Back splash!

Nancy came to town Friday night.  We met her at the high school so she could see Cole perform at halftime and then stayed up a little later than we should have but the visit was great! 

 

Saturday morning we got started prepping to install the backsplash in the kitchen.  I realized I didn't have everything I would be needing so off to town I went.  When I got home, I found out David and Janis were on their way and their timing was impeccable.  They got there just as I was ready to start!

 

We started by laying out and cutting the first row of tile for the backsplash behind the cook top.  Once it was all cut and ready to stick to the wall, we mixed the mortar.

 

 

We weren't sure how long the mortar would take to dry out so we only went a couple of tiles at a time.  Turned out, this mixture and possibly the humidity was nearly perfect.  We got all but some of the small finishing strips of tile up on the initial thin set mix.  I had to mix a small amount up to finish it out.

 

Boy, don't I look serious about this!

 

The supervisors...  I have the best in-laws in the world.  Unlike a lot of people out there I truly love spending time with all of my in-laws.  I married well and so did my brother.

 

Nancy caught a nap with Dallas.  Or at least she tried to, Cole tends to get pretty worked up when the Razorbacks are playing.

 

All the tile is up and ready for grout.



 

And finally, the finished project.

 

 

 

The move.

As we were loading our bed into the bed of the truck to move to the new house, Deb looked at me and said "We're never going to sleep here again."  As excited as we are about living in the house we've poured so much of ourselves into and finally having more than enough room, it was still a little sad and surreal realizing the home all of Cole's memories and most of Samantha's were made, wouldn't be home any more.

 

OK, enough of that mushy stuff.  After our carpet was laid there really was nothing stopping us from moving into the house.  The only projects left were kitchen countertops, back splash and exterior paint.  So I asked Deb what she thought about going to sleep in our house for the first time on her birthday.  Of course, she thought waking up there on her birthday was a better idea.  So Friday Oct. 9th, she got off work and started taking our bed apart.  She was having trouble disconnecting the air hoses from the mattress, so I busted out of work a little early and headed home.  She had the bed halfway disassembled by the time I got there.  I helped her finish up and we hurried up to the house and got it set up in time to head to town to watch Cole perform during halftime.

 

 

Saturday was spent moving anything Deb and I could handle.  Cole had a Marching Band Competition at War Memorial Stadium that evening.  We only had his help until around 11 a.m. so we got some of the large furniture moved before he had to leave.  After that is was mostly clothes, clothes and more clothes.  At least that's how it seemed.  If you've seen Deb's closet, you understand where I am coming from.  Ok, so maybe it was clothes, clothes, clothes, some pictures and a few ducks...

 

 

We only were able to work on the move until around 3.  Then we had to get cleaned up and head to Little Rock.  Samantha brought Deb a birthday present, helped us move some stuff, and went with us to Little Rock for the competition.  The Arkadelphia High School Band was AWESOME!  They took home almost every top award including Overall Outstanding Band in class 5A.  If you haven't seen them perform this season, you need to make sure to go watch.  They will blow you out of your seat. 

 

 Here is the list of awards they received:

Division 1 Drum Major
Division 1 Percussion
Division 1 Colorguard
Division 1 Band...
Outstanding Soloists in Class 5A (Rebecca Fellers and Mollie Daniell)
Outstanding Percussion Class 5A
Outstanding General Effect Class 5A
Outstanding Marching Class 5A
Outstanding Music Class 5A
Outstanding Band Class 5A
The Brandon Award for Overall Outstanding Band in Class 4A-5A

 

Tea came and helped us on Sunday.  That girl is a worker.  Rodney, Jennifer and their kiddos stopped by and helped take a load of bedroom furniture up the hill too.  Since then it has been a box or two at a time.  We've been trying to get things put away before going for more.

 

Deb finally pestered me enough that I called and ordered a move from DirecTV.  I met them last Friday at noon.  Jesse did a very professional job pulling all new wires where wires were required.   We went with wireless Genie's in two rooms and put our old DVR's in the sewing room and Samantha's room so we wouldn't lose our old recordings.

 

The wad of wires required to run 5 TV's.

