After the Facelift - Part 1

It's early afternoon on Saturday, January 25, and I need to sit for a bit.  Putting the house back together is HARD work and I even got Jay to contribute his brains and brawn.

The first thing I did was hang the little pieces in the front hallway.  The three oval ones are OLD:  one of my grandmother holding my mother with my Aunt Amelia standing.  Below that is one of my mother as a baby, and the solo one is my mother as a bridesmaid.  Knowing her, they had as much fun as Bridesmaids!

Then, I started on the kitchen.  I did just a little bit last night before I crashed -

and posted the top photo on Facebook.  A friend noticed the laughing pig.  It was my mother's and I took it from her home while she was in rehab.  Vicki has a similar cookie jar which is OLD.

The kitchen is pretty much back in order.  I need to get some new towels and other things, but that won't be today!

Also, put the foyer back in order:

Jay put up the pictures in the Master Bathroom and I did a little bit in there, but again, new towels, etc., and maybe even more things for the walls.

I'm still going to put random old mirrors over the tub but that's going to take time and Vicki, Mary and Val are going to "hunt" with me in March.

Believe it or not, my bed is not made yet!!!  That never happens - not even when I'm sick.  If Jay gets the art work up in the dining room today, there might be a photo or two tomorrow.  But for now, I'm about ready to do a few more things in the dining room and call it a day.

1.20.2014 - Monday

Jay and I spent a good part of the weekend putting the living room back together.  We still have the artwork to hang but here's a photo of it so far:

The difference might not be noticeable but the Shenandoah Taupe is much deeper and richer than what was there before.  Also, Rudy is having a mantle built so that will hold lots of family photographs and doodads.

Angel was back bright and early today but Eddie had another commitment.  Jose was called in to work on the Master Bathroom for today.  Thank God, it's a beautiful day as the odor from the Kilz [or whatever it's called] is horrible.  All four of my bedroom windows are wide open and the ceiling fan in my bedroom is going full force.  The Crew uses masks to lessen the intensity.  These guys are definitely Worker Bees!

When Angel arrived, I asked him how much longer it would take.  He said they'd be finished tomorrow.  I just can't see that happening as they have to texturize the Master Bathroom, let it dry and then paint it.

Also, in putting the kitchen back together, I found a few places that need to be touched up, but that's typical in all situations.  Also, while the Powder Room has paper and we LOVE it, we didn't think anything needed to be done in there.  After seeing the wonderful color of our walls, we now want the ceiling in the Powder Room to match.  We've not told Rudy yet, but should see him later today or in the morning.

Wednesday 1.22.14 - So, the Master Bathroom has been completely textured and there's one coat of paint on 3/4 of the room.  The fly in the ointment is: they used the wrong color.  We have Shenandoah Taupe in the living areas and when we tested it in the Master Bathroom, it look washed out, so we selected Cromwell Gray, which is very dark and more taupe than gray.  We had concerns it would be too dark as the three high windows are north facing.  Good news, it seems: it's not washed out and since it was our first choice, we're good with it.  Lemon = Lemonade. ;0)

When I pointed out the mistake to Rudy when he arrived, he was SO apologetic and said he'd get the correct paint and make it right.  BUT, we're convinced it was a good mistake so all is good!

Thursday morning [1.23.14]:  Hopefully, this will be THE END of the inside jobs.  All they need to do is finish the Master Bathroom, as they've already done the touch-up work in the other areas.  Rudy said FOR SURE they'd be out of our hair today.

On another note, Jay had a new lock / handle put on the front door a few years ago.  It's very nice but the door latch part doesn't work - if the deadbolt isn't engaged, the door will blow open.  Rudy recommended a locksmith.  Mr. Golden is now here with the door open and is in the process of repairing the spring thingy.  Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but today it's rather COLD and WINDY.  Since we've lived with this for a few years, it could have waited.  BUT, Jay's on a roll and is bound and determined to get our home in ship shape!

Master Bath didn't get finished on Thursday and Rudy and Angel stayed until after six o'clock.

So, it's now Friday.  Rudy came back alone and said the Master Bathroom will be ours to use by end of day.  New switch plates have been purchased; light fixtures have been replaced; touch up has been done.

There might be another post regarding The Facelift but that won't be until after the mantle has been installed and all the art work is back on the walls.

So, ciao for now.  I hope I didn't bore you too much.

Tuesday 1.14.2014, Etc.

Rudy got here around 8 o'clock on Tuesday morning to inspect the kitchen and bring the paint for the remainder of the living areas.  He pointed out a few things he wanted fixed and said he'd be back after Angel and Eddie got here.

In the meantime, I shot these two - dining room and foyer. I'm probably not going to publish this post until late on Friday as the difference isn't going to be all that drastic and might not even be noticeable to many.  If anything exciting happens, I'll definitely publish but until then, I'm going back to my crocheting.

