A mess.....

It's days like today that I appreciate this little blog of mine. When I become frustrated beyond belief I can sit down for a minute and see how far we really have come. But oh my it is SO, SO HARD some day's.  

Friday July 13th our family along with some friends piled our families into a 15 passenger van and headed to cooler country, Northern California. We were gone an entire week and what fun we had! I did not miss the 105 temperatures at home but thoroughly enjoyed the mid 70 degree weather. Every hotel or home we stayed in had A/C, carpet and real rooms. It was truly bliss! But all vacations must come to an end. And all to soon ours did. We didn't get home until Friday evening, July 20th. 

On Saturday the 21st we had a hard time working. It was so hot and miserable inside our house. And seriously we had no desire to work. We had bags to unpack, a week worth of laundry to do and food from our traveling to put away. We also came back home to mice! Oh how I dislike those little critters! Needles to say we didn't accomplish to much. 

However, Kory, using a pipe machine was able to install most of the gas pipping we will need. We needed pipe laid out to the future laundry room, fireplace and Kory wanted it out to the garage too. He almost got it done but ran out of parts and of course the stores that were open did not have what he needed. Maybe next Saturday or one night this week we can get that done. 

Our kitchen sink has had issues! About a year ago the faucet developed little pin holes and would shoot water out and onto the counter top. For months this went on. At the beginning it was just a little water but all to soon those pin holes weren't so tiny anymore. After Kory seeing the mess it made he applied some bondo to the pin holes and we were good again. A few months ago that dang faucet had pin holes again. So Kory bonded it once more. Within the week the pin holes moved above his fix. So he bonded that part too. It lasted for a week before the water started flooding out of the base of the spout. Kory took the faucet apart and glued it in place. We aren't ready for a new faucet and was hoping this one would last till we are ready to remodel our new kitchen. Within the week the faucet was leaking again. My Dad happened to come by and witnessed what I was dealing with. He knew Kory was busy so said he'd fix it for me. He put some kind of a ring around the faucet to plug the pin holes. Well last night little miss Kylie was rinsing her plate off from dinner when I heard her burst into tears. In her hand she brought me the broken sink faucet. It just snapped into her hands. She was quite upset thinking she'd be in trouble for breaking the faucet. Poor girl. I think its time for new faucet whether we like it or not!

Without having a faucet it's made it rather difficult to stay on top of dishes and a clean kitchen. Luckily we do have a little water spout. It just doesn't put out a lot of water and it doesn't reach to the bigger sink. It's also cold water only making me have to boil water to wash my pots and pans. 

It's hot and muggy as it's been trying to rain this afternoon. I've been trying to finish the laundry that didn't get done on Saturday. Being the washer/dryer sits in the middle of our remodel it doesn't help with the humidity we are struggling with. Kory walked in for lunch and asked "who hasn't showered?" "It smells like B.O in here!" Well welcome home to you to! That's what our house smells like every single time I do laundry and it's over 100 degrees outside and close to 90 inside! 

The joys of remodeling!

Building the 2nd bedroom

Saturday, July 7th

Our goal yesterday was to get the 2nd bedroom framed. The Primary kids are in charge of cleaning the church this month so we participated in that first! 

But then we worked, worked and worked!

It took a lot longer than expected to frame the bedroom entryways. But we eventually got it framed and installed. 

Then we stated in on the closet. Kory got a phone call and had to stop to go help someone. 

When he got back it was just in time to go to Cedar for an appt he had. We had plans to attend the temple that night and so we basically had to call it a day! We didn't get as much done as we would have liked but at least we got it started. 

Over the next couple of days we worked an hour or two each night. We finally go that bedroom and closet framed. 

Then last night, Thursday July 12th we began sheet rocking. This wall has been open for several months. It leads out into the garage. Our family, neighbors and animals have been able to walk right through the stud wall. It feels so weird to have it covered again. But our house is almost enclosed again. WooHoo!

We did the ceiling first and then did the entryway wall. 

Wow!

I'm hoping now that we're more enclosed it will be easier to keep the house cooled down. It has been raining off and on for a week now. It has been so muggy and hot! I straighten my hair and within 2 hours it's not straight anymore. My little curls bounce right back. We sweat inside every single day. It's been in the low 90's in our house for what feels like a week. We have been using our swamp cooler but it just can't keep up. So here's hoping to a little cooler weather inside!

