Renovation Update

Well, as ever with BB, a "simple" project of having wallpaper come down, knockdown texture and new pain go up, this has morphed into a "Let's spend $1500 on the powder room" project...GAAAHHHHH!!!!

OK, I admit, I had some of the decision-making upon myself, and I chose a gorgeous paint color, and we opted for a higher-end, low VOC paint from an actual pain store, NOT a home improvement center, or even Wal-Mart.  Sorry for you Wal-Mart shoppers, I just don't go there.  Literally.  But, I digress...

SO, we bought paint for the laundry and powder rooms, they got textured, and I primed them, including the baseboard and door moldings.  I cut and rolled the powder room on Wednesday night, and put the 2nd coat on Thursday morning.  It was then I learned that we would be ripping out the hardwood floor in the bathroom (Seriously, do not EVER put hardwood or carpet in a bathroom people!!!!!), which led us to the plan of needing to determine if we wanted tile, or vinyl, and did we want new molding, or to use the existing molding and put it back up...I spent Friday doing housework, and keeping the kids quiet for BB to work from home.  He'd been sick with a stomach bug, and found out he had some strained muscles (I knew it was injury, not illness...but he doesn't listen to me) that were causing his stomach and back to hurt.  A lot.  He spent Monday and Tuesday in bed sleeping, and most of Wednesday afternoon in bed.  Thursday, he was actually at the office and I got a bit done...I went to the doctor for my annual girl visit, and then had to drive to Denver to pick up items BB had won in an online auction (I will NOT say negative things!), and then came home to find out the kids were wide awake and starving for supper, which I made simple, and by the time they ate, and we cleaned up and they had baths and bed, well...it was close to midnight when I tumbled into bed.

Friday, was spent, as I mentioned above, keeping the kids out of BB's hair, trying to do some other housework, and attempting to get the laundry room painted.  Somehow, in the midst of BB's needs, being "sick" and all, and the children, I didn't get the lawn mowed, I didn't get anything picked up and put away, dusted, vacuumed etc...and SO...Saturday dawned with the prospect of purchasing tile and supplies - I was thinking it would be quick - go to the store, get the backer board, mortar, grout, and, if necessary, a new notched trowel, and then select the tile, get home, rip out flooring, get backer board down, and rent a tile saw...alas, it was not to be.  BB and I found a place in Denver prior to Captain's birth where people bring their old items - sinks, tubs, doors, windows, cabinet hardware, tile, carpet etc. and sometimes compaines bring their remnants, and contractors do the same - since you can't return special order and custom items, they just donate them, get a HUGE write-off, and other folks benefit from it as they are marked LOW prices.  It is a great idea, akin to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Salvation Army and the like, except it's JUST home improvement things.  It is, however, an hour's drive from our house.  So we loaded up the kids, and drove for an hour to peruse a giant metal warehouse with no A/C and not a lot of rhyme or reason to determine there was NO tile we loved of which there was enough to cover our floor.  So, we loaded the kids back into the truck, and BB was upset because I hadn't called around to look for flooring and tile places.  We drove around, looking at other locations, finding a couple that had great selection, but were super expensive and had lousy customer service.  I stood at one counter for 20 minutes waiting to find out if they had any closeouts or remnants, and was never acknowledged...I left and we went to the complete opposite side of Denver (we went pretty far south, then back north, then east, and finally went west), and found an amazing store, with hundreds of tile choices, hundreds of hardwood choices...and found a GORGEOUS tile that will compliment our new vanity nicely, but not be too overwhelming...

Needless to say, after driving around all morning, eating lunch out and then buying tile, it ended up being a $250 day (gas, food, and tile).  And we didn't get backer board or mortar.

SO...we got home about 3pm Saturday, put the kids down for naps, and instead of allowing me to remove baseboard moldings and get the powder room to the next step, we ended up working in BB's shop on a project he took on for a neighbor...which meant a rushed dinner (we ordered pizza), rushed baths, and getting the kids back to bed.

