12/30/07 Over the last week we have installed all but one
upper cabinet in the Kitchen, as well as wiring in the
microwave, the wall oven and the cook top range fan and
light. The lower cabinets are installed and ready for the
countertop installers to come make their template. Kass
has primed and painted almost all of the cabinets as well!
12/20/07 Today we had our first fire in the fireplace! It felt good to stand in front of it and take the chill off. Last Sunday we ordered the counter tops for the kitchen (we wanted to get in on the sale for the free sink that ended on Dec 26!). We also bought a new dishwasher and a kitchen faucet. Now the crunch is on to get the cabinets painted and installed before January 2, 2008, that is when the countertop people come to do their template. We went with a Corian counter top with an integrated sink (the counter tops cost about twice what the cabinets did.) On a side note, we obviously didn't make our goal of Christmas of 2007, but we are close. We will just keep plugging away until we can put a huge DONE stamp on the whole house (maybe by Easter?)
12/09/07 Lots accomplished this weekend. Saturday & Sunday, Kass, Rick & Fred repaired all the exterior boards so gutters can be attached to the house soon! We also managed to repair some of the boards on the eaves next to the chimney chase as well. We even managed to put up some christmas decorations.
Click on the picture below for a larger image.
12/07/07 Over the last two weeks we have begun painting the Kitchen, purchased two more cabinets for the Kitchen, finished off the sheet rock in the Living Room around the fireplace, and re-plumbed the valve in the upstairs Bathroom so we can finish the sheet rock in there finally! We picked out some slate tile for the Kitchen and Laundry Room areas, which we will also incorporate on the fireplace hearth to tie that room together with it. This weekend we plan to work on the exterior to get the house ready for gutters which we have a crew scheduled to come out and work on just after x-mas this year. Once we finish that we hope to hang cabinets in the Kitchen!
11/25/07 Even with Thanksgiving we managed to keep plugging away at the house. Kass finished texturing the Kitchen & Laundry Room areas, Rick sanded the ceilings for her and she put on a coat of primer in each room as well. Meanwhile Rick framed in the built in closet for Alex's Room and put in the cedar lining.
11/19/07 We've been rather busy over the last few weeks, and haven't had much time to take pictures or update the web page. Summing things up, we had the fireplace and chimney inspected & approved, and closed in most of the chimney chase. The Entryway and Den room were painted, and some molding and the window trims were put back up. The Laundry Room and most of the Kitchen has been mudded and textured, the built in in Alex' room has been started, and a gutter company came out and measured the house for an estimate. We hope to have the gutters done VERY soon. We need to get the gutters done to help fight the water seepage into the basement, so we can then hook up the septic and the electricity!
10/27/07 Last weekend and during the week, Kass & Big Rick had put up sheet rock in the Den Room. Wednesday Kass & Rick finished up the sheet rock in the Den Room. Thursday Mitch & Gail came back to restore the Kitchen window, and Bob, Handyman for Hire, began leveling out the Bathroom floor and sloping it to run the water down the floor drain we put in for our six year old son. :) On Saturday the 27th, neighbors Rachel & Erin McCart came over to help us with numerous projects. Rachel, Kass & Jayden started off painting the Parlor while Rick & Erin built the pocket door wall between the Laundry Room & the Kitchen. Later, Rick & Erin put the trim work around the Kitchen Window, then moved all the remaining sheets of Sheet Rock down into the Basement as Rachel & Kass moved the scrap pieces of sheetrock worth saving down to the basement as well.
10/14/07 It has been a rough weekend, what with the death of Alex' horse, burying him and consoling both her and Kassandra. We did manage to complete the sheet rock in the Living Room and the Parlor. All that is left now is to put up the last of the insulation on the ceiling in the Den Room and hang sheet rock in there. Kassandra hopes to tape, mud & texture the parlor first, since it's mostly cleaned out from being the last room we worked on. We have about a week until the last of the chimney stove pipe we ordered comes in, so we can't finish that up until then anyway. It's been a long sad weekend, but working on the house did seem to distract us a bit from our loss.
10/11/07 It is with great sadness today that we had to put down Alex' gaming horse Spud. Kassandra and Fred were having a frustrating day trying to work on the house; nothing they tried to do seemed to be working. Around lunch time they came out of the basement and found Alex' horse Spud had tried to jump a gate and had somehow fallen and hurt his neck. He was unable to get back up or move his legs. After two veterinarians examined him it was decided to put him down.
10/07/07 Not too much to report this weekend. We finished the sheetrock in the Living Room except for the lower half of the wall next to the Kitchen as we have to get a part to finish the central vacuum line in it before we can put the sheet rock over it. Rick put up the ceiling insulation in the parlor while Kass started the taping and mudding in the Kitchen and Laundry Room. Next weekend Rick & Kass are going to the coast for a long overdue night away from the house, kids and everything else, but it will be right back to work on Saturday when we get back. :) Kass too our deck plans in to the county last week and we're still waiting to hear back from them. Once they are approved and we can build the deck, we will be VERY close to getting into the house! Other upcoming major projects include running power to the house and hooking up the water and septic.
