Long Over Due...

We are getting very close to finishing the house. The granite is in place, after some issues with the space for the stove not being big enough, then the cabinet being set wrong and finally the granite being cut to the right size. But ahhh, how pretty. I feel like once the kitchen takes shape, you really start to feel like it's a home again.

Delay...

Sorry for my lack of posting. I have not felt like I had the time or the interest in posting about our never ending house project. I have pictures of the progress on a camera I cannot currently find because we were suppose to move into our house on Sunday, which didn't happen but we did have to move out of the rental house. About a month ago while talking to our crew we asked how far out the end was and they assured us we would be in within 30 days, so we gave our 30 day notice on the rental house. And things got delayed and more delayed, and here we are back in the same hotel we started in. Our poor babies, living in such transition! Our son has lived out of our house longer than he lived in our house. Something is super wrong and sad about that.

In the last month our house has transformed into a beautiful space. You can really see the progress and that it will be fantastic, if we can ever get there. This week our project manager was removed from our job and the owner of the company has taken over. We are hopeful that the pace will pick up. There were also two inspections this week, the plumbing and the HVAC, which both did not pass. The HVAC is a very simple fix and should pass today actually. The plumbing could be a big issue, or nothing at all. The inspector needs some reading about the pressure in the gas line when all the gas appliances are in use. If the numbers are too high, that would result in a new gas line, adding about a week to the already too long process.

Pictures to follow soon. Once I can catch my breathe to find the camera. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for. Even in the mist of chaos, we have a healthy family who will only grow stronger from all of this. We are also thankful for the men and women who work on our house and even though we think it is taking too long, they are doing it right!

So Sick of This!!!!

So things have not been going smoothly. The cabinets have a hiccup which will be at least a week longer. Not to mention that our granite, sink, faucet, water heater, and back splash are all waiting on the cabinets to get redone. Awesome. There are also so many other things that need to be corrected that I cannot even begin to think we will be in our house soon. We have heard so many deadlines starting with the end of September (HA!) to all through October to the present. We have some furniture being delivered because we were told the first week in November would not be a problem. We were very mindful of contractors never finishing on time, which is why we waited until just the countertops were left to be installed. Not knowing during a walk through the owner of our contracting company would spot a mistake (I guess thankfully he did, no one else seemed to notice!).

Ok, I feel better. Here is the latest change. Carpet!!! It is so nice and new and nothing like the stuff we had before and disliked so much.

 Pictures taken on Halloween, I think the kids liked the carpet!

New Goodies!!!

There was not much done this week at the house. We are now waiting for the floors to be installed. They leveled the floors this week and put light fixtures in yesterday. We are desperate to be back in the house and feel like things are moving slowly. The contractor is saying we will be back in the house by the end of October, but truly only God knows when we will get back to our normal lives. I cannot describe the feeling of living in a house that is not yours. We never quite get the feeling of going "home" at night. Obviously we are thankful for the lady who is renting us her house and the insurance company for finding it for us, we just miss our little casa. Here is the most up to date pictures:

Our new sink! My husband still doesn't understand it fully, but I know it will be beautiful. Hopefully the granite company will be out early next week to measure.

 The chandelier. It is hanging higher than it really will with our table under it, but it is out of the way of the workers.

Ceiling fan in the living room.

 This is our travertine subway tile for the backsplash. We are so excited to see things get into place.

 Our baby boy's room.

 Our daughter's room.

 Our daughter wanted to take a picture. Mainly focused at the ground, but that's what she sees as a 2 year old!

Paint and Molding....

Here are some recent pictures of the house. They have primed and painted almost everything in our house. This is what it now looks like when you open the front door.

 Looking back to the front of the house. New crown molding!

 The kitchen...

 Our little boy's room. My husband and I were talking yesterday that our son has lived in the rental house    almost as long as he lived in our house. Kinda sad.

 Our little girl's room. Went from purple to pink. It will now be a big girl room instead of a nursery. Also kinda sad for mommy.

Kitchen Cabinets...

Here are the long awaited kitchen cabinets. We are so happy with how they turned out. There are a few issues that we need to fix (doors opening the wrong way, etc.) but we are very happy with the result. Next up is granite, paint and flooring. Our latest time frame is 3 weeks.

Walls and Windows...

The house got a little face lift. New windows! They are so shiny and clear, ahhhh. Our old windows were the 1961 originals and a set of storm windows on top of that. I guess in some one's mind two sets of single pane windows equals a double pane window. It was impossible to clean and always looked dirty. The front windows came with the white grid in them, which we didn't want, so soon enough they will be replaced without that.

