Deck the halls

It's been just two days under a year since we moved into our home.  In that time we have lived in a construction zone, without a kitchen, sometimes without water, many nights without heat.  We have installed a new furnace, a new kitchen, hooked up the washer and dryer, leveled the floor in the upstairs hallway, installed a bathroom, finished the master suite, created a home.

We decorated for Christmas this week.  Last year it was done surrounded by boxes.  This year I had to pack up the pumpkins and harvest themed accouterments in order to decorate for Christmas.  I've replaced our daily ware dishes with Christmas dishes received from my mother.  The sun on the wall replaced by the moon painted as a folklore style Santa Claus.  The pillows on the couch with holiday theme pillows.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  And our house is certainly looking like a home.

Minor improvements and major snafu's

So since W2 has no time (due to working 7 days a week) and no motivation do to BURN OUT I have been striving to finish the little things that need finishing.  Last week I installed/hung the hand towel ring in our bathroom, but it wobbles.  Yesterday I tried to hang/install the hand towel ring in the guest bathroom but couldn't figure it out and the instructions were virtually non existent.  Today I hung the robe hook in our bathroom and 2 other hooks on the back of our bathroom door.  

I was feeling rather accomplished and proud of myself, until I shut the door.  The fucking wall anchor went through the other side of the door.  So although I now have two beautiful hooks on the back of my door, I have two very UNbeautiful holes on the side that faces out to my bedroom.  I can't wait to hear what kind of recriminations W2 has in regards to this latest adventure.

Now I will try to figure out how I can fix it with spackle? joint compound? and paint.  It can be done right?  What do you think the chances of him not noticing are?

Probably not so good.

Oh well, at least I'm doing something.  Or trying to.

The garden

I had decided now was the time to prepare a spot for next years garden.  I had not done one this past summer because we were planning on doing some major excavation and would be tearing everything up.  I planted in what will be flower beds around the house.  But the excavation didn't happen due to a lack of funds and I want a garden next year so it will just have to be put in a place out of the path of trucks and equipment.

I spoke to the neighbor about borrowing a rototiller and getting some manure from the pigs they kept throughout the summer.  Yesterday dawned bright and warm.  Imagine that in mid November in the Northeast?!  So I mowed, dealt with leaves and decided it was time to tackle the garden project.  J next door had prepared a wheel barrow full of pig shit for me so I was ready to go.  I headed home pushing the wheel barrow only to promptly dump it in the road.  FABULOUS!  Home again home again to get a shovel to deal with it.  With a little help and the suggestion that pulling it might work better, I was on my way.  Then back for the rototiller.  

First let me say that the rototiller was the homeowner type.  Small.  Small rototillers require a lot of work.  A lot of back breaking, muscle aching, teeth jarring work.  But it prevented me from having to rent one.  It's something like holding onto the horns of a bucking bronco and trying to guide it in some sort of a straight line, while pushing down to force the tines into the earth.  And just for the record, I do know that bucking broncos do not have horns, but it is the only description that gets the visual that I was striving for.

Let's just say it was an arduous task.  I am extremely sore.  By the end of the project I was covered in pig shit, dirt, grass and sweat.  But I finished it. and then W2 got home

Apparently I put it in a bad spot.  This wasn't what we agreed to.  I will have to do it all over again.  He did offer to rent me the biggest rototiller available but regardless I feel defeated.  I worked my ass off but it was wrong.

I couldn't remember where we had talked about but put it in a nice bright sunny spot on the edge of our property, leaving room for at least one pass of the lawn mower.  But I was wrong.  I seem to be wrong more often than anything these days.

The weather is warm again today.  The perfect weather to dig in the correct location, but I am too sore.  Tomorrow will start with the coldest weather we have experienced thus far this Fall.  The true beginning of Winter.  My window has closed for prepping for a garden.  

I am sad and frustrated.

