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| Tools of the day |
Showing posts with label fixer upping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fixer upping. Show all posts
Thursday, October 14, 2010
DIY of the Day (Yesterday)
Went yesterday to Lowe's (my new favorite store!...) to find caulk and a gun to caulk the baseboards and walls. One girl came to help me choose the right caulk and a gun to use. After she left, I found myself trying to figure out how to load the gun. Luckily two other guys happened by and I was able to ask them. I felt really silly not knowing how to load the gun...but then neither did one of the workers...so I felt a little better. My caulk lines were pretty straight and looked clean, it wasn't until I smoothed the caulk with my finger that it got onto the wall, and then stuck in funny patterns because of the surface of the wall. I learned that if I didn't release the tension, caulk would continue to shoot out of the gun with reckless abandon for any floor surface nearby! I also learned that I didn't have to pull on the trigger the whole time, but could pull the trigger, move the gun, and then release the trigger and tension and continue moving the gun until it stopped which would make it a little (lot) cleaner.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Catching up...
Wow, so I guess I've fallen behind a smidge with the daily updates with the house... to recap last week:
Eddie's Grandpa Mario worked his sprinkler magic and fixed our valves in the back yard. Now all the sprinklers work, yay!
In the same vein, and on one of our many trips to Lowes, Eddie bought new sprinkler heads to shoot water in the appropriate directions for the raised beds in the back. He also fiddled around until he got the right water flow for various sprinklers in the front and back.
While Grandpa Mario fixed sprinklers, Grandma Esther was a weeding machine! She cleared out the grass/weeds from around the palm tree and in one of the beds!
I started prepping the walls to be painted with this super cool putty stuff! It starts out pink, but then turns white to let you know when it's dry and able to be painted on. :) I'm super impressed!
After watching my painful attempts at painting the cabinets, Grandpa Mario informed me that I was using the wrong kind of brush, so the next time I saw him, he had bought us a "good" brush. :)
I've still been working on the cabinet doors, painting brown and white doors. Even with my labelling system, I mispainted a door, so we had to sand it down and start over again...at least it was only one door. We finished the brown doors and Eddie's dad reinstalled them for me (the first time upside down...which neither he nor I caught). I have two doors that need a couple more coats of white, and one long door that needs both sides painted, but other than that, I have all the other white doors ready to put their hardware back on and reinstall them.
With the weather being kind of funky, I took a break about halfway during the week and headed to Fullerton.
When I returned this weekend, we did some painting! These are the 3 color choices for the bedrooms:
The previously green room
The previously pink room
And finally, we've gotten to estimates about a custom closet in the master bedroom... one guy quoted $1895, the other lady quoted $1531, but the first guy said he'd beat competitor's prices and Eddie likes the hanging bar more in the first guy's closets...I like the price of the second lady. I guess we'll see what happens, as we're meeting with the first guy again tomorrow. In the mean time, we're also prepping the closet for any work to be done.
Tomorrow I'm picking up the mail key, waiting for the refrigerator to be delivered, finishing the white cabinet doors, putting the electrical socket plates back on, taping the master bedroom, double checking the spackle, and maybe taping the hall, entry, living rooms...
Ack. I want the kitchen cabinets DONE like yesterday!
Eddie's Grandpa Mario worked his sprinkler magic and fixed our valves in the back yard. Now all the sprinklers work, yay!
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| Look how beautiful the sprinkler valves are! |
In the same vein, and on one of our many trips to Lowes, Eddie bought new sprinkler heads to shoot water in the appropriate directions for the raised beds in the back. He also fiddled around until he got the right water flow for various sprinklers in the front and back.
While Grandpa Mario fixed sprinklers, Grandma Esther was a weeding machine! She cleared out the grass/weeds from around the palm tree and in one of the beds!
I started prepping the walls to be painted with this super cool putty stuff! It starts out pink, but then turns white to let you know when it's dry and able to be painted on. :) I'm super impressed!
