Day 42
Today we finalized the exterior paint color and purchased all of the interior paint from Sherwin Williams. We chose a medium shade of gray for the exterior and a few shades of light gray for the interior. We also started painting our bathroom vanity black to give it an affordable upgrade. Mom U. has now moved on to stripping paint from original door #2. We also met a few neighbors today, a bunch of young families.
HELPERS: Mom U
Day 41
Kevin worked on finishing our bathroom. I went back to Sears and had them price match the same fridge from Lowe’s that was on sale, we got $500 back! I am so glad that I have been checking their sales! I also picked up some more samples at Sherwin Williams to test on the front of the house.
HELPER: Jason
VISITORS: Bill & Sue Montgomery
Day 40
Jacob has been prepping the house for paint all week. Today him and the electrician finished their projects. We need to finalize the exterior paint color!
First sample – dark gray? OR Second sample – light gray?
Day 37
Jacob Bishop, friend and painter, began prepping our the exterior of our house for paint… and boy did it need a lot of work. The siding was so old and the paint was chipping off everywhere. He started by sanding the back of the house. I am struggling with what color gray to choose. Light gray? Dark gray? I have been testing a few shades out. All I know is I want bright white trim. When we have extra spending money laying around, I would love to replace our front door and give it a pop of color, maybe mustard… or black with gold hardware? Can you picture it?
The electrician continued working on the rough electrical and my dad’s crew continued working on the front yard.
Day 36
My dad and his crew worked on our front yard today. They ripped out all of the old grass and begun digging trenches for new irrigation. The electrician worked on the rough electrical lines in the kitchen and dining room.
Tearing out the dead grass from the front yard.
New irrigation trenches.
John Uyboco. Husband. Father. Landscape Extraordinaire.
HELPERS: Dad U + Crew, Mitchell
Day 35
The electrician installed the recessed cans for the kitchen and dining room lighting. We also purchased the fridge (HERE), range (HERE), and microwave hood (HERE) at the Sears appliance store here in town. We chose the Whirpool brand and will report back on how we like them once they are installed. We are purchasing our dishwasher through Ikea so that it can have a cabinet front that will match the rest of our cabinetry.
Day 34
Mitchell, our electrician, began mapping out where we wanted light switches and outlets. We purchased the cans for the recessed lighting in the dining room and kitchen and the pendants for over the island. Our friend and plumber, Kenny Esquivel, helped us think through plumbing issues in the kitchen.
We removed the mudroom/laundry room during the demolition to make way for a larger kitchen. However that left us with the problem of figuring out where to put our washer and dryer. We did not want to move it to our detached garage because it’s too far away, we did not want to build a laundry room and sacrifice space in our family room, we couldn’t move it to our master closet because that would require moving a water line there, there is no room in our bathrooms, SO we decided to… drum roll please… put it underneath our kitchen island! I loved this idea because it offers a great surface for folding clothes, it is in the central location of our house and easy to get to, and it is very close to a sink for any kind of special washing instructions. Done and done.
Kevin imagining what we can do with all of this open space.
No ceiling, no walls… brrrr
VISITORS: Grandma, Aunt Kathy, Bethany, and Suzy & Kenny Esquivel
Day 33
A common problem that many old homes have is settling foundation. Ours had settled in numerous locations making the floors very uneven and sloping. The construction workers began jacking the floors up and replacing the underfloor columns to try and level the house. My dad’s guys removed the bushes in front of the porch.
Day 32
The rest of the ceiling framing was finished today in the dining room and kitchen. The new electrical in these two rooms has now been started.
HELPERS: Uncle John’s Crew, Mitchell Brown (electrical)
Day 31
John and his guys accomplished a lot today. They moved the original hutch from it’s current location to the wall being shared with the bedroom. They added new framing and a new beam that spans across the dining room and the kitchen (because we removed a load bearing wall), and removed most of the framing separating the kitchen and dining room. Kevin is working on creating blue prints that will be used to obtain our building permits.
Framing the small pony wall that will eventually be a small bar eating area.
Framing this small wall that will hide the side of the cabinets and fridge.
Closing up the old door way between the family room and mudroom.
Moved the hutch to the other side of the dining room. The back of it now sticks into the second bedroom.
HELPERS: Uncle John + Crew
Day 30
Uncle John and his guys began figuring out what we should do with the kitchen/dining room. We met with him this evening to discuss kitchen layout ideas. Kevin then worked on rearranging the cabinet layout. We have decided to purchase all of the kitchen cabinets from Ikea, they are the most affordable option out there. Although you lose the custom appeal, they offer an online program that allows you to arrange your cabinetry to scale inside your space (check it out HERE).
