Showing posts with label flooring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flooring. Show all posts
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Preparing for a Move
Well, let's face it - we've been preparing for a move for 7 months now, BUT we are actually getting CLOSE now! The list of things we have LEFT to do is actually shorter now than the things we've gotten accomplished. The children's bathroom, boys' room, girls' room, living room, laundry room, and kitchen are all complete now! What remains is the master bedroom (installing carpet and baseboards) and master bath (take out old shower, replace flooring underneath shower as needed and possibly sheetrock behind shower, install new shower, paint, replace broken mirrors, install vinyl flooring, and replace countertops/sinks). I'm sure we will discover even more than needs doing in this bathroom, but that's our list for now. We also found a good deal on a steel frame, metal building that we will be using as a storage shed. What a load off my mind to have storage! The biggest stress for me living here was going to be lack of storage; glad it will not be a problem. The neighbor behind us does concrete, and he is having his trucks stop off at our house to pour concrete on the way to another job. He is able to give us a good deal that way. We are getting the best quality concrete because of the job he is doing on the way, and we are getting the highest storm/wind rated building in the hopes of using the building as a storm shelter as well. Our neighbor was just telling us about a tornado passing right over our homes a week or two ago! It went back up and caused no damage to our homes, but he could hear the roaring of it passing overhead. That is the second tornado this season that has passed so close by us. Thank the Lord for his protection! We are but dust, and our lives so fragile, yet He cares for us. We know that we will not leave this earth one day sooner than our appointed day, so there really is no place for worry. We know we are in His will doing what we are doing now, and in that regard, we are in the safest place on earth.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Nutrition and More Work Accomplished
We've decided recently to start staying out at our property during the week more, to try to get more accomplished. The frantic loading of everyone on Sunday mornings to stay the day there is exhausting, and we seem to not get very much done. As Jeremy headed off the work this Thursday, I began preparing to meet him out there after work. The kids and I ate breakfast, finished homeschooling, ate lunch, and then packed everything into the van. It is surprising the heavy bags that those boys can load into the van! They like doing it, and it helps me a lot!
I've also decided to stock the pantry/dorm fridge at the property so that we aren't trying to pack up loads of food for our stay out there. I've been going shopping just as we run out of food, which seems to be often, since that fridge doesn't hold very much. I tried to plan meals around foods that didn't require refrigeration, and I was successful in that we did get meals fixed and didn't eat out, but the processed foods and minimal protein started taking its toll! My hands were swelling, which they hadn't done in a long time (only a handful of times this pregnancy, and I'm now 32 weeks), and one night while walking around Wal-Mart getting some things we needed, I got really nauseous and faint feeling. I was adding up what I'd eaten on that (very busy) day, and it wasn't much, esp. not in the way of protein. So I went straight to find snacks, paid for them, and then walked around finishing our shopping while consuming everything I'd bought! I soon felt better. Yet I didn't feel completely better (as in, no swelling and not hungry all the time) until I got home today and could eat our usual foods. I'm so surprised how much difference the right nutrition makes, esp. in pregnancy. I bought a box of Nutrigrain bars, and I seriously could eat at least a half box at one sitting and still not feel full, probably because it just doesn't provide the kind of nutrients my little growing baby is needing. Next time I will be bringing my Bosch so that I can make homemade bread and smoothies! I have to eat twice (or more!) as much store bought bread as normal bread to get full, and it doesn't have all the nutrients. And it is hard to find healthy, tasty options at Wal-Mart sometimes that don't have refined grains and/or extra sweeteners, and there aren't too many close shopping options besides Wal-Mart. So next time I will bring a cooler, too, if need be, and just cook my normal meals so that I will feel well, and save the pantry stuff for emergencies. At least now I know.
As far as work on the property, we got some transition strips between the different floors installed, a threshold and some trim around the door to make it look so much better, a deck partially installed (I'm SOO thankful that THAT, as it was getting really hard to make it up our temporary steps), and the carpet cut and laid down for our bedroom. We don't have the carpet pad yet, and it isn't installed, but at least it is down, on the floor, so that we aren't getting that particle board dust all over our feet, beds, etc., and now the roll of carpet is out of the kitchen! One less thing to trip over. :) And while the kids were napping one day, I painted our bedroom (yeah!!), and Jeremy helped finish it up when he got home. And then we proceeding to scratch it up with the carpet "installation". Oh well. Another repair for another day, I suppose.