09/30/07 Happy 6th Birthday Jayden! This weekend, we managed to complete hanging sheetrock in the Kitchen & Laundry Room, insulate the Den Room exterior walls and the Living Room Ceiling, put up just over half of the Living Room ceiling sheet rock, get a second coat of paint done in Alex's Room AND paint the hallway and the upper half of the stair well on top of throwing Jayden a Birthday party! See individual rooms for details. :)
09/23/07 After a back breaking week (literally) we had the basement ready to pour and finished it this weekend! On Wednesday morning, Rick did something to his back and had to go see a Dr, who told him he had sprained his back! Saturday morning, Kass was walking down the back steps when she slipped and landed on the stairs so hard she jolted her back as well! Once again we had Dennis from D&S Concrete Pumping come out and assisted us and Handyman For Hire, Bob. Neighbors Jack Keeley, John Keeley, and Kass' son Rick also came out and helped out where they could. As Big Rick was more or less out of commission, he helped direct people and took pictures, then ran and picked up pizza for everyone with Ricky's girlfriend Erin. Jayden made a dash over the poured and smoothed back three rooms that had to be re-finished before continuing. The final two rooms were poured and smoothed. Sunday, Kass' sister Lisa came out to help paint a room as her birthday gift to Kass (A day of labor on the house!). Kass worked on the Hallway, stripping more paint from the door trim and patching cracks in the plaster where she could. Rick rested his back cleaning the bedroom and updating the website. He may go hang some sheet rock this afternoon so long as his back doesn't get sore and his co workers chastise him for it. :)
09/16/07 Well, since our last update, we did pass the plumbing inspection, once we fixed an additional leak we found before the inspector came out, and we've begun putting sheetrock up on the main floor. Kass and her dad began work on the basement, with a little help from Big Rick when muscles were needed. The gravel was compacted (muscles) and the vapor barrier is down along with wire mesh grids and the tubing for the radiant floor heating. Bob, the handyman we hired also put in rebar all the way around the footings to tie into the concrete floor. We are hoping to pour the concrete within the next week or so for the back three rooms so we can build the wall to put the electrical panel on, and get power into the house! On Sunday (today) Kass' brother Kevin Kirchhofer and his wife Janette came out to donate a day's labor on the house for Kass' birthday present. Janette & Kass painted Alex' room and scrubbed & scraped the walls in the hallway & stairs, and the stairs themselves, and also cleaned out the bathtub for the bathroom. Kevin & Rick put the sheetrock on the ceiling in the Kitchen and in the Laundry Room, and did one and a half walls in the Kitchen. There are a LOT of cut outs for all the lights, outlets, switches, plumbing and under cabinet lighting. But now when you walk into the house, you can see a lot of improvement from the moment you walk in. It's feeling very much like we are getting things done in there now!
09/09/07 Kass and Alex went to a horse show on Saturday, so big Rick stayed home and completed some projects! He ran the wiring for three TV hookups on the main floor, a thermostat wire for the radiant floor heating, Set limiters on the pocket door walls and extended the East pocket door wall so it goes all the way out to the end of the door, put in cross bracing in the floor/ceiling joists under the Master Bedroom, and installed most of the insulation in the Kitchen. On Sunday he drilled the holes for the central vacuum system to go down the wall between the Kitchen & Living Room then put a facing on the wall so that it is now wider than the drain line that goes down through it. Kassandra removed some paint from the door to the spare room Saturday evening when she returned home, then Sunday she finished removing the paint and primed the door, then later painted it. While waiting, she bleached & scraped the walls in the hallway upstairs and removed paint from the door trim as well. We are going for our plumbing inspection tomorrow. We had the inspectors out a couple times already; the first time he changed it from an inspection to a consultation and told us all the things we needed to fix. The second inspector came out and told us most of what we had done (that the first inspector told us to do) was wrong, and things that had previously been inspected and passed were no good. We complained and the first inspector came back out and approved most of what we had done, and gave us one more thing that did need to be fixed (especially since it was in fact leaking!). Kass' dad Fred removed the entire leaking section and replaced it before I made it home from work that day! It now holds water without leaking, and we are crossing fingers for the inspection tomorrow. Once we pass that inspection, we can sheet rock the remainder of the house!
08/31/07 We didn't quite make it through the plumbing inspection today, but the person from the county who came out put it down as a consultation, and gave us a list of things we needed to do in order to pass. He was very helpful and offered a lot of advice for us to get our plumbing working right and to make it last! We put up the smoke detector, heater, and re-hung the door in Jayden's room, it just needs the cable & telephone plug installed, so Kass is calling that room DONE. :) Meanwhile last weekend we went to dinner at Chang's Mongolian Grill and Kass' fortune cookie was very amusing...
08/26/07 Today we FINISHED the first room of the house!!! OK so its 99% complete, we still need to install the heater, the smoke alarm and one more outlet and re-hang the door, but other than that... it's DONE! We also finished running the water lines and painted some moldings.
08/19/07 We went on our annual family vacation this past week. The kids left on Wednesday (you know how teenagers are) to come home and paint the exterior of the house, well at least start on it (unbeknownst to Kass that is.) She was pleasantly surprised when we arrived home on Friday. Little Rick worked on the Attic dormer and painted it, while Alex and Rick's girlfriend Erin painted the side of the one story section of the house. Rick and Kass headed straight for the upstairs of the old house to get back to work on Friday afternoon. We painted the Master Bedroom, insulated some of the down stairs, put up some trim work, painted the floor in Jayden's room and looked at counter top materials. Big Rick also put in outlets and switches in the Master Bedroom and Jayden's room, and light fixtures in the attic & Master Bedroom closet. Fred, Rick & Kass also put up a ceiling fan in the Master Bedroom. It looks SO close to being done in there. Rick & Kass were also finding the moulding for all the rooms, and were very confused when they couldn't find any picture rail for the Master Bedroom. It was while we were updating the Master Bedroom page we scrolled down to the old pictures and realized it didn't have any picture rail before. The week before our vacation Kass and Fred finished up the electrical on the main floor and had the county inspection done, we passed with flying colors. Fred and Rick also worked on the plumbing, they have the hot water lines ran and part of the cold water lines done. Wont be long until we call the plumbing inspector out now!
