Flooring (entry)

The entryway needed work from the beginning. We ripped out the bookshelf, and it sat that way for a while. Then we let our friend Nick (same guy who took care of our tree) tear up the old tile...and it sat that way for a while. Then we put in new underlayment. Two weeks later, new tile!!!! Now that we're done with that, we can add new trim around the door, and finish the baseboard trim in the living room. Enjoy the pictures below. (It's amazing how much better the floors look after the refinishing.)

Original (Yikes! Oh, and you can see the original light fixture that I replaced.)

G'bye bookshelf


New tile!


Different angle


Close-up

Garage Pics

Finally some pictures of the garage. It's more garage-like now, after all of our belongings were moved into the basement. I hung some speakers, pegboard, shelves, a storage rack, etc. Plenty of space in here!

Doors & Shutters

Amanda painted the shutters, and the new door. We'll add a new storm door on the spring. The new door, and the new paint made a world of difference. I also power washed the siding, which helped. Below are some before/after pics.

Before --> After

Before --> After

Lighting

I played electrician this weekend. I replaced the single-bulb light over our washer/dryer with a 4-foot fluorescent fixture (which came from an unused area of the basement). Then I replaced two light fixtures upstairs with new recessed lights.

After

Before --> After

Before --> After

What a sweet fixture.

Updates!

So it's been a while since my last update. We had some extra help from Amanda's family this weekend, and things are really coming along. Our bedroom is finished! Our improvements (since the last posting) have been...

The master bedroom:

• I ripped out the old shelving in the closet, and installed two new shelves.
• Amanda's dad/sister put the closet doors back on.
  

The second bedroom:

• Two TV/data jacks installed
• Closet shelving replaced
• Walls painted
• Closet door hung (with new, matching hardware)
• Window treatments hung

The rest:

• New front door! (Andy hung this for us, and it is a huge improvement to the house)
• Amanda painted the front door (exterior) and the shutters.
• Our friend Nick ripped up the old tile in the entry way, and we'll be ordering the replacement 'tile' shortly.

I've had an absolute field day with the garage. I moved all of our stuff from the garage, to the basement. Let me tell you, we have a lot of crap! Anyway, with the stuff in the basement we finally have room in the garage to start storing things.

The garage:

• I visited my grandparents, and received a bunch of tools (many of which I've already used several times).
  
• Hung shelves. Lots of shelves.
• I went on Craigslist for an old stereo receiver and a pair of speakers. I mounted the speakers on the wall, and the receiver under the work bench.
• We had a 'door' in the basement that was made out of pegboard. I removed the door, and hung the pegboard in the garage.
• Hung the bike on the ceiling.
• Hung the rakes, shovels, brooms on the wall.

Up next:

• Lay the new tile in the entry way of the house.
• Finish painting/hanging the interior doors.
• Start on the kitchen!!!

This week is shaping up to be pretty laid back, so I should have time to post pictures tonight/tomorrow.

The Bagster

So we decided to try out The Bagster. Basically, you buy this nylon(?) bag from Home Depot, fill it with your garbage, and then call for a truck to come pick it up. So we threw in anything and everything we've ripped out of the house so far. And then I started ripping out the oh-so-nasty wood paneling off the basement walls.

Doors

A few weeks ago, Andrew and Bethany stopped by to help us sand doors. They made quick work of all the doors we could throw at them. Unfortunately we haven't made nearly as much progress painting them. (Notice the ladder propping up our formerly-broken garage door)

Our bathroom door... until we get the door painted, and the door trim sanded/painted.

