Rain

John and I knew when we started this house project that the house was in desperate need of a new roof.  But, we looked things over and knew that while it was needed soon, it was not something that we had to have before moving in. 

Last night, a huge summer thunderstorm came our way, and while we needed the rain after having several days of 110+ heat index, a little rain this was not.

In short, it "fell a flood" as us southerners like say.  "Rained Cats and Dogs." "Coming down in Buckets."  ya know...it RAINED. 

There's nothing like a bit of rain to show you how badly you need a new roof.  That dreaded drip...drip...drip... is enough to make you crazy.  So last night, we were each going through the rooms listening for that horrible sound.  Luckily we only found 2 leaks! And neither was bad.  In fact, I hesitated to call one of them a leak because it was closer to one drop. 


We also realized what "Living in a flood plain" means.  The lot next to ours (not ours) is a flood plain, but the creek behind our house, which is usually a small trickle of a stream, rose last night over 3 feet and was level with the bank. 

Now I've seen creeks rise before.  But this was a little crazy.  It reminded me of Crabtree Creek after a hurricane.  The good thing about all this was that last weekend, during one of the hottest days we've seen this year, I was out in our backyard pulling Kudzu vine and cutting away brush off the creek.  I had to be sure to take frequent breaks and drink plenty of fluids but it was well worth it.  I was only out there for 2 hours (from 1-3pm no less) but now, not only can we see the creek bed rising, but it washed away a lot of debris from years of neglect of previous tenants.

We also built a console for the TV which turned out awesome.  We did this on Sunday night sometime around 7pm and were much more comfortable, despite the persistent mosquitoes.   I'll post pictures as soon as we get it painted. 



Mental Notes: Check our Insurance Company for Flood coverage, and save for a new roof asap!

In the House

Ok so the last post was about the floors.  A LOT of things have happened since then.  Dana and I are in the house have been for over a month now, we finally got internet so that I can do business from the house, we are still working on a lot of things but we are loving the house.

Recently, Dana has placed a "House-To-Do List so that we can have a party" sheet on the fridge so that I, who is very motivated with being able to mark stuff off a list, can keep plowing forward to get the house in decent shape.

Here is the list of things that we have done since the last post:

• installed kitchen cabinets
• installed kitchen appliances
• installed granite tile counter top
• installed kitchen and dinning room lights fixtures
• installed master bedroom drawers for my closet
• installed the clothes hanging bar for Dana's closet.
• installed shower tile and shower fixtures
• installed bathroom floor tile
• installed bathroom toliet and vanity
• installed bathroom vanity light and exhaust fan
• installed fans in the living room and both bedrooms
• installed all remaining electrical fixtures and plumbing fixtures
• installed front and back porch light fixtures
• finished the back deck and steps
• had a buddy of mine reglaze the tub, which he did a fantastic job

Here is a list of things we have to do in order to have a party:

• finish cleaning the construction debris out from the side and back of the house
• install trim, including baseboard, crown and casing
• install the kitchen cabinets' kick plates
• install a french drain in front and sides of the house to take care of the flooding in our basement
• completely remove existing roof and install new roof sheating and shingles
• install trim around the windows and exterior of the house
• fix a few plumbing leaks
• install a cover for plumbing access panel
• MOW MY DANG GRASS!

Looking forward to having everyone over for a cookout here real soon.  First to thank those who did physical work at our house.  Second to thank those who by asking, thinking, joking and supporting us along the way with words of encouragement.  Finally so that we can have a party at our own dang house!

Keep a look out for the evite coming in the next month or so for the party at Enzor Parnell House.

New Floors!

It all began looking like this:

Notice the lack of flooring, and if you look closely, you can see an area in the hall that had been patched.

Does anyone remember those old floor registers?  The big square ones that came straight up from the furnace in the basement?

The hallway patch is where one of those were.

In these 1950's homes, this patch job is quite common.  So common in fact that several of our friends in the area have this same patch in their homes - covered by a rug.

Although we did receive the rug suggestion, our thoughts were to finish it as if it were never there to begin with.

So up came the patch, down went the subfloor, and out came the saw.

Meticulously, carefully, and very very strategically, the old boards were cut and pulled up.

Now add a little bit of these beauties.

And this is what you get. 

And if you have awesome, spectacular friends, you get this.


Big Blue is the floor nailer Melanie's holding.  He's loud. 


But Melanie is tough. 











I love Melanie's wonderful flooring skills.  She is a beast when it comes to floors.  Don't let that sweet voice fool you.

She kicks serious flooring butt.

Just sayin'.  I told ya so.


Paul's great too - just in case you thought I was leaving him out.  He'll take your ideas and claim them as his own, but he works hard. ..... just kiddin Paul. 

but seriously this man has been John's right hand man on this house.

He's out helping John right now with the deck as we speak.  And even brought John lunch.

That's brotherly love there.  Food.

After all that, this is the beautiful Kitchen floor you get.  It's not stained yet which is even more amazing.

Although the lighting is poor (working at night will do that, especially if you have no flash on your camera phone), you can see the phenomenal job Paul and Melanie did on placing the floors. 