I was so excited to find a great thrift store not to far from our property, too. I'm going to miss that about where we live now - tons of thrift stores with lots of great stuff, all not too far from our house. Yet having one good thrift store will help, with some others a bit farther away. I was able to find a wooden highchair for Faith, and we negotiated the price to $12. It didn't have a tray, which I didn't care too much about, since we were planning to just slide it up to the table, and it was wobbly, which Jeremy fixed with some wood glue. Clothes were half price that day, too, so I was able to find a few things for the children for $1 each. And we found some great Bible story books for my nieces birthday party that weekend! The neat thing about thrift stores is that they have things that typical stores do not sell, and for a fraction of the cost of the things that typical stores DO sell. For example, we bought a last minute shirt for Jeremy since the weather was colder than we thought, at an outlet store at 75% off: total price - $12.50. I told him that the shirts at the thrift store were 75% off of that store's 75% off price! Maybe I'll convert him to my thrift store ways someday.
I've also decided to stock the pantry/dorm fridge at the property so that we aren't trying to pack up loads of food for our stay out there. I've been going shopping just as we run out of food, which seems to be often, since that fridge doesn't hold very much. I tried to plan meals around foods that didn't require refrigeration, and I was successful in that we did get meals fixed and didn't eat out, but the processed foods and minimal protein started taking its toll! My hands were swelling, which they hadn't done in a long time (only a handful of times this pregnancy, and I'm now 32 weeks), and one night while walking around Wal-Mart getting some things we needed, I got really nauseous and faint feeling. I was adding up what I'd eaten on that (very busy) day, and it wasn't much, esp. not in the way of protein. So I went straight to find snacks, paid for them, and then walked around finishing our shopping while consuming everything I'd bought! I soon felt better. Yet I didn't feel completely better (as in, no swelling and not hungry all the time) until I got home today and could eat our usual foods. I'm so surprised how much difference the right nutrition makes, esp. in pregnancy. I bought a box of Nutrigrain bars, and I seriously could eat at least a half box at one sitting and still not feel full, probably because it just doesn't provide the kind of nutrients my little growing baby is needing. Next time I will be bringing my Bosch so that I can make homemade bread and smoothies! I have to eat twice (or more!) as much store bought bread as normal bread to get full, and it doesn't have all the nutrients. And it is hard to find healthy, tasty options at Wal-Mart sometimes that don't have refined grains and/or extra sweeteners, and there aren't too many close shopping options besides Wal-Mart. So next time I will bring a cooler, too, if need be, and just cook my normal meals so that I will feel well, and save the pantry stuff for emergencies. At least now I know.
As far as work on the property, we got some transition strips between the different floors installed, a threshold and some trim around the door to make it look so much better, a deck partially installed (I'm SOO thankful that THAT, as it was getting really hard to make it up our temporary steps), and the carpet cut and laid down for our bedroom. We don't have the carpet pad yet, and it isn't installed, but at least it is down, on the floor, so that we aren't getting that particle board dust all over our feet, beds, etc., and now the roll of carpet is out of the kitchen! One less thing to trip over. :) And while the kids were napping one day, I painted our bedroom (yeah!!), and Jeremy helped finish it up when he got home. And then we proceeding to scratch it up with the carpet "installation". Oh well. Another repair for another day, I suppose.
I was so excited to find a great thrift store not to far from our property, too. I'm going to miss that about where we live now - tons of thrift stores with lots of great stuff, all not too far from our house. Yet having one good thrift store will help, with some others a bit farther away. I was able to find a wooden highchair for Faith, and we negotiated the price to $12. It didn't have a tray, which I didn't care too much about, since we were planning to just slide it up to the table, and it was wobbly, which Jeremy fixed with some wood glue. Clothes were half price that day, too, so I was able to find a few things for the children for $1 each. And we found some great Bible story books for my nieces birthday party that weekend! The neat thing about thrift stores is that they have things that typical stores do not sell, and for a fraction of the cost of the things that typical stores DO sell. For example, we bought a last minute shirt for Jeremy since the weather was colder than we thought, at an outlet store at 75% off: total price - $12.50. I told him that the shirts at the thrift store were 75% off of that store's 75% off price! Maybe I'll convert him to my thrift store ways someday.
