And so it begins
	Up go the walls		New shower plumbing	Shower base
Drywall is up!			Shower	Looking good
		Painted "bedroom"		The shower door is in! (meaning that we have a fully functional guest bathroom - so come on out for a visit!)

May 2006

Jake "Pruning a tree"

 

December 27th, 2005

Back splash in the kitchen

Back splash Spacing the tiles	Back splash With grout	Back splash Finished

 

August 2nd, 2005

Howard and Carol came down and put in glass block windows in the basement and a skylight in the kitchen.

Carol and Howard Taking out the old basement window	Carol Putting in the a glass block window	Skylight Hole in the kitchen ceiling	Skylight Hole in the kitchen ceiling	Howard Cutting the drywall for the skylight hole
Skylight	Jake Mudding the skylight drywall	Skylight finished

 

July 6th, 2005

The drains are flowing again!  Hallelujah!  A valuable lesson was learned in the process, which was - if you have a plumbing problem hire a plumber to fix it (not Roto-Rooter).  The plumber was able to clear the drain where the Roto-Rooter guy gave up (although he was glad to take my money).  Although it was a bummer to have to do dishes in the bathtub while Grandma Carol, Aunt Maribeth and Uncle Brian were in town, it sure is nice to have our kitchen sink back now.

July 2nd, 2005

Apparently the plumbing in our house didn't appreciate the addition of a garbage disposal.  Although we knew about the plumbing's predisposition for slowly draining, things have now totally backed up.  After snaking out the drains in the kitchen and laundry room to 25 feet (to no avail), we brought in the Roto-Rooter guy.  As an efficient professional, he was helpful (and expensive), but was also unable to get past the 25 foot barrier (breaking his machine in the process).  He seemed to think that the drain has "rusted shut", which means another project is born . . . ripping apart the drywall ceilings in our basement to expose, find, and replace the offending drain pipe connection(s).  Until this is fixed we do not have an operational kitchen sink, dishwasher or laundry washing machine.  Bummer.  All of this happened on the Saturday of the fourth of July weekend, with Grandma Carol, Aunt Maribeth, and Uncle Brian in town.  Again, bummer.

The only silver lining I've been able to come up with is that at least the bathrooms are unaffected by this drainage back up.  Obviously the offending drain pipe is "rusted shut" somewhere (25 feet or so) between the kitchen and the main drain of the house.  We are still able to go to the bathroom, take showers, and wash our dishes in the bathtub.  And as far as the upcoming project goes (starting on Tuesday),  at least I wont have to deal with backed up sewage as I'm replacing the clogged section of drain pipe.

June 20th, 2005

Kitchen with new counter tops View 1	Kitchen with new counter tops View 2	Kitchen with new counter tops View 3

June 1st, 2005

Kitchen before remodel View 1	Kitchen before remodel View 2	Kitchen before remodel View 3	Kitchen remodel during project View 1	Kitchen remodel during project View 2
Kitchen remodel during project View 3	Kitchen remodel during porject View 4	Kitchen remodel during porject View 5

April 9th, 2005

We have been doing some leg work for a planned kitchen remodel.  Which counter top color do you like best?

Click on the thumbnail images below to enlarge

New kitchen design View # 1	New kitchen design View # 2	New cabinet color	Counter top option #1	Counter top option #2

 

October 10th, 2004

Two projects down (painting and French drains), one to go (jacking up the front porch).  The drainage project was as back breaking as anticipated (ugh).  225 feet of plastic lined, porous piped, gravel filled trench.  Howard and Carol helped out with that as well as putting in an oven, and painting/replacing the knobs and locks on our front doors (thanks again for the help).

Click on the thumbnail images below to enlarge

Front porch trench - hand dug The right side of the concrete slab was sinking because of poor drainage.	Basement window - hand dug Negative grade had water setting against the foundation. It would have eventually caused a leaky basement.	Jake and the trencher God bless the trencher!	Jake trenching God bless the trencher!	Carol Helping with the drain pipe
Front porch With plastic, pipe and gravel.	Basement window Elaine laying pastic for the French drain.	Howard Painting the front door	New oven/range The counter tops, sink and cabinets will be a project for another time.	Front porch Finished
Basement window French drain finished	Back yard Finished	Back yard Finished

 

September 25th, 2004

We have officially started or house projects "to-do-list", hoping to have some of them done before the rain starts in earnest this fall.  Or list includes painting the exterior of the house, putting in French drains along the north (front) and west (side) sides of the house as well as both back yard retaining walls to fix poor drainage issues.  We also hope to jack up the roof covering the front porch (which is sagging because of poor drainage).

Anybody want to come out for a "working vacation" (a.k.a. back breaking labor - digging out the French drain pits)?  I didn't think so.

Click on the thumbnail images below to enlarge

Jake Taping the house	Jake Painting the house	Cooper Trying to help paint the house	Jake Painting the house	Jake Painting the trim
Finished product* *We will probably end up painting the front doors, any suggestions?

 

Thank you Howard, Carol, Maribeth, Margaret, Brian, Jeff and Mike for helping us move!  We couldn't have done it without you!

The house located in Northern Kentucky.  It is a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath ranch, with a 1 car garage, partially finished walkout basement, on a large lot (.9 acres), in need of updating.  It is about twice the size of our Vancouver house, which will be great for the room to grow into.  The house is about 10 minutes away from the airport for Elaine.

To view a quick 'walk through' video click here.

Click on the thumbnail images below to enlarge

Brian Expressing his sentiments towards moving	Howard, Jeff and Maribeth Unloading boxes	Margaret Putting away bowls in the kitchen	Carol, Maribeth, Cooper and Elaine Taking a break	Howard and Mike Taking a break