08/02/07 You know how
sometimes when you are trying to complete a project, you find
that you cant do this portion until that thing is done and you
cant do that until this is done..etc..etc. Well today we
finished THAT thing! We installed the tubing for the
radiant floor heat on the main floor. Fred, Kass and
Rick drilled holes, pulled tubing and stapled it up between
the floor joists! Now the plumbing and the electrical
can be completed in the main house. The upstairs is
almost complete, Kass needs to finish mudding and texturing
the master bedroom and it will be ready for paint. The other
bedrooms are already done and awaiting the future
occupants to pick out the colors (how do you convince a 5 year
old that ketchup red and lemon yellow are NOT good color
choices?). Kass has also been working on getting the
deck plans ready to take to the county for permits.
07/21/07 We finally did something in the basement!. We hired a young man to level out the floor in preparation for the concrete. We hope to pour it later this summer. Kass has been working on the "mudding" of the drywall, Alex's room is now textured and ready for primer and Jayden's room has one coat of mud on it. Rick went shopping for molding for the little spare room and hopes to get it painted this weekend.
07/12/07 Hay season was upon us, which means cutting, raking, bailing, hauling hay, stacking, and lots of showers! Luckily we finished it all in just a few weeks! Meanwhile back at the house, Kass textured the Spare Room and Alex' Bedroom, and they painted the Spare Room today! Check out it's page for new pictures and a splash of color in that room! Rick installed the oven & microwave in the cabinet for the Kitchen and we received some quotes on the deck, and for pouring the floor in the basement. We're almost ready for an electrical inspection on the 1st floor, so we can insulate and sheetrock it once that is done.
06/30/07 On Thursday, Mitch & Gail came out again and did the two parlor windows left from the time before and replaced the glass in the center one they did last time but a crack formed in it just before they finished. Kass pulled out the glass from the broken window in Jayden's room and this weekend reglazed it. Once it dries she'll re-hang it and the upstairs will be complete again. Meanwhile she painted and reinstalled the window for the Halfbath on the main floor. Rick ran the home run for the x-mas light circuit on Thursday and with Kass' help they finished the ceiling in the Master bedroom. Today Rick woke up before everyone else and finished the sheetrock on the chimney chute in Alex' room and the chimney wall in the Master Bedroom. While Kass mudded he cleaned up most of the two rooms and took a few pictures of them to update the site. Tomorrow we may begin texturing and painting!!!
06/17/07 Very busy weekend! Kassandra worked on another window for the house, finished sanding the first coat of mud in Alex's room and did the second coat, while Rick put up sheetrock on the Bathroom ceiling and two walls (can't do the other two until the plumbing passes inspection), and with a little help from Kassandra they put up the most of the ceiling in the Master Bedroom, and one wall as well. We need to move all the sheetrock leaning against the exterior wall so we can put up the vapor barrier so we can sheetrock it as well. Basically there are just three walls left in the Master Bedroom and two walls left in the Bathroom, and then the entire upstairs will be sheetrocked! Meanwhile we on hold with the plumbing due to a chain reaction: Can't get inspected till the water lines are run; can't finish the water lines till we run the tubes for the radiant floor heating; can't run the tubes for the radiant floor heating till we get the drill bits to go through the floor joists; the special drill bits are on back order, and should arrive later this week. Other than that, Rick also rebuilt the top of the post in the Entryway so that it is now solid again. We're still getting used to being able to touch it whereas before it would fall off if you bumped it. <G>
06/02/07 Big Rick slept in till 6:30 Saturday morning, but everyone else was still asleep so he went out and put up sheetrock in Alex's Room on the ceiling by himself. How he managed those 12 foot sheets I don't want to think about! Kassandra worked on the window for the Utility Room, taking out the lower sash and cleaning all the paint off of it and cleaning & reglazing the glass in it. When we stopped for lunch, we went to Home Deopt and purchased the rest of the insulation (we hope) for the 1st floor, some tools and more mudding compound for the sheet rock, and a skylight for the bathroom. (Not one of those big nasty bubble ones; a Sonitube so it's low profile & hidden.) We also picked up a new BBQ for Big Rick's Father's Day gift for 2006! Maybe this year we'll buy him a new Propane tank to go with it. <G>
5/31/07 First up, let me say a HUGE thank you to google.com. In updating the pages I somehow deleted most of the log from the year 2005, from mid-April through the end of the year. My back ups only had January through April 20th, and subsequent back ups had the entire year gone. Luckily for me, Google.com had taken a snapshot of the page and had it cached from March 7th, 2006, and I was able to recover the entire log from them.
Over Memorial Day weekend Kass' son Rick came out one day to finish some wiring for the x-mas lights to go out on the eaves and gave Big Rick a hand putting up some sheetrock. Big Rick spent most of the weekend finishing the insulation in the ceilings of the Master Bedroom & Alex's Room, the wall between them, and he finished the sheet rock in Jayden's Room. He also built more of the frame for the door in the Master Bedroom to go out to the deck. Kassandra and Jayden taped & mudded the small Spare Room and did some mudding in Jayden's Room as well. Then she did a lot of plumbing with her dad Fred, correcting some of the drainage vents, and they installed two of the vents up to the roof, as well as getting some of the water lines installed in the Bathroom, Half-Bath and Laundry Room. A trip to the Rebuilding Center garnered some window sashes to replace the broken glass in the Parlor window, Jayden's Room and Den Room windows that had been damaged. We also received some bids on building the deck! Very exciting times coming up soon!
