I vowed that this blog wouldn't turn into one all about the flip, but can someone please tell my brain that? It's all I think about lately! I mean, I guess that's a good thing- it's better than wanting to turn off my brain to work the second I walk out the office door. I'm working on this whole work/life balance thing and its even tougher now that work and life are very much intertwined. So on to it! Clark the flip house's week 3 progress- and finally I have some exciting progress! (see other Clark progress HERE)
Aside from some straggling pieces, the demo pile is all gone from the living room. It needs a GOOD vacuum, though, with all the demo dust.
And we finally have a kitchen again!
What, that doesn't look like a kitchen to you?? It's still in boxes from IKEA waiting to be installed, but I need to finish the kitchen floor before that can happen.
There is finally one thing finished in this house, though! Yesterday I had installers in rebuilding the shower walls and tiling them. I didn't get any progress pictures, though- with 2 installers and all their tools in that tiny bathroom, there was no room for me and my camera.
Doesn't it look phenomenal?? I was practically jumping for joy when they left. I debated a LOT about what to tile and what not to tile myself. The more people I talked to about tiling, the more I heard how tough shower walls are to do right and have last. So, I bit the bullet and hired installers to rebuild the walls with new cement board and install white subway tiles. It only took them a day to install it all!
I honestly loved it even more before the grout when you could see the dark lines between the tiles. If this were my house, I would totally have gone with dark grout, but I know that's very taste-specific and I'm trying to appeal to the majority. With these walls all finished and looking spiffy, I need to get the rest of the bathroom to the same level- its currently nowhere close...
Next step is to rip up the remaining damaged floor, but that means making the bathroom unusable while I work. Since It's the only toilet and only working sink in the house, I'm putting that off until I get a bit farther in the rest of the house. I WILL be installing the mosaic tile floor and wainscoting wall myself. I already have all the supplies for the tile, so I think that'll be my next focus after the hardwood floors.
So on to the hardwood! So far, I've successfully built a bowling alley!
Ok, so maybe not literally, but that's what it feels like. I LOVE these floors! I want to pet them, but that might be creepy. I didn't get to completely finish the hallway yet because I didn't want to be in the tile installers way as they came in and out of the bathroom, but that shouldn't take me long. I'm definitely getting the hang of the floor install- I have a feeling the kitchen floors will go decently fast (knock on wood).
If it was possible cheat on Hubby with a house, I think he'd be worried. With these floors and the new shower tile, Clark is turning into one sexy beast.
The less-visual things accomplished this week include:
- A working garage door opener (with Handy Dad's help- Thanks!!)
- Leveling the kitchen floors where the cabinets and closet wall had been removed
- Desqueaking the floors as much as possible (I emptied and entire box of screws)
- Selected granite for the kitchen counters (ordering today if this snow ever stops)
- Selected appliances, just have to hit the "order" button
- Met with an electrician to get pricing on grounding outlets and adding outlets for appliances
I think that about covers it for this weeks progress. I'm exhausted, but I'm so happy to start seeing the house come back together!