A New Business in town.

Kari Evely has just returned home from a year in Ameri-Corp where she learned all kinds of carpentry skills, helped tornado victims and blessed people whereever she went.   She has now started her own finish carpentry business.   She rebuilt the top of an antique store fixture for us and added shelving to it.

Soon she will be adding base boards in our bathroom.   If you need something done around the house call Kari.  She will do what she says and is a very pleasant person.  Come on ladies give her a try. 

Kari Evely  859-227-1780.  Tell her Linda sent you.

Miles and his crew installed our new back door last week and it is beautiful.  It is energy efficient and you don't have to slam it to shut it.  The trim isn't up yet but have a look:

   Notice the new floor.  Pine floor sanded by Todd.  Stained and poly by me.    Colonial Pine stain.

The cabinets will be installed on Tuesday and the countertop people will make a template on Wednesday  and the coutertop will be installed next Monday.  This means no kitchen sink for a week.   The end is in sight and we can do it.

It was a busy week and ended with a surprise birthday party for my mom's 80th birthday.  She  was surprised and I think everyone had a good time.  The weather was wonderful.  We love the downtown Pavillion.  It's a great place for a party.

    

The Bathroom Color Is...

I have a hard time choosing a color.  I wanted gray for the bathroom.  Not blue gray, green gray, yellow gray, brown gray just gray.  Difficult to find.  Finally yesterday I realized my stairway is gray and I like the color, so I called Nicholasville Paint to see if they could look it up for me.  They file all the invoices by year and can look through and see what color you bought.  Talk about service!  So I got the card that the stairway gray was on and chose one a little darker.  It's called Silent Night.  Years ago Benjamin Moore just numbered colors but now they all have names.

The red paint and the gray are both Aura, by Benjamin Moore.  It's a paint and primer in one and we were able to paint the red in one coat.  I did the gray today in one coat too.  This was on bare new drywall.  Amazing paint.  It's expensive but the time savings is terrific.

Todd rented the sander from Home Depot and we started sanding the pine floor this evening.  Have to turn the sander back in tomorrow so we have another busy day ahead.

Here are some pictures:

      Next step.  Sand floors with great big rental sander.  More dust.  More Mess.

                                      

                                          Our pine kitchen floor, soon to be stained and poly.

The Kitchen color is............

Benjamin Moore 1330  Valentine

Below is an inspiration picture.  Our cabinets do not have glass and the countertop is lighter.

The red color is in the living room and has been for 15 years.  It is a blue red and reminds me of flag red.

I used Aura, Benjamin Moore's new paint that is a one coat paint and primer combined.  I love it.

Here are my new pictures.  Before White cabinets and white woodwork.

Next is painting the bathroom and sanding and staining the floor.

Next step in the renovation.

First can I say that if you are a handy person and can do home repair I think you could have a great business if you would do the following:  Arrive when you say you will.  Do what you say you will do.

Have a fair price.    Oh, and if you can't come one day-CALL THE PEOPLE AND LET THEM KNOW.  One more thing, answer your phone, return your calls.  Don't avoid people, it only makes the whole thing worse.  Tell the truth.  If you do these things word of mouth will keep you busy!  With That said.....

The drywall is done and that's all I have to say about that.  Now we move on to priming and painting walls and staining the floor.  In the midst of all this we planned a yard sale.  What were we thinking?  Oh, well,  that's over and we got to spend time with Sarah, Bryan and Sadie and get rid of some stuff.  Our middle one is home for the summer and to say she was shocked by the chaos at home is an understatement.  Laura is a neat nick and to live with dust and mess is really hard for her.  It's not forever.  I'm also planning a surprise 80th birthday for my mom.  Timing is everything!  (It's not at out house!)  

My task ahead is to prime and paint the drywall (walls and ceiling) and stain the new unfinished pine floor.  The hard part is picking out the colors.  I've driven the paint store guys crazy but they've been great. (Nicholasville Paint) The physical difficulty is trying to do all of this with my 50 something body.   Soreness and Ibuprofen to come.    This kind of renovation really tests a family.  It's hard to live in a mess and try to function.  I keep hoping everyone can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I can see it.  I hope I never get so uptight about my house that I would sacrifice a relationship in the process.  Should we obsess about a mess and dust and drive ourselves crazy trying to have everything perfect?  I don't think so. (Of course, I'm not a neat nick) A true friend will share the joy in the process and encourage you.  I'm lucky to have that.  

I went down to Harrodsburg yesterday to see the paint sample of the cabinets we are getting.  They are coming from Heirloom Furniture.  David is the rep for Amish cabinets.  Ours are white with a black glaze.  The door will have an outside edge like the cream one and an inside panel like the white one. 

The Amish will be delivering and installing.  I'm so excited about that.  They will be installed June 14th so I've go to get busy!!!!!!!!!!

