Moving right along

The paint is on the walls.....mostly
The floors are half done.
The fridge is on order.
The requests to set up the gas line have been made.
Our boxes are piling up in the basement.
I have a date with Ikea today to order our kitchen cabinets.
The bathroom tiles are sitting in the front mudroom waiting to be put down.
House cooling party this Saturday.

Amidst all of the chaos, it feel good to remind myself that we are getting there :)


p.s. The paint and the floors look soooo freakin' good! It has finally really started to look like a house!

Things keep getting orange-ier

Apparently the geniuses who were in the house before us chose to paint over the orange walls with a non-compatible paint. I'm guessing the orange coat was oil based and the white latex...or maybe it was the other way around. Who knows. Either way, it was stupid and now we are suffering the consequences of having to chip and peel away all of the white paint to expose the orange paint only to paint over it again. Fun times.

















p.s. I emailed the City regarding the fact that the construction workers outside our place had been starting up their noisy vehicles before 7am. My email was forwarded to the architects and contractors who have apologized and assured me that they will ensure the crews abide by the bylaw from now on. I know that this is a small victory but I intend to enjoy it.

I have no idea what day of construction we are on

The days and weeks have officially blurred together. There has been much progress on the house, so things are good. We even have a toilet, which means we can stop trekking down to my parents' house to pee! For awhile there it was just a hole in the floor, which reminded me of a certain Spanish highway rest stop. *Sigh* Memories.

The plan at this point looks like this:
Finish drywall (I am not very helpful here)
Pack
Paint (which means we need to decide on colours)
Pack
Put down hardwood (this looks like a daunting and tedious task. I thought you just snapped everything together like Lego. Turns out there are nails involved.)
Pack
Tile the bathroom (decide on tiles)
Pack
Install bathroom cabinets and fixtures (pick a bathroom vanity)
Pack
Install kitchen cabinets
Move

Somewhere in there we'll also have to buy some furniture and appliances, make several trips to the Salvation Army and of course, work, eat, sleep and party.

Here are some recent pics from the reno saga:








Bedroom wall to be













Bedroom wall completed














Ian holding up the ceiling to be

















Sam using his head to hold up the drywall












Dad about to embark on a trip up into the attic

We're moving when?!

Oh yeah. So we're supposed to move at the end of the month. In the next month, we have to finish the house (or at least bring it to a livable level), purge and pack the contents of our apartment, clean, move and somewhere in there we also have jobs to go to. Ugh.

Construction inconvenience update:

The increasingly annoying team from Varcon Construction Company have run a fence up our block eliminating the parking lane outside of our apartment. As previously mentioned, this sucks for us because we won't be able to just park a van outside our place to load our stuff on moving day. Most annoying is the fact that NO ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION IS HAPPENING ON OUR BLOCK!!!! Oh yes. The jerks are using the road to store material (sparsely) and drive their trucks back and forth. I should add that said trucks require some serious tune ups as it sounds like breaking glass every time they drive their squealing wheels by our window. Tinga has taken to hiding in the closet a lot.

I have to say that the one good thing coming from this construction hell is the fact that it is making me very bitter about Roncesvalles. While previously concerned that leaving the neighbourhood would require some serious willpower and maybe some tears, I can now push the sentimentality aside with pure bitterness. I shake my fist in anger at you Roncesvalles!! So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu!

Days 14, 15 and 16....I think

So the house looks less like a disaster zone and more like somewhere that I will live in! The sub floor is all down, there are frames for walls and the closets upstairs are taking shape. There's even electrical and plumbing! I have the best dad ever! He's been working really hard to get everything done.

Last week, dad took me on a walking tour through the house and we decided where all of the outlets, lights and switches will go. I still can't believe how awesome it is to be able to decide where everything goes. My first apartment had one outlet per room and here I am planning outlets around where I will plug in my straightening iron! The convenience is amazing. We will actually be able to plan our house around how our furniture will be laid out and around how we will use the space.

Ian worked on the house all day Friday and he took on the itchy job of putting the insulation up in the kitchen ceiling. Dad and I showed up in the afternoon and we all worked to the sweet sweet classic rock sounds of Q107. Sam has been MIA. I may have to start providing beer and pizza to ensure he lends a hand. We need all the help we can get right now so that we can start moving in.

I spent Saturday changing the locks so we now have keys to the house! I'm not sure where I got the impression that replacing locks is an easy task but I was very mistaken. It's tough! With some Dad help, I managed to get new locks on all four doors. We also carried the new bathtub upstairs. It was quite heavy but my arms only hurt a little bit the next day. I take this as a sign that I am building muscle. No bulging biceps yet....but I can only assume that they are on the horizon ;)

Here's some pics from the last couple days:








The makings of a bathroom wall













The hole where the toilet will go.


















Relaxing after a hard days work in my new tub.













Old yucky pipes.













The guest room ceiling. New and improved without gray insulation and damp wood.