I was wiped out, and I went to bed around 9:30.  BB stayed up til midnight working on something else in his shop.

Sunday found us trying a new restaurant for breakfast, and what should have been a quick trip to get the rest of the tiling supplies turned into another $400 at the store because we purchased the new faucet, light, towel bar, and toilet paper holder.  We came home, unloaded, and BB looked at the vanity again and I had to return the faucet we bought for one of a different configuration, which meant I made lunch for everyone, drove to the store, and then had lunch, and then watched BB rip out the flooring, and we pulled the staples from the underlayment, and discovered that at some point both the toilet and the sink were leaking, and we have some nastiness on the subfloor...thankfully, that was cured with a thick coat of KILZ brand primer/stain blocker, but took another hour to get applied to the floor, and then BB wanted me to prime a new shelf we have that we're turning into a sort of locker-style storage solution for our bags, jackets, and shoes (I'll post photos when it's completed!!!).  I opted to sit and spend some time with BB while the kids napped, and then, just as they were waking, he bounded out of his chair to rush to the shop wherein he did more work, and, then, as I told him dinner would be ready in 20 minutes, he started pruning branches away from our fence so we can work on getting our fence stained this summer...which turned into an hour of working outdoors, which made him hot, sweat, sore and cranky because he was hungry...

We ate, I cleaned up, got the kids settled with their bedtime milk (which they drink in the family room), and they watched a DVR'd movie with BB while I began cutting the FIRST COAT of color in the laundry room.

I finished cutting just about the time the movie was over, so I took the kids up and put them to bed, and came back down and began rolling the paint on.  Somewhere in the midst of that BB went to bed.  I finished up, took care of the empty paint cans, cleaned the tools, cracked open the window in the laundry room, opened the windows, and turned on the fans on high to cool the house and get the painty smell out (Yup, those expensive no VOC paints are STILL SMELLY!!!!), and headed upstairs.  I was all ready to shower and then looked at the clock...it was 12:30...so I washed my face and hands, and tumbled into bed.

I was awakened this morning at 6:00...by the neighbor's new Chihuahua puppy that sits outside and whine and cries all night long...so I got up and was all ready to tiptoe downstairs and get the 2nd coat on the walls, when BB woke up and started asking questions about what had taken so long and why and when and...so I scrapped that and we had breakfast together, I made his lunch and just about the time he was leaving for the office, the kids awakened, and I got their breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen, and then did some quick work outdoors to clean the wading pool and refill it.  By the time I got back inside to paint, it was already 9:30...BUT I started in anyway, and realized about 1/3 of the way through, I would not have enough paint...so I finished what we had, and loaded the kids in the truck, drove to the store, got another gallon of paint mixed up (they don't sell this blend in anything smaller), drove home, unloaded the kids, got them settled again, and then finished painting - using about 1-inch worth of volume from the new can...got everything cleaned up, and BB called...

I still need to prime the door moldings in the laundry room, but now he wants me to pull down the existing baseboard molding and get it out of the house, in addition to being asked to "please get the yard mowed so it doesn't look like a jungle", and then do the groceries.

All I know is that tomorrow, when my washing machine and dryer are back in their homes (even if only for a week til we get the new molding ready to be installed), I actually look forward to the task of catching up on 10 days of laundry, bedding and towels...I fully plan to do nothing related to painting or remodeling for a good week...

And a tip?  If you're planning on something like this - make sure you have all the tools and supplies actually on your property before beginning the project.  That way, you can get through the steps as fast as possible, and NOT have to waste time driving hither and yon...

For the next renovation - the Master Bath - we will have every single piece of backer board, foam, waterproofing membranes, tape, tile, mortar, grout, trowels, sponges, paintbrushes, drop cloths, vanities, tub, shower fixtures, and window blinds in our garage BEFORE a single thing comes out...I will NOT have this drawn out...

This is killing me, and my house still looks as though it threw up on itself...