Ok now I'm at work, had some coffee and can actually read everything. However, the person I can hear singing along with Creed (ugh!) needs to be thumped in the head.

Happy late and early birthdays, CEF and TX!

CEF, I am amazed at all the outdoor stuff you are doing. I like to think about outsourcing all of our much smaller landscaping the same way that others think about contracting home renovations. It's too hot out there and everything grows like it's in a jungle.

annkh - your baby showers are more interesting than ours. There aren't any events and the best part is seeing one of the couple of people we know that dropped off the edge of the world after having a baby.

terri_pacnw - Thanks, there are a bunch of pictures of fixing the flattened place up from late 2011-May 2012 after buying it that I guess you saw. It was pretty nice. I'll be over there today and will probably end up with some new pictures. In draft form I already have posts that get pretty much up until now, and I need to go back and add pictures and publish them. I'm curious about the tabletop... hope it's not some kind of laminate on the table top because stripper can't help with that any.

cal_quail - what's left after the fridge/tile/cabinet work?

MGMum - wish we could have huge maple trees here. I'm a bit skeptical of anything that could fall on the place in a hurricane though so I can only admire from afar.

rmtdoug - do you mean IKEA cabinets when you say box, inset into the wall? I never thought of doing it that way... Good to know because two bathrooms + (maybe) the hallway need built ins. That's another person that needs to get thumped with a newspaper - whoever took the cabinets and built in out of one of our bathrooms and replaced it all with... a pedestal sink.

6.5 hours left until it's time to go home...

MGMum thanks for reminding me...I've been told we're having Thanksgiving here. Not the usual drill. I'll be gone a week in November so I better get on the ball and get a plan.

Errant - I saved off a pic of your pavers. I love that look. I'll be asking question when we turn to more earnest work on the backyard. They look great.

Happy late birthday to you two.

Will have to look back and find link to schicksal's blog.

After the carpentry and end panel/fridge fix, there'll be pendants (and accompanying wood mounting canopy thing...that cabinet guy is really slow...no idea when that'll be) and backsplash (we'll wait to decide after pendants are in). There are adjustment things and some extra ordered shelves and stuff. And getting the faucet to flow right and finish painting and a drywall fix.

My 'of COURSE it'll be done' by Thanksgiving (sans backsplash) will likely not happen. I'm hoping for the pendants by Christmas now.

time for job number 2. Yikes, I'm late!

Welp, I just spent the last few hours reading every blog entry and looking at all your pics. I can't believe how much work you've done on your house!!

No kidding two hours...lol...I had nothing better to do anyway. Lol..

Now I understand how you are affording all these renos..you work A LOT too.

My husband puts in 8 hour days plus 3 hour commuting. 5 days a week. He hates when I ask him to "run" to Mom's to fix this or that when he gets home. But wait he can coach football after those 11 hour days for 2-3 hours a night. ;)
And during football season projects go on hold. ;)

Well breakfast is done, blueberry banana bread mini loaves and muffins in the oven..I'll venture out to the garage in a few to see what is happening with the table top. When I flipped it over to carry it out, It has Made in New Zealand stamped on it..I hope it's not laminate or I just killed it. Lol.

Really enjoyed your blog schicksal, you've accomplished an awful lot!

Bought myself a present today. Made the mistake of loaning my drill to someone that know never returns things. Finally gave up and bought a new one. I've got the brad nailer that uses the same batteries. I've never used it (the nailer) but I've got some baseboard that needs to be installed so it should do fine for that.

Christina, my husband has the same thing, and the nailer/stapler and the multi head unit. He is loving it, we used to have Black and Decker stuff.

Okay the table was not laminate. Phew...another coat went on after I scraped and brushed the first application off. There is a lot of stain in it too.. Hmmmm...

Schicksal - Yes, Ikea kitchen cabinets. They slid into the opening with 1 inch to spare in the back before hitting the sloped roof. I could have cut the cabinets back if not. I bought only the base cabinet and the drawers separately in the sizes I wanted. Now Ikea is changing their cabinets and all my figures and templates for the fronts are probably no longer valid. Oh well.

