August 30, 2012
What a week it has been already, and it is only Thursday. If you have been reading the blog, you have seen the backyard. It has now been filled back in and we had a load of topsoil delivered. Jason, being a 9 year old boy, wanted to go play in the dirt pile. How can you not let a little boy play in dirt??? Of course I let him!!!
The next day, however, he wanted to go play in the sprinklers in the backyard. Of course this time I had to say NO because there is no grass back there, so it would have been a big mud bath. Apparently he had his heart set on it, so when I said "NO", he decided he didn't want to be part of this family anymore. He wanted to go live with a family that let him make his own decisions. He ended up running away. He has done that once before and I found him just outside the front door. This time, I couldn't find him. Then Danika couldn't find him. Finally I sent David looking for him. He was behind the garage, but still inside the yard. Whew!!! Seriously, do you think I needed just a little more stress added to my life right now???
The good thing is that yesterday there were no workers at the house, so I had an opportunity to clean. The house has seemed exceptionally dirty this week. I began upstairs and started sweeping. Now let me tell you, this was not dust, it was actual dirt. I was sweeping piles of dirt down the stairs. How did this dirt get upstairs? I am talking huge quantities here...
When I finished the upstairs, I began the downstairs The floors seemed to be covered with it, and if condensation drips off of the side of a glass of water, there is instant mud on the floors. Not really what I am wanting in my dining room at the moment. After I swept up, there were dried mud spots everywhere. I had to get on my hands and knees and scrub. David was not too pleased as I am not supposed to be doing that with my back in a bad way at the moment. I told him it was my back or my sanity.
I finished all of the hardwood downstairs and was exhausted. I left the living room for later because it has no flooring and I needed a break. About an hour later, I went back upstairs to get something out of my room. WHAT??? Has someone installed a ceiling sprinkler system that sprays out dirt in my absence? Not kidding, the floors were covered with dirt. How does this happen? I was crushed. I just wanted to curl up into a ball and start crying. Somehow I held it in, calmly walked downstairs and out the front door so that I didn't have to look at it anymore. I felt like I had wasted the entire day. I still feel so dirty...
So, I woke up this morning and my back was killing me. (David, if you even think about saying 'I told you so' you're a dead man) But hey, it is a new day and I am going to be positive, or so I thought. I went outside this morning and ran into my friend, JoAnn, and she asked me how I was doing. I really thought I was fine, but for some reason I burst into tears. I think the dirt finally got the best of me... Maybe I just needed a good cry. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.
~Mary
Thursday 30 August 2012
Saturday 25 August 2012
Dave the Sewer Guy...
August 25, 2012
So we are changing the plumbing in the basement so as to get rid of "the throne" toilet (as seen in earlier post). In order to do this, David had to jack-hammer out the cement in order to rearrange the plumbing. I tried to take a picture of this, but the flash kept focusing on all of the dust in the air...
Once I turned the flash off, you could see better.
Now begins the big dig out of the backyard. I don't know how we do it, but we have been incredibly blessed once again. The first company we called to do the work had a broken camera, and couldn't do it. David and I were driving down the road and a plumbing truck passed by, so we called them. They didn't have a camera, but they recommended Pioneer Sewer and Drain. Let me just say, I HIGHLY recommend Dave Rowley at Pioneer. He has bent over backwards to help us out. He wanted to make sure we were without service for as short a time as possible. He discussed all of our options with us and has done really great work.
The first step was digging a couple of really deep holes. The first one started below was to get to the old sewer line so that we could connect into it. So here is the backhoe beginning the big dig...
This is the hole right down under the house into the basement where we will hook into the new line.
The digging begins... I swear it looks like there is three times as much dirt in the lawn than could ever fit into that hole. Notice all of the river rock... yep, we live on a river bed...
Then a trench was dug to connect the two holes. David went down in to give some perspective on just how big this trench is...
So, not only is Dave Rowley the amazing sewer guy who really knows his stuff, he is also a really funny guy telling stories of growing up, etc. On top of that, he is just a plain ole nice guy. He raises chickens and brought us some fresh eggs. Let me tell you, they are absolutely fabulous! I especially like the eggs he brought us because they are so colorful, pinks, peaches, and blue greens. I hated to actually use them because they were so pretty...
Even the best of us have our days, and yesterday was one of those. Dave was digging and ran into a gas line that had not been marked. Not knowing if it was a live line or an abandoned line, we had to call it in. The guy who locates the lines came out and was shocked to see another line. Also a bit nervous as he hadn't marked it when he did the locating. It was a big deal and we were told that we were supposed to call 911. Well, with all of the hullaballou, we some how forgot to do that. It seems that somehow everyone else was called and the city came out as well as a rep from Northwestern Energy. This last guy was supposed to tell us if the line was live or not, but he forgot his tools.