Wednesday, 1.15.14:  I decided to get up earlier than normal today to get some things done - like laundry, dinner prep, etc. - before Angel and Eddie arrive.

Bathroom prep is also on my list of things to do today.  As you can see, it's long and narrow with very high ceilings.  We're planning on putting a fan or two on the high beam.  The Crew should have a ball doing this room last!!!  This is the infamous wallpaper that took nearly a year to put up due to the insistence of the insurance company to use certain paper hangers.  Once we took matters into our own hands [with approval of the insurance company], it was up in one day!!!  By the time it was up, we were bored with it.  That was several years - maybe 15 - ago!  It's going to be interesting in there - dark like a cave but plenty of north light.

Thursday, 1.16.14:  The dining room is now the "holding area" for the living room furniture!  The Crew got to work like crazy this morning and have already removed the built-in ceiling speakers, patched the sheetrock and texturized it.  The painting in there has begun and I feel sure that they'll be in the Master Bathroom by Friday at some point.

Dining Room / Holding Area

View from Dining Room / Foyer

View from Inside the Bar

So, Rudy stopped just before 5 o'clock to go over some details with us.  The living room is nearly completed - they'll just need to paint the parts that needed repair.

Rudy was looking for a mantle but didn't find anything he thought we would like, so he's going to have one built.  I think I would trust Rudy with my life, so a mere mantle is a no-brainer.  The Crew will be back on Friday and it should take just a few hours for The Crew to finish up, clean up, stretch the carpet and move the furniture back.  Then, it'll be off the the Master Bathroom.  Rudy offered to bring The Crew back on Saturday to finish up, but we need a break.  And  besides, we're going with The Russels to Steak Night at the VFW on Saturday.  It should be a while before the mantle is finished and installed but that should be in quick time, as that's Rudy's MO.

1.17.14, Friday:  The carpet in the living room has been stretched, and the painting completed with the heavy furniture moved back into place.  We've got the small pieces to arrange and the artwork to hang, but that will be fun and at our [Jay's] pace.  Jay got the ONE important task completed - the DirecTV wire was attached properly!  Yea Jay!

Angel and Eddie started tearing the paper off the Master Bathroom but will be hard back at it on Monday morning!  I see a light at the end of the tunnel!!!

End of Week 2 - more to come on Monday!

Week Two of Facelift - Monday, 1.13.14

And what a difference!!!  Rudy, Angel and Eddie [the new guy] were here at 9 o'clock this morning and Rudy told the two young men what he [and we] wanted.  Neither Jay nor I thought they could make the kitchen look acceptable but were we ever wrong.  We could tell right away that the two worked really well together and really fast.  They're obviously meant to work together. They had all the trim work done in the kitchen before their lunch break and had all the new switch plate covers on properly, as well.  This is the kind of work we expect from Rudy and his crews.

Angel found a place in the dining room ceiling that sagged and since Jay wanted the texturing replaced, he wanted the sag fixed.  You can tell from the photos below how Angel and Eddie prepared the room for the onslaught of debris.

That's Angel taping down brown paper and then covering it with plastic and then drop clothes.  The bottom photo is AFTER the ceiling was scraped and repaired.  They sure cleaned up the place nicely. I'll be working in the kitchen tomorrow, rearranging table and chairs and getting everything back in the proper place.

I'll try to take a photo or two on Tuesday.

House Facelift's First Weekend

The Crew got here on Friday around 10 o'clock after having to track down more paint.  They got to work immediately and hopefully, will get the kitchen painted and SORT OF put back together by early afternoon.  Then, we all get to move tables and chairs back into the kitchen, take both leaves out of the dining room table and clear out the dining room as best we can.

Rudy stopped by to see how things are moving along and he and Jay are going over details in the skylight area of the dining room.

I couldn't be happier about being RETIRED as I just couldn't dream of doing this while working, even part-time!

Oh, and that reminds me:  it will be a year on January 11th since my happy feet touched the floors of the Collin County Office of Strasburger & Price!  I'm very happy for having met some really wonderful people over the years, and for the opportunity to work at such a nice firm.  However, it turned out that I was needed more at home in 2013 than in years past!  As Sonny said in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel:  In the end, everything will be all right.  If it's not, it's not yet the end!  But I digress!

Here are two shots of the kitchen taken on Friday, 1.10.14 at around 4:15 p.m.  It looks nice and the color is better than I'd hoped.  However . . .

Into each life a little rain must fall!!!  And fall it did!  After arriving late, The Crew decided to clear out of here earlier than has been typical.  I only know the name of one of The Crew - Angel - so we'll cal the other guy, #2 - which is fitting, if you get my drift!  Angel bustled about getting everything cleaned up, running his shop vac and sweeping.  #2 just wanted to leave and when I pointed out that he hadn't put the switch plate covers and outlet covers back on, he got a little miffed, but complied to Jay's and my requests.  After they left and I was about to get the kitchen back in order, I noticed a few things that didn't make me happy and when I pointed out those things to Jay, he got on the phone and called Rudy.

