A long and not fun day, but things got done.
I left the condo at 5:30 this morning and drive to Huntsville. The journey was uneventful. At Southeastern Salvage they easily swapped my countertops and actually gave me back $190. So that was pretty nice. It seemed even colder down there than in Nashville though. I got gas on the way back for $2.29. I saw it for $2.21, but that place looked like they were the types to water it down, so I passed. Back at the farm my dad was waiting and we unloaded the countertops, which were extremely heavy. They look good though. Then we took advantage of the warming temperatures and started working outside. We put up fascia boards around much of the house, and added soffit to the front porch. It was not very enjoyable, but we did make great progress. Hopefully tomorrow we will finish up. This evening we went to Lowe’s and bought a few things. Now it is just seven but feels like ten. It’s supposed to be cold tonight but rather warm tomorrow. Below are pictures of the countertops, fascia, and yesterday’s trim work.
Trim makes everything better.
Got a pretty early start this morning and began by cleaning and organizing a little bit. Once my dad arrived we began putting down baseboards in the apartment. Then we moved on to wall and ceiling trim. Wow! What an improvement. It just gives everything such a finished look. We also installed the closet and bathroom doors. We even started on the cedar ceiling trim. I had to leave just after noon, but my dad finished the cedar and caulked everything in the apartment.
I drove up to Nashville and bought tile and grout at Buy Floors Direct. Next I picked up our countertops at Southeastern Salvage. I was surprised at what Liz had picked out, and sent her a picture of it to confirm, but didn’t get a response, so I went on. On to the delicious Mediterranean buffet. Wow, talk about awesome. I won’t eat dinner tonight because I’m still so full. Next I went to the Habitat ReStore to see if they had a sink for the apartment kitchen. They did not, and so I came back to the condo. Liz confirmed that the countertops we’re the ones that she had ordered, however what the salesman had showed her looked completely different. So tomorrow morning I will drive to Huntsville and hopefully exchange them for the correct ones. That is fairly frustrating, but not a huge deal. I spent some time sorting and labeling all of the fixtures that have piled up in the apartment. I also found all of the appliances that I think we will order. Lowe’s is having their best sale of the year now and we want to take advantage.
I also played with Little Man a bit. Tomorrow morning I will try to leave before six so I don’t run into a bunch of traffic. Liz and I have a bit to discuss but hopefully I can get to bed at a reasonable time.
Looking better every day.
I went back to The Next Door for more trim first thing this morning. I unloaded it and then finished putting down the laminate flooring in the apartment. Next I started putting down backer board for the floor tile in the bathrooms. I also put it around the shower in the master bath. My dad continued putting trim around the windows. They look great. We also installed the bedroom door in the apartment.
After dark I went by Big Box and got some bad news – there was a mix-up on ordering my cabinets and they probably won’t be ready for another couple of weeks. From there I drove to Home Depot in Pulaski to pick up a kitchen sink, vanity top, and some door knobs. I had dinner at a Chinese buffet nearby. It was decent. The drive back to the farm took a while as it was very dark and rainy. The house was freezing but it’s okay in my sleeping bag. I’ll read a little and then go to bed.
The flooring begins.
It was a pretty scattered day. The one constant was cold temperatures. I headed to get some trim first thing this morning. The insulation guys were at the house when I returned, and my dad said that we needed to get the cedar on the front porch so they could proceed. So we started on that and it was incredibly cold and windy. Fortunately the new propane heater was running inside the house, so we could at least go in to warm up. I wasn’t too pleased with how the cedar went up, mostly due to the side of the house being a little wonky. Eventually the insulation guys finished under the house and said not to worry about the porch, since the garage wasn’t finished either and they couldn’t do it. So I did a little more until it got too cold and I couldn’t take it any more. Next I went and got some of my flooring. It started to go down pretty well. Liz came in the early afternoon to look at exterior paint options, and made a decision. Blanched pine. After she left I continued to work on the flooring until I ran out of daylight. My dad was putting the trim around the windows and it looks fantastic. We went to dinner then to Home Depot in Spring Hill where we bought cement board for the master shower, and tried to buy a kitchen sink but they didn’t have it in stock. Liz went to Southeastern Salvage after leaving here and was able to buy the countertops. I’ll pick them up on Thursday. I’ll also get bathroom tile and grout then. Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain all day, but I still need to go get more trim in the morning. Then I’ll finish up the apartment flooring and then put backer board on the walls of the master shower and on the floors of all the bathrooms. I’ll probably finish the day by putting down underlayment where I can. My dad will keep trimming out the windows and then probably do the baseboards and all of the window and door trim in the apartment. Tomorrow will be another very cold and nasty day.
Cold and wet Monday.
Apparently it was a holiday for some people. Good work if you can get it. I started the day by heading to Home Depot in Spring Hill. There I bought several things and picked up some other stuff that I had ordered online. My dad had arrived by the time I returned to the house. He started working on the bathroom tile again and I focused on cleaning and organizing in preparation for putting down the flooring. We went out for lunch and bought more tile glue at Lowe’s, then picked up some underlayment at Big Box. This afternoon was more of the same. We finished up by installing the underlayment in the apartment.
