Living Room Update

Just a quick preview of what is going on with the living room. Replaced the glass and cleaned up the frame for the ceiling light. Still not much light but it looks much better than when I started. Three walls are a tan/tea color with one wall chocolate brown for contrast. We should be installing flooring this weekend.

New Tool Addition

Needed a little something to help with cutting the flooring. This little baby fits the bill nicely. While it would be way to small for large projects it is well suited for our needs. $149 at Lowes. So far so good. No complaints other than a bit of a pain to put together.

Revised Punch List April 1

Living Room

• Install Cafe Doors
• Install Kick-Plate on Front Door
• Touch Up Paint etc.
•  Paint Storm Door, Screen Frame and Windows Black
• Spackle and Paint Nail Holes
• Install Laminate Flooring
• Install Wood Floor Trim (prime/and painted white)
•  Room Transition Trim to Bedroom
• Tear up Old Flooring
• Paint Kitchen Doorway Trim White
• Install Thermostat Wiring and Raceway
• Replace Receptacles and Covers  
• Fix Front Door Trim

Bedroom

• Trim Closet
• Install Closet Door Curtain
• Touch Up Paint, etc.
• Door Trim
• Replace Attic Access Panel 
• Spackle and Paint Nail Holes
• Room Transition Trim to Bathroom
• Cut Door To Fit
• Install Laminate Flooring
• Install Wood Floor Trim (prime/and painted white)
• Install Bedroom Door
• Install Electric Baseboard Heater 
• Drywall Outside Corner 
• Install Push Light in Closet

Bathroom 

• Buy and Hang Shower Curtain Rod and Curtains
• Hang Bathroom Towel Bar, Toilet Paper Holder, etc.
• Touch Up Paint, etc. 
• Install Hook Latch lock
• Partition Screen for Hot Water Tank 
• Spackle and Paint Nail Holes 
• Install/Paint wall Laminate around the top of the Surround.
• Install new Shower Stem and Shower Head
• Trim Shower
• Caulk Trim
• Caulk bathtub
• Clean bathtub
• Clean window
• Dremel old window frame flush
• Fix window sill
• Caulk window
• Install Bathtub/Shower Surround
• Trim Window (After Surround Install)
• Extend Vent Fan Exhaust to Attic Wall Vent
• Trim Floor
• Install Privacy Plastic Panels on Window
• Install / Paint Ceiling Laminate above the Tub/Shower 
• Toilet still has small leak
• Mount Medicine Cabinet
• Paint Window 
• Replace Tub Spout

I am now just focusing on the three rooms I need to complete.

Weekend CountDown

Thursday - Living Room Painted, Bathtub Cleaned
Friday - Plumber fixed Leaking Toilet and Removed old Shower Head Stem. Plumber had to cut open the wall and cutoff the old valve and replace it with a new one. Small Bedroom Primed, 2 Sheets of Paneling Primed, Table Saw Assembled, Started Work on Flooring Bedroom, Fun, Fun, Fun.
Saturday - Replaced Access Panel for the Crawl Space, Moved Wiring for Baseboard Heater in the Main Bedroom, Installed Ceiling Vent Fan and Light in Bathroom, Installed Vanity Light, Installed Light Switches and Outlet, Installed Medicine Cabinet.

Took Easter off on the little house and help my wife with re-installing some trim at our house.

So we didn't get any flooring done or the bathtub/shower surround done, but it was a good weekend all the same. My son Tony came and we spent most of Saturday installing the Ceiling Vent Fan and Light and the rest of the electrical in the bathroom. I goofed on my wiring the outlet and it was causing the breaker to flip. I didn't have time to troubleshoot as my wife and I had dinner plans. We hadn't even made it to the restaurant when my son Tony sent my wife a clip of all the electrical working. Way to go Tony.

Pictures to Soon Follow.

This Weekend Goals

BATHROOM, BATHROOM, BATHROOM -- It simply has to be functional come Monday. Unfortunately I am still not sure what to do about the window. Do I repair, replace, make do..... There is a lot to do in this little room -- Add a surround to the Bath and Shower, Replace the old shower head stem and new shower head. The surround will not cover the whole wall so that will have to be laminated / Painted. This goes the same for the ceiling above the tube/shower area. The Tube is an absolute mess and is in need of a thorough cleaning. There still is no medicine cabinet, and light. I am still hoping to somehow figure out how to add a ceiling vent/light. This is going to push my electrical skills to the limit for sure. The trim needs installed and the toilet still leaks. I may have to throw in the towel on the toilet leak and call a plumber. And of course at some point in time it would be nice to have something hiding my wonderful ole hot-water-tank.

And as if that was not enough lets add Living Room Painted, Floored and Trimmed. Oh wait there's more -- The main bedroom still needs flooring, trim and the electric baseboard heater moved.

Gee that's not too much to ask is it......I can only dream.

Fixing a Crooked Light Switch Wall Plate

The house is a wreck and there is just way too much left to do. My hope is that we can have the bathroom, Master Bedroom and Living Room done by the first. It will be a busy weekend for sure.

I spent just about the entire night fighting with replacing a crooked duel light switch in the living room. The box was installed crooked and looks like it had been that way since the beginning of time. The old box was metal and there was just no easy way of getting it out.  I literally had to take it out in pieces. Luckily I was able to do this without damaging the wall. I had to leave one side of the box as it was somehow wrapped around the stud.

This is the gang box I used. It is made for replacing old boxes. It has two tabbed flaps, one in each corner to secure the box to the wall. I had to re-size the hole a bit so the new box would not be crooked like the original.

In the end I triumphed and had the new box and switches installed before I called it a night. Level and Working. 

Two Week Punch List - Revisited

Well not only can I not blog and remodel at the same time, things just take longer than you expected. So for a reality check I thought I would revisit our fist Two Week Punch List (Wish List) I originally posted in January.

We should be closing soon and the Punch List for the first 2 weeks is starting to look like this.

DONE - Get Utilities Set Up - Water/Sewage/Trash, Electric and Gas.  

NOPE -Thing 1 (Storage Shed) - Clean, Replace Latch, Lock, Electric and Lights working

NOPE -Thing 2 (Storage Shed) - Clean, Fix Door, Lock

Living Room
Light Fixed, Ceiling Painted,  Walls and Flooring left to do.

Main Bedroom
Closet Ready for Trim, Room Painted, Light Fixed, Sill need to lay floor and trim and install door. -

Youth Bed Room - Ceiling Painted, Old Closet Removed Still a lot of work left to do - Remove Old Closet,  Add Closet, Paint, Light, Door

Bathroom - We replaced the Toilet and Flooring and painted the walls but it is still a mess.Seal and Paint Shower Window and Enclosure, Shower Head, Paint, and the Toilet has the never to still leak. Floor, Replace Medicine Chest, Add Light and Switch, Shower Doors

NOPE - Porch - Well we did get the windows closed. fix Screen Door, Close Windows, Remove Mounted Cabinets

Kitchen - Outlet is fixed and we have a small temp refirigerator  Oven is Clean but I shorted out the baking element doing the final clean. Refrigerator, Clean Oven, Fix Counter Outlet

Exterior - Got a Lock for the breaker box and sheds but have not had a chance to fix the step. Lock for Electrical Breaker Box, Fix Step

Progress is being made but at a much slower rate than I had anticipated.