my memory of seeing them in pics is they are on the left as you face it - maybe don't have to be that way and was just the few I've seen in pics.

that's so nice of you to put it in for a future owner! i don't know when i'll decide to get a washlet - maybe when I find a great deal like you did but when that day comes I don't want to have to pay to have an electrician come out just to do that! other things need done now so might as well have that put in also.

i cleaned the disgusting pantry shelves yesterday. they are 'hardwired' in - dang why do people do that? there is room between them that I can put in another shallower shelf for canned goods tho. I would have liked to move others around - I'm hoping my dog food bin fits on the bottom shelf so I don't have to have someone knock or cut it out and replace it.

I also pulled up some of the old carpet tacking around the walls near the pantry (they had the floor of the pantry carpeted!), a piece going into the kitchen and around the corner into the LR.

I decided to wait for the final cleaning of the bathrooms until water is running over there. it'll go a lot quicker that way.

going over now to pull up the carpet tacking around my bedroom and closets. and maybe wipe out the cabinet drawers in there.

Steph, I have a lot of those wire thingys that you can put on top of a shelf that will give you another shelf between the two wood ones. With my new kitchen, I don't need them. That way you can have two layers of cans on a shelf without stacking them. I used some in my dish cupboards, too.

nancy - I use those in my dish cabinet here also. and in the linen cabinet (wash cloths/pillow cases on top, towels/sheets on bottom).

My pantry is 4' wide and I figured it'd be easier and cheaper just to put a board across it. It won't be as deep as the regular pantry shelves - 9 or 10" maybe - just enough for 2-3 'cans' deep depending on the size of the can. I don't buy stuff in very big cans anyway since it's just me I feed. canned goods 2-3" deep and 4' across will probably last me 6 mos to a yr! (not counting dog food)

I also use the wire ones to double the use of a section of a shelf. I did make some wooden ones when I first moved in here and I'll move those over with me.

I have some tiered shelves (kmart/walmart when on sale) that fit on a closet shelf and give you 2 more shelves above the initial one. those are 2' wide. 2 of those on my closet shelf will cover it and add lots of shelf space for me.

I'll still have a higher shelf (board) added in there as there is STILL lots of height in the closets that are unusable now.

I believe in lots of shelves - lol!

btw, is your kitchen done? did you post a pic of it and I missed it?

No, not quite done yet. I finished the staining of the doors and drawers a few weeks ago. Then we got involved in doing a surprise Thank-You Party/Reunion for DH's high school band director. DH has been wanting to do something to honor him for years, and Facebook made it easy. He rented a banquet space in a restaurant and arranged for an afternoon party with hors d'oeuvres, coffee, tea, and soft drinks. About 30 HS Band and Orchestra members came, with wives, husbands and kids, it made about 50 people. The band director and his wife, who was the middle school band director for about half of the attendees, were surprised and thrilled. Everyone had a great time. There were people there from the HS classes ranging from 1973 to 1984.

So, now that that is over, DH can bring the doors in here from the garage, put them on the island and counters and put the three layers of urethane on them, and get them hung! I just picked up the cook-bookshelf door from the glass shop and am really pleased about how it turned out. Once doors are all hung, I will take pictures. I am not going to wait for the backsplash to get done, just the cupboards.

I have been putting things back in the kitchen over the past two weekends. We are amazed at how much that 36" pantry with all the twirling shelves can hold. It looked like it had a lot of wasted space, but it holds most of our foodstuffs, and does so in a way where we can SEE everything. Very nice, after having a 30" wide, 40" deep impossible pantry for five years.

DH used the shelves on the doors of the pantry for spices. He alphabetized them all. The following weekend I said to him, "Dear, I am so, so, very sorry about this, but I found Allspice, Cloves, and Cumin when I was unpacking."

can't wait til you post the final pics! I bet you'll so happy to have it behind you (except the BS).

what a nice thing for your dh to do for the band director! i bet they were very surprised at it all.

goodness, what was wrong with your prev pantry? mine is about 4' wide and 20+" deep. shelves maybe 18" deep. I think it'll be a dream to have a pantry!

here's my pantry - I had the doors taken off - they were sliders. I want to have double doors put on it. there is a light just outside of the door area so it can light up the pantry when I'm looking for something!

this is a skirting panel - stamped concrete

this is the front 'porch' light. except there is no front porch... yet anyway. it's on a panel that look like a shutter. I don't care for it and might change it out in the spring.

Nancy, I love the "allspice, cloves and cumin" story. I hope it was solved by moving everything over and not having to build another shelf on the door! Your DH is a great guy, it seems from here.

