Meanwhile, a year later...

I realize I have been quiet on the blog front for the last year!!  Allow me to update you on our projects from 2019!

First, in January, Gabe worked on the wiring for our TV corner.  It's by no means finished, since we've been focusing on the outside for most of the year, but we got it functional for a Superbowl gathering we hosted.

This spot is Gabe's brain child and his creativity will come to life with this one.  I will save the details on this space for another time!  Cliffhanger anyone?


In February, we welcomed a new little lady into our home ;) Her name is Tirzah and she is a sweetie!!!

In March, we re-installed the basketball hoop.  I think both Gabe and Judah are glad for this!

In April, we bought a shed for extra storage, like the lawn mower and that stinky gas can.

It was not the same color as our house color and black trim (SW 6258 Tricorn Black), so I got a gallon of Hardi-plank's Woodland Cream from SW, Gabe and I teamed up and got out there in the fresh air.  He did the first coats and I did the finishing coats.

Mid-July, we hired out the building of the porch roof. My Dad managed the subcontractor while we went away to Michigan for Gabe's grandmother's 98th birthday party (which happened to take place on Zoe's birthday--Grandma Cropsey's birthday wasn't for another week!).

Getting started:

In August, we tackled the front yard landscaping which happened to include finishing the drainage on the northwest side of the house. The drain pipe was installed about halfway out to the road (can't remember the roadblock we encountered at that time) and it was sticking up out of the ground for a half a year.  Gabe's buddy Mark so generously lent us his bobcat (skid steer) so we could finish the job.

A before picture of a strip of long grass and uneven turf shooting down from the house toward the road:

Zoe enjoying some adventures with Daddy:

We had to get the FIOS line marked out again before digging out the trench for the drain pipe. This took about a day's work to lay the pipe and another day to level out the ground.  Gabe also did some earthworks in the back yard with the bobcat, cleaning up the mess that was created at the end of the season last year right before the frost set in when it was too late to do anything.  He got to smoothing out the tire tracks from where the excavator got stuck in the mud, and he wanted to relocate the berm he created in the back woods for target practice with the extra fill dirt and debris that had been created from construction last year.  It looks much better back there now!

And, since we had the bobcat on hand, we might as well go ahead and tear out those overgrown shrubs, since we in process of changing the landscaping pretty drastically in the front.  This was a fun project on a sunny Saturday over Labor Day weekend!  My parents we over helping out with the kids while Gabe was outside playing with his machinery and I was inside prepping hard for our first term of homeschool, so it worked out great.

And so it begins:

Going a little crazy with the chainsaw:

But having so much fun!!

Devoid of one of them!

And then ripping out the stump:

And they are gone!

A couple weekends later after we had a chance to add some new shrubs back in (thanks Mom & Dad for the two smaller boxwoods, all the help with the kids and planting!)--some rose bushes and hydrangeas along the house where we finished up the grading:

Much, much better.  Still a ways to go, but ahh, sweet progress!

And now for the project that has consumed many weekends this fall, and won't now be finished until the spring: the path leading up to the front door from the driveway that act as stairs, garden boxes and retaining wall of sorts.  Gabe and my dad did some measurements, talked through the plans and Dad drew them up:

Starting from the bottom next to the driveway and working their way up the hill:

It's taking shape!

Looking up, looking down:

In November, our contractor Dave came back! To do some punch list items, replace our existing house windows (a line item that we waited on until we had more $$ to accomplish), paint the new porch addition, replace and paint new fascia/soffits on existing building and have gutters installed.

He installed 5 windows (3 in kids bedrooms, 1 large window in living room, and 1 in bathroom) and is here painting newly installed exterior trim:

And, he painted the front door that day!  (actually he painted the first coat, and since I realized it was a warm day with the next day cooling down quite a bit, I went ahead and painted the 2nd coat that evening to finish it off) You can see all the paint swatches taped up on the door, as I'm frantically trying to decide.  No, actually I was cool as a cucumber about the decision (out of character, you may know--me and decisions don't play well together).  Funny story--my first instinct after taping them all up and not looking at the names was SW 6471 Hazel. I went ahead and asked Judah which one was his favorite, and without knowing which one I was leaning towards said, "Hazel" as well!  Furthermore, confirmation presented itself in the fact that Hazel has been my top pick since 2 years ago when we started this mess.  Badda boom badda bing, moral of the story, don't second guess yourself. ;) :D

Dave, painting the front door:

Voila!