Friday, January 28, 2011
New Floors Put in & Other Progress
So, I'm way behind on my blogging! No surprise there - 3 children, right now feeling the "tummy gymnastics" of our fourth due in April, and maintaining two homes - I'm a little bit busy.
To sum up our week spent at the property - we had a toilet overflow, on the particle board floors (what a nightmare!). We need to replace that toilet because even a normal amount flushed down that toilet is too much for it, not to mention the large amounts of t.p. that toddlers tend to flush! The kitchen is now painted a lovely butter yellow (I did the whole thing myself).
And, the biggest accomplishment of that week is that our trailer now has skirting - which means it is now insurable. We were able to buy used corrugated metal (like barn tin) for the skirting - giving us a durable product and saving us tons of money, but the downside - it takes a LONG time to custom cut it into trailer skirting. But it is done. Praise the Lord!
Since then we have finished painting the living room, which was wall paper, but is now brown, with a darker shade of brown on the bottom, and white trim in the middle. Baby girl's room is now lilac, and the living room, hallway, and baby's room are now done with this vinyl plank flooring called Allure that we got at Home Depot. It was advertised as the "easiest floor ever", and I've not installed any other flooring, but this stuff was pretty easy. It consisted of vinyl planks with sticky strips that overlap each other, and it is supposed to be waterproof - a big plus in our decision to get it. It looks great, and I'm so pleased that we got it! The baby's room also now has baseboards, and oh, what a difference it makes!
We still have flooring left to do in both bathrooms - sheet vinyl, kinda nervous about that, and in the master bedroom - carpet, which we got for free from a neighbor, but we've never done carpet, so nervous about that one, too. The hall bath still needs sheetrock to be hung, painting, the vanity, toilet and tub (including tub surround) to be put back in; so pretty much everything! and the master bath needs a section of flooring to be replaced, the shower needs to be replaced (and who knows what else will need to be replaced once we pull the shower out), and the aforementioned overflowing toilet needs a replacement. In also needs painting and mirrors replaced, and probably a new vanity before it's all over with, but I guess we will see! The whole house needs baseboards. We need a deck built/rebuilt, because the makeshift stairs leading up to the front door are inadequate - the last step before going into the home is not tall enough, and my pregnant self almost can't make it! Especially not while carrying a child. There is just so much left to do, and not much time left before the baby is due. All in God's time, though; all in God's time.
To sum up our week spent at the property - we had a toilet overflow, on the particle board floors (what a nightmare!). We need to replace that toilet because even a normal amount flushed down that toilet is too much for it, not to mention the large amounts of t.p. that toddlers tend to flush! The kitchen is now painted a lovely butter yellow (I did the whole thing myself).
And, the biggest accomplishment of that week is that our trailer now has skirting - which means it is now insurable. We were able to buy used corrugated metal (like barn tin) for the skirting - giving us a durable product and saving us tons of money, but the downside - it takes a LONG time to custom cut it into trailer skirting. But it is done. Praise the Lord!
Since then we have finished painting the living room, which was wall paper, but is now brown, with a darker shade of brown on the bottom, and white trim in the middle. Baby girl's room is now lilac, and the living room, hallway, and baby's room are now done with this vinyl plank flooring called Allure that we got at Home Depot. It was advertised as the "easiest floor ever", and I've not installed any other flooring, but this stuff was pretty easy. It consisted of vinyl planks with sticky strips that overlap each other, and it is supposed to be waterproof - a big plus in our decision to get it. It looks great, and I'm so pleased that we got it! The baby's room also now has baseboards, and oh, what a difference it makes!
We still have flooring left to do in both bathrooms - sheet vinyl, kinda nervous about that, and in the master bedroom - carpet, which we got for free from a neighbor, but we've never done carpet, so nervous about that one, too. The hall bath still needs sheetrock to be hung, painting, the vanity, toilet and tub (including tub surround) to be put back in; so pretty much everything! and the master bath needs a section of flooring to be replaced, the shower needs to be replaced (and who knows what else will need to be replaced once we pull the shower out), and the aforementioned overflowing toilet needs a replacement. In also needs painting and mirrors replaced, and probably a new vanity before it's all over with, but I guess we will see! The whole house needs baseboards. We need a deck built/rebuilt, because the makeshift stairs leading up to the front door are inadequate - the last step before going into the home is not tall enough, and my pregnant self almost can't make it! Especially not while carrying a child. There is just so much left to do, and not much time left before the baby is due. All in God's time, though; all in God's time.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
If You Rip up Old Flooring...