After watching my painful attempts at painting the cabinets, Grandpa Mario informed me that I was using the wrong kind of brush, so the next time I saw him, he had bought us a "good" brush. :)
I've still been working on the cabinet doors, painting brown and white doors. Even with my labelling system, I mispainted a door, so we had to sand it down and start over again...at least it was only one door. We finished the brown doors and Eddie's dad reinstalled them for me (the first time upside down...which neither he nor I caught). I have two doors that need a couple more coats of white, and one long door that needs both sides painted, but other than that, I have all the other white doors ready to put their hardware back on and reinstall them.
With the weather being kind of funky, I took a break about halfway during the week and headed to Fullerton.
When I returned this weekend, we did some painting! These are the 3 color choices for the bedrooms:
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| for the master bedroom; I'm envisioning blue, brown/black, white... |
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| For "Alex's Room," formerly the pink room; chosen by Alex, channeling UFC gray... I'm thinking some combination with yellow and maybe purple?...:  |
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| A popping, energetic green for the green room; makes me think of islands... |
The previously green room
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| Before |
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| After |
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| Before |
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| Dru and Eddie's mom painting |
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| Doing the detailed painting |
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| Roller King |
And finally, we've gotten to estimates about a custom closet in the master bedroom... one guy quoted $1895, the other lady quoted $1531, but the first guy said he'd beat competitor's prices and Eddie likes the hanging bar more in the first guy's closets...I like the price of the second lady. I guess we'll see what happens, as we're meeting with the first guy again tomorrow. In the mean time, we're also prepping the closet for any work to be done.
Tomorrow I'm picking up the mail key, waiting for the refrigerator to be delivered, finishing the white cabinet doors, putting the electrical socket plates back on, taping the master bedroom, double checking the spackle, and maybe taping the hall, entry, living rooms...
Ack. I want the kitchen cabinets DONE like yesterday!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Cabinets Day 4
Painting for Day 4 started out a little slower than planned...
A little paint buying, or rather MISbuying, ... but here are the results!
Compared to:
A little paint buying, or rather MISbuying, ... but here are the results!
Compared to:
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Kitchen Cabinets Day 2
So today we got the cabinets cleaned and sanded.
-Side bar- Our day started off with a bargain buy! Just before driving to the new house, we passed a garage sale and a big piece caught Eddie's eye. It was a little bar. So Eddie practiced his (illegal U turns and parking) bargaining skills for a bar which the owner assured was just like the bars in Vegas (?). We loaded it into the back of the Jeep and I had to hop in the back seat to hold onto the bar because it stuck out!
We also made a side trip to Tennessee Gardens, but that's a whole other blog. ;)
So back to the cleaning of the cabinets. Oh ew, I had to clean out what had to some mouse's vacation home...coffee filters, tea bags, and a pot holder. Ugh. I knew as soon as I saw the shredded paper there had been some Mickey living there at some point. I could also tell which cupboards were used for the previous owner's baking...powdered sugar, frosting, etc. Also, there seemed to be a lot of melted chocolate everywhere! It wasn't even centrally located, just random drawers and shelves had melted chocolate. After Pine Soling everything, I got some of the cupboards contact papered...what I learned:
Lowes = Danger Will Robinson!
We spent probably an hour plus at Lowes today! Surprisingly we only picked up a toilet valve, a paint roller, sponges for the roller, and the paint. We ended up still picking a brown...one with less black. We tested it on the unpainted wood usually covered by the refrigerator. We'll do the painting tomorrow. While at Lowes we also looked at some cabinets...which the guy said we should not order unfinished, but rather choose the style and stain we liked and to order it ... more for a remodel than for just working on the doors. We also looked at some tile for our bathroom and browsed in general.
I'm going to show Eddie a white and brown cabinet mix...I'll save the pix and post them later.