So, here we are on Saturday morning waiting for Rudy to show up and clear up the mess The Crew made.  Rudy has several crews, of course, and we've never complained about their workmanship in nearly 20 years of using them.  This is a first.  Right now I'm in limbo as Jay doesn't want me to do a thing in the kitchen so he can show Rudy how sloppy #2 left his part of the job.  There are GLOBS of sheet rock compound crammed into outlets and switches and some of the plates have not been put back.  Rudy is very meticulous and I know when he gets here to observe the sloppiness, he's going to flip out.  Jay told him Angel could come back to work in the house as his work appeared to be good, but #2 didn't have the same work ethic.

Rudy and Angel just came by [it's around 11 o'clock on Saturday morning].  Rudy is SO terrific and saw our concerns immediately.  He's sending Angel and another man, Eddie, back on Monday morning and they're going to work on the kitchen and only the kitchen until it's to our liking, with a blessing from Rudy.  Then, on to the dining room.

I wasn't going to PUBLISH this until Sunday but I can't do anything about the house, have done my Wii Fit Plus for 45 minutes, and am now going to get myself into the shower and head out to get some groceries!

January 10, 2014 - Day 4 of House Facelift

It's Friday and hopefully the kitchen will be finished in just a few hours, although The Crew is a tad late this morning.

On Day 2, Rudy put a sample of Shenandoah Taupe on the Master Bathroom wall to see if we might like it in there as well.  The sample looks great on the dining room wall as you can see.  It's a richer color than what's on there now.

After living with the "test" for two days, we thought it kind of disappears.  In the photo below, it's the one that looks like it was done by a professional, as it was!  The darker smears [done by me] are samples of Cromwell Gray.  On Day 3, I got on the Benjamin Moore website and scouted out some colors that Jay and I might like, and then ran [well, drove actually] to Elliott's Hardware to pick up a sample.  I smeared in on three different places in the Master Bathroom, and in different lights it picks up green and in another light it picks up purple - both of which I'm happy with.  So, that will be the color for the Master Bathroom.

The Crew told us they would be starting on the dining room today, which includes taking off the ceiling texture as it was not to Jay's liking, re-texturing and then painting.  So last evening was spent emptying out the armoire and packing away a couple of sets of china as well as crystal and various wine / beverage glasses.  A fun evening was had by all.

Since I couldn't cook, and didn't want to take the time away from packing, we just grazed.  Here's the kitchen chaos!

So, it's now 9:30 am and The Crew still hasn't arrived so I'm getting a little antsy!  I think I'll spend the next hour on my Wii Fit Plus to work off my anxiety.

January 2014 - The Facelift Begins!

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone who reads this has a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2014!!!

As some of you know, Jay and I decided that it would be more to our advantage to stay in our house and fix it up to our liking, rather than move.  DUH!!!!  So, we scoped out some model homes in the high dollar areas of Frisco.  I then proceeded to spend time on Houzz.com and at Elliott's Hardware looking for paint that I could get Jay to agree on.   So far, I've been successful with two colors.  That's all right for now as I want Rudy's Crew to do the kitchen first; then, the dining room, living room, bar and both hallways.  After all that's complete and the house is back together, we're going to have them remove the wallpaper in the Master Bathroom, texture and paint.  Here are some BEFORE photos of the kitchen:

Here are photos of the color tests:  Vine Green for the kitchen and Shenandoah Taupe for the remainder of the "need to be painted" areas:

I neglected to take photos of the living room before The Crew got here but decided to take a few shots today.  The lamp at the fireplace is typically in the kitchen and there are things from the other rooms that are scattered about the living room, so please forgive.  Here they are:

The place is a mess but I won't complain.  Especially since that leaves me time to blog and crochet and watch movies - after Wii Fit Plus, of course!

So, The Crew arrived Tuesday morning and immediately started taking the wallpaper off the kitchen walls and ceilings.  They found the cause of a leak over the double kitchen window and repaired that!  Jay had the window installer out three times and after the third time, the installer told him if it leaked again NOT to call him.  Thank you very much!!!

The Crew is back today, January 8, and they're now beginning the texturing process.  I hope that will be completed today so that they can paint tomorrow and Friday.  If I get my kitchen back for the weekend, I can move the table, chairs and other things back into the kitchen along with all the stuff that needs to be pulled out of the dining room, living room, etc!!!  The dining room armoire needs to be emptied of all the glassware and china I have stored in it!  I'll have a nice weekend doing that IF the kitchen is available!!

Tune in soon for more updates - probably not daily, but maybe since I don't have much else to do!