More Sun Room Renovation Progress!

We have been busy busy busy repairing and rebuilding!  Here are the highlights.

The roof is fixed!

We have a new soffit with ventilation!  No more soggy insulation!

We are almost finished painting the new siding!  (Doesn't the old window look like new with fresh white paint?)

That door and the remainder of the siding on the right side of the wall is GONE!  The doorway has been framed and will get drywall tomorrow.

The birds are in their new home!  The new "bird room" is far from finished, but hey, this is major progress!

Sometimes a hammer and crow bar can make a bad day feel much better.

The gas heater is gone.  The window into my laundry room and the brick wall...

...is now solid sheet rock.  We are almost finished hanging drywall in the whole room, actually.  My ribs were sore for two days after hanging it on the ceiling.  So glad it's done!!

The new closet.

V. screwed on the new door knob with one of her screwdrivers.  She has been a great helper!  I think that's all the updates for tonight!  I need to get some rest before we get back at it tomorrow!

Board and Batten Shutter Reveal!

My new shutters are finished and hung!  Painting them purple (Valspar's "Royal Plum") was a big risk, but I really like the way they look.  They add some personality to our house.  Even though this was a relatively small project, it feels good to cross it off the to-do list!

Re-purposed Wood Shutters

When we ripped out the walls and ceiling in our sun room our yard and trailer quickly filled with debris.  I hated thinking about contributing so much to a landfill so we salvaged what we could.  The ceiling slats were piled high waiting for a new purpose.  It didn't take long for Ryan to come up with an idea!  Board and batten shutters!

For a long time I've been wanting to hang shutters on all of the windows on the front of our house.  But shutters fell to the bottom of the list with the other cosmetic, non-necessity items.  Our focus has been on functionality and repairs.  And then suddenly we had a large pile of 1x4's just waiting for inspiration!  

I'm proud to say that I did the majority of this project on my own. My husband helped assemble the last two shutters so I could finish painting something else (he'll do anything to get out of painting).

First, I pulled out all of the staples, nails, and screws.  Then I measured the height of my windows and cut three slats to the correct length for each shutter (6 slats per window).  I used a scrap sliver of wood, broken into four pieces, as spacers between the slats.  Then I measured across the three spaced slats for my cross support and cut two more slats.  Wood glue and finishing nails secured the pieces together. 

After all the shutters were finally assembled (did I mention this was a side project during out sun room renovation?) I primed them all.  I intended to fill all the nail holes and sand them down, but it was getting late and my husband convinced no one would be able to tell the difference from the road anyway.  Sold.  Primer it is.

I originally thought I would paint the shutters a dark gray.  I really liked one of the paint samples we considered for the new siding on the back of our house.  I looked at tons of pictures online trying to find a color with a little more excitement when Ryan suggested plum.  Plum?  Really?  Our front door is stained a deep red.  Would plum shutters look good with a red door?  In all honesty, he's usually right about these kinds of things.  He has a good eye.  So we went to Lowes and bought a quart of Valspar Ultra Paint + Primer in Royal Plum.  (Had I known the only Valspar paint available in a quart size is the Ultra Paint + Primer I wouldn't have primed first.)  We rushed home and I painted two of the shutters to test it out.  The paint brushed on like a dream.  Smooth and the perfect consistency.  I let them dry overnight before holding them up to the brick to see how they look. 

I have to say, I'm pleased with the results.  My husband was right.  (But don't tell him I admitted it.)  Hopefully this weekend I can give these two another coat of plum and paint the other six.  And maybe I'll weed the flower garden so I can take a nice picture after we hang them....

Sun Room Renovation Continues

Recently I shared our Renovation Nightmare. Our plan was to give our sun room a face lift.  Then we discovered termite and water damage and the plan changed to a full gut job renovation.  Luckily, my husband is AMAZING.  He has been hard at work.

