Remodel

Our son bought a "fixer upper". They actually bought some property and it came with a house. A 1970's house that needs a lot of work. So they, (with a little help from family) have been removing paneling, fixtures, an indoor stone waterfall/taxidermy display, carpet and carpet tack strips, and "popcorn" ceiling. They will be replacing the shake shingle roof, all the windows in the home, all the flooring and all of the indoor fixtures. Eventually, one by one, they will remodel each of the 4 bathrooms and a couple of years down the road they will be gutting the kitchen. For now they will live with orange formica countertops and a brown sink, a royal blue master bathroom tub & sinks. He and his wife are exhausted and the amount of work has been overwhelming. They have a carpenter/contractor that has been awesome to work with, but they are doing a ton of sweat equity. Sweat being the key word because the doors and windows are open and the air conditioning is off. (Think July in the desert) In the next two weeks I think they will see progress that will make them glad they took it all on. Before light fixture: Flemish Amber - a popular color of glass in the '70's.... And After, with clear glass and new bulb. Below, they have removed brick, wall and replaced two skinny windows with one large one, (on both sides of the room). They have to move in in two weeks! The corral has to be built before Natalie's horse arrives in August!!

Yes, more deck photos

It is such a big project I just have to journal the progress! The addition of stairs was a milestone. You know what they say, " measure twice, cut once," Karl said it was quite a process to the measurements right.

Karl and I worked on a Rainy Saturday morning by ourselves to secure boards across the top, but the first thing we had to do was get the canvas covering on our shade 'gazebo' so we could put the saw and work table under some protection from the rain.

Tucked just under the stairs is the slide I ordered to attach next to the stairs.

It is looking great. I have been researching deck stain and to my surprise you are supposed to wait a year to allow the wood to cure before staining. I had no idea. So we won't be staining it right away. I have to get some bids on railings next.