 

 

We removed one brick behind the TV to run wires to the cabinet behind the fireplace.

 

Sunday we hung the TV above the mantle.  A considerably larger TV is high on the upgrade list.  Bigger house... Bigger TV... right?  I'm thinking no less than 65" and most likely a 70".  The 70" is properly sized for our viewing distance.  Our 46" was just the right size in our old place, but from 20 feet it's like watching an old 27" TV.

 

This Saturday morning we got up and started ripping laminate off the countertops and adding a layer of 3/4" plywood to raise them up enough to span the dishwasher.  Then there was a Razorback game to watch, a nap to take and later a costume party to attend.  At least we had the counters 90% ready before the last three items. 

 

Here we are about to head to the costume party.  Me and my angel.

 

 

Sunday morning, we got back to work on the counters filling holes, ripping 1 x 4's and sanding.  Deb just loves sanding now days.  Dad came over after church and helped us finish the trim work on the counters, installing the bar top and applying the laminate.

 

 

Once the bar top was up, we laid the laminate out on the counter with the sink and traced our cut line underneath.  We rolled it up and took it back outside and cut out the L shaped piece.  Deb thought the air shears were pretty cool so she took a video.

 

 

We cut the laminate slightly oversized so it would overhang all sides by about a half an inch.  Then we test fit it and took it back outside to apply the adhesive.  We rolled the adhesive onto the counter top and the back of the laminate and let it dry.  We carried the laminate back inside and put cardboard strips down to keep the contact cement from sticking while we positioned the laminate on the countertop.  Once in place it was simply a matter of pulling the strips out one by one and pressing the two surfaces firmly together with a laminate roller.

 

 

Dad routed the edge and cut out for the sink while I prepped the bar top with adhesive.

 

I think Uggsy likes his new perch.

 

 

Here is a close shot of the finished edge.

 

Rob, Gina and Lauren stopped by to see the countertops.  While they were there I got the stove top reinstalled.

 

And finally, the kitchen sink.  I still have to plumb the drains into the wall and hook up the dishwasher.  But for the most part the kitchen is done except for the backsplash.

A HUGE Thanks to some awesome local businesses

It has been a couple weeks since our last update. Things have been very busy on the ranch! We have had two birthdays, one band competition, homecoming, building of one homecoming float, one out of town football game, and one Arkadelphia JROTC Raider Challenge at DeGray Lake. Most of those involved our son not being around to help with the move. Yep, you read that correctly, THE MOVE!

Photos will be posted soon. We still have "stuff" to move. We still have a kitchen to complete.

This post is mainly for SHOUT OUTS to some wonderful local businesses that we would like to thank for being so patient and helpful throughout this process.

Hardman Lumber Company and ACE Hardware
I couldn't tell you how many times we have been in Hardman over the past few months. Mark, Travis, Michael, Andra, Trey, and all the staff are wonderful!

T and T Building Supply
Thank you, Jack, for pointing us in the right direction for our tile and carpet! Both are beautiful. Thank you, Tye, for the wonderful carpet install (and leaving us 2 four leaf clovers and 1 five leaf!)

Faulk Plumbing Supply
Mike is always there to help when we don't have a clue what we need.

Hardman Interior
Yes, this girl needs a little interior design help. Thanks Cathy and Jennifer!

Arkadelphia Home Town Sears
I have been in Sears multiple times. Jamie and his staff are fantastic! We have purchased appliances from him in the past and will continue to do so. They loaded me up with a new Whirlpool dishwasher yesterday. Refrigerator, double ovens, and gas cook-top will be purchased, eventually.

Arkadelphia Sherwin Williams
Thanks to Debbie for giving me advice on how to refinish our kitchen cabinets. Our 55 year old, handmade by Granddaddy, cabinets look brand new again!

Joe's Floors, Donaldson
Joe and his crew worked so hard for several days. If you haven't seen the pictures of the red oak hardwood floors, you need to go look!

Wholesale Electric
Corey visited often while he was doing the wiring for the bathroom. They gave helpful tips!