Off to read your blog now :)

Good luck on the interview tomorrow Terri.

I've been a bit of a lump this weekend. I've done some watering and weeding. But an awful lot of couch sitting. I did work job #2 today and took MIL to get her new phone yesterday. Now she can take a few hand-me-down phones to my nieces in CO this week. That'll make them happy. And I'm happy that she's got new technology on the same OS as me so I don't have to think so hard when she's got a question. :)

Made bread this weekend too. Mmm.

I have to be quick - I'm in the middle of backing up my Nexus 5 because it will soon be sent back to Google due to a defective LCD screen. Every other row of pixels quit and when the screen is dim there are bright vertical bars. That's what I get for gently setting it down on the sofa.

Good luck on the interview Terri!!!

On the computer side of things I was able to update my site to pretty close to current now. Still gotta finish the second half of September but I'm hoping to get into a weekly update habit like I had way back when.

Hopefully this phone / warranty thing won't take long. In the meantime I'll be partying like it's 2009 with my old Nokia.

Thank you everyone.

I received an email from our 3rd office person that she won't be in tomorrow, and our lead is out of the state( we have a sub for her). It is NOT good to leave for a half hour in the morning to the other school for this interview. On a day when I am in charge.

Oh well it'll all work out.

I got back from a 5 day trip to Chicago on Monday night. I went without kids this time. No surprises at home this time around. I was a bit worried he'd tear down the old kitchen while I was gone. I think we'll be waiting for spring for the addition. The Chicago trip was my reward for breaking my record for canning. 412 quarts, 70 pints! If deer season is successful, I'll probably be adding another 30 quarts or so to the tally.

I'm been picking up and pulping persimmons this week. Hopefully they start falling a bit faster or I won't have enough for the festival next weekend. I'm hoping to get at least 50 pints this year. We lost about 1/2 of out best persimmon tree in a storm, I don't know if the younger trees just starting to produce will make up for the loss.

With all three girls in school, I've been working on some unfinished projects around the house, trying to finish up the kitchen (hahahah-not happening), crocheting, and working on cleaning up the gardens and preparing them for winter.

I had some down time tonight, so I thought I'd sneak on here and ogle kitchens and check in on everyone. Happy birthdays to everyone celebrating!

Although my husband and I are not DIYers I look upon this thread as the Best and most enjoyable on this site. I keep up with all of your adventures and celebrate your achievements. Keep up the spectacular work.

Happy Thanksgiving, all you kanooks up there. I'll take the ham. (My sister hates ham and I consider it a character flaw. You, mgmum, are just a character!)

Terri, I get those reuse center cabinets (or I'm trying not to anymore) and the usually come with 30 years of thick, black grease on them. One day I slapped on my beloved Citristrip and 30 seconds later, it squeegeed off with my little plastic scraper. Love this stuff! Glad your table didn't turn out to be plastic. Goodness knows what they do down there in 'Zeeland.

Christina22, great joice! Last fall I bought the B&D Matrix system. 20v lithium batteries, and all kinds of attachments. Although I have the individual tools, it's incredible to just pull the release, snap on a circular saw, router, sawsall, blah blah and keep working. I LOVE this tool! I'll have to see if they have created a nailer. I'd love to not have to get out my individual one.

shicksal, I'm going to read your blog today. I Understand I need 2 hours. :) I'm partying with you. About 2 months ago my maybe 5 year old phone quit. I went back to one from 2006, just because it would work. Then I broke that flip phone in half. It took great pictures though. Right now I'm on a Motorola Razr from maybe 2008? It's battery doesn't work, so I have to keep it plugged in. Frankly, better it than I. I have no reason to talk on the phone and can always return a text at my discretion. I'm years over the constant contact thing, thank goodness.

Now, with my laptop not having the memory capacity to handle the web design (and reading) I ask of it? I swear at it a lot. Gotta get some more RAM. Why is there always more!?

