Blog

It has been a very busy and eventful year so far. Not only have things been very busy with work but Kristen and I have also been taking this opportunity to get many things done around the house that we’ve been planning for the last few years.

Office Remodel
Not long ago I built a closet in our office to add some storage space. We went ahead and slapped some paint up as well even though there was a little bit of cosmetic cleanup that needed to be done to the walls. We’ve also noticed a place on the wall that was very weak appeared to be slightly damaged from water, so we decided to have ProSource Construction come in and take a look. As it turns out we had water coming in from the bottom left side of the window frame. We decided to take all of the drywall off of that particular wall so we could make sure there wasn’t any major damage that might need repair. Thankfully it wasn’t damaged that badly at all, we sealed up the area that was leaking, re-insulated the entire wall and we now have new drywall over that wall as well. We’re also having Rick fix some cosmetic blemishes in the room before repainting the entire room. Once all of that is done we’re having light maple colored laminate flooring installed in the room and probably a ceiling fan put up. Then that room is finished!

Dead Tree Removal
In our back yard were 3 very large, old trees. They were one of the things that I loved most about this house when we bought it. They were incredibly tall and big around and the provided great shade to the patio throughout the summer. Sadly 2 of the 3 were in really bad shape and were showing signs of significant decay, so we decided to have a local reputable tree service come and take a look. I wasn’t interested in having the trees removed unless they really needed to be and after they showed us a few tell-tale signs I was convinced that it was necessary. Both trees were removed completely and the stumps ground down. It’s very sad to have them gone, the yard has really suffered aesthetically because of it but I guess it’s worth it to not have to worry about an 80-foot Silver Maple limb crashing on your house one day… We planted a small Bing Cherry tree yesterday in the back yard, but it’s going to be a while before it gives us much shade.

Some New Carpet
We finally got around to replacing the unpleasant (and stained) carpet in 2 of the 3 bedrooms. We were able to get remnants for both rooms so it was very inexpensive and really made a big difference in those rooms.

Minor Kitchen Improvements
We’ve held off on doing any work on the kitchen thinking that it would end up being the largest and most expensive renovation we’d be doing to the house. However, after our bathroom project we felt ready to take it on and confident that it would be an easy project in comparison. For now we’re doing pretty basic improvements, painting, bead board, chair rail and probably painting the cabinets. We looked into getting new cabinets and totally redoing the room but it was just too expensive. The minor improvements we’re making will make a big difference on their own.

Privacy Fence
One of the improvements I’m most excited about is our decision to build a privacy fence around our back yard. Our back yard faces an alley and a several other houses which leaves the back yard feeling a little too exposed. We’d also like to be able to let Pepper be outside more so she can run around and get some exercise. Hopefully we’ll be starting that project in the next month or so.
We’ve got some other small improvements planned as well, all of which will bring us to a finish line in our home improvement marathon. I’m sure I’ll have photos and other blog posts as the projects go forward.