After gutting everything damaged by termites or water, Ryan tore down the exterior siding and re-framed the exterior wall, replacing studs rotten or eaten.  He also removed the three existing windows and hung one brand new window.  The sun room will eventually be a bedroom/playroom.

Next, he framed out new walls under the covered porch.  This will be the new sun room and home to our parrots.  We reused three of the old windows in the new room.  A fresh coat of primer and white paint made them look almost new.  One of the windows in the picture below is still taped and covered after the first couple coats of paint (it was our test window to see how it would look painted).  A rainy weather forecast forced us to work as quickly as possible to get the new siding up.

We decided to replace the vinyl siding with fiber cement James Hardie siding.  We prefer the look of the Hardie boards over vinyl siding and they are extremely durable, termite-proof, fire-resistant, and green.  All big selling points for us!  Hanging the siding took two people but was fairly easy to do.  Not so much fun in the rain, but ya do whatcha gotta do.

We also installed a new door.  Ryan and a friend repaired the roof.  (Goodbye gutter!)

By the end of the second weekend we finished siding the back wall, tore down the remaining vinyl siding, and finished hanging the Hardie boards.

Choosing a paint color was easier said than done.  We originally looked at a couple shades of gray but didn't like how much they contrasted with the yellow brick.

Weekend three was another jam-packed couple of days.  Luckily the weather warmed up and we didn't get too much rain.  We spent Saturday celebrating our daughter's 4th birthday at the zoo with seven little kids.  Sunday afternoon consisted of painting, painting, painting.  More pictures and details to come!

Renovation Nightmares

Have you seen those renovation shows where unsuspecting home owners start what they expect will be a "simple" home renovation only to uncover problem after problem?  My husband and I love to watch Renovation Realities on the DIY network.  We find all the drama quite entertaining.  But we've discovered its not quite so funny when it happens to you.  Welcome to our nightmare.

Three weeks ago we woke up early on a rainy Saturday morning.  I was all set to run my first 10K race.  As the race began the skies cleared and it was a beautiful morning.  I had a great run and couldn't wait to go home and take a nap!

My girls ran through the finish line with me.  :)

When we got home my husband recruited my help with a "little" demolition project.  You see, we have a sun room and covered porch that were added to the back of the house about 10-12 years ago.  The sun room had sweet fake wood paneling, styrofoam ceiling tiles, and peel and stick linoleum tiles on the floor.  In the six years we've owned the home this add-on has been home to our parrots.  But over the years we've expanded to a family of five and the kids just keep growing.  We need more space.  Sorry birds, this is your eviction notice.

The original plan for the day was to tear out the paneling and ceiling tiles so we would be ready to drywall at a later date. Then take a nap.

Ha.

Here's what we uncovered.

Termite damage. Horrible, horrible termite damage. How was the wall still standing?

Plan B. Add wall insulation to the demo list. Oh yeah, and discover roof problems. Forget about that nap.

It turns out our roof was incorrectly done. The sun room and covered porch roof doesn't have much slope to it and when the builder (shady contractor? Or well-meaning friend with no clue?) attached a gutter along the edge the gutter pushed up on the shingles allowing water to pool under the shingles on the (too thin) plywood. The plywood was rotten and had to be replaced along the entire edge.

Wait, there's more.

After discovering the water damage on the roof we opened up the ceiling to check for more water damage. What we found was soaking wet insulation. There was not a single vent in the entire ceiling as there should have been.

Plan C. Gut everything. Spend every spare moment working on repairs for next three weeks. Go to Lowes so many times you make friends with the employees. Consider taking a second part-time job at Lowes to finance the repairs.  

I'll end today's post with this picture of the progress we made on day two.  More posts coming soon! 

A Baseball Bed

We chose a vintage baseball theme for our son's bedroom.  Vintage meaning old hand-me-down balls and bats from our families.  My mom was thrilled to clear out the old balls and bats from her garage!  And Ryan dug out a glove that was his grandfathers.  We started making over the room last year but, honestly, didn't get very far.  {You can see my plans and inspiration in this post.}  We did, however, work on personalizing the headboard!