Mrs.mortarmixer! You are a super canning hero! OMG. I can't believe you don't burn out your burners! Congrats on such a huge achievement! Tell me, though, how canning and deer go together?

deeebert, you don't have to be a DIYer to join this thread! It just happens that these folks, of whom I'm in awe, mostly are. The whole purpose of this was to recognize that we DO get an incredible amount of things done, even tough we might feel like we're getting nothing done in the face of slow-going renovations.

Today I'm off to start picking up 1200 pounds of paver sand from free, CL. I'm physically exhausted from the heavy pavers I've been picking up. However, the plan for them is taking shape. Just gotta figure out how to cut them without a wet saw...

Oh - last night I turned on my heat for the 1st time. I have it set at 68 (who said SIXTY?!?). Once daytime hits I turn everything off again until I get cold. Sad it's getting the season to have to close my front door. I love having the fresh air blow the stink out. (And with these cats? It's not a metaphorical stink.)

Have a fabulous day!

Lol..60 was me.. But..when it get's that low..I'm sure it'll be set a little higher.
I'm scared to see how high my gas bill will get heating this big ol house..lol..the little house was just over $100 in the coldest months a few years ago.

Well I'm half way through the time on a dye job on my roots. Lol..that's accomplishing something right?

I spent a few hours in the woods Sunday, with my DH and my brother. We had lunch over a fire, then hiked out to our deer stands. Most of the leaves are down, but those on the ground are still orange and yellow and red, and the ones still on the trees are yellow and lovely. The forest is mostly oak, plus birch, maple, and ironwood. It didn't quite get up to 50°, but that was fine for walking. When the sun shone, it was glorious! I'm glad I got to spend a lovely fall day outdoors, doing something I love.

annkh - I love fall days like you describe. 50s or low 60s is the perfect temperature for being active outdoors. Our leaves are barely starting to turn here. Very strange weather this year.

Schicksal - Wow! That's an impressive amount of work you've accomplished, not only the houses but the blog. I hope you got your moisture issues solved in the crawlspace. Must have been discouraging to find all that rot. That's really something when the joists crack in half. Definitely would not want that to return. I did not know that you lived in Charleston. I bought all our upstairs door hardware from a company there, Charleston Hardware. They do reproductions. Nice people and the product was excellent.

Was hoping to start cutting wood today but just got about two days of work uploaded to me. The shop is a big dusty mess, so I think all I will get done today is a start on cleaning it out, maybe this afternoon during one of my breaks.

We resolved our issue with the deed restriction by deciding to just build onto the side of the house. The only issue was that my kids FAVORITE climbing tree sits right there.

If you look carefully, you can see my 7 year old through the leaves at the top.

Well, that just won't do. I climbed this tree as a kid, now my kids love it. Whelp, there is only one thing we can do. We will move the tree!

So we dug out around the base

Cut off all the greenery, and I feel its important at this point to mention that it isn't feasible to actually transplant the tree. It is a mesquite and their tap root goes down anywhere from 25-65 feet. So our plan was to move the climbing structure, and support it with concrete and braces.

Rented a skid loader with an auger and drilled a hole where the base will sit.

Next we chained the tree to the skid loader, then jumped down in the hole and used a chain saw to cut through all the roots and lift it out.

Here is the hole it was in.

Our next step was to drill a hole through the center, about 15 inches deep

Then we hammered a pole into that hole.

They, my dad, brother, and husband, are out there right now pouring concrete into the hole and hammering the braces that my dad welded into the ground.

I'll post some pics tomorrow to show all the work.

I also told my dad he needed to make sure that he reminds my kids at Christmas that their present is in the back yard!!

Holy cow, Texas_gem - that's quite an operation!

I want to see pictures of your kids in the tree.

I put the first coat of poly on the table top tonight - up to this point I've been working on the legs and bottom. I took the whole thing apart so it's easier to deal with.

Here's one of the drop leaves, after stripping the top side. Some Citristrip slopped over the edges, and took this much paint off without me even trying.