Ever read any of the children's books like If You Give a Pig a Pancake or If You Give a Moose a Muffin? Well, the last couple weeks have reminded me of that....
If you rip up old flooring, you might discover the subflooring underneath is rotten. When you dig up the subflooring, you might find that the insulation is rotten, too. And when you go to replace the insulation, you might find that the plumbing needs work, too. And if you are going to replace the plumbing, you might as well rip out the tub and tub surround as well. When you rip out the tub surround, you might find that the walls need to be replaced too. And as soon as we rip open the old walls, I'll probably have more reasons why...
if you believe ignorance is bliss, and you just happen to buy, say, an old trailer on blue light special, you might just want to leave the old vinyl floors in place. And the carpet, too. :)
If you rip up old flooring, you might discover the subflooring underneath is rotten. When you dig up the subflooring, you might find that the insulation is rotten, too. And when you go to replace the insulation, you might find that the plumbing needs work, too. And if you are going to replace the plumbing, you might as well rip out the tub and tub surround as well. When you rip out the tub surround, you might find that the walls need to be replaced too. And as soon as we rip open the old walls, I'll probably have more reasons why...
if you believe ignorance is bliss, and you just happen to buy, say, an old trailer on blue light special, you might just want to leave the old vinyl floors in place. And the carpet, too. :)
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Fixing up the Mobile Home
I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated! Life is so busy, of course! Where do I start...
The old house is gone, along with the huge dumpster that holds its remains, burned or otherwise. So, with the exception of a pile of metal we still need to recycle, nothing is left of it. The neighbor behind us came with his bobcat, took some dirt from our next door neighbor's land, and leveled off the old home site to make way for the mobile home.
Now, LOTS to do in the mobile home! One huge blessing God has provided for us is that our neighbor is giving us some carpet he's not using. It's probably enough to carpet our bedroom, which is the only room I'd want carpeted anyhow. The mobile home had old green carpet, very dirty, but I told the Lord I'd try to be happy with it, if that is how it has to be. Thankfully, he provided another way. The rest of the house we plan to do in a combination of laminate wood and vinyl flooring. I'm thinking attractive, yet easy to clean, with the focus on easy to clean! We just went through a bout of stomach virus in our house, which definitely reminded me, once again, why carpet in a house with little ones equals disaster! Too much poop, puke, and pee in our house, and now that we are moving to the country, add dirt, mud, and animal poop to the list, and you can see why I need something that can be mopped. I'm very much looking forward to our UNcarpeted dining area (that, of course, adds food to our dirty equation).
Speaking of animal poop, we now have 2 horses, 1 longhorn, and 3 calves grazing on our land. Not ours, but the neighbor's! We get to enjoy the animals without having to actually own them right now. I'm very glad to actually be able to do something for our neighbor, however small, since he has been so kind to us. Jeremy told him that he's the best neighbor we've ever had, and it is so very true.
Back to the mobile home. We've ripped up carpet, swept up all the dust and dirt from THAT, washed the walls in the living room, and now, we actually primed the walls in the living room. So much left to do, but it is progress. Last weekend I scrubbed and scrubbed until I was sore in the kids' bathroom. It is probably the smallest bathroom I've ever seen (well, except that in a camper!), yet I've never scrubbed for so long in a bathroom! It is clean, though. The good news is, about 10 or so of those vinyl tiles should cover the whole bathroom floor, and a sample quart of paint (or the leftovers from painting the bathroom in our current house) should take care of it. We just need a new tub surround (who thought WOOD would make a good tub surround?), and a new sink (the plastic sink is cracked). We found a new sink for about $16, so it isn't setting us back very much. We could superglue the crack for a while if we had to, but the sink is so cheap, I think we'll be able to just replace it. The bad news about pulling out the carpet is we found some rotten plywood from leaks that we'll probably have to replace. We got some of that Thompson's waterseal, and we're planning to coat all the exposed plywood with it, so that we have no more rotting floor problems. I'm really surprised that the floors are made of plywood that hasn't been treated, and just covered with carpet. Plywood seems to buckle at even the slightest hint of water, and yet nothing was protecting it from the water, not even in the bathrooms. Strange.
