The first week of April & renovation progress

I was warned... renovations ALWAYS take longer than you expect... AND THEY COST AT LEAST TWICE AS MUCH!! There aren't any pictures because I am NOT going to crawl under this house to take pictures of our new copper pipes.


Wednesday, April 1, 2009

I had a reaction to my new pain med and woke up not feeling so on-top-of-the-world this morning. By the time the boys got here, I had lost everything that was in my stomach – which pretty much amounted to nothing. I got R and #1 Son out of bed (the lazy bums) and I went back to bed. No April Fool joke there. Saltines and ginger ale for the rest of the day’s nourishment.

The next No April Fool joke was the electrical inspector. Good old Mario FAILED (the electrical inspection)!! GRRRRRRRRRR… Now this company is owned by a friend of Ron’s so he called, gave them heck, and Mario was back within the hour. All fixes were done at no charge. I wasn’t too on the ball, but I do remember that one of the things was that we did NOT need that exhaust fan in the bathroom. It’s there now and we will use it, but it was NOT mandatory. OH, right, he (Mario) had not vented the fan properly either. So with all this, the boys have been set back almost a whole day in this production.

Tuesday night I had made reservations at a local motel for Wednesday and Thursday night as that is when Greg thought the water would be turned off. I actually didn’t need the motel either night, but is sure was nice to get away from the boys (all of them) and the dog for a while. Now it looks like the water will be turned off Monday until Tuesday noon. OY!!!


Thursday, April 2, 2009

R and #1 Son are almost done refinishing the old vanity. It looks just wonderful. The wood stain is removed and sanded, and it has been painted a bright white. Saved a few hundred $$$ by doing that. The flooring will be a beige/tan/gold marbled Congoleum. Tile looks so nice but I am not a fan. I chose the paint color called “tropical dream” (it’s a light green). The tub surround, vanity top and window sill will be a cultured marbled onyx called “seafoam.” I found and oval mirrored medicine cabinet and sconces for either side of it with a similar oval base (in brushed nickel). I am so excited!! LOL and the sheet rock isn’t even up yet. BUT… the tub is in place!! It doesn’t appear to be as high as the old tub which will be a blessing for me – easier to get in and out. And we are putting in hand rails for safety.

The boys were here bright and early, and didn’t leave until after 6 p.m. They asked if we had a guest room. I offered them air mattresses on the sun porch. They laughed and went home. They believe they can have things done by Tuesday – plumbing, that is.

R and I took Ramona to obedience class. That dog has a real problem being in the same room with other dogs – especially small dogs. She could “sit and stay” forever as long as you have a treat in her hand to feed her every few seconds. But nothing else was working – she really wanted to herd that Chihuahua; and as long as the Chihuahua yapped, Ramona’s instinct and barking were set off. She tugged so hard on the leash that R pulled his back out trying to control her. From now on, #1 Son (the plus-sized former Marine) goes with me. But that dog KNEW I was pissed at her behavior; on the drive home, she stayed safely sitting in place on the back seat… NO problems. Now this bothers me why? I have never labeled myself as a “dog” person. I have always been a “cat” person. I thought having a dog and dealing with her training would give R something positive to do during his retirement. He always talks about the dogs he had (BIG dogs, not little dust mops). Yes, he said, a dog would be nice. And HE picked out Ramona. He chooses to do only what he wants to do. My hair gets shorter after every class – my temper also.


Friday, April 3, 2009

Last night I stayed at the motel room ALL BY MYSELF!!! It was so nice to have that huge king bed all for just ME!! I was in a much better mood this morning when I arrived at home.

I noticed that my laundry area is even looking like it’s been spruced up. The boys (Greg and Ron) have gone off to a BBQ picnic lunch and will be back to finish laying the new pipes in place (they will attach them starting Monday). Hopefully this weekend will be fairly quiet.


Monday, April 06, 2009

Thank goodness the weekend was quiet. The boys arrived about 9:30 this morning after stopping to pick up the new copper pipe and didn’t leave until after 7 this evening. We have NO water… well, that’s not quite the whole story. We have our neighbor’s hose hanging over our side fence so the toilet gets flushed. And I do have about 8 gallons of bottled water (we ‘do’ our own filtering). We aren’t doing any cooking… a salad, tuna sandwiches or a bowl of cereal. And the rest of the donuts that Ron brought in this morning. I just didn’t want to go to the Super 8 motel again tonight. I’ll deal with the lack of running water and sleep in my own bed, thank you very much. Also, baseball season has started and I’m not sure that the motel will have the channels I want to watch. The basketball finals (I thought it was MARCH Madness) have wiped out my Monday night TV favorites.

