Got the sanders rented today. After four passes and eleven hours the floors are back to bare wood!
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| Brown Room before |
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| Blue Room before |
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| Brown Room after third pass |
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| Brown Room after first pass |
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| Blue Room after first pass |
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Bedroom Floors
Got the sanders rented today. After four passes and eleven hours the floors are back to bare wood!
Monday, May 11, 2015
Busy Week, Busy Weekend
Thanks for checking out our blog. We are doing our best to keep updating it, but sometimes it is a little tricky as we are going to work each morning, then straight to the house, and some nights we're not coming home until 11 pm or midnight. Tonight we left a bit early, around 10 pm, since we both work early in the morning.
As you saw in Rob's previous post we have been busy stripping! The floor in the master bedroom is looking great. On Thursday, Rob closes his store, so I headed to the house after work and decided I was going to get through at least the first round of stripping for the whole master bedroom (or work until I ran out of stripper). As anyone who knows me knows, when I set my mind to something I accomplish it. I worked until midnight, but darn it: I finished the whole room!! It was a bit of a challenge for me. You can only apply stripper to the placed you can reach, so I had to strategically figure out where to apply stripper to maximize my time and efforts, but not end up with areas I couldn't reach. So I would paint the stripper on, wait the 20 minutes while working on other things, then get to work. Repeat this til I finished the room and presto-- the first stripping of the room was finished. There is a lot of touch-up or areas that need reapplication and scraping, but it is amazing to see how far it has come. I also took all the doors off and hauled them to the basement. This is something we need to do in order to be ready to sand the floors. I also painted the swatches for our bedroom color, so we could pick one. I felt great leaving Thursday night, knowing I had accomplished so much!
Friday was a night off. We had the Wheelies (end of the year awards and banquet) for the Minnesota RollerGirls. It was nice to have a night off!!
Saturday we celebrated (American) Mother's Day with my family. I brought three different salads, all of which were prepared in our new kitchen! Rob joined us after work and when we left my parent's house we headed over to work on our house. We knocked out another coat of paint on the 'brown bedroom.' And we did a bit of sanding, spackling, and primed the entire master bedroom. It is amazing how even a coat of primer can transform a room that has walls of three different colors. We also started taping the living room so we can paint it quickly and easily. We can finally see everything coming together, which is amazing!
Today (Sunday), I headed over to the house with my parents while Rob was at work. Dad helped us get our lawn mower in working order and even gave the front yard a cut! He also put our snow blower to 'sleep' for the summer. He says we got a good bargain... that both the lawn mower and snow blower are good! While Dad worked on that, Mom painted our final coat on the 'brown' bedroom. We didn't like the way the walls looked because we had to use a long nap roller, so doing one last coat with a shorter nap made it look nice. I worked on getting all the staples out of the floor in the blue bedroom. This way we are totally ready to go for sanding. When Rob arrived after work, my parents left for the evening and he and I headed to the shop to get some food. I have taken more kitchen things around to the house because quite frankly we are eating many more meals there than at the apartment. It is so nice to be able to throw together some quick meals so we can keep working! Tonight Rob put another coat of primer on the master bedroom. While I did a bit of trim work on the primer, then took the tape off the trim in the 'brown bedroom.' That bedroom looks AWESOME! I am so glad we decided to paint it white and keep the dark trim. It looks very nice. I also worked on getting the final slab of laminate out of the front hall closet. In order to do that I had to remove the baseboard and the 'wood paneling' plywood. We discovered that some work will need to be done in that closet, but nothing unmanageable. Rob worked on getting the hall floor stripped and started stripping the living room floor. We are hoping to sand and finish the 'brown, now white' bedroom and blue bedroom, along with the hall, so we can start thinking about moving in more permanently. Today also brought the realization that we need an expert's help for our snapped pipe under the tub. I find great respect in knowing when to call in an expert and quite frankly we have older plumbing and we don't want to make matters worse. Also while the plumber is there I will get them to look at the kitchen sink and see if we can't get more hot water flowing!
Overall it has been a great week and weekend. I can't believe how quickly time is flying and how much we accomplish each and every day!
