Update 12/12/2011

Just to keep everyone updated:

We have not had much free time to work on the house lately.  The boys in our family helped out so much with installing electricity, but we found out we need an all new furnace.  This did put some delays on the work that we can get done before spring.  We still have some major projects we can do without heat, such as putting in the kitchen floors and tearing out the living room floors to start leveling them.  We will keep you updated, but the progress is slow.

We hope everyone has an amazing Christmas and New Years!

Before and After Bathroom Pictures

Here are a few pictures of our progress.  We managed to get a lot of work done this weekend.  

First we removed the door:

BEFORE

AFTER

Then we leveled the floor joists and laid down a new subfloor: 

Lastly, we built bathroom walls and installed our bathtub:

We also installed heating ducts and are ready to put down the rest of the floor soon.  We looked at the wiring issues in the house and were a bit disappointed.  Even with the new electrical box we only have a couple outlets that are working properly.  Fixing and installing electrical will be our next big project with updates coming soon!

I've got an idea!

We've been working hard and the light bulbs above our heads have finally lit up!  Literally, because we got our electricity turned on this week.  We have a brand new electrical box with 200 amp service.  This may not seem like a big deal, but look back through our projects and just think about how much easier some of it could be with electricity.

This came at a good time, because we were definitely having a hard time finding things to work on that didn't require power tools.  You can only do so much with a battery powered sawzall and a hand saw.  Many batteries have been charged in our car over the course of this project.

I don't have a picture of the new box yet, but these are the old ones:

We are taking this week off, but will be working hard again next week.  I really would like to finish the bathroom before Christmas and get some electrical wiring done soon.  Having electricity has opened up so many new projects we will be busy for a while now.  

What the....?!?

Sometimes I wish I could find the previous homeowners and ask them "What were you thinking!?!"  There are so many strange things in this house.

Great dry-walling job!  Looks like we're done here...

The crawl space filled with garbage.

2x2 walls

Electrical nightmares

Using dry-wall mud on paneling

The house is less than a mile from the dump, yet there were more than 4 garbage piles out back

Every day is an adventure with this house.  Every time we pull something up or remove something we find another nice little surprise left for us by previous owners.  This weekend we were able to remove a large ugly beam in the kitchen.  It was made of 2x6s.  We originally thought it was a support beam, but on further inspection found out it was covering up the tops of some 2x4s where a wall was removed.  Instead of cutting the 2x4s flush, they left some hanging and attached 3 2x6s.  In reality, the beam has just been weighing down the ceiling instead of providing support.  

In progress.  

You can also see in the picture a piece of dry-wall was removed where we will be moving our door to.  The bathroom will be where the door is now, so we need a new location for the side door.  After checking this spot out, we found out it will work, but we will be removing a bit of random lumber from the wall first.

I'm sure there will be many more surprises to come.  We enjoy just about every minute of it and it will be worth it in the end.  But there are definitely moments where you have to wonder, "WHAT?!?"

Bathroom Ideas

Even though our bathroom won't be ready for paint and flooring for a while, we are starting to look for ideas of what we want so we can watch sales and price things out.  We have a general idea of what we want, but we are having a hard time picking out a flooring type and color.  We would love to hear what you think!


This bathroom is similar to what we are looking at doing:

Our bathtub, sink, and toilet are all white and we will be installing wainscoting similar to the above picture.  The paint will be a blue, or maybe a blue with a little hint of periwinkle.  

What would you do for flooring? Options include:

• Laminate wood flooring to match the kitchen (which will also have white cabinets)
• Linoleum
• Linoleum Peel and Stick Squares
• Tile

We are trying to stay at a very small budget but will also be doing all installation ourselves and have a little wiggle room.  We definitely want a return on our investment so we want to do it right the first time.  We are very interested to see what you think!

House Updates

Even though progress is slow, we are getting a lot of much needed work done.  While Ryan has been working on Pex tubing for our plumbing, I spent much of the weekend digging out the crawlspace and insulating the exterior walls of the crawlspace.  

Our plumbing was laying on the crawlspace floor in some places so it needed to be dug out.  We unloaded enough dirt that we can crawl under the plumbing if necessary.  

It looks like the previous owners may have had problems with freezing pipes.  Since we don't know how often the house will be fully heated, we decided it would be best to insulate as much as possible.

We were lucky enough to have some extra helpers this weekend, including my brother.  He worked on digging out extra garbage from the crawlspace.  It seems like we will never be able to keep up with the garbage left in every nook and cranny.   

We are almost done with plumbing the downstairs and we can start thinking about laying the floors back down.  We also worked on leveling out the beams under the bathroom and kitchen so that there aren't any low spots.  

It was nice to have a weekend of smaller projects we could check off of our list.   Up next: laying floors in the bathroom, building walls for the bathroom, and moving an exterior door.

