Much to my surprise, the pool digging began today! That's right!
They showed up and digging commenced!

They removed a large portion of vegetation first, then began to level out the yard.

Then it started to get serious when the spray paint came out! Now it is easier to imagine the pool!

Drum roll please......the first shovelful! The guy running this piece of machinery was an artist! He was taking loads of dirt and gently dumping them right underneath our floor-to-ceiling windows! He was very talented and very conscientious of our house and yard! Eek!
The day ended with a very big hole, a little gravel and one very excited Boxer! Look closely for who was taking the first unofficial plunge in the pool!

I had hoped to post pics of the first shovel of dirt scooped out for the new pool, but as it happens, I don't have any.

Yesterday morning we met with the people who were going to start later in the day to map out the position, which plants were going to be sacrificed, blah blah blah...

I even worked remotely from home so I could be available for questions should they arise.
At the dark hour of 7pm, I gave in to the idea that they weren't coming. So, Day 1 of pool construction has yielded us officially one day behind schedule.

I think I understand why everybody keeps warning us that we will hate our pool company before its all over. Stay tuned.

Drum roll please......

We have officially finished ONE room in the renovation!

It's the room formerly know as the laundry room/litter box room!

Introducing the room to be henceforth forever known as

Kitty Shangri-La-De-Da!

After moving the laundry upstairs, the idea of the cats having their own space, far away from our noses was just a bit exciting and enticing! We gave the old space a fresh coat of paint,(which matches the kitchen and den), new easy to clean carpet squares from FLOR, little mini beanbags from Corda-Roy's and an upscale espresso and sisal cat tree!

I know it sounds minuscule, but this is progress people!

I know it has been a bit since I posted any progress on our renovations, but to be honest it is going rather slowly and the progress made is kind of boring, so that being said here is a recap of what happened last week!

Earlier this week, we had some trees trimmed and removed in preparation for the start of the pool in December. Only one tree was in the direct path of the pool construction, but we thought we'd take the opportunity to clean up a few others that were either in peril or of the invasive type. The guys that worked on the trees were great and the actual guy cutting was nothing short of an artist! Very respectful of our existing landscape!

This is the result of four trees and some unhealthy limbs leaving our canopy.

This is the remainder of the Magnolia that will go down in history as having sacrificed itself for our pool! (Don't feel too bad, it had a fungus!)

Today was spent working on the dressing room. We finished sanding and texturizing the new wall areas and doorway. Dad I hope you know that we talked about you a lot today while we executed our very best "feather-edge"!

Of course, after all the spreading of joint compound and messy sanding, it was time to see the color hit the walls! It took a lot of test batches, namely 7, to finally decide on a color, but we finally did. To top it off, we chose paint that has no VOC's so we will be free of a toxic headache tomorrow!

Stay tuned! I'll try to post as quickly as something happens!

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!