Shimmy Shimmy CocoBop!

This post is dedicated to Larry, our favorite contractor!

Dad, you will be so pleased to see that in this picture, Jen has a handful of shims. She will be handily using them to level the new doorway she is reconstructing into the dressing room.

(She came out to the yard to have me take this picture just for you!!)

Leveled Up!

We have called Solid Waste Removal three times so far, but somehow we still keep accumulating more and more junk. Good thing the neighborhood likes us!

We are coming dangerously close to looking like a certain comedy duo of the 70's
wah wah wah wahde wah...

Day...okay let's dispense with the counting...it's just depressing

Since Dad left, the progress has been slow because it is hard to get us to do much after being at work all day! The weekends seem to give us opportunity to get some things done and this last one was no exception.

Feeling all HGTVish we started the process of picking the paint color for the bathroom. Let's just say that it is much easier and faster on TV! After a few trips to the local Sherwin Williams to get samples that looked great in the showroom, but quickly turned to a shade of old coffee or some hideous too-fleshy-foundation makeup, we settled on one. Can you guess?

We also started the process of coating the quarter round with polyurethane. You have to wait 24 hours between coats so this is not a short process! I really liked how the pictures turned out so I couldn't help sharing. Enjoy the wood that was destined for a pallet factory but was rescued by Goodwin Lumber and milled to one day be in our new bathroom! Yay!

Day 47

Right after we finished the trench, cleaned up the tools, and swept the carport, we went around back and found this little beauty! OMG!!

Yes, this is an Eastern Coral Snake. Yes, red does touch yellow. Yes, it will kill a fellow.

Yes, I almost crapped my pants.

We snapped the above picture and ran inside to check on the Internet to make sure it was indeed a Coral Snake and not one of Florida's two impostors. This photo confirms it. A Coral Snake. All of my elementary school fears came to life in one instant as I remembered being warned repeatedly by my science teachers to look out for this very snake!

I'll be staying inside for the rest of my life, thankyou.

Day 47

Okay, so while the last coat on the floors cures and we wait for the trim work to be completed, it's time to address the long narrow hole in the front yard that was created last weekend!

After nearly tearing her shoulder to shreds, Jen finally got a concrete blade to cut the curb so the pipe can empty rainwater right out onto the street just like all the other kids in the neighborhood!
Look at this girl go! She's gone mad!

I want you to know that water trickling out of a pipe never looked so good!
We cemented over the pipe and integrated it into to curb so as to look as inconspicuous as possible. Once the cement dries, it will look like it has been there forever!

Jen did an incredible job!

This is the grate where the water will drain off the carport and begin

it's journey out to the street!

Just look at this! You can hardly even tell that we dug a shovelful!

Okay, Mother Nature! Bring on the rain! We are ready!

Day 45

After a stressful realization that the last coat of polyurethane left the floors looking like this high glossed antique...

...we had Wayne come back and put on a 4th coat of a satin polyurethane which brought out the beautiful finish we were anticipating!
Just look at the beautiful grain and color range in the cherry! Wow!
Now the floors don't look like a sheet of water!
The trim is scheduled to go down tomorrow afternoon and hopefully will be the close of this chapter of the renovation. Onward and upward with the shower doors!

Day 42

The first coat of polyurethane went on this morning and with it came our first look at the color of our wood. We are so excited and can't wait to actually get IN the rooms! Right now we have to wait until all three coats are dry. Providing the weather holds out, we may be able to get in there by the end of the week.

This is the bathroom floor looking into the master bedroom.
This is looking into the dressing room.
And now, speaking of hazmat, we have figured out a way to further barricade ourselves in the house so we can hopefully stay here while the floors are being sealed. Last year, many of you will remember our little slumber party at Jen's office. This time we can get around the offending section of the house. The dogs are at the manny's and the cats think we have had a nuclear accident.

Day 41

We took a little renovating side trip today and started on a drainage ditch which will run the length of the driveway. We are having a little trouble with pooling water at the carport's edge. Dad, aren't you glad you missed this part?

Jen holds the bane of her existence...tree roots!

Day 39

The cherry floor is down!

Wayne finished putting the recovered cherry in the bathroom today and prepped for the first coat of polyurethane on Monday. He will be coating the bathroom, the master bedroom, and the new dressing room.

to be continued...

Day 37

Do you remember in the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory how Charlie's grandparents never left their bed? They did everything IN BED. Slept. Ate. Read. Knitted. All four of them.

Well, I think we are going to be living that scene from the movie for the next week. This is Jen setting up our Sleep Number bed in the downstairs den. Now usually, we watch TV, play games, work on the computer, and eat breakfast in here. Now...we also sleep in here. At least for the next few days. We had to vacate the master suite so Wayne can refinish the floors so that means either sleep away from home, or relocate the bed. Luckily, the Sleep Number bed is totally portable if you are willing to do the work. Frankly, it is worth the work to be able to sleep in your own bed!

Wayne began belt sanding the floors while we wait for the new cherry wood to acclimate. Seeing the true color of this 40 year old wood revealed is so exciting. The floors were originally covered with a wax and varnish combination which, over time, changed the color quite a bit. We are truly excited to see them refinished in a clear polyurethane, and then we can watch them age for the next 40 years!

Day 36

I had hoped to be posting beautiful pics of our bathroom floor, almost done. Disappointingly, this is the most that got done today. Everything came to a screeching halt as Wayne realized that a large majority of the wood was either cracked, split or unusable due to knots.

This is all that got placed today.

Wayne is going to wait on the new boards before he goes any farther in case he needs to merge colors since the wood will be from a different run at the mill. Very disappointing, but exciting at the same time since we are finally seeing the two floors next to each other.

This is the wood to be returned to the mill. It equals about 40 ft.
In other not so good news, the vanity slab is cracking. Not great. So we are in the process of talking to the mill about that as well. Keep your fingers crossed for better news next post.

Day 33

We had a couple of days off to prepare for Wayne starting the floors in the bathroom. It was nice to have some time sans hammering and dust in the air!

Wayne started bright and early Saturday morning, gently tearing our the original flooring and began prepping the subfloor for the new beautiful cherry. The original flooring will be used to patch the transitions from room to room.

Behold! Our first load of laundry! It was extremely difficult to resist sitting in the hallway and watching each load, but we managed to get all the laundry done on Sunday. The machines are very efficient and informative. We are still getting used to every beeper and polite ding that they provide. Frankly, I don't care if they bust out in a chorus of "Hello Dolly" just as long as they are upstairs, leak-free, and working!