And Steph, I did not realize your DW was that powdery blue. I think it will be a good color in all that desert landscape. Same sort of difference a red barn makes in a green landscape.
With my DH's blue painted cape, I've planted things which are a dusty blue green....like artemisia. And then clumps of miscanthus and other grasses. There are no snakes here though, so you might want to be more cautious about creating cover for dangerous critters. My main worry up here is the deer tick. My blood runs cold thinking about those nasty little vermins.

LOL @ Nancy. I know I had to shift things around more then once when we first moved into this house. We have enough room in the kitchen but it took time to sort it so it worked.

Steph Watch that first step out the front door until you get a porch.

That stamped concrete looks great. Nice pantry. Good to paint it before you try to move in and let that paint dry a long time. The last house we had the pantry was a yucky yellow. I like yellow but this was not a pretty yellow. I was always going to paint it. Was STILL yellow when we moved out. LOL

Wow! Great pantry. I didn't know they put such substantial skirting on in the desert. Is it to keep them cooler? Most here are just metal, like siding.

"Steph Watch that first step out the front door until you get a porch. "

yep, it's a HUGE step - lol!

is the stamping on the panel viewable to you guys? I can hardly see it on my monitor. can't blame the monitor, it's probably my eyeballs!

never heard of 'cement' skirting before. I think it's a dbf thing - he's worked in it for about 50 yrs now. yrs ago he made benches, trash bins etc for local city parks. Also, some of those huge markers (mini billboards) at the entrance to developments saying things like 'Cookie Cutter Acres'... he has his own cement place, mini mix trucks etc.

He plans on grading the dirt/stone to part way up those panels. there'll be 4 or 5 steps in there somewhere. It's set up a bit higher than he planned (a lot higher than I planned). there'll also be a ramp (eventually). I'm hoping he does maybe 2 steps and a mini landing then 2 more steps.

I like the blue color, too, Steph! My guess is that the outside needs painting, and that is why you are thinking about what colors to use.

Your pantry is so nice, and it is all usable space. A 40" deep pantry that is 30" wide is a pain in the butt because you can only reach in about 25". Everything gets lost back there, and you can't reach it. Plus, only 30 inches wide means that you don't have the luxury of leaving space open so that you can reach between items. It was a big space, but verrrry irritating to have to use.

I have never heard of concrete skirting, either. I aagree with Marti that concrete skirting likely helps to cool the house. It forms a barrier to keep the heat of the day from getting underneath the house, while retaining whatever coolness the night provided. I think it may also be used to keep out snakes and other vermin. Shade is a precious commodity in the desert, I'll bet. Steph, you are going to have to do your homework and tell us all the reasons for the concrete skirting, now! Here, my sister's DW has thin, cheap vinyl panels that get dented and bent too easily. They also get brittle after a few years in the weather, and break when you have to remove them to get under the house. I like the idea of concrete ones. How thick are they?

ML, no, DH has not fixed the Allspice problem yet. Imagine...about 40 bottles, with 4-5 bottles per little shelf, all having to shift down.

OH NO Nancy What a wreck. I organize my spices as to how I use them. Baking things together. etc. LOL We all have a different way. My DH would not have a clue what to do with spices so it really is nice your DH is helping you.

Steph I CAN see the stamping and it looks really nice. I am also curious on how thick they are.

We have the double wide but it is sitting on a foundation like a house uses. With the lay of our land we have the back side higher up then the front side. The cement guy made it so right out the door is a step down then the landing and then two steps to flat ground. The two side doors is a flat step out the door then three steps down I think. The front is a two step up and onto the porch would be the third step.

At first I did not like stepping out the back door down right off. Now I am used to it I wish the other two would have been the same. I feel uncomfortable on the one to the shop being three steps up/down. I really hope to get a railing some day.

to me the trim looks a dusty//dirty grey green blue! lol! the siding is a beigey peach color. the SWtern colors you see used so often.

i don't know right off how thick it is, but i'll measure it when I go over there in a bit. Out here concrete holds the heat in the summer. probably the cold in the winter too... uh-oh. dbf says it'll help keep the critters out but i don't believe that. those suckers can creep thru a tiny, itty-bitty space! and there's space between panels. i haven't heard him mention putting anything between them to close'em up either. They certainly will be sturdier than the metal or vinyl siding. i'll ask dbf what made him think of it tho.

'A 40" deep pantry that is 30" wide is a pain in the butt because you can only reach in about 25"'

I do understand that. that's almost a square and you don't need shelves that deep in a pantry. that's why I'm so glad my shelves aren't deeper than 18" (might be 16") and i plan on adding a few at about 9 or 10". one at about eye level and 2 waaay up high. A lot of what I'll have on shelves will be gallon water jugs, 2 liter pepsi bottles (when on sale for 1.00 like now), the dog food and cookie bins and my small appliances that i don't use often - mixer, crock pot, roaster etc. So stuff shouldn't get lost on those shelves anyway. Putting double doors on it so they both open will allow a lot of light in there too - the better to see things with. I know dbf thinks I'm nuts doing a few of these things but I want them EASY for me to get to and clean out (hopefully, it'll never need that - lol!)

