The Finished Product

It seems that I neglected to put any finished pictures on my blog, sad! I'm working on the basement currently and I hope to get a front lawn in May. I'll keep y'all updated.

Where Should I Put that Darn Microwave.

I have regretted not designing the kitchen to have a place for the microwave ever since the day I moved in. I was going over different projects that I had conceptualized around the house with my bro and we both looked at the microwave sitting on the counter top in the kitchen. With disgust, I started making nasty faces at the microwave. Then I looked at an empty wall, looked at the other side of the wall and then a moment of serendipity came to my 180 IQ brain. My stairs going to the basement have a lot of head room above the intermediate landing. I could squeeze a microwave right there! The next night when I went to bed my wife said "I didn't think you would have the project done is less than 24 hours after you thought of it." I responded, "that's how I roll, baby."

The Fence

So a couple months ago, an evil neighbor came over and started to spew evil language at my sister in law for the two cats that she owns. I guess the cats make their kids sick because the cats are always hanging out at their house and forcing the kids to play with them. I was on the evil neighbor's side initially, but I got pulled into the "my cats are perfect and the neighbor is an idiot" side because of the people I live with. So, we decided to bump up the schedule of building our fence to contain the furry speed bumps.

So did we build a normal fence? Not a chance in the world! We knew up front the the old neighbors next door probably wouldn't split any of the cost, and they didn't. That's why I put the entire fence in our property by a 1/2 inch. We went with a beige fence with a concrete mow strip underneath it. The mow strip took a little while to do, but it was well worth it. That fence will be the last thing standing in a natural, or unnatural disaster. I hope the kittys are happy!

Ok, I Get the Point

It's like every other day, someone is like "so why don't you update your blog?" I had no idea it was so popular since nobody, except skivy, posts comments. I thought since my house and my lifelong goal was complete, I could just drop off the map and live like a hermit. I have been agitated back in the game.

So I have a secret room in the house, about 8 feet wide by 10 feet deep. It is encapsulated with concrete and doesn't fit in the "footprint" of the house. I have been making it into a storage room. I acid washed the floor, grinded and patched the walls, and painted the ceiling to make it less dungeon-like. I stunk up the house with caustic chemicals and silica dust for two weeks, but it was worth it. I have tons of space to put my boxes and weaponry. One box was affectionately named "holiday crap" by myself. I'll save my holiday decoration frustrations for another day.

Done...? Yes

As you might can tell, I have been way too busy to even post to my own blog! Here's the DL: Carpet is in, finish fixtures are done, cabinets installed, most of the countertops have been laid, concrete is finished, exterior is 99% finished and I'm lovin it. The carpet is so cushy and the air conditioner works beautiful. The hot water is almost instanteanous and lighting is spectacular. When you drive past our house at night, it is one that catches your eye because of the accent lighting in the soffit. I'm having a party this saturday and all you have to bring is your back (moving party). I can only promise pizza, soda and a hug as payment. I'll have my real party probably in two weeks cause it will coinside with my B-day. So naturaly we will have a Park-a-palooza. See ya there.

Hardwood Floors

We arn't quite done with the tile, but we have moved on to the wood floor. It took a couple days to lay down 400 sq ft of hardwood. The hardwood is maple with a cherry looking stain that was glazed with black stain. It looks awesome! As you can tell in the pictures, the girls almost have all the walls glazed. The bottom picture shows the different stains that we tried. The sample wall will be behind cabinets, so don't worry that the kitchen wall is going to look nasty.

We had to extend our loan by 45 days so that we could wrap up the loose ends. We need to finish by May 1st, so I'll try to do a decent job on our quest to the deadline. I need to finish this house before my body and maybe my will power gives out.

Tile Work

The first pic is kind of difficult to see. I am in the process of laying the hardibacker for the tile on the floor, but the tile on the shower walls is done. It is a beautiful travertine stone with a 3D accent at the 6 ft high level. The tile goes all the way to the ceiling. It is very nice. The next pic is Heth & Chad laying some tile in the mudroom. Every room that is tiled (3 Bathrooms, Laundry, and Mudroom -600 sq ft worth) has a different pattern on the floor to add variety.