Matt to the rescue!

The original heating in the house was baseboard heaters in the main room and two bedrooms and then a wall heater in both the hall bath and master bedroom, many of which did not work.  Based on the little information we learned of the building code in Payson, we knew we needed to have permanent heating in each of the living areas prior to getting our final inspection.  Since the summer can get into the high 90s, we decided we also wanted air conditioning.  We looked at many options, but found the least expensive was to use a wall a/c unit that provides heating too.  We had everything laid out for this idea until we found out that the code also stated you had to have so many BTUs per square foot.  Due to the size of the common room area, we would have needed at least three units which would have been expensive and taken up a lot of wall space.  Our electrician told us about an a/c company in town that he had worked with.  We met with them on Friday and, for not much more than all the wall units we would have had to buy, we were able to get a heat pump with a backup furnace and all the ductwork.  We signed the paperwork and they will install the unit in the early part of September.

Bedroom baseboard heater

Bedroom wall heater

After our electrician/carpenter (Craig) re-framed our window for the light switch, Mike installed the new window we bought.  This was the first time he had ever done this, but Craig gave him some good instructions and he and Matt were able to put it in on Friday without too much trouble.  Because the new window was smaller than the old window, they also had to replace the siding.  After carefully measuring for the door and window openings, they put it up and I painted it. This siding is a really rough texture and it is difficult to get the paint into all the crevices.  To make things more difficult, the paint store tinted the primer and it turned out to be the same color as the regular paint when it is wet. Now that the paint has dried, there are all these little pin pricks of primer showing through.  I think once we're finished remodeling, I'll rent a sprayer and just redo the entire house.

Setting in the window

Waiting on dad

Cutting the siding

Perfect fit

Saturday morning brought our first major scare with the remodeling project.  After the drywall and panelling were removed in the kitchen area earlier in the week, Craig noticed that the beam in the kitchen entrance was not properly supported. This beam is where the original outside wall of the house was prior to the kitchen addition and supports the roof trusses.  There were two studs on each end of the beam for support, but only one of the studs actually met the beam.  Also, the same studs, and a few others on the kitchen end of the beam, had major holes drilled through them for what may have been plumbing pipes that no longer existed.  This, combined with even more studs that had been completely cut off for other plumbing pipes, made this section of the wall very unstable.  For safety, we propped the beam up with a few 2x4s until we could replace the bad boards.  In the morning, Mike and I started pulling up tile in the kitchen until Matt woke up and could help with the framing work.  Some of the tile was under the temporary supports, so we had to move them to get the tile out.  Mike thought he could hold up the beam while I moved the temporary studs and pulled up the tile, but as soon as the 2x4s were removed, the beam started to drop as the studs that had been drilled through buckled.  As I was frantically trying to put the 2x4s back in place without any success, Matt woke up and ran to the kitchen to help.  He told us later that he when he woke and heard Mike screaming, he knew exactly what was happening and ran to the kitchen, praying the whole way.  Praise God! The prayers worked and he helped me replace the temporary supports.  We realized later that when we removed the drywall in the pantry on the back side of these cut studs, we took away the only thing that was keeping them from buckling.  Drywall has some strength to it, but Craig felt that the wall would have eventually caved and this, among many other structural issues found, made us very thankful that we decided to remove the drywall.

Only one stud touches

Not one real stud in this wall

Hardly any support

Buckled under weight of beam without drywall

We realized we could not proceed until we felt more comfortable with the framing around the beam, so Matt and Mike tackled the job of replacing the studs.  Adding more temporary studs along the beam, they were able to remove the original beam supports and put in two new studs on each end that actually supported the beam.  They also replaced the other drilled out studs, but could not replace the studs that did not reach the floor because there were plumbing pipes in the way.  That will have to wait until Craig re-routes the plumbing.  The new framing looks great and we feel much better about the beam support.

All new studs

New partial wall adds support

While the guys were working on the beam, I started scraping up the tile near the pantry.  These were the same type of peel and stick tiles we found under the carpet in one of the bedrooms.  It is very tedious work as the tile cracks and breaks into little pieces, but I was able to get up all the tiles in this area for the work that needed to be done later.