-Side bar- Our day started off with a bargain buy! Just before driving to the new house, we passed a garage sale and a big piece caught Eddie's eye. It was a little bar. So Eddie practiced his (illegal U turns and parking) bargaining skills for a bar which the owner assured was just like the bars in Vegas (?). We loaded it into the back of the Jeep and I had to hop in the back seat to hold onto the bar because it stuck out!
We also made a side trip to Tennessee Gardens, but that's a whole other blog. ;)
So back to the cleaning of the cabinets. Oh ew, I had to clean out what had to some mouse's vacation home...coffee filters, tea bags, and a pot holder. Ugh. I knew as soon as I saw the shredded paper there had been some Mickey living there at some point. I could also tell which cupboards were used for the previous owner's baking...powdered sugar, frosting, etc. Also, there seemed to be a lot of melted chocolate everywhere! It wasn't even centrally located, just random drawers and shelves had melted chocolate. After Pine Soling everything, I got some of the cupboards contact papered...what I learned:
- Work with smaller pieces
- Measurements are important
- Contact paper can be pulled up
Lowes = Danger Will Robinson!
We spent probably an hour plus at Lowes today! Surprisingly we only picked up a toilet valve, a paint roller, sponges for the roller, and the paint. We ended up still picking a brown...one with less black. We tested it on the unpainted wood usually covered by the refrigerator. We'll do the painting tomorrow. While at Lowes we also looked at some cabinets...which the guy said we should not order unfinished, but rather choose the style and stain we liked and to order it ... more for a remodel than for just working on the doors. We also looked at some tile for our bathroom and browsed in general.
I'm going to show Eddie a white and brown cabinet mix...I'll save the pix and post them later.
Friday, October 1, 2010
It's Official!
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| The keys to the house |
Yesterday I started measuring to figure out how much paint we'll need. If anyone was watching, they'd probably have gotten a good laugh as I wrestled with the tape measure. :)
Today I'm going to the house to measure and scrub down the cabinets because we're starting with them first. I also will start taping some stuff.
We still haven't quite decided on the color... I realized that we can't change the color of the kitchen because it's one whole wall with the rest of the dining and living and hallway! ... So I guess I'm stuck with the mocha...well actually compared to some of the paint chips I brought back from Home Depot on Wednesday, it's actually more of a taupe. And from looking at various pictures online, I think it's best we stick with that darker brown... I can probably bring in more color around the window and maybe above the cabinets or at the breakfast bar... I'd like to stay away from brown and blue...maybe orange and brown?...there are are a lot of kitchens with brown and white...and all our appliances will be white...
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| Where I plan to have a kitchen window herb garden Need to set up some shelves Also will add color to kitchen with "window treatments" |
After scrubbing down the cabinets today, we'll start taking off the doors and hardware and start sanding it down. The flat surfaces seem easy enough, I'm worried about the cabinet molding (?). I guess we'd do that by hand? We'll go get the paint tonight and tomorrow is marked for painting.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Gathering supplies...
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| Painting supplies from Fullerton to Highland |
Thanks Dad and Pris ee ee for their painting supplies. Hopefully we'll start with the painting by this weekend (or at least the prepping for painting)...
I need to measure the walls to know how much paint to buy. I also need to find what colors we are repainting with...the paint cans in the garage are not really that clear on names etc...
Once I have the measurements and paint, then the actually prep work to the walls will begin.
I need to start by washing walls/sanding and filling the holes with putty or whatever. After vacuuming/wiping it down again, I'll remove all the light plates etc and tape up trim and such. THEN we can actually start painting.
Monday, September 27, 2010
While the cat's away in Fullerton,...
the Eddie stays busy in the IE...
Eddie went to the escrow office in Upland after school today to sign papers, unfortunately we still have to bring the cashier's check to the office. He did get some paperwork from the housing association I've been bugging him to find out about. Apparently there are two different club houses and we belong to both ANNNND we have access to the lake...wherever that is...
