Day Twenty four

Kyle joined Mom, John and me today.  Glenn had intentions of getting to "the house" around 9 am as it turned out it was 2:30 pm.  Better late than never though.   He made up for it by working until 9 pm, I think he likes working alone. 

Kyle taking out the sink drain

Small bedroom

By the end of the day a lot had been accomplished.  Mom and I worked on the bedroom floors.  I used Glenn's newest toy, an orbital  sander, between coats.  The small bedroom and the orange bedroom are finished other than reapplying the baseboards, cover plates on sockets, light switches and vents.  Joshua's bedroom needs sanded and a second coat of polyurethane.  We decided to wait on the hallway until the bathroom is finished.  When the floors were finished for the day we found other jobs.  Mom cleared all the stuff off the kitchen counters and I painted a second coat in the stairwell and wall.

John and Kyle worked on getting the living room ready for paint.  This required sanding the drywall patches, using wood putty on the window sills, and washing the walls.  Once Glenn arrived he put them on other jobs.  Kyle cleaned out the storm gutters and John cut boards for a new floor in the bathroom.  All three of them worked to take off the kitchen counters and the sink. 
It was nice to come home and have tacos prepared by Lansen and Elena.  Yummy!

No more kitchen counters

building bathroom floor

Day Twenty three

Mom and I got to "the house" around 9:30am.  Thanks to rain all day yesterday it was much cooler this morning.  This proved to be a big deal since the air conditioner wasn't working when we arrived.   I placed a call on the red phone to my HVAC man.  We tried a few things with no luck but discovered a switch needed to be repaired.  In between meetings he came to rescue the Damsels in Distress.  Wearing his business clothes he had a new switch installed in no time.   Mom made him lunch before he dashed off again.

I was back to painting and Mom was working on the floors.  The upstairs is painted except the bathroom and a closet near the bathroom.  I have to wait for the spackeling to dry and be sanded several times before I can paint those areas.  Mom put one coat of polyurethane on Kyles bedroom floor and stained Joshua's floor. 

Lansen, Elaina and Andres arrived just before we needed to leave.  Mom instructed Elaina on staining the floors so she could do the orange bedroom and part of the hallway.  Lansen played Foreman and found a job for Andres, removing the tile floor in the laundry room.  I'm not sure what Lansen did other than smile a lot since his girlfriend is in town, but I bet it was important stuff.

The barbecue  pork sandwiches were a big hit for dinner.

Day Twenty two

Lansen was a Lone Ranger today.  He worked from morning til evening.  He actually stayed at the house last night because he was to tired to drive home.  I don't think he got a lot of sleep though.  Something about his father snoring.

Lansen spent most of the day working on the walls in the upstairs bathroom.  Glenn joined him after work.  Some of his accomplishments are connecting the faucet in the downstairs bathroom, and putting in a drain in the new bathtub.  Some nights he is an electrician, on other nights a builder and others a plumber.  He's a one man "Village People".

I enjoyed a break from working on the house.  It was time to restock grocery's, so I went to Costco and Giant.  Thinking ahead I cooked barbecue pork for sandwiches tomorrow.  We are all getting sick of turkey. Yuck!   

  

Day Twenty one

I bet you are wondering if Lansen sealed me in a wall with all that drywall he has been putting up.  I actually worked the extra late shift so it has taken longer to set down and write my blog. 

Me stretching to paint the celing

Wall frame

New bathtub in place

Due to other obligations I didn't arrive until 3:30.  Lansen had already put in a full day and was still going strong.  His pride and joy was framing a new wall in the upstairs hallway.  He did a great job!  Of course there was plenty of drywall and spackeling to do as well.  When Glenn arrived they worked together and had the bathtub in place after about 10 minutes.  What a difference a day can make.  I painted the closet, window frames and door frames in the orange room.  My plan was to do a second coat after dinner but Glenn had other plans.  Oh, now wait a minute!  We had to make a Home Depot run since we were in the area.  There is no such thing as a quick trip.  Home Depot is to Glenn, as a Mall is to me, so much to see and so little time.  The second coat of paint will have to be done another day. 

Lansen relaxing in a nice bath

Day Twenty

After stain

Finished the sanding

More dry wall and Spackle

Primer in the orange bedroom

Ok, I try to be positive but is this house ever going to be finished?  I think we are all getting weary and sore to the bone.  At least we keep going back EVERY DAY. 

John finished playing "Mr. Sandman".  What a big job that was but the floors turned out great!  Mom washed some of the newly sanded floors.  She even got the small bedroom stained.  I worked in the closet and hallway of the orange bedroom painting primer.  I also filled holes in the window frames and the floor.  I should finish all the painting in the orange room tomorrow.  Lansen worked in the upstairs bathroom all day.  He put up more drywall, taped then spackled it.  I over heard Him singing "spackle spackle and more spackle that's all I do".  Glenn and Lansen attempted to put the bathtub in but it was more of a puzzle then they were ready to face tonight. 

We all went to dinner before leaving Glenn.  He will stay the night and do a little more work before collapsing in bed.

Day Nineteen

Time for a little background before telling how the day started.  We have a very nice barely used sofa to donate to the boys new house.  There is a problem though, when we moved from New Mexico the feet got lost.  I have done extensive searching at home and on the internet for new feet but have come up empty handed.  So today as it is poring rain and we are on the way to "the house", I spot a sofa setting out for trash pick up tomorrow.  I quickly pull over and with Mom and John's help we remove the feet off the sofa. Problem is solved.  Yea!!!!!  I still need to try them but I am an optimistic person.

Lansen in the Harry Potter closet

Me and Lansen in the Harry Potter closet

Glenn is already working when we arrive and Lansen pulls in soon after us.  John had so much fun with the floor sander yesterday that he runs upstairs and makes a claim on that job.  I was going to paint trim in the orange bedroom but decided the window frames  needed sanding and some wood filler first.  Mom and I move downstairs, where it is less dusty, in search of jobs.  We decided to pull up the very green and very dirty carpet out of the Harry Potter closet under the stairs.  Just like we suspected there is a beautiful wood floor under layers of dirt and carpet.  The worst part of the job was removing all the staples and tacks.  Both of us ended up with blisters. Ouch!

Glenn hanging the plastic liner

 Lansen and Glenn work on the upstairs bathroom.  They finish the insulation and drywall first.  The next step is putting up a heavy plastic barrier, this goes under where the tub will go and behind the fiberglass wall.  We all take turns sweeping and using the shop vac to collect the fine stuff the sander leaves behind.  I did discover why men enjoy their power tools.  Glenn gave me an electric sander to use on the window frames and boy did it make my job easier, faster and better.  I say "bring on those power tools boys". 

See all the dust?

Me hoping no one will catch me taking 5!

We all left very tired from our full day at "the house".  The upstairs is really taking shape and doesn't resemble the before pictures any more.  This of course is a very good thing.