fact, this board was significantly younger, and they tore through the agenda, knocking out 8 designs in 20 minutes.

It was interesting to hear some of the comments from the board on the designs. There was a lady who had a 1920's house she wanted to put a sun room on. All they did was nit-pick. She has double hung windows all around the house and in the new room, wanted a casement window put in this room. The weasel on the board (seriously this guy resembled a large rodent) peaked over his large glasses and said, "you should keep the windows matched around the house. This one should be a double hung too." Our builder leaned over to me and said "This is unbelievable how they spend money for you, they just made her spend $1000."

Geez, what would they do with me?

The the guy right before us wanted to build a new garage and the weasel spoke up again. "Are you going to have the brick around the garage just like the house." I thought to myself, OMG..you, you were the one who was trying to f$#k with us and our plans. Turns out the home owner was going to put on the brick because he wanted everything to match.

So, our turn came up and everything was going really smoothly. Our builder paid a drafter to come up with some real nice plans, and they were impressed. The weasel was looking over the plans with his beady eyes and big glasses and piped up. "You got the electrical pole right here you know?" (In case you didn't know, the electric power comes from the back of the property, and enters the house right smack dab in the middle. )

I thought to myself "Holy Shit! Are you kidding me? I totally didn't see that. Oh my god. Kevin (our builder), did you notice this shit? Wow...thanks for pointing that out weasel. We almost built an addition over our power supply and A/C unit."

Thankfully I kept it in and Kevin indicated where we would be moving the power. The weasel seem satisfied. Even after nit-picking about our windows matching, Kevin assured them that the drawing software didn't allow for the exact window type to be shown, but need less to say, they would all match.

Now we wait about 5 days before we can get the permits, then it's a matter of getting on everyones schedule. First will be the electrician to get the power pole moved that the weasel was so concerned with. The excavator will be next for the hole and the basement. We should hear something in about two weeks as to a rough time line.

Ranch vs. The Man - Part 1

2007-04-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

In all fairness, the city hasn't jerked us around yet. At least on this project. Three years ago the design board had a real problem with our plans for a new garage. We are still bitter and will probably hold a grudge until the day comes when we are no longer paying taxes to this municipality.

Anyway, we got the call this afternoon. Thursday night Kevin, our builder, and Brian will go in front of the design board and hopefully we will be able to get permits real soon! Kevin doesn't think there will be a problem...and he's probably right but based on prior experiences we have reason to be cynical.

And The Winner Is....

2007-04-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

Why this hood and not the other one you ask? This one is about $1500 cheaper and does the same thing. This is the Zephyr, Savona model and has 685 CFM. Our current hood is probably about -15 CFM. It actually blows fumes back at us and then laughs and mocks us. Ah yes, we are going to win this one!

Amost Ready to Get a Building Permit

2007-04-19T03:54:00.000-07:00

I spoke with Kevin (from the OAR Group) last night and all of our drawings are ready to be submitted to the architectural review board and one other group of people who I'm sure enjoying holding up building projects. I'm so cynical about all of this because of all the problems we had trying to build a garage three years ago. Kevin is picking up a copy of our property survey (glad we still had that from the garage...saved us a couple hundred dollars) today and maybe on Friday we'll have a date that our drawings are going to be submitted!

I'm starting to find new homes for my plants this weekend...if you are in need of full sun perennials, I have a lot! They all have to go!

Cabinets, Flooring, Counter Tops, and Back Splash

2007-04-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we picked out our cabinet color, flooring, counter tops and tiles for the back splash. We were both totally blown away by the design for the back splash; it's going to be the whole wall. Not just the area behind the stove, but the whole wall!

This is the elevation drawing of the wall that has the stove and as you look out the window you'll see the driveway (the mudroom/entry way). All the squares and rectangles behind the stove is the back splash. When Stephanie, our designer, said she wanted to do something dramatic, she wasn't kidding! We had several options to pick from for colors but ended up picking this sample of color:
This is just to show what the colors are going to look like. Our tiles are all going to be 12x12, 12x6 and 4x4. Like she said, dramatic! Here is a scanned sample of our countertop:
Finally, here is a picture of our cabinets (from the Design Studio). We are not getting the "appliance garage" (the cabinet that goes down to the counter top) in the corner or the plate rack and we haven't picked the glass yet but I think you get the idea of what they are going to look like.
Wood Type: Alder
Stain: Nutmeg
Style: Mission

We also made the decision to upgrade the drawers to full extension. Meaning, when we open them we will be able to see the WHOLE drawer, not everything but the back few inches. Initially, I didn't think this was going to be a big deal but now that I know what our new cabinets are going to be like I'm thoroughly annoyed with our current drawers. It's going to be nice!

Hood Possibilities

2007-03-26T03:52:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon we went looking at some hood possibilities. Here are two choices, although there may be more. The boys were with us and insisted on running all over the showroom touching and pressing every little button. I think their shopping days are over; especially when we are making important decisions! I bought a new digital camera this weekend - somewhat under pressure to "hurry it along - your sons are being difficult." Not exactly how I want to make decisions with the kitchen!

Dear Rabbits,

2007-03-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Rabbits,

I'd like to express my concern about your new interest in my flowers. I have maintained a pretty amazing backyard for the last five years. You have never taken an interest before in all the delicious items that I have available. For that I thank you. I know where you hang out; you like to stay in our neighbor's yard because he has a "garden" that we are convinced is an excuse so he doesn't have to mow his lawn. All those hundreds of vegetables that he plants every year must be tasty. So, why the change in diet?

I'd like to request that you go back to your old hang out because the tulips and other bulbs you have eaten down to the ground are really the only flowers I'm going to get to enjoy this year. And, for that, I hate you. You have kindly left the hyacinth bulbs; which incidentally are my favorite, alone. Please continue to leave them alone. Also, leave the Spider Wort, Columbine and Goblin Blanket Flower. These perennials are starting to come up and I'd like to try and transplant them before a big hole is in our backyard. Feel free to eat as much phlox as you'd like, we have too much anyway. Or, dig in on the Chinese Lantern - I'm secretly hoping that there are no traces of that after the big hole is filled in with a kitchen.

I hope you find this proposal to your liking. Please pass on to the squirrels that they are also in trouble for all the littles holes they dug.

Sincerely,
Andi