05/12/07 Over the past week, Rick installed the window in the front little room, Kassandra rebuilt the window for the half bath and we put up sheet rock on 3 of the 4 walls in Jayden's room (the last wall has to wait until the plumbing is done). Rick, Kassandra, Fred and Little Rick unloaded the rest of the sheet rock on Saturday. We had a little mishap with Fred's contraption and lost one load, nothing his welder couldn't fix. Rick and Kassandra worked Saturday afternoon on the ceiling of the little front bedroom (sitting room, spare room what ever we decide to call it).
05/07/07 "MacGyver to the Rescue!" Without the help of Fred Kirchhofer, Kassandra's father, this house would never be completed, of that I have no doubt. This last weekend we moved most of the sheetrock to do the bedrooms in the upstairs, and many of the sheets were 4 feet wide by 12 feet long. How were we to get them up into the 2nd floor? Fred built a contraption that hooked on to the front of one of our tractors, and low and behold we were in business!
Kassandra's brother Kevin came over to assist in the loading. We started around 10:30 and by lunch we had all the sheetrock up and in the house! That afternoon we put up the ceiling in Jayden's room, with a minor mishap (broke a window). Kassandra has been working on the windows since she spent that day with Mitch & Gail and is getting very confident in her use of the heat gun and restoring our windows up to the point where they need glazing. Rick framed in for the window in the upstairs spare room, and put up insulation in the ceiling and walls, then worked a bit more on the door for the Master Bedroom deck access. We also purchased a cook top for the Kitchen, as it turns out, from the same gentleman we purchased the Kitchen cabinets from! Just need a dishwasher & refrigerator, and our Kitchen will be outfitted!
04/19/07 Two more windows are once again working smoothly, thanks to the Sashman! We also installed the vapor barrier in the front bedroom (Jaydens room) and on the exterior wall in the Bathroom. We did have a slight set back though with our plumbing. Apparently the plumbing book we used isn't exactly "code" in their methods so we are having to re-do some of our drain lines (UGH). Rick has been working on framing in the door from the Master Bedroom to the upper deck. We went to our local big box store and purchased all the sheetrock for the house, now we just have to haul it home and get it IN the house... Fred is creating a contraption to go on the tractor bucket to help us lift the 12ft sheets through the chimney opening to the second floor ( pictures to follow when its done). Should be interesting!
04/05/07 Once again we've been pretty busy and have fallen behind on our log. On March 28th we passed our electrical inspection for the 2nd floor, which means we can now insulate & sheetrock the whole floor. Of course, we'll hold off on the bathroom till it passes the plumbing inspection. :) Kass took nearly two weeks off, and has almost all of the wiring done on the 1st floor as well. We've been watching craigs list and we found a matching wall oven & microwave for the kitchen, as well as all but three cabinets for the Kitchen. Kass tried a 'crackle' effect on one of the cabinet doors and we like it very much. We still need to find a corner base cabinet, a corner upper cabinet and a pantry, and then we'll have all the cabinets for the kitchen. We went to the Parr Cabinet Outlet and purchased the wall oven cabinet on close out for $100, regularly just over $800. Not a bad deal! We have done most of the insulating of the exterior walls, and once we put a vapor barrier on them we can begin putting up sheetrock!
03/05/07 We apologize for the long delay in the log. We've pretty much finished the wiring on the second floor, and a few rooms on the first floor are wired as well. On February 10th Kass & Rick managed to replace the siding on the first floor along the Parlor, and up to the bottom layer of the second floor. On March 4th Kass & Rick finished the 2nd floor siding around the Bathroom & Jayden's rooms. We even installed the small square bathroom window on the 4th. Unfortunately we don't have a picture yet but keep checking, we'll get some soon. Mitch & Gail came out and refurbished the windows in the Master Bedroom, and Rick found a sash at The ReBuilding Center that Kass installed in the stairwell window, it was a perfect fit! All the windows in the upstairs are now repaired (except the missing one in the front spare room), they will start on the main floor the end of April. We're still hunting for some kitchen cabinets, and Kass found some old cabinet doors on a website and Rick picked them up. We hope to incorporate them into the Kitchen somehow. Kass ordered the plugs, switches & plates for the electrical today, and we're hoping to pass our electrical inspection soon so we can insulate and sheet rock the 2nd floor! I might be forgetting something, but that's all for now!
01/21/07 Kass finished up the siding on the fireplace wall over the last week and this morning we put in the two replacement windows to finally seal up that wall for the first time since we've owned the house! We also poured some gravel to make a path to the back porch and cleaned up the house a bit to get it ready for a lighting specialist to come through and give us advice on our lighting options. Little Rick still needs to finish up his wiring on the second floor for our upcoming inspection. If only he hadn't discovered girls! <G>
01/14/07 Braving the freezing temperatures, Rick & Kass managed to frame in the chimney chase, and Kass also put some siding on the wall around one of the windows. We plan on screwing the outside siding of the chase on so that when it comes time to put in the chimney, we have easy access to it, and can nail it on then. We're hoping to do a faux brick finish on the chase to make it look like a true fireplace.