Demolition

Thursday July 5, 2018

Yesterday was such an awesome day! We finally made some progress on the house and I can see it! I love that I have one room that is almost sheet rocked. This morning I woke up excited and wanting to do more. Before we can frame in the 2nd bedroom another brick wall must go! 

This brick wall to be exact. This wall was on the inside of the laundry room (see the indoor window cut out). Then the doorway was the entrance to the boys room. On the other side of that brick wall is the hallway, part of the kitchen and then the kids bath. 

This is what it looks like on the other side of the wall from the kitchen. Since my pantry was removed Kory brought home 2 "mess up" cabinets and we've been using them. When I got home from Girls Camp about 2 weeks ago he had brought 2 more into the house. Hunter had emptied 3 of my kitchen cabinets and put their contents on the new shelves. One day soon those cabinets needed to go. The cabinet over the fridge was barely hanging on! 

And so with excitement of seeing progress I decided to take down that brick wall while Kory and Hunter were at work and Madelyn was off babysitting.  

This is me!

We had to work a bit carefully as our water heater, washer and dryer were pretty close to the wall. I didn't want to damage anything. 

The kids love helping take down the brick walls. It's something they know how to do and can do it by themselves. I had lots of eager little hands to help.

To give us privacy from the outside world this winter since we went without exterior walls for days at a time several times. Kory had hung left over mdf boards over some of the door openings around the house. After we raised the roof we had a 12" gap running around the top exterior of the house. Trying to help keep the warm air in and the cold air out we hung boards along it too. So While I was pulling the boards down, Brayden was hitting bricks and Emily and Kylie were taking the nails out of the mdf boards. 

Once the mdf boards were free from nails the sheets went into the dump bed trailer. 

My cute helpers from the day! 

About lunch time we were done!

That entire brick hallway was gone. The house looks and feels so different. No more maze to get inside the house. We can actually walk in from the front door now.   

Being the day was only half over I decided to keep going.Why not take the brick walls out around the kids bathroom too? This way not only can we frame the 2nd bedroom but we can also frame the master bedroom too when we're ready. And seriously, the brick is such a mess, dust everywhere I just wanted to finish with the brick! So Emily and I continued to take down walls. 

My Dad stopped by to borrow a tool and saw what we were doing. He helped me take out the bathtub and throw it into the trailer. Then Madelyn came home and and jumped right in helping. 

We had 2 walls down with more one short wall to go when Kory and Hunter got home. We can't take out the brick wall behind the toilet yet because that is the back of the master bathroom. We've got to keep at least one working bathroom in the house! 

In the kids bathroom there were no electrical outlets. So dumb! Then there was only one light switch, behind the door (again so dumb) but it wasn't a normal switch it was a motion sensor switch. So the light turned on every time we opened the door. When the kids would shower the light would shut off and they'd have to open the curtain, wave their arms or throw a piece of clothing towards the sensor to get it to go back on. It was so, so annoying! 

When Emily and I were taking down the bathroom wall this little guy fell out! For reals???? It was a real light switch! This is the 2nd light switch we have now "found" inside our brick walls. 

Kory was messing with the electrical making sure the wires that Emily and I were messing with were disconnected while the kids and I continued to take down brick. Tomorrow the city is coming to disconnect the old panel and connect the  new panel. So Kory was also fiddling with that when he came across a "live" orange strand. At first he thought maybe the wire had been in a fire because the plastic was such a rust color. But there were no burn marks so then he thought maybe it had been left out in the sun to long and the coloring changed. But nope that wasn't it either. The wire was actually an aluminum wire.  Aluminum wire can be dangerous. It expands when it gets warm and can cause house fires. For many years now it has been against code to use aluminum wiring in your house. 

This is the outlet that our refrigerator is plugged into. Can we say water damage and corrosion?

The girls started pulling up the wood floors for me. 

So gross!

The dirt I understand but all that pet hair! 

Nasty!