I felt like I was looking into a cave with the sliding doors on it and the shelves were even empty! I knew instantly they'd go.

anyone know a nifty use for sliding doors? I have 2 sets - 1 from the pantry and 1 from a bdrm closet.

moccasin - I heard/read that eucalyptus branches are good to deter ticks and fleas. I'm going to plant a few trees but until they're up and growing I'm getting some branches from my sister to put around the man-cave!

the concrete panels are about 1.25" thick. dbf went with the concrete panels because metal or vinyl would not hold up under the weight of the dirt/stone he plans to push up against it. I do remember him telling me that before.

nancy - YES, the outside needs painted! and needs some places patched... that'll wait til spring tho. after the inside is painted and i'm moved in.

the electrician was out last monday - on Sunday I couldn't get water, the pump switch wouldn't go on. I could tell right away when I flipped the breaker for it that something was wrong because it flipped itself right back off.

Turns out the breaker switch they 'plugged' the pump into was bad. went bad - because it'd worked for several weeks.

Also, found out there is no electricity to the front west bedroom, hall bath, hall and part of kitchen. all on the northwest section. something wasn't connected when they put it together!

and when they got the pump switch into a new breaker switch and turned the water on we found out that a water line underneath on the east end wasn't connected to the front spigot - as water just poured out underneath just at the connecting area. geeze! the 'set up' guy said it was all done and everything working. guess he lied.

we also found there was a huge spraying leak under the kitchen sink... the gd doesn't work (that's ok) and the mstr bath fan doesn't work. the other bathroom fan is torn apart and the grill to it setting on the vanity so I'm gonna assume it just needs replaced also!

the gfi in the mstr bath doesn't work either. he replaced it and it still doesn't work so figures it's shorting out somewhere. he'll come back to do that - and the numerous other things we found weren't working.

the electrician spent some time straighting out the horrible mass of twisted wires connecting to the breaker switches. it looks very nice now... except the breakers don't work for the things they're marked to work... we figured most of them out and i made a new 'list' and will print it out and overlay it onto what is there. I'll keep my notepad handy for any more changes that we find, then redo it again... until everything works on the breaker switch it says it works on! What a mess it was. 2 double breakers said 'furn'. 2 double breakers that said 'water heater' had been marked over to say 'A/C'... also, 2 other breakers also said 'water heater'.

i got the quote for patching the 2 sides back together, along with various other wall and door holes. The holes in the doors might be a different story...we have to replace at least 2 doors anyway. He'll start that the 2nd wk in Dec.

he's going give me a quote for painting the inside. spray painting it - in which case I probably won't bother painting closets/shelves. I'll dust and wash down the walls and let them do the 'painting'.

the hall bath has no shower head (they took it with them?) and the mstr bath shower head is a poor excuse for one...it just dribbles out water. so, 2 new ones! I also want one of those hand held shower heads in the mstr bath. i can't spend a lot on it tho so not sure how to know which one would be good...there are so many of them out there!

I'm also going to need to replace this -

while I'm at it I'm going to replace the sink faucet too - the fat knobs hurt my hands!

i've been sick most of this past week so not much has been done. I went over Monday while the electrician was here (most of the day) and that really did me in! while there I pulled up the tacking strip in the NWC bdroom and finishing pulling it out of the hallway. only 4 more rooms to go.

Steph, you can find a bathroom sink faucet with a high arch and two blade handles to replace that one there. In fact, it can LOOK like a single hole instead of the three holes that it is drilled for. I know when I was looking for my faucets, I ran across all sorts that had the escutcheon (bottom plate) to hide the two extra holes, and you can even get a single holer faucet.

It is sort of a pet peeve of mine, that I can never get my hand behind those short fat faucets to clean out the soapy gunk or the rust between the fat knobs. Those round fat knobs are a pain to operate when your hands don't grip too well.

Good luck with your electrical issues. I get a headache when I think about changing electrical....they have so many REASONS for routing power the way they do, and it makes me feel so ........frustrated .....when I cannot follow the logic of it.

Cement panels. I'm not sure what your brand is, but when they built the closet/tub bumpout, they used DUROC cement board and then sprayed stucco over it. It probably comes in multiple thicknesses, but ours was about 3/4 or 5/8 thick I suppose. Ours goes all the way to the ground too. Not susceptible to termite damage. But our code requires that the space beneath the house be ventilated. I insist that the vents be CRITTER PROOF, to keep out even small mice.