Here's the top, still wet with the first coat:

Close up, you can see a little primer still left deep in the grain. I decided not to stain, since that just seemed to highlight the primer in the test sections I did (on the bottom).

If things go well for me this week, I'll be able to add a coat per day, and hopefully deliver it to my brother on Saturday. I have 3 coats on the legs and bottom; I'm aiming for at least 3 coats on the top/leaves. Then I get to put it back together - my favorite part!

@rmtdoug - the moisture problems are taken care of, but the subfloor and likely the joists are rotten in bedroom #4 and bathroom #2. The bathroom is one room over from the pantry and the bedroom is beyond that. I also have to repair/replace them in the master bedroom and bathroom. They are not rotten, but instead they are overspanned and were not put in correctly (not level / no hangers used). It's not such a big deal since those areas are smaller and more self contained.

@Texas_Gem - wow that is a lot of work! How long will it last before the wood starts to rot?

@annkh - the table looks great. I see more reflection / less primer in the picture. It must be something you have to be really close to in order to see.

Yesterday I finished rounding off the trim and installed all of it except for in the entry hall where I need to make it about 1/4" shorter because the flooring height is different. It's all caulked and ready for paint except for along the floor. After work I'll do that and give it a coat or two of paint.

Other plans for this afternoon/evening are first to get ALL of the tools back in the garage where they belong since the project is done to the point where nothing is needed anymore but a screwdriver. Then I plan on cutting the windows for the new front door. That's an important one so I can get measurements to a glass company while I work on finishing the rest of it. I can use the cut out pieces to experiment with different kinds of stain and figure out what looks best.

shicksal, that is the primer - I took that photo with the light behind me, and no flash.

I checked it out this morning, and 3rd coat was the charm on the legs and bottom. You know how the first coat of poly feels really rough when it dries, but the second coat is better? The third coat dried smooth, and is fine for these areas that won't get any wear.

I'm really excited about doing to tops of the leaves, and getting the next coat on the table top. I'm definitely in the home stretch, and every step now is noticeable progress over the last. Whoo Hoo!

I'm doing this for my brother. He and his wife struggle financially, and so it's extra fun to do nice things for them.

Next up at our house - sample an apple from my tree, to see if they've ripened enough to pick. They are nice and red, but usually are way too tart until after a good frost, which we haven't had yet. If I think of it tonight, I'll get a picture - we have a lot of apples this year.

Here they are setting it in the hole last night

Here is one of the braces my dad welded

And here is the tree in its new home

We are going to wait about a week before the kids can climb on it so the concrete can cure.

Annkh- the table is looking good! I'm sure your brother is going to be so happy to receive it!

Schicksal- that is the million dollar question. We really don't know. Mesquite is one of the hardest woods so we are hoping it will remain strong for years but it may not.

I look forward to seeing your project complete. It already looks so different from where you started! Can you share some of your seemingly never ending drive with me?? ;)

So, on the topic of changing seasons - here's my DH in the woods on Sunday:

And my dog, taking a break:

Finally, the view out my living room window:

Texas_Gem - That's impressive! And what an inventive plan.

annkh - I echo sentiments that I love hearing about fall color, etc.

Yesterday was a get-upset-at-people-on-the-other-end-of-the-phone kind of day. I called the expeditor at HD to confirm that the shelves I emailed and asked to be ordered (almost two weeks ago) had not been ordered and tried to pay for them (no one had contacted me, no one had asked.)

She transferred me to the special order desk. I tried giving them my HD project loan CC and it wouldn't work. I was sure that it was somehow tied up with HD thinking our kitchen was done (which it's not). I had to resume after school.

I called the CC issuer and they said no, it was because of the data breach. They cancelled and re-issued all cards. The guy gave me a # to give to HD since I hadn't received my new card yet, but when I talked to the special order desk again, they said that they couldn't get anything with that number. I broke down and tried to give them a 'normal' CC and it wouldn't go through either. They can't take AmEx over the phone since the data breach. I hung up. Furious.

I then called my city's building permit dept. There has been one permit pulled on my house. Recessed lighting with a value of $1000. That was pulled on 8/12 and is still open.