Once we got the little wall down I started on dinner being it was now after 6pm and kiddo's were hungry. Hunter and Kory started working on removing the toilet and sink. They had one heck of a time. The toilet bolts had been cut to the ground so Kory couldn't get his tool around it to undo it. So he just pushed it and it slid over. He was surprised it came off so easily! The sink was a different story. They glued that pedestal sink down with something that didn't allow it to budge at all! So Kory hit the base once with the sledge hammer so we could remove it. I was picking up the small broken pieces while Hunter took the broken sink out to the trailer in the wheel barrel. 

I heard the front door open again because it squeaks pretty good. Then I heard Hunter say, " Mom......Mom..... I need you really bad". I turned around to see Hunter just standing there with blood all over his arm and blood dripping into a little pool of blood on the floor. What the heck????

We had him go to the kitchen sink. Kory helped him wash his arm to see how bad it was while I ran to get the first aid kit. We quickly determined that the first aid kit wasn't going to be enough. So he and I ran to the Insta Care. 

Although there was a 1 hour and 15 min wait we jumped the line!  

 Thankfully no artery, vein or tendon was nicked. There was a little nick on a nerve but apparently that will self heal. Thank you Heavenly Father!

12 stitches later we were on our way home

We still aren't sure quite what happened. We know Hunter picked the sink up and then carefully laid it over into the trailer. He was trying to keep it from breaking anymore. We are assuming that when he pulled his arms back he must have rubbed up against a sharp edge and cut himself. Hunter did not feel it. In fact he didn't even realize he had been hurt until after he had gotten inside the house and felt wetness on his hand. He looked down and that's when he saw all the blood. There is no blood on the broken sink anywhere! A little earlier when  Kory broke the sink he actually cut his thumb. Something sharp sliced through his rubber gloves and into his thumb. But a band aid was sufficient for him.  

I'm feeling pretty blessed tonight. We started working a little here and there on the house about a year ago. But we really started the remodel about 7 months ago, Dec 25th. There have been so many times that someone could have gotten hurt but we didn't. We really have been blessed!

Our family has lots to be thankful for!

The First Sheetrock!

Wednesday, July 4th

This morning we took the kid's to the Hurricane parade. We had to do something to celebrate this great day!

As soon as the parade was over we came back home and started to work on the house! Grandpa Christensen came up and helped us all day long! It was so nice to have some help. 

Grandpa was going to install our gas line but Kory forgot to pick up the fittings while he was in St. George the day before. So while Kory went back to town to get the fittings Grandpa showed us how to put up the insulation. 

Super easy! 

Definitely something I or Hunter could do on our own in the future. 

Once Kory got back we were ready to start hanging. 

Kory bought a cheap ($150) sheet rock lift several months ago. It was awesome to have.

Once the sheet was cut to the correct length we lifted it onto the lift and then the lift did all the hard work. When the sheet was right up against the trusses Grandpa and Kory screwed it into place and on to the next sheet we went. 

After the ceiling was hung we moved to the wall. 

This wall took 6 pieces. Super easy! Our lift will actually hold those top pieces right to the wall. No straining required!

When the first wall was almost done, just needed a scrap piece we moved to the closet wall and then into the actual closet.  

One exterior wall is done! 

Along with the closet! 2 out of 4 bedroom walls are done. 

This wall has the "problem" window. We insulated it as much as we could. Once we get the new window and get it in then we can finish the insulating and sheet rock that wall. 

This will be the last wall in the bedroom that needs sheet rock.

We could have done this wall yesterday except that walking through the framed wall is the only way into this room. If we had sheet rocked it we wouldn't be able to get sheet rock in to finish the window wall. Of course we didn't want that! I guess it will stay as it is until we get those new windows. 

We started the morning off a little rocky but we got it! 

We had a great day!

Disapointment

Tuesday, July 3rd

Oh how the disappointment is so real today! I have been crying all morning!

We had our inspection this morning for the electrical panel. We passed! WooHoo! However, the inspector, Lance, also CRUSHED my world today. Because that back room was completely wired we also wanted him to inspect that too. He again passed us off but informed us that our windows are to high. It's code that windows can't be more than 44" off the floor. Ours is about 54". This is for fire safety. If there were a fire kids must be able to climb out of the window and firefighters must be able to climb through.