It's been even longer

I've been trying to figure out how to use this blog. We've had no activity on the house. We essentially pushed ourselves into oblivion on that last push to finish in time for the housewarming. W2 is burned out. Or shall I say BURNED OUT! He refuses to work on the house. Won't install the lock sets, won't hang the towel bars or toilet paper holders. I've continued to paint the things that need to be painted and fix minor things. But my primary focus is finding a job.

I spend hours a day searching a wide variety of help wanted web sites and applying for copious amounts of jobs. My criteria has become quite simple. A position that will pay me and give me benefits. How's that for widening the job search?!

We have done nothing on the apartment due to lack of funds. That may be changing in the near future (I hope) and we will then be able to finish the stupid thing and get it rented, thus providing income. Wouldn't that be nice? And truly I am most interested in getting it insulated as it seems to suck all of the heat out of the downstairs into it's void.

You would think after insulating all walls that we opened, installing new windows, putting up new siding with the Styrofoam insulation behind it, that we would benefit from a warm and toasty house. But that is SO NOT THE CASE!! Our house is cold. It's extremely frustrating. So my goal is insulation in the apartment. In order to do that we must finish the wiring. In order to do that W2 needs some motivation.

I'm not sure how or when that will happen. He's fairly miserable.

It's been a long time....

So we had the housewarming, we survived it!  We didn't kill each other in the week the preceded it.  And we haven't done a damn thing on the house since then.

We are getting ready for a much earned vacation out to Moab Utah for the land rover National Rally.  W2 is an enthusiast and I have turned into one.

We will start work again once we return.

Stairs on the deck, level hallway and grout on the floor

Much has been accomplished since I last typed.  Last weekend W2 managed to build the stairs to the deck.  We had planned to build a ramp but when we realized it would need to be 16 feet long, which would block the view of the bay window in the dining room, I said NO!  loudly and repeatedly.  W2 was not happy and it was a very long and frustrating day, but the stairs are done and absolutely lovely.  We just have to build the railings and we will be done.

This past weekend, we grouted the tile in the bathroom and leveled the floor in the upstairs hallway.  There was a 2.5" difference across 4'.  It felt like walking on the rolling deck of a ship.  Because not only did it drop, but it dropped to the right, pitching you into the wall of the hallway.  That was corrected on Saturday.  It's not completely level but it is straight.  and straight is a huge improvement.

We grouted Friday night and Saturday saw that there were air bubbles in the grout.  The only option W2 saw was to sledgehammer it out and start over.  I was horrified.  There had to be another way.  So I called the folks in the flooring department at the Evil Orange Box and learned that we could put another layer of grout on, working it into the holes with our fingertips.  So that was my job.  I did that Saturday and again today.  It should be done now.  all we have to do is wait for it to dry before we can apply the sealer.  Once the sealer is done and dry we can install the vanity, then baseboards, then toilet!!!  At that point the bathroom will be done.

Our carpet is ordered and should be in  the 22nd.  We are gaining on it!

bathroom floor

W2 being the master shopper that he is had found the tile I craved for the kitchen floor on clearance at Lowe's in a quantity that would allow us to do our bathroom floor.  Or so we thought.  Until we started laying out the floor on Saturday.  Of course we couldn't lay out the floor until we had ripped up the rotten subfloor, made a trip to the evil orange box, laid new subfloor, laid cement board to go under tile, screw down cement board.  So at 6 pm we are starting to lay out the floor when we realize that we do not have enough tile.

It had been an ugly week for me and Saturday was no different.  Calling myself a bitch was putting it mildly.  I was out of control and could recognize it but had no power to change it.  I felt horrible for W2.  I was sick to death of tripping over stuff no matter I chose to walk, stepping on things that hurt when you stepped on them, and having things fall over onto my feet.  Just over it.  So at 6 pm on Saturday when we don't have enough tile, let's just say it wasn't a good thing.

But off to the Evil Orange Box we went, me for the second time that day, to find tile that would match what we already had and not cost a fortune.  We were successful and went home to figure out how to pattern the three types of tile together.  We agreed on a design and called it quits for the night, opening a bottle of wine...and polishing it off in short order.

