tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60175746126946068922024-03-05T10:03:33.999-06:00Thousand Square FeetA little about the life we live in this thousand square feet we call home!Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.comBlogger347125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-68932103622139350682014-03-18T23:14:00.004-05:002014-03-19T11:43:05.754-05:00Recipe for DIY Concrete Counter Tops*** This post was originally written over 1 year ago and I have finally gotten around to posting it. Please see edits below. ***<br />
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When I was researching how to make concrete counter tops, it was nearly impossible to find good information on what "recipe" to use. So, as I gathered the little bits I could find, I combined it with the information available on each product I used and came up with a recipe. However, please remember, I am NO EXPERT! I have made exactly 1 counter top (though it was a really big one - 100 square feet!.). I have yet to take the molds off the counters, grind, polish and seal the counters but, I still think there is merit in sharing what we did and then you can take it or leave it! :)<br />
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First, let me share which products we used to make our counters. Quikrete makes a <a href="http://www.quikrete.com/productlines/countertopmixpro.asp"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Counter Top Mix</span></a> product that would be so easy to use. You simply add water and you have the perfect mix for counter tops. I did look into this option but found it to be really pricey. Here in the Winnipeg, MB area, it costs $48.99 for each 80lb bag AND it is only available at a Home Hardware store a 1/2 hour drive away to a little town. Home Depot does not carry it and will not order it in. Neither will Rona. I also checked my local hardware stores and they couldn't get it either. I checked numerous stores and only the small Home Hardware in Morris could order it for me. But, at almost $50 per bag, that option was too expensive since we were going to need 35 - 80lb bags. Instead, we made our own mix.<br />
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After reading about its merits, we decided to use <a href="http://www.quikrete.com/ProductLines/Quikrete5000ConcreteMix.asp"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Quikrete 5000</span></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">.</span> It is a high-strength cement mix readily available at building supply stores. We were able to get it from our supplier for $10 for each 60lb bag. From my reading, it was suggested to add 5lbs of extra portland cement to each bag of Quikrete 5000 to increase the cement content making the final product even harder, perfect for polishing. We certainly used this advice and ordered 4 bags of grey portland cement.<br />
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In order to make a counter top-worthy mix, we also needed to add fibers for strength and a superplasticizer to decrease the amount of water used in the mix, strengthening the final product. The fibers help reduce or eliminate cracks (as does the use of wire mesh and rebar) and the superplasticizer allows us to reduce the amount of water used in the mix, allowing for a stronger and harder final product. We were able to find our fibers and superplasticizer at the local ready-mix company. They were quite willing to sell us what we needed. We used <a href="http://www.na.graceconstruction.com/product.cfm?mode=c&id=6&did=1"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Adva 140</span></a> for the superplasticizer (13L for $100) and<a href="http://www.fibermesh.com/product.aspx?ID=2341"> <span style="color: #cc0000;">Fibermesh 300</span></a> for our fibers (900g bag for $12). We followed the guidelines found on the products themselves when figuring out how much to use but altered as we needed.<br />
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Finally, I wanted the perimeter counters of our kitchen to be a dark charcoal color so we used <a href="http://www.quikrete.com/ProductLines/CementColor.asp"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Quikrete Liquid Cement color in Charcoal</span></a>. This is a super thick syrup-like colorant that you can add to your cement to color it up. You need to shake it really, really, really well in order for it to mix nicely. We were able to find the quantity we needed at the Home Depot located on the farthest end of the city, naturally (14 bottles at $11.52 per bottle)! I had wanted to use 1 1/2 bottles per batch but I was short 1 bottle so we cut it back a little to make due with what we had. It still produced a lovely charcoal color.<br />
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We also added metal lathe to all areas of the counters. When pouring the concrete into the moulds, we poured a layer, added the lathe and then poured more concrete on top to ensure the lathe stayed in the middle of the concrete. On the overhangs on both the island and peninsula and around both sink edges, we also added rebar for extra strength.<br />
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Now that you know what we used, let me share the recipe. The recipe is for one batch, which we made in a concrete mixer - we made many batches until we had all the concrete we needed.<br />
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<u>For the charcoal perimeter counters</u>:<br />
3 - 60lb bags Quikrete 5000<br />
15lbs grey portland cement<br />
750mL Adva 140<br />
1 bottle + 125mL Quikrete Charcoal Colorant<br />
30g fibers (I believe we cut this back a little because it was getting a little too fiber-y)<br />
6L water (this changed a little bit, depending on the humidity of the cement but it was pretty close to this each time)<br />
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<u>For the lighter colored island counter where we seeded glass on top after</u>:<br />
3 - 60lb bags Quikrete 5000<br />
15lbs white portland cement<br />
750mL Adva 140<br />
15g fibers (we cut down on the fibers due to the glass we were adding)<br />
6L water (once again, this changed a little bit, depending on the humidity of the cement but it was pretty close)<br />
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We wanted the island counter to be a very light grey so we lightened it up by using the white portland cement instead of the grey portland for the dark perimeter counters.<br />
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When we mixed our batches, we made sure to measure each product accurately using scales and measuring cups. It is important that each batch is exactly the same as the one before it so that the entire counter looks consistent. When mixing according to our recipe, you will produce a thick, sticky concrete mix that trowels really nicely. I will be sure to update when we have polished our counters to show you the final outcome.<br />
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As for the cost breakdown, I don't have all the numbers yet but this is where it stands now:<br />
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Quikrete 5000 - 44 bags @ $10 = $440<br />
Grey Portland cement - 4 bags @ ??<br />
White Portland cement - 1 bag @ ??<br />
13L Adva 140 (we only used about 11L) - $100<br />
Fibermesh 300 - 1 bag = $12<br />
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Quikrete Charcoal Liquid Cement Color - 14 bottles @ $11.52 = $161.28<br />
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1 YEAR LATER:<br />
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I sincerely apologize for not posting this a long time ago. Time has run away from me and I have had no time to blog at all. However, I know the help this can be and so I am wanting to share it with you.<br />
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When we made the counters, I was unsure how I was going to finish them. I knew that I wanted a shiny surface that looked wet at all times. I knew that I wanted the perimeter counters to be dark grey/black in color. I wasn't sure how to get that look so we did some experimenting. I used the diamond polishing pads to polish the perimeter counters and though it made it really smooth, it wasn't shiny. Though we had added the charcoal colorant to the concrete in the perimeter counters, I still wasn't impressed with the depth of the color. It also looked blotchy, which I didn't like. We remedied that by spraying the raw concrete with a black colorant meant for concrete floors. <a href="http://www.hcconcrete.com/products/infusion-acid-stain/semi_trans/"><span style="background-color: black; color: #cc0000;">This is the product we used</span></a> in the Obsidian color. We already had it on hand because we stained other concrete floors with it. I LOVED how it evened out the color of the concrete and made the counters much darker. I finally had the color I wanted so it was time to seal it. Knowing this, we would never have added the colorant to the concrete mix itself but that is one area where we lived and learned. As for the island, the glass did not allow me to polish it with diamond pads as it would have taken forever. Initially we used a concrete grinding disk to grind the glass down smooth and then used the diamond polishing pads to get it progressively smoother. Once we had the counters smooth, it was time to seal them. After doing some experimenting with products on our test piece, we finally choose to use an <a href="http://www.menards.com/main/interior-wood-care/specialty-wood-finishes/envirotex-lite-pour-on-high-gloss-finish-128-ounces/p-1462526-c-13129.htm"><span style="color: #cc0000;">epoxy-type sealant</span></a>. It was purchased at Menard's and was fantastic! It is a two-part system that you mix just before you apply it. We had to ensure a dust-free environment so that was a challenge in a construction environment but we were able to do it. The epoxy was easy to use and gave me that glossy wet look that I wanted. The colors of the black counters and the glass really popped! There are a couple of places where I was unable to get the air bubbles out of the epoxy but I am okay with that. After using the counters for 1 year, I am still in love with them. Oh, sure, there are hairline scratches on the epoxy on the counters because they are used a lot but I can always recoat them with more epoxy anytime I want. I have seen absolutely no cracks in any area of the concrete counters themselves, including all the overhangs. And we use our counters a lot, even sitting on them!<br />
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To see final pictures of our kitchen and check out what the counters look like, see this blog post of our <a href="http://thousandsquarefeet.blogspot.ca/2013/08/house-tour-kitchen.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Kitchen Tour</span></a>.Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-44854168182148835112013-08-12T08:00:00.000-05:002013-08-12T08:00:01.091-05:00Our House Plan - Main FloorIt has been requested before that I share the floor plan of our new house. And it makes sense. I often wonder about the flow of other people's homes since it is much easier to picture where everything is in relation to everything else. So, with very little preamble, here it is! This is the main floor of our house and though we tweaked a tiny bit here and there when we actually built, it is almost exactly like this.<br />
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This is the floor plan we had in mind for years. We found a similar version online a number of years ago and started tweaking it to our liking. No matter how many floor plans we looked at, either online or in books, and we looked at MANY, this was the one we liked best. And we still love it! We had contemplated adding the master bedroom to the main floor so that when we are old and decrepit we wouldn't have to climb stairs but nixed that idea for now. Stairs will be good for our hearts, right? Actually, if we are too old to climb stairs, we are also too old to take care of 5 acres so that is probably when we would move anyway.</div>
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The amount of space on this main floor is 1 1/2 times the size of our other main floor. And you know what? We love the space. At supper the other day, the kids were just saying yet again how much they love all the space in our new house. And I agree completely! As for cleaning it? Well, we are still working out the logistics of that. Kinda hard to keep it dust free when we are still working on it. But I wouldn't give it up, dust and all, to go back to our town home. This is our forever home where we will raise our kids, visit our grandkids, and grow really, really old!</div>
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Next week I will share the upstairs and the week after, the basement.</div>
Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-79259527657673101712013-08-05T14:28:00.001-05:002013-08-05T14:28:15.799-05:00House Tour - KitchenIt has been a VERY long time since I have posted anything here but we have been understandable busy. As you know, we slept here in our new house for the very first time the Thursday before Good Friday, just before Easter, which was March 28. That means we have been in the house for just over 4 months. Which is very hard to believe since time has flown by so quickly. But we absolutely LOVE being here.<br />
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In that time, we have tried to keep working away at the large list of unfinished projects. But other things in life keep coming up and put DIY projects on hold. First, we had to sell our town house which meant we had to pack everything up and move it out, clean the whole thing and get the main floor repainted. That was a lot of work! But once we held our one and only open house (we sold privately), we had an offer, which we accepted, the next day. So, the process of selling the house went super fast. Cleaning it all out was another story.<br />
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Once the house was sold, it was time for me to catch up on all the 2012 paperwork for the farm that I didn't do while building our home. So, that meant everything from April-December of 2012 needed to be entered into the computer, reconciled, etc. and handed in to the accountant so she could have it filed before June 30, which is tax deadline. We made it but not with many days to spare.<br />
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Once the paperwork was done, I had 4 flower girl dresses to sew for my niece's wedding, which was mid-July. That took a bit of time but it was sure fun to pull out the sewing machine again. That is, once I found all my sewing supplies, which were still packed in boxes in various parts of the house.<br />
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That bring us to about now. In between gardening and canning, I am currently working on the school room. That is the room at the top of the priority list since I hope to start schooling again at the end of this month or the very beginning of September. I have already installed all the cabinetry and am currently working on making the desktops. More on that on another post on another day sometime in the future. For today, I wanted to show you the kitchen. My kitchen designer kept bugging me for photos for her portfolio so I took some time last month to take some photos and thought I would share them with you. This room, this kitchen, is a dream-come-true kitchen for me and it has already been very well-used. We have hosted a bridal shower, Mother's Day and Father's Day gatherings, baked many batches of cookies and buns, canned many, many jars of jam and made amazing meals for friends and family. It is a wonderful place to be and I am not sure I would change one.single.thing.<br />
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Without further ado, here is our kitchen. Truly, it is the heart of our home.<br />
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When you look at this kitchen, you may not realize how many things we did ourselves. First of all, I designed this kitchen long before we even started building the house. As a matter of fact, we ordered the kitchen before we even had a hole in the ground. I may have had a kitchen designer but I knew exactly what I wanted and just told her where to put things. <br />
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This is the kitchen I dreamed about after looking at many, many kitchen books and magazines. The upper cabinets with glass doors? Check! Lighting in the very upper cabinets? Check! Painted and glazed cabinetry? Check! White subway tile backsplash? Check! Pullout spice racks beside the stove disguised behind pillars? Check! A large mantle-looking exhaust cover? Check! Bookshelves for cookbooks? Check! Pillars supporting both the overhanging peninsula counter and island counter? Check! Places at the counter for all of us to sit? Check! Garbage pullouts in the kitchen? Check! Loads of storage? Check, check, check! This kitchen is loaded with everything I wanted. <br />
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Then, after building the house, we installed the kitchen cabinets ourselves, along with Mr.W. Once the cabinets were in place, we made the concrete countertops. Yup, all the counters in the kitchen are concrete and they are unbelievably beautiful! They are easy to work on, easy to clean, and rolling out dough on them is so nice thanks to their super-smooth-and-shiny surface. After the counters were done, I tiled the whole backsplash and installed the under cabinet lighting while hubby installed our Brazilian pecan floors. Once those were done, I installed all the knobs/pulls on the cupboards and the toe kick at the bottom. I plumbed and installed the dishwasher and put together the fridge/freezer surround. Nevermind that I wired and hung all the lights, painted the walls and built and installed all the mouldings around the windows. This may look like your normal, ordinary, everyday kitchen but to me it is a labor of love, sweat and maybe, just maybe, a few tears.</div>
