Foto Finish Friday: 2013 Week 38 Part 2

Foto Finish Friday: 2013 Week 38

DW2DT: Day 79 - And Then There was LIGHT!

When I got home tonight, check out what I saw:

 

Lights On!

It's been a while since there was progress to see upon arrival, so it was pretty exciting!  Given where things stood yesterday, I was pretty optimistic that it also meant there was a lot of light inside too!  I was not mistaken.  In fact, right now it's like daylight outside the camper window where I am sitting - lights by the back sliders, back door, and 2 flood lights up high on the house!  That's not to mention the plethora of rooms with lights that work inside also!

The kids were pretty excited also, Roddie was very proud to show me that he had his own light and his own light switch! 

Yipeee!

 

In other news, the tile isn't quite done yet...however, in the two areas of the 2nd floor baths where the vanities will go, the tile is complete, including grout - and ready to receive the vanities tomorrow, presumably. 



Kids bath, lights, tile... ACTION!

Further evidence that the vanities are going in soon - they've been unpacked in Norah's room and are ready to be moved!

As if all the lights weren't exciting enough, we pulled down the attic stairs to see if there were lights up there also, and lo and behold - there was the new furnace!  Hooray!  I'll be honest, I didn't look too closely at what was hooked up and what wasn't, but I did see a lot of ducts all over the place!

Hallooooo HEAT!



DW2DT Day 77: Paint-a-Palooza Round Up

I've killed a lot of brain cells on vacation over the years - all-inclusive beach resorts, pubs in various fun parts of Europe, high altitude and low altitude hikes, but I think this week may have topped them all on that front.  Matt started painting last weekend and literally just finished up an hour ago.  I joined the fun after dropping the kids off on Monday, and painted all day for 5 days, and generally held down the fort - single parenting stinks, for the record.

However, at the end of the day (well, week) we do have a lot of progress to report!  All of the walls and ceilings on the second floor are complete, and a good start on the trim.  On the first floor, we've made a jump on the trim and have primed the walls and finished the ceilings in the dining room, family room and living room.  One thing I must admit is that I failed to appreciate the added work of prepping walls, filling nail holes, sanding and caulking.  Alas, we're on top of all that also. 

While a project like this certainly can test one's marriage, it also really highlights individual strengths and weaknesses.  Matt, clearly, is the detail oriented half of our team, and I'm more of the "bull in the China shop" workhorse - or, as Roddie might say, "Me Primer Girl".   All in all, we are pooped, but satisfied.  

25 gallons of paint on the wall, 25 gallons of paint...

Matt's tracking sheet, not updated yet for today's work.  First column is walls, 2nd is ceilings and trim as you head to the right

Putting the kids to work also...

Dining Room into the family room, primed

Me being silly.  I primed this room AROUND this pile of Tim's stuff!

Tim was busy this week also.  He started the week finishing up the trim and moved on to tile.  Tile, like painting, takes a lot of prep work.  The floor needed a little leveling, a little measuring and a lot of figuring.  It was actually handy to be at home when the figuring was going on. 





Foyer Tile, Work in Progress

This upcoming week, we're expecting plumbers and electricians, so things should really start coming together.  It's looking like just a couple more weeks and we'll be back in the house.  I am getting more and more anxious to get into the house by the second!

As I mentioned, Matt has been working nights and weekends on the painting, and I've been holding down the fort.  There is a bonus to this division of labor, in that I got a change of pace come Saturday.  After Norah's dance lessons, the kids and I went on a hike at the local conservation area.  It was just what the doctor ordered.

Division of labor pays dividends...

Foto Finish Friday: 2013 Week 37

DW2DT: Day 72 - Paint-a-Palooza!

In order to keep DW2DT on budget, Matt and I decided to do the interior painting ourselves.  I'll be honest, I was really starting to wonder if this was a good idea or not as our "Paintcation" week came closer.  However, at the 2 day mark, I'm happy to report that things are going well, and I think we'll reach our goal of getting all the walls and ceilings painted this week.  The doors and trim will likely have to follow, but that can be done one at a time, at any time. 

We've killed north of a dozen gallons of paint already.  The picture below was taken around mid day and has already grown by a few. 

Tower of Dead Soliders, a dozen strong

Matt is one big reason we're in such good shape.  He's been painting by shop light at night, on the weekend, any spare moment to get us ahead on this crazy project.  When Tim came in on Monday morning we were able "hand over" all three bathrooms and the laundry room, fully painted and ready for tile.  Turns out tile work doesn't start until Thursday, but that's ok, since Matt also finished the 2 story foyer tonight!  I must be honest, I've never seen Matt procrastinate so much about any work project as he did about the last coat on the foyer.  I see this as a testament not to Matt's work ethic, but rather how much it stinks to paint that space!  2 stories, a set of stairs, a sizable upstairs hallway, the foyer downstairs... all of this was painted 3 times - tinted primer and 2 top coats, and I have to say, it looks awesome!

Ladder configuration to reach all wacky places

Matt, high at work

We also managed to get Roddie's room done, all but a final topcoat, Norah's room primed (despite the 2, 6 foot vanities in the middle of the room), our room primed, and the dining room and family room prepped and primed. 

Next steps, in addition to our paint labor, include tile starting Thursday, wood floors next week.  Base trim arrives on Thursday so we'll probably pre-paint that.  The plumber and electrician are scheduled to return next week also, so I'm guessing  a lot of things will be coming together next week!

Foto Finish Friday: Week 36