Seriously, it was becoming comical. The next thing we know, we are borrowing tools from our neighbor across the street, and the Sewer guy is nice enough to start poking a hole in the line to see if it is live. SCARY to say the least. In the end, a hole was punched in the line and luckily it was an abandoned line, but it wasted half of the day... The locator guy is in the yellow vest, and our favorite guy, Dave, is operating the backhoe.
Did you notice that the piles of dirt are covering our entire driveway? I didn't realize that was going to happen and now the lawn mower is trapped in the garage. Our poor neighbors have to look at foot high grass in our front yard... Oops...
Just a perspective on the dirt pile next to the zip line platform...
The view of the backyard from our bedroom window...
New plumbing in the basement...
And as an afterthought, I finally took a picture of some of the abandoned honeycomb nest that was found in the basement wall...
Welcome to my remodel...
~Mary
Saturday 18 August 2012
The More We Do, The More We Find Needs To Be Done!!!
August 18, 2012
We are moving all of the Equipment like the furnace, water heater, water softener, humidifier, etc. out of the current basement. We are digging out under our dining room and putting the equipment in there. In doing so, we have to move the drain in the basement. Our contractor, Joe Fulford, recommended that we have the drains checked so that if there were any problems, we could have them fixed BEFORE redoing the basement. What a smart man!!!
So, we find out that our sewer drain is made out of clay and that tree roots have grown into it. We have two options to get it fixed. We can tunnel under the existing additions to the home, or tear up the deck and go in that way. The deck was the lesser of two evils. The sewer drain problem and deck replacement was NOT in the budget!!!
So here we find ourselves tearing up our deck... The kids were really great and were quite a help. They started by prying the boards and railing off.
It turns out this was a blessing in disguise as the supports for the deck had not been made out of treated wood, so the whole thing was disintegrating...
Before too long we had lots of the deck removed...
The kids made a big pile of the boards...
As evening rolled around, a majority was finished. We decided to burn the rotting pieces, so we made a campfire and the kids toasted marshmallows. Way to make the best of it guys J I didn't get a picture of the fire that started OUTSIDE of the fire ring! A stray spark must have landed in the rotting pieces and they caught fire... so lucky we didn't burn the house down!!!
Also, down in the basement we needed to dig out around the base of the drain so that the sewer guys could measure the depth. David rented a roto-hammer and let Jason do the work. He did an excellent job too! Here is Jason as he begins his work...
On to other things we need to have done... Here are some supporting walls to hold things up while we wait for a new beam that needs to be installed...
Hey look, the carpet is gone! Things really are progressing...
And then we find out that there is still MORE to be done that was not originally in the plan. When we took out the ceiling in the breakfast room, we found that all of the plumbing to the kids' bathroom has to be replaced! If it isn't one thing, it is another.
And so goes another few days in the life of a remodel...
~Mary
We are moving all of the Equipment like the furnace, water heater, water softener, humidifier, etc. out of the current basement. We are digging out under our dining room and putting the equipment in there. In doing so, we have to move the drain in the basement. Our contractor, Joe Fulford, recommended that we have the drains checked so that if there were any problems, we could have them fixed BEFORE redoing the basement. What a smart man!!!
So, we find out that our sewer drain is made out of clay and that tree roots have grown into it. We have two options to get it fixed. We can tunnel under the existing additions to the home, or tear up the deck and go in that way. The deck was the lesser of two evils. The sewer drain problem and deck replacement was NOT in the budget!!!
So here we find ourselves tearing up our deck... The kids were really great and were quite a help. They started by prying the boards and railing off.
It turns out this was a blessing in disguise as the supports for the deck had not been made out of treated wood, so the whole thing was disintegrating...
Before too long we had lots of the deck removed...
The kids made a big pile of the boards...
As evening rolled around, a majority was finished. We decided to burn the rotting pieces, so we made a campfire and the kids toasted marshmallows. Way to make the best of it guys J I didn't get a picture of the fire that started OUTSIDE of the fire ring! A stray spark must have landed in the rotting pieces and they caught fire... so lucky we didn't burn the house down!!!
Also, down in the basement we needed to dig out around the base of the drain so that the sewer guys could measure the depth. David rented a roto-hammer and let Jason do the work. He did an excellent job too! Here is Jason as he begins his work...
On to other things we need to have done... Here are some supporting walls to hold things up while we wait for a new beam that needs to be installed...
