Alden Street Extreme Home Makeover

Looking good. I came home for lunch today and had to park a block away there were so many people working on the house. I wanted to cry for joy. We had siding getting finished. Finish carpenters working on door/window trim and crown moulding, Exterior rock work starting. Flooring in the basement happening. Tile being installed in the master bath. It felt like an extreme home makeover show. Oh yes and gutters. Never thought I would be so grateful for gutters. Every time we walked out of the shop to go into the house you got drenched just going out the door and in the house... 4 times a trip out, in, out, in.... Man that was getting old fast.

I Love Paint!

I love paint, always have. Love the way it changes a room instantly, love everything about it even the smell. Must say I love even more the not quite so toxic smell of the low VOC paint we used over regular paint. I usually second guess myself on well just about every design choice I ever make but I am digging our neutral warm paint colors. Thought about going towards a grayer tone interior paint scheme but isn't Oregon gray enough already? So I chose a warmer palette.

Jay & The Power Stump Grinder

No its not a new R&B group, Jay & The Power Stump Grinder. But oh did Jay have fun! with that bad boy. Eat your heart out Jake, your dad can play with power tools too!

Things are moving along now, sheetrock, hardwoods and paint on the way

Great room. Still have a hole in the floor for our staircase but at least there is a plan for that hole now.

Things are starting to happen fast now. Sheetrock is done and the painter starts tommorrow. Guess I better finalize my paint colors. Hardwood floors guys came in and knocked out lacing together the old hardwoods with installing the new hardwood floors needed in the kitchen in just two days.! They were amazing.

Master Bedroom. Our King bed will fit right up to that bump out on the wall. Hope my design works Hoping that it will allow some interesting over the bed art placement by having a shelf above the bed

Staircase Design

The design for our staircase using open stringer design with reclaimed wood stair treads. What do you think?

Someday we might get to live here??

Windows and siding are going in. Nice to finally be able to start heating the place up and have it warm and dry inside. Jay and I are starting to have some fun, picking light fixtures, paint colors etc...
My new catch phrase is " They say".  Every time someone asks when do you get to move in? I have said a hundred times "They say"  by mid December. Please note this is said in a not to confident voice.

Ready for Siding and Windows

It feels like forever since there has been any real progress. We have had a really hard time lately staying optimistic. The completion of electrical and plumbing was long and very drawn out. Several weeks crawled by with virtually no visible progess. We seem to be back on track Maybe? The house has sheetrock now and is ready for siding and windows which should start tommorrow.

We Love Concrete...Not exciting...But it is Progress

 

Lots of concrete work got finished this week. Got to love these guys,  they come and they finish. Of course they kind of have to. Once you start you can't stop. It has been a source of major frustration the last few weeks that none of the trades seem to finish a job. They come and they go and they come and they go! The roofers came eigth times to finally finish the job. If they only paid attention to how much time they were wasting coming and going they might stay put and just finish a job. 

The concrete work got done a in a timely manner and right before the rains started. After 100 days of unheard of no rain in Oregon, it started again. We went from living in dust, to living in mud overnight.

 

 

Visit to Wood is Wonderful Foundation to find our New Reclaimed Wood Stairs

Today our cabinet maker extraordinaire Duane and I drove to Sheridan Oregon. We went to see the Wood is Wonderful Foundation Recycled Wood Alchemy Warehouse. We met Rich Mathis and he showed us around. I think we were both pretty blown away by the amount of wood that they have stocked. Everything from old barns, schools, warehouses that have been demo'd and wood salvaged. You name it they have it, and alot of it. Rich is quite passionate about what he does and very helpful. We told him our project: stairtreads for an open stringer stairway and also a seat portion for our entry hall bench. He guided us around the options and we settled on some pine beams that came from a tobacco storage warehouse in Lexington, Kentucky. Those beams are in the middle of that pile of wood below. He will mill them to the depth we want from the outside of the beams. That way we get the patina of the old beams for our stair treads.

Our Fabulous New Porch

I have been waiting for our new porch to come together for months. It is finally taking shape and we could not be happier. Our old house had a saltbox style and no porch. Here in Oregon Bad Idea! Nothing like having your guests huddled against the house in the rain until you can get to the door. I have always  dreamed of having a large front porch with a place to have a bench and a place to put wet umbrellas etc... and I think I got it.

City Hicks

I took Jake down to OSU on Tuesday. On the way down I said " I am kind of embarassed to be dropping you off at college in such a filthy truck." Our vehicles are constantly dirty here from all the construction debris and dirt blowing around. We gave up trying to keep them clean weeks ago. Jakes says thats ok Mom because we are "City Hicks". I was like right on, that is exactly what we are, very fitting. The blog is now "City Hicks".
That is Jake and his old friend and new roomie Jake ready to rock at Wilson Hall. It has been three days since I dropped him off. Man we miss that boy!

Clean Water Services Work on our Creek

Clean Water Services has brought in the Big Rigs this week to put in a new manhole and run new line next to the creek. They start rolling in at 7am and don't leave until 7pm! They say they will be done by the end of this week and then they send a crew in to replant and clean up. Hope So!  