I gadda tell ya, it feels good to have THAT done.  And you have to know I went into my master to do list and crossed that sucker off!!!

Closer up:

Let's pause for a second and take this in.  OOOOoooooooOOO!!!  (pretend you are in the movie Despicable Me for a second and you are watching a sea of minions all in chorus---)

And hello sexy black windows!  Nice to meet you!

Have I gone overboard yet? (Why yes, it is past 11pm while I'm writing this)

Dave, painting the porch posts:

And ripping off the old fascia, soffits and gutters, YES please!!!

Ahhhhhh, finally some cohesion on the front of the house.  Long time comin'!!!

Here's a little throw back from 2017, for the funsies:

Is this real life??!?

And now, before signing off, I will take one more liberty and share a picture of our newest little presh from last July:

picture courtesy of my sister in law, Bethany

Isn't she just somethin' else?


Until next time.....

Tile Flooring and Cabinetry Continued

It was hard to sit down and write this one.  I have been really tired and lethargic---given my baby-growing superpowers....!!  For those of you who didn't know, I am pregnant!  So, Gabe has been working on the house by himself more and more.

Last I wrote, we had almost finished laying floor tile in the upstairs bathroom.  The next step would be to seal it before grouting it.  This ensures that the slate clefts won't be damaged by the sandy grout.  So, Friday, the 8th of March we worked to finish up securing the tiles down:

Again, I would select the tile and Gabe would diligently cut pieces and apply Thin-set to the subfloor and I would help "butter" the backs of the tiles and Gabe would place them.  Look at his masterful job!

Working around the toilet flange was a little difficult.  But, it was pretty nice that it worked out exactly in the middle of a tile!!

Tile saw and Gabe, in action:

And done with that part.

The next day, we can see a dry fit of more kitchen cabinets:

These will be installed after the microwave/range vent is installed.

Here is the start of the under stairs closet storage door:

Dad has been working on this using leftover heart pine pieces.  Here is the original door style we are going for:

On another note, the utility door jamb broke somehow, so this will have to be pieced together now:

The object of the day was to attack the tile in the foyer/downstairs bath.  I was going to be leaving mid-afternoon, so my job was to select the tiles and Gabe would then set them in Thin-set.  We prioritized the transition areas and doorways, so Dad could get Rene started on the doorway trim.  The first thing was to draw chalk lines and determine the direction of the tile brick pattern:

And this is what it looked like at the end of the day:

From the front door

Looking toward the living room threshold

We worked this week to order carpet for the upstairs also.  It was quite difficult because the one I chose several months ago is not there.  Or if it is, the name has changed and the price has been hoisted.  Ugghh.  So I selected another, that was actually a bit less.

we sourced Home Depot

The next Friday (the 15th), we continued filling in tile in the downstairs bath.  By this time, because of the work Gabe did around doorways, the door trim was (mostly) complete:

              downstairs bath door                                             under stair storage door frame

And we can see the utility door frame was fixed:

yay!

So, the plan for that evening was to get the bathroom tile laid and cut, so tomorrow, I could work with him early to select tile for the foyer space and then leave while he set it all in the mortar, since I would be leaving early again.

Looking into the bathroom:

Sink & shower area:

Toilet flange:

Moving into the foyer, first Gabe vacuumed up the space:

A photo of Gabe, posing nicely from out on the porch through the front door:

At the end of the day on Saturday the tile is set in mortar:

the "X" is a tile set last week, so it's safe to stand on

Next week, we move on to grouting the tile!!


The weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of March, we worked on grouting the upstairs and downstairs tile.

During the week, Mom had sealed the tile so we could move forward.  Look how nice the upstairs tile turned out!!

This is the product we used:

sourced from Home Depot

Here is the downstairs tile sealed and ready to be grouted:

Meanwhile, we had received appliances during the week as well, so here is a visual, even though they mostly look like big boxes taking up space:

This refrigerator is 30" wide, which is the most narrow profile of any French door frig out there.  With an ice dispenser too!

From left to right we have a frig, stove with microwave sitting on top, and lastly a dishwasher

Gabe also worked with Dad a little while on sizing the vent hole for the cabinet above the gas range and microwave.

I have to admit, Mom hooked me up with a comfy cot on site so I could occasionally get some rest, but still be around for the action....  She rocks!!  So....that is what I was doing.

Mom worked very well to sand down rough spots on the walls preparing soon to paint.  She also added putty to nail holes in the trim.

