The Tree House

OK, fair is fair. The boys have been putting up with us and this project for over a year now. It's time to do something for them. So what better than a Tree House! (OK, so maybe the dads might have always secretly wanted a tree house, too! Hopefully the boys will let us come out and play in it sometimes :-) )

Wrapping it up

We're in! Even though the house is not quite completed, we were able to close on July 2, with most of the major moving happening on July 3.



Just getting to closing was touch-and-go. Our contractor didn't take kindly to being fired and thought he should still be paid most of the remainder of the contract. About two weeks before closing, we received an "Intent to File Lien" for about $18,000. (This is in addition to about $8,000 of our money he still had in his posession.) So lawyers became involved. To make a LOONG story short, we reached a verbal agreement prior to closing, but then he filed the lien anyway. The lien didn't show up on the final title search prior to closing, but it did show up prior to the loan being funded, so everything got held up again. So another round or wrangling ensued, but we finally got it settled, papers have been signed, and we are done!



After months of stress and tension and busting our butts to get it done, we are now taking it a little easier. We still have LOTS of unpacking and tons of little finishing jobs to do (staining woodwork, refinishing doors, touch-up painting, etc.) but we are taking our time and just enjoying being here.



However, just to keep life from becoming TOO sedate and boring, soon after moving in, we were awakened in the middle of the night be strange noises coming from the master bathroom. Upon investigating, we discovered a bat had fallen into the wastebasket and was trying frantically to get out. Not thinking too clearly, we took the the little guy outside and let him fly off on his merry way. It wasn't until the next morning Todd started doing some research and we discovered we should have kept the bat to have it tested for rabies. Apparently, bat bites are often tiny and undetectable, and in situations like this, Centers for Disease Control recommends vaccination. Sooooo, we are currently undergoing the the rabies vaccine series. Fortunately, it's not nearly as awful as it used to be. Only five shots over the course of a month, and the side effects have so far been very mild.



Which brings us to our latest "old house" discovery: we have a colony of bats living in the attic! We've also learned that bats can get through an opening as small as 3/8"! The only viable option for getting rid of them seems to be waiting until fall when they migrate to warmer climates, then sealing the soffits and fascia where they are getting in. When they return next spring, they will hopefully relocate to the bat house we have hanging on a light pole outside.

This however, is not where our story ends it is just the beginning of our life in Our Old House.

Time for a change!!!!

When we first met our contractor he said it should be an easy project completed in 2 -3 months.

THAT WAS NOVEMBER; ITS NOW JUNE!!!!

Many deadlines have come and gone without even an apology from our contractor or an idea of when the project would be done. We had believed that at he had our best interests at the forefront of this project. We soon learned that mismanagement of funds and delayed deadlines meant that we would need to continue this project without his help. We have taken over the general contracting job and completed more in two weeks than had been accomplished in two months under his management.

The hardwood floors are installed and finished, and the cabinets have been installed and are awaiting the soapstone countertop.

As the general contractor we need to higher subs to complete the work we are not able to do or don't have the time to do. We are in a time crunch so we hire several subs to do the work. The tile work is being done by a husband and wife duo Chuck and Courtney. They are wonderful people and do fantastic work. We think they would be perfect for a new HGTV show and in about 3 months a new tiler will join the family. We are so fortunate to find wonderful help and new friends.

First floor bath.

Master bath.

Boys Bath

A lot has changed since our last post. But before we get to the good stuff here is where we are now.

All of the drywall has been installed but it has taken 2 weeks longer than expected. Most of the issues are due to our contractor not working on the necessary areas needed to move forward.

The texture is being completed SLOWLY but it is moving forward. The kitchen was to be completed first so the floor could be installed.

Finally after waiting weeks for the hardwood floor to be installed in the kitchen and den it is done. Our contractor has taken weeks to do what he said will only take days. In the meantime we have started some painting of rooms. Our master bedroom is almost done we hope to have the wood floor installed soon.

Done date changes Again!!!! Drywall has arrived.

WE HAVE A COMPLETION DATE!!!

Things are moving along now but we had a brief slowdown due to a spring blizzard. March 27th we received 16'' of snow and with white out conditions not a lot of work happened.

The boys had a great time playing in the snow!!






Not so sure that the puppies were having to much fun. The drifts were 3 and 4 feet high. The following day was in the 50's so most of the snow melted and left behind a muddy mess.

After the storm things have picked up a bit. Ken (our contractor) is working on installing a new set of stairs to the basement and the electrician has began to install the new wiring. We were told that the old service pannel was not up to code and we needed to install a new one that will take care of our power needs. So the new one is being installed in the basement.

The new bathtub has been installed in the boys bathroom, Ken is patching and fixing cracks that occured when the floor was raised, and a new back door is being installed. We will be on spring break soon so we are going to be painting any room that can be painted April 6-10th.

We decided we needed a little break from the painting and to spend some time with the boys so we went bowling. We had a great time, insn't bowling ally food some of the best!!



It is sometimes hard to stay focused on the end project but the house is moving along but not as quicky as we had hoped or were informed by the contractor. We decided to call a meeting with the contractor, and bank. We sat down and ran through a timeline. Ken was not real happy with the timeline but we did come to an agreement. The house should be completed by the week of June 8th. WOW!!

Things are gettin more exciting now. The electrician has completed the wiring of the house and the plumber has installed all the plumbing, the framing is done, the new stairs are in, and we have had our first major inspection and passed. We have a set (well as set as those things can be) timeline, and the cabinets are ordered. We picked out our countertops and they will be installed on May 29th. We received notification from Ken that the drywall crew will begin on Thursday or Friday April 23rd or 24th. Things will really begin to change now.

The process has been a long one and has take its' toll on our family. Living in the modular home (trailer) has been hard and given us a new appreciation of "personal space". We are looking forward to stretching out again and having room for our family. It has been almost a year from the first day we saw the house. In fact we placed our first offer on the house the first of June 2008. If all goes well we will be in shortly after that date.

We hope you are all doing well and if you have some time and like to paint we have about 4,000 sq ft. to paint. Love to have the help.

Todd and Glen

Here comes the new fireplace!!

The mudroom work was messy. We took off the first two layers which were laminate and then linoleum. We then used a skill saw to cut through a layer of plywood followed by two more layers of linoleum. It took us all day just to remove the flooring in that small space.


Ken the contractor continued to work on the master bedroom roof and walls. It was beginning to take shape. Once the room was enclosed again Ken framed in the closet and enclosed the room with a rigid insulation.

Throughout this process we have been working with the cabinet maker to get the price down and in budget but it continues to be a headache. We want soapstone counter tops and sink but we will see. The Hickory cabinets may end up taking all of our budget. Keep your fingers crossed. We are getting a second bid this weekend.

The HAVOC company has arrived and are installing the new furnaces, duct work and air conditioning units. They should be working by the weekend.

Our new fireplace arrived and after I helped Ken get it in the house and placed it he installed the beast. WOW it was a monster to handle. This fireplace is built by RSF it is an Opel 3 and should do most of the heating of the house. It has a central heat system that connects to the duct work which takes the heat to the upper floors of the house. It will be beautiful and I can't wait to see it lit. At the rate the remodel is moving we will most likely have to wait until next winter to see if it works.


We have been busy removing trees (Russian Olive) to improve the view from the front porch and cleaning up the land surrounding the house. There are several old cottonwood trees that need to be cut down or just cleaned up.

We had hoped that we would be moved into the house by the end of March. But with only 2 weeks left that won't be happening. We are now planning on spending our spring break (April 4th through the 12th) painting, tiling and helping with general clean up.

We hope you and your families are doing well,

Check back soon !!!