Our First Home - 311 Lorraine

Front porch

2008-02-23T12:23:00.001-05:00

2nd FL office at top of stairs

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2nd FL office area

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two deep built in bookcases

2nd FL rear bedroom

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2nd FL rear bedroom

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rear of home

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first floor front

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Kitchen view 2

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Kitchen view 1

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First Floor

2008-02-23T12:18:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas..!!

2006-12-22T18:57:00.000-05:00

Work on Lorraine has pretty much died down, and Linden is kicking off. Remember to check out the links on the right side of this blog to view our 2246 Linden Ave blog...

Cheers.

2006-08-15T17:06:00.000-04:00

Our original stain glass above our front door.

2006-08-15T17:05:00.000-04:00

Latest project is stripping all the layers of paint around the original door...

2006-08-15T17:03:00.000-04:00

Wood over pedestal sink has been cut, routed, and sanded... just needs stain and varnish... before permanent install..

2006-08-15T17:02:00.000-04:00

What you'll see if you take out the right side built in bookcase =)

2006-08-15T17:01:00.000-04:00

Our time capsule... CD of pictures from all the demo work on the house and our wedding thank you card

2006-08-15T17:00:00.000-04:00

Writing on the inside of our thank you card that I put inside the time capsule now placed inside the wall under the built in bookcases.

2006-08-15T16:58:00.000-04:00

Another view of the 1/2 bath shelving before stain and varnish

2006-08-15T16:57:00.000-04:00

Shelving in the half bath is all cut and installed... just needs some stain and paint... I cut down the old rough cut studs from inside the walls from our demo.. These were nice pieces of wood waiting for another life...

2006-08-15T16:55:00.000-04:00

Shelving in the linen closet is installed needs caulking and paint...

2006-08-15T16:54:00.000-04:00

Front windows are finished out, but need caulking and paint..

2006-08-15T16:53:00.000-04:00

Shelving in bathroom installed.. need to caulk and paint...

2006-08-15T16:52:00.001-04:00

Bookcases installed but not finished and painted yet ...

2006-08-15T16:52:00.000-04:00

... Down in the basement laying out the bookshelves and bathroom shelving.

2006-08-15T16:51:00.000-04:00

Kitchen window before sanding and painting...

2006-08-15T16:50:00.000-04:00

Beth is painting the finish wood work around the kitchen window

2006-08-15T16:49:00.000-04:00

Pantry after putty, caulking, paint, and goodies put away =)

2006-08-15T16:47:00.000-04:00

People don't seem as excited about our pantry as we are... Hmm...

2006-08-15T16:36:00.000-04:00

One month from our last post !! Plants are doing well after the 100+ deg heat ... Our garden is another story though...

Time to Play...

2006-07-13T16:40:00.000-04:00

Well we've been busy doing all sorts of things that we forgot we loved to do... Its good to have some time for ourselves.

Some work has been done on the house, but it has been minimal. Soon it will be time to do the last 8 big things:

1. install vinyl siding on the back cantilever section of the house.
2. Finish out all 6 windows
3. Build and install all shelving
4. Install and paint remaining trim work
5. Clean up and paint the front porch area
6. Coat the back deck with weather protection
7. Rebuild front steps
8. Beth's tile mosaic by the back door

Now I know why you have kids !!!

2006-05-17T08:09:00.000-04:00

... another porch shot. we still have to paint the enclosed porch floor, but that won't be for awhile =)

2006-05-17T08:08:00.000-04:00

our plants are doing better without all the dust...

2006-05-17T08:06:00.000-04:00

front bedroom

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front bedroom

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bathroom upstairs

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back bedroom looking out

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back bedroom

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view toward back bedroom... the skylight really bring a lot of natural light in..

2006-05-17T08:01:00.001-04:00

other side of half bath

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half bath pedestal sink and mirror.. still need finish wood 'ledge' above sink.. its hard to see here, but there will be a 6" shelf or ledge where the pictures are

2006-05-17T07:59:00.000-04:00

railing / stairs

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railing... labor of love !!

2006-05-17T07:58:00.000-04:00

kitchen - right side 2

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kitchen - right side

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kitchen - left side

were home!

2006-04-17T06:58:00.000-04:00

well all we have is a bed and a few articles of clothing but we are home :) mom and bill came and gave another 13 hours of work each yesterday and got us into the house... all the doors are painted at least once (they take forever) the trim is up in the front bedroom, bathroom, and 1/2 bath... the bathroom upstairs is pretty much done except for a few small things and the shelves... were in a race against time to get everything set for the party... like we said it wont be done just ready! thanks again to stacey and jeff for housing us for the past month... and to mom and bill for all their hard work... well have photos of what is done till now soon... i didnt want to give it all to you at once :)

2006-04-16T23:57:00.000-04:00

bill on his hands and knees whiping up stain.. the floors turned out so beautiful!