Later that day, Gabe and Mom (since I was down for the count) started grouting the tile upstairs.

Starting in the corner:

Looks terrifying at first!!  My beautiful tile!

I was there to wring out sponges quickly as they worked.

We finished around 8 pm, but the directions said we needed to wait two hours to then go over it again to remove the haze.  Gabe volunteered for this job.  He's an all-star I tell ya!!  So needless to say, it was a long day for him.  This is how the tile looked right before we left:

Looks pretty scary, but it will clean up nice!


The next day (Saturday), was another busy one.  First, here are a few pics of the grouted tile.  It still needs a good cleaning before the final coats of sealant.

Dad had finalized the fitting for the microwave vent, which was the piece holding up the installation of half of the kitchen cabinets on the north wall.

Here's the fitting and the cabinet, ready to go:

It will go in the hole from the outside:

Finally the cabinet and microwave can be installed!

Voila!!

At that point, I left since I wasn't feeling well.  Gabe and Dad continued hanging the rest of the cabinets on that side.  Yay!

Check it out:

The ones installed this afternoon are the two base cabinets: one drawer stack and one 36" double base.  Also, the wall cabinet to the left of the microwave was hung and will have a glass front when we are finished.

Dad and Gabe also worked to modify the sink base, since it is an apron front sink.  They took the drawer out and shaped it to fit.

The sink will fit like this:

I came back and brought them dinner after a good nap, so I was able to see progress on grouting the downstairs bath and foyer area.  Here are the all-stars themselves:

Once again, we had to wait two hours to do a final clean of the tiles to remove the grout haze.  We sent Mom & Dad home and we waited there together.  I actually got a second wind and was able to help Gabe out with the final clean:

Isn't he cute??

It's a good thing Gabe brought his computer to watch March Madness in the meanwhile!!

HA!!


Next weekend, we committed to being there for a three day weekend.  My Thursday class was cancelled due to Easter weekend, so we left to be there around noon on Thursday, March 28th.  Once again, I wasn't feeling very well, so I skipped out of the action.

The order of the day was to hang fireplace tile.  I stuck around long enough to help Gabe determine the location of the T.V. wall mount and mantle on the fireplace wall.

He made a mock-up of the T.V. size, and held the mantle so I could see what it would look like.  Let me tell you, I am very excited about our mantle prospects.  This piece of wood is an original joist from under the house.  It is beefy and gorgeous.  Can I say that about a slab of wood?  We will give it a light sand and put a coat of polyurethane on it to install.

Then, he worked to change the outlet from a single to a double, and attached boards to designate the locations of the mount and mantle.  Gabe worked with subcontractor Rene to hang the fireplace tile from 4 until around 8:30 pm that evening.  I got to see pictures later that evening:

The next day (Friday), was a very productive day.  But I didn't stay very long once again.  I came to see the fireplace tile, did some sweeping and organizing, since it was chaos in there.  There were floor tiles everywhere, so I worked with Gabe to organize and box up floor tile that will be used to clad the shower stalls.  Gabe worked to fix the table saw switch, and when I left, he worked with Dad to install the final cabinets.

This is what I saw when I came to pick them up later in the day:

A soffit created

A niche created for the refrigerator:

The sink base (without the sink):

Rene also had a chance to continue tiling the fireplace wall:

Dad even took a nice picture of me and my man!

Saturday, I didn't go out to the house until late in the afternoon, since I was working on this very blog :).  Gabe and company prepped the ceiling for painting since we are angling toward getting the carpet installed upstairs in the next couple of weeks.  Mom worked on priming the bare wood door jambs.  

When I got there, Gabe had finished spraying the upstairs ceiling with this paint color from Behr:

It is intended to be a warm white.  I came to see if it was going to be an acceptable color to use as the trim and door color as well.  I think it's going to work :)

Here are a few shots of the ceiling--can you see the color change??

2nd Bedroom

Master Bedroom

He spray painted the upstairs vanity drawer stack (we couldn't get it in the Ice White Shaker--they didn't make it in 9" width):

Here are a few pictures of the kitchen in the daytime:

Here is a detailed picture of the work Rene is doing on the stair rail trim:

And one last task before we call it a day--attaching the grounding wire for the gas line:

It's a good thing it was a gorgeous day!!  Also too, having the windows and doors open to air out the fresh paint.

And we are off!  Gabe and I are pleased to be taking a week off of school and work to hit the beach.  It is a much needed break to have some quality time together.

Cheers!