Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Remodel, Part 2
Spring is finally upon the palouse and our bonus room remodel is going well. I have removed all the ceiling cross beams and added a small wall to create a walk in closet. Hopefully, this weekend I will finish framing the peak in the center of the room and frame in the wall book cases. Tomorrow I am going to stop by PBS and get the 2x4 needed to finish the peak. We got out quote for insulation from MBS and JJs, which we will need to evaluate and decide if we want to install the insulation ourselves, and save $400 or have MBS do it and save ourselves a weekend. Right now I am leaning towards installing it on my own. I can probably get some help from a couple of friends one evening and get most of it done then. I have never put in insulation, so I will probably learn something in the process... All of this remodeling has us thinking about finishing off the house and doing the addition this summer. This would be a pretty major project, adding on about 800 square feet to the house. The financial side of things makes this project a bit scary, but in the long run it will add tremendous value to the house and ease some of the issues we are having because all the boys sleep in one room right now. The addition will include a living room (18 x 26) and a master bedroom suite. We would convert our existing living room into a formal dining room as part of the addition/remodel. Pretty soon it will be time to till the garden and get some plants growing, I am excited about this as usual. I love fresh veggies from the garden. My plan is to get some lettuce, spinach, bok choi, and carrots into the ground by Vivi's birthday (April 15), so that by WSU graduation we will have a steady supply of salad veggies. In May, I will start the rest of the crops. Mostly from seed, but also from the starts at the farmers market. Fun spring projects!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Bonus Room Remodel
So, besides training for a half marathon in June, ViviAnne and I have decided it is time to finish up all our little home projects. Mainly this includes the basement bathroom and the bonus room, but also includes all the little fix-it things that happened over the last 4 years living in the house (three boys are amazingly destructive).
In February I finished tiling the basement bathroom. It was a lot of work, but the bathroom looks great, so I am glad to have done it. I have grouted the tile and sealed it once, but still need to go back over it all one more time, just to be safe. Then I will hook up the shower head and give it a whirl. When we built the house, all we put in there was the piping, so I am looking at a 4 and a half year bathroom remodel (good thing I don't get paid for this).
The next big ticket item is the bonus room. ViviAnne and I have come to realize that we need another room. The boys are starting to need a little more space as they are all crammed into one room right now. Plus the bonus room is by far the coolest room in the house, with nice views of both Kamiak Butte and Moscow Mountain. So it is time to do some remodeling, luckily the room is only framed and wired so changes will be easy...
First thing is to raise the ceiling. I want to have a ceiling fan in the room, but I find that in a normal height room I hit my hands on the blades if I raise them up, so I want to put the height of the center of the room up just a little bit. The roof itself is formed from the garage trusses so I have a bit of room to raise the ceiling into. I will need to redo some of the electrical wiring, phone, and TV cabling as well. The second thing to do is frame in a wall to create a small walk in closet. We will also upgrade the lighting fixtures to can lighting.
Once the framing and wiring changes are done, it will be time to insulate. Most likely we will hire out for this bit. But price may become an issue, so I may find myself doing this too. Sheet rocking, taping, painting, and flooring come after. I will post more once I have finished the first part, pictures too I hope!
Happy hammering.
In February I finished tiling the basement bathroom. It was a lot of work, but the bathroom looks great, so I am glad to have done it. I have grouted the tile and sealed it once, but still need to go back over it all one more time, just to be safe. Then I will hook up the shower head and give it a whirl. When we built the house, all we put in there was the piping, so I am looking at a 4 and a half year bathroom remodel (good thing I don't get paid for this).
The next big ticket item is the bonus room. ViviAnne and I have come to realize that we need another room. The boys are starting to need a little more space as they are all crammed into one room right now. Plus the bonus room is by far the coolest room in the house, with nice views of both Kamiak Butte and Moscow Mountain. So it is time to do some remodeling, luckily the room is only framed and wired so changes will be easy...
First thing is to raise the ceiling. I want to have a ceiling fan in the room, but I find that in a normal height room I hit my hands on the blades if I raise them up, so I want to put the height of the center of the room up just a little bit. The roof itself is formed from the garage trusses so I have a bit of room to raise the ceiling into. I will need to redo some of the electrical wiring, phone, and TV cabling as well. The second thing to do is frame in a wall to create a small walk in closet. We will also upgrade the lighting fixtures to can lighting.
Once the framing and wiring changes are done, it will be time to insulate. Most likely we will hire out for this bit. But price may become an issue, so I may find myself doing this too. Sheet rocking, taping, painting, and flooring come after. I will post more once I have finished the first part, pictures too I hope!
Happy hammering.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Half Marathon
Yup, you read it right, I am going to do a half marathon. The half marathon I have chosen to do is in the foothills of Mt. Hood, the course travels around Lake Timothy 14.2 miles. You can learn more about it here. I have never done one before, in fact I have never really run more than a couple of miles, and I am a bit nervous about finishing the whole thing.
I have gotten my self a training program, and it looks pretty good. During the week I run a couple of times, about 3-5 miles each time, and then do some cross training and strength training on the off days. On Saturday or Sunday I go out for a longer run, gradually increasing the distance throughout the next 11 weeks. By the first week of June I will be doing 10-11 mile runs on the weekend.
I did my first weekend run today and feel great. I ran 4 miles along kitzmiller rd. and feel really good. I held a 9:11 minute pace, which I hope to improve on these next couple of weeks. The road I ran along is gravel and through the wheat field of the palouse. Right now, everything is a bit brown, but in a couple more weeks all the wheat will be up and everything will be emerald green, my favorite time of the year in the palouse. I also started tracking my runs with an online training website, Running Ahead. So if you want to follow me, go right ahead, I think I left my profile public on that site.
I have gotten my self a training program, and it looks pretty good. During the week I run a couple of times, about 3-5 miles each time, and then do some cross training and strength training on the off days. On Saturday or Sunday I go out for a longer run, gradually increasing the distance throughout the next 11 weeks. By the first week of June I will be doing 10-11 mile runs on the weekend.
I did my first weekend run today and feel great. I ran 4 miles along kitzmiller rd. and feel really good. I held a 9:11 minute pace, which I hope to improve on these next couple of weeks. The road I ran along is gravel and through the wheat field of the palouse. Right now, everything is a bit brown, but in a couple more weeks all the wheat will be up and everything will be emerald green, my favorite time of the year in the palouse. I also started tracking my runs with an online training website, Running Ahead. So if you want to follow me, go right ahead, I think I left my profile public on that site.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)