Thursday, March 11, 2010

Our renovation continues!

By now we thought we'd be a lot further along on the kid's bedrooms than we are, but the good news is, each day we move forward a little bit more, even if it's at a snail's pace.

Since my last renovation blog update, we've had all new double pane (energy efficient)windows installed on the entire house. The new window installation is the only project (so far) we hired people to do the work for us. Even as DIY'ers, Kirk and I know that an entire house needing windows is something we'd rather have the professionals do.

Over the past couple weeks, Kirk and I replaced a section of rotten subfloor (in Jessie and Joe's room); we framed out a wall that used to be a big window; we installed moisture barrier and prepped an exterior wall for siding (where a window used to be); Kirk updated a number of electrical cables under the house, old junction boxes, old outlets, and old switches for the bedrooms we're working on... they are all new! We are feeling little victories in each accomplished task.

New windows being installed!!!


This is the opening that used to have a large window. The window had an air conditioner unit in it that leaked and rotted out the wall and a small section of the floor. We've decided to NOT replace the window, but fix the rotten places and make a solid wall.


Little did we know when we bought this house that we were going to be rebuilding this much of it. It's a fun experience, that's for sure!
...all ready for new insulation!


...moisture barrier, and exterior insulation panels.



Our electrical issues... old cables that made a "crunchy" noise when they are moved around and several places that had exposed wires where critters had chewed through. YIKES!
(this photo is just a sampling of what Kirk replaced)



Kirk fit snug under the house getting the cables updated. Bless his heart, he spent a total of 8-10 hours total under the house. He even got bit/stung by a bug on his hand (we suspect a scorpion), which freaked him out when his hand hurt, tingled and went numb for a day.


...new outlets! Oh JOY! (a total of 10, so far)


What a beautiful sight... updated electrical!



We found a friendly gecko in Andrew's room, wondering why we disrupted his home behind some old wall boards. We relocated him outside where it's nice and warm.

We continue our renovation "process" at a snails pace . This week we've been putting up drywall (in 3 bedrooms) and are hoping to get the walls finished out over the next 4-7 days. I'm motivated to post "after" pictures of the three bedrooms all finished and decorated. But more than posting "after" pictures, to have the kids in their own bedrooms, with all their stuff, for the comfort and convenience of them having their own spaces again, this will be a reason to celebrate!

2 comments:

Color me blingy! said...

Trusting the Lord's prompting on this one!

My name is Yvette and I live in Oregon. I came across your blog completely by accident. Being new to the blog scene, I pushed the "next blog" button thinking I would be taken to the next blog of someone I know. A few things in your interests caught my eye...in particular VW bugs as my husband owns a business restoring VW's. Long story short, I thought I had stumbled upon your blog by accident and so I pushed the "next" button thinking I would get out of there. Of course, that took me to another site and so I pushed the "back" button and this is when I noticed that you had a scripture posted. VW's, a Christian, enjoys writing, crafting, Beth Moore teachings, and you have been prompted by the Lord to write a book. I took a moment to pray and then felt lead me to write this introduction. I only have friends online that I actually know personally, so this is WAY out of my comfort zone, but I really felt a prompting from the Lord to read some of your postings. I live on the Oregon Coast and I too am dragging my feet on writing the book that the Lord has placed on my heart to write. You can check out my blog at colormeblingy.blogspot.com If you feel at all uncomfortable about me "following" you, please let me know and I will remove myself from your blog immediately. As I said, this is NOT the norm for me, so I am completely trusting Him on this.

Etta said...

Hi Teri - following the house project with great interest! Lovely to be "building" your own home together - really looking forward to seeing the whole shebang when it's finished.