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You may be wondering, is my kitchen always this clean? Absolutely not! Our kitchen is very lived in, well used, and often holds 7 people working in it. But, I do like to have counters that aren't cluttered. As of yet, I haven't found the perfect decorating pieces for the counters so they are empty . . . for now. As things change, I will be sure to keep you informed. But I hope you enjoyed today's tour anyway. Hopefully, I can show you more rooms in the house soon as they are finished up and I promise to include a full floor-plan as well so you can see how each room interacts with the next.</div>
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Sources:</h3>
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<u>Cabinetry</u> - <a href="http://www.medallioncabinetry.com/Inspiration/DoorGallery/DoorDetail?Door=0ffa1a00-0b50-4566-a8df-86b2654eb0c4"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Medallion Cabinetry, Brookhill Style</span></a>, maple wood; the island and range hood are in the Onyx stain and the rest of the cabinets are painted Morel with a Burnt Sienna glaze<span style="font-size: x-small;"> (ordered through McDiarmid Design Center)</span></div>
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<u>Flooring</u> - <a href="http://www.truehardwoods.com/catalog/item/7297950/7577254.htm"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Triangulo Engineered Brazilian Macchiato Pecan 1/2" x 5 1/4"</span></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(ordered online)</span></div>
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<u>Backsplash Tile</u> - white 3"x6" subway tile <span style="font-size: x-small;">(purchased at Menards)</span></div>
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<u>Wall paint</u> - <a href="http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/overcoat"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Benjamin Moore 'Overcoat'</span></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(purchased at Janzen's Paint in Steinbach)</span></div>
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<u>Countertops</u> - DIY</div>
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<u>Appliances</u> - stove: <a href="http://www.electroluxicon.ca/ca-en/ProductDetail.aspx?pId=19326"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Electrolux Icon Dual Fuel</span></a>; All-Refrigerator: <a href="http://www.electroluxappliances.ca/node31.aspx?tab=1&categoryid=1386&productid=19051"><span style="color: #cc0000;">19 cu ft. Electrolux</span></a>; All-Freezer: <a href="http://www.frigidaire.com/All-Products/Kitchen/Freezers/FPUH19D7LF.aspx"><span style="color: #cc0000;">19 cu ft. Fridgidaire</span></a>; dishwasher: <a href="http://www.bosch-home.ca/products/dishwashers/shop-all-dishwashers/SHE3AR75UC.html?source=browse"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Bosch</span></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(stove, fridge, freezer are scratch & dent from Bain's Appliance Repair in Winnipeg; dishwasher was a sale purchase from Wien's in Niverville)</span></div>
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<u>Windows</u> - <a href="http://www.durabuiltwindows.com/"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Durabuilt</span></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(ordered through their Winnipeg office)</span></div>
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Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-11719447794357215992013-04-08T16:41:00.000-05:002013-04-08T16:41:35.633-05:00We Have Moved!!Thursday, March 28, 2013, we officially moved into our new house! Well, we moved all the beds and larger furniture and slept there. Then we spent the Easter weekend at gatherings. After Easter, we went back to the "old" house and packed more things and brought them to the new house. We have now been there just about 1 1/2 weeks and we LOVE it! It is home. Each day we try to unpack boxes while continuing to finish the house. I just finished the kid's vanity in their bathroom the other day and now I need to work on the vanity in our bathroom. But the house is completely functional and we have already had people over on a couple of different occasions. This week we host some friends for supper and host a bridal shower for my niece. The house as it is is completely functional even if it is still slightly unfinished. But, we don't have internet at the new house. So, I have been slightly absent since I don't come back here ("old" house) very often. Hopefully that will be remedied soon. In the meantime, I will take plenty of pictures, work hard to finish up the unfinished project (which will take a long time, I am sure) and share them with you when we actually have internet. Just wanted to share the good news with you in the meantime.Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-7384329577138973952013-02-18T13:17:00.002-06:002013-02-18T13:17:50.888-06:00A Few Snippets of the HouseIt has been a long while since I have posted but it is only because we are working hard to get the house completed this month. I have put in long hours while Jay continues to work hard at all the jobs he has. Progress continues to happen - some days more quickly than others. Today there is a lovely blizzard happening here (well, not so much snow but such strong winds that it is blowing all the snow around - roads are closed so we are stuck at home) that I thought I would give you a quick photo update to show you the latest happenings.<br />
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Sealing the kitchen counter tops was top priority because so many things were riding on that decision. It took many hours of research and fretting on my part but I finally decided to go with an epoxy-type sealer for the counters. And I am SO glad I did! I love how smooth and shiny it has made them. Prior to sealing the exterior counters, I stained them black with the same stain I used on the basement and mudroom floor. I was just not satisfied with the color the concrete was prior to that. The stain really evened it out and gave me that contrast to the island counter top I was hoping for. Once the counters were sealed, which was really not hard to do, I could finish up the tiling and grouting of the back splash and Mr. W installed the sinks and faucets. I just love how it all turned out. Once the back splash was complete, we re-installed all the lower cabinet doors and drawers and I attached some of the pulls and knobs as well. The kitchen is really coming along nicely.<br />
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Our master bath is shaping up nicely. The air massage tub we purchased about 1 1/2 years ago off Kijiji and the roman tub faucet I found for a steal at Liquidation World combine to make a wonderful addition to our bathroom. They are all hooked up and functioning perfectly. I have already had a bath in this tub and it.was.glorious! I have since installed the casings on the windows.<br />
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The corner shower in our en suite is a lovely European thing that I haven't yet tried out. It has many body jets plus a large rain shower head so it could be fun! Mr.W installed a curved ceiling with lights above it to add some flare! It just needs to be painted.<br />
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Jason worked hard on and off for a few days to complete this shelving in our main floor pantry. This walk-in pantry is right next door to our kitchen and is going to be so lovely to use. He says it looks kind of out of place since the rest of our house looks much fancier and this is just functional. I am totally fine with functional! It just needs a bit of touch up paint but other than that it is good to go! We also installed a couple of base cabinets along with a butcher block counter on the opposite wall to create a sort of "butler's pantry" area - a place for the toaster, extra crock pots, food for when large groups are going to be coming over, etc. I think it will come in very handy. You can just see it on the right of the photo.<br />
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The big thing Jason and I worked on this past week was to install flooring! We finished installing the flooring in the kitchen so we slide our range and our dishwasher into place. I even used the oven for the first time. Hopefully this coming week, we can move our full fridge/full freezer into place as well. Then our kitchen will be completely functional.</div>
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Since the flooring in the kitchen was complete, it was time to move onto the living room. Even though Jay was sick and spent time moaning on the floor, he stuck with the job and together we were able to finish the living room. It looks so spectacular! We love our flooring and hope it holds up really well.</div>
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And, as a final photo for today, I am not sure if I have ever shown you the panel detailing that is going up our main staircase. Mr.W did all the work himself and it looks so lovely. He also made our handrail and installed the newel post so now we just need the spindles. I have stained the handrail but will add one more coat to darken the color. As for the panelling, I have since primed it and it totally changes the look of the staircase.<br />
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And that is a glimpse of where the house is at today. What do you think?</div>
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Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-85080625403595961932013-01-23T00:32:00.001-06:002013-01-23T13:10:38.795-06:00Pinspiration to Reality - DIY Coffered CeilingA long time ago, even before we started building the house, I would spend time online, figuring out the details of the house. I loved looking at <a href="http://www.houzz.com/"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Houzz</span></a> for all the beautiful homes and ideas it showcased. It was often the place Jay and I could be found after the kids were in bed, figuring out how the staircase would work or what we wanted the kitchen to look like or a whole bunch of other things we needed to figure out. It was actually a lot of fun to hear what he liked and what he didn't. One time I stumbled upon a coffered ceiling (some people refer to these as box beam ceilings. It is only a regional difference in name referring to the same thing) unlike any other and <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/38984352994654483/"><span style="color: #cc0000;">I pinned it on Pinterest</span></a>. It was stunning! I knew that ceiling was going to be in my house! It was written into the plans and I eagerly anticipated seeing it come to life.<br />
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Knowing that we would be building a coffered ceiling and not wanting to worry about finding a stud in which to attach the coffered ceiling, we covered the ceiling with OSB. This allowed us to nail wherever we wanted, knowing we would always hit wood. The OSB was then covered with drywall.</div>
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Even before the drywall began, I drew out the ceiling plan on the floor. It is much easier to measure and mark on the floor then to measure and mark on the ceiling. Then we just used a laser level later on to transfer those marks to the ceiling. Easy peasy!!<br />
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After the walls and ceiling had the drywall in place, we were sure to build bulkheads around the exterior of the living room to define the area of the coffered ceiling as well as define the living room area itself (plus hide some heating ducts). Our main floor is an open concept plan so this was a great way to separate the rooms without adding walls. Instead of using wood to create the framing for the bulkheads, we used metal angle brackets. They were simply long piece of "L" shaped aluminum. It was easy to attach them where we wanted. We needed to add small pieces of 2x4's for strength and backing for drywall but it was much easier doing it this way than using all wood. I did most, if not all, the framing of the bulkheads in the living room by myself, it was that easy.<br />
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Once that was done and the drywall was installed on the bulkheads, 2x6s were attached to the ceiling in the location of the "beams". These would create the base for the coffered ceiling detail and is the wood to which all other pieces were attached.<br />
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After the 2x6s were in place, we used cardboard to figure out the depth we wanted the beams to be. <br />
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Once that was determined, we removed the cardboard (obviously!) and went to work adding all the MDF to the sides of the 2x6s, creating the sides of the beams. Additional MDF was added to create the bottom of the beams. Then extra pieces were added on the sides to create inset areas similar to what is found on our <a href="http://thousandsquarefeet.blogspot.ca/2013/01/the-makings-of-traditional-fireplace.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">fireplace</span></a>. Mr.W got us started, putting on the first piece or two with Jay. Then Jay and I did the longer pieces and then Jay left me to do the rest of the ceiling by myself. Mr.W thinks that since I come up with these great ideas, I should be the one to make them. (Read that to say: I come up with all these intricate, takes-a-lot-of-work-and-are-a-pain-to-do-but-look-really-good details so he "lets" me do them!)<br />
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The most time-consuming and frustrating part was to follow. Panel moulding was installed in each inset area on the sides of the beams. I did about 1/2 of it on my own one evening before Mr.W (the builder/carpenter we hired to make sure we build the house right) gave me a couple of tips on how to do it even better the next day. The second half of the job looked so much tidier and tighter. After filling and painting, they practically look the same but I am much happier about the job I did on the second day.<br />
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Once all the wood work was done and all the nail holes were filled and sanded and the rest of the MDF edges sanded, the ceiling was given a good coat of paint. And, voila! The coffered ceiling I imagined since before we started building the house! It really is spectacular and worth every minute of work it took! This is our forever house, Lord willing, and we wanted to take the time to make it special. We think we accomplished just that!<br />
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There, now if I can build a coffered ceiling, you can, too! It really isn't that hard - just takes a lot of patience! What do you think? Did we accomplish what we set out to do and make a coffered ceiling just as nice as the one that inspired me?</div>
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Partying over here:</div>
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<a href="http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="More the Merrier Monday" border="0" src="http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/ab68/The_Hammonds/Jamies%20blog/Buttons/MMMbutton300.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://thediydreamer.com/" title="The DIY Dreamer"><img alt="The DIY Dreamer" src="http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d189/lexieex/The%20DIY%20Dreamer/DIYLinkPartyButton.png" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://thewinthropchronicles.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r535/thewinthropchronicles/winthroplinkpartyflat.png" /> </a><br />
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<a href="http://threemangoseeds.blogspot.ca/2013/01/its-party-time-12013.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Three Mango Seeds</span></a><br />
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<a href="http://itssoverycheri.com/2013/01/20/its-party-time-1-20-2013/"><span style="color: #cc0000;">It's So Very Cheri</span></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.settingforfour.com/2013/01/its-party-time-1-20-2013-linky-party.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Setting for Four</span></a><br />
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<a href="http://cupcakesandcrinoline.com/2013/01/its-party-time-linky-party-16-and-features-from-last-weeks-party"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Cupcakes and Crinoline</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://diyshowoff.com/category/other/diy-project-parade/" title="DIY Show Off"><img alt="DIY Show Off" src="http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac195/Roeshel/DIYprojectparadebutton-1.png" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;" /></a></div>
Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-61146576204533566742013-01-14T23:33:00.001-06:002013-01-15T18:25:07.954-06:00The Makings of a Traditional Fireplace - Mantle, Surround and Hearth<div style="text-align: center;">
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This is a DIY project to the max! We even built the house the fireplace is in! :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raising the chimney chase walls themselves, way back in June of 2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fireplace is newly installed</td></tr>
