House Progress Mo' 'gain

I have hung more drywall than I care to think about. I haven't taken pictures of the drywall as it's not so exciting to look at, but imagine that all the before pictures with the bottom two feet of the walls missing now have the drywall there. We are almost completely done hanging the drywall.

I was fortunate enough to be put in touch with a plumber who is willing to help me out on his own time. He works professionally for a company that would charge me over double what he is willing to do the work for. I feel really good about him and have a co-worker to thank for the reference. That being said, he finished all the broken/frozen pipes on Saturday and we're planning on having him back to run a drain for a washer/dryer I am putting upstairs in a couple weeks.

We decided to knock out part of a wall and put a bar-height counter top in for dining space in the basement kitchen. Below are some photos of the progress there. I'll talk a little about each picture too.

So we had to notch the counter top in order to get it in place. This was the creative solution for keeping it a solid counter. We'll be covering it, most likely with tile.

The View of the counter from when you walk in the basement.

The View from the fireplace.

I wanted to test it for strength... and I was tired.

Cameron sad that the only place to lay down in the joint was taken.

Oh yeah... so I have a great website to tell you all about in case you've never discovered dealnews.com. Dealnews is a website that will daily give a list of deals that their deal crawlers have come across. Some deals are better than others which is why these next few pictures were taken. I had purchased a rinky dink tile saw at the low end of the quality spectrum as far as tile saws are concerned. I knew I would be needing a tile saw to put in the tile floors that I intend to lay. A couple weeks later, I saw a deal on dealnews that gave me a mid-grade saw for the same price as the rinky dink saw I had purchased. Long story short, I didn't need to assemble the tile saw as soon as it had come, but I couldn't help myself. This is me taking a break from constructive construction to do some less-constructive construction :)

This be the latest on the house and its goings on. Happy Father's Day E'body :)

House Progress

I closed on my house on Thursday June 2nd. The closing was "the fastest I have ever participated in." I guess that was to make up for all the craziness along the way? In either case, I officially became a home owner at 9:42 A.M. as it somehow was recorded with the city the moment I was done signing my small stack of papers. Side note: Don't ever ask me about what it was like to buy a house... my experience was the exact opposite of typical.

So I thought I'd post a few pictures of some of the changes thus far. The changes will come slowly but surely as I'm doing the repairs with the help of Cameron for now. I am having some professional Carpet installers put down the carpet for me.

The first significant change is the door knobs/ dead bolts. You'll notice there is a key for them on my keychain. This means I no longer have to use a realtor's key box or break in through the back door to gain access! Woot!

The next change is a gaping hole where the wood-burning stove used to be in the basement. This is the change that I am probably the proudest of, given the circumstances. Myself and my lovely yet scrawny brother Cameron muscled the 500-some odd pound beast from its place. This was in the basement and it is now on the car port. We are awesome!

We then cut a couple holes in the wall where doors are going to be. One doorway leads from the bathroom to the adjacent bedroom. The studs are still there for the moment, but will be removed shortly. The other hole is going to be an access door to the utility closet under the stairs.

I anticipate beginning drywall in the next couple of days or so. I went and estimated the amount I would need and will be picking that up tomorrow most likely. Projects projects projects :)

So Long Nielsens

Amanda and I made great friends with Eric and Jessica Nielsen in Hawaii. We just so happened to be in proximity of each other here in Utah as they came to live with Jessica's mom to help her acclimate to Utah (she moved from Hawaii). As close as we lived, they were always gracious in helping me with Ansley care, and on short notice some times.

Eric is returning to school to get a Master's degree, and so we bid them a fond farewell and wish all the best in the upcoming craziness that is certainly set to ensue.

(I am kneeling on the couch for this photo, so no the Nielsens and my lamp aren't freakishly tall.)