This Old (Crappy) House

As I mentioned in my last post about the addition, some water issues were discovered underneath the existing house.  Today it got a little worse, as our contractor discovered a pretty large gap (a GAP, people, not a crack) where the concrete driveway/patio meets the brick of the house.  So there's something else to fix.

Before the pressure washing could begin to prep for painting all the brick, all the little things like hose reels, old nails, etc., had to be taken out/off of the brick.  Our contractor noticed the backside of some wall anchors coming through the exterior brick.  Turns out those are the anchors for the shelves of our current laundry room (which happens to be the outside, only inside - you'll see in just a minute).  So all the shelves and their contents had to come down.  Weird.

And now our bonus room/storage space and old laundry room look like this:

See what I mean down below?  The outside...but it's inside.  Ugh.  And take a peek at the very bottom of the picture - the step down into the laundry room is covered in orange shag carpet.  There are no words.  So to make it a perfectly hideous room, I added an old oriental rug of my parents' to cover the bare concrete floor.

So on to the new house!  The following things were done while we were on vacation that you can't see: gas connected to the new hot water heater, vapor barrier put underneath the whole house, and measurements for shower glass were taken.

Here are the things you can see completed on Days 53, 54, 55, & 56:

Shower heads installed and all tile and grouting finished.  I know the shower heads look puny, but Russell and like concentrated water.  I have no interest in bathing under a rain shower head...just stand outside these days if that's what you're going for.  And see that low shelf in the corner, ladies?  Perfect for shaving.

Countertop and undermount sinks were installed:

Day 57: faucets installed and mirrors purchased:

Day 58: utility sink and faucet ready for installation and pressure washing the exterior of the house:

As exciting as the work on the house has been this week, I do miss our time at the beach last week...times like this:

Ok, so not a flattering picture of Russell, but no one will look great asleep, crammed on a love seat with a 5-year-old.  But it's still the best feeling in the world...our sweet little Mason.

So back to reality - Emma still calls the addition, "the mess."  And she still wants to go see the mess.  I can't wait to have our bedroom haven.  There will be no worries about Emma getting wedged between furniture back there, no mommy and daddy toes being near-severed by wheelchair or stander wheels, and no more worries that Emma will fall down the shag carpet-covered step into the laundry room.  And as for the closet, I'm looking forward to having ALL my clothes in the same room in which I sleep, which hasn't happened for me since September 2011.

Oh, to end this post on a funny note: Russell's temporary garment rack holding his bare necessities in clothing was wedged between the bed and the wall in our temporary room.  Until it broke and came crashing down on top of him in our sleep on Saturday night.  I'm so thankful that my delightful husband didn't jump, curse, yell...he laughed.  A gut chuckle at 4:30 in the morning.  He's a blessing, that one.