I get it, I really do. However we replaced the old high windows with new. They were already high to begin with. They didn't pass code before we even started. Lance told us that if that was all we did than it would have been fine. But since we knocked down the wall and rebuilt it...... it needs to pass today's code. OK Again I get it but please, please tell me why we weren't stopped when we had our framing inspection months ago? Because we weren't informed we continued to install 8 windows! Why weren't we stopped over the following few weeks when we had the sheeting inspection? Because then we kept moving forward. We wrapped the house getting it ready for stucco. Why weren't we told this during the first electrical inspection? Lance walked into this specific room. He passed the electrical but didn't say anything about the window. So we wired the room and now some of that wiring we will have to move! We have had one more inspection since today and again nothing was said! So many wasted hours! So many future hours that are going to be spent "re-doing" our hard work. 

I am so upset, so angry and so disappointed. I had plans this week. I wanted to get one room completely sheet rocked so I could move kids. It's been a long 7 months with 5 kids sleeping in our family room. I want my family room back! Selfish I know......  

With some more research our garage windows and family windows are fine. They can be higher up it's just in the bedrooms. It's called egress where each bedroom must have 2 ways of escape.  Lucky for us (trying to find something positive) we haven't installed the window yet with the electrical panel in its way.  Kory's decided it will be faster and save us money by replacing the 2 bedroom windows with a little bit of a bigger window. So he ordered 2 of those. It will take 3-4 weeks before they come in. We'll save these "messed up" windows and use them upstairs in the bedrooms. We'll just make sure they are low enough. 

These are the windows in our future master room. I love the height and the way they look. But they won't pass code either. Not only are they to high but the side windows only open to 15". Code says they must open to 20". Ughhhhh! Instead of replacing them, cause that wall really doesn't have the room for bigger side windows we will put a sliding window in the master bathroom over the tub. That way from the master you still have the 2 ways out. 

I know I will get over this. We will do what we have to do. But I am still so disappointed today! 

Ready for the inspection.

Saturday June 30, 2018

I got home from Girls Camp Saturday morning just before noon. How fun to see that Kory had wired our front porch lighting and then had finished sheeting the pillar. I love the way it turned out. 

He also got this bad boy almost hooked up that afternoon. We are missing one part that we'll go pick up tonight. He'll install it Monday and hoping for an electrical inspection Monday afternoon or sometime Tuesday. This is going to be our new power so that we can move the existing electrical panel out of the window! 

This is our existing panel. Right in the window's way. Before we knocked down the exterior wall this panel was hung on the outside of the house near the laundry room. Moving rooms around this part of the house is now going to be the 2nd boys room. The panels got to go!

Wednesday is July 4th. We've told the kids we'll go to Kanab for their awesome parade but then we'll probably come home and work on the house. Our plan is to insulate and then sheetrock the boys future room. We are so excited that we can finally put a room back together. WooHoo! It's been 7 months with the kids sleeping in the family room. We are all so ready to get their rooms finished. So excited to be able to see it coming together this week. If all goes well I'm hoping by next week we can move the boys out there. 

That snake we found in our house last week, still hasn't been seen again! 

More Wiriing.

The past 2 weeks have been crazy at our house. We have had 2 family reunions two weekends in a row which really hasn't allowed us to get much done on the house. It doesn't help that I'm going to Girls Camp this week and won't be coming home until Saturday. This will make 3 Saturday's in a row that we haven't been able to put in a good full day's worth of work. But we are still trying to do as much as possible. It's going pretty slow but I keep telling myself at least we're going.

Little by little we have been working on the electrical.

Lot's of blue boxes and lots of pulling wires. 

Even the garage is seeing some work! 

We are about ready for our 2nd electrical inspection. So happy!

Today we had an unexpected visitor.....

We have had a chicken, a dog, a goat and now a dang snake get into our house! Our house is not sealed making this pretty easy to do.  I think this guy was the most un-welcomed visitor of all. We locked him in the bathroom until Kory got home from an install in St. George. When we opened the door again it was GONE! We searched the house, we moved furniture, we picked up boxes. It was no where to be seen again. According to Google this is a California King snake who prefers the heat. We did have a hole in the bathroom wall behind the door that was stuffed with insulation. We are assuming he slithered his way through and made it back outside. Just hoping he made it back outside and we don't find him over the next few days.