01/11/07 With all the snow and ice on the ground Rick actually went in to work today. Kass meanwhile stayed home and during the day went out and finished the roof framing for the pre fab fireplace and put some exterior siding plywood around it. This makes her very excited because now when people drive by they can actually SEE something has been done to the house. <G> After work, Rick stopped off and picked up a Pedastal Sink for the upstairs bathroom.that Kass found on Craigslist.org.
01/06/07 Progress was made today. Finally you can tell we are working on the house from the outside! We closed the hole in the floor where the fireplace goes and started framing in the opening for the prefab fireplace to sit. Tomorrow we hope to finish that.
12/20/07 Today we had our first fire in the fireplace! It felt good to stand in front of it and take the chill off. Last Sunday we ordered the counter tops for the kitchen (we wanted to get in on the sale for the free sink that ended on Dec 26!). We also bought a new dishwasher and a kitchen faucet. Now the crunch is on to get the cabinets painted and installed before January 2, 2008, that is when the countertop people come to do their template. We went with a Corian counter top with an integrated sink (the counter tops cost about twice what the cabinets did.) On a side note, we obviously didn't make our goal of Christmas of 2007, but we are close. We will just keep plugging away until we can put a huge DONE stamp on the whole house (maybe by Easter?)
12/09/07 Lots accomplished this weekend. Saturday & Sunday, Kass, Rick & Fred repaired all the exterior boards so gutters can be attached to the house soon! We also managed to repair some of the boards on the eaves next to the chimney chase as well. We even managed to put up some christmas decorations.
Click on the picture below for a larger image.
12/07/07 Over the last two weeks we have begun painting the Kitchen, purchased two more cabinets for the Kitchen, finished off the sheet rock in the Living Room around the fireplace, and re-plumbed the valve in the upstairs Bathroom so we can finish the sheet rock in there finally! We picked out some slate tile for the Kitchen and Laundry Room areas, which we will also incorporate on the fireplace hearth to tie that room together with it. This weekend we plan to work on the exterior to get the house ready for gutters which we have a crew scheduled to come out and work on just after x-mas this year. Once we finish that we hope to hang cabinets in the Kitchen!
11/25/07 Even with Thanksgiving we managed to keep plugging away at the house. Kass finished texturing the Kitchen & Laundry Room areas, Rick sanded the ceilings for her and she put on a coat of primer in each room as well. Meanwhile Rick framed in the built in closet for Alex's Room and put in the cedar lining.
11/19/07 We've been rather busy over the last few weeks, and haven't had much time to take pictures or update the web page. Summing things up, we had the fireplace and chimney inspected & approved, and closed in most of the chimney chase. The Entryway and Den room were painted, and some molding and the window trims were put back up. The Laundry Room and most of the Kitchen has been mudded and textured, the built in in Alex' room has been started, and a gutter company came out and measured the house for an estimate. We hope to have the gutters done VERY soon. We need to get the gutters done to help fight the water seepage into the basement, so we can then hook up the septic and the electricity!
10/27/07 Last weekend and during the week, Kass & Big Rick had put up sheet rock in the Den Room. Wednesday Kass & Rick finished up the sheet rock in the Den Room. Thursday Mitch & Gail came back to restore the Kitchen window, and Bob, Handyman for Hire, began leveling out the Bathroom floor and sloping it to run the water down the floor drain we put in for our six year old son. :) On Saturday the 27th, neighbors Rachel & Erin McCart came over to help us with numerous projects. Rachel, Kass & Jayden started off painting the Parlor while Rick & Erin built the pocket door wall between the Laundry Room & the Kitchen. Later, Rick & Erin put the trim work around the Kitchen Window, then moved all the remaining sheets of Sheet Rock down into the Basement as Rachel & Kass moved the scrap pieces of sheetrock worth saving down to the basement as well.
10/14/07 It has been a rough weekend, what with the death of Alex' horse, burying him and consoling both her and Kassandra. We did manage to complete the sheet rock in the Living Room and the Parlor. All that is left now is to put up the last of the insulation on the ceiling in the Den Room and hang sheet rock in there. Kassandra hopes to tape, mud & texture the parlor first, since it's mostly cleaned out from being the last room we worked on. We have about a week until the last of the chimney stove pipe we ordered comes in, so we can't finish that up until then anyway. It's been a long sad weekend, but working on the house did seem to distract us a bit from our loss.
10/11/07 It is with great sadness today that we had to put down Alex' gaming horse Spud. Kassandra and Fred were having a frustrating day trying to work on the house; nothing they tried to do seemed to be working. Around lunch time they came out of the basement and found Alex' horse Spud had tried to jump a gate and had somehow fallen and hurt his neck. He was unable to get back up or move his legs. After two veterinarians examined him it was decided to put him down.
10/07/07 Not too much to report this weekend. We finished the sheetrock in the Living Room except for the lower half of the wall next to the Kitchen as we have to get a part to finish the central vacuum line in it before we can put the sheet rock over it. Rick put up the ceiling insulation in the parlor while Kass started the taping and mudding in the Kitchen and Laundry Room. Next weekend Rick & Kass are going to the coast for a long overdue night away from the house, kids and everything else, but it will be right back to work on Saturday when we get back. :) Kass too our deck plans in to the county last week and we're still waiting to hear back from them. Once they are approved and we can build the deck, we will be VERY close to getting into the house! Other upcoming major projects include running power to the house and hooking up the water and septic.
