Week ending 1/27/12

I got the pictures of the bathtub construction uploaded on Saturday and the contractor emailed me on Monday. He's a guy we've worked with before, and I don't hate him nor has he done anything horrible or irreversible, which at this point is the best we can expect of any contractor. We hired him to to the paint and flooring, and I wasn't thrilled with the guys he sent or the lack of supervision, but with me constantly hammering them and referring to our signed contract multiple times every day the work got done. We'll probably end up going with this guy just to spare ourselves the pain of getting bids and getting screwed by someone we don't know.

I also spoke to him later in the week and we each have some things to do. He is going to check with his tile guy and waterproof guy and I have to see a bathroom showroom salesperson the contractor referred me to and see if I can get more of the tile we used.

On Friday, the contractors started on the cement walkway on the side of the house. It's not used much, really just for trash, but it took some earthquake damage and now there's a big gap between the walkway and the house that lets in water when it rains. Part of it also now slopes toward the gap, which makes it really bad. The water is literally pouring right off the cement and under the house. The room right over this area regularly smells damp and musty when it rains.

Here are some before pictures:

Here is a shot of the main part of the walkway looking toward the backyard. You can see the crack about half way back.

This is from closer to the backyard looking toward the front. Those steps are under a side door.

Here is the very front. Who thought it was a good idea to put green concrete down?

Here is the front section all torn up:

And the back section all torn up:

Week ending 1/20/12

On Saturday, I heard from the guy who is going to do the cement walkway and we agreed on a price. Now we have to figure out when to start.

Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and C had the day off. We've had a lot scheduled lately, so both of us just felt we wanted an unscheduled day. C ended up spending several hours unpacking a few boxes we brought home from his parents' house. He also got rid of some more stuff in the garage.

I spent the afternoon working on the shower/bathtub issue. We're going to change out the bathtub because we got bad advice from 3 different people and the tub we got can't be properly enclosed for a shower. It's the last big, yucky project we have for a long time, and although I'm dreading it I will feel like an anvil has been lifted from my shoulders when it is done.

On Tuesday, we locked down our schedule with the cement guy and he's starting on Friday 1/27. I'm not looking forward to jackhammering and not being able to walk through the walkway, but I'll be glad when it's done. We're thinking of putting the dogs paw prints in the cement. It's an out-of-the-way area so it won't be seen very often.

One Wednesday and Thursday, I tried to upload pictures of the bathtub construction to a photo sharing site I use all the time. Of course, since it's home improvement it didn't got smoothly. I was unable to get the photos up and have to have C look at it this weekend.

Week ending 1/13/12

On Friday, I met with the guy that does our lawn and yard maintenance and his cement guy to get a quote for replacing our side walkway. We have a cement walkway on the side of the house that got damaged in the last big earthquake. Part of it now slopes toward the house, and there's a gap of an inch where water flows under the house when it rains. The walkway is low - the wall of the house is on one side, and my neighbor's property sits on top of a retaining wall that's about 5 feet high. Thus, the walkway gets not sun, and when it rains, we actually get mushrooms growing in the gap! Gross. It also smells damp and moldy in the room over this part of the house, so I am thrilled to finally be getting to this. It felt like this was something that would never get done.

Week ending 1/6/12

Happy New Year!

I really hope this year is the year we begin to enjoy our home. It's been such a slog, but we only have one heavy project to go and then they're all minor for the foreseeable future. We've been talking about doing a big addition or modification at some point, and I think we're going to talk to an architect soon so we can make some decisions. Once we handle a job in the bathroom shower and make some more progress on the garage, we will be in a position where we can't do any more work until we decide what the big plan is. More on that big plan to follow!

On New Year's day, we decided to actually do something productive and went to Ikea to look for a chair for the den and for some storage for that room as well. We have an old coffee table that is holding all the components for the tv right now and aside from being ugly it doesn't function well or protect the equipment.

We didn't buy anything but got some good ideas. I'm pretty well settled on the chair but I didn't want to buy it because I couldn't be certain it would fit in the den. Since it's easier to drive down and buy something than it is to try to fit it back in the box and return it, I opted not to buy on the spot.

On Monday, C had off from work for one final day and we spent about an hour sorting a box from the garage with old papers in it. We didn't finish the box, but all progress is good. We really want to get some order out there in the garage - it's the last bastion of chaos from the remodel and it's really getting annoying.