Hey look, the carpet is gone! Things really are progressing...
And then we find out that there is still MORE to be done that was not originally in the plan. When we took out the ceiling in the breakfast room, we found that all of the plumbing to the kids' bathroom has to be replaced! If it isn't one thing, it is another.
And so goes another few days in the life of a remodel...
~Mary
Monday 13 August 2012
Opening up the Space...
August 13, 2012
Today they removed the wall between the Living Room and the Breakfast Room and Kitchen. The closet in the Living Room was eliminated as well. The pictures do not do it justice. It is amazing how open it feels. I can just imagine standing at the stove and being able to talk to people in the Living Room. I love the open feeling of it. Check it out...
And of course, Jason is happy, he can still play the Wii!
All is crazy at the Firth household...
Mary
Today they removed the wall between the Living Room and the Breakfast Room and Kitchen. The closet in the Living Room was eliminated as well. The pictures do not do it justice. It is amazing how open it feels. I can just imagine standing at the stove and being able to talk to people in the Living Room. I love the open feeling of it. Check it out...
And of course, Jason is happy, he can still play the Wii!
All is crazy at the Firth household...
Mary
Thursday 9 August 2012
Chimney comes out...
August 9, 2012
Next task for us is to take up the old flooring... Joe showed me what to do, and I got right to work...
Underneath the old floor was this 1980's flooring, shown here... and beneath that is a 1970's flooring that has too much glue on it to show up in a picture, but just imagine rusts and olive greens...
We have a chimney that runs from the basement all the way through the second floor and it is coming out today, YES!!! Here is Mike starting on the second floor after they had finished removing all of the bricks from above the roof.
This is what it looks like now that he is done...
Then the chimney went down through the kitchen. You can see where it was if you look at the square holes in the ceiling and floor between the microwave and stove. They were so nice as to set up my old microwave and stove so I can still cook through all of this...
And last but not least, the chimney is gone from the basement. It already looks much larger down there. The only thing the chimney was used for was to vent the furnace, so they did a makeshift vent out through the basement door until all of the new HVAC stuff is completed.
Not bad for a day's work! (of which I didn't do any... I took the kids to the river to swim and jump off rocks)
More later...
~Mary
Next task for us is to take up the old flooring... Joe showed me what to do, and I got right to work...
Underneath the old floor was this 1980's flooring, shown here... and beneath that is a 1970's flooring that has too much glue on it to show up in a picture, but just imagine rusts and olive greens...
We have a chimney that runs from the basement all the way through the second floor and it is coming out today, YES!!! Here is Mike starting on the second floor after they had finished removing all of the bricks from above the roof.
This is what it looks like now that he is done...
Then the chimney went down through the kitchen. You can see where it was if you look at the square holes in the ceiling and floor between the microwave and stove. They were so nice as to set up my old microwave and stove so I can still cook through all of this...
And last but not least, the chimney is gone from the basement. It already looks much larger down there. The only thing the chimney was used for was to vent the furnace, so they did a makeshift vent out through the basement door until all of the new HVAC stuff is completed.
Not bad for a day's work! (of which I didn't do any... I took the kids to the river to swim and jump off rocks)
More later...
~Mary
Monday 6 August 2012
Starting some demolition...
August 6, 2012
David and I decided to start some of the demolition to the kitchen before we left for a week. We figured we might as well take all of the cabinet doors off and remove the cabinets so that the contractor could demolish some walls while we were away. (We went to Vegas for my brother's birthday)
Here is David as he finally was able to get the first cabinet off.
Check out the retro wallpaper we found behind the cabinets...
So, off we drove down to Vegas for a fabulous little vacation. We left Missoula on July 31st. Meanwhile, the demolition began in our absence. We returned today and this is what it looks like as we walked in the front door...
I forgot to take a picture, but our contracto, Joe Fulford, (he is a really nice guy and a friend of ours... we are really lucky to have him) made sure he covered all of the furniture with plastic and hung plastic in the doorways to keep the dust at bay. This is where the kitchen sink used to be...
This is what used to be the wall behind the refrigerator and stove...
A closer look at the sink area...
We arrived home around 3 p.m., so David and I spent the afternoon cleaning up. I should have worn a mask as there was plaster dust everywhere. When I finally took a shower, my nose was clogged with white mud. I am sure that could not have been good for my lungs.
Joe also moved our refrigerator nicely out of the way and it sits in the old breakfast room along with the stove and microwave...
And the leftovers from the demolition are in the driveway...
Tomorrow the cabinet guy is coming over and we are going to draw up plans for where everything will go. It should be interesting. Now it is off to bed for me...
~Mary
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