Plumbing Nightmares

As official flashlight holder, band aid applicator, go-fer I must say plumbing is not the most fun DIY job.  It takes a ton of work and all gets covered up never to be seen again (hopefully).  This week's project went well but we were not able to finish everything that we had hoped.  Next weekend we will try to finish up all downstairs plumbing.

We were also lucky enough to get some furniture from my Grandma to fill our empty house.  We had to put most of it in storage for now, but we have a new thinking spot!  

If you don't look too close, it almost looks like a nice room!  In reality, there is a giant hole in the floor to the left and the window is broken out.  


Progress is slow, but we are getting there.  With only 1-2 days a week to work on it, I think we are doing amazingly well on schedule.  As always, we are open to suggestions and comments so please let us know what you think.  

It Gets Worse Before it Gets Better

I have a hard time envisioning a final result to a room when there is no floor, walls, or fixtures.  Lucky for me, Ryan seems to know what's up.  This weekend we pulled up the floor in the kitchen and bathroom area so that we can install plumbing much more easily.  If we didn't remove the flooring (which wasn't installed well to begin with) we would have had to do all plumbing work in the 1/2 crawl space.  

The previous owners swept a lot of garbage into the crawl space so they wouldn't have to deal with it.  Instead of crawling through garbage, we removed the flooring a cleaned up a bit.  We made all of the measurements for the plumbing and should be ready to go next weekend.  Then we can move forward with building bathroom walls and installing fixtures.


This weekend we also sealed the bedroom and dining room floors in order to seal in odors and start a clean slate.  Our electrician should be coming some time in the next two weeks to get us on the grid.  Progress, slowly but surely.  

Garage Roof

This weekend project turned out to be more difficult than we had planned for.  We fought with poor weather, lack of electricity, and Menards.  After measuring out our materials and picking them up, we unloaded everything at the house Friday night.  While unloading in the pouring rain, we noticed one package of shingles from the pallet was red instead of black.  Lucky for us, we had a family member who could make the trip to Menards for us.  The nearest one to our house is over an hour away.  

We began working early Saturday morning and soon realized that our generator was not going to work, no matter how hard we wished.  This resulted in using a handsaw for 2x4s, 1x4s, and plywood sheets.  I thought for sure we would never finish this all in a weekend.

Luckily, we had a lot of help.  With four people on the roof and two more helping around the yard and house, we were able to finish the entire garage roof in 9 hours.  Some of the beams were beginning to become soft, so we constructed new supports and trim.  We laid new sheeting, tar paper, and architectural shingles.  It was a big job, but we are very happy it is done with!  

This weekend we also learned that our house is only set up for 60amp electricity service.  That can not even power an electric stove or dryer.  We will soon be upgrading to 200amp service so that we won't have to worry about any more generator issues and can get heat for the winter, which seems to be fast approaching.  

Our next big project: the first bathroom.  We will be working hard at plumbing and then wall construction.  I will be very grateful to have a bathroom in the house!

Yesterday we began our long journey of renovating the Watersmeet house.  After some discouraging news from the neighbor, we were still able to get a lot done.  As we began mowing the lawn (which hasn't been mowed in a LONG time) the neighbor came over to let us know we are the 5th group of people to try and renovate this house.  No one has lived in it for years.  After thinking about it for a while, we decided that as long as we have the motivation, we can get this house renovated and looking good.  


We started by working on the lawn and backyard.  There were 4 piles of garbage and construction material piled higher than us in the backyard and behind the garage.  The lawn had grass nearly 3 feet tall.  

BEFORE

After a long day of mowing and trips to the dump, we finally have a cleaner looking lawn.

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

After some outside work, we moved indoors.  We tore down the bathroom walls (made of 2x2s).  We will be moving the bathroom so that our kitchen will be larger.  This will involve moving the side door, but will allow us to have 2 bathrooms total and a much larger kitchen.  We were also able to tear out all of the carpet in the house this weekend.  Now we have an empty slate to start working on.

BEFORE

AFTER

Next weekend we plan on working on the garage roof.  The garage is nice, but needs a new roof before the snow comes.  We will also be looking to finish off our electrical work (most of which is already done).  Hopefully next weekend can be as successful as this weekend was.

Closing Day

Today is our closing day!! The title company received our paperwork and we are ready to go.  We can finally pick up the keys, if there are any.  Ryan and I have a wedding to attend this weekend (congrats Ron  and Kate!!!).  We will have to wait until next weekend to start tearing out carpet.  We are incredibly excited to start our project house.  We will keep the blog updated with projects and pictures, so check back soon!  

Friday is the big day!

We will be closing on our new house Friday, September 9th.  Then the project begins!  We hope to get a lot done before the snow flies, such as boarding up any broken or leaky windows.  Once the house is ready for winter, we can begin the tearing out and cleaning process.  Since we both still live in Stevens Point, WI all work will have to be done on weekends and vacations, but we are very excited for our new projects. 
 For those who have not seen the house yet, here are a couple pictures: