Oh how the list took a beating!On the 13th I had Ron V., Shana, Gma & Gpa Vande Ree, and Steve N. all in attendance. While Grandpa got to work doing what he does best - painting/priming the master bath, closet and laundry room - Grandma go to work on pulling off the tabs from the misconceived Velcro strips in the kitchen. Turns out that wen you're hanging ceramic tiles on a wall, Velcro doesn't still too well after 4 weeks and it falls and breaks and hurts people. So we're fixing that by creating a new mural from a photo that we took of my grandparent's old farm pump house that we took on a summer vacation earlier this summer. (We O'Bannon kids spent A LOT of our childhood at this farm and we all have fond memories of riding the horses, swimming in the cool - but gross - stock pond, shooting guns, etc.) It'll be great and a fantastic piece of family history for all to enjoy. Grandma also installed the remaining outlet and switch plates for the 2nd and 3rd floor. Were now a safe place to be for everyone - no more possible 'excitement' when using appliances.
Gma Helen takes off the Velcro/Gpa starts in the master shower
Then moves to the wall/The new artwork
Shana helped Grandma for a bit with the outlets, then switched to helping Steve install three new trees in the front and side yard as well as later installing 3 bushes in the front flower bed. The big tree in the front will be a red maple (slow growing and lots of shade in the summer) and the two side trees were columnar white pines that will provide a bit more privacy to the side patio. It had rained quite a bit last week - or was just not sunny - so the ground never dried out and it made planting much easier because they BANGED IT OUT. I look forward to those trees that we've planted over the past 12 months to start filling out and giving the house a new look. Also the idea of some time down the road saying 'man those trees were so small when we first planted them...'
The corner maple tree installed/The 1st pine tree installed
The maple looks 'small' now/The 2nd & 3rd pine trees
Ron, in his usual magic style, helped me remove some cabinets that were once in the master closet (that again were a misconceived use of space organizers) and we let the dry wall guy cover up out mistakes;-) Then Ron tackled the shower controls and installed 2x4s for the shower door to hang on after the tile is installed. It was a bit challenging in the end due to the manufacturer not giving a 'shut off valve' unless the actual guts of the handle are also installed. Needless to say, Ron and I were in a wet T-shirt contest for a few minutes and Ron clearly won.
Comin' OUT!/We balance it on the roof waiting for Steve
So with the water now functional and drywall drying, we called it a day and had a beer.
Earlier in the week the drywall finishers came in to mud and tape the master closet, bathroom and laundry room. On Saturday the owner stopped in to make the final touches so that Gramps could start priming/painting. It's an amazing transformation that can happen in 7 short days.
Touching up a popped nail/Finished master closet walls
A finished bathroom (but very messy)
To back up another seven days, the previous weekend of the 6th I had another great day of progress. Again it was Ron, Kirby for a bit, Mary, Shana, Jake, Sam, Amy T, Barry and Dan J. Lots of 'little' things were accomplished that just eat away at the clock if I have to do them all by myself. With many hands it goes blazingly fast.
Dan started early and installed the 'fart sucker' in the powder room on the first floor. Now if we could just a DOOR on that bathroom... one thing at a time eh? Then Barry and Dan got started with installing the closet shelving in both the hallway and extra bedroom on the 2nd floor. Since the original built-in closet got ripped out before I could say 'whoa', there's just been an unusable hole at the top of the stairs. Thanks to these gents, I will now have a place for the extra linens and towels when rooms are complete! Barry kept on pushing after most had gone home and painted the base shoe (1/4 round) it's final coat since it only had been primed before installation - dude was a TROOPER.
Dan starts on the fan/Finished product - no more stink!
Barry trims out some can lights/We carry in a very heavy box
Barry works on the shelving with Dan/Moves on to painting
... Shelving/More painting
Mary helped out all over the place, putting things here and organizing things there. Then she helped rip out the aforementioned cabinets from the master closet. i couldn't tell but I think there was a little whistling of joy coming out of the closet along side the whir of the drill but I couldn't be sure. Later she assisted me on hanging the last couple of sheets of dry wall in the master bath walls before the dry wall finisher came in on the following Wednesday.
Closet BEFORE/AFTER Mary's handiwork
Drill, whistle/Drill, whistle..
Out for good/Sam don't look so surprised
Jake and Sam got into the mix a bit and helped with dry wall. Jake learned how to use a rotozip for cutting out plumbing holes in drywall. Again I think there was a bit of happiness to his step as he learns how to 'do' more and play with power tools. I'm just helping out the next generation have a better appreciation for power tools! ;-) Jake and Shana also painted 1/4 round and door jams on the first floor and basement in the bathrooms so those are finally completely done - minus the missing doors.
Jake not so enthused/Shana cleaning the walls
Jake MORE enthused - ready for battle/Shana tapes off for drips
I show Jake the fine tips/Then they both watch
The finished work/Sam helps 'advise' Ron
Ron tore into finishing the installation of the dryer vent that I so cleverly forgot to install be for the walls went up the first time. If you're noticing a pattern here of work that is being redone, yes I have too. We gotta stop this or it's going to be 2010 before this is all done. Anyway, ron also worked on some drywall replacement in that room and got the exhaust to the crawl space on the 3rd floor, so a ton done in one day. His son Kirby removed the Durock on the Master Bath floor where the tub will go because the plumbing is not in the exactly correct place. So he pulled that up and pulled screws to the sub floor so I can get in there and redo that before the tile is set. Again the redoing of work... Thank you gents for redoing my mistakes ;-)
Kirby tears out Durock/Then removes screws
Ron's Finished work/Climbing in for the ceiling
Making sure it's square/Collateral damage
Amy took off door handles in the main entry and replaced them with other 'new' antique handles after going to Lowes to get a number of different materials that we needed for the day. Unfortunately she had to play the runner roll that day, but she was happy to do so - so she said.
Amy focusing on the details
Finally, I share with you below the progress in Ellie's bathroom by the tile guys. Although it's run into its own bit of snags, it's coming along very well and it will be beautiful when it's all complete. I'm not sure it's going to the the deadline of September 20th, but hopefully the new date won't be too far behind. It's kind of been a bit of a personal goal of mine to finish the master first, and who knows I may actually accomplish that! Whatever the date of completion I greatly appreciate Meredith coming through and finishing this bathroom as we'll be sure to get many, many years of great memories of slamming doors, missed time lines of getting out the door because the makeup 'isn't just right' or the hair needs another 10 minutes to be perfect.
The tub edge/The new shower post
Tub controls and glass tile installed
Just some shots of me - actually working
No it ain't Super Simple...
Well as the first image shows, the list has been cut down a bit in the past two weeks and I'm forever thankful to all of the great people that have helped. As I have hinted in the past few posts, I have some things rolling around in my head and if time and efforts allow, I hope to share some of those things in the near future. I'm sure though as most things have gone it may take me a bit longer than my optimistic mind likes to think. Thank you for coming back and checking this every couple of days/weeks. Hopefully I'll start to give you 'more' to come back for. Take care and I'll see you on Saturday.
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