Chris Arnold Electric
Chris, Daniel, Nicky, and Shawn worked through some really nasty weather to get the wiring up to date. That house is wired like nothing I've ever seen. I definitely feel safe!

Clark County Abstract
Desiree really helped with our title work. She made that process as painless as possible, even though we were as nervous as long tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs!

Southern Bancorp
The lender. The one I almost forgot. A big thanks to Brent. He has answered so many questions (over, and over.) This was our first home buying experience and probably our last. We will be moving over to secondary market soon, so Kortni will be answering all my annoying questions.

I hope I didn't miss any one.

It's the little things that make you happy.

Check out my angel... making carpet angels.  Can you tell she is happy to have our bedroom carpeted?

 

 

We finally got the tile finished up and the carpet installed in our master bedroom.  That light we've been seeing at the end of the tunnel is huge!

 

 

Tye (our carpet guy) found a couple of four leaf clovers and a five leaf clover and left them pressing on our kitchen counter for us.

 

We think the carpet goes nicely against our red oak floors...

 

And against our tile.

 

We moved a good bit of Deb's sewing stuff in last night.  I still have to hook the new bathroom plumbing up this weekend.  After that, the kitchen counters still have to be replaced and the back splash has to be installed.  Our plan, good Lord willing, is to spend our first night here on Deb's birthday, next Saturday night, October 10th.  I can't think of a better birthday present to give her.

Scratching Things Off and Finding Character

We'll go ahead and start with character.  When we took possession of the house, a question was asked along the lines of "Y'all are just going to gut the place, aren't you?"  I think we've answered that question with a resounding No.  I grew up running in and out of this house and riding 3-wheelers on this property.  Bobby, Peggy, Rob and Chad came every Sunday to eat lunch with Uncle T.A. and Aunt Mary.  I was usually there by the time they got through eating lunch.  As we have worked on the house we have found many things that are recorded history of my family.  Here are a few examples...

 

I can't imagine how many times this chain was unlocked and left swinging to rough up the door facing this way.  This is character.

 

 

Here are a few spots on the wall that appear to have been caused by a Coke exploding from the kitchen.

 

Here's a hand print on the ceiling in the new Master Bedroom.  I guess I need to get Rob and Bobby to compare their hands to the print to find out who left it there when they replaced the roof 20 years ago.

 

You have to look closely but there is a boot print on this ceiling board.

 

And this is something I spotted today.  It appears to be marks from a suction cup.  My guess is Rob, Chad or Trey was shooting a suction cup dart gun trying to get the darts to stick to the ceiling.

 

Character... it is what makes a house a home and it also tells stories that likely have been forgotten.

 

Speaking of character, both of our children have been involved in JROTC at Arkadelphia High School.  It is a great program that does as much to build character as any I've seen.

 

Here is a shot of Cole carrying our Arkansas State Flag, leading the Clark County Fair Parade down the parade route.

 

 

 

On to scratching things off.  I'm not talking about scratch and sniff stickers here.  When we bought the house, we bought a new stenographer's notebook and made a list for each room of what all we needed to do to get it ready to move in.  When we looked at the list, we thought "Oh, this isn't too bad.  But how much more naïve could we have been?  It ended up taking us much longer than anticipated but the list is getting shorter and shorter.

 

 

The weekend before last, we spent nearly all day Saturday finishing out the trim in the kitchen, dining room and living room.  It is amazing just how much time it takes to do the finish work.

 

 

While the stain was drying on the kitchen and dining room quarter round.  I got started on the transition strips and red oak quarter round in the living room.  The tile wasn't quite 3/4" above the hardwood floor, so I ripped the quarter round to 5/8" creating a flat top to meet up with the tile.  I stopped ripping it at the base of the bar to transition back into full quarter round to continue around the living room.

 

 

I ripped the transition strip in the hallway to 5/8" also.

 

We decided we wanted to put quarter round around the hearth, so I laid out the quarter round the way it was before.  This wasn't going to work out.

 

 

While I was trying to figure out how I was going to wrap the hearth and make it look right, Deb asked about putting a brick in the space between the cabinet's toe kick and the hearth.  (Yes, I do have a brilliant wife.  Thanks for noticing.)  She found a matching brick and I busted it down to fit.