New Addition, Framed & Roofed

 

 

Our new addition which will have our Master Bedroom, Bath and a Laundry Room is framed and roofed. We are very happy with our choice of using a 50 year shingle on the house. The thicker shingle gives a great depth to the roof. For just $1,000 more than using 30 year shingles getting 20 more years of roof life and a better look was well worth it. The steel framing for our deck off the Master Bedroom was expensive but required by code since there is a garage underneath. One the upside that deck is never going anywhere. I think you could park a car on it! I also love the roof gables the Architect Steve Nyes designed. Its just little different and adds some character to the house.
On the downside we are still waiting for Northwest Natural Gas to come and move the meter on the front of the house. Waiting and waiting..... it is really holding things up. Oh and Clean Water Services showed up to start their new sewer project behind our house. Oh you can't imagine the big equipment that is in our backyard. Better they get it done now while everything is already a mess.

Summer Garden Feast

Our friend Chris came by last night with dinner. She is a fabulous cook and it was a real treat to have a real meal!

Back from a week at the Beach and ....

Progess! We have a second story on our addition. Yahoo! It as great to walk through and get a sense of the rooms. The boys rooms in the basement are framed in as well.
The giant pile of dirt from excavating is gone from our backyard. Another good thing.
We had been hoping that our front porch addition would be framed. We are still waiting for the Gas Company to come and move the meter. Please come soon?

Adorned In Grace Flash Mob at the Beaverton Farmers Market

Just got back from the Beaverton Farmers Market. A friend of ours Kate Wilkins is very involved with an organization called Adorned in Grace. Visit their website. http://adornedingrace.blogspot.com/  Adorned in Grace Bridal features donated new and used wedding gowns and formals for resale. Run entirely by volunteers all proceeds are used to bring awareness, prevention and shelter to the problem of sex trafficking. They had a fantastic idea to promote the store and executed it perfectly...a bridal flashmob through the market! Our Jake and Kates son Daniel took care of carrying music through the market. The young women in the flashmob pulled it off beautifully. Congratulations to all the hard working volunteers at Adorned in Grace!
See the video on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGe5RoXksDo

Rock & Roll Lives on Alden Street

We have awesome neighbors! John and Brenda next door invited us to their party tonight... well ok everyone in the neighborhood gets invited but we were thrilled to be included this year. We got to meet more of our new neighbors and everyone is great and very welcoming. The music was Amazing! We still don't know what the live bands name was but we will find out. We would love to see them again.

Our New Home is "Luxury Camping"

We have had several requests to see where we are living during the remodel. Our new digs are inside the shop on the property. It is either luxury camping or trash living... we prefer luxury camping! We have a kitchen, bedroom, living and dining area in the shop and bathroom in the house. What more could we need? Quite frankly we may never move into the house. Well maybe, when the weather turns outside and it is 50 degrees. Life is certainly simple in here. There is nothing like waking up in the morning and opening the dock door and having a full view of your back yard. We have been pleasantly surprised that we are not have a bug problem in our living area either. So door wide open is great. 
Jay now has  proper place to hang all his Model planes he has built over the years. They add a little something, something to our living space don't you think? We also pulled our travel trailer up next to the shop and that is boys bedroom, or "guest house" we tell them.




HOME SWEET HOME



Foundation, Sewer and More

Major work has begun. Or should I say Major Destruction. Just when I thought there was nothing left to tear off or down on this house they keep finding more. Oh well its progress!
Yesterday was the first day of work since we received our permit. The foundation crew came in and started tearing apart the backyard to get ready for the foundation on the addition. Within hours they discovered that the old septic tank was in ground still. Right were a new footing needs to be. In addition the house has been hooked up to the sewer since 1966, but the septic tank has been used as a pass through between the house and sewer. So the whole septic tank has to be pulled and the sewer rehooked up correctly. Nothing like digging into your contingency fund within hours. I did have one of those Oh My God What Have We Done Moments but it didn't last long fortunately. Steve Barnes our general contractor is getting us hooked back up to the sewer in one day. One thing that makes living in the shop ok is having a working bathroom in the house. Thank you Steve! The front porch came off today as well. Inside they are working on new footings and rerouting ducting. I also want to give a big thanks to Mother nature for cooling it down today to 85 degress. The last few days of record breaking 100 degree heat was miserable for everyone.


Contractor Steve Barnes hooking us back up to the sewer!




Septic Tank has to come out




Front Porch Came Off Today



Jay keeps working almost daily to Reclaim our Yard. He has recovered
around 1000 sq. ft  that Blackberrys used to own.

Tried to Beat the Heat with a Beach Trip





Marie Antoinette Cupcake Parlor

  

We got our permit yeah! Work starts Monday!

So hot today in Portland 99 degrees that we took off for the beach to try and beat the heat. Nice try but no such luck. It was 99 degrees in Seaside and Astoria. But at least the long car ride ( traffic, traffic, traffic ) was air conditioned.

We did have a good time in Astoria despite the heat. We found Marie Antoinettes Cupcake Parlor in the old Astoria Bank Building. This building has been restored so beautifully you can't imagine. You even have to visit the restroom, it is amazing.


We stopped at my favorites Romancing the Home and found two huge rag rugs for cheap cheap. Then onto Astoria. There was a sidewalk sale going on outside the Vintage Hardware Store, another favorite and we found a couple treasures there. Last stop Ambiance. Those two ladies have an amazing knack for display. Almost too good though.... as I rarely want to disturb their displays and buy something?
I love just looking at old buildings and signs and Astoria has a bunch.





Ambiance at Phog Bounders Antique Mall

  



Astoria Signs