2006-04-16T23:55:00.000-04:00

the downstairs... you can see where anthony had to do some final work... more painting... whew... im starting to nod off...

2006-04-16T23:54:00.000-04:00

you can see the difference the sander made...

2006-04-16T23:53:00.000-04:00

brian and the belt sander... now were onto the floors :)

2006-04-16T23:52:00.000-04:00

years of playing tetris prepared us for this exact moment... our storage space...

2006-04-16T23:50:00.000-04:00

brian gets creative with the paint rollers... i like it... just goes to show what no sleep, paint fumes and beer can bring on...

2006-04-16T23:48:00.000-04:00

austins happy tree... and brian and i leave our mark for the future generations of rehabbers...

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so exciting...

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hard working crew... no one left until well after 10... a late night of work for all...

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miss america!!

2006-04-16T23:44:00.000-04:00

momiji wanted to get in on the action but she was locked out!

2006-04-16T23:42:00.000-04:00

this is the third photo in a series... you would have thought we would have remembered... oh yeah, were not painting that wall! at photo one... no worries tho... bill came with the right rollers and made the day!

2006-04-16T23:41:00.000-04:00

so gq...

2006-04-16T23:40:00.000-04:00

painting party!! bill, mischa, john, wendy, and austin all came over to help us get all the painting done in one day!! record setting i think...

2006-04-16T23:38:00.000-04:00

removing all the paint from the porch... we later discovered this was in vain as we still didnt get enough off not to gum up the sander... so the porch is going to need a little re-thinking...

2006-04-16T23:36:00.000-04:00

the front bedroom...

2006-04-16T23:35:00.000-04:00

ode to the new ladder... no more rickety wooden ladder... thank you bill for loaning it to us... we gave her a proper burial...

2006-04-16T23:34:00.000-04:00

momiji's bed amoungst the construction... we didnt have goggles the first day we sprayed and we ended up looking like circus clowns... hindsite is always 20/20!!

2006-04-16T23:32:00.000-04:00

there is the brick wall finished and being protected... its starting to really look like something :)

2006-04-16T23:31:00.000-04:00

we spray primed the drywall... the sprayer took a little to get it started but once we got it going it was great... also used it to coat the brick wall...

2006-04-16T23:30:00.000-04:00

you can see the exposed brixk and the drywall in work...

2006-04-16T23:29:00.000-04:00

oh the wonders of drywall

update...

2006-03-22T10:34:00.000-05:00

Well, its been a week since the last post. The drywall finishing should be complete by this friday. We've picked out which walls to paint and have a good idea of the colors. Going this evening to pick final colors and probably buy all the primer and paint. Borrowed a nice sprayer from a co-worker, which should speed up the painting process.

We cleaned every single exposed by hand... uh, except the 1/2 bath exposed brick which slipped through the cracks... But anyway, the main wall is ready to be sprayed with the sealer we got from a couple that's on our Kickball Team !! yes that's right, me and beth are in a kickball league.. its a fun social event for younger city residents...

Repair of the floors will be complete by tomorrow evening. so our plan is to paint the entire house, seal the exposed brick, over friday evening, sat all day, and sun all day... we'll see how it goes... then we are taking off on monday and tues, to sand floors and refinish... basically we'll get done what we can in four days of hard work...

Cabinets are scheduled to arrive April 6th.. hopefully no delays...

We should really trim out the bedroom before moving back in, but we'll see how it goes...

Got an estimate for putting siding on the back cantilever.. 850$, not too bad I guess.. its from the person we plan to use as our GC for Linden Ave. That will be done as soon as we have all the outlets and swithes in, and plates on, because we have to call BGE to come out and drop our main line in, for the siding workers to do their job.. hopefully they'll be replacing our electrial main into the house as well..

here they are!!

2006-03-16T16:35:00.000-05:00

well its been a while... but now the website is completely updated :) im sorry if its a little overwhelming... so many photos at one time... i didnt get a chance to take a photo of our storage space but its hillarious! we couldnt squeeze another possible thing in!!

everything is going great at staceys and the dogs are getting along great! what a relief... stacey and jeff have even offered to take momiji while we are in SD and san fransisco!! you guys are life savers!!

until next time :)

2006-03-16T16:34:00.000-05:00

a photo from brians appreciation dinner... it was so dark in there i couldnt get any good photos... but here is my attempt. He's in the green shirt.. always trying to be different =)

2006-03-16T16:31:00.000-05:00

we had to move the electrical outlet up higher for teh microwave... not something brian was especially happy doing but its done and now we can plug in our microwave :) that was a task i was looking forward to going to work!

