Week 5: All the Guts & Glory

WEEK 5: All the Guts & Glory

So this week started and I have to admit that I wasn't too thrilled for the work's line up. However today I learned it is the little things in the life that give the best surprises! Week 5 was all about the roofing, plumbing, electrical & mechanics. Not fun stuff but oh the most important. You have got to get all the guts working right and most efficient so your house can stand the test of time.

Exterior: Thankfully the exterior of the house and the yard was in fairly decent shape. The landscaping was kept up and the windows were new. And even better the roof was in good shape too, a few pop ups that needed some fixing but all in all it was good. We knew from our inspection that the attic needed some new vents and some more insulation because it was hotter than hell up there. My brother Eric and cousin Jon Michael with Joseph S. Bowling came in and did their magic. 2 new ridges were installed to allow more are ventilation, new flashing on the chimney, freshly panted pipes were just a few things they did for us. Once we get through the guts and drywall they will come back in and add some more insulation to get the attic running right. They also removed the existing sunlight that was in the kitchen. At first we really liked the sunlight and wanted it to stay, it was obviously put in there to get more natural light in but once we took down all the walls the sun floods in through the windows from the knotty pine and dining rooms.

I did get to do a little shopping, I picked out an outdoor table! We were in great need of a place to sit and have a cold one after a long day of work. I still need to find some chairs to go with it so I am hoping to score something colorful or fun from the peddler's mall or attic store.

Electrical: For the most part we didn't have very much to do in this department. All of the bedrooms, knotty pine and living rooms have ceiling fans which we are going to keep as is for now. We will buy new ones to replace as we go. We did have to add some new recessed lighting in the entry, hall, master closet and kitchen. Our electrician, Bernie, came in this week to start this process along with changing out majority of the outlets because they were all just a 2-prong. Currently we only have one outlet that is a 3-prong on the first floor. The other important part of this is now they are all going to be the same finish color so when I come back in to install the new switch plates they will match. Of course all of the kitchen is being rewired since we moved the locations of the stove, microwave, fridge, dishwasher and sink. I didn't realize how exciting it would be to have new lights but when I walked through on Saturday I was overjoyed to see it all!

 Before: Front door entry

 After: Front door entry with new recessed lights

 After: Hallway with new lights

It hurts for me to have to write this and makes me sad to think about but my beloved medallion had to be removed :( Due to the new layout of the kitchen we have to move the light over a little bit to accommodate the island. My hope was to be able to remove it from the ceiling and simply put it back up after we moved the light but when the foreman did some digging we found that is was made of plaster. Surprise, surprise. Not only was it made of plaster it was literally molded to the ceiling which I know for fact took pure craftsmanship, of course I knew from the beginning it was something special. Foreman did find out that you can buy all kinds of these in all sizes and design for pretty inexpensive which I figured but those just wont have the original charm it had. So right now I am not sure what lighting I am going to replace here. I do have the front door entry light that is pretty awesome too I am planning to refinish so we will see what comes of this.

Plumbing: Now this was a major job and I am so proud of my hubby who worked side by side with our plumber Jeff this weekend. This part of it I can honestly say is a little over my head so I know that I am not going to even be able to explain it in a way to give these two guys any justice but here it goes. The pipes in the house were pretty dated and to say they were clogged would be putting it nicely. The kitchen lines and bathrooms lines were removed and new ones put in. The pipe from the furnace line was changed, the upstairs washer/dryer and new layout on the basement bathroom had to be redone as well. Jeff and Matt started by cutting out the concrete in the basement to reroute the pipes and dig the new drain hole. From there they started to put in the new piping and cranked out majority of the work. These guys were awesome and I cant say thank you enough for all of the hard work they have done so far!

 Before: Basement plumbing drilling

 During: Basement plumbing

 

This week we will have majority of the electrical and plumbing wrapped up so more pictures to follow of all the hard work being done.

 

Next on the to-do list will be putting in the drywall. Once this can get started it is really going to start looking like a home that has walls. Matt and I are very excited for this to happen because we will finally get to see what we have been visualizing come to real form. Of course once we have walls we can move on with putting back all of the door frames and moldings we had to take down and then we can start the painting!