Day 72
Kenny’s guys came and rough plumbed the island and the kitchen sink. Kevin installed the island frame that he built.
Kevin built the island frame outside and moved it inside once it was finished.
This island frame will one day house our washer and dryer.
Day 70
Kevin and Jason picked up the appliances from Sears today and put them in the garage until we are ready to move them in!
HELPER: Jason
Day 66
Uncle John’s guys came out to patch the floor beams and cover the holes in the floor with plywood. My dad’s guys were here today leveling out the grassy areas in the front of the house.
A good amount of our floor was removed due to rot and unlevel footing.
Day 65
Javier, our HUD Inspector, came out today for the first draw for the contractor. He was there to see the progress we have made to allow the next bit of money to be released. Uncle John’s guys began assembling the kitchen cabinets, hurray!
Matt came later in the day to help Kevin install crown molding in the dining room and kitchen.
Matt and Kevin putting up the crown molding in the dining room.
HELPERS: John’s Crew, Matt Milburn
Day 64
Today Kevin took off work to work on the house because we have an inspection from the bank tomorrow. He finished up the last details on the trim in the dining room. He also cleaned up all the tools that were laying around so that it was easier to walk around.
Day 62
Today we finished adding the moldings to the dining room and Kevin ripped up more flooring in the dining room to begin leveling out where it was ramping up. The previous owner added the master bedroom and family room to the house in the 90s. This addition was built on a slab foundation set a few inches higher than the original house. So to transition from the dining room to the family room you had to slightly step up. To compensate for this, the previous owner sloped his wood floors to hide the gap, which looked and felt very uneven and cheap. When we pulled off the flooring, and leveled the dining room we thought we could just make the transition an actual step, but unfortunately it was not high enough. So now we are trying to decide what that transition piece will look like.
The kitchen cabinets were delivered today! They just need to be assembled… the one downfall to ordering from Ikea.
HELPERS: Uncle John’s Crew
Day 61
We didn’t have work today so Kevin did a lot of work on the house. He began adding moldings to the dining room to add some character to the large room. We searched Pinterest for a bunch of ideas, we landed on this…
EXAMPLE Board and Batten
Instructions here: http://www.justagirlblog.com/board-and-batten-part-1/
Now our turn…
As you can see the back of the hutch hasn’t been attached yet so you can see straight into the second bedroom.
Kevin cut sheets of MDF to make these moldings. Made this project pretty affordable.
Kevin used a laser level to ensure consistency (since our floors are sloping…and missing in places haha)
Moldings with paint!
HELPER: Jason
We have so much to be thankful for, especially this year! Thank you Jesus for blessing us with this beautiful house. What a fun and rewarding experience this has been for Kevin and I. The learning process of designing, building, correcting, and re-building has been one we will cherish forever! Thank you for the numerous friends and family members who spend endless hours at our house… what a tangible way to show their love and support. Thank you for this precious baby who gets to enter this world surrounded by those who love him/her and into a house created to protect him/her.
We couldn’t be happier.
Day 59
Today we cleaned up the family room from all of the tools and materials that had begun to collect. The boys worked on getting the built-in hutch to fit better in its new location. They also painted the family room walls and installed our new bathroom mirror! The previous owner only had a small medicine cabinet hung above their sink (which was also off center) and it looked too small for the wall and out of place. I ordered a large piece of mirror this morning to replace it and it was finished and ready for installation this afternoon! The boys put it up with liquid nails*.
New lights! Kevin had to rewire and center them because the original light fixture was centered over the medicine cabinet instead of the sink (*shaking head).
Removed the medicine cabinet and didn’t even bother patching the hole because it will be hidden behind the new mirror. Notice how off center it was!
HELPERS: Timmy & Whitney
NOTE (1/19/15): the mirror eventually had to be replaced because the liquid nails that we used to adhere it to the wall began majorly discoloring the mirror. Pretty soon there were so many dark marks that you could barely see yourself! We had to purchase a new mirror and installed it with an adhesive that was made specifically for mirrors. Make sure you read the back of the labels before adhering mirror to any surface!
