We've Finally Turned the Corner!

Fall is officially upon us, which means that Greg and I can once again focus our efforts on round house projects. We have reinstituted our routine of driving down to the lake each and every weekend to work on the house. Our days there are so much easier now with the crisp autumn air. We’ve turned the corner on the Round House now, so each weekend of projects completed makes a visible difference.

We are ecstatic to report that the drywall project is now FINISHED! We’re done with mudding, sanding, mudding, sanding. All interior walls are now primed and painted, and I am happy to note that most of the drywall dust that drifted into every crack and pore of the house has been scooped away, swept up, and wiped off most surfaces. Thank goodness. That stuff is the worst!

We had our action plan pretty much in place for items to tackle next:

wall paneling on all perimeter walls, bathroom tiling, toilet and sink installation, completing the ceiling throughout, laying flooring, finishing trim work, adding lighting…

But poor Greg accidentally threw a wrench in all that when he mused aloud (always dangerous!) that replacement windows have actually come waaay down in price. Who knew?! Well I jumped on that and was dragging him out the door to Menards to buy up new windows before he could change his mind! In reality we (he) hemmed and hawed over this for nearly two weeks before finally putting the hammer down and making a purchase of EIGHT NEW WINDOWS.

Yes, the old windows needed a good scrubbing, but I actually did that a few months back and LOOK at this. The windows have to be completely taken apart in order to access both sides of each window, and then you have to address the multiple channels in the window sill where dirt and bugs accumulate. These old, dirty, hard-to-open original aluminum single-pane glass with (insert Halloween scream) STORM WINDOWS were the worst. They were hard to manipulate, and even harder to clean.

The kisser to finally convincing us both that we should add window replacement to our long list of housing updates was the fact that it is honestly very difficult to even BUY replacement storm windows any more. Sure, you can replace the cheap-o glass, but if the window frame or structure is damaged, you’ll have to live with a damaged, ugly, hard-to-clean-and-open, inefficient window.

Now, LOOK! A bright and shiny view through an easy-to-glide window that is EASY to keep clean. Yes, it has the tilt-in mechanism to allow easy access to the outside glass, but in our case I can just walk around the outside perimeter with my bottle of Windex. Easy-peasy.

So with window replacement now jumping to the top of the list, the interior wall paneling project has been pushed back, along with everything else.

I’ll take the hit.

The new windows, coupled with the white trim surround really pops on the house. I love the new look, and am so happy we decided to do this!

After four of the eight windows were installed in one day, Greg was flat-out beat. Rather than continue the installation the next day, he decided to shift gears and finish tiling the main bathroom walls and floor.

This is a screen grab from a video taken a year ago. The tub originally had a Formica-like tub surround, a horrible caulk job, dingy tub, dingier shower doors, and of course moldy brown carpet. The same brown carpet that covered the entire home, including the utility closet.

"Calgon, take me away!"

And here's the After - replete with protective cardboard still remaining in the tub. Greg had wanted to make haste with this project, so he insisted that we choose large tiles for both the walls and floor. I complied, and love the results, but through this process Greg quickly decided that large wall tiles are NOT the way to go on the walls. On the floor they're great - just butter the back, slap it down, space it to the next one and go. On the walls though you end up with heavy mastic slopping and dripping down over all that you just completed, making a sloppy oozy mess throughout the entire process. Live and learn!

Now that winter is around the corner our days are so much shorter. Darkness begins to creep in as early as 5 in the afternoon, and with no lighting installed within the house we depend upon extension cords winding and twisting throughout, and work lights spotlighting the tasks at hand. We have only a few areas within the home with finished ceilings and walls to accommodate light fixtures: the bathrooms and the entry way, along with the exterior porch lights. That was our next objective.

I don’t have a photo of the original view of the front entry, so this picture is another screen grab from an earlier video. (That’s me in the mirror.) You may recall that the front entry, which was always constricted, confronted visitors with a view of the laundry room straight ahead, a weirdly small bathroom directly to the left and entry to the rest of the house to the right.

Now it’s simply a constricted dead-end hallway with a segue to the house on the right. See that blue well tank? It will ultimately be enclosed in a cabinet, so it won’t be seen from the entry once we’re finished. The tank sits where the laundry sink used to be. Inside the sink cabinet in the old picture/under the well tank in the new one is a hole in the concrete floor where water and electricity both enter the house, so that is why it’s elevated.

Anyway, it is so nice to be able to FLIP A SWITCH and have LIGHT again! It’s the little things, right?!

Ever since those bad guys broke into our house last year and stole, among other things, our round bed (I HAD to say it!), we installed a few cameras around the place to keep an eye on things while we’re away. We get alerts each time there is activity near the front entry, so we always take a peek. I can count on only three fingers the number of times we have seen strangers pop into our view. They have walked up, looked in a window or two and continued on their way.

But most often when our alert prompts us, this is what we see:

Bugs and deer. Our peaceful neighbors.

Speaking of neighbors, our 2-legged neighbors along the street have been amazing. One of our neighbors takes a walk with his dog around our house daily to make sure that all is in order. Another neighbor decided to mow our lawn – over an acre – one evening last week, just...because. That task takes over 90 minutes to do, so you can imagine the glee I felt to discover that it had been beautifully done so that I could focus on other tasks instead. Amazing. And yet another neighbor stopped by last weekend to drop off warm cinnamon muffins – just to be nice. It’s like we plunked ourselves into Mayberry.

We love this house and its surroundings, and can’t wait to get it all spiffed up so that we can share it with others.

Stay tuned – more updates to come!