Congratulations!!! :)

Thanks. I wish we had the paperwork done so we could turn in the permit application tomorrow.

While he was here, I asked the inspector to take a look at the front porch to see if I could expand the bedroom and he said no problem. Yay!

That's great! Your house is going to be so nice, when you're done. How exciting :)

Marti that is GREAT!!! so glad to hear it went well for you.

Woo Hoo!

Let the fun begin! Be sure to take lots of before and after pics!

Dh informed me this afternoon that he got the building permit yesterday. He's been trying to catch the secretary in her office and she keeps changing her hours. So he emailed her and then with all the stuff that happened Thursday and Friday, he forgot to tell me.

We're building the refrigerator cabinet this weekend and will get started on the dining room soon I think. Yippee.

That's wonderful!!! :)

Marti this is great news. And happy day more pictures for us.:^)))

oh wonderful! get that camera ready for action!

hey, how about a pic of those cabs you've been working on - got some back in place?

Good for you!!

Wow, Marti. I did not notice that your last post on this topic, about getting the permit, was back in Feb. That means you were on pins and needles for over a month. Whoooosh! That is a long time in a small town waiting for someone to be IN FOR BUSINESS.

Of course it was only possible because DH was the one doing it. Yeah, I've dealt with women like HER before. But at last, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. All is well, and all shall be well, and all shall be very well. (This is a paraphrase of a famous quotation by Mother Julian of Norwitch back in the Middle Ages.)

And Marti, I've been thinking about your problem with sounds or noise.

Have you thought about adding ROCK WOOL INSULATION? On HGTV Scott McGillvray of INCOME PROPERTY is always using it to deaden sound between units, and also to provide a fire break.

I'm thinking all the HARD SURFACES in a kitchen must be excrutiatingly painful for your ears. When you do that addition on the end can you perhaps add a lot of insulated draperies or softer surfaces?

You probably already have your flooring chosen, but how about making one of your walls some good quality CORK?
It is quite durable, and if it is out of your way splashing water, it could help with sound absorption. Even hanging a fabric tapestry on the wall will help absorb sound. The rubber mats that were mentioned in Lavender's thread (Shades mentioned them I think for counter tops) will deaden sound quite effectively.

Just avoid adding hard surfaces like ceramic or lots of glass. I know lead is poisonous to the system, but it also is the most inert and absorptive metal around--if your DH has some, he could lay a few thin sheets on top of your cabinets and let them work unseen to help you with your problem.

And put rubber shoes on the chairs which stay on hard floors, and put cushions in the chairs, or upholstered chairs in the area, not just wooden chairs. Keep a table cloth handy, and also cloth napkins.

Oh the scraping chairs on floors used to drive me crazy! One reason I want something different in the dining room. Don't know what though. Dh is adament about keeping down costs right now and putting down the tile we already have, so I've been experimenting with the stuff I have to take out to see how I can modernize it. Haven't tried to deaden it yet.

I went over to a neighbor's who has granite counters and tile floors and put dishes, big spoons, and silverware on it, and it didn't bother me at all. A lot of what bothers me is the pitch, the higher it is the worse it is. I have an ear protection headset that I keep in the kitchen or laundry room to use when I use appliances like the vacuum or blender.

It may not be "in" but I'll definitely have cloth curtains in the kitchen and dining room to help deaden some of the sound.

I haven't updated this in awhile. The inspector came out last week and had a problem with some of the bracing so dh had to redo that. Now we are waiting for the electrician. The patio door was delivered today and thankfully, dh was here at the time. It was just the truck driver and the door weighs about 600 lbs. It had broken loose from the pallet so his pallet truck wouldn't work on it.

They took the packing off and dh noticed that it was the wrong size. After some phone calls, it was confirmed that the company sent the wrong door. The truck driver laughed and said he would just put it in place and then call the company and tell them the door didn't fit and have them come out and install the right size. Then he laughed and said he was just sneaky like that.

I was floored. I've never heard anyone admit to being dishonest before. Am I really that naive?

Dh told him the company was one of his customers and we like doing business with him, and after the guy was gone we just looked at each other and laughed. Dh helped the guy lay the door down on the floor of the truck and then the guy walked on it. Makes you wonder how anything arrives in one piece.

YIKES that is amazing information Marti. I know how some shippers can be. Guess we were lucky when we had a spa delivered several years ago. It was at the front of the truck so guy had to unload many things in front of it to get it off. But he was careful and we both were impressed.

I hope the new door arrives soon. Are you able to get a feel of the new space yet? I do not suppose it is opened up to the kitchen yet or how is that all done??

Yes, it is open to the kitchen now, more or less. No insulation yet, so we put up plastic sheeting to try to keep the a/c from running all the time.

The other end of the kitchen has become the cabinet door refinishing area. There was too much sawdust flying in the garage.
{{!gwi}}

wow - at least things are moving along there - more than I can say for here!

and yes, i have had people admit their dishonesty before. I guess they think that makes them honest? Someone I worked with told how her son would buy clothes at one store on sale and then return it to another store where the price for the same item was higher but they'd take back anything they 'sold' in their store even w/o tags or receipt. I just couldn't believe that myself!

