Greeting!

I have been busy the past several weeks both working on the house and moving. So, I have been remiss in providing my promised updates. Sorry for that. Here is the latest.

I have completed the move from my apartment to the house. The process extended over several weeks of boxing, loading boxes in to the SUV, transporting said boxes to the house, unloading them and repeating the process every evening. It was slow ... did I mention it was slow. Now the boxes are in the garage and basement waiting to be unpacked.

During this period I also completed the cabinet installation, dishwasher installation, garbage disposal, gas range, refrigerator, lighting in the living room and kitchen and ceiling fan in the living room. Thanks to my friend Rob for painting the living and dining room.

I still need to install the back splash and range hood. Also need to finish the toe kick and trim. I'm also planning a venetian plaster treatment on the kitchen wall.

I am living in the house. The bedroom, bathroom, living room and dining room are functional but I have some decorating to do. The rest of the house is full of boxes.

The lawn has been taken over by moles, they grow big in Missouri. Due to the drought the grass that is still alive is at least slow growing. I shall be mowing for the fist time in 3 weeks tonight. We had a shower so the grass revived.

I shall post some more photos soon.

A request from a faithful reader for more commentary prompts the following gloss on the past several weeks.

The kitchen is close to finished and Roger is planning to move into the house the last weekend of June.  The gas appliances (range, water heater and clothes dryer) have all been hooked up (taking a special person from the gas -- propane -- company to do so).  Electrical connections still needed for the dishwasher, garbage disposal, trash compactor (taking a special person for that, too -- Roger).  Final equipment installation is the range hood, which must follow the installation of the back splash tile (40 of 50 sheets having arrived).  I'm coming down to visit for the 4th of July holiday and taking a couple of days extra to get used to the new place (which I've only seen once, back in April before Roger closed on the house).  


So, as with almost all renovations, we've had to make some "in process" changes to the original plans.  The trash compactor was a last minute addition as the correctly sized cabinet for that space wasn't ordered (our mistake), but it's a nice plus.  Also, the previously posted image of the back splash tile ended up costing almost $14 per square foot sheet, and we needed 45 sq. feet -- so we "adjusted" the design to an equally beautiful but much less expensive glass tile pattern.  Ditto on the quartz counter tops, as the pattern we had originally chosen was no longer available.  


Roger reports that putting the cabinets together was a real pain in the ... neck.  But, mercifully, that is now finished.  As he said, "they ain't coming apart...ever!" 


As for me, my contribution has been my exquisite taste, sense of proportion ("no, you can do that...I'll just comment from afar") and, of course, my always optimistic, bubbling and cheerful view of all things new and/or expensive.


(That last was a joke, for those who may have forgotten my usual take on life and its vast conspiracy to thwart my noble and benign intentions.)

Though both of us *swore* after selling the Knoxville house that we would never, ever buy another house, I have to confess that, even from a distance, the idea of owning a home again is rather exciting.  It's also nice to know that I'll have a permanent place to retire to (though that is still some years away).  Of course, when we moved into the house on Luttrell street I told Roger that I was *never* moving again and that he could bury me under the weeping cherry tree.

See what I mean about the vast conspiracy against my noble and benign intentions??!!

Counters are in!  (NB:  actual color is not really so white,  more earth tone).

Ugly ceiling fan gone -- new light installed!

New kitchen lights! (Not to worry....the ugly ceiling fan is going).

The refrigerator in place.

More Kitchen progress.

Kitchen progress!

  And here they are!

Progress!  Floor is finished and the first 3 (of 20) kitchen cabinets are installed.  *Everyone* should have a Roger to do this sort of work!

Appliances to be delivered today!

Progress Report 4/29 - 5/15

Well, I have been hard at work ripping out the old kitchen cabinets and installing the floor in the kitchen and hallway. The propane tank as been delivered and the gas company is busy installing the new gas water heater and plumbing for a gas cooking range, grill and dryer. The plumber is coming tomorrow to install the plumbing for the washer. We decided to move the laundry from the basement to the garage. It's more convenient.

Don't know if I had it to do over again if I would tack a floor installation. Wall are not straight, so a lot adjusting and sawing and cursing and adjusting and sawing and cursing. Did I mention adjusting and sawing and cursing?

Here are some photos.

New Propane Tank

Crush, Kill, Destroy!

Floor Under Layment

Progress

  

Kitchen floor almost finished.  Bravo, Roger!