Sunday we actually tiled the floor.  Because it is so flippin' humid it probably will not be dry for another week.  Which is a bit of a problem since the room only has one exit, meaning we couldn't tile the entire floor in one shot.  We go 2/3 done and will have to wait for it to dry.  We are both happy with it, and I will post pictures soon.

Tonight we are back to wiring outlets.  I'm actually getting good at it!

Master bedroom

We are closing in on finishing the master bedroom.  The one thing we absolutely must do in the next day or two is to choose  a flippin' carpet.  This is the one thing that we will not and can not do on our own.  This means we have to be fit into someone else's schedule.  This could be a problem if we don't make a decision soon.  

The housewarming party is scheduled for August 2nd.  The evites have gone out and the print ones will be mailed tomorrow.  This means we have to be done.  Not maybe.  Definitely done.  I work well under pressure so deadlines are usually a good thing for me.  But when I have to be fit into someone else's schedule my time lines do not always work.

WE HAVE TO PICK A CARPET!!!

can you tell I am having some anxiety around this?!

There are 195 people invited to the party.  We have to be moved into the master suite and have the other three bedrooms emptied and set up for company.  That can't happen until the carpet is installed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Tools!!

W2 bought me/us a weed whacker over the weekend, much to my delight and glee.  You see, I find myself tickled with owning a home with a yard.  I have waited anxiously/patiently to be able to design and plant the flower beds, herb garden and vegetable garden.  I had thought I would be able to do so this year, but not so.  We still have to tear up the yard in order to deal with the septic system, dry well, leeching field and who knows what else, along with siding the garage.  Which leaves out all eligible space for gardens :(

Anyway, W2 is a champ, but you all know that if you've been reading this for even just a minute, so he not only bought me a weed whacker, but he got one with attachments!!!!  He got a brush blade and a cultivator.  Now I was skeptical about the cultivator, having sold such things at the Evil Orange Box I was knowing that we took an awful lot of them back as returns because they didn't work for shit.  NOT THE CASE with this one.  It's amazing and chews right through our clay like dirt with no work from us.  How cool is that?!

I have been waging a war against the sumac that is taking over the whole back half of our yard.  Last week W2 purchased me/us a weed burner/flame thrower (which was very exciting for my pyromaniac heart), but it took an awful lot of patience to burn the living plants.  More patience that I come equipped with.  So off he went to research the best tool for the job and money and came home with this amazing kitty of tools.  I am delirious!!!  If you had told me that a weed whacker could make me this happy, even last year, I would have scoffed at you, but today, today I am tickled!

Just when you think you're done

All went smoothly with the refinance and all the checks have been written so that we can pay off the evil Wells Fargo and be done once for all.  Today W2 gets a call from the rep. he's been dealing with and she tells him that they are not going to accept the payment as it is not in their best interest.

NOT IN THEIR BEST INTEREST?!  

They have done nothing that was in our best interest and now they won't take our money?!  What the hell is that?

I got on the phone and called a lawyer.  At this point it is our only option.  I swear W2's head is going to pop off he's so mad and frustrated.  In the meantime, W2 was able to get in touch with a superior to the rep and learn that she is talking out her ass and can't tell us that.  He wrote the letter he was instructed to write and all should be good.  If not, we will enlist the help of said lawyer, maybe even go after them for harassment.

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day at our house this weekend with both of our families.  It was bizarre to have everyone there and not for work...what a concept?!  My folks arrived Friday night, Team Smart arrived Saturday morning, W2's folks along with Team Burger arrived Sunday afternoon.  It wasn't the easiest of days, but it was nice not to feel like we had to choose one family over the other.

My folks slept in the new Master bedroom Saturday night, on an air mattress but they were the first to sleep in the bedroom.  It could/should have been us, but they refused to sleep in our bed.  They didn't want to kick us out.  Whatever!  There was room for everyone and soon enough there will be beds for everyone!!!