I called my KD a few minutes later. I asked the operator first who the store manager is and who the guy that I was told was the Manager is (who hasn't returned one email from me). He's an assistant over that dept. She admitted she's the one who dropped the ball on ordering the shelves sooner. She's not great at checking her email or doing the things in it if she does check it, or reading it completely if she does check it.

I got her to add the other item onto the order I'd asked for that had gotten left off and finally she called back and said that the asst. mgr. would mark down this order since I hadn't asked for anything with all this drama.

I said I think I still deserve to know if the GC forged our signature to get paid on the job. I still hadn't heard back asst. mgr. on that email and I was going to go to the store this week and get a meeting with the store manager. Because besides that dishonesty, I still have the permit issue to resolve. She called back in a bit and said she was emailing the GC to ask them to fax a copy of our signed waiver (saying the job is complete). Of course, if they have one, it's forged.

Don't know if I've said before but FIL is a retired attorney and represented the KD in a divorce a lifetime ago. I haven't played that card, mentioning that word. But if they don't refund some money we paid for permits or otherwise do something on that end...I will. We still know enough attorney's to get a letter written.

And as far as them signing that the job was done...I don't think I have any kind of recourse. But it's just so wrong! Any thoughts?

DH is taking the helm tomorrow as they come to move out the SZ and take out the few pieces of tile. Then we wait for Saturday for the GC's guy to come.

I had to read it all twice to be able to understand everything... That's a confusing situation and a real mess. I take it they hide when you try and meet in person?

@TX - wish I could... Perhaps I did because today the drive was gone.

I did a few things... The part that was causing all of the problems with the car came in today and I put it in. This is no big deal... Two wires and it screws into the top of the engine.

I also masked and caulked the last batch of baseboards, and even painted some of them. Not enough though, with only a personal promise to make up for lost time and do it tomorrow.

What stole my will to do anything was dealing with the place with no roof again. I had a lot written but deleted it because I shouldn't say much but in a nutshell, insurance chooses to ignore everyone and that forces escalation on my end.

I guess at this point I just want to be done with everything. It's close; tomorrow I order the last of the materials needed for this project and that's a good thing. But for now, sleep.

Texas - That is really neat what you did with the tree. Honey Mesquite is very rot resistant. It is used for fence posts. It should last for a long while.

Doug- funny you should mention that. When we first started concocting our plan, my dad mentioned visiting with an old rancher buddy of his who had a fence constructed from mesquite.

His buddy decided to take the 50+ year old mesquite posts out and he said it took several chainsaw blades to do it because "that stuff is tougher than nails"

It gives me hope that the tree won't become brittle and just crumble in the next few months.

The tree is actually just phase one. You can glimpse in the background of a few pics, some deconstructed playground equipment.
We have been collecting playground sets/ parts from friends over the past year or two and our ultimate plan is to design and build an amazing custom playground set with forts, slides, swings, etc and tie the "climbing tree" (or as my daughters call it, their "play" tree) into all of it.

We positioned the tree so that some of the climbing branches will meet up with a platform on the main jungle gym.

At this point, I just have to say to you guys/gals what I've already said to my husband and my dad.

It is going to be the dead of winter and I'm going to be ordering my kids outside to play on it because "do you have any idea how much it took to do that?!?!? You are gonna USE that thing!!!!" ::)

TexasGem, I'm pretty sure the dead of winter in Texas is not terribly cold. Well, to you guys I guess, but to the AnnKHs of the world, not so much. LOL What a fun play structure they will have. Are you getting the 7 year old to work on it to with her building tool skills?

I finally folded about 7 loads of laundry yesterday. Today I ran a quick 4.3km (and I do mean quick because it was very fast for me, I couldn't believe the pace when they announced it at 10 and 20 minutes) then I went to get most of my hair cut off. I now have a very short haircut and when I look in the mirror I get a bit startled because now I look even more like my sister. Even my son said that. LOL

Then I got the rest of my Thanksgiving dinner stuff, made lunches for tomorrow and got one off to hockey practice. I'd probably better go get him. LOL

Thanks for the "character reference" CEF! High praise indeed. :)

Schicksal, I get so upset hearing they are trying to avoid responsibility. I can't even imagine how you must be feeling because I'm royally pissed!

