Day 5

This is actually from Sunday.  I have been sick and haven't posted these yet.  We now have a faucet and the counter is set.  This is the underside of the counters:   

I think I am going to put one of those soap dispensers in there. 

I installed the faucet into the sink and Jeff did the drains.

 It rained all day that day and on our way back from the store we stopped for coffee for me and it was flooded pretty bad but this bird had no problems. 

Jeff went back on Tuesday and hooked up the water line to the kitchen sink.  He also fixed the hot water heater and installed the bathroom faucet and water lines in there.  He has 1/2 of the floor down in there too.  Will get pics of those next time I go.  He has gone over again today by himself to finish the bathroom floor and get the toilet ready to install.  We will finally have water....soon.  I don't think I have mentioned this yet, but our goal is to spend only 30 days working there.  Not consecutive, every other day.  With gas prices we figured we would just go every other day.  It is about 19 miles from here one way.  My car gets 15 mpg.  I will let you do the math...So that is our goal. 
Gonna go lay down now.

Day 4

Got the counters BACK over to the house finally.  They fit perfect.

We did a 3/4" build up on top of the cabinets to raise the counter to where it should be.  Shimmed some low spots.

 

Then we put the counter tops back on to mark out for the sink.  Got that marked, cut and fit (that only took 31/2 hrs.....) and put the sink in.

 

TA-DA!!!! Finally got that in.  We have to clamp the counter together yet.  Will do that next time.  This all took us 8 hrs.

 

 We have level!!! Good job Jeffrey!

Till next time.

J and J

Counters? No problem....

So we needed a fix to our counter top problem.  Found http://cabinetconceptsmaryvilletn.com/ Don Clampet. 
We had to go to Sweetwater to get them and take them to Don.  On the way we saw:

 

That's right, you guessed it, the General Lee!  Boy were we excited.  Mostly Jeff, but me too.  We first saw him in LC and thought we would lose him, but yep, I caught up.... :-)  Being the photographer I am, got some pics and yes I was driving down 75 at the same time....lol.  Tommie do not try this!

We got the counters and took them to Don and this is how they should look!

For $50.00 he mitered them, cut an edge on one and routered out the spots for the bolts to go underneath!

Woulda, shoulda, coulda....

Till next time folks!

J&J

COUNTERS ARGH!!!

So today we worked on the countertops first. We moved the fridge and got that cleaned out behind there. 
This is what the counters look like:

This one was fairly easy.  Just some straightening needed on the side.  The long corner counter is another story.  We did all kinds of research on how to cut the miter and thought we could do it.  We got new blades for the saws, got a router at the pawn shop for the edge and a $20 bit for that.  Don't try this at home folks.  To make a longgggg story short, we are now looking for a cabinet/counter shop to do the cuts for us.

This was our workstation.  LOL.  It did the job though.

After we gave up on that Jeff went back into the bathroom and got the mirror down, the vanity moved (which was not easy because he had to modify the bottom of the vanity), and did some other stuff in there.  Meanwhile, I pulled up the rest of the 1/4 round and cut out some more trim so the floor can go under that.  There is a newer subfloor and under that is the old linoleum and the old subfloor....oh well.

Cleaned up and called it a day after about 8 1/2 hours. 

Only 4 Tylenol today....

See ya!

J&J

Flooring

Here is our new flooring for the Kitchen and Living Room.

Demo Day 2

Today was a busy day.  We dropped off the toilet, the kitchen sink, door locks, bathroom tile and the faucets we bought yesterday from Knox Rail Salvage.  They have great prices and are very helpful folks.  We went to the Sweetwater Flea Market for some of the smaller things we needed.  Then we went to Hall's Salvage and got our laminate floor and underlayment  for the kitchen and living room.  It is a nice Armstrong 8mm floor.  We took that back and unloaded.  Jeff had to put new locks on the doors and he got that done and pulled up the trim in the bathroom while I pulled up the quarter round and cleaned up the rest of the kitchen floor.  Still a lot of prep work to do in there but we are going back tomorrow to work some more. 
Gonna go take some Tylenol for the ole' knees.....
Till tomorrow.
J&J

Demolition Day 1

So today was our 1st demo day. It went well. I am working on the kitchen while Jeff is in the bathroom. We got the floor off and the countertops off in the kitchen and the bathroom floor and toilet too.
Then we went over to Hall's Salvage and got the new countertops. New counters for 140.00, can't beat it!
A neighbor, Horace, stopped by. Seems he used to own most of the lots in the subdivision. He was giving us the scoop on the neighborhood. Nice man.
As promised, here are pics of our progress.
Have a good one everyone!
Till next time.
J&J

Neighbors.....

Oh no! That pond is all frozen and junk!

Inside pics.....

Laundry Room

3rd bdrm


2nd bdrm

hall


Master bdrm
Bathroom

Kitchen

Dining Room


Family Room


Teeny tiny living room....

Officially homeowners again!!!

The closing went as planned, just a few minor things that were quickly taken care of.
We want to thank our realtor Jody Cusick of Century 21 The Real Estate Place, Lenoir City, TN for all of her hard work. She has come full circle with us. She sold our Abbott Rd. house and also did the purchase for the Sweetwater house. If anyone needs a realtor, let me know. Jody is very knowledgeable of the East TN area. She is also a friend of mine and a great lady!! Thanks again Jody and I will get that tray of Shortbread out to you asap.

I took beginning pics today. We will probably go room by room to get things done, we'll see. We will post pics from each room as the progress.

Ok have a great day everyone and talk to you all later!

Final Walk Through

So today, we finished all the paperwork details. Then we went with the realtor to the house to do the final walk through before closing. We met the listing realtor there to let us in. Other than a dead bird in the sink (the dryer vent hose was not in place, hence an opening to get in....) and some bees that had been in one of the rooms, everything looked good to go for closing tomorrow. We got some stuff together to take over there tomorrow and will put some bug bombs off to kill those pesky bees. :-(
So here are the first before pictures of the outside of the house.

We will try to post as we go so you all can see what:
1.) what we are doing to the place because I know some of you need DETAILS.
2.) mistakes we may make and hopefully let us know
3.) help any of you can give us
4.) advice you may have from previous experiences

So, we will get some rest tonight and get ready for this journey. Wish us luck!!!