September 2017 Kitchen & Bath Remodel Update

Well, we are already in October and still waiting for things to dry up around here so we can harvest. But in the meantime while I wait for the sun to shine, I have a pile of videos I need to share with you!



As you can see, we were getting frustrated on how long it was taking for some of the workers to get their work done so the project could be finished. (Tile guy, where are you!) Seriously, the guy would show up after 10am. Work until noon. Take a 1 hour lunch break, and leave before 5pm. With 15 minute breaks in there, he go about four hours of work done a day. He was are most aggravating part of the bathroom project as we couldn't have the plumbers come and install the fixtures until he was done.

As I write this, he has finished the upstairs bathroom tile work and now the plumber is coming on Monday to finish getting everything installed. We knew going forward that everything was going to be in a sequence, but it just goes to show that some workers can create a problem in your time budget if they can't get their work done fast enough. Good thing harvest was delayed...

2017 Kitchen Bath Remodel Second Week

Didn't the opening picture on the video just look terrible? I can't believe I am actually living like this! But, it will only be for a short time as the kitchen cabinets are coming in next week, so stay tuned as we show the final reveal of our 2017 kitchen remodel!

2017 Kitchen Bath Remodel First Week

The first week was rough tearing into perfectly good walls, working on removing tile, and keeping everything clean in a demo as much as possible. If you can keep things clean that is. We didn't want dust and construction bits getting tracked all over the rest of the house that we were keeping intact so we kept doors closed and used the shop vac to pick up most of the small bits left behind.

This is probably the point of no return now that we dug into the walls and pulled out the old sink. We just have to keep going and hopefully the end results will be well worth it!

Farm Kitchen Before & Bathroom Demo

Okay, I am to that point now of, "What have we gotten ourselves into?!" Yes, there is no turning back once you start tearing out walls. But, I keep telling myself it is for the best and we will love the end result.

I accidentally deleted the video off my camera for the upstairs bathroom before. And, am now kicking myself for it. But, I will tell you that the tile you see in the first shot of the room wrapped around the entire bathroom wall. Everything in here is begin gutted from the shower/tub, to all the walls. We are keeping the built in linen cabinet, the cupboards under the sink, and the toilet. Everything else is going. Meaning, we had to buy new fixtures, vanity, tub, shower, tile, floor, etc. This will be the most transformed room the house. At least we are not moving any walls!

The demo is going well so far, but we are nervous about tearing into the ceiling where we know the blown in insulation is sitting. We took a chunk of the outer wall out (the black taped area you might have seen by the toilet) It does not contain unsafe levels of asbestos, which was what we were most afraid of. So, that is great news! Now, the trick will be to keep it in the walls and ceilings as we take down the inner wall. We have a plan of using plastic, so stay tuned to see how that goes.

Plumber Anyone? Another Hobby Farm Update

So, the plumber never showed. But, we called several more and they never showed either. We ended up watching tons of YouTube videos and felt that we did a good enough job as we were gonna on the project and buried the trench.

We really didn't have much of choice with other projects going on and needing to pack the dirt in for the concrete to be poured for the waterer. If we are getting another batch of calves in this fall, we have to move fast.

Good help is hard to find!

On another note, I promised to show you a picture of what the house looked like way back when. Well...

...quite a bit different! This is the house in roughly the 1930's. In the video, I am pointed directly west. When they took this picture, they were pointed northwest. So, you are seeing pretty much the same side of the house in both shots.

The black door on the south side of the house, hasn’t changed except the overhang has been replaced. The east and north sides of the house have changed the most. Pretty cool, huh? Well, that is until you need to fix things up again. Then, it turns into your worst nightmare.

So stay tuned as we work on this old farmhouse!