So, Roger was up in Quincy this past weekend and, taking advantage of the presence of a Home Depot here in town, we spent some time Sunday morning finalizing choices for the kitchen counter tops and back splash.  Above (clock wise) are the selections:  kitchen cabinets (Shaker-style, Bordeaux-finish), back splash (glass tile), floor (ebony-finished bamboo) and counter top ("Urban Cream").

Tour of the Basement

Tour of Bedrooms and Bath

Tour of the Kitchen

It's wonderful to see all the work that Roger has already put into the new "estate."  I'm especially looking forward to *seeing* the installation of the new kitchen cabinets.  Note, I continue to observe from afar (though Roger and I consult on all of the decisions.  It took a while to settle on the cabinets and we have yet to decide on the back splash and counters).

Tour of the Living Room

Progress Report 4/22 - 4/28

This week has been dedicated to moving the Refrigerator out of the house and into the garage so I can begin removing the kitchen cabinets. A week you ask? Yes, the chain of events are as follows: Rewiring the garage with a grounded circuit so the Refrigerator can be plugged in. After rewiring, adding insulation to the garage walls which is easier to do before I fill the garage up with stuff. I will add insulation to the ceiling later. Cleaning the garage so I can move stuff in. And last moving stuff in.

Here are a few photos of the process. Note that the Refrigerator is in fact now in the garage. The process of moving it involved a special appliance dolly and removing the both doors on the refrigerator. Also note the neatness and tidiness of the garage. Pleas note this now, it may never appear this way again. Also note that the car actually fits in the garage, it does not at my appartment.

New Circuit

New Lights

 

 

 

 

 

Finished Projects

The Car Fits

Living Room Wall Color

Any opinions on the color for the living room wall?

Flooring, Flooring, Who's Got the Flooring

Bamboo, Jocabean

Having spent several weeks contemplating the design aesthetic of the kitchen floor. Being unable to find a current product which will match the existing hardwood in the house without giving the appearance of a failed attempt, which is a design faux pax, the decision was made to go for contrast. Thus the ecological choice bamboo, in a Jocabean style. Wide board, dark color for those not versed in design.

Two weeks ago Friday, I went to my friendly neighborhood Lowe's to place the order. Of course there was no friendly sales associate in sight so I pressed the little yellow button to call for help. Eventually, after multiple automated pages, and the intervention of an actual intercom voice asking for an associate to go the the flooring counter, someone arrives. His first order of business is to inform me that he did not work this department. He then asks if he can help me. I respond that I want to order some flooring. He say he can try to do that for me. Needless to say my confidence in this encounter is falling rapidly.

Well, to make a long story short. So, I point to floor on display and say, "I want the bamboo, Jocabean flooring." He say, "That's nice, it's pretty, although I'm not sure I've heard of that bean before. It must be some kind of coffee bean." Being the nice guy that I am, and always eager to advance the cause of education say, "Well, it's actually a reference to an historic  design style which occurred in England." "Oh, like on HGTV," he say. He then makes several repeated failed attempts to locate the flooring on the computer. His repeated failures resulted in continued repeated attempts to do the search exactly the same way. which of course always gave the exact same result. Having endured almost twenty minutes of this torture, I pointed out to him that if you do exactly the same thing each time you will invariably get the same result. A point of logic lost to him. So, I suggest he might call a manger. He called 3 different managers, none of which responded. He then called the front desk, who suggested he call a manage. He tries again, and succeeds.

The manage, having taken charge rapidly resolves the problem and suggests that the sales associate call the distribution center to make certain that they have the quantity I need. 20 minutes later the distribution center reports that that item has been discontinued. Keep in mind that we are over an hour into the exchange at this point, and that the item is clearly on display in the store as being available.

Now, to the sales associates credit he does suggest that he could check to see if any other stores in the area have the product. I ask why they would as this is a special order item. He say, that it is only a special order item at this store, other store might stock it. Well, I said go ahead it's worth a try. He does, and he finds the quantity I need in Springfield, a mere 90 minutes away.

Flooring Awaiting Installation

He says, that I can call them, purchase it over the phone and have it shipped direct to me, but I will need to pay for the shipping. Why should I do this I ask? If you ordered it here, it would be shipped here, I would pick it up and pay no shipping. Why don't you just have Springfield ship it here on your dime. I should not have to pay shipping just because you can't get it from your central distribution. Apparently Lowe's has no way of shipping between stores. Needless to say, I am not happy. Keep in mind we are now over 2 hours into this encounter.

Well, I say. I'm not paying shipping on this. I'll just drive to Springfield tomorrow and pick it up, so call them and place it on hold for me.