09/30/07 Happy 6th Birthday Jayden! This weekend, we managed to complete hanging sheetrock in the Kitchen & Laundry Room, insulate the Den Room exterior walls and the Living Room Ceiling, put up just over half of the Living Room ceiling sheet rock, get a second coat of paint done in Alex's Room AND paint the hallway and the upper half of the stair well on top of throwing Jayden a Birthday party! See individual rooms for details. :)
09/23/07 After a back breaking week (literally) we had the basement ready to pour and finished it this weekend! On Wednesday morning, Rick did something to his back and had to go see a Dr, who told him he had sprained his back! Saturday morning, Kass was walking down the back steps when she slipped and landed on the stairs so hard she jolted her back as well! Once again we had Dennis from D&S Concrete Pumping come out and assisted us and Handyman For Hire, Bob. Neighbors Jack Keeley, John Keeley, and Kass' son Rick also came out and helped out where they could. As Big Rick was more or less out of commission, he helped direct people and took pictures, then ran and picked up pizza for everyone with Ricky's girlfriend Erin. Jayden made a dash over the poured and smoothed back three rooms that had to be re-finished before continuing. The final two rooms were poured and smoothed. Sunday, Kass' sister Lisa came out to help paint a room as her birthday gift to Kass (A day of labor on the house!). Kass worked on the Hallway, stripping more paint from the door trim and patching cracks in the plaster where she could. Rick rested his back cleaning the bedroom and updating the website. He may go hang some sheet rock this afternoon so long as his back doesn't get sore and his co workers chastise him for it. :)
09/16/07 Well, since our last update, we did pass the plumbing inspection, once we fixed an additional leak we found before the inspector came out, and we've begun putting sheetrock up on the main floor. Kass and her dad began work on the basement, with a little help from Big Rick when muscles were needed. The gravel was compacted (muscles) and the vapor barrier is down along with wire mesh grids and the tubing for the radiant floor heating. Bob, the handyman we hired also put in rebar all the way around the footings to tie into the concrete floor. We are hoping to pour the concrete within the next week or so for the back three rooms so we can build the wall to put the electrical panel on, and get power into the house! On Sunday (today) Kass' brother Kevin Kirchhofer and his wife Janette came out to donate a day's labor on the house for Kass' birthday present. Janette & Kass painted Alex' room and scrubbed & scraped the walls in the hallway & stairs, and the stairs themselves, and also cleaned out the bathtub for the bathroom. Kevin & Rick put the sheetrock on the ceiling in the Kitchen and in the Laundry Room, and did one and a half walls in the Kitchen. There are a LOT of cut outs for all the lights, outlets, switches, plumbing and under cabinet lighting. But now when you walk into the house, you can see a lot of improvement from the moment you walk in. It's feeling very much like we are getting things done in there now!
09/09/07 Kass and Alex went to a horse show on Saturday, so big Rick stayed home and completed some projects! He ran the wiring for three TV hookups on the main floor, a thermostat wire for the radiant floor heating, Set limiters on the pocket door walls and extended the East pocket door wall so it goes all the way out to the end of the door, put in cross bracing in the floor/ceiling joists under the Master Bedroom, and installed most of the insulation in the Kitchen. On Sunday he drilled the holes for the central vacuum system to go down the wall between the Kitchen & Living Room then put a facing on the wall so that it is now wider than the drain line that goes down through it. Kassandra removed some paint from the door to the spare room Saturday evening when she returned home, then Sunday she finished removing the paint and primed the door, then later painted it. While waiting, she bleached & scraped the walls in the hallway upstairs and removed paint from the door trim as well. We are going for our plumbing inspection tomorrow. We had the inspectors out a couple times already; the first time he changed it from an inspection to a consultation and told us all the things we needed to fix. The second inspector came out and told us most of what we had done (that the first inspector told us to do) was wrong, and things that had previously been inspected and passed were no good. We complained and the first inspector came back out and approved most of what we had done, and gave us one more thing that did need to be fixed (especially since it was in fact leaking!). Kass' dad Fred removed the entire leaking section and replaced it before I made it home from work that day! It now holds water without leaking, and we are crossing fingers for the inspection tomorrow. Once we pass that inspection, we can sheet rock the remainder of the house!
08/31/07 We didn't quite make it through the plumbing inspection today, but the person from the county who came out put it down as a consultation, and gave us a list of things we needed to do in order to pass. He was very helpful and offered a lot of advice for us to get our plumbing working right and to make it last! We put up the smoke detector, heater, and re-hung the door in Jayden's room, it just needs the cable & telephone plug installed, so Kass is calling that room DONE. :) Meanwhile last weekend we went to dinner at Chang's Mongolian Grill and Kass' fortune cookie was very amusing...
08/26/07 Today we FINISHED the first room of the house!!! OK so its 99% complete, we still need to install the heater, the smoke alarm and one more outlet and re-hang the door, but other than that... it's DONE! We also finished running the water lines and painted some moldings.
08/19/07 We went on our annual family vacation this past week. The kids left on Wednesday (you know how teenagers are) to come home and paint the exterior of the house, well at least start on it (unbeknownst to Kass that is.) She was pleasantly surprised when we arrived home on Friday. Little Rick worked on the Attic dormer and painted it, while Alex and Rick's girlfriend Erin painted the side of the one story section of the house. Rick and Kass headed straight for the upstairs of the old house to get back to work on Friday afternoon. We painted the Master Bedroom, insulated some of the down stairs, put up some trim work, painted the floor in Jayden's room and looked at counter top materials. Big Rick also put in outlets and switches in the Master Bedroom and Jayden's room, and light fixtures in the attic & Master Bedroom closet. Fred, Rick & Kass also put up a ceiling fan in the Master Bedroom. It looks SO close to being done in there. Rick & Kass were also finding the moulding for all the rooms, and were very confused when they couldn't find any picture rail for the Master Bedroom. It was while we were updating the Master Bedroom page we scrolled down to the old pictures and realized it didn't have any picture rail before. The week before our vacation Kass and Fred finished up the electrical on the main floor and had the county inspection done, we passed with flying colors. Fred and Rick also worked on the plumbing, they have the hot water lines ran and part of the cold water lines done. Wont be long until we call the plumbing inspector out now!