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The decision to have a wood-burning fireplace in our new home was a no-brainer. I love the sound of a fire crackling in the hearth, I love the warmth the fire gives and I love the coziness it provides to a room. We did bat around the idea of a gas fireplace for a little while but when we learned that a wood-burning fireplace would not increase the cost of insurance for our house one little bit, wood-burning it was. Then it came time to figure out what kind of fireplace we needed and wanted. Jay wanted it to be a source of heat for the house and it needed to be efficient and put out a lot of BTU's. He told me which companies to pick from, I picked the ones I think looked the prettiest from those companies and then he ultimately chose the one that would be the best for our home. Then it was time to figure out what the mantle, surround and hearth was to look like. I knew I wanted a traditional look and feel to the fireplace. I am not much for a modern look, preferring the comfort of traditional styling. I scoured the web for inspiration photos and sent them off to Mr.W to give him the idea of what I wanted (for those of you visiting for the first time, Mr.W is our carpenter/builder guy we have hired to help us build our home. He works alongside us most days making sure the house gets built right.) I still have those photos attached to that email but since I didn't record their source, I won't share them with you. Then came time to frame out the fireplace opening.<br />
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Before any work started on the actual surround, Mr.W drew out his idea on the wall. I was so excited after seeing that drawing! Not only did the drawing help us to agree on the design, it also gave Mr.W a reference point once the building of the surround began. Once that was done, Mr.W adding back framing here and there to make sure there was something to nail the MDF to when making the actual surround.<br />
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pfMvogAmmls/UMTs2MTOMhI/AAAAAAAAAUk/byfNWAPY0fQ/s1600/Mr.W%2520backframing%2520the%2520fireplace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_uid_v9oy0n="237" height="576" pageoffsetid="_off_1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pfMvogAmmls/UMTs2MTOMhI/AAAAAAAAAUk/byfNWAPY0fQ/s576/Mr.W%2520backframing%2520the%2520fireplace.jpg" style="-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; height: 576px; width: 383px;" width="383" /></a></div>
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Then came time to cut the MDF. What a dusty process! He added pieces here and there and the surround started to take shape. Along the way, we talked together about how we wanted it to look, what size mouldings to use and numerous other little details that would affect the final outcome. While Mr.W did the majority of the wood work on the surround, I did add most of the panel moulding on the surround myself. <br />
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<img closure_uid_v9oy0n="748" height="576" pageoffsetid="_off_0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rjo7y1tr4tA/UMTtVugUp6I/AAAAAAAAAVM/dukc1W_jvyU/s576/Mr.W%2520figuring%2520out%2520the%2520fireplace%2520design.jpg" style="-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; height: 576px; left: 573px; top: 2px; width: 383px;" width="383" /></div>
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Then it was time to paint. Obviously, that was preceded by lots of sanding of the MDF and filling of all the nail holes. Then I painted a few coats of Distant Grey by Benjamin Moore, the same white we are using on all the trim in the house. I added Floetrol to the paint to increase the working time and hopefully avoid brush marks. Though it looks pretty good from a distance, I will still go over a couple areas again just to get it a little smoother. Once it was all painted, it was time to add the stone.<br />
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I had seen this stone months earlier at Costco and thought it could be a nice fit for the house but wasn't sure on the price. I told Jay about it and we decided to think about it a little. Once we determined it was not only a good look but a fantastic price, I went back 1-2 weeks later to get some and it was all gone! Ack! I wanted that stone. So, we decided to keep our eyes open elsewhere but nothing jumped out at me. Then, a long while later, while at Costco, they had the stone in stock again! So, we quickly did a mental calculation and popped a bunch of (very heavy) boxes in the cart. I was giddy! <br />
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It was my job to do the stone work on the surround and I was quite okay with that. This stone comes in long rectangle strips made up of a bunch of little stone pieces glued together. Since the pieces are all different colors full of shades of greys, whites, pinks, oranges, browns and beiges, I pulled out all the pieces from the many boxes we bought and laid them out on the floor. Then I picked all my favorite pieces based on the color composition. I then arranged those pieces into the approximate shape I needed, marking which parts of the stone I would keep and which parts I didn't want. It took a little time initially but once it came time to cut the stone, it was much quicker for having figured it all out beforehand. The rest of the uncut stone I will repack and return to Costco. (They have a fantastic return policy!)<br />
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The stone cuts really well with a wet tile saw but you sure do get wet! <br />
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I started at the bottom of the surround and cut those pieces. Once both sides had their pieces cut, I mortared them in place. <br />
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Since we were attaching the stone to cement board, there was no need for lathe. We just used mortar applied to the surround and back buttered on each stone to set them in place. I did the sides up to where the fireplace starts to curve. <br />
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Then I went back to cutting and dry-fitting each stone in place. Whoever had the idea of a curved fireplace is a little insane! It takes so much longer to cut one curved piece of stone than many straight pieces. And if you know anything about tile saws, you cannot cut a curved shape. It takes lots of kerf cuts and some grinding with a rotary tool and lots and lots and lots of patience! BUT I did a fantastic job, if I do say so myself! I eventually had all those pieces of stone cut and mortared in place and the result is beautiful!<br />
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<img closure_uid_5y54e="1146" height="576" pageoffsetid="_off_0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-eEXPCzV2mpw/UOxcdgKrtmI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/1YB_2gbzIvU/s576/stone%2520around%2520fireplace.jpg" style="-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; height: 576px; left: 545px; top: 2px; width: 439px;" width="439" /></div>
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Then came the whole "what color tile for the hearth" debate. I was quite sure the dark grey tile was what I wanted. I saw it in stock at the local hardware store, walked by it many times each morning when I had to pick up something or other and finally thought that was the one I wanted. It looked perfect with the stone, drawing out the grey. But once I had the stone in place and finished cutting most of the tile, something looked off. I took a photo and didn't like what I saw. <br />
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I couldn't change the stone - it was mortared in place. I refused to change the flooring since it is the most perfect floor ever so it was the tile that needed to change. Thankfully Mr.W suggested I paint the walls before doing anything else. I did that and suddenly the tile worked. <br />
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There was some suggestions to paint the front of the hearth white but after some photoshopping and some photos, it was dark all the way. <br />
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I finished cutting the last few remaining tiles and then mortared those in place, leaving 1/8" space in between for grout. The grout ended up being a little lighter than I expected but I like it anyway!</div>
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Some of you may see that the mantle is quite tall. I have a hard time reaching the mantle while standing on the floor. The fireplace required a certain amount of non-combustible material around it. That is the stone. But I really loved the look of a large and chunky mantle. Yes, I know that it will be a bit of a challenge to reach the mantle for decorating or a challenge to find stuff to put up there but I love the look and am so glad we did it this way. A smaller, shorter mantle just would not have done this room justice! And besides, even without any decor up there, it looks stunning!</div>
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This fireplace has been the best investment ever! It throws a lot of heat and is our primary heat source while building. True, our geothermal is all hooked up but if we turn it on during construction, we void the warranty. So, until we move in, it is this fireplace and 2 small space heaters that are keeping a 2-storey house (3600 square feet) at a comfortable 60F.</div>
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I look forward to adding our new leather sectional to this room and hanging out with the whole family! We just gotta finish this room (and the rest of the house) first!</div>
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Thanks for stopping by! I would love to hear what you think of our work. </div>
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Partying over here:</div>
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<a href="http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="More the Merrier Monday" border="0" src="http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/ab68/The_Hammonds/Jamies%20blog/Buttons/MMMbutton300.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Monday-Funday-Header-Draft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" jea="true" src="http://www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Monday-Funday-Header-Draft.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://thewinthropchronicles.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r535/thewinthropchronicles/winthroplinkpartyflat.png" /> </a></div>
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<a href="http://www.settingforfour.com/2013/01/its-party-time-1-6-2013-linky-party-and.html/" title="Its Party Time at Setting for Four"><img src="http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh620/settingforfour/partybuttonHeather21.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://diyshowoff.com/category/other/diy-project-parade/" title="DIY Show Off"><img alt="DIY Show Off" src="http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac195/Roeshel/DIYprojectparadebutton-1.png" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://thediydreamer.com/" title="The DIY Dreamer"><img alt="The DIY Dreamer" src="http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d189/lexieex/The%20DIY%20Dreamer/DIYLinkPartyButton.png" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;" /></a></div>
Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-60941756792956909632013-01-14T01:04:00.000-06:002013-01-14T22:42:23.499-06:00"Mommy, I Need You"My little baby girl is almost 4 years old. But for another month, she is still 3. A fully toilet-trained 3-year old that still needs a little help cleaning up herself after having used the toilet. In this house we currently live in, I have tried to teach her to use the upstairs bathroom so that I don't have to run downstairs to help her. Doesn't always happen but this house is small enough that I can hear her no matter which bathroom she uses. <br />
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Not quite the same story at the new house. At the new house, we have only one toilet working right now. It is upstairs in the kid's bathroom. It is in the second half of the kid's bathroom so it is behind 2 closed doors. Most of the work we are doing right now is happening on the main floor of the house. But this new house is much bigger than the old house and her voice is much quieter behind 2 closed doors and up a long flight of stairs and down a hall. I don't always hear her when she calls. But what has surprised me more than anything is how she refuses to ask her daddy for help. I find it amusing some of the time, annoying other times and downright confusing the rest of the time.<br />
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Before we had the toilet installed in the new house, we had to use the toilet in the house trailer. That caused a huge problem because there was no way I could hear her calling from inside a completely different building. She learned to tell me she needed to use the bathroom so I could go with her. However, there were numerous occasions when she didn't tell me she had to use the washroom and so her siblings would come tell me she was calling for me so I would arrive to help her, often finding her in tears. I would apologize profusely and hold her close, assuring her I loved her, even if I didn't come right away.<br />
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One day I was cutting stone with the wet tile saw. It makes a lot of noise so I was wearing ear protection. I have a hard enough time hearing the kids right next to me when I am using noisy tools, never mind the one calling from the upstairs bathroom behind 2 closed doors. And the whole time I was working on the stone, Jay was working in the laundry room doing some quiet thing. Ari knew all this. She knew what we were doing and where we were working but she still insisted on calling for me. Eventually Pepe, my 9-year old, told me that Ari had been calling "for like 5 minutes already". Oh, did I feel bad. I asked Jay to go help her and, of course, she was crying that I never came. She felt abandoned. And I felt incompetent, like I had failed her. I was certainly annoyed that time. <br />
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This past week I had to leave the house to go get something - I was gone for probably 5 minutes or a little more. As soon as I walk back in the house, I hear Ari calling for my help. I was completely bewildered. I wasn't even in the house and she was calling for me. She didn't once think I wasn't going to come. She didn't once consider calling her daddy. She just kept calling and calling, even though I wasn't even in the house. Jay was in the kitchen, working quietly. I was mostly bewildered that time with a bit of amusement and annoyance thrown in. It really spoke to my heart - this little girl NEEDS her mom. Her dad won't do. Her sisters or brothers won't do. Only her mom can fulfill that place in her heart. She needs help, she calls her mom, no questions asked. And, in her mind, her mom always comes, no matter if her mom is at the top of the ladder wearing eye and ear protection nailing together a coffered ceiling while her dad is in the room next to her - no matter if her mom isn't even in the area - her mom always comes. I let her down frequently. I don't always hear her. She has cried many tears because I don't always come immediately. How it does my heart good to know that she still calls for me, even after failing her so often.<br />
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But is it also a fantastic reminder that I can always call on my Heavenly Father and he always hears. His ears are never covered. The noise around him is not so great that he cannot hear me. My cries are never too faint for him to hear. He never steps out of the house or out of my life. He always hears when I call and comes immediately. <br />
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Psalm 18:6 says <br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>"But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears."</em></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Throughout this building process, many trials have come our way. Things have been hard. Roadblocks have been thrown in our path. More so lately it seems that it takes more from us to finish this work, finish this house. But I am so thankful that through it all, no matter where we are or what happens, no matter how loud the noise is around us, we can call on our Father to help us and he always hears our cries. He always comes and helps us, no matter what. And that is a promise I will hold firm to as we continue on this journey. And maybe, just maybe, Ari will remember that she can call on her daddy for help, too!</span></div>
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<strong><span style="color: blue;"><em></em></span></strong></span>Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-10610674126239640382013-01-12T11:00:00.002-06:002013-01-12T11:00:28.258-06:00Sneak Peek - The KitchenThis week work continued in the kitchen. The double crown was installed as well as the light valance. I also worked on the countertops more getting them closer to being sealed. But work on the countertop was paused so I could tile the backsplash! So here are a few pictures of the kitchen so far. Certainly still work to be done but getting closer! I also painted various other areas of the house and Jason started installing flooring in the pantry. The hearth is complete on the fireplace so I will show you the end result next week. Without any further ado, here are kitchen pictures so far! Let me know what you think.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Backsplash behind stove</td></tr>