So, I drive the Springfield all the while expecting to find that they in fact do not have the flooring. I arrive, and within 15 minutes the flooring is in the back of my Kia and heading back to Rolla. Customer service is certainly better in Springfield! The flooring is now sitting in the living room awaiting installation. If only there were floor fairies. Oh wait, I think I'm a floor fairy.

Adventures in Lawn Maintenance

Well, as we are all aware lawns require care. Thus the need for a riding mower to provide that care. George decided that he would gift me with this nice mower to make my weekly mowing experience quicker and easier. So last Wednesday the mower was delivered along with a nice push mower for trimming and a free dump cart (assembly required) to pull behind the mower so you will look cool.

That evening, I carefully scouted the yard for any loose objects, fallen limbs, rocks, bricks, etc. I found to surprise a stainless steel ladle. Why that was in the yard I will never know. What I did not find was a protruding stump, which 20 minutes in to my first mowing experience in years leaped out of the ground and destroyed the mower blade.

Replacing the blade required the removal of the undercarriage, then the removal of the blade. This is about a 40 minute ordeal, resulting in irrational thoughts such as " Oh my god I will never get the &$%^%%% thing back together."  Needless to say the remainder of the evening was dedicated to a trip to Lowe's where I located the section labeled "Mower Blades" and purchased a blade clearly labeled "Fits All Troy-Built Mowers." I then promptly returned to my apartment and went to bed.

The next afternoon I return to the house to install the new blade. Imagine my shock to discover that the blade clearly labeled "Fits All Troy-Built Mowers" does in fact not fit this Troy-Built Mower. Another trip to Lowe's, where I express my disappointment that this blade does not fit as advertised. Well the clerk looks at me and with an expressionless face says, "Sire, you do not own a mower, you own a tractor. You need a tractor blade." Now, I was raised in the county, and my Grandparents were farmers. They owed a tractor. Tractor are used to pull plows, disks, hay balers and the like. They have rear wheels taller the you, and you climb up to get into them. I clearly do not own a tractor. However, Troy-Built in their marketing wisdom realized that suburban men who mow lawns need to enforce their maleness by mowing with tractors.

So having been educated on the difference between a mower blade and a tractor blade, and having been pointed to the section labeled tractor parts. I returned with the proper blade, installed it, and reattached the undercarriage, and spent the next 2 hours careful avoiding stumps. The results of which can clearly be seen. Yes, I have yet to master trimming, that will come later. Thus ends my first mowing experience.

Closing

I closed on the house Friday, April 20 at 2pm. There was a small glitch at closing. For some yet to be discovered reason the Dolittle city tax did not make it to escrow. Now keep in mind we are only talking $45 here. Dolittle has a population of around 600.

This was brought to the attention of the title company by the seller at closing. The seller claiming that she had notified her realtor of the earlier. Her realtor was not there due to illness. My realtor, the sellers realtors daughter, (its a a small town folks) could find no record of this. Of course everyone was freaking, thinking that they would have to postpone. Thank god, my loan officer who was also attending, (again, it's a small town folks) interjected and said, why don't you ask Roger, I'm sure he is fine with just paying it separately each year. This of course was all occurring in an adjacent room, and I am hearing it all through the walls.

Of course I had no problem paying the $45 dollar annual tax direct to the city. Nor, was I concerned about the $13 the seller had accrued for this year. After settling this last bit of high finance, we finally signed the paperwork. The house is now ours. 

Here are the photos used to show the house online!

Back to the Future

It seems like only yesterday (well, how about eight years ago) that we were planning / executing a kitchen renovation in our Knoxville home.  Now, years --- and many changed circumstances --- later, we're at it again!  As last time, Roger has done a magnificent job with designing the new kitchen space.  We've settled on flooring (the present floor is an icky linoleum that *just won't don*) and cabinet style and finish, still pondering the choices for counters and back splash.  As the house is only 7 miles from Roger's current home (but 227 miles from my current residence), he'll be doing the bulk of the work.  And, if truth be told, I wouldn't be much help anyway.  And now that I think about it, this will be our *third* kitchen renovation -- as we first renovated the kitchen in our first home in South Knoxville.  I was (or so Roger says) helpful with that first project back in 1993, but that was a while ago.  Think of me now as more of a "consultant." :-)

Well, here it is. Our soon to be new house in Rolla, Missouri. It will be Roger's primary residence and George will be a frequent visitor until he retires. The closing date is scheduled to be April 20th, 2012. After that Roger plans to begin renovation on the kitchen before he moves in.