2006-03-16T16:29:00.000-05:00

the pantry and 1/2 bath...

2006-03-16T16:27:00.000-05:00

the back wall with drywall, taped and mudded :) the entire kitchen except the ceiling is hung!!

2006-03-16T16:25:00.000-05:00

the stairs :) tonight well be working on touching up the brick wall :)

2006-03-16T16:13:00.001-05:00

the bedroom wall...

2006-03-16T16:13:00.000-05:00

anthony hard at work tape-ing and mud-ing :) every penny well worth it!

2006-03-16T16:11:00.000-05:00

looking into the kitchen... the outside wall to the 1/2 bath...

2006-03-16T16:10:00.000-05:00

looking from the kitchen into the livingroom... i have to say it feels so weird having walls in our house... i never thought id say that!!

2006-03-16T16:09:00.000-05:00

a fuzzy view of the pantry and the 1/2 bath...

2006-03-16T16:08:00.000-05:00

the kitchen all insulated... just in time for teh big BGE price hike!

2006-03-16T16:07:00.000-05:00

the view into the kitchen... all clean :)

2006-03-16T16:06:00.000-05:00

the after shot.... everything moved into a storage space and us and the morrison family moved in with stacey and jeff... THANK YOU STACEY AND JEFF!!!

2006-03-16T16:05:00.000-05:00

brian had at work... no more kitchen sink :)

2006-03-16T16:04:00.000-05:00

to the left is the stack of drywall that knocked me on my a** thank god we had the 1/2 bath framed out to stop me or i dont know what i would have flown into!!

2006-03-16T16:00:00.000-05:00

brian wanted to make sure everyone knew this was my wiring and not his... something about it being very creative... i like the waving motion... its kinda soothing :)

2006-03-16T15:58:00.000-05:00

what does the underneath of your stove look like?? here is ours!!

2006-03-16T15:57:00.000-05:00

looking from the kitchen to the front of the house...

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our previous kitchen set-up... minus the stove.... weve been without a stove for about 3 weeks now and we are missing home cooked meals... im going to have to be at the gym 7 days a week to lose those eating out lbs...

next 5 weeks...

2006-03-06T10:13:00.000-05:00

.. so we haven't posted in awhile... Entire house is now completely roughed in for electrical, second floor drywall is hung, all framing is complete...

Here's the plan for the next 4 or 5 weeks. Drywall crew starts on march 13th, for $1670 they will hang all the drywall on the first floor, and block, skim, sand, etc the whole house... Good deal i think.. We will be picking up, paying for, and getthing the remaining sheetrock to the house, but not bad...

We have rented a 10x10 space at EZstorage.. got lucky with timing.. they were running a deal for 1$ for first full month... singed up february 28th, so we paid for one day in Feb, and march was 1$ !!!!

We'll be moving most of your stuff into storage, plants are going to Wendy's, and We three are staying at Stacey and Jeff's place in Hampden on a single bed with no closet !! We REALLY appreciate there hospitality!!!

The plan is to have the exposed brick wall cleaned and coated, all the drywall finished and painted (sprayed), all the wood floors sanded and coated, or shaclacked as Beth likes to say =), and have the stairs and railing sanded and painted...

We ordered our kitchen cabinets yesterday !!! a moss glaze (green color)... after whilttled down some extras and trying to be frugle, we have about 16 kraftmaid cabinets from lowes delivered to our door for 4K.. pretty good deal. Counter tops and knobs/hardware will be about 500 more. We will install ourselves...

Looking forward to warm weather... some free time... and Linden getting started !!

2006-02-13T20:42:00.000-05:00

... another pic through our front window early saturday night.... sunday morning we had 8 more inches.

2006-02-13T20:38:00.000-05:00

a picture through the front window...VERY bright outside with a full moon around 10pm... even with heavy clouds it was bright.

2006-02-13T20:36:00.000-05:00

...another snow pic in the behind the house

2006-02-13T20:35:00.000-05:00

she's about to spring into action... I think we might start calling this the Momiji blog, not our house =)

2006-02-13T20:34:00.000-05:00

Here is a pic of Momiji playing in our 10 inches of snow... she loved it !!

2006-02-09T07:55:00.000-05:00

Momiji hasn't been the greatest listener the past week... but still really cute =)

2006-02-09T07:52:00.000-05:00

Beth is doing some fine measurements and precision drywalling... she's been a trooper through this whole thing...

2006-02-09T07:48:00.001-05:00

the headless shadow !!

2006-02-09T07:48:00.000-05:00

... more late night drywall sessions...

2006-02-01T18:24:00.000-05:00

ceiling...