Progress

The house is really coming along. Last weekend our friends Andrew and Bethany came over (along with Amanda's parents) to help out. They helped us sand the doors/trim. Amanda's folks came up again this weekend and helped with the floor trim. Since the last post, we've:

• Finished painting the door/window trim in the master bedroom, and in the living room.
• Bought and hung curtains in the bedroom.
• Hung new blinds in the bathroom (no more flashing the neighbors!).
• Installed floor trim in the master bedroom.
• Moved the bed, and the dressers into the master bedroom!!!!! (I'm not sure those 5 exclamation marks expressed my enthusiasm).
• Replaced the garage door springs, only to learn that we have the wrong size springs. They allow the door to go up enough to get the cars in, so it'll work until we get the right size.
• Picked up new door handles/hinges for the doors we sanded. Those are outrageously expensive, by the way. I don't see why one of the cheapest door handles should cost $30.
• Bought a Weber grill (18.5") from Target for $32!
  

Things to go:

• Swap out the garage door springs.
• Finish the floor/baseboard trim in the living room.
• Paint the 2nd bedroom.
• Install the trim in the 2nd bedroom.
• Embark on the kitchen!!

Pictures should come soon.

Epic Fail

Yesterday the spring that helps the garage door go up decided it had enough. So until we get this fixed, our 8'x18' garage door must be opened by hand. Ugh.

The Tree / Weeds

The tree out front needed some serious trimming. Our friend Nick's an arborist, and was kind enough to help us out. He also helped trim the bushes, and we spent some time pulling weeds. Enjoy the pictures.

Starting to pick up the branches

Climbing around...

Carter decided he'd help us out.

The end result was a vast improvement...

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Washer

Apparently our new washing machine sucks. It makes an awful grinding sound when it spins for the wash cycle. Every so often it clanks pretty loudly. :-/ So Best Buy is delivering a replacement for us on Saturday. Hopefully the second one works better...

Update: We got a new washer. Apparently this model just makes grinding sounds. Who knew?

Original House Pictures

Well, I finally got the desktop hooked up, and I can post the pictures like I said I would. I was going to post them in this blog. Turns out it's a royal pain to upload 25 pictures. So instead I will point all of you here and you can view them there. I'll post pictures of updates here though. Under 5 at a time shouldn't be bad - it's the bulk uploading that takes forever.

House Updates (No Pictures)

We've been making all kinds of updates! Unfortunately I haven't posted the pictures like I said I would. I moved them to my desktop, and it doesn't have internet access in the garage. Thankfully, however, we're no longer sleeping in the garage. So that's a plus.

What we've done:

• Amanda's family helped sand the hardwood floors, and the floors have received the last (3rd) coat of polyurethane.
  
• Mom/Chip helped us paint the master bedroom walls/ceiling.
• We recently bought new window treatments for the master bedroom (though they haven't arrived yet).
  
• I cut out holes in the walls, ran wires, installed boxes, and installed outlets in the house for cable/internet. Andy (Amanda's dad) helped me hang a patch panel on the basement wall. He also helped me mount a box on the outer wall of the house that has two coax lines coming in (one for the antenna on the roof, and one is left open for future cable/satellite).
  
• Amanda and her family painted the living room ceiling/walls.
• Almost all of the upstairs outlets (except in the kitchen) have been replaced. When we bought the house none of them were grounded so we updated each one to 3-prong outlets, adding ground wires along the way.
• Almost all of the upstairs light switches (except in the kitchen) have been replaced. No more stupid dimmer switch - woohoo!
• The nasty ceiling tiles in the basement were taken down.
• Some of the wood paneling in the basement was removed.
• New washer in the basement.
  
• Amanda painted the mailbox, front light, and exterior door handles.
• Our friend Nick is an arborist, and trimmed the Maple tree in the front yard. It was overpowering the house. He also tackled some of the bushes around the house.
  
• Almost all of the nasty weeds (and apparently one nice vine...) have been removed outside.
• The wasps, and yellow jackets have successfully been 'removed' from the shed, and from the side of the house (by the kitchen).
  

New Blog

So, I finally broke down and started a blog. I feel like a trendy-wannabe. Nonetheless, here it is. Tonight I'll try to add photos of the house when we bought it, sans updates. I'll try to take more detailed pictures of project areas when we begin futures ones. As we fix/change things, I'll post pictures of the progress. Enjoy! -Erik

PS - No, this does not mean I will be creating a Facebook account. I still vehemently oppose that.