Fairly Easy Weekend

This weekend we started with the drywall in the short hall.  It was the easiest drywall we’ve done so far – just two door cutouts, one light switch and one outlet.  Mike did have to put in another 2x4 next to the den closet and I forgot to include the half inch bottom allowance when I cut out the guest bedroom door so we have a bit of a gap there, but it should be covered by the door trim.

New stud is to the right of the reddish colored one

Two walls of the short hallway completed

Last wall of the short hallway done

The hall went so quickly that we had enough time leftover (we are trying to limit our work time each day) to do the drywall on the front of the den.  The wall was the exact length to use one full sheet without cutting the length.  We did have to cut out the double-door entry and one light switch.  The bottom half was two short pieces on either side of the door, with one socket cutout on each sheet.  Definitely one of the easier drywalling days we have had so far.

The wall to the den is finished with the doorway cut out

Mike’s (and Matt’s) small project this weekend was to cut out the sides and ceiling for the reworked linen closet.  We had originally planned on combining the two closets in the bathrooms into a large linen closet with a door off the hall, but after our a/c installation took up most of the space, we decided to keep the hall bathroom access and close off the access from the master bathroom.  The new closet is smaller than the old one so we had to make new shelving,  and add sides and a ceiling to separate it from the ductwork.  Mike was originally going to use melamine for the entire project, but because of cost and size issues, we decided to use a 4x8 sheet of textured hardiboard siding for the ceiling and sides which I will paint white.

Mike took some time this weekend to work on the pocket door in the master bath.  The trim needed to be replaced on one side as is was wider than the other pieces causing the door to scrape and not fully open.  The door also pushed in too far, so he put a wood block at the end of the slide to stop the door.

Master bathroom pocket door needed some work.

Mike and I also decided to purchase a larger refrigerator.  We’ve been using a dorm sized one and we have to be careful when we shop for groceries not to buy too much cold/frozen food.  We found an 18cf one at Sears for a good price, but we would need to borrow a truck to pick it up.  When I mentioned it to my dad and step-mom (who were over for dinner on Sunday), they said they had an old one at their house that we could have.  Mike is going to stop by on his way up next weekend to check it out.

Stats: 4 Home Depot trips; 2 Walmart trips
Remodeling expense 5/31-6/12: $1,222
Remodeling expense to date: $27,899

Matt's Room is Complete

We have not done any drywall work on the Payson house since the beginning of April.  We have been up to the house a couple of times since then, but once was just an overnight stay and the other was a weekend with our son Matt and his girlfriend Danielle.  We used the place as a stopping point to continue up to the Grand Canyon with an overnight stay in Williams and then back to the Payson house for another night.  The trip was fun and we saw elk and a bobcat at the canyon around dusk on our way out.

This past weekend, we decided to take one extra day to avoid the Memorial day holiday traffic so we went up Thursday afternoon and came back late on Monday.  The highway construction that started just after Labor Day in 2010 was finally completed and the trip up and back was clear - no longer a single lane - and free of traffic.  It was so nice and made Mike very happy.

We took Matt with us and our original plan was to get as much work done as possible over the four days we were up there.  However, Matt was still looking for a summer job and we thought he might have better luck in Payson since they are more of a summer season area than Phoenix.  So he and I left Friday morning to do some shopping and put some applications in for him and did not get back until early afternoon.  Then we had some good friends, Doug and Ursi, call to let us know they were in town passing through to go camping in Williams.  So all three of us met them at the McDonalds to visit for a little bit.  We then headed up to Pine to check out another possible job opportunity for Matt at a thrift store and of course to do some more shopping.  By the time we got back, it was too late to start any work.  However, Mike did find some parts he needed at the Pine thrift store to use to install a wall-mounted make-up mirror I found at a garage sale and he put it up in our master bathroom.

Wall-mounted mirror from a garage sale for make-up and hair

Saturday morning Mike was up early to go to a local farmer's market.  He was interested in getting some tamales he heard they had for sale.  He found an arts & crafts fair in town and came home to get us and we all went.  On our way home, we passed one of my favortie thrift stores and they had a wood kitchen table set for sale.  It was a table with four chairs for $125.  We bought it and then tried to figure out how to get it home in our Altima, when one of the guys who works there came out and asked where we lived.  Turns out he lives nearby and he offered to deliver it for free.  We had it in the house and setup later that afternoon.  Mike and I went out to buy some accessories and found that Home Depot had discounted their outdoor chairs and picked up four to complete our outdoor dining set (previously used as our kitchen table). Seeing that it was Memorial Day weekend, we thought we should have a flag at the house and bought one while at Home Depot.  Mike and Matt set it up when we got home and displayed it the rest of the weekend.

