This week was more details. And nailing pulling. Oh and a picture that could change our next year.
he said
One of the lessons I have learned in this reno is the rule of three. As in take the number of nails that you pull from the kitchen floor, the ones the past owners seemingly put in the floor with a special nail tommy-gun in a scatter pattern… much akin to the bullet spray from a wise guy / copper shootout at the ole Triple Layer Linoleum Floor Speakeasy. Anyway, take the number of nails you pulled from the floor and multiply that by a factor of three. And then you have how many nails it feels like you pulled. Then, no matter how small the pile of nails looks at the end, you have a more satisfying number. Though, it probably was somewhere in the vicinity of 200 nails I bet.
But who’s counting?
This week was more details. I had to pull the layers of kitchen floor up right to the existing base pine tongue & groove floor board and pull the nails. And for those keeping track at home: there were 2 layers of linoleum; one layer of plywood; and then, dark stained hardwood floors which probably would have looked nice had it not been sprayed with nails and glued and generally killed by the 3 layers of crap (rule of three, withstanding). I had to finish pulling the rest of the lath off the bathroom ceiling (which meant a lovely shower of old blown-in puff insulation which luckily isn’t itchy but sure sticks to sweaty forearms nicely). The pine wallboard had to come off the south wall in the kitchen (because there was no insulation behind it). I had to shim the bathroom walls and I had to have the plumbing inspected. And all got done. And the plumbing passed!
Oh! I also used a SAWZALL! By myself. Unsupervised. The tool is really handy in a renovation but a big reciprocating blade that can (and will) cut through anything, kind of scared me. But much like putting a hammer through a plaster wall and not turning back, I have conquered another fear head on with this reno. So, another milestone in this life – first words, walking, going to school, hairy armpits, getting a big boy job, and using a sawzall. Done and/or done.
The best news is, that it looks like, I am getting close to the end of the tearing apart. And closer to the building back up. That is alright. I guess.
The plumbing fixtures arrived last week, and then, Friday I picked up our tub, toilet and kitchen sink. And that was about the time I got recharged and really excited about how this is going to look in the end. You see when you sit and look at your house in a state of renovation disarray, it’s hard to envision the final product. But with these pieces of the puzzle I am starting to get really excited about this again. And damn if we don’t have some fine tastes! 😉
But the most exciting news of the week, came in the form of a picture. But, I will let Danielle tell you about that.
she said
My week was the opposite of John, mine was a week of horrible fatigue, brutal nausea, and do not forget painful breasts. But on Wednesday it was all worth it. We got to see what has been making me so sick. We are measuring 4 days ahead of what we originally thought so we are now due January 24th. Well around that date – one thing that can be guaranteed with babies they will come when they are ready and not before. So as I count down the days (well weeks) until the first trimester hoping that I will feel better I am grateful for the continuing symptoms. The symptoms mean that the baby is still there and still growing big and strong.
On the reno note this week we get do some of the fun stuff – this week we will finalize the backsplash tile, the paint colours and the lighting. YEAH pretty things!!!!