From all the drilling and sawing of pipes under my house, it sounds like they are making progress. I can't wait til this is done and we can start putting the bathroom together. Today starts week #3 on this project... they started digging up my back yard on March 16th.

This and that from the last 10 days...

Oh yes... I am still hanging in there. It has been such a busy week for us with all the plumber stuff going on around here (we are replacing all our hot and cold water pipes and renovating the main bathroom). And Ramona and R going to obedience classes at the SPCA (I am the designated driver). So I have been keeping a sort of diary about what has happened around here.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Met with plumber, Greg. Went over things that would be done. I am in a fog about plumbing things. I DO know how to flush a toilet (and plunge it when it won’t flush). I know how to take off the tank top and wiggle that little do-giggy so the water will flow in again. And I can dial the plumber’s cell phone when there is a clog. YAY!!

Friday, March 13, 2009
Plumber, Greg, and his business partner, Ron, scope out the back yard. We call the City Water offices and request that someone come out and locate and expose the place in the water line where our pipes meet the city pipes. Believe it or not, the guy is here before sunset. YAY!! Believe it or not, that valve is underneath a concrete slab in our back yard.
Let me explain that concrete thing. Before R bought this house (which has a very nice roomy back yard for California), the previous owner must have had stock in a concrete company. There was a 12 foot wide slab that ran the length of our house (across the back) and in the middle of the back yard there was a slab with the middle cut out in a 15 foot circle. It looks like a surround for what was an above-ground pool.
So this valve that we need to shut off is in the southeast corner of the concrete monster. Then we go over and sign the contract with Plumber Greg for the work he is going to do for us.

Monday, March 16, 2009
Plumber Greg and Partner Ron arrive at 9 a.m. sharp. We show them where the valve is. They back in the truck and pull out all their excavation tools – including jackhammer. By noon we have a lovely trench dug from our back yard water spigot to what was the southeast corner of the concrete (about 32 feet). They did a marvelous job!! HOWEVER, we must call the City Water Office again because they can’t loosen the connection between our pipe and the City pipe, and WE don’t want to be responsible for anything that breaks. The City Water guy arrives before sunset (YAY!!) and promptly breaks OUR side of the pipe (which is going to be replaced later this week anyway – no biggie). Now we have to run a hose to the neighbor’s outside faucet so we can have running water in our house – Plumber Greg will be back Tuesday afternoon.
Did I mention that I have laundry piling up now? Of course I didn’t think a head on this one.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 & Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Raul the Lawn Guy shows up to mow the lawn. I have 2 capable males living in the house but we pay a guy to do the lawn (that all started when R had to have his rotator cuff operated on some 3 years ago). He laughs at the sight in the back yard and does what he can.
These 2 days are certainly a sign of old age… I can’t remember what happened when…
Plumber Greg and Partner Ron arrive and replace the pipes. We call City Water offices again to come out and replace the little thing that call a nipple that connects the city pipe with our pipe. City Water guy arrives before Greg and Ron leave. Everything is fixed and we have our own water again on Wednesday afternoon. Greg calls the City to get the new work inspected.
We sit and discuss what we have to do to prepare the bathroom for renovation. Partner Ron is a general contractor and lays everything out for us. In the end, R decides that it is too much of a job for just him and #1 son to do. They will do some of the work, but basically Partner Ron will get things set up right for the renovation and then he will rebuild the bathroom. We will pick out and buy the lighting, flooring and tile.
I am so relieved that we are doing it this way. Seven or eight years ago, R and his daughter decided to do the kitchen – there are still parts that are unfinished.

Thursday, March 19, 2009
This I know for sure: the inspection is done and passes with flying colors. Good news for Plumber Greg and Partner Ron. They will be back on Friday to fill in the trench and go over the contract the Partner Ron has written up for the bathroom renovation.

In the meantime, R and Ramona both got D’s in their first obedience class session at the SPCA. R didn’t listen to the instructor which meant Ramona got mixed signals. Ramona is very territorial and didn’t like having other dogs in HER space. OH crap!! My work is certainly cut out for me. So by the time I got to my doctor’s appointment, my blood pressure was a tad bit on the high side. Usually it runs very normal 120/80 range. Yesterday it was 180/100 then 160/90. I am sure stress is involved. On the up side, I have lost 8 pounds since my last appointment at the end of December (YAY!!)

Friday, March 20, 2009
Plumber Greg and Partner Ron are filling in the trench. The bathroom demo starts one week from today. Then on Monday March 30th, we will start replacing the plumbing.