We have landed on the idea of removing the wall between the kitchen and the dinning room and adding an island to separate the two spaces.
HELPER: Uncle John
Day 27
We primed the family room walls and ceiling, Kevin began rewiring the lights in our master bathroom (because the lights, nor the mirror for that matter, are centered above the sink…grrr), repainted the bedroom door because it was a bit splotchy, and added a trim piece around the pocket door to hide the gap.
Priming purple walls and ceiling
Thanks Claire!
HELPERS: Claire Hillis and Mom U.
Day 25
Carpet was installed in our bedroom today! We love the color.
So glad we went with gray!
No furniture in the house means naps must be taken on the new carpet. Ok by us! Plastic is still laid that’s why it’s so shiny.
Kevin also picked up the crown molding at Hacienda Plywood (the kind that matches the Craftsman feel of our house could not be purchased at Lowes) and then installed it in our bedroom and closet and then painted it.
I found this simple guide online for picking moldings that match your historical home:
EXAMPLE
Day 24
Kevin was at home again today studying for his test. At lunch we went to Lamps Plus in Upland and picked out the lights for our front porch (HERE) and our bedroom (HERE). Kevin installed our bedroom light when he got home. I realized I have a thing for edison bulbs…
PRODUCTS USED
Bedroom Light
Porch Light
Edison Bulbs
Day 23
Kevin took off work today and worked on the house and studied for his P.E. exam. He cleaned up all of the debris in and out of the house, removed the brick on the floor in front of the fireplace, and ripped out the flooring in the second bedroom. His Uncle John came and looked at the house and gave us some good ideas. We are now thinking of removing the wall that separates the dining room from the kitchen and making it an open concept. We shall see…
HELPERS: Jason, Uncle John, Timmy’s trash dumpster
Day 21
Today Kevin hung the pocket door and main door in our bedroom. He also laid the black subway tile transition between the bedroom and bathroom. Looks like he is going to need to add an inch of trim around the pocket door frame because it is a hair too small. My mom continued to strip off the paint on door #1.
Black subway tiled used to transition between the existing bathroom tile and eventual carpet.
HELPERS: Mom U. and Jason
Day 20
Today we finally finished removing the insulation in the walls and ceiling, painted four doors, continued stripping the paint off original door #1, and painted the trim in our bedroom and installed the beadboard and base boards in our bathroom. Kevin’s parents, Steve and Jill, brought over lunch and snacks.
HELPERS: Jason, James, Timmy, Mom U., Mom & Dad R.
VISITORS: Havilah and Rebecca Bishop
Day 19
Today we painted the three new doors we purchased from Lowes with our new paint sprayer. Part of the house was added on in the 90s and the doors that the owners chose did not match the original doors from the front of the house. We also cleaned up insulation (side note: loose insulation is a PAIN to deal with), removed various other wall and ceiling pieces still attached, and removed the original water heater that was still behind the wall in the kitchen.
HELPERS: Timmy
VISITORS: Don & Tracy Vallette, Mom & Dad R., Whitney
Day 18
My dad’s workers spent many hours uprooting the trunk of the tree in our front yard. We changed our carpet choice in the the bedroom from tan to gray, to better match our color scheme. It will be installed next week!
Goodbye tree trunk!
Gray is SO much better!
HELPERS: Dad U.
Day 17
Caleb removed tack strip around the house, Mom U. continued stripping the paint off door #1, and Kevin returned after Impact to clean up the demolition debris.
HELPERS: Caleb and Mom U.
Day 16
Today was the first break we took working on the house since we bought it. I flew to Seattle for work and Kevin studied all night for his Professional Engineering exam.
Day 15
Today while we were at work my dad spent three hours cleaning debris out of our house. With so much demolition over the past two weeks we had wood, dust, plaster, drywall and other various materials everywhere. It was hard to walk anywhere, let alone, breathe!
Yay clean floors! Thanks dad!
He also had his workers cut down the tree in our front yard. Although it offered a good amount of shade, it blocked the house and made it look smaller than it needed to. With the tree gone the house and yard look so much bigger.
Goodbye tree!
Later this evening, Kevin, Jason, and James York (Jason’s friend) knocked down the plaster ceiling in the dining room and the old mudroom so that it could eventually be drywalled. Back to a mess it goes…
The boys removed the plaster ceiling and down came piles of insulation and debris…
HELPERS: Dad U., Jason, & James York
Day 14
Kevin picked up a U-Haul this morning and began getting the apartment ready for THE move. We couldn’t be more grateful for such great friends who gave up their afternoons to help us. We got everything in the apartment packed and into the U-Haul in about 1.5 hours and everything unloaded into the garage of the house in about 15 minutes! Until the house is liveable we will be house-hopping between our parents. We dropped off the truck and cleaned up our apartment for the last time.