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All of these pictures are of the uppers right now as the lower cabinets are still without their doors/drawers until the countertops are finished. I am certainly loving it so far! It is a dream coming true! <span style="font-size: x-small;"> (And I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures - I forgot my camera at home so these are done with Jay's cell. With the huge blizzard we had last night, I knew I wouldn't get back there today to take better pics.)</span></div>
Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-7196819384765789432013-01-05T01:06:00.003-06:002013-01-05T01:06:51.959-06:00Sneak Peek - The Livingroom<div style="text-align: left;">
As we get closer to finishing each room, I will give you a sneak peek! No, this room is not complete since there is still no flooring or baseboards, some of the casings are still missing and the hearth is yet to be tiled BUT it is close and looking sooooo good. Hard to believe this is my house. I mean, really? The house I own could possibly look this classy? I am still in a bit of shock and each day I still stand and look into the room with a slight smile of amazement on my face! Next week, I just may show you a photo of the kitchen! :)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BEFORE - September 15, 2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AFTER A BIT OF WORK - January 4, 2013</td></tr>
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Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-60558333856467517202013-01-03T09:21:00.001-06:002013-01-03T09:21:21.320-06:00I Need Your Opinion, Please!<div style="text-align: center;">
So I have this posted on my personal FB page but I thought I would share it with you here, too. I have a little dilemma. I am trying to figure out if it looks better to have only dark tiles on my hearth (both the top and the front) or if I should paint the front of the hearth white and leave the top with the dark tile. I have the room a little more "finished" to help figure things out (I laid out a bunch of our absolutely gorgeous flooring and I stuck some baseboards in place BUT the actual baseboards will be taller and more detailed). Which look do you prefer? All dark or white? Please, do tell!</div>
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Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-87155888591227300522013-01-02T09:05:00.001-06:002013-01-03T09:12:50.410-06:00Progress is HappeningI know. It has been WEEKS since any update. But it is not because we stopped working. We have been working almost every single day, all through Christmas "break". In fact, I even did a little work on Christmas Day. Gasp! The only full days off we had were the Sundays and the 26th, which had a family gathering plopped right in the middle of it and went on all day. All the other days saw us working madly. See, we really, really, REALLY want to move in at the end of January and our list is still super long. Sometimes it is discouraging to see what is all left. Sometimes it is encouraging. Nonetheless, each day the house looks a little less like a construction site and a little more like a home. A finished home. And we have already checked 7 things off the list this week (which really doesn't bode well since we need to finish 40 each week but it sure makes us feel good since some weeks saw us finishing 7 things in 6 days instead of 2)Oh, and the fact that Jason's manager at the hog barns quit and is done throws another wrench into the "finish quickly" plans. He is at the house this week but cannot promise to be there at all next week since he needs to work at the hog barns. Yeah. Whatever. It will get done when it gets done, right?<br />
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I truly do intend to update each of the weeks leading up to today but in the meantime I will leave you with a few teaser photos to show you how things are shaping up. I think it is coming together so nicely!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">coffered ceiling and mantle all painted white</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">stonework on fireplace surround - I did it all myself!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img closure_uid_975y6j="422" height="576" pageoffsetid="_off_0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cIdnZUBE0AY/UORJl9oSiUI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/3sSt9UPnJKI/s576/laundry%2520room%2520in%2520progress.jpg" style="-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; height: 576px; left: 573px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; top: 2px; width: 383px;" width="383" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">one of two aqua rooms in the house - laundry room is coming together nicely</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mudroom concrete floor is stained and sealed and the walls are all painted</td></tr>
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There is much work that has been completed since these photos were taken but I will leave that for another day. Now at least you can see what has taken a little bit of our time. And, if you enjoy checking out our progress, please comment and let me know!! I love reading the comments but get a little disappointed when the only comments showing up are spam! :)</div>
Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-76295825114129203262012-12-21T00:18:00.001-06:002012-12-21T00:18:13.361-06:00The meds are working, Praise the Lord!!We knew this day was coming for several weeks now but it didn't make it any easier to endure. This was the day we took all 5 kids into the children's heart center for testing. AJ needed to be retested to see if his meds were working and the rest of the kids needed to be tested to see if they also carry the same heart condition AJ does. When we arrived at just after 12:45pm, the kids all removed their coats and boots and were immediately weighed. Then the 2 little girls came with me while they had their ECG. They have never had any testing like this done so they were mighty apprehensive. Telling them they were just going to have stickers all over their tummy didn't seem to help but once Ali had her test done, Ari was quick to follow. After all, she watched Ali and saw she did fine so it was okay for her as well. While the little girls were having their ECGs, the older 3 were off with Jay for echo cardiograms (ultrasounds of their hearts). They were great for their tests. After all, all you do is lie on your side and have some goop smooshed on your chest. She rubs a wand all over your heart area and you can watch and listen to your heart - quite fascinating, really. When they were done, it was time for AJ to have his stress test. Since he has done this before, it was simple, really. Lie down, hook up all the wire, run on the treadmill, endure the speed and incline changes for 11 minutes and you are done! Well, we were thrilled to see that he was able to go for twice as long on the treadmill before his heart started showing dangerous and abnormal heart rhythms. That means his beta-blocker medication is working and we are so thankful for that! Praise Jesus! Once he was done, it was Pepe's turn. He was not so excited. Stoic. Serious. No fun. Just get it over with. He ran. He stopped at just shy of 7 minutes, complaining his legs hurt. I was a bit disappointed in him quitting but they were able to get the results they needed. Perfectly normal! Thank you, Lord! Then it was RJ's turn. She was looking forward to this for so long. She was sooo excited about running on the treadmill. So, they hooked her up and eventually, after a very long wait, she was able to hop on the treadmill. She only lasted just over 7 minutes before she asked to stop but the technician said it is hard for little kids (RJ is 6) to run coordinated on an inclined treadmill. But she did enough to get normal test results so we are super thrilled about that, too! While the older 3 were on the treadmill, the younger 2 were off for their echo cardiograms. But Ali did not like it one little bit. Jay had to lie down right behind her on the bed so the test could be done. It was but she wasn't happy about it. Ari was much better, a little more adventurous than Ali. Then, after everyone was tested, AJ was hooked up to the holter monitor, which is a portable ECG that monitors him for the next 24 hours. He has a bunch of wires stuck to him with lots of tape holding it all in place so it is rather uncomfortable but he is a trooper. I promised Lego when he is done! :) Then we sat for what seemed like forever to hear all the results. It was tiring watching one staff member after another leaving at the end of the day and we were still there. Finally, it was just our family and our doctor left. And then he told us all the good news. AJ's meds are working. Pepe and RJ have normal test results. Ari and Ali, though, because they are too young for the treadmill, will have to have a holter monitor test at some time in the future to rule out any heart condition. But their tests were also normal (which, incidentally, doesn't mean much since AJ also has normal ECG results and a normal echo cardiogram. That is why the holter and/or stress test is so important.). So, that was all good. Now on to the next steps. Jay and I must be tested. We need to go to our family doctor and explain what is happening with AJ and request testing for ourselves. AJ will fly to another province to have an MRI of his heart in the new year. This is another test the doctor is expecting to have normal results. That is the funny thing about this rare heart condition, called CPVT. Most resting results are normal. The heart muscle itself is also normal. It is just an inability of the heart's electrical system to handle adrenaline so it runs into problems with exercise or emotionally-induced stress. Once the MRI is completed, AJ will go for genetics testing to see if they can identify the gene causing the CPVT. In 40%-60% of the cases, they cannot identify the gene but they can some of the time. If they can, then we know for certain he has CPVT and the rest of the family can also be tested so we would know with certainty who has it and who doesn't. If the gene cannot be identified, a couple of other invasive tests can be performed to solidify a diagnosis of CPVT. Since those tests are not mandatory and since they are full of risks, we are inclined to not do them. It is not that important to us that we have a certain 100% diagnosis of CPVT if it means AJ's life is at risk. We know that the meds are working and we trust the doctor. He is one of only 9 specialists in the country and the only one in our province that knows and understands this relatively new and rare condition. With all the research we have done (which isn't hard to do since there is not that much written about it - remember, new and rare) we know that this is what AJ has. It fits every description to a tee. So, for now the AED stays with us until the medication controls it perfectly or until they implant an internal defibrillator. Whatever the case, we are thankful for today's results and were so glad to leave the clinic 4 1/2 long hours after we arrived.Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-32955318544756539672012-12-09T14:25:00.000-06:002012-12-09T14:25:43.361-06:00Owner Building a Home - Week 29 - Flooring Continues, Fireplace Surround, Coffered CeilingThis past week has been a mixed bag of emotions for me. I made a list of all the things we need to do before we can move in the house. It is almost 200 items long and that is only the ones I remembered. Each day I have added one or two things I forgot. It is good to have a list so that I can stay focused, see what needs to be done and get it done. But it can be overwhelming to see all that is yet to be completed and it makes me think we will NEVER move in. We will but probably not this year. Maybe mid-January?<br />
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Since the septic field was installed last week, the top priority was installing a toilet in the house. Jay worked on that first thing on Monday and, let me tell you, going upstairs to the bathroom instead of across the yard to an unheated building is soooo nice. We appreciate our toilet very much! :)<br />
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This week we installed floor heat pipe in the mudroom/laundry room/Jay's bathroom area to prepare for the heated concrete floor. Jay and Mr.W had marked out the lines earlier so we just needed to follow the rather faded pencils lines. Jay and I worked on laying the lines together and there was NO ARGUING!! See, miracles do happen! :) We layed out the 1/2" pipe and used talon pipe clamps for PEX pipes to nail it to the wooden subfloor. Jay held the pipe while I nailed the clamps in place.<br />
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The next day we poured the concrete floor. It was a very wet mixture so it practically flowed in place. It is only 1 1/2" thick so we made sure there was super plasticizer and fiber mesh in the mix since we weren't adding any rebar. It took many hours before it cured.<br />
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While the concrete was curing and Mr.W was babysitting it, Jay and I went to the city to pick up our new stove that was now ready. I bought this stove from the same business where I bought our full fridge/full freezer. This company specializes in scratch and dent Electrolux and Frigidaire products. This stove had a dented door so they replaced the door with a brand new one even before they let me buy it. This is a completely brand new stove but I only paid 43% of full retail value! A huge savings for what I hope is a fantastic Electrolux Dual-Fuel stove. Since we already borrowed a truck to get the stove, we "quickly" made a stop to the newest IKEA in Canada, just 30 minutes from our house. The store has only been open 1 week so it was busy but not insane. I practically had to wear blinders as I walked through because we were on a strict timeline and I needed to get to the kitchen cabinetry. We were picking up the cabinets for our laundry room and some for in the pantry. We also picked up some butcher block counters for in the laundry room. By the time we had everything we came for, the cabinets and the stove, the back of the truck was full. My next trip to IKEA better be more leisurely. But even if it isn't, IKEA is here to stay and we no longer need to travel 7 hours into another country to get to the next closest store. Jay even said we can go there as a family to eat in the restaurant ANYTIME we want. And that is a quote I will hold him to.<br />
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My focus this week has been to finish grinding/polishing the counter tops. The island is complete and ready for the sealant. The perimeter counters need a few more hours of work but they are close. However, since the saw was set up in the living room next to the kitchen and all the MDF being cut was making scads of dust, the counter tops will be finished next week. Hopefully.<br />
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Mr.W started the actual work on the fireplace surround and mantle this week. This project he has done completely on his own with only our input for design ideas. I am okay with that. He has finished the MDF portion of the surround and next week will work on adding all the 1/2 rounds and 1/4 rounds, crown and panel moulding needed to finish it off. Then I get to paint it! <br />
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Mr.W also got Jay and I started on the coffered ceiling in the living room. He did a bit of the work with us to show us how to do it then left us to work on it alone. Once again, we were able to work together well without arguing. Maybe after almost 30 weeks of working on the house, we can finally work together like mature adults, showing the same respect to each other as we do to others? Only time will tell. We have completed all the MDF portion of the ceiling and now just need to add the panel mouldings. It is looking sooo good!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img closure_uid_mw1370="237" height="640" pageoffsetid="_off_0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XpxC88rxzw8/UMTt_aMFVMI/AAAAAAAAAVo/dwr0OlzrT28/s640/starting%2520work%2520on%2520coffered%2520ceiling.jpg" style="-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; left: 573px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; top: 2px;" width="425" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First, you add the MDF to make the sides.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You work your way around the room adding all the sides, gluing and nailing each piece.</td></tr>
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After you have added the sides and the bottoms, you start adding 2" stripss on the top and bottom of the sides to add more detail, which actually mimics the detail on the fireplace.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bottom 2" strip overlaps the bottom of the box by 1/2" adding more dimension and interest.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once the 2" strips are complete, you add other pieces at the ends and in the center of each side to add further interest, mimicking the fireplace surround yet again. </td></tr>
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I also started painting in the office. The paint looks so good with the lights I installed last week (though Jay laments that with those pendant lights, he cannot play volleyball in the office!).</div>