 

To keep the piece of brick from sliding back in to the hole, I took a scrap piece of plywood, cut it to length and slid it in behind the piece of brick.

 

And viola, looks like it was always there.

 

Here is what we ended up with.

 

 

 

Sunday morning, I got started cutting and placing backer board in the bathroom.

 

 

I wanted to use as many full pieces of tile as possible so I snapped my chalk line against the wall by the door and worked my way in.  AFTER I had all the tile cut and laid out, it dawned on me I couldn't put the tile down working from the doorway in so as I picked it up, I traced the tile against the vanity so I could work my way back out.

 

I picked up each piece of tile and laid it out exactly as it was to go back into the bathroom and called it a night.

 

While I was working on the bathroom tile, Deb was hard at work polying the base boards and quarter round in the kitchen, dining room and living room.  The new oak quarter round matches the 55 year old oak flooring perfectly now.

 

 

After work Monday, I got the tile stuck down in the bathroom.  I think it looks pretty good since I had never laid a piece of tile before that day.  (Remember, Gina wouldn't let us touch the tile in the kitchen...)

 

The rest of the week was a bust.  Deb had to go out of town for a couple of days.  So I decided to catch up on some stuff at the trailer.  (I think I really needed moral support when I started grouting the tile.)

 

I took off work this past Friday afternoon.  After a quick trip to Hardman's for a little more lumber and grout sealer, we decided to get going grouting the bathroom tile.  We managed to get it grouted and cleaned up in time to get ready to go eat and then on to watch Cole march with the band at the Badger game.

 

 

Saturday morning, it was back to trim work.  We ordered a really nice pine pre-hung door from Hardman's for the closet but decided last week that we never close our closet door and that it would just stay open in front of the shelves in the closet.  So we decided we can use the door on another room and just chalk the unused frame up to experience.

 

We started out cutting out the door frame for the closet.

 

 

While Deb sanded and stained the door frame, I got the quarter round for the bathroom laid out, cut and numbered.

 

 

We figured as long as we were trimming out the closet, we might as well make the hanging rods match the rest of the wood in the room.

 

 

Here are the base boards for the closet.  Laid out, waiting for the door frames to dry so we could get the last two pieces of baseboard cut to fit tight against the door once we got it up.

 

Somewhere along the way, Deb snuck inside and finished staining the bathroom door frame.

 

Mid afternoon or so, the quarter round was dry enough to nail down in the bathroom.

 

Sunday morning started off cutting and staining the crown molding for the master closet.

 

Some of the stainable crown molding had very interesting grain patterns.

 

 

We had about decided Saturday to forego the quarter round in the closet.

 

The base boards looked pretty good without it.

 

But then while Deb was staining, I decided to cut a few pieces, since we had plenty, and lay them out to make the final decision.

 

And the final decision was.... it just didn't look finished with out the quarter round.  We did elect not to bother with it against the walls where hanging clothes would cover it anyway.

 

 

Deb decided to poly the crown molding before we nailed it up.  It was another wise decision on her part.  While she brushed on the poly, I nailed down the quarter round.

 

 

I wish someone could have been there taking pictures of us tangled up on two ladders trying to get the crown molding nailed up.  That was rather funny and awkward.

 

Once all the trim was nailed in, it was all detailing and clean up work.  Deb cleaned base boards in the bedroom in preparation for carpet.

 

 

And I finally put the toilet together and installed it.

 

Yesterday afternoon, Ty came out and measured the master bedroom for carpet.  It should be done by the time we get off work today.  Deb and I spent the rest of the evening cleaning the beams and walls in the master bedroom.  This project is closer than ever to being done.  Hopefully, we will be spending Deb's birthday moving in.  Maybe, just maybe, we can celebrate her birthday by spending our first night in our "new" house for the first time.  All that is left is plumbing the toilet into the sewer line, splicing the bathroom water pressure into the existing copper lines, replacing the counter tops in the kitchen, and putting up the back splash.  There will be ongoing projects for a while to come, but these 4 things are the only things I can find that I want done before the move.