After going to the escrow office, Eddie met with the sellers to learn how to work the sprinklers (which are all working yay!), the pool light (which should not be stopped on a colored light, but on clear), the fountains of water over the pool (which are operated by something about the pump and valves), and some tips about the house... (ie the hallway bathroom needs a new toilet, the paint was bought at Home Depot, the decorating was done by an interior designer!). The sprinklers are manually controlled; they used to be on automatic timers, but when the pool was put in, the backhoe damaged the wiring. He said that the neighbors to the right are cool, and he didn't know much about the neighbors on the corner with kids. I would like to have some sort of party with all the neighbors over after we move in. The seller even said something about a white dishwasher at their new house that we could have (to match the white stove, microwave, and soon to be refrigerator).
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| Lots of papers for Eddie to sign...but still not quite done... |
Eddie went to the escrow office in Upland after school today to sign papers, unfortunately we still have to bring the cashier's check to the office. He did get some paperwork from the housing association I've been bugging him to find out about. Apparently there are two different club houses and we belong to both ANNNND we have access to the lake...wherever that is...
After going to the escrow office, Eddie met with the sellers to learn how to work the sprinklers (which are all working yay!), the pool light (which should not be stopped on a colored light, but on clear), the fountains of water over the pool (which are operated by something about the pump and valves), and some tips about the house... (ie the hallway bathroom needs a new toilet, the paint was bought at Home Depot, the decorating was done by an interior designer!). The sprinklers are manually controlled; they used to be on automatic timers, but when the pool was put in, the backhoe damaged the wiring. He said that the neighbors to the right are cool, and he didn't know much about the neighbors on the corner with kids. I would like to have some sort of party with all the neighbors over after we move in. The seller even said something about a white dishwasher at their new house that we could have (to match the white stove, microwave, and soon to be refrigerator).
Hours of Painting Fun!
http://www.sherwin.com/visualizer/
I can upload pictures to this and then frame different parts to see what different colors look like.
I can upload pictures to this and then frame different parts to see what different colors look like.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
To Do List
- Painting
- Check paint in the garage for brand and color
- Measure walls to estimate how much paint we'll need
- Gather materials
- brushes
- rollers
- extra sponges
- tape
- sand paper
- drop cloth
- Research paint tips
- Outside Bathroom
- Toilet
- something back there in the tank needs to be replaced...it's not stopping when the ball thing rises
- screwed down tight
- Towel Rack
- Kitchen
- Drawers and Cabinets
- cleaning
- measuring for contact paper
- sanding for painting?
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Today's Yardwork Illustrated...
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| Emma is acting as a guard dog until the house closes |
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| Was a little worried she'd fall into the pool... |
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| Totally posed her... |
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| Exploring the backyard |
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| After jumping out of the planters |
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| The tools of the day |
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| The work we had to do |
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| One teeny section looking better |
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| This "grass" will be the DEATH of me! |
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| Help! |
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| Pretty lights! |
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| Pool light changes colors |
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| This was supposed to be purple |
Service Magic and Pest Control
Top of Eddie's list to do to the house is pest extermination. So he's calling around to get someone to fumigate the house asap.
Next will be carpet?
Next will be carpet?
Weeds and Things
Armed with two types of shovels, two rakes, a trowel, pruning shears, new leather work gloves (white? those things are going to get so dirty!), and pink gardening gloves, we took on the planters in the backyard. Eddie started with giving the palms a haircut and the roses a trim; I pulled weeds. (Next time we're trading!) Though we came out with various scratches, blisters, and sore muscles, we did manage to do some damage to the wilderness that is currently the planters. Even Emma was interested in our toils, as evidenced by her forays into the planters ... usually right in our faces.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Emma's newest playground
So Eddie got the key from the lady who owns the house and started cleaning the backyard today. He was mostly picking up stuff to throw away: plant buckets, plywood, random metal. He actually said he was kinda glad they left some stuff because he likes cleaning clutter; it makes him feel accomplished.
