The house is ready!

Within the past week, the finishing touches have been put on the house. It looks completely beautiful! All the fixtures were put in, cellulose insulation was blown into the attic, everything was cleaned up, the yard was graded out and landscaped a bit, the porch was painted, and the windows were super detailed. It is unbelievable how wonderful the windows look now. It's probably hard to tell from the pictures, but the window glass is super clear and wavy due to age (+80 years old). The guys worked really hard on this house and did a great job! It looks super sharp!

We were supposed to move in this weekend (after supposedly closing on Friday, Oct. 9), but a few things got messed up. So, we now won't be closing until Wednesday, Oct. 14 and moving in Thursday, October 15. No word yet on when we will begin the addition, but hopefully within a couple of weeks after moving and getting settled in. You know we can't sit still but for so long before beginning a new project! :-)

We are really excited about the place and can't wait to move in! Thanks for checking out our pictures.

Our cute little hut...





Newly painted porch.


Good size backyard. Perfect for a garden, a dog, a patio set, and a house addition.

Can you believe this is the same tub? Amazing!

New "Class 5" toilet.

This turned out great.

Back bedroom.

New closet in back bedroom. (Looking towards bonus room/future laundry room.)

Front bedroom/Brent's office - french doors and fireplace required.

Family/living room fireplace.

Dining room floors.

Dining room.

And..... kitchen!

It's a race to the finish line...

Wow, so here we are... only one week away from closing! A lot has been done in the past week. All the light fixtures have been hung, trim paint on the outside of the house has been painted a softer cream color (no more dijionaise), kitchen cabinets and granite went in, and the bathtub was reglazed. Also, new Icynene spray foam insulation was sprayed in the basement under the floors of the main level. Check out the pictures! The place is looking awesome!

Now we're on the "home" stretch. Plumbers will be coming next week, the floors will be finished, all appliances/fixtures will be installed, and the yard will be fixed up and landscaped in the front. Wish us luck with our closing and moving days next Friday and Saturday! Thanks for checking out our pictures! (Don't forget, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger. Then, hit the back arrow to go back to the blog.)

New trim paint - what a difference that makes! Compare this picture to one of the very first ones.


New coal basket inserts. They use natural gas to help heat the house and provide for a nice ambiance. This might be the only true "clean" coal... :-)


New Iceynene spray foam insulation. This stuff is super green (http://www.icynene.com/m-green), and will help keep us really warm this winter!

The reglazed bathtub. Looking sharp!

New cabinets and countertops in kitchen, so nice...

Cabinets and countertops...

Fan in second bedroom (we chose the same fan for the other bedroom and family room).

Light fixture in bathroom (before bathtub was reglazed).

Art deco-y light fixture in dining room.

Hallway light.

Front porch light.

You will not believe these floors!

We are getting so close to closing day! It is less than 2 weeks away!!

A bunch has been done on the house recently, but there is still quite a bit to do in the next two weeks. The floors were sanded last week and stained early this week. They look absolutely incredible! They looked remarkable just sanded, but now that they are stained, they are unbelievable! Even the back bedroom, where there was felt on the floor from old asbestos tiles, came perfectly clean (check out our previous pictures to compare). The boards in that room were face nailed when they were put in, which could have ended up not looking that great, but wood filler is amazing. Even the bonus room has face nailed boards that were probably never meant to be seen, but they will be great for the future laundry room and closet. All wood floors in the house appear to be original, except for the kitchen floor (which is brand new) and the bonus room floor (which was put in sometime probably in the 50s).

Yesterday the kitchen cabinets were being installed. Next week the light fixtures will be installed, the painters will be back to do second coats and touch ups, the insulation folks will be back to install insulation in the attic and under the floors, the plumbers will connect the bath and kitchen fixtures, and the yard will be graded out to add in some basic landscaping. Needless to say, there will be a bunch of people in and out of that place next week.

Something cool that we learned about our new neighborhood is that there is a 1 acre community garden at the end of Pearson. Check it out at http://www.bountifulcitiesproject.org/pearson.html


Sanded floors - before staining.

Sanded floors in family room.

Sanded floors in front bedroom.

Walnut stained floors!

Walnut stained floors! Check out all of the designs in the wood... (You can click on any of the pictures to make them larger.)

Three weeks... three weeks!

Lots of work has been done this week. The interior trim has been painted, the walls have received their first coat of paint, the new HVAC compressor has been installed, the bathroom floor is in, and the basement has been cleaned out (the brick walls have been bleached too - they're pretty dirty after 80 years). Also, the fireplaces have been cleaned out and prepped for the coal basket inserts that are going in them. Tomorrow the floors will be sanded, and early next week they will be stained a walnut color. The basement will be pressure washed too.

Then after the floors are done, the cabinets will be installed, along with the light and bathroom fixtures. Once the inside of the house is done, the work will move to the outside where the trim will be repainted a creamy (and less dijonaise) color, the landscaping will be updated, and the driveway will be prepared with two spaces at the end for our cars. Check out our latest pics:
(By the way... you can click on a picture to view it larger.)

Bathroom - almost done! (and looking so sharp already)


Doors being painted in the living room.



Back bedroom... I was told it looks "handsome," and I agree.



Back bedroom


Kitchen painted...


Front Bedroom... I'm not in love with this color, but we'll see.

Front Bedroom - the color looks pretty good with the fireplace though.

Dining Room - it turned out great! The fireplace still needs to be painted though.

Dining Room looking into Living Room

Dining Room

Only Four More Weeks to Go!

We are getting excited! The renovation has been kicked in to high gear as we enter the final four weeks of the project (prior to closing date and the addition anyway). We had our meeting with the HRC people again today, and I am happy to say that we were approved for the addition plan!! We still have some minor details to work out, but we should be able to start on the addition as soon as we close on the house.

We spent some time over the weekend picking out paint colors and fixtures. The painters should be in there priming the whole place towards the end of this week, and they will paint everything at the beginning of next week. Then, the floors will finished. At some point over the next couple of weeks, the remaining insulation will be installed in the attic and floors, the HVAC unit and ducts will be updated/replaced as needed, and kitchen cabinets and counters will be installed. One issue that came up recently was that we had to fix the wall between the kitchen and dining room in order to more accurately preserve the historical character of the house and (hopefully) receive some historic tax credits from the state... The wall is still being fixed up. Check out some of our latest pictures:

The kitchen with some texture sprayed on the walls...

(The texture is good for hiding imperfections in the old plaster.)

Repaired wall in kitchen...(still a work in progress)

Family room - it's starting to shape up!

New closet in back bedroom...


Bathroom... notice the new built-in shelving on the wall to the right above the molding. (The shelf is located in the back of the closet in the front bedroom.)

Bonus room - starting to take shape.


The tile we picked out for the bathroom.


House existing floorplan...