W2 and I went to Lowe's yesterday and purchased our bathroom sink, vanity, mirror, toilet, cabinet and the chandelier for the dining room.  We then went and picked out the carpet for the bedroom.  No we just have to get the tile down in the bathroom before we can install anything.  When we got everything home and unpacked it we found a chip in the vanity top/sink.  Very disappointing!!  But W2 returned it today and got another so all is well.

Once we get the bathroom floor done we will schedule the carpet install.  Everything is on track for our part of the house to be done for the housewarming.  We're getting there!

It's been a while

Things got really hectic on the work front and as that was the only access I had to a computer there was no time to blog. I am no longer on the work front and am currently searching for new work, this does allow time for a quick catch up blog.

We barrelled ahead as is our way from the last I wrote. The furnace is in the attic, the deck is built and has railings, it even has decorative stained glass caps on the posts that bring you onto the front porch and again on the back deck. The washer and dryer are hooked up. The master bathroom is rocked, taped, and painted. W2 and my dad worked on plumbing the bathroom this past weekend. The master bedroom is rocked, taped and primed. The windows have casing's and window sills. The hallway is rocked, taped and primed. The foyer is painted. The ceilings in all aforementioned spaces are painted.

We raced the bank in an attempt to get as much accomplished prior to the June 1st deadline. We didn't get it done, but we accomplished a ton of stuff. The appraiser was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. last Tuesday. So that was our deadline. W2's mom and sister came out Monday night to help clean the house and make it look like a home. It looked amazing. We having a functional dining room, that has pictures and plants on the surfaces versus the clutter and paraphenalia left over from the move. We even have a dining room table in the middle of the room. I realize this sounds like crazy talk for anyone who has been with us along this journey, but I kid you not.

The Appraiser was not the warmest and friendliest type of guy and when he left it was rather anti climactic. Here we had been busting out humps for 8 months and more short termed, the past month to be ready for this meeting and when he left, we knew no more than when he had arrived. So we waited.

On Saturday we recieved the letter from Wells Fargo telling us we were out of time, we had not met their requirements and they would be moving forward with legal action, ie foreclosure. We spent a very anxious weekend knowing no answers could be had until today at the earliest. My dad was up to help work and smooth out frazzled nerves. He was a champ, as usual.

W2 called the new bank today and learned we were approved for the re finance!!!!! We appraised a little lower than we had hoped but they are putting it in the documentation that the house is unfinished which will allow us to refinance when we finish. W2 will close on that tomorrow and the evil Wells Fargo will be paid off in full within the next 10 days. We are free of the rehab loan from hell!!!

I don't know how W2 is feeling, seeing as he is at work, but I want to celebrate!!! OK, my unemployment doesn't lend itself well to big pricey dinners, but I do have a bottle of our favorite red at the house that I put in the cellar to chill. That will have to suffice. It is appropriate seeing as we consumed a bottle on the day we closed.

Aaaaah!! Relief. Now we can back to work on the house.

One Day...

and the frame for the deck is up!!

Team Burger was out Saturday to help get the posts up and W2's folks came out to get the scaffolding set up. We were able to get everything prepped on Saturday which saved us 3 hours on Sunday.

We started work at 9 a.m. and W2 and I attached the last joist supports at 7:30 pm. It was a very long, but very productive day. We had the help of 6 extra guys, plus W2, his dad and myself. I didn't do much on the deck until the end of the day because they all knew what they were doing and I didn't. I mowed the lawn, dragged copious amounts of brush to the burn barrel and cleaned the addition in preparation for the insulation and sheet rocking that started today.

The deck is huge. You could comfortably fit 4 full patio furniture sets on the large section and another one on the smaller section that wraps around the side. It's like a football field. But it does fit the house and that's what counts, right? W2 continues to awe and astound me with his vision. I'm truly just along for the ride, oh and to fetch tools and clean up!

I'll get up pictures soon. I promise.

Up goes the deck

So the decking got delivered on Thursday and we start construction today. I'm headed home to pull down the last of the ceiling in the hallway to our bedroom and haul away doors prior to Team Burger arriving this afternoon.

