Done With the Remodel!

5 years and 2 more babies later, we've finally finished the inside. It was hard work, and we didn't know how to do most things, but we were willing to try and learn it... and we've learned a lot. We bought an older home because we didn't want to get under a large amount of debt, and we've been able to pay for the repairs as we've gone along. David is a very hard worker, and has given his all to make things better for our family. He's an amazing man.

Some of the more memorable parts along the way:

-David working 24 hour shifts every other day for 6 months while waiting for the new guy to graduate from PA school. During this time we had the roof torn off and he would run home on the breaks between patients to try to work on it. The fall rains were coming, and it was stressful, to say the least. David had been called back to work and I was outside looking at the dark clouds coming. The maintenance man from the hospital happened to drive by, took one look at our roof, and then went and got tarps and a friend to cover it up for us. We were so grateful.

-Working 9 yards of concrete by ourselves. The cement truck driver showed up and asked us where our crew was. We didn't know much about concrete. He was super nice and helped out a little. We worked as fast as we could, and I had to take a few breaks to go nurse Jacob, who was about Anne's age at the time.

-David falling through the ceiling while working in the attic. Bridget was a newborn, and I was holding her and trying to make dinner at the same time. He missed us by about a foot.

-Black sooty dust covering everything.

-Doing the dishes in the bathtub.

-Discovering that the middle of the house was being held up by some boards stacked on top of lava rock that had also been stacked.

-Tiling our shower while 5 months pregnant.

-Tiling the kitchen floor while 8 months pregnant.

-Trying to hold trusses up by myself while David tacked them in place.

-Building the trusses by ourselves.

-Cooking in an electric skillet while the kitchen was torn apart.

-Evacuating the house for a week because we had to use oil-based primer to seal out the cigarette smoke from the previous owners.

-Setting up the tent in the yard at 9:00 at night after painting the floor with oil-based primer, and moving the kids into it while they were asleep. (Yes, cigarette smoke can get through the carpet, carpet pad, and into the hardwood floor underneath. Nasty, foul habit.)


Before and after pictures

Kid's Bathroom

Front Room

Laundry Room (I didn't take a picture before we had started, but it was bad. It used to be the back porch, and you could see the old yellow siding.)

Office

Attic

Front Porch

Bedrooms

Dining Room

Kitchen