Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 12

Three months!  It has flown by.  And we are getting closer to the point where we can clean this place up.  The sheet rock will be completed tomorrow!!!  Woo HOO!  😄  This really makes me happy.

Tile in guest bathroom

Floor tiled 

 

 

 

 

The captain started tiling in the guest bathroom this week.  It is looking more and more like a bathroom now, not just a small room with a shower stall sitting in the corner.  Can't wait for a working toilet!!! 

Master bedroom ceiling painted

I painted the ceiling in the bedroom this week and it looks great.  Got a couple of coats paint on the wall and I am happy with the color...Valspar's  Malted  Milk.  This will be our color for the downstairs area.  We tend to favor neutral tones and once the trim is painted in white, I think we will be pleased with the look.  

RTA kitchen cabinets

Oh, and our kitchen cabinets arrived this week!  We opted to go with a ready to assemble cabinet and our boxes are currently stacked in the bedroom.  We need to paint the kitchen first, (hoping to get this done soon) and then the cabinets will be assembled and placed in the kitchen.  We are getting so excited! 

 

And...our exterior painter is ready to start on Monday.   She is a local artist who does exterior painting on the side.  The exterior is getting painted soon!!! 

 

When we bought this house, we knew it would take some work.  And we had a vision of what we wanted this house to be.  I think we are beginning to feel the excitement of our vision coming to fruition.  It is going to be beautiful.   

Now, it is time to get back to work...

Until next time...

Enjoy

 

Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 11

It is week 11 into our progress on our house.  It is going at a much slower pace than I would like, as we are still waiting for the sheet rock work to be completed.  It seems like it is taking a long, long time to get the walls done.  The sheet rock guys are doing this for a couple of hours each week (they are coming by after they get done for the day on their regular job) so this part of the process is slow, slow, slow.  I am ready for the final sanding to be DONE.  Then we can move on to cleaning and painting. 

Large cracks filled  and mudded

More of the same

You can see in the pictures there were lots of cracks.   Captain Man worked on the living room walls and the sheet rock guys were impressed with his work.  The process goes something like this... fill in the cracks, apply a 'fiberglass mesh' over the wall (it comes in a large roll), then mud over the mesh, assuring it is smooth, without any humps, clumps, etc. while trying to get it as level with the wall as you can.  They usually "mud" three times, allowing it to dry completely between the muddings.  Once the wall has had the enough mud to applied to assure a smooth finish, the walls are sanded.  So, the process does take some time...and almost all the walls downstairs had to be worked on.  

Captain Man hard at it...bedroom ceiling

Man in motion

The ceiling in the master bedroom had a few cracks, so my captain worked on the fix.   It took a few days, but once painted, should look good as new, or as good as an old house ceiling can look.

Scraping the trim

I am still scraping trim.  I did find a wonderful tool to make the job a little easier.  It's a Hyde Contour scraper, that comes with 6 changeable blades.  The different blades fit into most of the curves, contours and crevices.  The blades are super sharp and scrape the paint off without "digging" into the wood.   Works well.   But I still have a LOT to scrape.

Hyde Contour scraper

 

The picture does not show the left side of trim, but there are 12 edges to this one piece of trim on the window.  12!   Most people looking at this have told me "just replace with new trim".  Nope...I am determine to complete this.  I love the trim in this house, and I hope the house is thankful that we are wanting to preserve its original beauty.

Captain Man is telling me that we will have the master bedroom and guest bedroom completed in a few weeks.  He is thinking we will be able to move in at that time and work on the rest of the rooms while living there.  I am having a hard time believing the bathroom and bedroom will be done.   But I am hopeful he is right.  We will see.

Until next time...

Enjoy!

 

 

Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 10

When I say the house is a mess, I am not joking...this house is a mess!  It is filthy, dusty, and junky.  I really do not like this part of the project...the constant mess everywhere.  I want to get in there and CLEAN it up, but until the sheet rock repair is completed, it's just wasted time and energy.

Living room mess

Hallway mess

Mess in the bedroom

As you can see from the above picture, I am still busy scraping the trim work.  Seems like a never ending job and the process is slow.  However, I do find it somewhat cathartic.  It will be pretty once completed and I get a sense of satisfaction knowing we are preserving the original trim.  

One of many wall cracks waiting on repair

And a large crack needing some help

We are wanting to get the wall repair work completed.  The captain is doing most of it.  We were hoping our sheet rock contractor guys would have more time for us, but they are busy at their primary job.   So their time working for us is very limited.  The process is time consuming, but Captain Man is doing a great job with it.  Will be sure to post his progress next week.

Until then...

Enjoy!

Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 9

Slow house progress this week.  I was busy at my regular job and Captain Man had to work at his PRN job more than usual.  Also, I spent some time with my dear friend who was going through a rough experience, so our time spent on the house this week was limited.  

Captain Man did a bit of sheet rock mudding to repair a few cracks in the walls, plus he moved some plumbing in the kitchen.  We had to do this because as we were measuring for our cabinets, we found the spot for our kitchen sink needed to be moved over about a foot. 

So really no pictures of our work for this week.  Hopefully next week we will have more to report and share.  

