New Legs for the Fire Station Model

Another lockdown project was making new "legs," or posts, for the fire station model to sit on. There were only two before, and we decided with all the boys around, we better stabilize it better, so I made two more out of concrete pillar forms. Here the boys are helping me paint them black.

New Dishwasher

 This is our second new machine. Thanks to Grandma Jay for buying it for us. Poppy and I installed it ourselves. One of my first lockdown projects.

The outlet was already like that when I took the old one out.

New Laundry Basket Cubby Cabinet

As part of the new Laundry Palace, Bobbins wanted a cabinet with cubbies for laundry baskets. She designed it herself and gave me the plans. She acquired another countertop from Ikea and the rest of the boards from Home Depot. It came together fairly nicely.

Replacing the Gutter

Putting the gutter back up on the new addition fell to Bobbins and I. With the YouTube and each other, we got it in place. The lip did not reach all the way into the gutter, however, so we had to put a piece of flashing in to ensure the water flowed down from the roof into the gutter. The below video is before we put the flashing in, when the water flowed down the side of the house.

Painting the New Laundry Palace

Bobbins had very clear ideas of what she wanted her new laundry to be, and one of them was the color of the walls. I think part of her intention was to keep me and the boys out. It worked.

We also got Paul to re-plumb the water softener to the other side of the room.

Drainage

Never shy to take up a project, Bobbins painted a drainage pipe brown, then dug a little trench to stick it in underneath the gutters, between the pavers and the house. We had several big rain storms and got a little flooding in the house. We never had that problem before, but don't want to have it again, hence the pipe.

First Bath, New Glass Door

New Cabinets

Bobbins and her dad bought a countertop from Ikea and installed it on some new base cabinets next to the dining table. They also hung cabinets on the wall. Our china and other fancy kitchen items are stored in there. I got one drawer, the top left, for my Bible and a few other things, as well as my key bowl on the counter.

Master Bath Tile Finished

Master Completed, Still Waiting on Bathroom, Re-purposed Door

Bobbins did the wallpaper on the window wall herself. It was a huge day when the wood flooring went in and we were able to move our bed in. That meant the boys could go into our old room and the girls could go into the corner room, out of the front living room.

We re-purposed the old French doors between the dining room and the TV room as an office door.



Bobbins also did the wallpaper in there. It wasn't my first choice, but she loved the paper in the new master so much she wanted to do another room.

Painting the Master Bedroom, Slow Progress on Master Bath

The master bath, with all that tile, took a long time because the guys Bobbins' dad hired were doing it as a side job. They were great with tile, though, so it was worth the wait.

New Laundry Palace Takes Form

What used to be the door to the backyard from my office in the old master became a window for the new laundry room.

New Master Bedroom Takes Form

Meanwhile, the House Reno

Work on the house continued, of course. The plumber came and installed the lines from the water heater and main line to the new bathroom. They run along the ceiling of the TV room. Bobbins got a guy to come re-lay the pavers over the trench dug for the sewer line. She moved most of that red lava rock over it herself.

Girls Room During the Construction

Was the front living room. They thought it was great but it killed Bobbins.

New Window

Part of the renovation was a new window for what would become the master bedroom, looking east.

Siding Put Up

Framing the Addition

Bobbins' Dad hired a couple guys he knows to do the framing in one day. One of the guys, Tony, lost his leg in a motorcycle accident.