CalQ, I hope you get your kitchen issues resolved soon too. And that you find a nice lunch bag. ;)

Ann, I'm jealous of your apple tree! Have you had Shamrocks? BEST apples ever!! Hard to find.

Okay, I'd better get my kid before he decides I've abandoned him.

I'll be back later........but....

I got the job....kitchen reno here we come!

Whoo Hoo! Way to go, Terri!

My day turned unimaginably bad, maybe I'll explain later. More importantly though...

Good Job Terri!!!!! I'm so happy for you!!!!

I look forward to your kitchen reno pics, I know you have been anxious to get started.

Congratulations Terri!

@Terri - Congratulations, that's awesome!!!

@ MGMum - it drives me nuts too, basically because there's no recourse for any of this. Even in a clear case of liability there's nothing that says they have to go do their job. It's basically a fight to get back to zero, and the only reason I might even be able to get to that point is because they forced hiring an attorney (otherwise I would be out the attorney cost).

Yesterday I met up with a few people over at the site, including a structural engineer. The fact I went ahead against the advice of the insurance company to stabilize the place is the only reason it's still standing. Things are being loaded and shifting in a bad way, and we are working now on a better way to keep the rain out because in a month it could finish the place. Repairs I was told, will be VERY expensive. Easily double what I thought they would be. I still believe they will have to fix the place; the city already told me over the phone that no demolition permit would be issued and from what I've seen others have to do in the neighborhood I believe it.

Yesterday evening I had to all of my pictures and documents to the attorney. Thanks to being the type to take LOADS of pictures there isn't any part of the building that isn't in one of them. The "before" condition is indisputable. I guess doing a picture organization day a couple of times a year finally paid off.

I'm sure things will get interesting over the next few weeks.

Well that is awesome that you do have all those photos!
I can't even imaging how hard it will be to repair, rebuild and fix the house.

TG, I hope you feel better after a nights sleep.

MGM, never heard of a Shamrock named apple. Do you know it's origin?

When I was telling my friend/realtor that I did get the job, she said..woohooo mommy get's a new kitchen and daddy gets new shoes. Lol..my husband doesn't need a reason to buy new shoes. Lol.. She knows him so well. Lol
So I was telling her my vision for the kitchen. I told her to tell her husband he's helping with the fridge build in/partial wall demo. Payment will be cheap beer and good food. ( he likes cheap beer) he and I went to school together and among many hats/job he has/does is GC and builder.

There is lots of excitement on several levels in this house.

schicksal - After spending far too much of my workday reading your adventures in remodeling, I have decided that you must marry me. Yes, I know we are both happily married to other people, but they'll get over it in time. ;)

That kitchen is awesome. And knowing those floors are strong and level underneath is the kicker. Most people would have just tore out the old and stuck some new in there. Awesome...

Thanks! The extra cost was maybe... $15/joist and this is the only chance that anyone will ever have to build it right so I decided it might as well be done. Same thing for running all the new center beams. It's sort of what happens when quality takes over cost and schedule.

Going completely overboard with leveling the entire place was just a me thing.

Locksets are completely picked out and I'm ordering them tomorrow. I'm also ordering a BAF Haiku tomorrow unless something better comes along. People sometimes go for a Minka Artemis instead but to me it looks too contemporary instead of modern. The other modern options we liked cost about the same as a BAF so we're back where we started.

Other than that I've just been painting trim. It takes 2-3 coats before I'm satisfied with how it looks so this is just something that's going to take a while.

Terri - Congratulations. I hope you can start soon on your kitchen.

Schicksal - I just shake my head. Words can't describe how I feel about the unfairness of what you are having to go through.

I have too much work right now. Everything is shut down but work. My helper is even swamped. The price of being self-employed, I guess. Boom or bust. Experience tells me it will sort itself out sometime next week....I hope.