'get my hand behind those short fat faucets to clean out the soapy gunk or the rust between the fat knobs'

that is another problem with those things! I keep a tooth brush (old one of course) handy to try to get the groves, back area cleaned out. the knobs even have grooves up/down them that crud likes to live in... just more to clean!

i've been having problems just opening the door here in the past few months. It's getting worse week by week - a real struggle and my hands hurt so much. I just don't need anything that aggravates them.

getting a single lever faucet is one thing my sister warned me about, along with lever door handles. It's gonna cost a small fortune to change those all out!

The tub has those fat knobs also but I was thinking i could wait to change those out - at least til I decide if I plan to keep the tub or have it ripped out next year.

dbf did mention an access panel to get underneath - I'll have to quiz him about what it will be (and ventilation) and be sure it is critter proof. I'm not sure anything can be totally critter proof, at least from mice. They seem to get in ANYWHERE! i'm so sick of them - never want to see another one, hear another one, etc!! i've even been eyeing the vent/heat grates in the new place (I sealed 'em shut in here) and figuring how I can 'mouse proof' them w/o blocking the heat or a/c. screening might work - will have to check different screening materials available.

Goodness, Steph, you must be quite frustrated that things that you thought were done, now have to be done a second time. You either have been swearing under your breath or are the most patient person I know. I hope you find that things get cleared up really fast.

Steph, you can look for faucets approved by ADA just like the ADA toilets. Those high ones, you know.

Both of my bathroom sink faucets have a single handle for temp and force control, and it makes life so easy. I saw some really pricey selections, but others that were reasonable too.

At my age, I consider a FIVE YEAR WARRANTY as good as a LIFETIME WARRANTY...... :)

I'll do some searching,I know you have a 4 inch
3 hole mount for at least ONE of those lavatories.

One of my favorite places to shop is Vintage Tub and Bath.
If you want to take a shot at it yourself, I'll link below.
That's where I bought my clawfoot tub, the Cheviot sink, the Porcher Elfe sink, and both bath faucets. Both of those bath faucets were made by Price Pfister, BTW. One of them was also sold by Home Depot and Lowes, so probably available locally. I liked buying online with no tax and no shipping charges.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vintage Tub

nancy -lol! i'm not very patient really, I'm not swearing eithe - i am flat out calling it what it is tho - he lied to dbf and the electrician! I hope dbf hasn't paid him all the money yet (dbf is in TX on bz). As for patient, well, i'm not moving very fast myself. didn't get over there at all today! I have 3 rooms to pull carpet strip out of yet. i hope i can get at least 2 of those done tomorrow. It isn't hard, just hard on my back because of bending over.

today I went to Gw- got 4 very thick towels! 2 for the dogs (for the floor when it rains) and 2 for me to use as mats when getting into/out of the shower. 3 doggie 'blankies', a shelf for the hall bathroom and a flannel shirt! total 21.00. from the look and feel of the tag on one of the green towels, it has not yet been washed and doesn't feel used. maybe someone got a color they didn't like...
I had 3 other stops to make and that did my back in. getting in/out of the car is hard on my back. Any energy I had left was used to walk dogs, feed them, bring in a few groceries etc. I had leftovers from TG dinner yesterday to eat today which made that easy for me - and delicious.

I spent time looking online (lowe's) at faucets so hopefully I won't have to spend a lot of time IRL looking at them in the stores! I do need to go out and look at stainless steel and brushed nickel in real. i dozed off searching online tho... now i'm ready to crash again.

Oh I do NOT like those fat handle faucets either. Moen brand single handle came with our house and they have been fine. Easy and smooth working. I am sure our bath fixtures are four inch. Not sure in the kitchen.

i came back to see what I even typed last night! I kept falling asleep at the keyboard and waking up with my glasses on the floor or half off my face and I was face down on the keyboard. I just couldn't stay awake. I should have given up sooner and shut down.

Who thinks when they're younger (and healthier) about having problems just turning a knob?? gee, it's both of my hands now. yesterday I hurt from head to toe - felt like someone had run me over with a truck. I had trouble earlier getting blood from boy for his test. I finally gave up for the 11:30 test. He wasn't having anything to do with it-kept pulling away from me just as the blood appeared... then I'd lose the spot on his ear i needed... then the 'tester' would give me an error - over and over.

I'd be more upset about the electrical problem if - I was paying them or if I was ready to move in there. I won't move in until the patching is done, the painting and the flooring (at least in my bdrm). It'll be 2 wks at least for those things.

LOL Steph I did not notice anything wrong with your post at all.

