Project #3 Done!

"The Jungle"...remember it?! Before you go any further, go here to refresh your memory!

So that was last fall....spring came and here's what the jungle looked like:






You can see that stuff started to grow again, which we expected. So, we decided to get a few estimates to get this job taken care of. Lord knows it needed it and our neighbors I'm sure wanted it done :)

After having two estimates, we decided to go with Rockview Landscaping who is the brother of one of my coworkers. They came on Monday and started the demolition. I didn't really know how long it would take or what to expect when I got home from work that day. Here's what I came home to on Monday:



I was shocked that everything was pretty much gone and it looked pretty bare! The area next to the driveway used to be an area where we planted flowers (you can see a very small part of it in the original "jungle" pics). That was our one thing we did the past few years was to plant some annuals there and they were surrounded with a brick border. We decided we didn't really want that anymore-the grass was growing into the flowers all of the time and it made mowing around the flowers challenging. So we decided to get rid of it and just put grass in. I was surprised when the landscaper called Monday night and said they would probably be done on Tuesday with everything! I never thought they would have had it all done by then. Sure enough, I got home on Tuesday and they said they had a few hours left and they would be done.

So folks, here's the new landscaping!!










It'll take a few weeks to get the full effect because the grass all needs to grow and the bushes he put in need to get a little bit bigger. But, we love it so far and are really happy with how it turned out! It'll be so easy to maintain now and of course makes the house look much better!!

Project #2 Done!

Yes folks, the nursery is finally finished!! Baby held out long enough for his/her room to be ready. Well, she/he can arrive now because it's all done and ready! If you go here, you can see the last time I posted about the nursery...yes, way back in February! We've done a lot since then which you'll see in the photos.

The one last thing we were waiting on was our crib, which finally came over the weekend. I was waiting on that so we could arrange the furniture, hang shelves, and then decorate. It was cutting it close, but thankfully it all worked out for us. And I LOVE the way the room came out! Gabe did 99% of the work so he gets all of the credit for this awesome room! So are you ready to see it?!

Ceiling fan installed and in ceiling speaker installed, 3 recessed lights installed:


View of the room's entrance (I'll note that all of the trim is the original trim that was stripped of the white paint and restained):


Looking into the room:


Crib:


Area rug:


Tall dresser:


Tall dresser, new windows, new blinds:


Area near the closet-new glider and ottoman:


Long dresser/changing table:


Another angle of long dresser:


So what do you think? I think baby D. is going to LOVE it!!

Family Room Update

You may remember awhile ago we were in the middle of remodeling our back room. I haven't updated on it in awhile since it took us awhile to get to where we are right now. Gabe had to do 2 coats of drywall primer before we could paint, then he had to prime and paint the ceiling and then paint the trim and walls-lots of work!! We took these pictures on Thursday night so they're not 100% current, but pretty close.

Facing the neighbors-new speakers put in that will go on either side of the TV:




Facing the backyard and driveway side:


Facing the driveway-one speaker installed on the left side:


Ceiling shot of recessed lights:


Facing neighbors-new speakers (and Jerri of course!):


Entrance to the room-no closet anymore!


New closet doors:


Gabe's toys stored in the closet:


Friday we had the ceiling fan installed and a light put up in the closet. The speakers are all put in now as well. This weekend, Gabe rearranged the furniture and put most of the stuff back in the room. Left to do....finish a little bit of painting and put up crown molding that we're ordering. After that, I think the room might be officially done :)

We Have Walls!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm happy to announce that we have walls in our back room :) You may remember our demolition from last week which took things down to the bare bones. Well, last week they worked pretty much all week on the new drywall-ceiling, walls, and mudding and taping the seams. It took them all week to get it close to being done. Today (and tomorrow) they'll be finishing the mudding and sanding of the drywall, then they can put up the molding soon after that. Here are some pics of the progress:
Ceiling showing recessed light:Ceiling drywalled:Facing the driveway:Facing the backyard:
Mudding and taping of drywall:Jerri checking things out:Facing the neighbors (notice the one window is gone):Facing the front of the house:Ceiling:New electrical wiring:
Still a work in progress, but at least it's progress! Oh, and people have asked how it is living in this-we're not really. We moved as much out of that room as possible into our front living room. We brought down a TV from our bedroom and put that in our front room also. So, instead of living in this room, we're living up front, which we never do. It's very cramped because of the added furniture/clutter from the back, but we're getting along ok. I can't wait to clean the house though-it's a filty mess from them tracking stuff through the house. It'll be nice to be back to normal in a few weeks!

Holy Demolition Batman!

We recently had a new project started in our house. In the back of the house we had a family room (many, many years ago it used to be a garage) and it's been something Gabe has been wanting to change since he moved in almost 8 years ago. So, last Monday, the guy we found started the demolition of the room!

Here are some pics of the room before:

Facing our backyard: Facing the neighbors (moving counter-clockwise around the room from above):

Facing the front of the house:Facing the front of the house/driveway:Ceiling:

These pics are after day 1 of demolition. Above our drop ceiling was another ceiling that had some recessed lights in it. Here the insulation is still in as well. These pics mirror the above ones, starting facing the rear of the house and moving counter-clockwise.

Facing the backyard:

Facing the neighbors:Facing the front of the houseFacing the front of the house:Facing the driveway:

These next photos are what the house looked like after Friday (5 days of demolition). The second ceiling was removed, and all new insulation was put in both in the ceiling and walls. All of the old insulation was completely removed and replaced, new electrial wires were ran, and some recessed lights were put in.
Facing our backyard:Facing the neighbors:Facing the front of the house:What was a closet:Facing the driveway:Today, they started putting up the drywall in the ceiling and part of the walls-we didn't take any pictures of it yet. I'll keep posting as the project progresses-they said about 2-3 weeks of work time. One week down, maybe 2 more to go!