Emma literally ran around the backyard sniffing at the seller's dogs' scents, jumping into planters, running along fences, checking out the pool (but she's scared of water and won't go in).
I went around watering all the plants and saking the ground because tomorrow we're doing some weeding. I find this out at dinner. Eddie didn't tell me any of the plans. It was a little annoying, kind of underscoring. How I felt he doesn't tell me stuff about the house until after the fact. Then again I guess he kinda does that for other stuff too like his dad's birthday dinner plans. :-P
In any case we're going to the house tomorrow morning to work on the back yard. It's kind of a bad weekend to work outside as it's supposed to be 95+!! And he doesn't plan on being there until about 8. I think we should go earlier so we can get more done. And then we have to go to his nephews' sccer game at 10:30. BUT we don't have any time to stop at JC Penny's to buy a cooking set. Blah. Sorry still a little annoyed about that.
Anyway, hopefully the ground is soggy enough to pull out all the weeds. Eddie's mom is also coming to prune the roses and such.
We turned on the lights in the yard and it looked so pretty! And the pool light changes colors! I should have taken pictures.
There's a Rubbermaid shed in the back that has broken doors. Eddie looked online to find replacement doors, but couldn't really find any. I suggested making wooden doors. We'll look into that.
I also walked around and opened all the windows. The window in the pink bedroom is a little difficult to open and I could not figure out how to turn on the light. Eddie couldn't figure out the light switch for the livingroom.
Trash day is Tuesday, so whatever green trash we have we'll put in the bins. And if we run out of room, we discovered a dumpster behind the Stater Bros. across the street.
The next time Eddie talks to the seller, he needs to ask which housing association we belong to and if the sprinklers in the back work. Not to mention the sprinklers in the front.
Emma literally ran around the backyard sniffing at the seller's dogs' scents, jumping into planters, running along fences, checking out the pool (but she's scared of water and won't go in).
I went around watering all the plants and saking the ground because tomorrow we're doing some weeding. I find this out at dinner. Eddie didn't tell me any of the plans. It was a little annoying, kind of underscoring. How I felt he doesn't tell me stuff about the house until after the fact. Then again I guess he kinda does that for other stuff too like his dad's birthday dinner plans. :-P
In any case we're going to the house tomorrow morning to work on the back yard. It's kind of a bad weekend to work outside as it's supposed to be 95+!! And he doesn't plan on being there until about 8. I think we should go earlier so we can get more done. And then we have to go to his nephews' sccer game at 10:30. BUT we don't have any time to stop at JC Penny's to buy a cooking set. Blah. Sorry still a little annoyed about that.
Anyway, hopefully the ground is soggy enough to pull out all the weeds. Eddie's mom is also coming to prune the roses and such.
We turned on the lights in the yard and it looked so pretty! And the pool light changes colors! I should have taken pictures.
There's a Rubbermaid shed in the back that has broken doors. Eddie looked online to find replacement doors, but couldn't really find any. I suggested making wooden doors. We'll look into that.
I also walked around and opened all the windows. The window in the pink bedroom is a little difficult to open and I could not figure out how to turn on the light. Eddie couldn't figure out the light switch for the livingroom.
Trash day is Tuesday, so whatever green trash we have we'll put in the bins. And if we run out of room, we discovered a dumpster behind the Stater Bros. across the street.
The next time Eddie talks to the seller, he needs to ask which housing association we belong to and if the sprinklers in the back work. Not to mention the sprinklers in the front.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Honey Do's
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| Where the carpet is coming up from meeting the stone |
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| Not really sure how to fix this, or if it's really that necessary... the bottom of the linen cupboard is bent? |
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| At least two windows need to be rescreened, this bathroom window and one off the dining room. |
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| Have to screw this interior sprinkler back in |
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| Fire door damage |
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| Damage also to the jamb, looks like someone forced their way in? |
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