My hands are sore like yours all the time. Why I love to do dishes so much, Hot water = time away from pain.":^))))

Looks like you made a good haul at GW. Will be fun for you collecting the things you need to make your new to you house work for you.

shades - glad I didn't screw up since we can't fix our posts on here!

I went to the GW again on 1/2 price Saturday. it was in a nearby town where I do laundry. it's just across the road for laundromat so after doing a load of stuff I went over to see what they had. spent more money... another fleece kid's blanket for boy, another girl's quilt for girl (smaller and cheaper - 50 cents!), a few more flannel shirts, a sweatshirt and 2 small rugs (look like never used).

the ceiling/floor/wall patchers might be here tomorrow. he'll call me tonight to let me know. They've had a run over in the job they were on last week. I knew ahead that might happen.

once here they'll give me a quote for painting the inside. and one for the outside (next spring on that).

I need to try and get the water ring around the water spot in the toilets out. the brush I bought didn't do it but I have one of those eraser pads to try today. otherwise, they are very clean - and I've recleaned them a few times.

does anyone know how much space should be left to the sides of a refrigerator these days? I have 33" in space and mine is 28" wide but I'm wondering how much of that 5" I shouldn't use in the future to allow for a fridge replacement. I've looked online at the width of new ones and I should be able to get a new one no wider than 29.75 - 30" if needed. that leaves 3" - can I use 1.5" for the future dw space maybe? if so, I will be able to move the dw to the right of the sink next year. I'd love that!
I still don't think I'll be able to raise the dw up tho.

I think the problem comes when you try to open the doors. I have found the side by side fridges seem to have a deeper door?? Maybe my imagination. I was always having to pull it out to be able to get the bottom drawers all the way out for washing. THAT was annoying. Here we are open on one side of the fridge so no idea. At one house we had we had more trouble getting the fridge in under the upper cabinet then on the width so be sure to measure that one. Was only a quarter inch but it was a pain to deal with so we did not and kept the old fridge.LOL

oh yeah - the door opening! that could be the problem... I don't want it to be too tight anyway. I think they need space to breathe... darn, thought it might work out. well, my fridge will be in and then I'll recheck it all.

my fridge is short - not much higher than I am at 5'. it's small but plenty big enough for me.

Steph they make a narrow dishwasher. I am not really up on the specs. I just know they make them.

they make 18" ones but they are so much more expensive than 24"! and I haven't been able to find one in bisque/biscuit. I don't want black, I don't like SS and white would look strange to me with a bisque fridge, sink and maybe stove.

who knows, by the time I get to those changes I might decide to go white with fridge and sink!

good reasons to live in it for 6 months or so before I need to decide. It's something I've put to the back of my mind for now - usually.

Steph and Shades, for about a month now, I've been taking a glucosamine tablet morning and night. And I THINK, by golly gee whiz, that it is helping my fingers to bend. I had trouble just like you getting my fingers to close into a fist, or otherwise grip something.

It is actually triple strength Glucosamine Chondroitin, GLUTEN FREE. If you wish to know the brand that DH brought home for me, I can send it to you privately. The daily dose is two caplets per day and there are 150 in this bottle.

Yes, don't start with changing out too much stuff for about six months. Then your head will wrap around what it costs.

See ya.

Thanks ML I would like that information. you can email me through GW I think you have my email already.

BTW Glad you are back.

Chris

"Then your head will wrap around what it costs. "

yeah... and then my head will EXPLODE! lol!

it's easy to think in advance you 'know' how you'll use something, a room a cabinet etc - then when you're actually living in it day to day, it can change in a snap! so as much as I'd like to get a few more things done in advance (like bathroom cab before flooring) I'm gonna make me wait!

yes, ML, send it on to me also. I noticed my BIL bought them some (and some for their dogs) the other week (it was sitting on the kitchen island). If I remember, I'll ask her also if she thinks it is helping. I use to give it to my dogs (pre these 2 now).

I was surprised you were back in AL - I got it mixed up i guess... thought you spent winters up north. tho, that doesn't make sense! too cold in the winter!

Steph are you ok down there from the floods and weather??

shades - thx for checking. I'm not sure where that flooding was. probably up north around where it flooded last yr. there are some areas out here...

it did surprise me to see that house float away on the news! I do know there are areas like that in Az, just not exactly where. It's sad they built new houses in that area!

I'm not near a water source. but our land here can't soak in all of the water we get in some rains and it will even flood a low area in a road. I have seen it around here (just down the road, out on the hwy etc) where you can see the 'stuff' left behind after a massive rain has flooded an area and flooded over a section of the road.

we did have a bit of rain tonight, but not much - just a slight one.

but if I'm not posting much this past wk and in next week it's because I have iritis in my left eye. very bad, can't see out of it. eye doctors couldn't even see INTO it! on lots of drops for the next wk. 3 different ones.