The coloring is perfect to blend into the existing hardwoods, which has all to do with the pieces you choose.

 
These are the existing floorboards here.  Between these two pictures you can see how the previous floors have the different grains mixed in occasionally.

This picture is of the unfinished Living Room area.



Then you add a little stain...

And get this!

Look at the awesome job here.

No other word to describe this.

Awesome.

I could stare at this picture for days.










 This is the Living Room again, after stain.

And after adding a coat of polyurethane, this is the same shot.

The point where the two floors meet is along this wall.

Can you see a difference?

I can't. 

And I put them in.

And stained them. Myself.  By hand. 

Sorry for the boasting.  I'm just very proud of myself right now.  My hard work is paying off through the overly joyous feeling I get looking at this picture.



A HUGE Thank You goes out to Emily, Josh, and Traci, who also took a Thursday night and did miraculous things to my house.  These three are my personal heroes right now.  They came over and unknowingly subjected themselves to vacuuming, wiping, and tacking my floors on hands and knees to get up accumulated dust from painting, working, and days of general house repairs.  Without them I'm sure I would still be wiping up dust, sleep deprived, and emotionally drained.  You guys are wonderful!

Sheetrock!

We passed the rough-in inspection!  What that means for all those who don't speak contractor-ese is that the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC looks good and in working order.

That also means ...SHEETROCK TIME!

Jenn and Nate, and John's father, Benny, came over to help us sheetrock.

This is what the house looked like before:

 

We worked hard, took a lunch break:

 

And Look at all we got done!

It's starting to look like a shower and bathroom!

And finally we have a dining area and laundry closet!

Thanks Jenn, Nate, and Benny for all your hardwork!  It's nice to finally have walls again.

John and I consistently joke that after we tore this place apart it no longer looked like a house.  But now, it's starting to look like a house, again! 

Updates

Hi, That's me.  Standing in our living room, and the picture is taken from the front bedroom. (Sorry about the lighting...photo taken with the phone)

And in between?  Oh that.  That's our/John's built-in closet.  And by John's I mean he will have his own closet and I will have mine.

:)

Happiness people. is in the closets.

At least for some people. (me included)


If you can imagine those boards on the bottom being covered, having drawers, a nice shelving system and some short hang space in there that will be the total package when all is said and done.
It will have wooden shelving and drawers, which will also help the area look more tidy even when it's not.   And considering that most of John's hang-up clothes are shirts or slacks over the hanger, he has no long hang items.  This size fits great for a man's closet. 

In case you're thinking "I bet Dana's closet is HUGE compared to that", my closet in this same room is not as wide, but goes to the floor.  Which is perfect for the long hang items (dresses mainly) and still enough room to stack a few boxes of shoes. 

And not that closets and bathroom windows go together...but here is our bathroom window.

This one window, caused many a night of frustration.

You may be able to tell that this window was originally a full sized window.  In a bathroom -over a tub/shower - this is a problem.  And you can imagine why.  I won't go into details. 

Couple this with an idea of an option for a vented window here, and simply choosing this particular window became a daunting task.

Finally we decided on this window, this size, without the vents and I personally couldn't be happier.  We built up the wall so that the smaller sized window would fit and be the correct height.  The effect on the window allows light to come in and brighten the bathroom, but still has privacy for anyone in the shower.  The venting option was a safety issue for me, mainly because I'm a klutz and I could see myself hitting my head on the vent.  John wasn't as concerned for himself.  What can I say, he's a little more agile and coordinated than his wife.


We also had a few rough-in inspections today. 

But I'll leave that off until I get a few pictures...     : )

Dinner on a Deck ....

At some point in time.

So the deck building started on MLK Jr bday (Jan 18th) and is still in progress. Thanks to my father-in-law Benny Enzor and his wonderful carpentry skills and helping John with the design and building.

Here is what the back of our house looked like before


You can see how far the deck comes out from the house here and see the existing concrete stoop they had before underneath.

Obviously, it's a massive improvement! Massive in the sense of this-deck-is-big! I'm imagining all the parties and get-togethers we will have, the music in the background and the chatter of happy people filling our home.


I can envision many an afternoon eating outside here and seeing this sunset over Raleigh. Peaceful little creek running behind the house, a little city garden blooming with fresh veggies, my little house, and a little bit of time with my hubby.


I'm loving my "little"s.

Running Water

Do you see what I see? This is what a new main sewage line looks like:

As unattractive as plumbing sounds, this white piping is absolutely gorgeous to me. Seriously I have never been so excited about plumbing and sewage before. Yeah, you're probably laughing at me right now...but that's okay...I'm fine with that.



Here's the little I knew about plumbing before this house: sewage stinks, crap* flows downhill, and ... what was that third thing?....oh yeah, grab your husband if you drop your phone in the toilet.


I'm learning a lot.



You may have noticed in a few of our previous photos that there are plumbing pipes in the walls. That's because some of the main lines we can use. Fortunately, we don't have to replace every single piece of plumbing. Don't get me wrong, there's still a lot to replace, just not every piece.

But soon we will have plumbing throughout our house. And that day will be another gorgeous, beautiful, yet smelly day!