Once again we are blessed by family and friends pitching in to help get it done. I find myself with a new friend from work, Rasta, who will be pitching in today and tomorrow. Amazing!

Thanks to the Universe for the help and the hope!

Plumbing frustrations

W2 has been pushed outside his knowledge and comfort zones time and time again as we have travelled the path of rehabilitation on our home. He thoughtfully ponders challenges, reads the stack of home improvement books we have acquired and ultimately figures out how to move forward. He is amazing. Many of us when presented with the challenge of installing a bathtub and plumbing it, or installing a dishwasher and wiring it would back off. Maybe call someone for help, hire someone who is certified to do it. We don't have that option so he just plods along and figures it out.

Last night we were racing against losing light and we ran into a hitch. One of the sharkbites would not release and we needed to disconnect some of the copper pipe we (I say we, but I mean W2) had previously installed. He tried everything and finally ended up cutting off the pipe. Which still didn't work. He had to take the whole thing apart, take it into the hall where we had light and wrestle with it some more, before it finally released. And then, he had to rebuild the whole fecking thing! It was painful to see his frustration and know that I could offer no intelligence or assistance. Now don't get me wrong, I held the pliers firmly and turned when told, but I was of little help. I hate to see him get that frustrated, because I don't ever want him to lose sight of his accomplishments. They are vast.

I merrily continued to hammer in the safety plates over all of the beams that wires run through as he threw things and took timeouts. What I learned last night is we cannot work with lights on in the back until the sheet rock is up for fear a building inspector may happen to drive by and then start to ask questions. Apparently even though we didn't put the addition on the house, we are moving forward and apparently that requires the building permit. I am so confused on what does and does not require paperwork. Regardless, we can't work after we lose light, which is very restricting since I don't get home some nights until 6:30. I am making a huge effort to get out at 5:30 until we get the sheet rock up, so we have as much time as possible.

On another note, W2 went to the new bank yesterday and they were very positive about the refinance. Next week he will go back to sit down and do all of the paperwork.

Oh, and W2 finished hard wiring the dishwasher last night so we can finally use it. The corner cabinet still does not open so I will call the installer to have him come take a look.

Another productive night, that wasn't productive enough in W2's eyes. We're closing in on the finish line, we just have to have the energy to do it!

The deck was delivered

W2 ordered the supplies for the deck yesterday at 3:00 p.m. When we got home last night at 5:30 it was there. All of it. It was rather impressive. Curtiss Lumber has definitely done right by us on this one.

I continue to fight with Home Depot over the poor design for the kitchen. The refrigerator door can't open all the way because it hits the molding to the door into the dining room and once we installed the dishwasher I can no longer open the corner cabinet. Someone is coming out to look at it at the end of this week. I wasn't going to make stink, since it is people I used to work with and all, but we've spent too much money to not be able to utilize all of the space and the appliances correctly. So stink, I will make.

The heating duct work is coming along and should be finished today. The stuff we need finished in order to close in the walls. W2 and I will finish wiring, finish installing the bathtub, install the exhaust fans and lights in the bathroom, move a ceiling fan box to over our bed and get ready to close up the walls.

The next few days and weeks will be totally hectic but we're closing in on it and have tentatively scheduled our housewarming party!

Team Bright and the bathtub

I put out a panicked call to my sister on Thursday when my father in law started saying that he might not be able to help with the deck if it rained on the weekend between then and May 18th. I was in a panic because he is the only one that knows how to build a second story deck. My brother in law built their deck, so grasping at straws, I called in the hopes that they might be available to help us get this done.

I didn't hear back until today, but when she called she had come up with the plan that the whole family, Team Bright, would come down today, work through this afternoon, evening and tomorrow morning to help us get done whatever they could, prior to meeting up with my folks for lunch tomorrow. She even suggested that maybe my folks could come up and we'd have Mother's day together before we have to head over to my in-laws to celebrate Mother's day and W2's dad's birthday tomorrow evening. It won't help us get the deck done, but it will get a ton of other things accomplished.