Colleen
As you saw in Rob's previous post we have been busy stripping! The floor in the master bedroom is looking great. On Thursday, Rob closes his store, so I headed to the house after work and decided I was going to get through at least the first round of stripping for the whole master bedroom (or work until I ran out of stripper). As anyone who knows me knows, when I set my mind to something I accomplish it. I worked until midnight, but darn it: I finished the whole room!! It was a bit of a challenge for me. You can only apply stripper to the placed you can reach, so I had to strategically figure out where to apply stripper to maximize my time and efforts, but not end up with areas I couldn't reach. So I would paint the stripper on, wait the 20 minutes while working on other things, then get to work. Repeat this til I finished the room and presto-- the first stripping of the room was finished. There is a lot of touch-up or areas that need reapplication and scraping, but it is amazing to see how far it has come. I also took all the doors off and hauled them to the basement. This is something we need to do in order to be ready to sand the floors. I also painted the swatches for our bedroom color, so we could pick one. I felt great leaving Thursday night, knowing I had accomplished so much!
Friday was a night off. We had the Wheelies (end of the year awards and banquet) for the Minnesota RollerGirls. It was nice to have a night off!!
Saturday we celebrated (American) Mother's Day with my family. I brought three different salads, all of which were prepared in our new kitchen! Rob joined us after work and when we left my parent's house we headed over to work on our house. We knocked out another coat of paint on the 'brown bedroom.' And we did a bit of sanding, spackling, and primed the entire master bedroom. It is amazing how even a coat of primer can transform a room that has walls of three different colors. We also started taping the living room so we can paint it quickly and easily. We can finally see everything coming together, which is amazing!
Today (Sunday), I headed over to the house with my parents while Rob was at work. Dad helped us get our lawn mower in working order and even gave the front yard a cut! He also put our snow blower to 'sleep' for the summer. He says we got a good bargain... that both the lawn mower and snow blower are good! While Dad worked on that, Mom painted our final coat on the 'brown' bedroom. We didn't like the way the walls looked because we had to use a long nap roller, so doing one last coat with a shorter nap made it look nice. I worked on getting all the staples out of the floor in the blue bedroom. This way we are totally ready to go for sanding. When Rob arrived after work, my parents left for the evening and he and I headed to the shop to get some food. I have taken more kitchen things around to the house because quite frankly we are eating many more meals there than at the apartment. It is so nice to be able to throw together some quick meals so we can keep working! Tonight Rob put another coat of primer on the master bedroom. While I did a bit of trim work on the primer, then took the tape off the trim in the 'brown bedroom.' That bedroom looks AWESOME! I am so glad we decided to paint it white and keep the dark trim. It looks very nice. I also worked on getting the final slab of laminate out of the front hall closet. In order to do that I had to remove the baseboard and the 'wood paneling' plywood. We discovered that some work will need to be done in that closet, but nothing unmanageable. Rob worked on getting the hall floor stripped and started stripping the living room floor. We are hoping to sand and finish the 'brown, now white' bedroom and blue bedroom, along with the hall, so we can start thinking about moving in more permanently. Today also brought the realization that we need an expert's help for our snapped pipe under the tub. I find great respect in knowing when to call in an expert and quite frankly we have older plumbing and we don't want to make matters worse. Also while the plumber is there I will get them to look at the kitchen sink and see if we can't get more hot water flowing!
Overall it has been a great week and weekend. I can't believe how quickly time is flying and how much we accomplish each and every day!
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| Brown bedroom after |
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| Brown bedroom before |
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| Mom painting the last coat of white |
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| Front hall closet. Uh-oh... more work! |
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| Hallway stripped |
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| Master bedroom after the first go with the stripper! |
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| On Wednesday, I came home from work to find Rob wearing sweatpants!! This was a special purchase for working on the house and I have never seen him wear sweat pants before. I had to capture the moment. He has even worn them in public TWICE!! |
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Being Strippers
The past few days the bedroom floor had been giving us grief. The cement that held the tiles down was not coming off. We tried some things the floor place had suggested but after three hours of scrapping we had only taken off a tiny patch and it looked like we would have to give up on the hardwood floors and put down carpet.
It was at that point, wrists aching, that we decided to strip.
That is to say buy some potent adhesive removal floor stripper. This stuff melted away the cement (and a good portion of the skin on my forearms) like a charm. We got half the floor done in the same amount of time as our little patch earlier.
Jobs a good'un
RP
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Day 4... Lots of Mud
Rob and I made our first stop of the day at Menards before heading over to the house. We needed some white paint for the 'brown room' and some new color samples for the living room since we didn't like either of the colors from yesterday. I was also in desperate need of a step stool! We picked up some mud for the drywall too.