Little Man braves the cold.
It was a pretty relaxing day. It feels like I spent most of it on the computer working on house stuff. Bit I did manage to read to Luke and play with him a bit. We also took him with us to Lowe’s as we looked at appliances. Also it was bath night. He seems to be enjoying that more and more. I left the condo a little after seven, stopped at Home Depot on Franklin for a propane heater and a piece of backer board, then came down to the farm.
Cabinets!
It was pretty cold this morning and that kept me in bed for longer than necessary. Once I finally got up I did some organizing outside, mainly moving the old wood flooring out of the way. I brought in the cabinets with the front end loader and then began clearing the area for us to assemble and install them. I also unloaded my new cedar for the front porch. My dad arrived as I was starting to scrape paint off the kitchen windows. We launched into the cabinets right away. I unboxed them and he assembling them, and together we installed them. I have to say that they look pretty good. And the price was amazing. Now I am just waiting for the apartment cabinets and the vanities to arrive. Tomorrow I hope to go to Southeastern Salvage and buy countertops. Liz wants butcher block. Actually she wants concrete, but that isn’t happening now, although it might at a later time.
We got the cabinets all set and my dad called it a day. I threw the cabinet boxes and some trash bags on the trailer and took them to the dump. Don’t worry, I recycled the cardboard. From there I went to TSC. They had five of the twelve shelf brackets that I needed. I drove up to the TSC in Triune and bought the remaining seven. They are pretty nice and a decent price, and that saves me the trouble of tracking them down on Etsy.
Back at the condo was most of the stuff I ordered off Amazon, Wayfair, and Home Depot. I will take it all down to the farm tomorrow.
The Little Man was finishing up his dinner when I arrived. I read him a new book, Goodnight Gorilla (mini review: it’s pretty lame), and then he went to bed. Liz and I have been discussing house stuff since. She will go to Home Depot and make some decisions tomorrow.
Shiplapped, more cedar, cabinets.
Well, I’m pleased to say that all of the shiplap is now painted, with the exception of my office. Who knows when I’ll get to that. It looks pretty good. I also sprayed the two tall ends of the kitchen and dining room. The day started with a scare though. I set up my new spray gun, primed it and everything, but couldn’t get it to spray consistently. I tried cleaning out the nozzle, used mineral spirits, and even went to Dollar General to get needles to clear it out. Nothing worked. Then my dad mentioned that the pump sounded different, and that made me remember to check the pressure. It wasn’t dialed up enough. Crisis averted. The other issue of the morning came as I was going down the back stairs, slipped and fell, twisting my knee in the process. I was in agony but could at least walk. The back of my knee has been sore all day and I’m terrified of how sore it will feel in the morning.
But after that the painting did go pretty well. It was tough painting the drywall because there isn’t much contrast between the paint and primer. But the sprayer sure is fast. Clean up was slow again though. My dad worked on tile in the apartment bathroom and made great progress. I went to Home Depot in Spring Hill mid-afternoon to get a few things, then over to Chapel Hill for more cedar. I didn’t get as much as I would have liked, but it should play nice weekend with my leftovers from the two vaulted ceilings. We might even put it on the porch ceiling tomorrow. From there I went to Big Box and picked up my cabinets. It was pretty cold by that point. It isn’t supposed to rain tonight, so I left them out on the trailer. Tomorrow we’ll bring them in and assemble them.
The Sistine kitchen/dining room.
I feel a lot like Michaelangelo, but maybe that is just because of all the paint fumes I breathed in today. The day started early with spackling the remaining shiplap. That went a bit more slowly than expected. Eventually I finished though, and after lunch got my new paint sprayer hooked up. That process was tedious. But once everything was set we were really off to the races. It sprayed differently from my other sprayer. Not better or worse, just different. I only had time to do the primer. I am pretty happy with how it looks. Tomorrow morning I hope to apply the finish coat. Clean up was a little bit of a pain, but not too bad. My dad continued sanding and painting the drywall. He is nearly finished. It is a little cooler this evening. We went to see Zach at Big Box and told him we’ll be by tomorrow to pick up the cabinets. I hope to assemble and install them in the afternoon. I am pretty filthy from painting and sweating. A shower would be nice. Tomorrow night I might have a little fire out back because it is supposed to get down to 28 degrees.
Super long day of cedar.
I started on the cedar ceiling in the master bedroom pretty early this morning, and finished just before dark. I stopped to use the bathroom, drink water, and eat some trail mix. It was a pretty exhausting day. I had to use the double scaffolding, which slowed things down because I had to constantly reposition it. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out though. My dad continued painting, and that looks great. This evening I drove up to Home Depot in Franklin and bought more nails, along with a paint sprayer. This one pumps directly from a five gallon bucket, which should save me a bunch of time. My goal for tomorrow is to spackle, prime, and paint the remaining shiplap, with the exception of my office. It will be a challenge, but possible I think. Today was another beautiful fall day but it’s supposed to get cold soon.