We were hoping to maybe be moved in by Thanksgiving, but I think we've scratched that idea. Now we are hoping to be moved by Christmas. We have to basically paint the entire house, and replace all the flooring, except that in the kitchen/dining/laundry room, so that's a lot of work to be done still. We're painting over wall paper, so we're having to do primer (more than one coat), and possibly more than one coat of the actual paint. And we've never laid floors before, so we don't know how long it will take us.
It's all fun, though, in spite of all the work and the driving. We are making memories that we will never forget. It's fun to work together to accomplish goals, and it's fun to trust God and watch Him provide. And He is definitely doing that.
The old house is gone, along with the huge dumpster that holds its remains, burned or otherwise. So, with the exception of a pile of metal we still need to recycle, nothing is left of it. The neighbor behind us came with his bobcat, took some dirt from our next door neighbor's land, and leveled off the old home site to make way for the mobile home.
Now, LOTS to do in the mobile home! One huge blessing God has provided for us is that our neighbor is giving us some carpet he's not using. It's probably enough to carpet our bedroom, which is the only room I'd want carpeted anyhow. The mobile home had old green carpet, very dirty, but I told the Lord I'd try to be happy with it, if that is how it has to be. Thankfully, he provided another way. The rest of the house we plan to do in a combination of laminate wood and vinyl flooring. I'm thinking attractive, yet easy to clean, with the focus on easy to clean! We just went through a bout of stomach virus in our house, which definitely reminded me, once again, why carpet in a house with little ones equals disaster! Too much poop, puke, and pee in our house, and now that we are moving to the country, add dirt, mud, and animal poop to the list, and you can see why I need something that can be mopped. I'm very much looking forward to our UNcarpeted dining area (that, of course, adds food to our dirty equation).
Speaking of animal poop, we now have 2 horses, 1 longhorn, and 3 calves grazing on our land. Not ours, but the neighbor's! We get to enjoy the animals without having to actually own them right now. I'm very glad to actually be able to do something for our neighbor, however small, since he has been so kind to us. Jeremy told him that he's the best neighbor we've ever had, and it is so very true.
Back to the mobile home. We've ripped up carpet, swept up all the dust and dirt from THAT, washed the walls in the living room, and now, we actually primed the walls in the living room. So much left to do, but it is progress. Last weekend I scrubbed and scrubbed until I was sore in the kids' bathroom. It is probably the smallest bathroom I've ever seen (well, except that in a camper!), yet I've never scrubbed for so long in a bathroom! It is clean, though. The good news is, about 10 or so of those vinyl tiles should cover the whole bathroom floor, and a sample quart of paint (or the leftovers from painting the bathroom in our current house) should take care of it. We just need a new tub surround (who thought WOOD would make a good tub surround?), and a new sink (the plastic sink is cracked). We found a new sink for about $16, so it isn't setting us back very much. We could superglue the crack for a while if we had to, but the sink is so cheap, I think we'll be able to just replace it. The bad news about pulling out the carpet is we found some rotten plywood from leaks that we'll probably have to replace. We got some of that Thompson's waterseal, and we're planning to coat all the exposed plywood with it, so that we have no more rotting floor problems. I'm really surprised that the floors are made of plywood that hasn't been treated, and just covered with carpet. Plywood seems to buckle at even the slightest hint of water, and yet nothing was protecting it from the water, not even in the bathrooms. Strange.
We were hoping to maybe be moved in by Thanksgiving, but I think we've scratched that idea. Now we are hoping to be moved by Christmas. We have to basically paint the entire house, and replace all the flooring, except that in the kitchen/dining/laundry room, so that's a lot of work to be done still. We're painting over wall paper, so we're having to do primer (more than one coat), and possibly more than one coat of the actual paint. And we've never laid floors before, so we don't know how long it will take us.
It's all fun, though, in spite of all the work and the driving. We are making memories that we will never forget. It's fun to work together to accomplish goals, and it's fun to trust God and watch Him provide. And He is definitely doing that.
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