We met Mom, Dad, Becky, Jeremy, Annalynne, and Louie at our house. The Chalupskys weren't planning on coming over, but when Annalynne heard that Grandma and Papa got to go to our house, she wanted to go too!
Today Rob and Dad taped and mudded all the drywall they installed yesterday. We also taped the edges and finished the priming in the 'brown room,' and what a difference even the primer makes! It is no longer a deep, dark hole. And while all that happened, Mom scrubbed our screen and washed our windows. It makes the living room so much brighter. After trying the two new samples we bought, Rob and I decided on one we like. I can't wait to paint the whole room!
We were there for the heavy rain and hail that hit during the early evening hours. I was actually very thankful we were there so we could check out how the house held up in rain. As suspected, we learned a few things and added a few items to our to do list. And most importantly...lots of mud outside, but the basement stayed dry!
It was a bit of a shorter day, because you can only burn the candle at both ends for so long before you need a little break. We also needed a few things, like groceries, to have the rest of the week go smoothly.
Rob and I did a big clean up before we left and gave items a home. It is feeling more and more like our home each time we go there. I think it is a combination of more of our own items being there and just getting used to the idea that we own a home. It is still a little surreal that this is our home. We love it more and more each time we go there, and can't wait to get the floor finished and walls painted so we can move in!
Colleen
We met Mom, Dad, Becky, Jeremy, Annalynne, and Louie at our house. The Chalupskys weren't planning on coming over, but when Annalynne heard that Grandma and Papa got to go to our house, she wanted to go too!
Today Rob and Dad taped and mudded all the drywall they installed yesterday. We also taped the edges and finished the priming in the 'brown room,' and what a difference even the primer makes! It is no longer a deep, dark hole. And while all that happened, Mom scrubbed our screen and washed our windows. It makes the living room so much brighter. After trying the two new samples we bought, Rob and I decided on one we like. I can't wait to paint the whole room!
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| Rob mudding |
It was a bit of a shorter day, because you can only burn the candle at both ends for so long before you need a little break. We also needed a few things, like groceries, to have the rest of the week go smoothly.
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| Dad mudding |
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| Brown room primed |
Colleen
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| Brown room before |
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| Brown room during |
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| The master bedroom. You can also see why we were concerned if we could salvage the hardwood under all this tile glue and grout. |
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| Mudding and taping done! |
Day 3... Beginning to recreate!
**Sorry for the delay on this post we had a few technical difficulties (i.e. nothing would post from my phone).
Sadly we have finished my favorite part for now, the demo!
While we were ripping the tile out on Friday, I told Rob this ranked right up there with demoing house down to the studs when I went to New Orleans in 2006. I find something extremely satisfying about demo work and seeing the progress you can accomplish in short time.
Day three got us up nice and early In the morning. We were finished dropping everything off by 7:15 am. So we grabbed a quick breakfast, then got to work
After removing all the wood paneling in the master bedroom, we discovered two of the three walls were in really rough shape. So we decided to put up 3/8" drywall over the existing walls to give us a nice, clean finish. But first we had to clean up the existing walls a bit. So we scrubbed them down and let them dry. Then my Dad and I took a trip to Menards. I discovered a whole new area of the store I never knew existed! I never knew you had to go to a separate desk to order the drywall, then drive around the lumberyard to the correct door to pick it up. It was definitely an adventure and my Dad was so proud to take me to buy my first drywall!
While we washed wall, my Mom helped us wash out all our kitchen cupboards and closets to get ready for loading them with our things.
While Dad and I went to get drywall, Rob cleared the entire master bedroom. No easy feat! We had taken up all the tile and taken down all the wood paneling; all of which got stacked at the sides of the room, because the garage was full of carpet and other things for spring cleaning day. It was awesome that he was able to clear it all while we were gone.
We came back with the drywall and Rob and Dad got to work. Rob learned all the ways of drywalling, while I busied myself washing the walls in the 'brown room,' such named for the DARK wood paneling that covers all the walls. I also emailed with Pete's Hardwood Floors. Additionally, I had picked up some paint samples for the living room, so I painted three swatches throughout the room so we can see how each color looks like in different light.
We found out our floors are salvageable, but are going to take some significant work from us. And about six to seven days of work, start to finish. We feel it is worth it to have some beautiful hardwood floors and increase our home's value.
By the time we left for the night, around 7 pm, the master bedroom had all the drywall up and the brown room had two walls primed.
Non-renovation notes:
- We did laundry-- without quarters or to-the-minute timers! It was amazing!!!