Tile coming up in little pieces

One of the things I've always wanted is a large pantry.  Since we're completely redoing the kitchen, we decided to take out the existing small pantry and replace it with a much larger (4'x 8') one.  Mike and Matt always groan whenever I say "I have an idea" because they know it means they will have to figure out how to take my idea and make it a reality.  This is the first time either of them have done any major framing work and, I have to admit, I was a little nervous.  However, it came out beautifully - even Craig was impressed!  Mike gives all the credit to Google and the many experts online who have documented all the technical advice he has found.  Part of the pantry expansion added even more support to the kitchen beam with an additional 2 foot wall.

One more wall to do

Pantry framing completed

The framing on the back kitchen wall was a mess and we wanted a better structure for when we put up our drywall and cabinets.  We also needed better framing for moving the kitchen window to this back wall.  Mike cut out all the bad framing with a reciprocating saw and then added new studs on this wall.

Changing back wall studs

We decided to replace the existing pantry's flat door with the 6 panel door we were going to be removing from the gun cabinet in our bedroom.  So just before Mike left for home Sunday afternoon, he and Matt decided to move it to the shed which previously had a very weathered door. This is an inside door so it probably won't last long, but it definitely was better than the one that was there and we eventually want to replace this shed so it should be a good temporary upgrade.

Old disgusting door

New door for now

Stats:  2 Home Depot trips; 1 Walmart trip
Remodeling expense 7/30-8/1: $4,679
Remodeling expense to date: $7,187

Wanda to the Rescue!

My sister came to help take down the drywall. She stayed for four days and man this woman is a dynamo! She removed drywall, removed paneling, pulled weeds (while talking on her cell phone), and cleaned. She does not ever stop. I was sad to see her go, but also relieved. When she is around I feel guilty taking a break (just kidding, Wanda, you know I love your visits - in fact, come again soon - PLEASE).

Wanda standing still for one second

Matt was also a big help this week. He took down paneling/drywall/insulation, helped to remove a partial wall in the dining room and, during his free time, created a complete house floorplan on the computer, using an old home improvement program we had. He had to measure each room and it was a lot of work! Mike had also given him the disgusting task of going under the house to clean up dog poop. When the house was inspected, we were told that there were traces of animals, but we didn't realize what those "traces" were until the electricians started working down there. According to the neighbors, the previous owner had five dogs and they apparently had made the crawl space their personal restroom. So Matt suited up in his disposable hazmat gear (he became HAZ-MATT) and raked it out.

Matt working on the walls

Haz-Matt is on poop duty

The electrician team (Craig, Dennis, and Dave) came on Monday and did a more detailed analysis of the work that needed to be done. While they were there, they gave us a lot of helpful advice on all the work that needed to be done on the house (very scary!) and helped us take down the half wall between the kitchen and family room. They came back on Wednesday and started pulling wires and even helped us take down some of the paneling and siding (guess we weren't moving fast enough for them). Craig brought his adorable puppy, Luke, to play with Zena while they worked.

The guys helping out

Craig's cute puppy

It took just a few days to fill up our first dumpster. We called for them to pick it up and bring a new one, hoping the second one would last longer, but it was almost full by the end of the week. It may take us a few more of these before the job is done.

First dumpster full

New dumpster arrives

Second dumpster almost full by Friday

Wanda went down to the valley on Thursday and brought my niece Brea and stepdad up for the day. Brea is a wonderful interior decorator and I had asked her to come up and help us design the kitchen. Matt and I were having trouble coming to agreement on the layout. Even though this is MY house and MY kitchen, for some reason Matt feels he has a say in where things should go! Actually I do appreciate his input - he is the person who brings me back to reality when I get too creative. Luckily, my niece, being a professional, was able to mediate a compromise that both Matt and I liked.

Laurie's working copy of kitchen floor plan

I spent quite a bit of time not only doing demolition work with Wanda and Matt, but also working with the electricians to determine where switches, outlets, lighting, etc. would be placed throughout the house. The light switch on the back wall of the dining area was originally on top of the window because there was not enough space to put it between the window and door. In order to move the light switch to a better place, we decided to move the window over which meant we had to put in a new smaller window which meant that the wall had to be reframed. Luckily the electrician is also a skilled carpenter and was able to do the framing for us. Matt and I went to Home Depot and bought a new window for Mike to install over the weekend.

Light switch above window

Framed for smaller window

Stats: 4 Home Depot trips; 2 Walmart trips; 1 Ace trip
Remodeling expense 7/26-7/30: $1,900
Remodeling expense to date: $2,508

Now it Begins!

