Adventures at The Bunny Manse

Our stuff was in TROSA storage from September 17th 2013 until yesterday. They unloaded the piano, the love seat, boxes of books, plates, glasses, linens, and all sorts of other lovely things that make us feel like we have a HOME. So yes, we need to hang the picture rail so we can hang art on the walls again. Harris and Madeline are unpacking boxes and setting up rooms. Then will begin the great list of 'things we would like for the house' (e.g. better curtains, a chair here, a work table there, etc.) and we've already started the great 'why did we pay to store these items, I thought we were getting rid of them' decluttering. The elliptical and lazy boy went away yesterday and there is a box full of linens that we're going to take to the thrift for different reasons (panels too short, not enough panels, mismatched sheets). We have more unpacking to do, then some repacking to do (2yr old clothes can go in the attic once they are neatly packed and sealed),...

 Why yes, Harris did play a lot of Super Mario Brothers as a child. Why do you ask?       He's still fighting with the goram faucet and we're waiting for the tile guys to finish the last row of bottom tiles so he can re-install the toilet. Then we have to figure out how to carefully clean the paint of the existing wall tiles (about half are painted) and the suite bathroom is done! 

You could smell the poly from the sidewalk...    

HVAC upstairs will be finished today we've been told. We really like the company we're using and understand that it's an incredibly busy time of year and delays happen...but we have to have it done today. It was supposed to be finished by August 8th. Floor sanding - they should finish sanding everything today- we hope.  Poly will start Tuesday at some point. Toilets - this is incredibly frustrating. We need new toilets put in, not moved, not changed in any way, just installed. And for some reason this has flummoxed the two plumbers we've consulted about it. Harris will try again today.  Same thing with the bathtubs. Not moving a damn thing, just installing a new tub into the same supply and drain where a shower was previously. This is not hard people... Furniture - We'll move things around this weekend. Well, I will say where they go and Harris will move things around this weekend. I'll put up curtains I think?  Then next Tuesday our furniture is delivere...

ceiling fan idea 1 ceiling fan idea 2

 Floor work starts today. They will sand, trowel fill, and patch today, tomorrow, and Friday. Here are the floors before they start working on them. This is the recognized transformation moment. When the house goes from construction site to home in a matter of days.  

Floor tile is down in the downstairs bathroom. Just as pretty as we expected. Today they are going to grout and I think re-install the line of salvaged sanitary tiles between the floor and wall. Then we can install the toilet (left corner) and tub (right wall) 

oh my damn. There's not really another expression that fits the amount of work on  our plates right now. We finally ripped the carpet off the stairs, and with it came about 30 years of gross dust. Harris pulled the paneling/linoleum out of the hallway while I pulled nails on Saturday. I stopped at 437. Harris then started pulling, probably got just as many as I did if not more. Sunday was spent both pulling nails and getting things off craigslist. We found a set of bunk beds for the girls room as well as a bookcase.     These things are important because there is no closet in their room in which to hide things. On Monday the tile guys will hopefully show up and hopefully lay the tile in the suite bathroom. From there we need to install toilets, sinks, and tubs in the bathrooms. Harris is talking to a plumber about things we can get them to do. I think the pocket door comes back from the woodshop on Tuesday. Floor work starts on Wednesday.

Living Room Light, before we bought the house, hanging in the living room with the dropped ceiling, termite eaten floor, and paneled walls. You'll notice it is both electric and gas.   Harris rebuilt the light fixture, cleaned the hell out of it, and hung it in the entryway to the house. In the process he flipped the direction of the bulbs so it is now an uplight fixture.

We have central air conditioning on the first floor. I slept last night without the whir of a window unit in my ear and with a lovely, non-humid, temprature. When I walked into the kitchen this morning, still lovely. We joined a pool yesterday. Yeah, a little late in the summer for it, but whatever. When we got home, Madeline walked by the kitchen vent and said, wow, that's so cold. It is definately NOT refreshing. Oh honey, how could you be so wrong. They will finish the upstairs install next week as the floor sanders are there. Floors should be finished by the 20th and we can get furniture by the 22nd. House is coming along so well!!!

    These are the backsides of the panels that we popped out of the woodwork this morning for the HVAC return. These panels will be saved in case we have any breakage around the house over the next 20-30 years.   Notice the F and H. Harris couldn't figure out my cursive F the other day and I feel vindicated now.     The HVAC return will go here. Box will be in bottom of what will be the linen closet and behind the door to the suite bathroom downstairs.   Kiddo standing in her purple room before the trim is painted today. We started talking about curtains for her room over the weekend...it's becoming more real for her.

Over the weekend we pulled the remaining nails and once again mopped and swept upstairs. It's totally not sexy work, but with the HVAC getting installed, we wanted to get more dust out of the house. Harris also finished up putting boards up around windows (casings) and made them beautiful with his new router. I think he might have put in a light fixture or two and also fixed some other stuff. He was  busy, I was tired and napped and looked for materials (ceiling fans, bath faucets, surrounds for the claw foot tub, etc). Today! HVAC - install starts today. Painting - Trim in the girls room is scraped, sanded, primed, and painted today. \ Termites - Company coming to reinspect to make sure there are not any termites in the house. Will also do the quarterly pest service. Estimates  - will get first estimate from a GC re: stage 3 work. Plaster - finishes today. This week - Tile - on Wednesday the downstairs bathroom gets tile. We then get to p...