Steph Thanks so much for reporting in.Gload to hear you are safe.I also saw the house falling into the flood and since I have lived that myself I really got to worrying about you.

Sooooo sorry to hear about your eye condition. I hope you get to feeling better real soon.

Chris

I'm getting my sight in left eye back. it started coming back about 10 days ago. the doctor could finally see into the eye last wk. He says I have many wks ahead of me under eye doctor care... maybe he just needs a new car?
I do still see black spots floating around at times.

and after many wks of little to no work on new place it seems to be moving along again.

the wall patch guy finished up his sloppy job and I paid him off to get rid of him. He took a door, my new mop, my new paint scraper - that's all I can identify so far. It's very sad because the bz is his dad's - and his dad is going thru major medical problems right now. He had 2 stents put into his heart about a wk before Christmas and is scheduled for hip replacement surgery on the 19th. He has been scheduling jobs from home (in a wheelchair right now) and his son has been going out with a helper to do the jobs. He is ruining his dad's bz - and I don't know if I want to tell him right now... He does know I'm not using them to paint my place tho. I had several other jobs I would have given to them if JR had done a good job and not stole from me.
Imagine stealing a brand new mop from a woman...it wasn't even used once yet! lol!
dbf hired a new painter (dad and son combo also). older son and of course even older dad... seem like good guys. They did have to spend at least half a day cleaning up after the patch guy. He had 'mud' everywhere! The dad said the prev guy was a real slob... I knew that already tho.

Anyway, I was so glad to see JR go...

the new guys will put on new door knobs for me if i get them. and dbf hired them to cut out/frame in a new doorway for me into the tv/computer room. a 36" doorway. It will open that room up into the kitchen/hall area and allow access even if using a walker and hopefully even a wheelchair should it come to that.

About a week ago a local a/c company came out and installed a new heater - a/c unit. It's a good company - I recognized the name of it from my yrs of working with local businesses. it looks good...and seems to work too. I left it on 65 for 2 nights - in case it wanted to blow up or anything it could do it without me in it - lol!

I can't go over and clean or anything until painters are done - and maybe a day more. The paint smell really gets to me. Last night I could smell it outside while walking the dogs. I think I will take an air cleaner machine over there and turn on tho...

The painters will be back tomorrow for a 2nd coat. Hopefully they'll finish up then.

I still haven't made arrangements for flooring either. narrowing it down tho - beige sheet vinyl in kit/hall/laundry and some kind of wood look vinyl in the other rooms with area rugs on them. Congoleum vinyl if i find something I like and can afford it. I will try to go look at woodlook vinyl on Wed or Thursday. dbf says he will bring out area rugs to cover the floor board until vinyl is put down. He has a warehouse full of them.

the electrician has to come back yet to fix the rooms that don't have electricity yet. I need to get the 2 outside lights and 2 bathroom fans for him to put in/connect. If he doesn't come til next wk it'll be ok with me... I could have bought the lights yesterday at HD but didn't want to go thru the line for 2 lights when i also need several door handles/locks too. want to make only 1 trip thru that line!

What is the prognosis for your eye?

I can't believe Jr would steal from you! That's unbelievable. Well, actually it's not. He sounds like a lowlife. Does it make you warn his future customers?

Have you seen the wood look vinyl Gayle put in her kitchen? It looks great. I wish I had done it in our house.

he has seemed very concerned about it... especially since he couldn't see INTO it until last Wednesday. I have 3 tests to get done before next appt in 2.5 wks. He's looking for the reason behind it. This happened in June of 2006 also. I lost sight in it for 2 months then.

on 'JR' - yes. they won't get more bz off of what he did for me. The guys doing the painting now did ask who he was ... he created a bunch more work for them... If his dad wasn't so sick I'd have complained to him about it. then again, if 'dad' wasn't so sick I expect he'd have been out here himself... Jr is taking advantage of his dad being sick. I've seen that with someone close to me.

did Gayle post a pic on lavender's wood vinyl floor thread on kitchens? if so, then I did see it. They all look so good and are well liked too. that gives me hope!

I don't have a lot of money to do the floors (but my boy got good vet care... and meds! which is more important!) and they will mostly only be seen around the edges because most rooms will have an area rug in it. the kitchen, laundry (and baths) won't tho but they also won't be the wood look. I need to put more money in the vinyl for those rooms since they will get the most abuse. oh, I forgot - I did get a rug for the laundry room floor... not sure if I'll keep it down all of the time or just when it rains and the dogs will track in. It is hoseable.