A gift

I did have a pleasant surprise however.   This week our neighbor, a few houses down, left us a gift.  We walked up to the house one morning and found this box left by the front door.  It is special because this box and the stuff on top once belonged to Ms. Evelyn.  Who is Ms. Evelyn?  Well, we have never met her, but this was her home many years ago.  Our sweet neighbor is Ms. Evelyn's niece.  Her name is Paula and she has shared so many wonderful stories with us about her aunt and this house.  She also gave us a few photographs of Ms. Evelyn and her father.  It is really interesting...when I met Paula, she told me that I reminded her of her aunt.  And when I saw a picture of her, there is a striking resemblance.  Quite interesting.  The box, plate, and small tea pitcher were used by Ms. Evelyn.  So, I will make sure we keep these treasures in this house where Ms. Evelyn lived for many years.  Such a gift!   Thank you Paula!

As I look back on this week, I am reminded that we must take the time to make wonderful memories and enjoy our moments, for we know not what the next minute has to offer.  

So until next time...

please enjoy each moment!

 

Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 8

Our sheet rock crew completed the new walls and they look great.  Then we looked at the older walls. When we removed the wallpaper, we noticed huge cracks and chips.  We initially thought we would be able to redo these ourselves, but after looking at our new walls and how nicely they were done, we questioned whether or not our job would look as good as the new walls.  So Captain Man called the sheet rock guy and asked if they would re-do the existing walls as well.  And they agreed, but they are doing it late afternoons, after their other scheduled jobs as they are working us in.  THANK YOU sheet rockers!

Old walls with cracks next to new walls that are smooth

They are also going to re-sheet rock the bedroom and hall room ceilings, which would have been a struggle for us, (it's heavy and I am not that strong).

Ceiling prepped for sheet rock application

The weeks are flying by...before we know it another one has passed.  Things are progressing nicely and hopefully we will be able to move in before August.  All will not be completed, but should be livable enough for us to move.   At least that is what we are hoping for.   Keeping our fingers crossed!!!

Until next time...

Enjoy!

Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 7

Our sheet rock workers are here and have been busy installing new walls.   This is a very messy process.  The sheet rock delivers a fine dust when being cut, plus once it is mudded, it must be sanded.  So we have a white film of this stuff EVERYWHERE.  I want to get in there every evening and vacuum the stuff away but Captain Man tells me it is wasted energy, "wait until they are finished" he tells me.   I will be so very glad when this process is finished and I can get rid of this dust.  Wearing a mask in the house is a must.  

A few days before the workers arrived, Captain Man was busy prepping the walls for the workers.  Walls had to be shimmed, holes plugged, backer cement board (for bathroom tile) installed, etc.  After several days, the new walls were in place.

Guest bathroom minus a wall

Guest bathroom with new sheet rock walls

Master bath with old walls

And the bath with new walls

Bedroom with door to living room

And the door is no longer there

Kitchen with old ceiling and no sheet rock on the back wall

New ceiling and walls

We closed and covered the AC vents at the very beginning of this endeavor to keep debris and dirt out of the vents, so the air conditioning has not been on.  It is very hot and humid. It can get stifling in the house.  All involved are consuming lots of water and sweating it out, and getting very dirty.

Sweaty and dirty Captain

Yes, we are working hard,  but things are getting done and we are pleased with the progress thus far.

So, until next time...

Enjoy

Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 6

A few weeks ago, we obtained permission from the Historical Society to proceed with replacing one of the existing at the back of the house.   It was a single window and we wanted to replace it with a triple window to match the other window (match as best as we could, these are not your standard windows).    Also, there was a bit of damage in the wall and floor beams, so with the help of a good friend, the old wall was removed and new wall installed, with an opening for a new triple window.

Pic of back wall with one small window

Wall removed and temporary beams up to hold up roof

Another view of no wall

Outside view

Another view

In the picture above, you can see there is a triple window on one side, but the other side only had a single window.  We wanted to open up the back room and the larger window on the left side will allow more light and a expanded view of the river!

 

Ready for the new window and wall is repaired!

The window had to be ordered and is scheduled to arrive within the next few weeks, so the opening is temporarily closed waiting for the window installation.

All done for now

Also, this past week, Captain Man had someone come mow our back yard. The property is narrow, but long and extends past the railroad track to the river.  The grass was taking over, and was knee to waist high.   I cannot mow something like this.  Too afraid of swamp critters and I know this must have been a haven for them.  So thank you Mr. Lawn Guy for getting this done!

Yard finally mowed

You can see the railroad track going thru our back yard.  We eventually want the bushes on either side of the track to be removed, so that more of the river can be seen and enjoyed.  Hopefully once we stop working on the house, we will be able to walk to the river's edge and use our paddle board.  This area has a lot of paddle boarders, and they usually get together frequently during the summer for "paddle cruises".  About once a month, they have a sunset paddle cruise, which would be fun.

Sunset on the Pamlico

So, what are my jobs during this renovation...when I am not working at my regular job.  That depends on what Captain Man needs me doing.   And the chores go something like this...run to Lowes and pick up such and such, clean this area so we can do this or that, cut this piece of lumber X amount of inches, hand me the whatchamacallit tool...oh, and what might we be having for dinner tonight? 😃😃😃😃 Yes, I am smiling.  Remember, I really wanted this house.

When there are no other assigned chores for me, I pick up the stripping gel and start to work on removing the old paint from the trim.  Remember I stated in an earlier post there is a lot of trim in this house that was painted with latex over oil based paint.  Most of which is falling off.  So, I have the pleasure of trying to get the remaining latex off.  Little by little and it is messy!  But I am hoping once completed, and repainted correctly, it will have been worth it.  

Paint stripping one of many windows

We are now waiting for sheet rock installer estimates.  I cannot wait for this to be done.  Once that is completed, we can clean up and paint and then move in time will be right around the corner!! Woo Hoo!

So far now, it's back to work.

Until next time....

Enjoy!