Yesterday hubby and I went out to the house to check on a few things. We found the vent pipe under the fireplace that apparently goes to the furnace. It needs to be run outside the skirting with a hood on it.
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| We're going to need to repair these rips! |
There are a bunch of rips in the kitchen drywall that will need to be repaired before we can hang the backsplash. Here is our kitchen backsplash (peel and stick wallpaper):
The plumbing is done! All the troubleshooting is finished and there shouldn't be anymore leaks/issues with the pipes. If there's anything that doesn't pass inspection the first time, the plumber will come back out and fix them to pass for free. And I love my new faucets!
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| Kitchen faucet and water filter spout |
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| Every bathroom sink has a waterfall faucet |
I snapped a few pictures of things that need to be fixed in the house. The wall panel that I took off so they could reach the hot water heater snapped in half (it looked like it was going to break anyway) and I want to cut it to make a dutch door. I also want to add shelves above the hot water heater for extra storage.
We'll be heading back out to the house on Saturday and leaving Max with one of my sisters so I can get some work done too. I also managed to find a "new" sliding glass door for a good price! We need to pick it up on Saturday before we get to the house.
On Saturday, we all met my dad at the house to help him start on our front porch. None of his helpers showed up, so he wasn't able to get as much done. And we had to go to Home Depot in town and get some concrete bolts and a bucket to mix the concrete in, so that took us away for over an hour. But he got the holes dug and then hubby helped him mix and pour the concrete while I watched Max, who had soaked his outfit and had to stay in the car (freezing outside!). He got the porch outline framed though, and will be back this coming Saturday to continue. Hopefully he will have helpers with him!
Yesterday I was able to get some work done at the house. I put on the new door knob for our master bathroom, removed the old bent hinges on our master bedroom door, discovered the new hinges I bought were a little too small, and installed the new cabinet drawer gliders in most of the rooms that needed them. I just have to adjust a few of them and install them on the drawers I didn't have in the house (hall bath and kitchen). I have some other projects I want to do when the house is warmer: strip the paint on one side of the front door, and strip the paint on the kitchen cabinets. I got the whitewash paint I want to use on the cabinets, so I need to start painting the cabinet doors and drawer faces. I also need to install the front door deadbolt once the door is stripped/painted how I want.
This Saturday will be deck building day! Monday-Tuesday will be plumbing day! Then we'll see how we look for inspection.
Trying to get whatever work we can get done on the drywall, and I'm trying to find someone who can help us finish the inside trim-out on the marriage line. Then I have to figure out how to fix the countertops where they chipped as we were removing the tile...
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| How to fix these chips on the countertops? |
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| Old bent hinges |
Max and I drove out to meet the plumber this morning to discuss our options going forward. They've been very communicative and told me yesterday there was no water coming to our water meter. I had to call the water company and have them send someone out to figure out why. Seems it had something to do with the chlorine? The plumber then explained that we had a pipe burst behind the master garden tub, and in 2 other places that were pretty lengthy (7-8 feet).
He said our best and probably only option was to re-plumb the whole house in PEX, as our current pipes are CPVC and are prone to breaking. It's only a matter of time before the rest of the 20+year old pipes give way. Thankfully, they won't have to open up the floor, and they're going to install my new faucets for me! I told them where the panels are to get to the pipes behind the showers and the washer/dryer. I had to open up the WHOLE WALL panel to get to the water heater, and I want to figure out a way to utilize the space above it for storage while also making a door so it's easier to access that pocket. I'll have a picture soon!
I had to order new hinges for our master bedroom door, and the cabinet glider brackets for the broken drawer glides. I'm going to go out there tomorrow to work on some stuff, like hinges, door knobs, cabinet gliders, and stripping the kitchen cabinets! It's high time I started working on them again!
Max and I drove out to the house this afternoon to meet with the plumber. They were working on hooking up the septic tank when we got there, and told me it hadn't just floated, it had flipped over completely upside down! So they got it right side up, re-dug the hole, set it back in, and covered it up. Then they drilled through the bottom of the skirting to run the drain line to it.
While I was there I also went over what the water line needed, and they said they'd be re-running it under the concrete like it should be. They also told me that they are going to run the water in the house and check for leaks and fill the septic tank so it doesn't float again. They'll send pics and videos, which I can't wait to see.
Max and I met with 2 potential plumbers yesterday to see about getting the septic hooked up, the water line rerun, and the outside spigots replaced. The front one is broken and there isn't one on the back, so I asked to have one added. It was really hard to choose between the two plumbers - both were really great, but we ended up going with the one that was budget-friendly.
Turns out our septic tank has floated (literally floated out of the ground and the hole it was buried in!) because it wasn't filled with water when it was installed (to weigh it down) and needs to be reset. It came unhooked from the drain field when that happened, so the whole thing has to be hooked back up again. The plumber is going to do all that, hook it up to the house, rerun the water line with a new regulator and shut off valve for less than his original quote, and he said he'd replace/install the spigots for free! He's going to get to work on Thursday!
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| Septic tank buried back in September |
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| Septic tank floated as of December |
I'm a little confused about what to do with electric stuff under the house. Apparently, we have a bunch of wires that aren't connected to anything? Some have been put in boxes, but I don't think they should stay there forever. We removed the old security system, but I think some of the wires are still in the walls. I was told by the inspectors that wires need to be in boxes and tucked under the belly board, making them harder to access. And then I was told by our HVAC guy that they have to be accessible to be up to code. Seems I need to do my own research on this one!
We were blessed with a nice bonus from hubby's work so I've been able to get some replacement mirrors for the bathrooms, some new faucets for the sinks, new matching lamps for the guest room and DP's office, and some other little odds and ends we need like dead bolts and door knobs that match the ones I got before.
The day before Thanksgiving, my mom and I drove out to the house to meet with the one drywall guy who could make it (the other would've gotten there too late as we had Thanksgiving prep to do that night and couldn't stay any longer). We got a quote from him and figured out some things I would like done with the house, including squaring the doorway to the den so we can put French doors on and closing the opening above the kitchen cabinets!
We had a good Thanksgiving, but it was also a little hard. It was Sarah's birthday so we visited her grave and left her new flowers for Christmas.
Yesterday, DP, Max and I met with a new electrician about the exposed wires under the house, as well as the old security system and hard wired smoke detectors I wanted removed. They got the work done that day, so that's one less thing to worry about!
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| Before |
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| After |
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| Before |
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| After |
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| Junction Box underneath |
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| Junction box underneath |
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| Concrete for the footers |
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| Lumber for the front porch |