This kind of thinking blows me away, and makes me feel incredibly blessed. I am at work and W2 is home working alone. We thought I would only be working a half day, which was bad enough, but yesterday learned I am working full days on Saturday's. That threw a total kink in W2's plans, and mine as well. Also, completely limits what can be accomplished.

Now we will have reinforcements and may have some real progress. W2's mom delivered our tub for the master bath last night and then we all headed up to the Evil Orange Box for plumbing supplies. W2 should be able to get the tub plumbed in and possibly installed today.

Maybe with the help of Mr. Bright we will be able to finish putting the kitchen floor down, thus allowing us to install our new dishwasher that was delivered last week. Mom and Dad bought us the dishwasher as a housewarming gift. Thank you very much Mom and Dad.

I am feeling frustrated to be at work, but thankful beyond measure for Team Bright and their willingness to pitch in. So thankful there really aren't words to describe it.

Magic Closet be gone

We at Casa Su Rehab have called the little closet in the offisery the magic closet since we purchased the house. It was named this as it is the door that allows you entrance to the upstairs part of the addition. Without opening the door, you would not know that there was more to the house than meets the eye.

Last night W2 and I tore out the Magic Closet as well as the closet that was at the end of the hall. So now when you get to the top of the stairs and look to the left there is, what appears to be, an enormous hallway to, what will soon be the master suite. As is the norm with this house, we were amazed at the lack of construction skills the last owners had. They had used 1.5" screws to go through 1.5" boards when building the closet at the end of the hall. And one nail installed from the attic down was holding the frame for said closet in place. Amazing that nothing fell apart. But we've thought that time and again during this process.

Tonight will be spent hauling away the sheet rock removed in last nights project, burning the un-recyclable lumber and vacuuming all of the dust the project created. Tomorrow W2 will do a million small tasks such as finishing the windows in the dining room, so I can paint the trim and finish that room, for good! Putting outlet covers on, finish installing the fan ceiling boxes, finish putting the safety brackets on all of the beams that electrical wire runs through, straighten out the debris from all of the above mentioned projects. On Sunday we will install the tub in the master bath, that is, if my in laws actually bring it out to the house as they have said they would.

Our lists are long, but we are crossing things off daily. Making progress!

it's been a while

Things at Casa su Rehab are insane. The bank has basically told us that regardless of giving us the extension, they have no intention of giving us anymore money because they don't think we are working fast enough. The root of the problem is that they want us to do the bare minimum to make the house habitibal. We are trying to do things right, not the bare minimum. This is a major difference in approach and has caused all of our problems.

So the plan as it stands is get everything done by June 1st, go to another bank and refinance. Can't refinance if the house isn't finished. So we are barrelling ahead. And it's too much to type at this time. So I'll save it for another day.

Hate the bank, hate the bank, hate the bank

It doesn't seem to matter what we get accomplished, it is not enough. The bank, although extending our Rehab loan, is now giving us a hard time about inspections and engineers drawings, which we do not have and are not required to have in our town for the work we have done. The addition was on the house prior to our purchasing it. If the owners at that time did not get the appropriate permits, it is not our fault and we cannot get them after the fact. We have told the bank that we can cancel the remainder of the rehab and to take it off the principal. But apparently it doesn't work that way. If they cancel the rehab loan we would be responsible to pay the mortgage in full within 30 days. AS IF!!

So now we forge ahead, slamming through our to-do lists in order to get the heating system done, our bedroom walls in, our bathroom done and then get the back deck on. All of this in order to be able to refinance and pay off our mortgage with this bank. This bank has been nothing but a nightmare, our General Contractor a nightmare in the fact that he is W2's dad, and doesn't know what the hell he is talking about, therefore screwing us over time and time again on money and issues with the bank. The two combined are lethal.

Ok. breathe. that's all I can do, right? well, that and swinging a hammer, alot!! (all right that's an exaggeration, we have pneumatic nail guns, but you get the idea!)