6 Signs Your DIY Project has taken over your life

No. 1. Your car looks like a work truck. The seats are full of sawdust and a fine layer of plaster. The trunk has an odd assortment of tools, an extension cord, scrap wood, random light fixtures and a 50 lb. bag of plaster.

No. 2. The lady at the Lowe's returns counter recognizes you.

No. 3 You wear long sleeves to work for a week so people don't see the scratches and bruises covering your arms from pulling pipes through the walls.

No. 4 Your hairstylist gives you "trauma treatment" conditioner for your hair because it has been washed so many times it is striped of natural oils.

No. 5 You have an array of work clothes that are in constant rotation and you don't even bother to put them in your dresser.

No. 6 Instead of asking if you are busy tonight, your family asks if you are not working on the house tonight.

Eight Week Progress Report: Pipes and Water

The Plumbing is finished! Whew! That was a job. We might have bitten off more than we could chew, but we got it done. The brother did offer to come and help us fix the joints that leaked. We were so grateful! We weren't going to say no to that! After working on the plumbing for three weeks, Mandy and I were ready to be finished!

(Since plumbing isn't the prettiest to look at, I thought I would add a shot of the newel post. I have never seen one like it. Don't you think it has a story?)

Mandy and I were excited to try our hand at using pex. It does have it's own special advantages, but it is hard to wrangle around corners and through holes!

 The waters lines that feed that bathroom, come up on the same wall as the bath tub and toilet. But the sink is across the room. The pex tubing had to be threaded through holes in the floor joints all the way across. Good thing it is a small bathroom!

One of the problems with pex, is it takes a lot of muscle. These are the crimpers that clamp the rings on the fittings. It took both Mandy and I to get them closed! Also, not too good for tight places, like behind the bath tub....

 The access to the bath tub plumbing is about 6" wide. Just wide enough for one arm! We spent days trying to figure out how to connect the pex. There was no room to get the crimpers opened wide enough and maneuvered at the right angle to crimp. We finally found a fitting that looked like the top of a garden hose so we could crimp it outside the wall then screw it on without twisting the pex line.

 A lot of plumbing goes into a bathroom!

With pex you run more water lines, so it looks a bit like spaghetti. This is where the lines come down to the basement and branch off from the water heater.

So excited to have the lath back on the holes! It just needs a little plaster and it will be as good as new. 

Slowly but Surely.....

It doesn't look like much, but we have light fixtures in! All they need is the glass globe to be attached, which I haven't done yet to advert any accidents.

It feels like it has been a little slow here, but it really hasn't.

This week we started the plumbing (we did the waste pipes previously, now it is time for the water pipes!), I hung lights, tore up more of the bathroom subfloor for plumbing, drilled holes for plumbing, did some general tiding up and cleaning, a bit of patching a plastering, cleaned the refrigerator (it has been unplugged for months!), finished re-framing the bathroom medicine cabinet.

So other then getting the light fixtures in, there is not a whole lot of progress visually. But we are still moving forward!

We are pressure now, as the insurance inspector is coming the end of next week! They don't usually like holes in the walls or floor torn up. So we need to finish the plumbing, get the floors and walls patched and install the sink and toilet..... all before the end of next week!

Then I really will have some progress to show you!

I love all the sun streaming into the middle bedroom since the awning was taken off. It might be my favorite bedroom now!

Bye Bye Orange

 My paint brush has been itching ever since I first walked through the Brick House. The orange just had to go! Last Saturday Mandy and I did a little cabinet rearranging and Monday morning first thing, I was rolling on primer! So much better! Now I can think!

 On Monday the aluminum awnings also came off the outside of the house. So the kitchen is light and bright once again! The cabinets above the sink just looked strange, they were just sort of hanging there. I think a couple of open shelves will be much better.

 This wall is the walkway to the back door, so it means the cupboards are only 12" deep with counter tops that are not really usable. I decided to use some of the cabinets that we took down to fill in the wall space. I am hoping this will give it an old fashioned built in look. (Sorry for all the clutter. In a construction zone you just pick up what you need and put it down when you are done.)

 A couple of un-used cabinets in the foreground. Look at all that sunlight streaming in the window!

A "before" picture, just to remind you what a bright shade it was!

An outside view of no awnings! It is getting there slowly but surely. 

This weekend Mandy and I are diving in to plumbing with pex. I first time for us, so we will see how that goes!