Progress - At Least a Little

Most all the master bedroom is finished - as far as painting goes.  The living room too - but I didn't take a picture of it.

I decided to take pictures of the progress in the kitchen since the change was rather dramatic.

So first you can see how it looked after using a brush on the blue.

The dining area after rolling on the blue.

Towards the stove area.  Next will be tan at the bottom and then either a border or chair rail.  Not sure about that yet.

Weekend Work

Andrew putting tile in half bath.

Katherine painting molding along floor using the new mode of travel around the house!

Paul putting up door on hot water heater closet.

Some Painting Projects Nearing Completion?

After spending lots of days cleaning and painting windows and door frames and crown molding, I was ready to get to some walls.  So today I painted the walls of the living room.

Living Room ceiling, trim and walls painted - all that remains is the floorboards

A tall cupboard we got used has been painted to match the other kitchen cupboards.

Chick-Fil-A Workers Help Out

Thanks to some great co-workers from Chick-Fil-A Leeds some more big projects were completed at our "mess".  Here are photos of a few of the things they accomplished.  Thanks, guys!

You can't really see it all but they carried out tons of trash to the front for pick-up, including an old rusty shed, lots of pine straw from off the roof and another yucky carpet and demolition trash.  Awesome!

This room had very dark paint colors so we had to do a coat of Kilz first - done!

Lots of layers of old flooring were removed from the kitchen.

The guest bedroom got almost a full coat of blue paint.

The tiles in the den were all removed and some of the soot cleaned up.

No Sinks But we Do Have Hot Water!



After going through a little red tape and finding the right place to get service, we finally were approved to get the gas turned on and the hot water heater is installed and working.

My labors aren't quite as evident.  I've spent time painting around windows and doors.  Slow and time consuming.  Three rooms done.  How many more to go?
We also found a small cookie sheet cabinet to go beside the stove at the Habitat Re-Store so I put one coat of paint on that to try to get it to blend in with the other cabinets.  And some touch ups on the upper cabinets that were painted the other day.  Trying to choose paint colors, kitchen flooring, countertop, etc. to keep making progress.  Not liking having to make so many choices.  

Weekend Help Brings More Progress

A few of the projects that were accomplished over the weekend -

New Ceiling Fan/Light in Den

Dishwasher installed

Half wall between kitchen and dining area taken down - Outlets removed

Katherine filled in lots of holes

New stove hood installed and wiring changed to make it work!

Some more floor tiles pulled up in the den..

Old interesting vanity removed from half bath.

Even Aaron tried to help do some painting!  Too bad there was no paint on the roller.

We are So Cool!

The new air conditioner is up and running!

While the HVAC guys were finishing up, I worked at painting the kitchen cupboards.

We started taking down the half wall that separated the kitchen from the dining area and ran into some live electrical wires.  This will have to wait until Andrew can come and help us deal with the outlets.

Work Slowly Continues

While the HVAC guys have been working on building and installing new ductwork and vents throughout the house, I have been working at various small projects.  Because I don't yet have a kitchen sink or hot water, it makes the cleaning part rather hard - and even painting because I have no place to clean out brushes, etc.  But I have painted the ceiling in one bedroom and edged the ceiling in another bedroom and in the kitchen.  I removed the colorful flowers in the bathroom - pretty though they were, they had to go so we could clean and paint the walls.  We learned that many of the stains on the hardwood floors are likely from pet urine.  Yuck!!  And no way to clean except sand away.  Now what? 
I cleaned down all the top kitchen cupboards that are left (thanks to a bucket of warm water from a neighbor) and began to paint them.  I thought I was going to paint a layer of Kilz paint to cover the bright colors in the middle bedroom only to realize after I started that I had goofed and bought an oil based paint, instead of latex.  What was I thinking? 
Hopefully (?) the HVAC guys will finish their work tomorrow and then the plumbers can come back and install a hot water heater.  Then we must decide what we are doing with the bottom cupboards in the kitchen and order a countertop and get a sink!  That will be exciting.  Then I will have no excuse not to really get busy.

flowers on the bathroom wall are now gone

Back to Work

Countertop that was destroyed so they could steal the sink has been removed.  Ready for a new coat of paint.

Countertop removed from this section to be removed from kitchen. Not in great shape overall.

Almost all the layers of wallpaper are gone from guest bedroom.

The old carpet went out to be picked up by the garbage men!

The exciting news today is that the heating and air guys got started!  They pulled out all the old ductwork from under the house and measured everything to make the new ducts.  They will be back next Tuesday to begin installation!  We may have cool air.

No work done today : (

Actually, that was not such a bad thing.  After working in the 100 degree temps without air, my body was ready for a break.  I got a haircut, got groceries and pondered how to arrange the kitchen and bathroom - and relaxed a little.  Tomorrow they come to start working on the new heating and air.  So I'll be back to work.

Some of the Work Completed with the Pusch's Help

The dining room is now free of the plaid wallpaper

After pulling off the top layer of wallpaper, we discovered even the underneath was soiled. Uggh

Middle bedroom with border off and new ceiling fan installed

Toilet is installed!

Getting some work done - with help

We worked on Friday and Monday on our own - plumbers came on Monday to re-do all the plumbing the thieves had removed; power got turned on.  Tuesday, Andrew and Katherine Pusch and son Aaron plus Andrew's parents Randy and Karla Pusch came to help out.  More pics of their hard work to follow. 

starting to remove the plaid wallpaper

removing layers of wallpaper in kitchen

carpet pulled up in living room

bathroom- ready and waiting for plumbers

new toilet and sink waiting for plumbers

Aaron taking a drink break - it was hot!

Aaron helping pull off wallpaper

The pics from the realty listing - before

back bedroom - note disgusting carpet

patio in backyard

bathroom - note missing toilet and sink

fireplace in the den

the dining area - don't you love the plaid?

front door

kitchen sink - note the sink is missing!

living room towards front door

master bedroom

master bedroom - looking towards closets

middle bedroom

living room - towards picture window

steps down into the den

kitchen