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And I was also able to finish filling all the holes in the base/case in RJ's room, sand it all and caulk where needed (which was everywhere). I have never caulked before so with 2 instructions foremost in my mind - a small hole and push the gun - I am getting the hang of it. I will have many more feet to practice on. Her room is now ready for the final coat of paint on the baseboards/casings (which should be a quick thing to do) and her room is DONE! I will wait to do that final coat until I have a few more rooms ready as well.</div>
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I am so thankful for a day of rest. With all the work on the coffered ceiling, my triceps as super sore and in need of rest. And now my blog is up-to-date! :)</div>
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Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-86432196794630585622012-12-08T23:25:00.001-06:002012-12-08T23:27:01.369-06:00Owner Building a Home - Week 28 - Library Panelling, Grinding and Polishing Countertops, Septic SystemThis week Mr.W started work on the library panelling we will have going up the stairway. I love the detail it adds.<br />
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Mr.W made somewhat of a comprehensive list this week to outline what still needs to be done. It is not short. Since I need to start working even more at the house, the kids are now doing their school at the new house. Yes, I still have to stop frequently to answer questions and help them out but we are sticking to the basics of math, language, spelling, and Bible for now. We will catch up on the other subjects once we have moved in.<br />
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Since we poured the counters one week ago, it was time to take off the moulds. I was so excited to see how they looked. It seems we did a rather good job with the vibrating because there are not too many air pockets. Overall, I am pleased with how they looked straight out of the mould.<br />
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We started grinding and polishing the counters, which is what I have spent the majority of my time on this week. With the island counter top, we started grinding with a 50 grit diamond polishing pad. It worked - sort of - but would have taken forever. Plus, we would have gone through numerous pads and at $40+ each, I didn't like that option. Since we needed to grind quite a bit of it smooth since the glass was sticking up everywhere, we used a concrete grinding disc and went to work with that. Super fast! I kept the counter wet while Mr.W ground it to the level we wanted. Then I resumed grinding with the diamond polishing pads, starting with 50 grit and moving up to 100, 200 and 400. They work really well when used on a orbital sander with a wet counter. I am impressed with their performance but not impressed that the Velcro used to attach the pads to the sander wore out before the grit part did. Oh well, they work just as well if you use them by hand, just not nearly as quickly. It is wet and messy work.</div>
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Finally, towards the end of the week, the company we hired to install the septic system arrived! It was a very happy day since we have been waiting for them for a while. They also installed a water line out into the yard that has a hydrant-style tap to turn it on and off farther under the ground. This prevents the lines from freezing so that we can not only use the line to water a garden in the summer but we can also use the line to make a skating rink in the winter. How thoughtful of my husband! While they worked on the system outside, Jay continued working on the plumbing inside and completed all we needed in order to check all the water lines for water tightness. We now have running water throughout the house! Now if only we were ready to install a faucet! With the septic system complete and the water running, a toilet is first on the agenda for next week.</div>
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And that sums up our week.</div>
Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-40416460473092381852012-12-08T12:29:00.002-06:002012-12-08T12:29:43.629-06:00Owner Building a Home - Week 27 - Concrete CountertopsYes, I realize this update is about 3 weeks late so I apologize. I have been busy, busy, busy! I will try to remember what we all did but I can only go according to the photos I took. Since I don't photograph everything, only some of what we did is shown here.<br />
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The big push this week was to get the last minute details completed for pouring the concrete counter tops and to pour them, which you can read all about <a href="http://thousandsquarefeet.blogspot.ca/2012/11/diy-pour-in-place-concrete-countertops_26.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">here</span></a>.<br />
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I also hung a few more lights, with some help!<br />
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Jay installed the vinyl flooring in the kid's bathroom.<br />
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Since the temperatures were so mild, he also did some exterior work.<br />
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We also starting thinking about the fireplace surround and how we wanted it to look. Mr.W drew it on the wall to give us a better idea. It is going to look so great!<br />
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I continued with baseboards and casings throughout the upstairs but that is all I can remember doing.<br />
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Most evenings I stay at the house for supper and work into the evening. This is what it looks like (notice the pizza pop on my lap?). I look forward to spending relaxing evenings by the fireplace in something other than a lawn chair! :)<br />
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Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-41612318568628820952012-11-26T14:04:00.000-06:002012-11-26T14:04:53.137-06:00DIY Pour-in-Place Concrete CountertopsThe day we had been preparing for for weeks was finally upon us - pour day! I spent hours researching, studying, researching, reading, studying, researching before this day to determine what we needed for our pour-in-place concrete counter tops. I wanted to do this correctly but not spend a fortune. Unfortunately, there was no one place to gather all the info I needed. Hopefully this post (and subsequent ones) will help others in their pour-in-place concrete counter top journey. I will not cover all the info for making the forms for the counter top - that is easier to find online, I would say. You can also look closely at our photos and learn what you can and you can ask any questions. This will be a very photo heavy post but it was a good day and I was able to capture it on "film"!<br />
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Here are the forms all ready for concrete.</div>
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Then it was time to whip up our first batch of concrete. I PROMISE I will tell you our recipe in another post when I can finalize the price breakdown. This was the biggest stressor because NO ONE wanted to tell us how to make the concrete so it required lots of research and a little guessing. I "hope" it worked out well - we will only know when we actually take off the molds. Making the concrete required accurate measurements so we had a few scales and measuring cups in use - they worked great!</div>
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We were going for a consistency that was similar to a Wendy's frosty or thick oatmeal. I think we got it.</div>
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Once it was all mixed really well, it was dumped into a plastic garden cart and carted over to the counters. We did all the mixing in the dining room, right beside the kitchen where we were pouring. This is easy to do in an unfinished house!</div>
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Then Mr.W and I shovelled the concrete into the counter top forms. This concrete is sticky!! It is certainly not a normal mix but we got used to it. We filled a little test piece first and then went to work on the counter tops themselves. The test piece helps us determine when to unmold and gives us a place to practicing grinding/polishing.</div>
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The counter tops will be 2" thick so we filled the forms halfway then added the expanding metal lathe we used for strength and support and finished by adding the remaining 1" of concrete on top of the lathe. Seemed to work just fine. Remember, this concrete is sticky with less water then usual so it is much more dense. We had to be sure to embed that lathe well to ensure none would be sticking up later.</div>
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Before and after adding the lathe, I vibrated the forms using a reciprocating saw without the blade. It worked really well. I vibrated until I no longer saw little bubbles coming to the surface of the concrete. I won't know how well I did until later this week but I hope I vibrated it enough! </div>
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While Mr.W and I were working on the counter tops themselves, Jay and Mr.C (a guy we have hired to help us) worked on the next batch of concrete. They always rinsed out the mixer before starting a new batch. They got quite efficient at it after a while. They had to be sure to add each ingredient at the correct amount for each one. Nothing could be left out. The water was the only variable, sometimes using a little more than other times. That one was the hardest to perfect since each bag of cement had a different humidity level to it. They did such a great job.</div>
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After the first counter top was poured and screed, this is what it looked like:</div>
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It looked a little fuzzy due to all the fibres we used in the mix sticking up. With more trowelling most disappeared but some still remained. We are convinced they will completely disappear with grinding/polishing and, if not, we can always burn them off. After a couple of hours of sitting, this is what the same counter looked like:</div>
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<img closure_uid_fe1km4="3476" height="576" pageoffsetid="_off_1" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x-Bh1xQaYpg/ULO3IibTGgI/AAAAAAAAAMA/XjPTCKyRlmU/s576/first%2520counter%2520after%2520a%2520couple%2520of%2520hours.jpg" style="-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; height: 576px; left: 524px; top: 2px; width: 481px;" width="481" /></div>
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We continued to progress our way around the kitchen perimeter since all those counters are the same recipe, a nice dark charcoal.</div>
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Mr.W had to do a little playing around the sink opening in the perimeter counters because the sink form (Styrofoam) was about 1/4" lower than the outside of the counter top form. I am still not sure how it will turn out when dry but I am convinced it will need a bunch of grinding. Please be sure your sink form and counter top form are at the same level - it makes things infinitely easier (as is the case with our island sink - so much easier!).</div>
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Around each sink opening and for each cantilevered counter, we added in rebar as well as the expanded metal lathe.</div>
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It took many batches of concrete but eventually the charcoal perimeter counters were done. Time to clean off all the tools and start on the island counter. The island is a light grey color (bordering on beige) so we needed to be sure all the tools and the mixer were nice and clean. I didn't want charcoal streaks in the light grey counters. Once again we added in rebar and metal lathe on the cantilevered section.</div>
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We used long pieces of wood to screed everything smooth.</div>
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The island counter was filled with concrete and screeded smooth</div>
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before the very fun part of seeding the glass began. While I seeded, Jay vibrated.</div>
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I used most of these colors, almost 43 pounds of glass. I did not use the clear, the very light pink or the yellow/amber.</div>
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Once the glass was seeded, we needed to embed it in the concrete. Remember, this is dense sticky concrete - the glass did not just fall into place. It required some good strong muscles to work it in. But, eventually, it was all covered by concrete. The next day both Mr.W and I had very tired arms and my wrists and hands hurt, too. It was totally worth it (well, I say that prematurely as we have not yet finished this counter. It still needs grinding/polishing but I have high hopes!).</div>
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Then it was time to clean up all the equipment and start the very long process of steel trowelling the counters. Obviously with the glass on the island, it was impossible to trowel so we left it alone. The perimeter was super easy to trowel, leaving very little to no marks, thanks to the dense cement-rich concrete.</div>
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By the time 9:30pm rolled around, I was super tired. I had been at the house 12 hours already and I was so done. Everyone else had gone home a few hours earlier. I was falling asleep, I was so exhausted. The counters were drying slowly so I figured it would be okay to go home. Thankfully, Mr.W could still trowel in the morning and the rest of the imperfections will disappear with grinding/polishing. As for the island, it looks like a concrete security fence with glass shards sticking up! We will figure out what to do with it later on this week. But for now, we let them continue to cure.</div>
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Overall, the pouring of the counters was a fairly easy and enjoyable process. The prep leading up to it was stressful and I imagine the grinding/polishing will be a steep learning curve but . . . so far . . . so good!</div>
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Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-34396524649653323422012-11-26T11:37:00.000-06:002012-11-26T11:37:17.918-06:00Owner Building a Home - Week 26 - Flooring Arrives, Prep For CountertopsI know it is already over a week ago that this should have been posted - sorry to be so slow! <br />
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This week was a super slow week for me. I had a doctor appointment with AJ on both Tuesday afternoon and Friday afternoon so that meant I wasn't at the house at all. I also had company coming over on Wednesday evening so I stayed home that day to clean and prepare some food. Saturday was the day after learning of AJ's heart diagnosis and all I wanted to do was curl up in bed. We stayed home. So, given I was only there 2 days, I will just post some photos of some of the things we saw happen. Jay continued to work each day but I don't always know what he has done. However, things continue to progress, even it if it is slowly.<br />
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We crushed more glass for the counter top.</div>
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The guys continued to form the counter top form.</div>
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They installed the ceiling medallion in the dining room.</div>
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They also built a mock-up of the coffered ceiling in the living room. The cardboard was just to get a sense of how deep we wanted the "beams" to be.</div>
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Jason went to the US to pick up our Brazilian Pecan flooring that I had ordered from Georgia about a month ago and had shipped to Pembina, ND. It is a little nerve-wracking to order something this expensive from a company you have never been to. We hoped the flooring was everything we wanted it to be and . . . so far . . . it is! It is so gorgeous. Hopefully the installation goes just as smoothly as buying and getting the flooring.</div>
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While I was in the city with AJ on Tuesday, I went to many stores buying crown moulding, a dresser to be used as a vanity, colored glass to be smashed into itty bitty pieces, groceries, lighting, etc. The van was super full but it was a good day. On Friday I only made one stop after the 3-hour long appointment but it was to pick up the charcoal colorant for the counter tops we will be pouring next week. It was necessary even if I would have rather come straight home. Sitting in city traffic during rush hour after hearing your son has a serious heart condition is not my idea of a good time. But God was faithfully with me and I am so thankful for that.</div>
Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-83001397620798414942012-11-18T23:44:00.000-06:002012-11-18T23:44:46.547-06:00Beginning our Journey with CPVTThere are times when you can look back and see the hand of God at work and things make sense in hindsight. Less often, though, for me, I see the hand of God at work in the midst of uncertain times. Those are times of great encouragement. That is what has been happening these past few months. Let me start at the beginning of the story.<br />
