I think I'll try to write once a week as we are going through this remodel project, because I want to document how it's going and what we are doing and how we are feeling while we are doing it!
After we closed on Friday afternoon Ben spent the night over there changing all the locks, installing locks on the windows and installing the toilet seats.
We got up early on Saturday and spent a big portion o the day over there. It was conference weekend and we just listened to conference while we worked (my parents babysat the kids). We spent the whole day shopping at Home Depot, spackling the 1 million holes in the walls, and repairing the dry wall under the stairs. The dry wall there took forever to get out and then lots of tricky cuts to get the new stuff installed. That's nine straight hours of work. Glad we got that accomplished, but feeling like we wished we'd gotten more done.
Through the week I had a few friends offer to babysit my kids so I could work on the house, so I probably spent a total of 8 hours over three mornings there just working on wall prep. There is so much to do! These walls don't look too bad from a distance, but there are literally at least 50 spots to patch on each individual wall. I want the finished product to look good! I felt a little frustrated that after my initial spackle/sand many of the spots still didn't feel smooth! So frustrating. So I went through round 2 and in some places even round three. Going through each room I always found little holes that I missed the first time, and spent a lot of time filling little dings in the walls, especially in the high traffic areas.
Ben spent every evening there after work this week, and I joined him on Tuesday evening after young womens. He got about half of the baseboards installed and 3 of the 4 door frames we needed to do. We both worked on filling holes and seams with caulk. Then he spent a lot of time tearing up the hardwood upstairs that we are getting rid of and tearing out the old stinky carpet. When you first walk into the house right now it smells musty and like animals- we are hoping with the carpet gone that will go away. The hardwood floor was not only nailed down, but the whole dang thing was glued as well! It did not come out easily or quickly! He got some help from Will and our friend Blair and over a few nights got it all out. His arms and back were sore and aching after that- we are glad that's done!
Ben has also gone to work on fixing the stairs. He pulled the old (makeshift) banister out and repaired the treads on the stairs. Next week he's going to work on building the railing.
I'd say this first week was very overwhelming. All this work we've done and the house doesn't actually feel any better/nicer- mostly because it's all the prep work so that the stuff that will actually make the house look better and nicer (like paint and carpet) can be done.
After we closed on Friday afternoon Ben spent the night over there changing all the locks, installing locks on the windows and installing the toilet seats.
We got up early on Saturday and spent a big portion o the day over there. It was conference weekend and we just listened to conference while we worked (my parents babysat the kids). We spent the whole day shopping at Home Depot, spackling the 1 million holes in the walls, and repairing the dry wall under the stairs. The dry wall there took forever to get out and then lots of tricky cuts to get the new stuff installed. That's nine straight hours of work. Glad we got that accomplished, but feeling like we wished we'd gotten more done.
Through the week I had a few friends offer to babysit my kids so I could work on the house, so I probably spent a total of 8 hours over three mornings there just working on wall prep. There is so much to do! These walls don't look too bad from a distance, but there are literally at least 50 spots to patch on each individual wall. I want the finished product to look good! I felt a little frustrated that after my initial spackle/sand many of the spots still didn't feel smooth! So frustrating. So I went through round 2 and in some places even round three. Going through each room I always found little holes that I missed the first time, and spent a lot of time filling little dings in the walls, especially in the high traffic areas.
Ben spent every evening there after work this week, and I joined him on Tuesday evening after young womens. He got about half of the baseboards installed and 3 of the 4 door frames we needed to do. We both worked on filling holes and seams with caulk. Then he spent a lot of time tearing up the hardwood upstairs that we are getting rid of and tearing out the old stinky carpet. When you first walk into the house right now it smells musty and like animals- we are hoping with the carpet gone that will go away. The hardwood floor was not only nailed down, but the whole dang thing was glued as well! It did not come out easily or quickly! He got some help from Will and our friend Blair and over a few nights got it all out. His arms and back were sore and aching after that- we are glad that's done!
Ben has also gone to work on fixing the stairs. He pulled the old (makeshift) banister out and repaired the treads on the stairs. Next week he's going to work on building the railing.
I'd say this first week was very overwhelming. All this work we've done and the house doesn't actually feel any better/nicer- mostly because it's all the prep work so that the stuff that will actually make the house look better and nicer (like paint and carpet) can be done.
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