This is David from Heirloom Furniture.  They have beautiful furniture,  lawn furniture, wooden toys and clocks.   The showroom is at 3008 Louisville Rd. , Harrodsburg Ky.  (that's 127  My friend Jill told me about it.  She has bought some beautiful furniture there.)  The showroom is only open Thur-Sat. 

I would call first.  859-865-4393

Did I mention we're on a diet too!  Todd has lost 26 pounds and 25 for me.  Todd is already off one medication.  That's the goal, to get off most of them.  Dieting together has made it easier.

Dirty, Itchy and Dusty

When we started the renovation of our kitchen and bath we began with demolition.  I have never been dirtier.  The insulation was last weekend and I never felt so itchy.  Now the drywall.  I've never seen so much dust.  The drywall crew worked well yesterday and we expected them back this morning.  No show.
We are really under a time crunch because the cabinets are coming June 14th and we have to prime, and paint the walls and ceiling and finish the floor before then.  It's going to be a messy week.  I'm a little frustrated.  Sure hope they show up tomorrow.  Here are some drywall pictures.

                                          I'm quite sure I would break my neck on those.

                                             The dry wall crew.

                                          Plastic wall between kitchen and living room.

                                             Make shift sink.  The only one downstairs.

                                            Bathroom.  This green dry wall is moisture resistant.

                                                             Zuzu has no idea what is going on.

Insulation is itchy.

It looks like this is the last cool day we will have so Todd and I got the insulation between the studs to make way for the dry wall people on Tuesday.  We wore masks but we were both feeling really itchy when we were done.  This should help on our heating and air conditioning bills as there was no insulation on the out side wall of the kitchen.  The clap board on the house is only 1/2 inch think so no wonder the kitchen was hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

We ran into a few snags with the floor in the kitchen.  Remember I said every job causes ten jobs.  We decided to take up the plywood in one area of the kitchen and underneath was layers of scrap wood and then finally a old porch floor.  Once you discover a problem you pretty much have to fix it so we now have a new pine floor in the kitchen and bath.  I never realized that the floor had dips in it until now.  The new floor is so straight and sturdy.  My friend Stephanie suggested we have the guys move a floor register that was in a strange place so while the floor was taken up it was discovered that the pipe going to that register wasn't even connected.  Yikes.  Enter heating and air conditioning men.  Remember, 10 jobs.  Well, that's all done and everything is working but we won't be able to have the air on all next week because the dry wall people will be here.  We will cover up the vents and place plastic so that we cut off the area as best a possible.  This will surely be the worst dust of all.  Everything is already coated, it will just be a different color!  

The electric was roughed in and for the first time we have a light in the shower!  It will be nice to be able to see better in the kitchen and bath.  The electric guys were great, and when everything else is done they'll be back to put all the fixtures together and hang them.  That's almost too good to be true.

Here are some current pictures:

                                               The beginnings of the new floor.

                                                              New floor.

                                                           Makeshift kitchen sink.

 

                                          Insulation over the eating area.                            

                                             First time this wall has been insulated.

                                                           New light in the shower.

The Kitchen Saga Continues

The carpentry crew came Monday morning and began the process of adding beams and a new ceiling below the new plumbing.  It was very interesting seeing the beams go in.  I have a great appreciation for people who know what they are doing.  This crew built our deck a few years ago and we had a lot of confidence in them because of that.  Since I mostly have conversations with women it is amusing to observe these guys deciding how they are going to do something.  I admire that they all discuss it and then proceed.  No one seems to get their feelings hurt because their idea wasn't chosen!  They work well together and tell stories of comical things that have happened in the past.

This crew doesn't like "band-aids".  Doing things the right way and taking pride in their work is a quality they have and that seems a rare thing today.  They also don't seem to mind stupid questions and I know I have ask many.   Miles is the leader, soft spoken and with a dry sense of humor , he keeps the group on track and has the final say without being a dictator.   If someone else has a better idea he goes along.  In my mind that is a true leader.

Kevin is funny and the social one.  He likes to cook and tell stories.  He is taking the old cabinets to eastern Kentucky to help people there through his church.  He's had a few falls on jobs and the others like to tease him about it, but he takes it in stride.

 Kenny understands the total picture and reminds the group of important things like the effects of jacking something up or tearing something out.  I think he is a great asset to the team.

  Scotty is the youngest and does what he is told.  He respects the older guys and how wonderful to have three mentors to work with.   Scotty has worked out in Las Vegas and is back home in Kentucky.

 I have full confidence that the job is being done correctly.

Here are some pictures of the beams and ceiling.

Marylee is standing in the kitchen and the living room is open behind her.

Zuzu must be wondering what in the world is going on.  She almost looks gray from all the dust.

These guys will be finished on Thursday.  We are a long way from the end and the dust settling.