The Home Renovation | Weeks T W O & T H R E E

Oh, hey! Remember me?

No?

Understandable!

2 Weeks just totally flew by... and I'm not really sure how that happened.
Did anyone even look at the Calendar?
It's October!

hashtag howisthatevenpossible

When the heck did it become October.
September just... didn't exist. Like not even at all. 

Time is F L Y I N' people.

That is definitely true when it comes to this whole we-are-renovating-a-house-and-we-wonder-if-we-will-ever-live-in-it thing. 

It's been two weeks since I updated on the reno process and I can say that in those two weeks a LOT has happened... but also very little. 

Those things can totally both be true at the same time. 

Let's see... where do I even start?

The house used to just be me, Lucy and wall paper removal all day. Lucy had her area, I had mine. It was peaceful, serene. (yes a nightmare where the wallpaper is concerned) but we were living in it during the day and doing our thing. 

Ugly, but serene. 

Not the case anymore. 

There is dust, paint chips, plaster, dirt, wallpaper glue, wallpaper strips, wallpaper gunk, tile pieces, and so on E V E R Y W H E R E. 

It is a certified disaster zone. 

It has to get worse before it can get better, right? RIGHT!?

So, Lucy is no longer allowed in the house. 
Which has meant, unfortunately, I have struggled to get there to keep working on that wall paper... which makes me feel like time is passing but I'm not accomplishing anything.

Let's start with The W A L L P A P E R

I have come to the conclusion that this whole wallpaper-removal project is a little like natural childbirth. It is the most painful, horrific event one could possibly imagine. But we push through it, we take that pain, refusing that medication that will take much of it away. We do the hard thing because in the end we can say "I did it!" No medal will be awarded, but we have bragging rights forever. 

That being said, I had an epidural so... 
we have a professional coming in to look at the walls this week! ;) 

But there was still work for us to be doing:

When you last saw it we had "finished" the master bedroom and the middle bedroom. 

"Finished" is really not an appropriate description.  Sure, the paper is off... but the walls are a mess:
Left-over glue that refuses to let go. Smooth plaster mixed with stubborn paint, knicks, chips, and the like! 

Not pretty. Just not pretty. 

I kind of had to walk away from those rooms and continue on with the rest of the house lest I lose my mind. So my goal became to remove all the paper and then let that professional tell me what is to be done with the carnage left over.

My friend Lorraine came and removed the top-layers of wallpaper from two rooms and my mom started on the dining room and kitchen. 

hashtag: helpisgood

It's a little like Christmas! Ripping all that pretty paper, not knowing what fun surprises await you behind it! 

For example...

Does it put you in the mood for cotton candy too?

Pink. 
Pink was the surprise. 
The entire kitchen, dining room AND hallway were / are Pebto Bismol pink. 

 

I mean, don't get me wrong. I like pink. But that's a lot-o pink, ya'll. 
They were NOT messing around

While my mom revealed all that precious pink I spent the day in the living room. 

ironically that paper next to the fireplace was the EASIEST to remove... just that little space. figures.

I have never loved that awkwardly-sized, massive fireplace more than that day. 
Why?
It meant it was less wall that I had to deal with!

I realized in the midst of my peeling and scraping that that room is the room everyone means when they give you all of that wallpaper-removal advice. Everyone's advice was well-served in that room!

Peel. Soak. Scrape. Wash. Scrape. done. 

Sure it was tedious. 
Sure it took 2 days. 
But compared to the bedrooms!? CAKE!
Why can't they all be like that!?

Greg had to finish that one last strip of paper... my hands so done by 10:00 at night.

We were not without our issues... Bedroom number 3 had lots of plaster and paint combination and we even lost some plaster... whoops. 

hashtag bringintheprofessional. 

Thankfully my dad worked SUPER hard in there sanding, cleaning  scraping, sanding and so on to smooth those walls... so we are hoping that room won't be TOO complicated!

thanks dad! 

Enough about wall paper. I'm sick of it so I'm sure you are!

Baby had had enough of EVERYTHING. 

On to...  M E C H A N I C A L S

My husband is one skilled individual. 
He knows his stuff in SO many areas not the least of which is HVAC / Plumbing / electrical. 
Which for an entire house reno is, of course, quite handy!

Our goal for the house mechanically:
    -change entire HVAC system. (that's heating and air conditioning)
    -change plumbing (improve, add, adjust etc.)
   - Change entire electrical (improve, upgrade, add, move, etc.)

There's lots of technical terms that go along with them that my husband has used along the way but I don't know about any of it. 

So far in these last weeks Greg has taken on the huge job of changing all the water lines, installing a water heater and a water filtration system.

Hershey is sweet... but it's water tastes gross. 

We had a TINY setback when the main water valve snapped due to age and gallons of water came rushing into our basement and the water company had to come turn it off on the street... 

special moments

But, the impromptu swimming pool didn't last and there was minimal damage! 

YAY

Moving right along...

The last thing that really got worked on in these two weeks was the B A T H R O O M

Remember this beauty?
Yeah we thought about keeping all that pretty brown and yellow and those swan doors... Ohhh the swan doors! 

But, yeah... nope.

Greg and a friend spent a few days completely gutting it! 
EVERYTHING is going - walls, floors, fixtures, cabinets, lighting, 

e'rything.

Really wishing I had thought about that before I spent 2 hours ripping wallpaper down from walls that are now crumpled in a dumpster. But whatev.

I am SO excited for this bathroom to come back together. But right now - it is a disaster!

So for those of your that didn't want to read everything I just typed and skimmed to the end, here's the recap:

1. MOST of the wallpaper is off but we are having a pro come in to look at the remnants of the walls to see what can be done. 

2. All the plumbing lines and water has been changed and updated and is ready to go!

3. The bathroom is gutted and ready to be put back together... almost. 

4. There is still SO MUCH to do. 

The house really is unrecognizable already from what it was, which is nice! :) 
Our mostly DIY reno is coming along and we are making progress. 
Thankful for my husband and our families and friends for all of their tremendous help so far!!!!!!!

Looking forward to letting you know how week 4 goes... 'cause we'll probably be like totally moved in by then, right?

;)