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Back in July, during the heat wave we were having, AJ, our 8 year-old, and his 9 year-old brother were walking on the road to Grandma's house. Their house is just a short walk away and the boys wanted to walk over. I told them explicitly not to run because I didn't want them to overheat. It really was a hot day. I followed behind them a few minutes later in the van with the girls and found Pepe standing in the middle of the road, hands in front of him, motioning for me to stop. I was frustrated with his seeming lack of concern for safety so I slowed down and told him not to do that, it was dangerous. AJ was walking on the side of the road. Pepe explains to me that AJ had passed out on the side of the road. I loaded them both in the van, very concerned about AJ, and took them to Grandma's where I layed AJ down in a cool room and got him something to drink. I asked Pepe what happened. He said AJ just passed out but Pepe thought he was joking. First he stepped on his arm to make him get up then he started tickling him. Both got no response. Then AJ woke up and Pepe realized this was not a joke. AJ was pale and slightly sweaty but seemingly okay. He laid there for while and then went back to playing. I returned to working at the house and gave Grandma clear instructions to call should AJ feel any worse. Though it may seem like I didn't care, you must know that my sister always fainted. It was chronic and persistent and we learned to live with it. I thought this was just a reaction to the heat and once he was in a cool room with something to drink he would be fine. And he was.<br />
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On a cool August 25th, AJ was playing outside the house, running around with his brother and friend, when he stopped to catch his breath and promptly passed out. His friend found him, called his brother, who ran to get his Nana and Papa. Papa carried him into the house and realized his heart was racing. We layed him down and tried to cool him off as he was very sweaty but with cold, clammy hands. He was tired so I took him to the van to lie down and kept checking on him repeatedly. He was doing fine, liked the quiet time and seemed totally okay. Remember, fainting in my family is common.<br />
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Though it seemed trivial, I mentioned this to our family doctor a few days later on August 29th and she immediately sent AJ for an EKG and ordered an EEG and a referral to a paediatrician. The EKG happened later that afternoon while the wait to see the paediatrician was a little longer. Just over one month later, on October 4, I received a call that AJ could see a doctor in a town 1 1/2 hours away on November 5. I declined, saying I would rather have a paediatrician in the main city only 1/2 hour away. They warned the wait for that could exceed 1 year. I quickly said a prayer, talked to my hubby, and decided to wait that year. Later that same afternoon, I received a call from a paediatrician in that city that they wanted to see me the next day, October 5. I say God had a hand in that, wouldn't you? The paediatrician AJ now sees is a wonderful young doctor who is insistent on pursuing all tests possible to figure out the cause of AJ passing out. On that first visit, he asked a bunch of questions then sent AJ for many tests - a breathing test, another EKG and blood work, muscle tone tests and coordination tests. 1 week later, on October 12, AJ went for his EEG to see if the problem stemmed from his brain. He was a little trooper, having all those wires attached to his head but the technologist working with him was so great.<br />
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On November 1, AJ was running around a play structure when he came to me and told me he felt like he was going to pass out. I made him sit and put his head between his knees and he felt okay after a few minutes. I tried to keep him from running but he was annoyed with me. Later that same morning, we did a very unscientific heart rate check. His resting heart rate was 99 bpm and after running/walking for 5 minutes, I couldn't count it at all. It was irregular and hard and unreadable. Then I was a little concerned.<br />
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We had to wait a number of weeks to ensure all the test results were back but then we went to see the paediatrician again on November 13, this past Tuesday. All test results came back normal. His blood is normal. His EEG was normal. His EKGs are normal. However, the paediatrician was still not convinced there wasn't something more so he referred us to a cardiologist. He did warn it could take 3 months or more to see a specialist like that. He also sent AJ for another EKG. 2 days later I had 2 phone calls asking if we could please come to the Variety Children's Heart Clinic at 1:30 on Friday, November 16, only 3 days after the referral. What a fantastic God, orchestrating this all for us!! <br />
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We arrived at the clinic but had no idea what was about to happen. AJ had an ultrasound of his heart and it seemed, to me, that the technician spent a considerable amount of time looking at a certain part of his heart, listening to the way it beat. After that, AJ had to have a stress test. He was to lie on a bed so they could hook him up to many different wires and then lie there for a bit so they could get a good reading of his heart at rest. Then he was to get on the treadmill and walk/run for 10 minutes. Every 3 minutes it would elevate a little more and go a little faster. His job was to not fall off the treadmill and keep up walking/running for the whole 10 minutes. He really wanted to stop after 7 but he kept going. After he was done, they sat him down, wires still attached and gave him a bright red Popsicle. While he was eating it, more and more people came to see the printout of his heart's activity, just as they had been doing while he was running. They also continued to ask him is he was okay. Eventually the doctor we were supposed to see came to me and told me he had a colleague he wanted me to see that was a specialist in the area of what was going on with AJ. He wasn't sure if the colleague was around or available but he would phone anyway. Turns out he was around and willing to take AJ as a client, which is another example of God's hand at work. He might not have been there any other day but he was on Friday. They looked over AJ's results for a long time, talking with each other, measuring this and that and then sending us to another room for follow-up. There I was asked a whole pile of questions by a resident about the history of AJ passing out, our family history, if anyone ever died suddenly or unexpectedly, if anyone fainted lots, etc. Eventually our specialist came in, a Pediatric Cardiologist/Electrophysiologist and told us that the news he was about to tell us was not good. In fact, it was very scary news. AJ has a rare and very serious, potentially deadly, heart condition called <strong>Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (CPVT).</strong> It is a condition in which the heart beats exceedingly fast and therefore fails to pump enough blood through the body, causing you to black out. AJ's heart reached almost 300 bpm while on the treadmill, about 3 times faster than it should. Often times people do not find out about this condition until after someone in their family has died suddenly and unexpectedly. It is a genetic condition and is often present in more than one family member. It is a non-curable condition but completely treatable. AJ will be on medication for the rest of his life to control his heart rate. However, at this point, AJ is restricted from any physical activity which would raise his heart rate until they can confirm the dosage of medication he needs. We also get to carry around an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) because we never know when his heart will need to be shocked back into rhythm. AJ has named it "FRED" and it now goes with us everywhere. AJ will eventually be able to do everything a normal kid does when he can show on a stress test that the medication is keeping his heart from racing. As I mentioned, it is a genetic condition so the rest of us need to be tested as well. In about 3 weeks, all the kids will go for a stress test to see if any of them also have this condition. Jay and I will have to go to another clinic for our testing as the kids obviously go to a pediatric one. Some of the kids are dreading it, some are super excited!<br />
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We don't know the whole breadth of this journey yet. We do know that God has promised us in Joshua that we can be strong and courageous, we don't need to be afraid or discouraged because God is always with us, never leaving us. It is the reason I was completely calm throughout the whole 3 hour appointment. It is why I continue to be strong today. I am relying on the Lord's strength and He is so faithful to carry me. I already wondered what he had in store for us when all these appointments came together so well. You begin to wonder what he is about to do. But He is so good and loving. AJ is still very much alive. God sustained him through each fainting episode. God sustains him each day. And God is walking this journey with us. We are surrounded by people that love us and pray for us and we give God the honor and glory for it all. If you would like to pray for us, we would love it. Pray for peace, for strength, that the side effects of the medication would be minimal, that the medication would be effective and that through this whole journey, we would continue to praise our God for the marvelous Sustainer he is and bring glory to his name. Amen! :)<br />
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Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-5462730395305823282012-11-10T12:37:00.000-06:002012-11-10T12:37:03.411-06:00Owner Building a Home - Week 25 - Countertop Forms, Dyed Basement Floor<strong><span style="font-size: large;">MONDAY</span></strong> - Once again, I had to take AJ to an orthodontist appointment so that meant I spent the afternoon in the city. I figured while I was out that way anyway and the kids were at Grandma's, I would run from one end of the city to the other getting house stuff. First, I bought 14 DOZEN wine bottles (which equals 168 bottles!!) for $30. I need these so I can smash them into little bits of glass that will be seeding on my island counter top. So far, I have smashed 3. Only 165 to go. Actually, I don't think I will need them all but we will see. Then, just a little way away, was the special water-based dye I ordered for our basement floor. I ordered<a href="http://www.hcconcrete.com/products/infusion-acid-stain/semi_trans/"> <span style="color: #cc0000;">H&C Concrete Semi-Transparent Decorative Stain</span></a> in Obsidian from the commercial Sherwin Williams store on the far end of the city. I went and picked up the 7 jugs and added those boxes to all the boxes of bottles. The back of the van was very full! Good thing our back seat lies down flat and I only had 1 child with me. Then, I was just around the corner from a flooring store so I ran in and picked out the vinyl for the kids bathroom. They quickly cut it and I paid and then added that large roll to the van and we were off to the opposite side of the city for AJ's appointment. We made it on time and he is now sporting a blue retainer. After his appointment, I ran into Home Depot to pick out some trims for the recessed lighting on the second floor. And then back to the house. On days like this, I feel like I get nothing done. I feel unproductive and like I have not contributed. I know, if I didn't do those things I wouldn't have been able to do what I did the rest of the week . . . but, still. I don't really enjoy those days. I would rather work AT the house. When I got to the house, I saw that Mr.W had continued to install all the lower cabinets. They were well secured together and to the walls. The kitchen really starts to take shape. However, we ran into a little snag. Our island is 8 inches wider than I had ordered. The base cabinets were supposed to be 16" deep and were 24" deep instead. It doesn't affect too much except the end panels. I had ordered matching moulded end panels for the island (to match the drawer fronts) and they were now 8" short. My lovely kitchen designer was just a phone call away. She agreed that the company made an error and said I had two options to fix it - I could either have new cabinets or new end panels. Since the cabinets were already attached together and the extra 8" doesn't bother me, new end panels it is. What a great company!<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">TUESDAY</span></strong> - You must understand, when I get on site in the afternoons, generally I spend 1/2 hour or more talking to Mr.W about many different things, clarifying and verifying what is I want and how we should go about it. This day it was about the counter tops. Mr.W had started forming the counter top moulds!! That is super exciting. One step closer to counter tops. To be honest, the concrete counter tops has been the most stressful part of this house building for me. Finding the right ingredients, finding a company that has the right ingredients, learning how it is done, wondering if we can do it well, etc. It has consumed ENORMOUS amounts of time and effort on my part so I will be thrilled when it is over. <br />
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Before Jason took the kids home for supper, I got him to help me install the lounge light fixture. It is big and heavy and totally impossible for me to do by myself. But . . . WOW!! Is it beautiful. It hangs a bit high so I need to drop it about 6" but it is fine for now. At least there is light. Then I started installing more flooring. The flooring in the lounge had been left undone due to casings being stored there but they were all gone so it was time to finish it up. I spent the rest of the evening, until late, finishing up the flooring. It went really well until the very last piece! That last piece was a mere 3/4" wide so I had to glue it to the rest of the flooring. It worked out better than I expected and now all the laminate on the second floor is complete (if you don't count the office).<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">WEDNESDAY</span></strong> - During the day the guys made sure the basement was vacuumed and free of dust so that I could start etching the concrete floor. The difference between the water-based dye and an acid-stain is that the water-based dye is just sprayed on and colors the top surface of the concrete. The acid-stain is a stain that has a chemical reaction with the salts in the concrete to color it. You then need to neutralize the acid-stain before you can seal it. After lots of research, we decided the water-based dye was easier to use and more likely to give consistent color. Acid-stain will react differently to the concrete, depending on how it is troweled. It is harder to get consistent results. The first step in the water-based system is to etch the concrete to make it porous so it accepts the dye. I used <a href="http://www.wmbarr.com/product.aspx?catid=99&prodid=206"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Klean-Strip Green Safer Muriatic Acid</span></a> mixed according to the instructions on the bottle to etch the concrete. I sprayed it on the 1300 sq. ft. (this does not include the cold storage or the utility room. They can stay plain!) with a pump-style sprayer and let it sit. It was supposed to sit for 10-15 minutes but that didn't happen. While I was applying the etching solution (which hardly smelled at all thanks to the 90% lower fumes this particular brand has) the water supply was shut off completely so that the pressure tank and water line could be connected in the house. That is a super important and really exciting event. However, I couldn't rinse the floors. So, I ended up taking the kids home for a late supper (which has become the norm) and then when the water system was all set up in the new house, Jay came home and I went back. I could then attach a hose to the water supply in our house (which means we have water in the new house!!!) and flood the floor with water. The acid had now sat on the floor for a couple of hours. After flooding each area, I scrubbed it with a long handled scrub brush and then vacuumed up all the water with a shop vac. Needless to say, it was a good workout and my arms and back were sore by the end. That floor was so clean you could literally have licked it! <br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">THURSDAY</span></strong> - Now that the floor was etched, I could apply the water-based stain. I mixed it 1-to-1 with water and sprayed it with the pump-style sprayer, using circular motions. Because the color I chose was Obsidian, it went on jet-black! This was the easiest part of the job. I just sprayed the whole floor and then let it dry.<br />
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I only used 3 1/2 of the 7 bottles so I could always do another coat if needed. It took a little less than 2 hours to do and by the time I was done my hands were all black and I had splattered dye on my face but the floor was done for the day. I quickly went home to wash up and get ready for a concert Jay was taking me to - <a href="http://www.phillipscraiganddean.com/"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Philips, Craig and Dean</span></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">! </span><span style="color: black;">It was unreal, it was soooo good! The praise and worship for our Lord was heavenly! And I could listen to their voices for a very long time! It was fantastic!</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">FRIDAY</span></strong> - The floor needed to dry 4-6 hours before applying the sealer. With this dye, you can use whichever sealer you want. I was a little alarmed at the fine powdery residue that is left on the floor after letting it dry but according the company's website, that is to be expected if the floor is flooded (which it was) and does not need to be removed. It also changed from jet-black as it was wet to a grey color when it dried. In an inconspicuous spot I applied a clear sealer to see if the color was good. The black came right back so no other coats of dye were needed. Mr.W picked up 2 large 5 gallon pails of <a href="http://www.deftfinishes.com/trade/products/water-based-topcoats/water-based-polyurethane"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Deft Water-Based Polyurethane</span></a> in a satin finish for me to use as a sealer. I stirred it up good and poured it on small sections of the floor and smoothed it all out with a lambswool applicator. The lighting is terrible in the basement because there are no lights wired up yet so I couldn't see the best at what I was doing. Plus the first coat absorbs into the floor so much. It looked terrible when it was done. <br />
