Keep on Keepin On

This weekend, we only worked on the house one day. On Saturday, Mark had a tournament and I went to Bowie. Mark B. checked on my brakes and some other things with my car. Thanks Mark!! And I got to see Kyle and Paige! Mark B, Karen, Billy, Kyle, Paige, and I ate lunch, went antique shopping, and ate dessert. Karen bought me these two beautiful, blue crystal pie dishes that will match our kitchen. Thanks Karen!! The day was very relaxing.
When I got back to Wichita, Mark and I picked up some furniture that we bought, a dining room set and a coffee table set. I will post pictures of them later. Then, we started cleaning the kitchen. It was in bad shape! I need my mom to help me clean! :)
Today, Mark came to Wichita (Karen had to work) and we got a lot more work done! First, Mark B. and Mark D. took out the old, smelly dishwasher. Then, Mark B. started tearing down the closet walls that were around the washer and dryer hookups so that it will all be open. While he was doing this, Mark D. was scraping off all of the popcorn ceiling material from the master bedroom. And I was continuing cleaning the kitchen.
Mark B. opened a space to look in the attic. We had never been in there before because the opening had been closed off. But, he said everything looks great. There is plenty of insulation throughout the house and the beams are running the right way.
Then, Mark and I went through the house filling in all of the holes that were caused by nails and screws with this stuff called dap that Mark B. brought. While we were working on this, Mark B. was working on the door from the living room to the master bedroom that we are going to close off.
We did some measuring and planning. I took a couple of breaks. Then, Mark B. and Mark D. wrapped our water faucets on the outside of the house for the freeze that's coming this week. We talked about what we were going to do next and started cleaning up.
I can't believe the progress we are making! Mark B. said that next time we should start building the closet up. Then after that, we have a few small things to work on and it will be time to paint and do the floors!
Check out the new page (to the right) about all that we are learning. Thanks Paige for the idea!

Mark is getting ready to remove some popcorn! Unfortunately, he didn't go buy masks until he was half-way finished.

This is the beginning of Mark removing the walls enclosing the washer/dryer hook-ups. The washer and dryer will be inside of the new walk-in closet.

Almost finished! The walls are down!

Now he is saving the 2 x 4s so we can use them in the closet.

He finished! The walls are down, the 2 x 4s are saved, and now there is no sign of the closet ever having been there! Also, the bedroom looks bigger now! It keeps opening up.

Mark starting to scrape off the popcorn from the ceiling. We are going to keep the popcorn off and texturize it. Notice, he just started and he is smiling...

He is making progress! I wonder if his arm is hurting yet...



Wow! He's moving right along. This room is huge and he did the whole thing!




Two hours later...the ceiling is finished and Mark is a ghost!



Mark opened up a spot to look in our attic. The original opening had been sealed and we didn't know what was up there! Unfortunately, there was no gold. But luckily, there is plenty of insulation!

Mark and I went through the house filling in all of the small, and big, holes with paper and this stuff called dap that Mark B. bought for us. It was actually kinda fun! And it will make the paint look so much better!

Another hard day's work coming to an end. We are feeling very accomplished!

Next time, I am going to have to have Mark D. take some pictures. This is the only one of me! Thank you Mark B. for all of your help! We REALLY couldn't do it without you!

The First Step

This past weekend, Mark and Karen came up to take a look at the house. After a detailed walk-through and a trip to Lowe's, we were ready to get to work. We started ripping up all of the carpet, and there was tile underneath. So, we got all of the tile up. We threw the tile away and put the carpet outside to haul away.

On Sunday, they came back. Our first project is the master bedroom. Well, it was a game room, but we are turning it into our master bedroom.We started with turning the water off and getting rid of the wet bar. We also tore down what was the closet in one of the bedrooms, which we are going to turn into a big walk-in closet. Then, we ripped down all of the wall-paper and got all of the screws and nails out of the walls. Mark B. and Mark D. had to make another run to Lowe's for energy efficient light bulbs, an air filter, and a new water faucet for our kitchen sink. They installed that while Karen and I continued sweeping and shop-vacuuming all of the dust.

We are off to a great start, but we still have a lot to do!



This is the first living room, as soon as you walk in.



This is the living room that we are actually going to use as a living room.

That doorway will be gone once we build the closet.



The master bedroom



This is where the closet in the master bedroom was before we tore it down.



This is where the wet bar was before we ripped it out, which is where the closet is going to be.



One of our trash piles...all of that carpet!

And another trash pile...