- We met one of our neighbors. She is an 87-year-old woman who raised eight children, and knits 800 pairs of mittens per year to donate to local schools, food shelves, and other organizations.
- Louie visited! He brought Becky, Jeremy, and Annalynne along with him. He got to test out the new yard. He loved running around the yard and sniffing everything! And our fence kept him in the yard. Reinforcing the fence is on our to do list, but it works for now.
Colleen
Sadly we have finished my favorite part for now, the demo!
While we were ripping the tile out on Friday, I told Rob this ranked right up there with demoing house down to the studs when I went to New Orleans in 2006. I find something extremely satisfying about demo work and seeing the progress you can accomplish in short time.
Day three got us up nice and early In the morning. We were finished dropping everything off by 7:15 am. So we grabbed a quick breakfast, then got to work
After removing all the wood paneling in the master bedroom, we discovered two of the three walls were in really rough shape. So we decided to put up 3/8" drywall over the existing walls to give us a nice, clean finish. But first we had to clean up the existing walls a bit. So we scrubbed them down and let them dry. Then my Dad and I took a trip to Menards. I discovered a whole new area of the store I never knew existed! I never knew you had to go to a separate desk to order the drywall, then drive around the lumberyard to the correct door to pick it up. It was definitely an adventure and my Dad was so proud to take me to buy my first drywall!
While we washed wall, my Mom helped us wash out all our kitchen cupboards and closets to get ready for loading them with our things.
While Dad and I went to get drywall, Rob cleared the entire master bedroom. No easy feat! We had taken up all the tile and taken down all the wood paneling; all of which got stacked at the sides of the room, because the garage was full of carpet and other things for spring cleaning day. It was awesome that he was able to clear it all while we were gone.
We came back with the drywall and Rob and Dad got to work. Rob learned all the ways of drywalling, while I busied myself washing the walls in the 'brown room,' such named for the DARK wood paneling that covers all the walls. I also emailed with Pete's Hardwood Floors. Additionally, I had picked up some paint samples for the living room, so I painted three swatches throughout the room so we can see how each color looks like in different light.
We found out our floors are salvageable, but are going to take some significant work from us. And about six to seven days of work, start to finish. We feel it is worth it to have some beautiful hardwood floors and increase our home's value.
By the time we left for the night, around 7 pm, the master bedroom had all the drywall up and the brown room had two walls primed.
Non-renovation notes:
- We did laundry-- without quarters or to-the-minute timers! It was amazing!!!
- We met one of our neighbors. She is an 87-year-old woman who raised eight children, and knits 800 pairs of mittens per year to donate to local schools, food shelves, and other organizations.
- Louie visited! He brought Becky, Jeremy, and Annalynne along with him. He got to test out the new yard. He loved running around the yard and sniffing everything! And our fence kept him in the yard. Reinforcing the fence is on our to do list, but it works for now.
Colleen
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| This is what we discovered behind the wood paneling. |
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| Mom washing cupboards |
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| Rob washing walls |
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| Rob learning all the things! |
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| Annalynne watching Papa work. |
Saturday, May 2, 2015
In the morning...
Up at 6am on Saturday. There's already a line of 12 cars to drop off the remodel waste.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Day 2
Day two was just as busy as day one. I had to work a half day, so I got up and headed off early. Rob headed to the store to get a few supplies and then over to the house. Since it was our wedding anniversary, I surprised Rob by picking up lunch and cupcakes. Before I arrived Rob had done lots of tidying up and a few small jobs. After lunch the real work began.
The white tile in the hall and master bedroom had to go! We both got to work on the hall. It didn't take to long, so we decided to have a bit of fun with the bedroom. We timed how long it took to clear the tile. Our final time was 56:06! Less than one hour to clear the room! After that, I went to work clearing the tile from the closet while Rob began tackling the wood paneling on the walls. Although it was tough in the closet the paneling looked awful to deal with! Not long after we did that, my Mom and Dad arrived. Dad helped Rob with the paneling, and Mom helped me rip up the laminate tiles in one of the bedrooms, along with removing the tack strip from the carpet. We also loaded the truck up, since we found out it is clean up day (perfect timing) tomorrow. We will able to get rid of all the old carpet, padding, and shower doors and track for just $25! Total bargain, but it also means picking Mom up at 6 am so we don't have to wait for hours at the drop of site.
Because of our late night and early start, we will have to do double photos tomorrow! None tonight, sorry! Check back soon.
Colleen ☺
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