It's Electrifying!

Don't worry, no one gets electrocuted in this post! We have been doing some electrical work, but we were really careful, because getting shocked does not sound fun.

This was not us.

We decided to run some new lights in the house for so many reasons. The first was that the living room had no lights. So, that would be pretty gloomy since I don't own very many lamps, and I like using light switches. Secondly, since we made the master bedroom bigger and framed a closet, we were short on lights in that room as well. Thirdly, we thought we could do it.

The only problem is that electrical work is the most confusing project I can think of. Imagine a thousand iPhones plugged in with extra long cords, but all those cords are tangled up into a ball before connecting to the thousands of phones. Then, try to figure out which cord goes to this phone, or that one, or any of them. Confusing, right?

I have no idea what is going on here.

Luckily, it was Phillip to the rescue again! With his expertise, we were able to figure things out and get things done. Cody learned a ton about electric and houses. I learned a little, but I'm definitely not going to quit my day job to go be an electrician.

Still no idea. But I follow directions well.

 Our fixture of choice: Recessed can lights. We quickly became obsessed with recessed lighting after we fixed up the closet/dressing area.

Oh, and we put up a closet wall. No big deal.

Those lights were pretty easy to put in, not very expensive, and look really, really classy (at least we think so!). Plus, cutting out all those circles in the ceiling built up my arm muscles. So...we put them everywhere.

Bathrooms: Recessed!

Hallway: Recessed!

Living Room: Recessed! 

Not pictured: above the kitchen sink and stairs leading to basement - also recessed!

Of course, we'll have other normal lights too. Ceiling fans and a dining room fixture are to come. But for right now, we are just happy to see some things start to look the way we want. How happy? This much:

That will be there forever. You're welcome, house.

Supported

It's been a long week! My drama club had its first performance at school, and we've been busy little worker bees at the house. I'm exhausted. But, spring break is just around the corner. I think I am looking more forward to it than my students!

Our first project, after tearing out the unwanted drywall, was to find a way to support the house without load bearing walls. Turns out, when we choose walls to tear down, we only pick the ones that are necessary to keep the house standing.

Apparently, those studs are super important.

Like, holding-up-the-roof important.

So, we built support beams that would have to be lifted up into the ceiling to help hold up the house. Never having done that before, I was thinking that I was a bit inexperienced to be making things that help hold up an entire structure. I literally pictured us sitting on the couch, watching TV, and then the roof falls in - not only ruining the entire house, but keeping us from seeing who wins Master Chef.

That's not going to happen, though, because the beams are up, and they are holding!

Boom! Supported.

This is the bedroom. It will eventually have drywall, and kind of work as a separator between a sleeping and a "getting ready" area. We're pretty proud of our job. 

"This house may blow over, but it won't blow apart." - Typical Cody-ism

And here's the living room. We're considering keeping this beam exposed, but with a stain. The whole rustic, shabby-chic look is kind of our thing. Mostly because we are really good at sanding things. Nonetheless, it would match well.

It's not just the house that is supported, however. Our families and friends have been so reassuring and helpful since the beginnings of this project. All of our parents have now seen the house in person, and are very hopeful! But, the biggest shout-out must go to Cody's dad, Phillip. He has spent so much time with us - helping us with both manual labor and guidance. I can't imagine how lost we would be without him! Not only does he drive an hour, stay late, and work extremely hard, but he is always ready with advice any time we call. I feel extremely lucky to know someone who is so generous, caring, and knowledgeable.

Thanks, Phillip!

If you're reading this blog, know that you are supporting us too and that we thank you! Stay tuned for the next post when we conquer lighting, wires, and makeshift closets.

Bustin' Walls

The final inspection is complete. The appraiser is satisfied with our wall repairs. Now it's time. Time for the real deal. The whole nine yards...or some amount of inches. 

We took out part of the wall in the kitchen! Eventually, it will be a bar area to open up the living/dining room. This way, we can be in two separate rooms and still hang out. Oh, and it would be good for guests.

