One Year Anniversary at "Project New House"

Happy Anniversary!

 

It's been one year since we closed on "Project New House". We have been tested and tried in the last year, more than we ever thought we could handle. We learned how to transition a home from boiler heat to forced air furnace, we dealt with zero temps while rehabbing and bringing the house up to code, we scraped a dead, melted racoon off the floor, we sold another house, while moving into the project house, we laughed, we cried, and we spent a ton of money.

 

New forced air furnace with AC, privacy fence, seven giant pine trees removed, cement work, cement removal, yard leveling, landscaping, garage doors, windows, chimney liner, carpeting, vinyl flooring, basement demolition, ceramic tile installation, new doors, new hardware, ceiling fans, new appliances, dishwasher and garbage disposal, bathroom vanities, all new lighting, plumbing nightmares, electrical, drywall and plaster work. Lawnmowers, snowblowers, and shovels.

 

What a year, and I wouldn't want to go through this crap with anyone other than my Schmoopsie.

 

Not to worry Honey Bear, there's lot's more crap to deal with in the next year...

 

at "Project New House".

Working on the New Front Entryway

 

We really wanted to keep the floor, in the front door entryway.

 

But the blackened grout and the condition of the tiles made our decision for us.

 

Terry removed the molding, and started to chip away at the tiles.

It turns out that the tiles weren't even glued down. The only thing holding them in place was the grout. Very strange to me, but the floor was sitting solid on a cement base.

 

There they are, $200 dollars of specialty slate. Love, love, love.

 

(I did the back door entry floor for free, so I went while hog on this floor).

 

Nice cement slab, ready for tile.

Layed out the sheets of slate, and it was a perfect fit, didn't even have to do any cutting.

 

Glue them down...

 

Almost done.

 

Ready for grout.

 

Terry always steals the grouting job away from me...

 

and I'm secretly glad (I hate this part).

 

There it is. The colors and textures are just beautiful, and fit in perfectly with the scheme of the house. It really looks like something that would have been here from the start.

 

Now, this teeny tiny entry needs a new light fixture, paint the walls, all new moldings, and it has three doors...

 

Funny, how this teeny tiny space is going to end up costing a couple thousand dollars to finish.

 

The front door, and storm, the coat closet door needs attention, and the inner entry door...

 

All will be replaced.

 

Just gotta wait for it to warm up a bit before we work on the doors.

 

Can't wait.

IKEA Adventure

 

Guess what this is...

 

It's a warehouse full of junky crap.

 

Congratulations, if you guessed that it is IKEA.

 

Having never been there, and curious, Terry and I made a spontaneous decision to make the hour drive to this much ballyhooed destination.

 

Okay, the first above freezing, non-snowy Sunday in Detroit was probably not the best idea to try out this adventure. We spent a half hour trying to find a parking space. Then we made the trek to the front door (along with 1,500 other eager people). I had heard that IKEA was a type of furniture and homegoods store, so the giant posters of Meatballs in the parking lot seemed kind of weird, but whatever... I was thinking they could use a shuttle bus...

 

When we walked through the door we were hit with the smell of baking and cinnamon (yum), but there were so many people milling about, in the food area, we were immediately disoriented and felt overwhelmed. We did find a shopping cart, which had weird wheels, that moved sideways and wanted to steer itself. We got another one and it did the same thing, so we just tried to adjust.

 

We had a hard time finding a way into the actual shopping area, so we scampered through a check-out aisle (This was not going well). Once we entered the giant warehouse, all we could see were aisles and aisles of boxes, piled up to the ceiling. I'm still not sure what was in those boxes. I figured that you had to already know (somehow) what was going on here, but so many people here seemed to know the secrets, as they were waiting in lines and putting boxes into their carts.

 

We found ourselves in a homegoods section, and after a few minutes, realized that were arrows on the floor to direct you through a maze of wares. Wicker boxes, strange paper lights, cheap ass shelving, glass vases, cheap looking silverware, ugly print art, towels, and wow.

 

Terry and I tried to stick together, but we got separated somewhere between LED lighting and fake flowers. I tried to follow the arrows to an exit, but they kept taking me around in circles. After a couple times through the maze, I panicked, and tried to call terry. No phone signal, I was on my own.

 

Sweating, and feeling heart palpitations, I finally made it back to the section of boxes piled to the ceiling, and I waited.

 

Eventually, Terry came around the corner looking just as glassy eyed as I did.

 

We got the hell outta there.  

 

What a weird place. I will never go there again, and I can't figure out, for the life of me, what the draw is to this place... So many people ??? 

 

 

 

Ahh, heading back home.

 

Here comes the tunnel...

 

I love the lights, I love the tunnels, it means we're close to home.

 

Safe, and far away from that horrible place, called IKEA.

 

I thought Menard's and Costco, were vacuous, but IKEA took it to a whole new level.

 

Ugh.

 

 

Winter Thaw

 

The city is trying to clear the sewers of snow.

 

Terry is fighting the ice dams in the gutters.

 

And the water starts flowing into the basement...

More Pics From The Year in Review

 

Our good friend and favorite realtor, Dave Conselyea.

 

First time in the house.

 

Secret message found behind a medicine cabinet.

 

Lots of tools and miscellaneous parts.

 

Removing radiators.

 

Furnace parts, ready to go.

 

New back door.

 

New tile in 1/2 bath upstairs.

 

Beautiful bookcase, lots of paint...

 

More and more paint.

 

Bob knows his sheet metal!

 

Bathroom construction.

 

Terry lays a floor.

 

Details, like address signs and porch lights.

 

Redoing the kitchen cabinets.

Gotta love him.

 

Robin works on a tile backsplash.

 

Nice.

New appliances.

 

Paint and tile border in upper 1/2 bath.

 

Dishwasher and garbage disposal install.

 

That was a giant mirror! It didn't make it, during the removal process.

 

Endless plumbing issues.

 

Finished Dining Room.

 

My favorite new light. "Disco Ball" in the upstairs hall.

Collecting up all of the Petoskey stones, all over the backyard.

Terry builds me a work table in the basement.

 

Robin builds a funky patio out of broken concrete.

 

Preparing for a privacy fence, lots of brick, stone, and debris to remove.

 

Some new plantings in the front bed.

 

Can't ever have too much fountain grass.

 

Hauling away concrete.

 

Seven pines.

 

Coming down.

 

Fun details.

Old radiators. House flippers say that people want them, but... no one wants them.

New trees.

 

New garage doors.

 

Terry builds me a shelf.

 

Terry builds me a rolling cart.

 

Leaky basement.

 

Working on the back entryway.

 

Shorty and Roxy just want to play outside...

 

Carry on.