Day 58
Over the past few days Uncle John’s guys finished drywalling the kitchen and dining room walls and ceiling. What a difference that makes. It actually is starting to feel like there is an end in sight!
Finished drywall!
My dad’s guys leveled the dirt in the front yard to prep for sod and greenery.
Almost ready for sod!
Matt came over and helped paint the dining room and kitchen ceiling.
HELPERS: Uncle John’s Crew + Matt Milburn
Day 56
Kevin installed all of the outlets and light switches in the dining room. The lights now work and can be dimmed. Hurray! They look so good. I cleaned out our tub and shower really well (you wouldn’t believe how much dirt and grime had collected over the past 56 days) and my mom continued to strip the paint off door #2. My mom also gifted us with a cute mailbox that Kevin put up today. Later Caleb and Kevin loaded a bunch of trash into the truck and make a trip to dump it in Timmy’s apartment complex dumpster…shhh!
Such a cute mailbox from Pottery Barn
HELPERS: Mom U. & Caleb
VISITOR: Elissa
Day 55
Kevin prepped our bathroom for paint, primed and painted it, installed a new toilet (a must for any house your purchase!) and a new light fixture. Ahhh! Almost done!
He and Timmy also sanded more of the nursery walls to get them to that more even texture (what a mess!). They also painted the ceiling in the office, finished the pocket door trim, hung the new porch light, and started wiring the switches in the kitchen and dining room.
Jacob finished painting and Mitchell finished the electrical! It’s coming together!
HELPERS: Timmy & Mom U.
VISITORS: Mom & Dad R.
Days 50 – 54
This week Jacob continued to paint, my dad’s guys laid a new pathway and added the edging between the eventual grass and greenery. It rained Wednesday and Thursday so not much happened those days.
Getting ready for a new pathway.
Stone pavers for the new pathway installed and Jacob continuing to paint.
New edging installed to separate the eventual grass and greenery.
HELPERS: Dad + Crew, Matt Milburn, Jacob Bishop
VISITORS: Jen Robinson
Day 48
Today Kevin and Timmy primed more of the walls and ceiling for paint. You wouldn’t believe how much primer… and time… it takes to cover these crazy colors. They also began skim coating the nursery 🙂 walls with mud to help get a more even texture. The nursery bedroom is one of the original bedrooms and it has plaster walls that are very uneven and messy looking.
Thanks Tim for being such a great painter!
HELPER: Timmy
VISITORS: Grandpa, Loretta, Dan, Monica, Mom & Dad R., Stephen & Kelly Chakerian, Katie Skutvik, Mom & Dad U., and Caleb
Day 47
This has been a busy week! We have got a lot accomplished. Jacob has been painting all week, Kenny and his guys have finished rerouting the gas lines, and my dad’s guys have made a lot of progress on our front yard. Kevin and Timmy continued working on our bathroom by sanding and mudding the walls and priming. They also began priming the living room. Goodbye crazy colors!
HELPERS: Timmy, Dad U., Count On Plumbing
Well in the midst of this crazy home renovation, I found out I’m pregnant! We are so excited. It’s a good thing we found out before we finished the extra bedroom. Looks like we will need to begin creating a nursery. 🙂 Guess this means I won’t have to do as much painting 😉 Phew!
Happy Veteran’s Day! Thank you to all of our service men and women who so bravely protect our country.
I didn’t have to go to work today so I finished painting the vanity, lined the shelves and under the sink with contact paper, and primed our bathroom for paint. Kevin worked on installing some necessary wood braces in the wall behind the stove so that the gas line could be installed. Jacob continued to sand and my dad’s guys worked in the front yard.
Painting the brown vanity black. First, drawers!
Like NEW!
Lined Drawers 🙂
Ahh… clean!
And under the sink!
HELPERS: Jacob and Dad U + Crew
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
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 