I do kind of have the bookshelf/door to the "hidden" room designed in my head but I need the right hinges in order to actually start building it. Without the hinges, I could get the dimensions off, so hopefully this weekend I can find something that will work and actually start cutting wood. This one door is what is holding up the entire bedroom.

Terri! Yay, congratulations! I first had a shamrock between 2000 and 2002 and I bought them at Thrifty Foods in Colwood on Van. Island. I have never had them since. My Mom and Dad do have a small tree in their backyard, but that's not doing me any good. It is green, like granny smith, but not as hard. OH! the taste! It's not tart, nor mealy, nor too sweet, it is just perfection. At least in my mind after 12 years. I originally picked them up thinking they were granny smiths. I just googled it. They are from the Salt Spring apple company in Summerland. You're so close! Take the ferry and go get some! Okay, so Summerland is on the mainland, but they must sell them on the Island. Time for a trip on the Coho!

I hope you find your hinges, Doug!

Here is a link that might be useful: Shamrock Apples

Schiksal, we installed 2 BA Haikus w/LEDs in our last house....love love love them. Will put them in the new (to us) house when we recover from closing.

Congrats Terri!

I don't know what to google re: Haiku, so a link or direction would be great. :) Sorry about the other house. Again, glad you have the pics.

Yesterday fridge got removed and moved, tiles got removed. I've got the tile people set to come next Tuesday (after the cabinet work is hopefully finished Saturday) and the fridge re-installed next Wednesday. The Innermost rep is supposed to come early next week too with a few parts and to do some adjustments.

Handyman came today with the drawing for the pendant canopy thing. He also looked at installing my corbels, installing the new mailbox, and some sprinkler work. I'll see if he can come do some of that stuff next Tuesday too.

It seems like we could have everything but the pendants done next week. And that the pendants could be done by Thanksgiving, I hope. (That doesn't include the backsplash, which we are no where near agreeing on.) And maybe not the water pressure issue in the kitchen sink, but maybe I'll just call another plumber.

I finished my table last night, and reassembled this morning. Even before I put away the dropcloth and supplies, I had to take pictures for you folks!

Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me before I started stripping the top, so no before and after. The table was painted a greenish gold, legs were cream. As I've mentioned here, I had a heck of a time getting the old primer out of the grain, so I finally gave up (after a lot of effort with different strippers and scrubbers).

The closest I have to a Before is if the bottom of the table and legs, prior to stripping.

Here she is - it is an old oak table, and I didn't try to sand out old scratches or marks, or repair dings along the edges of the leaves, so it has a rustic look. It's for my brother and his wife, and they wanted it light, so no stain - just three coats of oil-based polyurethane.

I didn't do anything to the arms which support the leaves, except sand them a little. They still have remnants of paint.

The paint in the grain is virtually invisible on the top, unless you're really looking for it. On the bottom of the table and leaves, however, it is much more pronounced. But who;s going to lay on the floor and look at the bottom, except me?

That looks great! Was it always painted or were there traces of whatever other finish it had once upon a time?

@cal_quail - Big Ass Fans is the name of the company that makes the Haiku. I was going to order one today but am not sure what color to get :/ Either caramel or cocca colored... I'll probably get on houzz later this evening and have a look at what others did with places that are similar to ours.

The accent lighting for the wall art has been ordered along with the door hardware so that's happening at least. All that's left to order are the fan and veneer for the family room beam. Otherwise it's up to me to finish everything up with the supplies I already have.

This afternoon I'm going to try working on the new front door, so fun times ahead...

Here is a link that might be useful: Big Ass Fans

Thanks! I'm really happy with the way it turned out, and I can't wait to give it to my brother.

My Mom painted it about 10 years ago. I don't know if she stripped it, then primed and painted, or just painted over what was there.

It's been painted as long as I can remember (almost 50 years). When I stripped it, there didn't appear to be anything under the white. If there had been, the paint would not have soaked so deeply into the grain.

