Vacation - Remodel Finis

First off, I just have to say that free WiFi is da BOMB!!  The posts for this vacation thus far are brought to you in a timely manner because of free WiFi.

We're done with the Remodel Project. Yesterday was a long, long day, with lots of manual labor causing even more pain and stiffness.  But the results are *SO* worth the effort!!  We were at the house by 8am and hard at work by 8:30.  I spent most of the day doing touch-up for the painting: a sixth coat on one side of the blue wall, lots of re-coating near the trim (where the rollers didn't get), trim touch-up (where painted hands - or clothes - touched already done work).  Tedious work, but important as the little flaws draw attention.

While I was busy with the paint, everyone else was busy too.  Jeannea and Greg worked in the bathroom - laying the flooring, installing the fixtures, etc. - while Sheri laid the entire dining room and kitchen on her own.  Dave was the cut-guy - making sure the floor-layers had all the boards they needed - and fixture fixer (installing light fixtures, new outlets, etc.).  Aaron and his family had to leave this morning, but he got a couple projects done before they took off (mom has a functional doorbell now!).  And Sara helped wherever someone needed extra hands (laying flooring, making sure we were fed - a very important task! - and installing hand rails, etc.).

 

We were working until after 2am to get everything done. Sore, exhausted, and proud.  In retrospect, it's fairly amazing how much work we were able to get done, in spite of the setbacks that are a normal part of remodeling.  As a bonus, I spent time with my family.  If I've ever got to do something like this again, I'd hope that I could share the... joy?... with my family - especially my sisters.

We had to go back for a couple hours today.  Just some odds and ends to take care of: wash the windows; install the bullnose on the laminate for the landing; clean and prep for carpet installation (that's separate, but will happen tomorrow).  The bonus to this is that we were able to see the tub surround after it was installed.  The surround guy is also going to make and install the bathroom sink counter - which should look really nice. 

So we're dropping folks of at the airport and heading out on our Road Trip.  First stop is north to Ogden, where we'll visit my friend Laurie (whom I haven't seen for more than 15 years), then south...