But that's not all. There's more walls to be busted here.

I came into the house on Monday, knowing that I would be ready to take out the wall between two bedrooms. I had never done that before. But, I have always seen pretty little ladies on HGTV with safety glasses and sledge hammers pretending to take down a section of a house; and they would giggle so cutely the entire time. Then, other people would probably come to clean up the debris. That looked easy enough. 

Obviously, I was not qualified.

I held my hammer, looking at the wall. I had no idea where to start. Cody told me where the studs were, and that I shouldn't hit them. (I also know what studs are. Go me!)

"Just hit it anywhere between those two spots," he told me. Still, how do you just take a weapon to a clean wall? 

I stood there with my arm ready to swing, hammer in hand. I must have second guessed myself too many times, because Cody took the shot. 

"You just have to go for it," he said.

"Okay," I replied, probably timidly, "I can do that." No big deal, right?

So. I spent the next few hours getting over my nervousness and we took out the entire wall. Just in case you need proof, here's the before and after:

Before

After

 

Impressive, right? AND, the results still look like some kind of HGTV project. 

Despite the hesitation, I loved it. Here are the things I learned about knocking out walls:

• Hitting a wall with a hammer can be pretty relaxing.
• The relief of hitting things lasts for a short while. After 15 minutes, it's just work.
• But, ripping out a really huge piece of the drywall all at once is very satisfying.
• Drywall clings to nails around the studs. Those pieces that stay behind are really annoying.
• Anticipating cleanup after taking out walls will give a person anxiety.

And most important...

• After all of that work, knowing what was there before, and seeing the entire open room will give you the best feeling.

First Steps, First Mistake

It's been one week since we closed on the house, and progress is happening! We began by repairing drywall and putting primer on the walls. It already feels like a new place - mostly because we don't have to walk in and see these cringe-worthy paint colors:

Before Picture: Living Room

Before Picture: Second Bedroom

(future half of master)

Before Picture: Closet

(future nothing. It will be gone)

We collectively decided that the people who lived here before had hundreds of pictures/posters/wall decorations. And, someone may have punched a few walls in the process of hanging them up. Regardless, I learned how to use drywall mud, spackle, and all the tools that go with them. I also became proficient at sanding. I think before I was just apprentice, but I'm meeting that benchmark now (teacher talk!). I came home each night covered in dust, mud, and primer paint, but I'm pretty sure the walls took some of it.

New work boots - not so new anymore.

Cody: actually doing things

Maegan: learning how to drywall/taking pictures

On Sunday night, things were starting to look better. The living room had its second coat of primer, and the ugly brown/green color was nowhere to be found. As we were packing up to leave, however, we noticed something odd:

Chicken Pox?

Our living room wall was either going through puberty and dealing with acne, or it had some kind of disease. Of course, we acted completely normal and decided to see what it would look like the next day. 

No. That's not at all what we did.

What would any normal person do when they see a weird air bubble in a fresh coat of paint? Pop it. We popped every single one. Okay, maybe a normal person wouldn't do that, but they would definitely be tempted. 

So, we popped all of these bubbles and everything came up: both coats of primer, ugly brown paint, and probably some other things in between. With one particularly big air bubble, the paint started peeling. So, what did we do? We peeled it - hoping it wouldn't last the whole wall. It didn't. But we ended up with this huge ugly spot and a ridiculous amount of regret. After a stressful conversation of what could have caused this, we decided the best thing to blame would be the ugly brown paint. 

The ugly brown paint had leprosy. (Completely normal conclusion - right?)

Wrong. A quick conversation with a painting expert (AKA Cody's Mom), assured us that we just needed to wait until the paint dries, and those air bubbles might go away. 

Oh.

So, that's this week: our first projects and our first mistake. It's gotta go up from here, yeah? I think so. I'll end this post with a picture of the ceiling fan we found in the hallway. It makes me laugh every time I see it.

Look at those tiny little blades! WHO MAKES THESE?