The house closed July 22nd.  It was supposed to close on the 21st and Matt and I had planned on going up on the 22nd to meet with the handyman (Bob) so we were getting a little nervous when the funding took longer than expected.  We had to delay our trip a few hours and left just after we got the call around 1pm, though this caused us to reschedule our meeting with Bob to Friday.  This actually turned out to be a good thing as Mike was able to be there as well.  Bob was a Godsend! I found him because he put a flyer on the door and, when I took my dad and sister to see the house, the realtor handed me the flyer as a joke asking me if I thought it might come in handy.  I saved it and I'm sure glad I did.  Bob introduced us to an electrician he works with (Craig) who is not licensed, but who will hopefully be able to do the rewiring for a lot less than the $10,000 to $14,000 quoted by the electrician who was recommended by our realtor.

The first thing that Matt and I did when we got up there on Thursday was join the Payson Athletic Club.  Because we would be doing major renovation, we were turning off the electricity which meant no hot water.  Payson is definitely cooler than the valley, but remodeling in a house with no a/c in July... we were not going to be going without showers for long!

Friday morning Matt and I went to Home Depot and picked up new locks and he spent the rest of the day installing them, plus put a new handle/lock on the bathroom pocket door.  This was the 1st time Matt had ever done this and he did such a good job! Very proud of my young man!

Matt installing pocket door hardware

Mike came up Friday afternoon and we got to work pulling out all the carpet, including the carpeted front deck that had a big oil stain on it.  We wore masks and gloves because we weren't sure what we'd find.

Laurie geared up for HazMat

We couldn't believe the amount of dirt that was under the carpet.  My sister said that is always the case.  Even when you vacuum regularly, have your carpets cleaned twice a year and replace the carpet every 5 years, the dirt just filters through and stays there.  I have decided I will NEVER have carpet in a house again after seeing what is lurking beneath it!  We also found old linoleum tiles under the carpet where the original kitchen was located, in the laundry closet and in the front bedroom.  I started trying to pull this up.  It is going to be a pain because it comes up in tiny pieces and leaves a sticky residue on the subfloor.

Dirt under hallway carpet

Carpet dirt in a pile

Peel and stick tile under bedroom carpet

Mike and Matt took out the woodstove hearth.  The woodstove wasn't included with the house so we either needed to get a new one or take out the hearth. I liked the rock wall, but some of the rocks were cracked and it was located in the center of the family room which would have made it difficult to arrange the room around.  We hope to put a woodstove or fireplace in the corner of the family room as a future project.

Chipping away the stones

Then Mike and Matt took out all the kitchen cabinets. I had planned on repainting them, hoping they'd last for a few years until I had a chance to build new cabinets.  However, they weren't salvageable, so it looks like we'll be without a kitchen for awhile.  We decided that the previous owners couldn't find the wall studs when they hung the cabinets because they used 5 times the required number of screws!  After seeing how bad the installation was, I'm glad we're not going to try to reuse them - wouldn't like them falling off the wall with all my dishes inside them.  We decided to replace the oven and dishwasher becuase they were a little on the scary side.  We bought a little dorm fridge and microwave and brought up our propane grill, George Foreman grill and camp sink to get us through until our kitchen can be completed. 

Wall cabinets removed

The biggest chore was removing the tile countertops in order to get the cabinets apart.  

This time chipping away the tile

Next up was taking down the old evap cooler.  We weren't sure if it worked, but it was pretty rusty and extremely ugly so it had to go!

Evap cooler seen on side of the house

The last thing Mike did before he returned home on Sunday was start taking down the drywall.  He just wanted to see how hard it would be.  To our surprise (dismay) we discovered that there was very old paneling under the drywall which means that we now have to take down two layers of wall instead of one.  Oh well, it is only time, right?

A great surprise found under the drywall

For those who might find it interesting, we thought we would include certain important statistics such as: the number of trips we made to any of the "big" stores in Payson and how much we are spending on this little adventure.

Stats:  7 Home Depot trips; 4 Walmart trips; 1 Ace trip
Remodeling expense 7/21-7/25: $608

Closing Day!

At 11am this morning we met at the title company to sign the paperwork to take ownership of the Payson house.  If all goes well, it should be finalized by Wednesday, July 21, and we will be up at the house by Friday to start the whole rebuild process.