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I waited about 2 1/2 hours and then applied another coat. This coat went on so much nicer and I kept it a little wetter than the first coat. Honestly, I have no idea how it looks because I left long before it dried. While I was waiting between coats, I ate some supper and finished attaching the sub floor in the kids bath. Jay had cut the 1/4" mahogany sub floor and installed it in the bathroom and had started attaching it. I finished it up. Now he can install the vinyl. I also finished installing the small recessed light we have around the exterior of the dining room in the bulkhead. Jay spent considerable time earlier in the week fishing the wires through the bulkhead and wiring the fixtures up. They were left dangling from each hole and just needed to be pushed up, tightened and have the trim installed. Besides one that is directly below a vent, the rest went in really well and it looks so lovely. Now I just need light bulbs!<br />
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And that brings us to today, Saturday. The house we live in is a worst disaster than it has been in a long time. It is long over-due for a day at home. It was supposed to snow like crazy last night and it didn't. We were preparing to hunker down for the day knowing that it would be treacherous to go out. It isn't. But we will stay here anyway. Besides, after 3 days of either spraying or scrubbing or spraying or smoothing, my arms are SORE!! Time for a day off!<br />
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PS: You will notice I don't mention what Jay does very often. Often that is because I don't even know what he is all doing. For instance, when I work in the basement, I don't go check to see what he is doing because I am busy working. But I promise you, his days are just as full as mine, if not fuller! :)Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-91389507076320340312012-11-03T22:06:00.000-05:002012-11-06T10:34:11.419-06:00Owner Building a Home - Week 24 - Doors, Millwork, Geo-Thermal, Etc.It's Saturday morning as I sit and write this. The house is quiet. The boys are with Jay at the new house and the girls are playing a few doors down with a neighbour friend. I am tired. But, I usually am by this time of the week because I usually spend Thursday and Friday evenings working long at the house. This week was not exception. And that is why I ALWAYS have a Sunday afternoon nap. Ooh, and today we get to move the clocks BACK one hour so if I am really smart, I will sleep 1 hour more, not work 1 hour more! Alrighty then, the week in review.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Monday</strong></span> - My dearly beloved husband took a trip into the nearby town to pickup this beautiful secretary for me. Surprise was that it doesn't come apart into 2 pieces as we were expecting (and as the seller stated) so I am not sure if we will be able to get it into my craft room like I want. I will either have to figure out how to separate it without destroying it OR maneuver it down the stairs in one piece OR remove the basement stairs and drop it down into the basement. As for me, I went to the orthodontist with both boys in the afternoon and then did some shopping so I wasn't at the site at all. Mr. W started working on the casings around the windows.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Tuesday</span></strong> - A long-awaited day - hydro finally came and hooked up power to the house. <br />
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We had limited power before with extension cords but now we can power up the whole house. It is so lovely to work late at night and be able to turn on and off lights as I go. It really helps to eliminate falling down the stairs or tripping over tools! I think this is the day the interior doors started going up and casings continue. <br />
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We also started installing baseboards. However, it was another short day due to small group in the evening.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Wednesday</span></strong> - Also another big day - the installation of the Geo-thermal pipes outside began. <br />
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The excavator digs big trenches, lies 2 rolls of coiled up pipe in each trench and then covers them back up. Those coiled up lines are all attached to another straight pipe which runs into the house. All those pipes are filled with water which is either heated or cooled by the earth itself. That is a really simple explanation for a more complicated Geo-thermal system. It was fun for the kids to watch. We have the perfect soil with no rocks at all. Well, they did find one large rock, which they removed, but there weren't any other rocks at all - not even fist sized ones. Perfect sandy/clay soil mix. While they worked outside, Jay was working on the plumbing in the basement. <br />
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Our other plumber/HVAC guy is too busy to get our work done so we are finishing it up ourselves and hiring some other help. For now Jay is doing the plumbing. I continued to work on the casings and baseboards while Mr.W continues to hang doors. Hanging doors may look really simple but to get them exactly straight and level and closing perfectly can be a bit tricky, especially if there is any torque or twist in the doors. Mr.W does a great job. He hangs the doors so that I can do all the other trim work. This was another short day as we went out for supper with the kids and then shopping to fill shoe boxes of toys/toiletries for Operation Christmas Child, a yearly tradition for us. We went to Boston Pizza where they had this amazing deal that for a $5 donation, they would give you 5 free kids meals. We bought 4 cards at $5 each ($20) and received 20 kids meals ($6.99 each). It saved us $119.80. Going out as a family the next 4 times to Boston Pizza will be very economical! <br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Thursday </span></strong>- The outside work for the Geo-thermal was completed today and they will return in about 1 1/2 weeks to start the inside work. Mr.W continued to hang doors. Jay continued plumbing. I stayed late and installed baseboards, casings and made some pretty crowns for the door headers. Mr.W had made one crown header for me as a sample and I took it from there. They are easy to make and add so much detail. I made 3 headers on this day. <br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Friday</span></strong> - Jay finished the basement plumbing for now and worked his way into the master bath where he is trying to get the drains for the shower and tub connected. Mr.W hung a few more doors upstairs and then started making his way to the main floor. He just started to install the base cabinets in the kitchen, ensuring they are level and well-stabilized for the concrete counter tops going in. While they were doing that, I continued with casings and baseboards. The pink room (little girl's) room is now done. {When I say done, I mean all the casings and baseboards are installed - the filling of the holes/sanding/touch up painting on the mill work still needs to happen}. The orange/grey room is done. I was working in the purple room but getting frustrated at the mitered corners so I started working in the hall. I also made 2 more crown headers for the master bedroom door and installed the headers I made on Thursday. Mr.W painted them earlier and they were ready to go up. I really like how they turned out. I stayed late working on all those things yet again.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Saturday</span></strong> - That brings us to today. It snowed last night - I am not sure I am ready for snow yet. However, I am extremely thankful for our wood-burning fireplace at the new house. It is what is keeping the place cozy warm. We keep it filled all day and Jay fills it back up first thing in the morning. The house is also well insulated so that heat is staying in the house just where it should. I also believe we have much better windows in the new house so even without window coverings, they are insulated well, being that they are triple-pane, dual-argon, dual low-E. They are some good windows. At the house, Jay continued to landscape the yard with the tractor. He was pulling clay away from the area where the Geo-thermal is located and putting it on the driveway. The driveway needs to be built up quite a bit by the garage and clay is the perfect thing to use. Either later this fall or next spring, we will bring in more soil to cover the exposed clay in the back. I brought all the fixings to make french toast at the new house so we ate lunch there. After lunch, I installed a few light fixtures. I bought this one of the girl's room so long ago, it was fun to finally put it up. It is so cute. Super filthy right now but once we are done with all the dusty work I will clean it properly. Plus I only put 3 bulbs in when it takes 6 but it looks super cute already!<br />
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After the lights I continued on the casings and baseboards. I added a few here and there but the main work was to make a huge crown for the end doors in the hall. At the end of the hall, as you can just see on the far left in the photo above, is Pepe's room and around the corner to the left are 2 hall doors and then around the corner again is AJ's room. All those doors are in such close proximity that it doesn't work to make 4 separate crown headers. Instead, I made 3 headers, 1 above each of the boy's rooms and 1 above both hall doors. However, they are all connected so they look like 1 giant crown header. With so many corners to consider, they were certainly tricky to make and they aren't perfect but they look great. They will be painted next week and then I can install those. I have now made crown headers for 9 doors upstairs and I have all the inside of the master bedroom/bathroom left to do. These fancy crown headers will only be on the hall side of the doors on both floors plus on all master bedroom/bathroom windows and doors. They are actually fairly simple to make and come together pretty quickly. And that brings my week to a close. What did you do this week?Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-7062601713879441072012-10-29T12:00:00.002-05:002012-10-29T12:00:39.607-05:00Owner Building a Home - Week 23 - Flooring Nears CompletionSometimes when you get to the end of the week, you can feel either elated at all that happened or disappointed in all that didn't happen. This week is a mixture of both, I would say. Jay thinks we are stalling out - I say we continue to plod on. What I don't say is our ending date with any certainty. We will try to be in by the end of the year. Any sooner than that and I say it is a bonus, any later and that is just the way it is. We WILL be done before we move it and that is the most important thing. Though Jay is wavering on that! :)<br />
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Monday I continued to install the flooring on the second floor. Mr.W helped to transition out of each doorway and into the hall so I could keep on my merry way! <br />
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While I was doing that, Jay was installing the hardware for the garage doors and Mr.W was painting casings. He has such a slick system painting them and then drying them on a drying rack Jay made. Painting casings goes so much faster when you spray them (even if we do use more paint).<br />
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Tuesday was a repeat of Monday. Enough said. Plus the rain continues to fall, making the yard a gross mucky mess.<br />
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Wednesday morning the chalk lines for the "tiles" on the basement floor were snapped. Took Mr.W a few hours to finish it all but it was so important. Since we put floor heat into the basement, the most efficient use of that heat is to leave the floor bare - no carpets or flooring of any kind. That looks kinda boring though so I wanted 18" tiles cut into the floor before we stained the floor. If I would have been there when they were snapping lines, I would have said 24" would have been fine - there are a lot of lines! But my dear husband, who loves me so much, spent 1 1/2 days cutting those lines into the concrete to create the tile look. He placed a 2x4 on the line, stood a 2x4 up on the one on the floor and wedged it between the wood on the floor and the ceiling joists to ensure that guide board wouldn't move. Then he ran a circular saw with a concrete cutting blade in it along that board and cut those lines. Over and over he moved the guide board and cut the lines. He also cut a 7" border all around the perimeter of each of the rooms. It took a lot of work and he was so terribly dusty when he was done but the floor looks so good. Now we just need to stain it. <br />
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While he was in the basement, I continued on the flooring and finished up the little girl's room, the closets in Pepe and RJ's rooms and I finished up the hall. I tend to have little helpers or entertainers while working. Today these ones kept me company for a while. At times they were beating each other with the blue foam underlay but it was gentle and full of laughter. They are some crazy kids and I love spending time with them. They are looking forward to moving into their finished rooms just as much as we are!<br />
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Thursday and Friday I wasn't at the site working at all . I promised my kids that I would stay home on Thursday afternoon so they could invite fellow home school friends over and what a full house we had. 8 extra kids came over so we had a super full house of fun! While I was here with the kids, Jay continue to cut the basement floor and finished it off. Mr.W was gone for the rest of the week so it was just Jay working and that always causes him to think things aren't getting done. They are, I promise they are!<br />
Friday I was gone from the site again but this time I was running around getting stuff for the house - lighting, the correct length rods for the garage doors (they sent the wrong length), cold air returns grills, etc. That took me all afternoon so I didn't work at the house at all.<br />
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Throughout the week I also spent hours researching the differents way to stain the basement floor, which system is the best and which supplies are available to me locally. I finally figured out what I want to use and where I can by it from. I will be placing an order soon. I am excited to do it - after all my research, I am confident we will make that floor beautiful. We just need to decide on a color. I also spent time researching how to make concrete countertops, what supplies I would need for those and where to get that stuff. I have figured it all out and even went to see a countertop at a friend's house. They had a professional company make theirs and it isn't perfect but it is beautiful. It is giving me the confidence I need to know that we can make beautiful countertops, too.<br />
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Saturday we were back on site and Jason worked on landscaping. The rains have finally stopped and the ground is drying up/freezing due to the temperatures falling at night. That makes it ideal to move around dirt without making a big mess. He moved more dirt in front of the house to build up the area in front of the porch and in front of the garage. Then he moved more dirt on the driveway so we would be able to drive into the garage. We know that the final landscaping won't happen this year but it does need to be in decent shape for winter. While he was working outside, I was finishing up the flooring in the last bedroom and installing a couple more lights. The lounge and office are the only rooms without flooring upstairs and that is because the office is the spray booth and the lounge has the finished painted casings in it for now. When I look at the flooring color in relation to the paint color, I am thrilled with how well they go together. This is especially thrilling considering I didn't have the flooring with me when I picked paint colors and I didn't have the paint colors when I picked the flooring. I have just been going with what I love and so far that is working! I look forward to this week and seeing the casings going on the walls and maybe even hanging some doors.<br />
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I also found an absolutely gorgeous piece of french provincial furniture (buffet & hutch) to use as storage in my craft room. My sweet hubby approved the purchase and will pick it up later this week - I cannot wait to see it in person. <br />
