The Bedroom door is in

Today I built a wall and put the bedroom door in. Now all I have to do is build out the walls ceiling and drywall them.

This reminds me so much of my wife.

Click here and watch this little movie.

She is so beautiful

How to cut a hole in the wall

It is in, we are through the other side.

Remember when you were a kid

My wife has to work today and yesterday it took me a lot longer than expected to get a light hung in the studio, so I never was able to knock a hole in the wall. Well today with my bride working away I decided to draw a bit on the walls. Now I know taking a marker and drawing on the walls isn't something you are suppose to do but I wanted you to see which way things are in relation to the dining room. Plus all you kids out there while Mom & Dad are away let your creative juices flow and draw a bit on the walls. Perhaps copy what I did, or make a sign that points to your bedroom, because when you are finished you will be spending a bit of time there I imagine. :)

One of those before and after shots

Fix this old house

Just for fun. It's a movie, click on the little arrow below the foot to play.

A hole in the wall

Today I want to put a new door way into a wall. Here is the front and back views of the wall before the hole.

Redneck Bathtub Removal...Day or Night 3 days a week.

This morning I had to remove the old bathtub. The thing is about 200lbs so I didn't want to drag it through the house, messing everything up. So I dropped her in the basement, which has outside stairs going to it. The basement is also our redneck dumpster service as you can see. Don't ask me how the bathtub made it all the way over there, it just sort of bounced just missing the water heater. So for all of you needing your cast iron bathtub removed don't hesitate to call. I might show up and then again I might not. I know you will be happy with the service and if ya ain't it's yer fault! You might have a plumber, an electrician and maybe the fire department at the job site just in case you mess up.

Birthday Tear Out

So today I have taken out a few walls and opened up the space that is going to be the bedroom. I still need to take the cast iron tub and closet on the side out.

bye bye old bathroom

Friday night, something so cool happened. We showered in our new bathroom. We also used our new sink and our new toilet. The toilet is the best part as all we have to do is push the lever and everything goes away. Before with the old one we would run the kitchen sink, a little bit of the tub, hold the lever down for about 20 seconds, jiggle it and then come back a few minutes later to make sure the thing stopped running. The new toilet is done in less then three seconds. Now what will we do with all this new found time. :) Pictures of the new bath will follow shortly once I finish the built in wall cabinets. My wife found the perfect shower curtain, towels and rug for the bath. She just puts things together so well. On top of all this excitement we started the demo of the old bath, hall and closet. That little hall closet was the only closet in the whole house. Right now the back porch, the future second bedroom is a walk in closet for us. Tearing off old plaster is kind of fun. Everything is being torn out, the walls, closet and such. The space will then be big enough for a master bedroom. Before my wife gets home today I would like it to be all the way torn out so off I go. It's my birthday too! I am building us a bedroom for my birthday, which is really kind of cool.

A sink and toilet

Grouted up the tile yesterday and put toilet & sink in this morning. How about them apples!

Flooring too!

We just put the floor down. So nice.

some paint on the walls

Things are progressing nicely in the bath. We put some paint on the walls this morning. I can't wait to install the fixtures.

Tile has begun

Today the tile has begun in the bath. Hopefully it will go fast.

Franklin TN

Last night we returned from a visit to Franklin, TN. Pictured here is my wife and her awesome children, granddaughter, Boo Boo and me. It was a nice break in our Summer Vacation in Missouri to get to see everyone.

Bathroom Faucet found

The other day we found the perfect bathroom faucet. Because the sink we have is an 8" faucet base, the faucets were over $100. So we came across this one well under that price and it will go with the cottage look we are doing. At least that is the hope. As the bathroom progresses we will find out.

Here is our Bedroom or is it our Living room?

While the bathroom and bedroom is being built we have been using the living room as our bedroom. It is a little strange to sit with friends in our living room, but so far no one has complained to much. My wife is such an awesome cook that when people come over they couldn't complain anyways because they have full mouths, enjoying her wonderful food.

To help pay for the remodel.....

I have found these ducks that work for bread crust. They are helping us pay for the work on the house. Here they are in action. Shhhhh, don't tell nobody!

Bathroom colors

Today we found the flooring, tile and paint color for the bathroom. It is a bummer that I cannot get the color right in the photograph but it is white, sorta light green and brown. Also this past weekend my bride was huggin Boo Boo so I just had to share this photograph.

In the last few days the bathroom has grown. First the plumbing, electrical, drywall and the door was put in. On the door you can see the old bedroom door that use to be there. It will be a nice improvement. This is a door that came out of Barry and Renee's old farm house. It matches the style of the house perfectly. If it was 100 years ago can you imagine someone taking a door in a Wisconsin Farm house and trucking it down to Missouri? Wild times we live in. Anyway's I can't believe how fast the bathroom is being put together. Boo Boo was barking at me last night as I hung the door. If it wasn't for him barking I would have totally messed up the install. He is my supervisor. I don't know how he knows construction. I think there is an angel that squeezes him and makes him bark as I am about to mess something up. I know there are messenger and warrior angels but construction angels?