We came back to the house and Kevin patched holes in the bathroom and fixed drywall, I removed the tack strip in the bedroom, and he put the handles onto our closet drawers.
Loading up the truck…
The loading crew!
Unloading the piano…
The unloading crew!
HELPERS: Ali, Whitney, Matt & Nicole Baker, Sallie & Brandon Burroughs, Jake, Timmy, Rob Macleod, Mike Vogt, Matt Milburn, Steven Albano, Kelsey, Josh, Claire Hillis, and Mom. U
VISITORS: Blake and Gina Eden
Day 13 – The Second Saturday (a.k.a. the second full work day)
Today Ali and Whitney helped me pack up our apartment while Jason helped Kevin move all of the loose insulation (ick!) in the attic that lies above the dining room into other parts of the attic so that the ceiling plaster in the dining room can be removed.
The girls moved all of our clothes from our apartment into our new closet at the house. Timmy and Kevin did a second coat of primer in the bedroom and then began painting the room with my favored paint, Coventry Gray from Benjamin Moore. They also painted the trim, the pocket door, and moved the outlet in the bathroom.
Closet Solution from IKEA
Thanks to Ali and Whitney for helping me put the clothes away!
Isn’t this color the best?
Thanks Whitney!
HELPERS: Ali, Whitney, Timmy, Jason, Steven Albano
VISITORS: Lenny Celaya, Kelsey, Elissa
Day 12
NOTE: ALL of our work takes place after our 9-5 jobs… which means LATE nights and little sleep. Thank you to my mom and dad for coming over during the day and getting things done while we are at work!
Today we caulked all of the moldings and windows in our bedroom, primed all of the walls and ceilings (because the wild colors didn’t stop at the walls), framed the doors with new molding to match the rest of the house, and ripped up more sub floor in the living room.
HELPERS: Mom & Dad U., Caleb
Day 11
Kevin didn’t go into work today and I worked a half-day so that we could get more work done on the house. It’s hard having a full time job while doing a home renovation! Who would have guessed? Haha!
Kevin finished mudding the walls in our bedroom, we picked out the carpet for the bedrooms, we picked out and installed the closet storage pieces from Ikea (check them out HERE), Timmy began priming all of the walls that needed painting, AND my mom continued stripping door #1.
Master closet with removed plywood shelving, new paint, and new light fixture.
Jake and Kevin assembling closet shelving.
Timmy priming our bedroom walls. Goodbye blue!
Walls and ceiling primed!
HELPERS: Timmy, Jake, Mom U.
Day 10
After work, Kevin missed Impact, our church’s high school ministry that we help at (Sorry Steve!), to get more work done. He mudded the pocket door wall and started to move the light switch in the bathroom from one wall to the other. He also caulked the crown moldings in the closet.
Day 9
Today we finished the dry wall between the master bathroom/bedroom, Kevin began mudding the bathroom walls and seams, we painted the master closet, began removing plaster from the dining room walls, AND continued stripping paint off door #1. Thanks Mom U. for bringing us dinner while we worked away 🙂
HELPERS: Mom U. and Chris Gannon
VISITOR: Havilah Abrego
Day 8
Today Dad U. brought his truck and trailer and hauled away ALL of the trash in the garage to the dump. He also began cleaning up the front yard.
THANK YOU Dad!
HELPER: Dad U.
Day 7
Today we moved the first load of trash to the dumpster at Contractor’s Carpet Center (Kevin’s Grandpa’s business in Monrovia). We started dry walling the pocket door between the master bedroom and bathroom, we finished the electrical to the light switch in the master bedroom, cleaned up debris throughout the house, AND continued stripping the paint off door #1. We moved all of the demolition trash into the garage for the time being, we are planning to dump one load at a time. Trash dumping is expensive!
Thanks Tim & Whit for your help!
Cleaning up the mess from yesterday…
Remember that stressful pile of construction mess? It’s been removed!
Starting to drywall the pocket door frame.
Getting ready to dry wall over the previous bathroom entrance.
Goodbye old bathroom entrance!
Check out the new way to enter our master bath!
Yay! We can see the floor!
My mom working into the night, stripping the paint off that door.
HELPERS: Jason, Dad R., Mom U., Caleb, Whitney, Timmy
VISITORS: Kelly & Stephen Chakerian, Brian & Kristine, Tim & Melissa Balog, Jake
Transitioning from house to home as a husband and wife team with two kids in tow!
Decidedly Academic. Distinctively Christian.
Staying Strong with God in His Glorious Grace
The Home They Built 