Okay that fan is awesome..but for the white 52" model with lights, but no "sensing" $1152...yeah NO! Lol

Ann, the table looks fab!

I have a little "bubble" in my coffee table I'm stripping. 1) I think the "inlay" top is a laminate sheet.
2) of the oval cut pieces around the top on two opposite "corners" of the oval the inlay piece is darker than the rest of the oval pieces.
3) the scalloped outside edge appears not to be wood?? The "bands" are or did come off with the Citristrip. Seems to be some very heavily compacted wood/paper composite.
??
I have decided to let it sit a few days before another application of Citristrip goes on the top. I'll take it apart and get the legs soaking in orange goo.

If it's MDF or particleboard Citristrip will probably tear it up because it's water based.

I only did a bunch of caulking, masking and taping. No door work. I did do a bunch more research on the place with the crushed roof, which took hours. I'm hoping that's the last of it for a while.

GC has finally responded to HD agreeing on all the cabinet work to be done. They neglected to confirm that it will all be done tomorrow. They also agreed they will patch the door frame and the drywall around the light switch that the electrician broke out his last trip, but again, no confirmation that that will be tomorrow. And they made no comment next to the place where I said my faucet, rated at 1.8gpm is running at 8 cups in 45 seconds (which would be .67 gpm). Our house has beaucoup water pressure, so this should not be the case.

I arranged for another plumber to come Tuesday to fix it. I will look to HD for a credit, but one way or another...I need some more water pressure and I'm tired of waiting. I have installed kitchen faucets. I could take it out myself and try to figure out what's wrong, but at this point, I think it's better to let a professional do it.

The Innermost rep is also coming Tuesday, as well as the floor guy. And the fridge is being reinstalled on Wed. So by Wed, we could be done except for the pendants and backsplash. That would be exciting.

Oh, and the corbels...the handyman gave a quote to install them and we'll try to get that done ASAP.

Very, very, very frustrating two days of curriculum stuff the past couple days. Very happy for a weekend.

We'll the seasons are definitely changing here in the northwest, so what am I doing STILL painting our kitchen?! Okay, well, round one was June/July and was a TON of work. The contractors have come and gone and we have our beautiful range and steam oven installed and so now it's "just" the left overs which includes, an entry way like area, a breakfast nook area, the doorway area and 16, yes another 16 cabinet faces that were modified, added or not done before. Ugh. I've spent 6 hours taping the kitchen and here I am on break.

I'm glad DH is gone this weekend to see his folks. So is he! I don't think he can take many more kitchen works-in-progress messes and this is yet another one. :) Back to the job!

Teri, GREAT news! :) I hope it means all the good things a new job can.

Annkh, I think you're seeing the trees for the forest. That tiny bit of white is absolutely nothing in the scope of such a beautiful table. For goodness sake, it's 50 years old. I can't believe it looks that good after all this time. Nothing that old will ever be perfect. Or what is "perfect" in our heads. For your DB? It's probably more than perfect.

shicksal, so sorry your poor house is being ruined. RUINED by these people! Will the end up having to rebuild the entire house? I mean, is that what the city will ask? And continued damage. Is someone denying culpability for that? Or just ... "oops!"

MGMum, why would one fold laundry? Were you being punished?

ChristyMcK ... pictures? :)

We are back from our most recent escapade - Blue Ridge Parkway bicycle trip. Lots of climbing! Great weather except for the last day. Here is a picture along the way!

Yesterday, we drained the hoses and cleared out the veggie garden. Lots of tomatillos and a few tomatoes and beans. Just one micro cucumber. I left the greens hoping it doesn't get too cold.

Cutting holes for windows in the door did not go as planned. The jig saw blade does not freehand well, and it also doesn't work well with fine adjustments. The good news is, I haven't cut ousdide the lines yet. Tomorrow I need to come up with a better plan. A circular saw would cut straight but may tear up the veneer. I may try either the roto zip mini circular saw or something by hand, but I will figure out how to get this done right.

Schick - do they make a drill bit that would do the trick?