Christmas Tree in MIssouri

Merry Christmas everyone. We were given a tree last Fall to put out on the front porch. We brought it in to use as our Christmas tree and now it is flowering.:)

Also the past couple of days the bathroom has been started. I just finished appling the glue to the drain waste system (so I am high than a kite from the fumes) I hope to have the project done on New Years. I don't know if I can build a bathroom that quick but we will find out. The blue wall behind the studs will be torn out and become part of the bedroom. It could be a second bedorrm for really tall skinny people. lol

Shelving in the kitchen

This past weekend we put shelves up in the kitchen. The wall is plaster over cement so a regular drill and bit didn't cut the mustard. So I got to buy a hammer drill. Just saying the words "Hammer Drill" you can hear guys grunting like Tim Allen on Tool Time. I mean the thing has power...ohhhh arrggg ohhhh. It's a 1/2 inch, Two Speed gear train, Reversible, Double Insulated, mode selecting, lock on feature with the auxiliary handle assembly. A guy can take this drill and place eight 3/16" holes 1 7/8" deep in solid concrete to attach shelving in a matter of minutes. Thus allowing your wife to organize a varitey of jars filled with what not to some how cook these amazing meals to which all that grunting energy is properly restored in the guy. ohhh arrggg ohhhh!

Bathroom Begins

A wall will be built on the blue line (photo below) making the bath 5" x 8" and by knocking down a wall we will have 11' x 11' for a bedroom, which will be great for a few reasons. One we are use to a bed room the is 11" x 8" and two we have one closet in the whole house which is 2' wide 3' deep and 10' high with no way to reach the upper shelves. When we get done we hope to have an 11' long closet in the bedroom.

Yesterday we started the bathroom. You can see the general layout from the photo as well as what the bathroom looked like before we started.

Our Summer Vacation Continues into Fall

We have been doing some work outside the last few weeks. You know how a person should photograph all the progress? Well I haven't done so good on the outside. When we first picked up trash in the yard it filled a 55 Gallon trash can, so you can imagine what it must have been like. In this shot you can see the old mouldings have become a compost bin and we have dug up a few places to garden. We put blueberries, rasberries and strawberries in one row. We put around 80 tulips bulbs for the spring in another row. There was a large weed that looked like a tree, which now is our fire pit as I burn out the stump.

The Refrigerator is in!

So this weekend we purchased a refrigerator that fits the spot I built for it and put the old one out on the front porch so we can look like a real redneck. We are still waiting for the recliner with duct tape . lol. We also were able to purchase the rest of the flooring but I need to finish off the front room before I can install it. Last week I also spent time in the attic tearing out a room that never should have been built up there. I then insulated it as it was only R-11 up there making it real hot in the house during the summer. I can only imagine how cold it would have been this winter or the gas bill. After the front room is finished we are going to move the bedroom there for a time while a bathroom from scratch is built in the old bedroom. Then the old bathroom will be turned into a new bedroom. After that we have a back porch to turn into a 2nd bedroom and new coat of paint on the outside and our Summer Vacation in Missouri will be over.

How my wife saves seeds

I just have to show off my wife and her handy work. She is saving seeds for next year. She put them in a envelope and just so you know what the seeds are she marked it clearly. What a cool woman.

Boo Boo turns 2 & gets a haircut

This past weekend Boo Boo turned two and he got a haircut on the kitchen table. It is the second time I have done the home haircut thing on him. The difference between a good & bad haircut is a few weeks.

The Haircut finished

Here the house finally has the hair cut finished. 3 trees were taken all the way down to the ground and one tree remaining was trimmed up. Next the chainlink fence will be taken down and only be in the backyard. It will make it look less like a prision yard. The trees next door also were trimmed back a bit.

The Trees are getting a haircut.

This past weekend we worked out in the yard and gave the tress a hair cut. We have some work still left to do this coming weekend but the house is now visable adding a little more curb appeal.
Before & During

Flowers my wife planted

Today I found that I could post the weather on the blog, which is a little too late for everyone to see the heat index of summer around here. My wife planted these sunflowers from seed in our garden. She makes everything so nice in the house.

Entry room started

This weekend we have started the entry room. We were going to make a small second bedroom here but it would be 7' x 12' and when I drew the framing marks on the floor my wife showed me how it would be difficult for anyone of size to even come into the house. I thought we could sell the home only to skinny people but no such luck. Now it will be another living room or something like that. Here are the before pictures.

One of those Before & After pictures

Here is a before and after shot, from when we first started until today. Still more to do but it is a far cry from where it was.

New Floor

New Floors this weekend! We found a deal on flooring and put it in. The living room is coming along. We have resurfaced the plaster walls, dropped in a new sub floor, painted, redid the windows and put in a working ceiling fan. Other stuff as well but I don't remember it all. Those pictures will follow shortly.