"I guess they think that makes them honest?" LOL, maybe so.

But you know, it's that type of attitude that makes me worry about the way our country is headed. You know, you used to be able to trust everyone until the few showed themselves to be untrustworthy. Now it seems the other way around.

Thanks for the pictures Marti. Looking great. I know when it is all wood with out the finished walls it always seems to suck the light out of the space. And here it looks like it is dark outside. I bet you are so thrilled with how this is turning out. Those are Beautiful windows.

Thanks Chris. Yes, it was dark when I took the photo and there is no wiring in there yet, so only the drop light.

I love the windows and the door was beautiful too. I hate to think of waiting another month for a door.

How exciting to gain all that extra space! And... right there near the kitchen!

We have lights! Or light. The electrician called at 7:30 Saturday morning and was here by 9:00. He stayed all day and got all the wiring in. Now we have a single bulb in there for the moment. We also have switches to turn on the kitchen light by the back door, something we haven't had for the last 3 years. So no more flashlight to make our way across the kitchen at night!

After wiring the spots and wire for the sconces, the electrician asked if it wouldn't look odd to have them basically in the same place, so we eliminated the sconces.

Code here is an outlet every 12', so we had to put two on the window wall and only one on the patio door wall, on the kitchen side.

Dh started taking out our leaky kitchen door Saturday, but kept having to stop and do things for the electrician. So yesterday we got that taken out and found out why it leaked. The foundation wasn't level right there. Big surprise. So he ground it down, spreading dust all over the kitchen where I was staining the refrigerator cabinet. Anyway, long story short, the door is in now with all the seals it should have had the first time.

marti,
The 'under construction' look and work of it makes it hard to live in the constant cleaning and moving of stuff! I know... and I tell DH it is like living in the garage! LOL

I know you are so looking forward to having it done and YOUR space again!

You're right, it is exactly like living in the garage! I have lived this way since right before Christmas and I'm almost over being embarrassed when someone comes into my living room, which is piled with everything out of the kitchen drawers and cabinets.

the dust is bad - fixing the door is good! so is having light!
you're moving along there.

I wouldn't be embarrassed if someone came by - you're in the middle of remodeling for pete's sake. If they don't like it too bad. that's probably older age showing thru in me...

I can't read/post much in the afternoons for a bit. too hot in here to have it on and I won't turn a/c on in old place. puppy and I go to new place in afternoons. I work and nap and toss her toy to her - it's endless! she has so much energy it tires me even more...

will check in late tonight after it cools down. putting ice paks on system til then - lol!

hoping to get phone hook up in new place soon so can move computer over there.

Yay Steph! If you have a/c and water over there, why not just move in? That heat saps my strength worse than any amount of work. I feel for ya.

okay I am glad to know you are also in a remodeling project. its fun yet hell huh? LOL

thx marti! yeah, it does me more'n more each yr! I used to so love the heat. not anymore! didn't get much done tho. got a few things washed up. everything from here is so dirty (yrs here w/ windows that don't close tightly, a few broken ones, the desert dirt just blows in and stays - but doesn't pay rent!).

lined 3 shelves - ones that needed me to be going up/down on my step stool - and stretching to reach the corner areas. A lot of tossing someone's toy... and fending her off cause she gets rowdy too -lol! and swept up the tiny bits of glass on the floor of one of the back rooms. still there from the window replacement. I'd barricaded it off so pup wouldn't get a sliver in her paw. Bought a long handled 'picker upper thingy' this past week at W for 4.00. bought one many months ago but puppy ate it before I could use it. (well, she chewed it to pieces anyway). Wanted the glass slivers up before I used my vac on it. will do that today and work on the under the bathroom sink area.

Also need to remeasure rooms because I found some flooring I like and need to figure out what it'll cost me. will post a thread on that and my trip to HD a few days ago.

msjay - oh yeah. have been for 2 yrs now. I think it's been 2 yrs. I've been working on moving for even longer. time is getting away from me. or maybe it's just my memory that is getting away from me? lol!

I'll be 'living' there mostly in the very near future. like a wk or 2!

I think I said in another thread that the inspector was here yesterday and he didn't like a couple of things the electrician did, so now we have to have those corrected and reinspected. Grrr.

The brick was just delivered, and it's a good thing I was here. First the guy with the forklift set them right in front of a garage door, and I ran out to ask him to move them to a spot that wouldn't obstruct anything. Then, I heard a crash and looked over and some of the brick had fallen off the truck onto the street and more in a heap on the truck. I ran in to get my camera and by the time I got back out, he had picked up all the broken pieces from the street and stacked them on the pallet with whole brick around them.

I took some pictures and asked him to sign that there were broken brick. He said there were only about 15, but we won't know until we unstack them.

I soooo need to get away from this.

OH GGGGRRRRR Marti. That would not make me one bit happy.I hope this resolves well for you.