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Yet again, today I will not be at the site due to orthodontist appointments but I can always make up for it in the evenings, right? After all, who needs sleep? :)Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-15096086798195563902012-10-21T22:50:00.000-05:002012-10-21T22:51:12.185-05:00Owner Building a Home - Week 22 - A Mini-Vacation and the Flooring BeginsA few weeks ago Jay and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary by me working late at the house and Jay hanging out at home putting the kids to bed. When I came home Jay had planned a romantic meal of macaroni and cheese by candlelight. I nixed that and pulled out some lovely seasoned fish from the freezer which we quickly baked and ate that with rice instead. Only slightly more romantic. I really wanted to go away somewhere, just the 2 of us for a couple of days. That wasn't happening. Then we were told both by Mr.W and by our drywall crew that we really do need to go away. When homeowners build a home themselves and transition from the rough construction to the finish work, it is important to get away, reconnect and re-energize for the next phase of the journey. So early this week Jay and I left town for 2 days and it.was.wonderful! We went back to the same place we spent our 10 year anniversary - Falcon Trails Resort. That place holds such an attraction to me - quaint little cottages nestled amongst the rocks and trees facing the lake. It is beautiful and peaceful with no distractions. Jay and I canoed for hours, hiked, watched movies, relaxed in the hot tub, ate way too much food and laughed and laughed and laughed. We left after lunch on Monday and arrived back home after lunch on Wednesday - a quick 48 hours. I cannot wait until we can go back again. <br />
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On Monday before we left, the blow-in insulation guys came to blow the ceiling full of insulation. What a difference an insulated ceiling makes in the temperature of the house. It is really comfortable in there with the temperature hovering around 16-17C. Remember, as of yet, we still have no heat in the house. And we have hardly used the fireplace since the insulation went in. When the heat stays trapped inside instead of leaving out the roof, it stays warmer much longer. Also before we left, Jason received numerous loads of large gravel to cover the driveway. Lately we have been receiving rain so the clay driveway is a mucky mess. The rocks certainly help. Now if only it would stop raining so the mucky mess of the yard can dry up (and I say that completely selfishly since I know the year has been dry and the farmers welcome this moisture. For their sake, I am truly thankful.). Plus, Mr.W put the last pieces of siding on the front of the house. It is looking so very fantastic! Do you see those little roof returns up by the peaked window? He also did those and they are perfect!<br />
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Also before we left Monday, I made a phone call to the same business from which I bought our full fridge/full freezer and asked to buy our stove!! I had found the stove last week Friday but since it is a business that specializes in scratch & dent, the stove doesn't have a door . . . yet. Once it is all back to new condition, it will be mine. It is an Electrolux Icon Dual Fuel 30" Range and I am super pumped to call it ours! It retails for about $4500-$4700 but because it is a scratch and dent, I will pay about 60% less! I call that a deal worth taking!</div>
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Thursday when we went back to the house to work, we started standing up the doors in the office. The easiest way to paint the interior doors is to spray paint them. The easiest way to spray paint them is to stand them up. We nailed small pieces of wood to the tops of the doors to hold them together in a giant ongoing "W" shape. We have left the office unpainted exactly so we can use it as the spray paint booth for the second floor. The space is large and convenient and is working really well. Friday Mr.W put on the first coat of paint and early on Saturday he did the second coat. Those doors are now done! Now to paint the 800+ linear feet of casings! :) <br />
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We also "installed" the garage doors! I say "installed" because it is a rough installation with all the track and hardware still needing to go on but for now they are in place and keeping the house safe and warm.<br />
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While the guys were doing other work on Friday, I started installing the laminate flooring. <br />
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I stayed late on Friday night and finished up 2 bedrooms and 1 hall closet. It takes a bit of forethought to ensure all the flooring lines up in the hall but Mr.W is really good at helping us figure it out. We snapped a line in the hall and used it as a reference point so we would know how each bedroom and closet would relate to that line. RJ's bedroom is the room which determines the spacing just because of where her closet is in her room. So all the flooring needs to align with the flooring in her room and the chalk line helps us to adjust all the other rooms. It is working really well . . . so far. The flooring we are installing is a German-made product that we bought months ago and have had here in the garage since then. We brought it into the house last week to acclimate a bit. It is a grey color but in each room it looks so different depending on the color of the paint in the room. I have figured out exactly how to handle it so it doesn't break and exactly how it goes together so I will take upon myself to install all the laminate. On Saturday I continued installing and completed about 1/2 the master bedroom and then started on all the transitions from each room/closet to the hall. Agh. The transition from Pepe's room to the hall is perfect as is the hall closet. The transition from RJ's room to the hall is off by about 1/16" - that may seem tiny but with laminate flooring it is the difference between clicked together or not. I am not sure if I need to adjust the flooring in the hall closet or in RJ's room but I am sure we will get it all figured out on Monday. By midnight on Saturday I was done.<br />
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With all the rainy days we have been having, the installation of the Geo-thermal system and the septic system has been put on hold for a bit. I am okay with that. I am just glad to know we have people lined up to do both of those and they will get done. The unknown is the part that always bothers me - I can handle the waiting if I know it will happen.<br />
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Finally today I ordered the 3 different wallpapers I want in the house. Graham & Brown was having a 25% off sale so I made sure to order them now. I know they will transform the areas in which I want them and I am excited to see them up on the walls.<br />
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And that wraps up the week. With the painting (mostly) done and the flooring going in, it is really starting to feel like a house! :)Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-91526080035527855152012-10-19T13:12:00.001-05:002012-10-19T13:12:38.676-05:00Owner Building a Home - Week 21 - Better Late Then Never?So, if you are keeping up with me, Week 21 ended a whole week ago and I have yet to blog about it. Honestly, at this point, it is hard to remember what we did. But I will try. Paint. I painted a lot. I finished painting the second floor, actually (well, besides 2 small closets that I am content to leave for now). Let me do a little calculating to figure out just how many square feet of wall space I painted - well, it is just under 10 000 sq. ft of wall space painted. Oh, that is just one coat. Times that by 2. Ugh. Actually, I quite enjoyed the time. It was so quiet because most of the time I was by myself in the evenings. It was rather peaceful. And I am completely loving the colors! That is helpful, too! I finished up the orange in Pepe's room and added the charcoal on the lower half - oh, my. Is his room ever going to look soooo good! So grown up! I promise to post photos when the electrical is brought into the house. <br />
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The guys continued to work hard on the siding! The west side is complete, the back is complete, the front is almost done and they are working on the garage side. <br />
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They also worked on the curved openings for the garage doors. I love the look it adds to that side of the house.<br />
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Since work is going to start happening in the basement, the basement stairs were built. It is much easier to climb stairs than it is to climb a ladder. Safer, too!<br />
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The most exciting part was the fact the kitchen cabinets were moved into the house!! The lower cabinets were set in place in the kitchen so we can start thinking about the concrete counter tops we want to build. It is so cool to see the cabinets in their spots, even if they are still covered with plastic.<br />
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Our flooring also arrived in North Dakota, in the border town where we intend to pick it up sometime in the next couple of weeks. From the time I ordered it from the Georgia company to the time it arrived in ND was only 12 days! I think that is great timing and I will certainly let you know all about the company once I actually have the flooring.<br />
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The rest of the week is a bit of a blur since I wasn't actually on site on Friday having to take AJ to another doctor's appointment followed by grocery shopping. It ended up taking most of the day so I didn't work at all. Saturday we spent all afternoon on site but instead of working on the house, we were cutting firewood and stacking it. The kids were fantastic helpers, throwing the wood on daddy's truck and catching rides in the back across the yard just to throw the wood off again. Pepe loved splitting the larger pieces with the axe and AJ really enjoyed stacking the wood neatly. <br />
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They were such troopers, never complaining once. And now we have a couple of nice stacks of wood. We really aren't sure how much we will need for the winter but I guess we will find out this year.Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017574612694606892.post-47223633809040286902012-10-06T13:21:00.000-05:002012-10-06T13:24:29.881-05:00Owner Building a Home - Week 20 - Yucky Weather = Little WorkUm, ya. So, we tried working this week. We really did. And we did accomplish some things. I taught school during the mornings and arrived onsite early afternoon and continued painting. This week I was able to complete the hall upstairs, the master bath and the first coat of the master closet (at which point I ran out of that color) and the first coat of the kid's bathroom. But we had stuff up on Monday and Tuesday night so that meant shorter working days for me. Then Wednesday came and I wanted to work long into the evening painting. And I did. Sort of. I was painting the kids bathroom upstairs, a halogen lamp providing the light and a heater providing some warmth. The time was creeping close to 11pm and I needed to get home so Jay could leave and be a chicken farmer. And then, mid-roller stroke, it happened. The power went out. I was standing in a pitch black room holding a paint roller in my hand wondering what to do next. I seriously had only about 3 feet of wall left to paint but I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, nevermind the wall. So I carefully found the paint tray and put the roller back. In the dark. I carefully found the doorway without touching the freshly painted walls. In the dark. I carefully stumbled my way through the hall and down the stairs and tried hard not to trip over the 2 air compressors. In the dark. I opened the door and stumbled down the very not-level-or-landscaped path (think very unlandscaped, dangerous-in-the-daylight kinda landscape) in the only-slightly-less-dark dark. It was raining. It was windy. It was cold. No, it was COLD! It was dark. I found the van and turned on the lights, repositioned the van so the lights would point towards the house and turned on the brights. Then I grabbed my cell (which was almost dead) and called hubby to let him know I was trying really hard to finish up quickly but the power was out but he didn't answer. So I went back to the house up the dangerous path by the really-not-bright-at-all light of the cell phone. I made my way back upstairs and somehow finished painting that wall by the light of the not-bright-at-all cell phone. I have no idea what it looks like in the daylight because I haven't been back to see it yet. I finished painting and gathered the supplies and went back downstairs. I quickly tried to stoke up the fire in the fireplace and add more wood by the light of the cell phone. I locked up the house and brought the painting supplies to the van and then went to lock up the house trailer (our source of power, the bathroom facilities, etc.). The cell phone had died by this point so I was using the van lights. I remembered the bathroom light had been left on and the far bedroom light had been left on so I turned those off and locked up the trailer. I just got back in the van, buckled in and started backing away when the power came back on. And I left lights on in the trailer. So, I parked the van, turned it off, got out and unlocked the trailer. While I was trying to unlock the trailer, the "screen door" literally fell apart in my hands. The wood pulled apart and the glass section fell out. It didn't break, thankfully, but it is certainly no longer part of the door. I turned off the lights, locked the steel door, propped the "screen door" back in place and finally was able to go home. It was still raining. It was still cold. It was yucky. And the last 20 minutes were a series of dumb events. Whatever. Memories, I guess!<br />
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Since Wednesday night, I have not been back to the house. It started snowing sometime during the night Wednesday and so Thursday afternoon I went to buy paint (hopefully the last paint I need to buy). The power went out while I was buying paint. It has been that kind of weather. Heavy wet rain/snow/ice that sits on the power lines and causes big problems. Windy and cold. Really, really yucky. We have no source of proper heat in the house so I am not painting in 6C temperatures. We do use the fireplace as much as we can but the wood is now all wet. The little heaters help somewhat but when it is so cold outside, it takes more to warm up the inside. Next week is supposed to be better, with temperatures returning back to seasonal norms. So, I decided to go home after buying paint on Thursday and Friday I was in the city with AJ all day for a long doctor's appointment and shopping. No painting Friday either. Today I will return to the house and paint just as soon as the kids are finished lunch.<br />
Tuesday was the final day the drywall crew was at the house, finishing up the last little bit of sanding. Once again, I cannot say how fantastic they are. Super nice people to work with and they bought treats for the kids at the end. We look forward to having them over for supper when the house is done. The kids have already invited them back! :)<br />
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Jay was a trooper and kept trying to work this week. The beginning of the week was beautiful (though slightly windy) so they finished up the siding on the back of the house,<br />
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almost finished the west side and almost finished everything on the front above the porch. <br />
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They also started working on the front under the porch roof. For the back of the house, there was talk about renting scaffolding but when I got there on Monday, they were busy working with Mr.W up on the ladders and Jay and his helper were on the ground cutting the siding and handing the pieces to Mr.W. He would stand on pieces of wood that spanned between 2 or 3 ladder jacks. He was harnessed in to the roof clamp so it was relatively safe. It did make things move a little slower, being up high like that on a piece of wood but they did so great. <br />
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Jay was glad to be on the ground and Mr.W did a fantastic job finishing up the siding and the soffits and faschia. They continued to work like that on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday Mr.W was gone and Jay needed to take some time for chicken farming stuff so he was not at the house much. He did do some prep for painting the main floor (blowing off the drywall dust from the walls, stuffing the electrical boxes with paper, stapling plastic over the windows) so that on Friday the main level of the house was primed.<br />
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Finally, a big decision was made this week. We are going to do geothermal heating in the house and the excavating work will start next week. That is a huge decision Jay has been agonizing over and I am so glad he made the choice. It is not a decision that can be made lightly and I know it has been a stressful one for him to make but I am so excited about the choice. It is expensive to put in but the benefits on our size of house should be worth it.<br />
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And to top it off, I ordered the hardwood flooring for the main floor. Brazilian Pecan it is! Woot, woot!!Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305927922846880598noreply@blogger.com4