07/21/07 We finally did something in the basement!. We hired a young man to level out the floor in preparation for the concrete. We hope to pour it later this summer. Kass has been working on the "mudding" of the drywall, Alex's room is now textured and ready for primer and Jayden's room has one coat of mud on it. Rick went shopping for molding for the little spare room and hopes to get it painted this weekend.
07/12/07 Hay season was upon us, which means cutting, raking, bailing, hauling hay, stacking, and lots of showers! Luckily we finished it all in just a few weeks! Meanwhile back at the house, Kass textured the Spare Room and Alex' Bedroom, and they painted the Spare Room today! Check out it's page for new pictures and a splash of color in that room! Rick installed the oven & microwave in the cabinet for the Kitchen and we received some quotes on the deck, and for pouring the floor in the basement. We're almost ready for an electrical inspection on the 1st floor, so we can insulate and sheetrock it once that is done.
06/30/07 On Thursday, Mitch & Gail came out again and did the two parlor windows left from the time before and replaced the glass in the center one they did last time but a crack formed in it just before they finished. Kass pulled out the glass from the broken window in Jayden's room and this weekend reglazed it. Once it dries she'll re-hang it and the upstairs will be complete again. Meanwhile she painted and reinstalled the window for the Halfbath on the main floor. Rick ran the home run for the x-mas light circuit on Thursday and with Kass' help they finished the ceiling in the Master bedroom. Today Rick woke up before everyone else and finished the sheetrock on the chimney chute in Alex' room and the chimney wall in the Master Bedroom. While Kass mudded he cleaned up most of the two rooms and took a few pictures of them to update the site. Tomorrow we may begin texturing and painting!!!
06/17/07 Very busy weekend! Kassandra worked on another window for the house, finished sanding the first coat of mud in Alex's room and did the second coat, while Rick put up sheetrock on the Bathroom ceiling and two walls (can't do the other two until the plumbing passes inspection), and with a little help from Kassandra they put up the most of the ceiling in the Master Bedroom, and one wall as well. We need to move all the sheetrock leaning against the exterior wall so we can put up the vapor barrier so we can sheetrock it as well. Basically there are just three walls left in the Master Bedroom and two walls left in the Bathroom, and then the entire upstairs will be sheetrocked! Meanwhile we on hold with the plumbing due to a chain reaction: Can't get inspected till the water lines are run; can't finish the water lines till we run the tubes for the radiant floor heating; can't run the tubes for the radiant floor heating till we get the drill bits to go through the floor joists; the special drill bits are on back order, and should arrive later this week. Other than that, Rick also rebuilt the top of the post in the Entryway so that it is now solid again. We're still getting used to being able to touch it whereas before it would fall off if you bumped it. <G>
06/02/07 Big Rick slept in till 6:30 Saturday morning, but everyone else was still asleep so he went out and put up sheetrock in Alex's Room on the ceiling by himself. How he managed those 12 foot sheets I don't want to think about! Kassandra worked on the window for the Utility Room, taking out the lower sash and cleaning all the paint off of it and cleaning & reglazing the glass in it. When we stopped for lunch, we went to Home Deopt and purchased the rest of the insulation (we hope) for the 1st floor, some tools and more mudding compound for the sheet rock, and a skylight for the bathroom. (Not one of those big nasty bubble ones; a Sonitube so it's low profile & hidden.) We also picked up a new BBQ for Big Rick's Father's Day gift for 2006! Maybe this year we'll buy him a new Propane tank to go with it. <G>
5/31/07 First up, let me say a HUGE thank you to google.com. In updating the pages I somehow deleted most of the log from the year 2005, from mid-April through the end of the year. My back ups only had January through April 20th, and subsequent back ups had the entire year gone. Luckily for me, Google.com had taken a snapshot of the page and had it cached from March 7th, 2006, and I was able to recover the entire log from them.
Over Memorial Day weekend Kass' son Rick came out one day to finish some wiring for the x-mas lights to go out on the eaves and gave Big Rick a hand putting up some sheetrock. Big Rick spent most of the weekend finishing the insulation in the ceilings of the Master Bedroom & Alex's Room, the wall between them, and he finished the sheet rock in Jayden's Room. He also built more of the frame for the door in the Master Bedroom to go out to the deck. Kassandra and Jayden taped & mudded the small Spare Room and did some mudding in Jayden's Room as well. Then she did a lot of plumbing with her dad Fred, correcting some of the drainage vents, and they installed two of the vents up to the roof, as well as getting some of the water lines installed in the Bathroom, Half-Bath and Laundry Room. A trip to the Rebuilding Center garnered some window sashes to replace the broken glass in the Parlor window, Jayden's Room and Den Room windows that had been damaged. We also received some bids on building the deck! Very exciting times coming up soon!