Table and chairs from thrift store with hardly a scratch for $125

Old dining table now outside with new chairs

New flag and holder to give honor to those who serve and have served on this holiday

We got an early morning call on Sunday from my Dad to say he and my step-mom were on their way up to their place in Christopher Creek and would we like to meet for breakfast.  We prodded Matt out of bed (not his normal waking hour, but the promise of pancakes got him moving) and met them at the Beeline Cafe.  We had a great breakfast and made it home early enough to actually do some work.

We decided to finish drywalling Matt's (guest) room first.  We had two walls left to do in this room and once completed, we will not have to pass drywall through the den/hallway wall anymore.  First Mike had to trim away some of the old drywall around the closet opening.  We did not remove any drywall from the closets and the existing drywall on the opening overlapped the drywall on the wall. During the deconstruction, some of the hangover part was ruined but we were able to trim it flush with the studs and make a good corner with the new dywall overlapping the old.  The trimming threw a lot of drywall dust into the air and, since we were already making a mess, we decided to cut out the window opening which had been covered since the install last year.  Thought this would help get some air flow (and light) into the room.

Matt's room window uncovered to help air out drywall dust

Putting up the drywall in the guest room was more difficult than we originally thought due to the door and the closet.  It is easy to cut out around windows using our Dremel tool, but it takes more effort around doors since a small gap needs to be left for the door frame.  The closet cutting was tough because we have to cut the new drywall without damaging the old drywall.  In the end we were able to finish all the cuts and think it will all work.

One of the last two walls in Matt's room we finished

The last wall we completed, including cutting for corners around the closet

Since we had a long day doing drywall, we decided we would only do one drywall project per weekend to leave us time to complete one of our smaller projects (there are plenty of those).  At the beginning of the weekend, I noticed one of the boards we had put up under the house to cover our crawlspace openings had fallen.  Mike decided that we needed to cover these openings with the siding we had bought last year for this purpose.  As usual, what was thought to be an easy, quick project, turned into a whole day event.  Mike and Matt had to go to Home Depot to find something to rest the siding on since it could not go all the way to the dirt (wood-to-dirt is an issue for termites).  They originally thought they would use some cement bricks similar to the house supports, but trying to cut brick to fit the openings would have been tough.  They found some composite decking material that Home Depot had reduced the price on due to a non-stock return and thought that would work as a buffer material.  They cut those boards to lay sideways in the opening and then placed the siding board on top.  These were screwed into 2x2s that they nailed into the concrete supports.  They completed the last opening just about dinner time.  Mike also added one of the composite boards to close an opening under the front porch, which was the last large opening into the crawl space.  We still have spots where very small critters can squeeze through (mice and such), but the larger animals should not be able to get in.  We did decide that all future "extra" projects will not be that involved.

Three of four openings under the deck for our crawlspace walled in. The darker wood is the composite.

Composite wood placed between brick and wood deck.  Last large opening filled.

It was an overall great weekend with lots of rest, shopping and some work done at the house, including having one room completed with drywall. It is nice to be at a stage that we can actually go up to Payson and relax for some of the time.

Stats: 3 Home Depot trips; 5 Walmart trips
Remodeling expense 4/24-5/30: -$555
Remodeling expense to date: $26,677

Short Weekend

It was a toss-up whether to go up to Payson this weekend or stay home and work on the pool and patio renovation (can't get enough of that construction work).  We opted to go up north for just one night as it may be a few weeks before we can get back up there and Mike wanted to check to make sure there were no water leaks since we started leaving the water on for the sprinkler system. That left us Sunday to work on the pool deck at our house in Gilbert.

After getting a new stem installed a few weeks ago in the master bathtub, Mike really wanted to find a replacement handle like the original one (that one had to be drilled out to get it off).  He found one online in New Jersey and it came last week.  He replaced it on Friday and now the tub is back to normal.

