Week 5

No pics this week. The walls were textured and are now ready for paint, which will happen Monday and Tuesday of next week. By the way, our painter sounds a bit like Ricky Ricardo. His name is Armando and if you ever need a painter, he is fantastic!!
The big "excitement" of the week happened on Tuesday when I came home to find our 13 year old indoor cat IN THE BACKYARD. The texture guys unzipped the plastic wall, not knowing there were indoor cats in the back of the house. They then left the front door open and Lexi wandered outside. You can imagine my surprise (and panic) when I got home. Thankfully she found her way to the backyard and came running when I called her name. Let's just say the guys now know we have cats!
Week 6 will probably be another slow week. After paint, we wait for windows and cabinets, which could take another week or two.
I am beginning to lose my motivation for cooking in the garage. We had a delicious, home cooked meal this week with our friends Ross and Judi. We are also beginning to use our "buy one entree, get one free" coupons a bit more. I am most certainly looking forward to planning meals and cooking in our kitchen, once it is completed!
That's it for now...will post again at the end of week 6.

Week 4 ~ Days 15-19

I decided a more efficient way to blog our remodel process is to post progress and pictures at the end of the week rather than daily. This has been a very busy week with lots of visible progress. Monday and Tuesday belonged to the electrician Keefe and his crew. They wired and installed lights in both the kitchen area and living room. We now have light in the kitchen...

and in our living room

On Wednesday we passed our "rough-in" inspection, which led to insulating the kitchen area. What a difference. It used to be so cold in that space but now it is nice and toasty warm!

Speaking of toasty warm, we also had our gas fireplace installed this week. It is beautiful. It actually looks like a flat screen TV. We can't use it yet because it has to be plumbed but when we can, I don't care if it's 100 degrees outside...we are firing it up!

Thursday and Friday were VERY messy days. I came home Thursday to this ~

 They finished things up on Friday. The sheet rocking is complete and ready for texture on Monday.

Thanks to the Headstart and Preschool staff at Muir, I have the use of an oven so we certainly aren't starving. A few more weeks and I can use my own!

Have a great weekend, everyone. Looks like it's going to be a rainy one. Wish our fireplace was operable...

Day 14

The soffits are built and in place!! The room is beginning to have some definition. I can almost envision the cabinets underneath the soffits.

This soffit defines where my food closet and fridge will go. 

Week 3 has come and gone. Can't wait to see what week 4 brings!!

Day 13

It's not everyday that you come home to a man coming out of your ceiling! Today was a day of electrical work and plumbing.

We now have a new electrical panel with plenty of room for more outlets and plugs. No more breaker issues!! The wiring is new and ready to go. We also have plumbing for the kitchen sink and fridge.

Another productive day.

Day 11 & 12

Behind the scenes work is deceiving. It sort of looks like not much is being accomplished but we know there is! The last couple of days has been all about finishing the window framing and starting the electrical work. We now have lights in the living room!

We are also getting closer to light switches. Really, it's the little things that mean the most!

Here's a glance at the front of the house. I guess it has to look "ghetto" before it looks gorgeous! Apparently someone asked the neighbor if the house was being condemned. Oh, dear. We are now neighborhood blight!

That's it for now, folks. We'll see what the next couple of days bring our way. 

Day 10

Jared and Dustin have been very busy working their other jobs so today they got here in the afternoon. They were able to begin framing one of the front kitchen windows and complete the framing for the fireplace.

Things are moving along nicely. It's nice to come home each day and see progress!!

Day 9

Another work day at the Dial's gave way to the framing structure for the gas fireplace. Before that, however, Roger was busy drawing the plans for Jared to make sure it was done to his specifications!

He even drew a mock-up of the actual size so we could imagine sitting, on a cold evening, in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine and a good book.

After much measuring, cutting and leveling, the structure stands.

I will say it again. We so appreciate the cleanliness of this crew. They never leave the job site dirty. 

Looking forward to a dust free, quiet weekend. Week 3 starts Monday!!

Day 8

Now that the really heavy and sturdy beam is in place, the guys were able to remove the rest of the wall that needed to come down. Now the space is nice and open. Notice, the chandelier is gone. Sad. Apparently it is moving to Alison's house.

The remaining 8 ft wall that is framed will house the gas fireplace on the living room side and the oven/microwave on the kitchen side. 

That's it for today. 

Day 7

Our neighborhood was awakened @ 5:45 AM by the HUGE truck that delivered our beam. Thankfully no one has complained! Roger and the driver unloaded it and this one was not damaged so it was put in the garage for later installation. I am sure glad Roger was home to help! That beam was heavy!!

Jared and Justin arrived and got right to work. They used some real muscle today to get that beam placed in the ceiling.

The beam is now securely in place so the ceiling won't fall on us while we are having breakfast. The hammer gives you a perspective on just how big this beam is.

The guys also eliminated a window today. This is where the food closet and fridge will be located. 

Things are definitely moving along nicely. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings! Everyday we come home to progress. 

Day 6

Oops...the beam arrived damaged so no more work was accomplished today. The plan is to try again tomorrow. Sorry folks, no pics today.