Before:

After:

Ryan cut the knobs off the top and drilled a pilot hole.

I picked up these dowel screws from Lowes.  One end went into the ball and the other end into the pilot hole.

Here's a close up of the final results.  We think it adds some character to an otherwise boring headboard.

What do you think?

2012 Year in Review

I hadn't planned on writing a post on all the events of 2012 or making resolutions for 2013.  However, I spent the morning browsing Flipboard (my go-to iPad app for keeping current on the blogs I follow) and I was inspired by all of the 2012 wrap-ups and 2013 resolutions.  Some of my favorite bloggers spoke very honestly about their triumphs and failures and plans for the new year.  I sat on the couch for a long time drinking my morning coffee, reading, and reflecting while my five year old daughter brushed my hair and filled it with bows and colorful braided extensions.  Its hard for me to believe how many changes we went through in this past year alone!

This is the New Year's card we sent out instead of a Christmas card.  Partly because I didn't get my act together in time to send out a Christmas card.  And partly because I like the idea of updating distant relatives and friends on the highlights of our year.

2012 Year in Review (The Long Version)

January
24th-  Ryan and I celebrated my 30th birthday by having dinner at a fancy restaurant in Tulsa.  We enjoyed a quiet evening without our two daughters in tow (a rare treat!) and were completely unaware of the life changing phone call we would receive the next day.
25th-  Our DHS adoption case worker called with the news that we were chosen to adopt a young child who was waiting for a forever home.  Life stood still as I tried to comprehend what she was saying.  You can read more about that here.

February
The adoption process progressed and at the end of the month our little guy moved in and began his new life with us.  I wrote a little about that here.

March
We adjusted to life with three little kids (two two-year-olds and a four year old!) and remodeled the kids' bathroom.

April
Little Bean turned three!  We celebrated with a rainbow birthday cake.

May-June-July
My memories of summer are a blur.  We went on a big family vacation in Florida and took the kids to Disney World.

August
V turned 5!  We went away for the weekend and celebrated at a fun arcade called Andy Alligator's.
Another big change; I switched schools and teaching positions.  I left first grade after 7 years to teach second through fifth graders in a gifted and talented program.  This was a scary leap but I've settled in and I absolutely love my job!

September-October
Where did those months go???  We spent our "free time" chasing kids and running.

November
Little R is officially ours!  We went to court and finalized!
Ryan ran his first marathon and I added another 5K to my list.

December
Little R turned 3!  Between his birthday celebration and preparations for Christmas the month was busy and flew by in a blur.


2013 Resolutions
I'm not really one to make new year's resolutions.  The first of January feels like a regular old day to me.   I'm more the type that randomly sets goals as the inspiration hits.  Ryan says, "Life is short.  If you want to do something, do it."  Then he'll give me a gentle shove in the right direction to help me get out of my comfort zone.  So, with all that said, I'm going to share some of the goals that have been swimming around my head lately.

Run a 10K.  I've run a handful of 5Ks, finished a sprint triathlon, and even completed a 50 mile charity bike ride.  Why am I so intimidated by races longer than a 5K?  I have no idea.  Maybe its because I know how much time I'll need to spend training.  Maybe its because I don't really like running.  But regardless of my hang ups I know running is so worth it physically and emotionally.  So come March I'm going to check this one off the list.

Improve my photography.  I got a fancy new DSLR camera for Christmas.  I'm only just beginning to learn how to use it.  I love taking pictures and my goal is to practice more often and get better at it.

Blog more often.  This past year was so crazy that I took an unintentional break from blogging.  I continued to do crafty stuff around the house and with the kids but I was horrible about sharing online.  As my photography improves I'd like to share more of my daily life on the blog.  I have a list of projects (some items almost a year old) that I'd like to finally finish and share.


I have more goals I'm still turning over in my brain but this is a good start for now!  Thanks for following me on my journey!