05/12/07 Over the past week, Rick installed the window in the front little room, Kassandra rebuilt the window for the half bath and we put up sheet rock on 3 of the 4 walls in Jayden's room (the last wall has to wait until the plumbing is done). Rick, Kassandra, Fred and Little Rick unloaded the rest of the sheet rock on Saturday. We had a little mishap with Fred's contraption and lost one load, nothing his welder couldn't fix. Rick and Kassandra worked Saturday afternoon on the ceiling of the little front bedroom (sitting room, spare room what ever we decide to call it).
05/07/07 "MacGyver to the Rescue!" Without the help of Fred Kirchhofer, Kassandra's father, this house would never be completed, of that I have no doubt. This last weekend we moved most of the sheetrock to do the bedrooms in the upstairs, and many of the sheets were 4 feet wide by 12 feet long. How were we to get them up into the 2nd floor? Fred built a contraption that hooked on to the front of one of our tractors, and low and behold we were in business!
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Kassandra's brother Kevin came over to assist in the loading. We started around 10:30 and by lunch we had all the sheetrock up and in the house! That afternoon we put up the ceiling in Jayden's room, with a minor mishap (broke a window). Kassandra has been working on the windows since she spent that day with Mitch & Gail and is getting very confident in her use of the heat gun and restoring our windows up to the point where they need glazing. Rick framed in for the window in the upstairs spare room, and put up insulation in the ceiling and walls, then worked a bit more on the door for the Master Bedroom deck access. We also purchased a cook top for the Kitchen, as it turns out, from the same gentleman we purchased the Kitchen cabinets from! Just need a dishwasher & refrigerator, and our Kitchen will be outfitted!
04/19/07 Two more windows are once again working smoothly, thanks to the Sashman! We also installed the vapor barrier in the front bedroom (Jaydens room) and on the exterior wall in the Bathroom. We did have a slight set back though with our plumbing. Apparently the plumbing book we used isn't exactly "code" in their methods so we are having to re-do some of our drain lines (UGH). Rick has been working on framing in the door from the Master Bedroom to the upper deck. We went to our local big box store and purchased all the sheetrock for the house, now we just have to haul it home and get it IN the house... Fred is creating a contraption to go on the tractor bucket to help us lift the 12ft sheets through the chimney opening to the second floor ( pictures to follow when its done). Should be interesting!
04/05/07 Once again we've been pretty busy and have fallen behind on our log. On March 28th we passed our electrical inspection for the 2nd floor, which means we can now insulate & sheetrock the whole floor. Of course, we'll hold off on the bathroom till it passes the plumbing inspection. :) Kass took nearly two weeks off, and has almost all of the wiring done on the 1st floor as well. We've been watching craigs list and we found a matching wall oven & microwave for the kitchen, as well as all but three cabinets for the Kitchen. Kass tried a 'crackle' effect on one of the cabinet doors and we like it very much. We still need to find a corner base cabinet, a corner upper cabinet and a pantry, and then we'll have all the cabinets for the kitchen. We went to the Parr Cabinet Outlet and purchased the wall oven cabinet on close out for $100, regularly just over $800. Not a bad deal! We have done most of the insulating of the exterior walls, and once we put a vapor barrier on them we can begin putting up sheetrock!
03/05/07 We apologize for the long delay in the log. We've pretty much finished the wiring on the second floor, and a few rooms on the first floor are wired as well. On February 10th Kass & Rick managed to replace the siding on the first floor along the Parlor, and up to the bottom layer of the second floor. On March 4th Kass & Rick finished the 2nd floor siding around the Bathroom & Jayden's rooms. We even installed the small square bathroom window on the 4th. Unfortunately we don't have a picture yet but keep checking, we'll get some soon. Mitch & Gail came out and refurbished the windows in the Master Bedroom, and Rick found a sash at The ReBuilding Center that Kass installed in the stairwell window, it was a perfect fit! All the windows in the upstairs are now repaired (except the missing one in the front spare room), they will start on the main floor the end of April. We're still hunting for some kitchen cabinets, and Kass found some old cabinet doors on a website and Rick picked them up. We hope to incorporate them into the Kitchen somehow. Kass ordered the plugs, switches & plates for the electrical today, and we're hoping to pass our electrical inspection soon so we can insulate and sheet rock the 2nd floor! I might be forgetting something, but that's all for now!
01/21/07 Kass finished up the siding on the fireplace wall over the last week and this morning we put in the two replacement windows to finally seal up that wall for the first time since we've owned the house! We also poured some gravel to make a path to the back porch and cleaned up the house a bit to get it ready for a lighting specialist to come through and give us advice on our lighting options. Little Rick still needs to finish up his wiring on the second floor for our upcoming inspection. If only he hadn't discovered girls! <G>
01/14/07 Braving the freezing temperatures, Rick & Kass managed to frame in the chimney chase, and Kass also put some siding on the wall around one of the windows. We plan on screwing the outside siding of the chase on so that when it comes time to put in the chimney, we have easy access to it, and can nail it on then. We're hoping to do a faux brick finish on the chase to make it look like a true fireplace.
01/11/07 With all the snow and ice on the ground Rick actually went in to work today. Kass meanwhile stayed home and during the day went out and finished the roof framing for the pre fab fireplace and put some exterior siding plywood around it. This makes her very excited because now when people drive by they can actually SEE something has been done to the house. <G> After work, Rick stopped off and picked up a Pedastal Sink for the upstairs bathroom.that Kass found on Craigslist.org.
01/06/07 Progress was made today. Finally you can tell we are working on the house from the outside! We closed the hole in the floor where the fireplace goes and started framing in the opening for the prefab fireplace to sit. Tomorrow we hope to finish that.
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