an unproductive day

i don't know if today was actually unproductive or if it just felt like it since we have been going going going and now we're at a frustrating stand-still? either way, we spent a a few hours over there tonight, and didn't feel like we got anything accomplished.

the floor was too bumpy and uneven to sand down, or putty for that matter. and we couldn't even prime along the walls and ceilings too much because there was wallpaper in the way or damage that needed to be fixed first. grrr!

oh well, hopefully next time will go smoother.

scrub the floors cinderella & watch out for mice

today me and dad worked through the hot hot heat scrubbing floors and vacuuming out the crevices of the entire dining room and kitchen.

now what are we going to do about that floor...we may have to pour self-leveling cement. that's gonna be a big project we weren't anticipating. bummer.

oh, and did i mention that when we went to take down the vent cover above the oven area, we got a special little surprise? dad grabs it to set on the floor, and on top is a nice little covering of mouse droppings. and what's behind it? a nice long chewed up hole in the sheetrock. doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy?

sit down and relax

we went over first thing in the morning to work...and four hours later dad finally finished that last row of flooring. wow, what a pain! meanwhile, me and mom were painting the interiors and shelves of the kitchen cabinets.

i was so proud of myself for breaking down all the boxes the wooden planks came in and bundling them into a nice little stack. they sure are a lot lighter empty than filled with 325 square feet of wood!

finally...somewhere to sit down and rest. but not for long, back to work you two!

so then me and mom took off to go shopping for condo goodies. we went over to ikea to pick up materials for my island bar that will straddle the step between the living room and dining room. sidenote: the plan is that on the living room side the counter will be at normal table level, and on the dining room side it will be at bar height! anyways, i ended up choosing a simple black tabletop and extendable chrome legs (since the legs will be at different levels). it's a little more diy than i had intended, but it should be cool.

while me and mom were out shopping, dad and matthew finished the framework for the new squared-off closet areas. they also ripped out the last of the laminate floor (in the dining room and kitchen) and that's when matthew's allergies kicked in. cat stench. he started sneezing so constantly he actually had to leave and go outside.

all day long flooring

i love my mom and dad! they headed over to the condo this morning to put in the living room flooring while i was at work. by lunchtime, they had only gotten four rows in (it was taking much longer than expected). by early afternoon my brother showed up to help. that really sped up the process.

after work i biked over, and they had completed all but the last row (by the brick wall). it was hot (no AC) and they were exhausted, so we headed home pretty quick, ready to finish the last row tomorrow morning.

by the way, it's looking amazing! thank you family!

snapping the chalk line

more than a week since i've been to the condo. it felt like forever! but my dad has been there working (on stuff i'm not strong enough to help him with). i guess i'll have to start lifting soup cans and eating spinach.

none the less, it felt good to be back today. that same familiar cat smell in the air. at least the living room and bedroom are smelling fresh and clean!

so we did a little putty work and then broke out the ol' tape measure and starting creating a grid to find "center" in my giant living room. after more mental math than i thought i would ever need to do again, and marking tiny pencil dashes on the walls, we got to do the fun part: snapping the chalk lines!

to finish prepping the floors for laying the final planks tomorrow, we rolled out, trimmed-to-fit, and taped down the padding for under the wood planks. by the end, i had the urge to do somersaults and cartwheels across the soft padding...

the cat lady and her dishwasher library

i just realized i never filled you in on the history of this place...so sit back, relax, and find out a little about what went on here before i ever even walked through the door.

the building:
well, it's actually two turn-of-the-century brownstone buildings; sister buildings, if you will. they sit side-by-side, with a small, wrought-iron gated courtyard between. in the back is an adorable little garden patio area, complete with grills and tables. the residents chill out there at night, drinking wine and chatting (everyone i've met has been extremely friendly and sweet, and invited me to join them). and there are lots of bbq's and people even bring out candles and other decor to give it that romantic evening dusk ambiance. there are nineteen condos total, ranging from one-bed/one-bath (like mine) to three-bed/three-bath. most of them have fireplaces and at least one wall with exposed brick. we even have a website.

the cat lady:
the previous owner, nicknamed the cat lady, turned a little eccentric towards the end (or maybe she always was). she not only loved spam (i found evidence throughout the unit), but she must have liked cats too, because what started out as two, multiplied into fifteen...at least! animal control was called a few times to pick up the extra cats, but soon enough there were kitties wandering around yet again.

one morning a neighbor heard her crying for help and found her on the ground, where she had been all night after she fell and broke her hip. after a brief stay in the hospital, she was adamant on going back to the condo. the neighbors helped out, bringing her groceries, and even finding books stored in her dishwasher (among other odd things), but it soon became too much of a burden on the caring residents of the building, so she was placed into a nursing home. however, in order to get medical help, she was forced to liquidate all her assets, which was basically the condo. that's where i come in, and you basically know the rest...

seal it in...once and for all

today was messy: we used kilz odorless oil-based paint on the floor. but i think i was more soaked in paint than the floor. and oil is a pain to scrub off.

supposedly this stuff is a primer, sealer and stainblocker all in one, and we were told it would seal in the remaining cat odor. so if this doesn't work, nothing will (since we've already ripped out the original flooring, cleaned it with special odor-eliminating cleaners, scrubbed and vacuumed every crack, and now sealed it with this paint. goodness gracious).

1, 2, 3, 4 new appliances

my appliances got delivered today. anyways, i don't really have any good before & after shots (since I never even had an oven or microwave to begin with, and because the fridge was in a different place)...but here's the best i have.

i heart stainless steal

today we headed over to the state fair grounds where appliance smart was having a huge liquidation sale on appliances. i walked in, and there, in the middle of the floor, was a stainless steal & black accented fridge, oven, dishwasher and microwave. so i bought the set. sweet.

by the way, it's the frigidaire gallery collection. come see what it looks like it's all delivered and installed.

who's tony?

dad spent quite a few hours this morning and afternoon (on his day off) to pick up that huge pile of garbage taking over the living room floor, and haul it off to the dump.

later on, me and mom painted the final coat of "home song" green on the walls, while dad uncovered a dark hidden space under the boards in my living room. in it was a wheel buried in dirt, and a paper tag labeled tony. i wonder who tony is? could he be one of the cat lady's cats?

the moment of "home song" truth

 the day me and mom have been waiting for. the moment of truth. after all the primer and putty and sanding, we finally got to paint my living room walls...in color! i was nervous about whether or not i made the right choice buying a light pale muted green, but i think it's going to look really nice with dark hardwood floors.

let's stay fifteen more minutes

after working on primer for an hour or so, dad says "let's work for fifteen more minutes...and then we'll call it a night." well, in that fifteen minutes we got the entire bedroom pergo flooring out. wow, that was easy.