The Bathroom Renovation

So the last time I post anything it was the start of our bathroom renovation. I was hoping to post in steps, but it was a lot of work and took a lot longer than I expected. We figured we would get the big stuff done in a week, and if we had a normal house that would have been okay. However, our house is over 100 years old and it needs a lot of work. So here I go with a story.

We started the renovation the week before Thanksgiving, since we would have a whole week off for the break (it is great to live in WV, because Thanksgiving and hunting go together). So Joe and I started the prep work by getting rid of the ugly walls and flooring. We emptied out the cabinet and basically started to demo. Then when my dad arrived on Saturday we continued the demolition process, which did not end until the end of Sunday. There was a lot to get rid of and lots of blown-in insulation to get rid of. While demoing we noticed some bad electrical work and that the roof was falling. Of course those were things that we had to fix first. It took one day to jack the roof up and re frame out the ceiling. My dad is basically a trained electrician but it was a surprise to him to see some of the spliced electrical work. He was so stumped that it took him a while to figure it all out. Plus, we had to pull of the flooring up as my dad discovered some electrical work that was sparking! He had to make cut-outs and boxes for all this electrical work Plus we now had a lot more framing to do. I figured we would have the shower, cabinet, and tile installed within the week. That would have been nice!

Instead, we were lucky to have the electrical work done. We even had to call my brother in for extra support since he is excellent at framing out walls and such. Luckily two days after the Thanksgiving break was up, we had a shower and drywall up. Even though it was just for a week, I was tired of showering at a campground. Plus, it was November and it was just plain cold outside. And when I had to go back to work, it was not fun to feel dirty and tired from not getting a morning shower.

My dad and brother had to go home and back to work so we were on a stand still for another two weeks until they were able to come back down to help us. On the second trip, we installed the tile, put in the cabinet and sink, and had the drywall mudded two times. Then it was another break for the holidays.

At this point, I was glad to see some of the biggest problems solved, because I really did not need a fire to start from bad wiring, however, I also wanted it to be done! We needed my dad's help, since he was mudding the walls. Fortunately he was able to come day on New Year Eve with my mom. On Saturday we finished the mud and sanding. Then we cleaned up and prepped for paint. We primed and painted on Sunday and it was great to get everything into place. Plus, it was snowing so we knew that we would be off school on Monday. YEAH FOR SNOW DAYS! Unfortunately Joe did not like the paint color, so on a whim we rushed to Lowes on Monday afternoon and picked another color. Then we started to paint, but we did not like that color either. That meant we were back at the store on Tuesday (another snow day) to pick up samples and wood for the trim work. Thankfully we found a color that we like and on Wednesday (another snow day) we were able to paint again. Plus Joe got a start on some of the trip work after painting. On Thursday (another snow day) we put up the trip work and cleaned up the house. Then we celebrated because Friday was also a snow day so we painted the trim work and any touch-ups, installed the toilet paper holder, and stained our built in cabinets. This could not have been done so well if we had to work each day. I'm so glad we had the time off. Tomorrow I am going to clean off any mud on the floors and caulk the tub. All that is left is to finish our built-in shelving! It looks so good and I am glad to see one more room in this old house be renovated!

Our next project...the hallway and staircase!

So here are pictures in a play-by-play:

1. This is what the room looked like when we bought the house.

2. Demolition (do you see the electrical work just sticking out of the insulation?)

Or how about the electrical box sitting in sawdust? We ripped up the floor to take a look at this and found three more splices in the electrical wiring! What a nightmare!

My dad actually fell through the floor by accident. He was okay, but it put a hole in our kitchen ceiling. That gives us one more reason to renovate that room too!

3. We start to re frame the roof and add structural support

4. I think we filled our truck and my dad's truck about six times.

5. Drywall is up and the cabinet is being installed. Yeah for a shower!

6. Here comes our new slate flooring. It was a process to put these in, because I had to seal the tiles three times, once more before grouting, then grout, and then seal it again. Plus, I ran out of grout and had to put some and finish the last four tiles on the next day.

7. The finished project (minus the built-in shelves). We were able to reuse the toilet and medicine cabinet. Everything else is brand new. I will have to put a price break down on here soon.

Our First Renovation

So we bought the house, an old house, built in 1896. I expected there to be quirks, and things that would need some TLC, but I guess it was too much to except it to be free of West Virginia ghetto rigging! We are redoing our upstairs bathroom and it was a complete gut job. We are four days into what we were hoping would be a week long renovation (we get all of Thanksgiving week off, because of hunting season). I think we will be lucky if we get the wall up, the bathtub installed, and the start of a tile floor! Nevertheless, it is exciting to think we are going to make this a better place and we love it!

This is a picture of me "Raising the Roof." Basically after we demo-ed the bathroom we found a hole in the ceiling/roof, so before we could really address the bathroom we needed to figure that out and fix the roof that had dropped. So it was a process today. Actually I didn't do much of the work, thanks to my wonderful husband and my dad. I was given the task of pulling out nails on the old trim that we are going to try to salvage. Plus, I pulled staples out of the staircase, for a future project. Tomorrow while they work a little more, I will be making pumpkin pie, jello, and peeling potatoes...for Thanksgiving! I just can't wait to have the final reveal of our bathroom!

Bridge Day, New River Gorge

The 3rd Saturday of every October is Bridge Day at the New River Gorge. One thing I have really love about living in Fayetteville is all the festivals and outdoor adventures that we get to experience, but still live in a small town. The highlight of bridge day is the fact that base jumpers come from all over the world to legally jump off the bridge. It is pretty cool to see. However, this year, it was really cold. Unfortunately we missed the first chile cook-off, but I am thinking that I might particpate next year. So here are a few pictures and maybe next year, we will get some visitors in our new house to see the Bridge day festivities too!

I posed in front of this backdrop...doesn't it look like I am going to jump?!

A view from the bridge looking down to the New River.

Can you see where they were jumping in the middle of the bridge?

Base jumpers packing up their parachutes. It is a very careful process. We asked and they said they had hopes of jumping three times. Apparently jumping off this bridge is one of the safer ways to base jump.

My husband is all bundled up because it was freezing outside!

Lots of goodies to eat along the way to the bridge...

Did I not capture the coolest picture ever? He was jumping off with flippers! And below is some video footage of base jumpers. It was a fun, but cold day.

I'm a home owner!

All the paperwork was signed this morning! Joe and I are officially puttinng roots down in West Virginia...who knew this would be the way everything would turn out. We are so excited. And the bonus: I took the day off too! YEAH

It has been a long while since I last posted anything. We have been busy with moving in, visiting family and friends, new jobs, and now our new house! We officially close on the house on November 2nd. It has been a long process, but the date is set, the loan is approved, and all I have left to do is get home owner's insurance. That is on the list to do today!

So I took a few pictures of our place right now. We don't have a lot of furniture, so it looks plain. Plus, if you haven't noticed, it is a fixer upper! So through the coming months and years we will be updating with all the new things that we would like to do on our house. At this point we have plans to update the upstairs bathroom, redo the hallway and staircase wood floors, get rid of ceiling tiles, fix the walls in the dining room and living room, and put in a whole new kitchen and downstairs bathroom! Plus, there are lots of little things that just need to get done, because it is an old house. Officially it was built in 1896, and it is even on the historical records! So exciting for us. I cannot wait to start buying rugs, curtains, and all the extras to make it into our home.