And here is our drywall. Ready for the texture. It's strange how you can forget what your house actually looks like. Obviously we knocked down some walls and had oak paneling so things will look different, but instead of the shell of a house it's starting to look normal again.

Keep your fingers crossed.... our kitchen cabinets are suppose to be delivered and installed tomorrow. It will be so nice to see them!

More Progress...

We have walls again!!!!! We have been waiting and waiting for some real progress. The contractor said once things get started, it moves very fast. Bring it on!

The outside of our house looks so sad. Poor house, poor windows, poor yard and poor port-a-potty.

Slowly Getting There...

So not much has been changing that we can see. All the work up until now has been new electrical work, new duct work, and then passing inspection for all that. But then this week.... things began. Yipee! The attic rafters have been treated (so they don't smell like smoke) and the new insulation has been put in the exterior walls. And yes, that is our drywall sitting in the dinning room. The next step is to drywall, texture and paint.

Hopefully things will move quickly now. We talked to our project manager today and he seems to think we will be in the house in 4 weeks. We are SOOO ready to get back into our house. Fall is my favorite season and I really want to start decorating, but it's a good thing that it's still 90+ degrees here and no hint of fall is in the air. Hopefully we will have many happy trick or treaters in our newly redesigned house.

Special Delivery....

So, we got our clothes delivered yesterday.....

Supposedly, we have over 2000 pieces. Tops, pants, socks, shoes, sheets, towels, etc. Every single thing has been tagged and numbered. Yikes. So far out of the 3 boxes and 3 bunches of hangers, I'd say 10% didn't smell of smoke. So we are not off to a good start.

So you all know what we will be doing for the next two weeks. Smelling everything we own and cutting little yellow tags off. Then we send back what still smells and do it all over again when they return it.

Changes Have Started...

Work has really been happening inside the house. Notice the walls are gone! We decided to open things up and take advantage of the damage from the fire. The last header that is going in the ceiling is the board on the floor. Once that is in, the last wall between the kitchen and the living room will be a half wall.

Looking back towards the front of the house. 

We have been BUSY making choices for the house. New floors, new lights, new kitchen (everything), every room is getting painted, new windows, new AC and heater. It will be a new house to us when we get back. Here are some of our recent choices.

The new flooring in the living area, kitchen and halls...

The carpet in the bedrooms...

Sign of Progress?

Here is the newest addition to our little house. Yes, a port-a-potty. Our poor neighbors that have to look at this as they walk by and our poor neighbors who are selling their house!

The workers are making some progress inside. The drywall in the living room and the kitchen is down, including the ceilings. We are changing the wall between the kitchen and living room to be a half wall...

The wall between the dining room and the kitchen will be gone, AND the closets on the right side of the picture will be gone too! One nice side to all this chaos is the changes we get to make.

Figuring things out...

We stayed with my brother and sister in law for a couple of days, then the kids started getting sick and I didn't want my 4 month old to catch it so we moved into a hotel until we could get temporary housing. We ended up being there for 2 weeks! Yuck! But my 2 1/2 year old loved swimming in the pool and riding the elevator. We had to shuffle the kids around at night time. My son would go to sleep first in the bedroom, then when it was time for my daughter to sleep we would wheel him out (yes the hotel crib had wheels) and put her to sleep in a pack and play. The remainder of the night was my husband and I sitting in the dark, watching TV with no volume. Needless to say we were ready to get leave!

Workers were super busy at the house. They removed EVERYTHING we own from the house to be cleaned and took out the carpet (because it cannot be saved). This flooring was under my daughter's carpet. Who knew! I have no idea why this would be in a bedroom, but the house was built in 1961.

During this time we also found a contractor that we liked and he started getting a team together. The first thing they did was test for lead paint, which of course we had. Most houses in our area would come back positive for lead paint, but they say it's fine unless its disturbed. So last week they removed the affected area and then set up filters and cleaned the air. No one could go in for 3 days. The demolition was suppose to start today and we cannot wait to see what it will look like!

First Look...

After the fire was put out, the fire fighters then struggled to get the electricity turned off (leaving some of our neighbors also without power). Then we were allowed into the house to see the damage. I thought we would need new washer and dryers and the fridge and dishwasher, but I had no idea the smoke and water damage would be through out our entire house. At that point I realized that every possession I had either was ruined, or would have to be cleaned professionally to attempt to get the smoke smell out. The fire inspector was very kind and took us both around the house.

The hot water heater in the laundry room, where it all started. (water heater is on the far left)

The kitchen...

Family room...

Baby boy's room...

Little girl's room...

My husband's pez collection. I think people were most sad about seeing these melted.