I want something not too dark. dark will show dust more - yet not really light either...so a midrange woodtone.

You know, you are right. I have been fretting myself silly over our wood floors. They are not holding up well at all. Money wasted. Mannington. But I am going to put a rug down, and like you said, there will only be edges then. I can live with that. Thanks for reminding me of that.

If you don't want dirt to show, go with a bold grain or multi grain/multi color.

I don't know if she posted on lavender's post in kitchens, but probably so. She just posted it somewhere I saw - besides her blog.

he has seemed very concerned about it... especially since he couldn't see INTO it until last Wednesday. I have 3 tests to get done before next appt in 2.5 wks. He's looking for the reason behind it. This happened in June of 2006 also. I lost sight in it for 2 months then.

on 'JR' - yes. they won't get more bz off of what he did for me. The guys doing the painting now did ask who he was ... he created a bunch more work for them... If his dad wasn't so sick I'd have complained to him about it. then again, if 'dad' wasn't so sick I expect he'd have been out here himself... Jr is taking advantage of his dad being sick. I've seen that with someone close to me.

did Gayle post a pic on lavender's wood vinyl floor thread on kitchens? if so, then I did see it. They all look so good and are well liked too. that gives me hope!

I don't have a lot of money to do the floors (but my boy got good vet care... and meds! which is more important!) and they will mostly only be seen around the edges because most rooms will have an area rug in it. the kitchen, laundry (and baths) won't tho but they also won't be the wood look. I need to put more money in the vinyl for those rooms since they will get the most abuse. oh, I forgot - I did get a rug for the laundry room floor... not sure if I'll keep it down all of the time or just when it rains and the dogs will track in. It is hoseable.

I want something not too dark. dark will show dust more - yet not really light either...so a midrange woodtone.

the painters are done painting. no pics...no camera yet!
he'll be back tomorrow to put things back together - socket/switch covers on, fan blades on, locks on the doors.

I still need 3 or 4 lever handles tho. went out last wk one day, then on Tues and again this a.m. and then again this afternoon to get what I did manage to get! I sure will have a lot of locks!

the paint job looks great - makes such a difference in the place!

that leaves flooring, some electrical, 3 windows and the patio doors to replace. I can move in with the windows/door not done yet. and w/o flooring I think (if I can get the floor area covered with rugs). I still need 2 closet doors, 2 pantry doors and a doorway knocked out of a wall - but those too i can live with for a time.

i have to measure for extra shelves to be put in and curtain rods (might be able to use the ones i have here). And check that each heat register has a covering.

I'll have another list of things to go in search of before the day is over I think!

I'm going to start taking things over this wkend - if it can go on a closet shelf, pantry shelf or into a kitchen cab....

Steph, if you move in before the floors are done, it will make a lot of moving for you. If at all possible, I'd keep everything out until the floors are laid. Just my take on it.

When I had the wood floors refinished in MoccasinLanding before I sold it, I had to empty every room with wood floors. That meant moving all the birds out to the screened in carport, and all the furniture into the kitchen and den which had vinyl sheet floors. Of course, I had a big entertainment center which I worried about gouging the sheet vinyl.

With my sheet vinyl in the kitchen and den, it was a sort of pale almond to match in color the Wilsonart counter tops. The kitchen cabs were knotty pine original to the house. But oh man did the wood floors look GREAT after they were refinished! To keep from scratching them up, I lived mostly in the den after that, not moving any furniture back into the wood-floored section.

And I'm sorry to hear that your eye is giving you fits. My eyes are now chronically dry all the time, a side effect of diabetes, so I use drops and wear sun shades when I go out.

Even back in the "old" days when coyboys rode the Arizona range, they had to contend with flash floods coming down on them. So dry it cannot absorb water seems strange, but true.
Glad you are in a good spot.

"To keep from scratching them up, I lived mostly in the den after that, not moving any furniture back into the wood-floored section."

lol!

I'll mostly be taking over things that will go into cabinets, closet shelves, pantry - not large pieces of furniture. dbf did send out 4 straight back chairs and a glass top table for me to use.

yes, that's right about our ground and water. We don't have a lot of 'drains' into sewer lines etc like places do back east, up north etc. The riverbed out here is usually dry. I just laughed when I first moved out here and drove over the bridge going over the 'river'. It was totally dry. desert dry. not a drop of moisture in it... and we have the washes = like a desert dry creek bed. no water - until it rains. Then it will sweep 'stuff' along with it and congest in an area and then it overflows. If it rains too much it will over flow even w/o much debris in it. i've yet to see standing water in my wash - and in 12 yrs we've had lots of rain. lots of it - enough to make mini 'lakes' in some of the areas that are low or the dogs dug out.

