Too Hot!

So this past week I stayed up in Payson.  Mostly because I wanted out of the heat, but it is pretty hot here and I feel guilty using the A/C (Matt doesn’t need it and says I’m a wuss if I complain).  If I were in Gilbert at least I’d have the pool (which just got converted to salt water) to cool off in.  I bought a wading pool for Zena thinking SHE might like to cool off, but it is mostly a big (dirty) water bowl that she puts her feet in, then runs around in the dirt and tracks mud all over the house.  Luckily we don’t have our flooring in yet.  I’m actually thinking the wood subfloor is the way to go when you have a lab-mix dog that loves water and dirt.  Zena was a huge help this week.  When I was weeding, she kept dropping her ball in the garbage bucket and then knocking it over to get it out.  When I was removing the laundry closet drywall, she slobbered all over her furry toys and then rolled them on the floor – right in the drywall droppings – so now her toys are caked in drywall dust.  I thought about throwing them all in the pool, but then they’d just be caked with drywall dust AND mud.  Luckily she hasn't gotten sick - yet...

Zena's blue toy. . .

and her purple one covered in dust and mud

I kept pretty busy during the week.  Did some paperwork, sprayed some weeds with a bleach/water mix which didn’t have much effect then sprayed the weeds with Round-up which also didn’t have much effect then pulled lots and lots and LOTS of weeds (still have lots to go), sprayed some spider webs with the bleach mix (had some left over and just wanted to see if it worked on bugs) then sprayed the webs with insect killer, pruned some trees, took down some drywall that was inside the laundry closet (also took down some paneling – got to use the multi-tool), removed some nails and brads and cleaned up some jagged ceiling edges, cut some drywall in preparation for the weekend projects, organized/tidied up the house which involved moving lots of drywall and boxes to the storage sheds, and, believe it or not, did some cleaning (amazing that there is actually cleaning to be done in a construction zone).  My hands are pretty scraped up, raw and sore and the rest of me just hurts!

Mike took Friday off and left early on Thursday to give us a good head start on the weekend projects.  Our plan was to get all the remaining drywall up in the Family Room, Kitchen/Dining and Hall.  Matt and I had the 1st piece all ready to go and even up on the lift. Mike had to plane down some of the new studs that had twisted – what a mess – sawdust everywhere.  We were able to get one wall completed and it went up fairly smoothly – only one doorway (which I had marked ahead of time), 2 light switches and 2 outlets.  The only issue was getting the sloped edges even so we cut the drywall longer than needed, flushed one side up against the door opening and cut the other side after it was up.  This worked really well and we’ll do that for all the outside corner edges from now on.

Ready and waiting for Mike to arrive

Trimming down the uneven boards - sawdust flying

Completed pantry

On Friday we tackled the last remaining walls in the kitchen and family room.  The cutouts weren’t too bad and since they were all outside corners we were able to trim the edges once they were up, but there were a lot of areas that needed to be planed which was time consuming and messy!  With all the drywall up in the family room and kitchen, it is much easier to visualize how the house is going to look and I’m really lovin’ it.  Even though it is small, it is open and efficient which makes it seem much larger.

More uneven boards in the kitchen

Finished wall in dining room

Showing completed kitchen wall and pantry

Getting a better idea as to how the house will look with completed walls

Saturday, after our traditional pancake breakfast, Mike completed his “small” project which was to frame up the laundry closet.  We purchased bi-fold doors that require a certain opening which, of course, is smaller than the current closet doorway.  This went pretty smoothly until Mike realized that the 48” width needed to be 1” larger to leave room for the drywall allowance.  Luckily he remembered this before we put up the drywall on this wall and he had used screws, so all he had to do was remove the screws and move the 2x4 he’d just put in.  After the opening was framed up, we were able to install the drywall on this last remaining hall wall.  There was only one light switch and no outlets; one doorway, which we cut ahead of time; and the laundry closet opening which we trimmed with the dremel after installation.  Thankfully we were able to use the lift for the largest piece by putting one of the tripod legs in the bathroom. The other upper piece was small enough to manage without the lift, although Matt did emerge from his bedroom for a few minutes to give us a hand.  Since it was a fairly easy drywalling day, I decided to do some weeding, spray about 10 ant hills in our front yard, trim the monster hedge and even gave the two baby monster hedges their 1st haircut.  Mike framed up the large opening in the master bath - previously a cabinet - that he will be patching (future “small” project). The temperature had cooled off quite a bit due to an approaching afternoon storm, so Matt took the opportunity to use our new weedeater on the front yard. 

Framing to make opening for future bi-fold doors

Barely fits in hallway

Hallway is complete

Hedges with the new "haircuts"

Framing for drywall patch in master bathroom

Matt taking advantage of cooler weather to cut grass

There was an arts & crafts show in Pine this weekend so we headed up there Sunday morning. We had breakfast at the Early-bird Café (good food) and did some shopping.  Besides getting some stuff at the arts and crafts tables, we stopped at the thrift store that was next to the fair.  We had decided to get a vacuum for the house that would hopefully do a better job than our shop-vac (which is on its last legs from all the drywall dust).  We found a Kenmore vacuum cleaner for $10 which worked perfectly on our wood subfloors and allowed us to better clean the house for our first get-together.  In the early afternoon, some good friends came up from the Valley for a bar-b-que and games (dominoes, washers & peep shooting) and one couple even camped out in our den (the other couple opted for the long drive home at 10:30pm – sorry Richard & Kristin for keeping you so late).

Rearranged den for visitors

Makeshift door for visitor privacy

BBQ full of burgers and sweet corn

Our MR KLUD group

Doug getting ready for bed

Monday was a really laid back day.  Our guests took us out to breakfast (tried a new restaurant – the 260 Café which we will be visiting again a lot) and then they headed up to the rim to do some campground surveying while we enjoyed a relaxing day of reading and sleeping. 

Even though it was a hot one – we had a really terrific weekend of work, shopping, good food, good friends and relaxation.

Stats: 6 Home Depot trips; 2 Walmart trips
Remodeling expense 6/27-7/4: $61
Remodeling expense to date: $30,672