There was a community garage sale in our neighborhood last weekend and I found a front porch light I liked better than the one we'd originally installed.  The first one had a top that made it too tall.  Mike was able to replace the light on Friday and this one fits just right.

Our new used front porch light with our seasonal decoration and sign

We made a trip to Home Depot on Friday to look at some items for the current bid we are working on.  We priced out some gutter components and looked at various types of drywall tape and corner beads. While we were there, we decided to get a weed eater instead of having to bring up the one from home because the grass/weeds in the front were getting tall already.  Mike worked on the grass and weeds on Saturday, pulling what he could and cutting down the rest, but the weed eater did not work as designed, so we took it back.  We also took measurements throughout the house for our drywall tape and corner bead that will go up after we finish hanging the drywall.  We still have a long way to go before we need it, but we want to add these items to our current bid to see if we can get better pricing.

While we were at the house on Friday evening, we heard the water pipes start to moan (happens when the water runs through some of the faucets), but there was no water running.  Mike found that the anti-siphon sillcock in the back yard, that we had connected to one of the water timers, was gushing water out of the anti-siphon device.  He took it apart and found a washer had been dislodged and put it back in place.  This stopped the leak, but later that evening it started up again.  Mike had to get a new one at Home Depot the next morning and he replaced the whole valve.  We had planned to replace this valve eventually because it was very hard to open and close.  Mike thinks something got damaged internally when he originally installed it.  We really thanked God for letting us go up there to check on the place as this leak could have run for weeks.  Leaks will always be a concern as long as the water is left on while we are away.  Mike likes to turn off the water flow to the hot water heater while we are gone, but there are definitely many more areas that could spring a leak in our absence.  Mike has talked about re-routing the water connections that feed the sprinklers so we can turn off the house water and leave only those two lines active.  He does not think it will be that difficult to do and it will help to alleviate the concern.

We had accumulated quite a few items from Home Depot for the restoration that had yet to be installed.  We decided to add these parts to our current bid and found we could save quite a bit of money buying them through the bid.  Before we returned home, we gathered up all these items and returned them to Home Depot.  We received store credit which we will give right back to Home Depot when we finalize our bid.

Stats: 3 Home Depot trips; 0 Walmart trips
Remodeling expense 4/11-4/23: -$313
Remodeling expense to date: $26,122

No More Fire Hazard!

We finally finished putting up the drywall on all the outside walls.  Since we installed all the insulation over the Thanksgiving Holiday, and since insulation is supposed to be covered as soon as possible so as not to be a fire hazard, we are lucky our little house survived these past 5+ months.  This last wall was the most difficult!  It is the east wall of the family room and it is almost 24 feet long.  Because both the roof and floor slope in this room, we had to cut each piece of drywall on the diagonal.  To make the process harder, we were working behind the pile of drywall that we're storing on the family room floor and we had to stagger the vertical seams.  Because of this, we ended up putting up the bottom drywall before the top which is not recommended by any of the drywall hanging websites.  We weren't sure why this would be a problem until we actually had to do it.  For those of you who have never hung drywall, what we discovered is that the reason it is easier to put up the bottom drywall last is you can fudge a little on the bottom spacing.  You can't do that on the top.  You have to get a precise measurement which was no easy feat with our sloping roof line.  It took a lot longer than usual, but we did it and it actually looks really good.

One more piece to go

All the boards are up, but need to finish the screws. Went to a movie and dinner instead

Finished all the screws after dinner and rearranged boards and tools.

We didn't get to try out our new grill this weekend.  I forgot the steaks and I was going to go into to town to pick some up when it started snowing. We decided it wouldn't be the best time to grill out so we went out for for a movie and dinner instead.  The snow fell all day Saturday and into the night.  We got as much or more than when it snowed before New Year's!  It didn't stay around long and by Sunday you couldn't even tell we'd had any.  Since we couldn't go hiking and we didn't have any yard work to do, we headed home early on Sunday.

Snowfall by mid-morning, looks like picture from New Year's

I was worried about the trees and tried to remove excess snow

Zena playing with her ball in the snow

Mike shoveling the last of the snow

Our Christmas gift from Matt was hung up this weekend.

Stats:  1 Home Depot trip; 0 Walmart trips
Remodeling expense 4/4-4/10: $0
Remodeling expense to date: $26,435