There are areas in roads that will flood - we have one just down the road from me. I pass it anytime I go anywhere - gotta drive very slowly thru it and it'll leave small limbs, sticks, sand, trash, etc all across the road.
We have another (huge one) out on the 'hiway' (main road). that one will back up traffic a good deal!

having the mfg home up a foot or so more than he planned will help in that area - it won't help in giving me less steps to go up...and down - lol!

Dang Steph. That is areal bummer about the guy stealing from you. So sorry. I know the effort it takes for those carpet strips.

Actually the carpet guys use a tool for that you do not even have to bend down but to pick them up once loose.It is like a flat blade hoe. You push it instead of pull it. Kind of hard to explain but when I saw the guy doing it I did a "Palm to forehead" because he had a whole room up in about 10 minutes with very little effort and no blood. Those tacks are so sharp. You might look into getting one or DBF might have one.

thx shades - that's a good idea! the bending is what gets to me the most. I can only do it for about 20 min and then have to rest. and it takes me more than 20 mins to do a room! lol!

dbf will love me asking him if he has a 'hoe'...

another thing that takes time - and wear and tear on the back is pulling up the staples across the subfloor. most of those have a tuft of carpet padding attached...

Steph that same tool will also do them. Wish I knew what it is called.It has flat edge like wide putty knife only it is metal like a hoe blade.

This is what it kind of looks like and might be the exact tool. Mostly they use it on roof removal but it also works on the floor staples.

Here is a link that might be useful: Spud Bar

That wold be way to heavy for you to use. There is another tool lighter weight with a wider front ,working, end. Honest I saw the guy clear a floor of strips and staples in no time flat with one. Very little sitting on the floor stooping.

Hi Steph, sorry to hear about your eye, I hope they figure it out soon. I remembered seeing this elevator at Green Demolitions. Know anyone going near Norwalk Conn?

Here is a link that might be useful: wheelchair lift - 3rd item

Hi Steph,

Sorry to hear about your eye. And the low life who stole your new mop! Your house sounds like it is coming along nicely and will be a treasure when you move in. I know you are anxious, but you do need to try and pace the work a little bit....so your body can do some recovery. (I'm the same way as you....can't seem to stop when I want to get something done:)

Sandy

Steph, is your eye any better today?

How are you pulling out the staples? The easiest way I've found is to use nipper pliers. Just grab them at the base with the pliers upright and then bend the pliers down to the floor. No pulling so much easier on the back.

"Cement panels. I'm not sure what your brand is, but when they built the closet/tub bumpout, they used DUROC cement board and then sprayed stucco over it."

moccasin - way back in Nov I didn't catch that you thought the skirting panels were cement board, they're real cement. dbf has his own cement company. he's done cement work since age 20 or so. usually it's a side line and he has someone else running it tho. but if he needs something done, he does it or as in this case has his boys help him. they've been raised working in cement too. I guess it's concrete now... he uses cement to make things.

shades - I looked at that spud bar - and will look for something like it at W or HD when i go.

thx for the inquiries on my eyeball... it's much better today compared to last week anyway. It still is blurry tho. Doc says it's gonna take some time to clear up completely. seeing out of it even blurry is better than seeing nothing with it!

nancy - that wheel chair lift looks great - and that's a good price I think - not like I've priced them before tho!

marti - I've been using a pliers. I pull straight up and they come out easy enough. it's a bit harder with the ones that have carpet padding tuft in them. then the padding tuft usually comes out first and I have to recatch the staple and get it on the 2nd pull.

I didn't do much of anything today - but walk dogs (it seems anyway). I checked to see how many door stops I needed yet. I need 1 - and my sister has 1 left from her build a few yrs ago. and I found the air grate covers and matched them up to the holes. 3 are smaller - kit and 2 baths. those 3 need replaced- they're bent/twisted or have a broken lever. the others will need a good scrubbing.

my sister took pics of the vinyl flooring samples i have and if/when she emails them to me I'll post here. I have to return the samples but wanted the pics of them before i do that.

I started to take a few things around to the new place, then I realized the front door here is about (maybe) 15' from the back door of the new place and they almost line up to each other. so, I just started stacking things around/close to this door and tomorrow I'll un-barricade it (to keep girl in) from the outside and move the stuff to the mud/laundry room of the new place. There's a shelf in that room I'm going to stack most everything I have ready to move on over there. Then I'll get more ready to go and stack it around this door for the next 'move on over' event!

the new place looks a ton better with it's new paint job - and door levers/locks. I need 3 more lever handles tho.

Steph. so glad to hear your eye is doing better.Wondering if lifting things right now is ok to be doing??so glad tings are coming together. Can't wait for you to get your camera.