I feel like such a slacker!! I'm sorry it's been almost a week since I posted last. I have to tell you, I've been going through some mixed feelings about the project, and I think that accounts for my lack of enthusiasm to blog. Maybe it's the change in weather or days getting shorter, but I've just felt differently lately. I also have some traveling to do in October and that always throws me out of synch. I was in such a groove, I need to get that back!
I don't want to sound like a whiner, but I feel like I need to be honest with you readers, since this whole thing is supposed to be a learning process anyway, right? When I started the renovation at Grandview I had 'Grand' plans. I did pretty well estimating some things, but it seems that the budget is not going to allow the grand finale that I had wanted... I have decided that the exterior siding is probably going to have to wait. Let me explain. The first step would be to have the asbestos shingles removed, which is not a problem, but once they come off - what is underneath? I can see that the cedar lap siding underneath has never been painted, it's actually stained red. Yes, it's been covered for 40 years or so with the shingles, which would afford some protection, but I can guarantee that a percentage of it is crap and will have to be replaced at the cost of $3.00 per lineal foot plus labor. The percentage could be anything between maybe 10% and 100% and I wouldn't know until the shingles came off and then it's too late to go back.
Bottom line is: I'm going to finish the work I'm doing on the inside, and just have the exterior painted. I'll save my pennies and maybe even rent the place out every now and then, and do the exterior later on. It's just a bump in the road - not a catastrophe, but the realization kind of took the wind out of my sails and I've been in a real funk about it. It will pass.
Now that I've got that off my chest (I promise I won't belabor the issue!) I will show you some of the progress that has been going on. I do really love my little house, and I think it's worth all the effort and expense. Here you can see the frame job for the chase in the living room. Of course I started out with a wonderful plan for an entertainment center and shelves, but I canned that for the simple version. I can do a little woodwork but I'm no master carpenter and that kind of thing takes a master to look really good.
Here it is with the paneling on it. The wood at the bottom was recycled from one of the door frames that came out in the kitchen. If you notice, there is a 4-gang outlet right in the middle, where I will eventually have a shelf, a flat screen and at least a DVD player.
Don came out on Wednesday and started the plumbing move in the kitchen. The dogs get very excited when there is action in the basement. The kitchen is actually ready for drywall now, and I think that may happen very soon!
I put the new handle on the kitchen door, and soon found out that when Roscoe jumps up to look out the window he can lock the deadbolt, which is not good when I'm outside. He did it twice while the guys were working on the plumbing, so I flipped it around and hopefully that won't happen again.
Can I get a drum roll please? Check out the sunny little laundry room! The washer and dryer are upstairs and I actually did the first load of laundry. No runs, no drips, no errors. What a relief!
Last but not least, I found this dresser at St. Vincent's for $20 and moved it right in to the downstairs bathroom. Great place for towels, rolls of TP and a couple of drawers for hair implements. I'm going to pull another outlet from the light switch for a blow dryer or what-have-you and put a nice mirror there. I love it.
I'm sorry to say next week may not see much in the way of updates - as I said I will be doing a little traveling. After that is Biketoberfest and I have plans for that weekend that I'll let you in on soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment