The First Fifteen Days

In these first fifteen days since we got the keys to our Mountain House we have accomplished many things with the help of Kenny and Danny on our first Saturday and Liz and Jeff on the next Thursday through Saturday. May this serve as a record of our progress. There is still a lot to do, and that can be overwhelming, but I have to acknowledge what we've gotten accomplished. 

The Salon turned Playroom

On the main level just next to the kitchen they had a room set up as a hair salon. We have no need for such a space so we started the transformation from salon to play room. 

 BEFORE:

Seth tore out the tile and scraped the leveling compound so it would be, ironically, level for the carpet install. He also cleaned out drifts of hairballs from the air vents, cabinets, and sink. It was disgusting and his only comment was to say, very gravely “Many... many haircuts happened here.” 

Seth took out the hair sink without smashing it so we could give it to my sister-in-law, Brickell, who actually does do hair. Apparently this was an act of true family love because it was infinitely more difficult taking out in one piece rather than just sawzall-ing the thing apart. When Dad visited on day three he helped Seth cap and solder the piping. They installed drywall where the sink was and patched two other spots where drywall was missing or where the previous owners had a mirror- or something- glued on and when they ripped it out large chunks of wall came along too. Seth patched many, many holes in that room.

DURING:

On day seven we had carpet professionally installed. Next we took the cabinet off the wall and installed it in the laundry room, firstly because it was not that useful in the playroom but more importantly because it was a danger to humanity. As proof, the carpet guy stood up into it and cut a deep gash in his forehead. Out the cabinet came.

Still to do:

Paint (obviously), fix the missing chair rail and crown molding, replace the light fixture, and decorate.

 NOW:

The Entertainment Unit Removal

In the living room there was a large corner built-in entertainment unit. It took up a ton of space, wasn’t that useful in an age of flat screen tvs, and wasn’t our style. We debated whether we’d remove it because of the added cost of recarpeting the room but in the end we decided that it was worth it.

BEFORE:

Seth decided to save as much of the real wood as possible to reuse for other projects- which turned out to be laughable because all that was worth saving was a small pile of trim while the rest of cheap particle board. 

DURING:

 (real wood pile on the left,     cheap & useless boards on right)

Taking it apart also ended up revealing more mysteries. There were strange large sections of drywall missing, a bit of insulation that was charred from a diy electrical job gone bad, and so on. It became clear that they stained the unit in place as there are stain marks all along the wall, ceiling, AND our brick fireplace and hearth. Also, you could see the wall through the middle shelf so to solve this problem they sloppily applied stain directly to the wall. The nice looking mantle was clearly too long to accommodate the unit so they just sliced the edge off. But the biggest offense came when Seth pulled out the last of the cabinet and shrieked in horror at the discovery that the previous owners had cut our brick- and not even nicely! We had previously puzzled over the fireplace not being centered in the brick wall but now it was clear. About a foot of brick was wildly chopped off leaving jogs and zigzags and- surprise surprise- more drywall was removed (Missing drywall is a theme for this house). Since the unit was partially built over the brick anyway, the only thing we could figure is they wanted to put a speaker further back into the cabinet. Regardless, it is an unfathomable and unforgivable choice to cut beautiful brick. 

Seth and Dad put in new drywall and installed outlets. I painted four coats of Kilz paint over the various stain spots- and it can still be seen. We ripped up the carpet, replaced the floor vent covers, and removed the basement door just in time to have carpet installed the next day. The basement door took some convincing and fixes from Seth and Jeff but it eventually conceded to be rehung. Now we are the first people to ever spill on this carpet. I declared with victory that I knew for sure that no animal- or human- has ever peed on this flooring. Such a luxury.

Still to do:

Paint, repair crown molding and baseboard, build new mantle, build DVD cabinets, sweep the chimney, and hire mason to ::sniff sniff:: fix our brick and rebuild the hearth, and decorate.

NOW:

Kitchen: Journey from Nasty to Sanitary

My major task was scrubbing out the kitchen. I spent days washing out the fridge, scrapping grease from the cabinet sides and walls, and scrubbing the tile grout. However, my biggest project was inside the cabinets. I scrapped out 30 years of nasty crap along with upwards of four layers of gross contact paper. I then bleached the cupboard if necessary and painted the inside with Kilz paint. If ever I thought I was overreacting with how bad the cabinets were I just reviewed the “before” picture and then felt much better about the progress I was making. 

BEFORE:

 NOW:

Seth and Jeff also replaced the kitchen faucet that leaked like a fire hydrant, moved the cabinet above the fridge to take back the useless space, and installed the dishwasher- which turned out to be a much more difficult task than anticipated. The slate tile and overhang from the tile countertop made the opening to get into the dishwasher space impossibly tight. We’re still not sure how Jeff did it, but he somehow motivated the dishwasher in place. It was decided that if there is ever a leak we’re going to cut an access panel from the other side. We’ll never remove that dishwasher again.

Still to do in the kitchen:

Paint, scrape obnoxious vinyl lettering off walls, paint cupboards, and build pantry. Get new counter tops, backsplash, and cabinets (Just kidding on those last ones. I'm dreaming of projects of "someday". Eh hem. Back to "near future"). Get new kitchen table, dining room rug, barstools and window coverings. And of course, decorate. 

Other assorted tasks we tackled:

-Scrubbed bathroom cabinets, removed decades of contact paper, and bleached out mold.

-Fixed powder bath faucet so now it has cold AND hot water.

-Replaced shower nozzle in master bath so the shower head no longer hits me in the nose.

-Deep cleaned entire house- which it badly needed. For years this house has so badly neglected and ignored. We also shampooed all the carpets.

-We literally shoveled out the garage. To my great regret I did not get a before picture of the garage. There were piles of old food, garbage, dirt, and leaves everywhere. They left tons of crap in the house, but mostly in the garage. We sold the beat up filing cabinets on craigslist

They also left behind an old chest freezer, which they just unplugged and never emptied so inside was six inches of black death sludge. Kenny shoveled out the solids and then dumped the rest and rinsed it out. He also gave us the tip that Rocky Mountain Power will buy old fridges and freezers from you if they at least hum when plugged in. To our excitement, it hummed and we earned $25 for Kenny’s effort.

-Seth, with Jeff’s help, dumped the basketball stand that was filled to the brim with fire ants. Our generous neighbors, Megan and Wade, are remodeling their house after a fire but lucky for us they have a large dumpster in their driveway and they said we could use it as much as we want. We definitely have used it a lot more than we planned and we are eternally grateful.

-Cut back the nine foot hedge. Well, actually Dad did this while we were in church without our knowledge and then sent me a text that simply said “You’re hedge will grow back.” We understood once we got home. Seth took four trips of hedge shrapnel to the dumpster and we uncovered this beautiful established in 1977 plaque that no one knew existed. 

-Rekeyed house and our basement apartment

-Changed AC and furnace filters for the first time this decade

-Shoveled out piles of rotten wood scraps all over the yard, better known as "the spider farm".

-Seth and Jeff extended the gutter so it didn’t just dump on the porch- which it’s been doing for some time judging by the mold and loose bricks on the side of the house and the warped and loose wood planks in the deck corner.

-Jeff crawled on my roof and learned that it is incredibly and terrifyingly steep and that the swamp cooler does work if we can get a water source up there and figure out what that clicking sound is. 

-Eli was a champ and spent these days building train tracks, "helping" daddy sweep, and being my shadow when he was convinced that he was going to be left behind, or something.

Also, he loved stealing our goggles so much that I ended up buying him another pair on one of our dozen trips to Lowes.

Oh yeah, and then on day 9 we moved our things in. 

With the help of Seth, Jeff, Kenny, Anita, Rebekah, her friend Devon, Muscle Mike, and two helpers from the EQ we loaded the 26 foot truck at 5pm at the rental in Provo and then in Orem we were helped by seven of our new neighborhood friends.  It all went so smoothly that by 7:30pm we were eating pizza in the new house with everything moved in, beds set up, and washer and dryer installed.

Now, at least 85% of the boxes are unpacked and put away, furniture is mostly assembled, nothing is decorated, and we still have ever growing lists of stuff to do but every night as we lay in bed and the canyon breeze blows through our bedroom windows we tell ourselves that the house is ours and it's only going to get better. 

Also, as I write this post I’m overwhelmed by how much we got accomplished in two weeks thanks to lots of hard work and wonderful family helping. Also, I have a better understanding of why I’m so tired.