Lori in Sparks, NV 88 entries to date 108 forum posts to date
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 12/3/2007 8:10:30 PM
Well hello,
I know it has been a long time since the last post. Many of you have requested picture, but the camera card is acting up, so I only have one picture and no time to post. But we are in mortage loan close stage and hope to be finalized in 10 days.
Picture is of master bath.
Bye Lori
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 9/25/2007
Well the heaters are now complete and the propane company delivered the tank. So we will have heat real soon.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 9/24/2007
Craig called the plumber to come hook up the gas line to the heater no return call, but he showed up on Monday while everyone was gone and installed the piping. Unfortunately the wrong size. He came back out on Tuesday to fix the error. He also installed all the ball valves for the master toilet and sinks.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 9/18/2007
Here are pictures of some of the plumbing fixtures. We had to reorder the toilet for the hall bath because it doesn't match the sink. So we will change the new one for the all ready installed one in the hall bath and put it in the master bath. I have included pictures of our free hardware.
We haven't started getting them put on yet. But, they can wait.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 9/15/2007
Before the water line was hooked up to the toilet Summer decided she wanted to try it out. Yes! she is in the middle of potty training.
The plumber was out yesterday we can now use the facilities. Ashley is happy!
Ashley painted the living room on Friday.
Craig started on the hardwood floor in the den on Friday and finished today when he got home from work.
While Craig was at work today, Scott and I tiled the master bath except the tiles that needed cut. Since the tile lays in a pattern we couldn't do the out side walls or we would have been stuck in the room until the mastic dried.
We also started painting the outside of the house. Ashley said "Craig really wants the house to blend in doesn't he". The color is kind of a desert brown green. The trim is cream and the doors are a dark brown. I wanted a sage body, but couldn't talk Craig into that one.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 9/13/2007
Ok here goes the recent activity list.
We have an STOVE I am soooooo glad we have almost all the electrical work done. They still have to put the oven outlet in and we will be able to install that too.
The plumber installed the tank less water heater, the kitchen sink, hall bath sink and toilet. Summer was the first to sit on (in) it. Good thing there wasn't water hooked up to it yet (plumber didn't bring the right fitting). He also hooked up the septic to the house, so we be able to use it tomorrow when the water is hooked up.
Steve is due out Friday to finish the return air system for the HVAC.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 8/15/2007
Well a lot and a little has happened in the last month. Craig ripped his shoulder muscle, so it is hard for him to do much heavy lifting. He just grins and bears it.
Ashley and I painted the hallway, primed the kitchen ceiling again and she primed the living room, so Craig and Bryan could start their work in there. They got the hardwood flooring down in the living room and it looks great.
We also got our reorder for the lights, here is a picture of the dining room light. The first special order lights were not even the color shown in the book.
Craig got the boxes made for the heaters and started the return air, but wasn't sure he was doing it right. He called his friend Steve who owns D-Tech Heating to get advice. Steve said he would finish the job the help Craig out.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 8/2/2007
Carpet and cabinets both are installed. I have included a picture of the knobs we got for free, but haven't installed. Picture of oven that we will be able to use Thursday after the electricians finish yah!
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 7/23/2007
Craig and John were going to install the heaters, but we were missing a piece that needed to be made. So Craig had his friends Bryan and John painting the kitchen, den, and the spare bedroom. Little by little we are making it look like a house.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 7/19/2007
It has been a very productive six days. My little sister Christine works as hard as I do. We got the master bedroom painted. She cleaned the entire tile flooring in the kitchen and dining room area. Then she and Craig got the cabinets installed (except above the frig/freezer area). Home Depot quoted $5,000 to do the job. So, for about 10 hours of work they saved us a lot of money and the cabinets look great. TIP: screws drill in better if you twist them into a bar of soap first.
Yesterday when I got home from school Chris and I finished tiling the bottom part of the shower walls in the hall bath (the 6x6’s). We were getting ready to start on the 4x4’s and the accent pieces, but the accent pieces needed to be cut apart for the design we were doing. I put a new blade in the box cutter and I was ready, but the box cutter had left over mastic on it. Bright/anal me decided to scrap it off with a screwdriver. Needless to say the next thing we were doing was driving to the ER; 10 stitches and 4 hours later we were home. I will defiantly have a decrease in the output of my work (it’s hard to tile in a bandage, and one handed). I cut the top of my middle finger and the pad of my thumb on my right hand and of course I am right handed.
When I cut my hand all I could think was get out of the house you’re bleeding. So I ran and Scotty chased me. He told his dad it was like running after a chicken with its head cut off.
Scotty has been doing the taping/texturing and doing a great job. He has finished the den, spare bedroom, hall, and the utility room.
Pictures were taken when tile was complete, but not grouted.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 7/13/2007
Mom went home today and my youngest sister arrived for a visit from college. We have a busy home every summer and this is no exception.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 7/10/2007
Well the drywall job won’t get finished again. Time was not used wisely and my mom had a stroke, so when she gets out of the hospital they will be going home.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 7/9/2007
Dianna and my mom got here July 3rd, just in time for dinner. Dianna started work the next day.
Not a lot has happened since Dianna has arrived. She hired a laborer to help out. If they would just stay a full day they could get the job done. The most they stayed is one 6 hour day. They don’t arrive until about 10am and complain about the heat and leave between 12 and 2. During this amount of time the kitchen was textured and two rooms were prepped.
Mom really wants to be useful I’m just afraid of her getting hurt. She helped me with the tile in the hall bath. Using mastic didn't work so we are scrapping it out. Since it has been a week and it still isn't dry.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 6/12/2007
June 10th
We went to HD to exchange ¼” Hardi board for ½” so Craig could finish laying it so we could then put the tile in.
June 11th
Dianna and Gary left today. He needed to get back to Oregon to work. He left some of the trim work to be done, but he was here longer than planned. We are lucky to have him in the family.
June 12th
I got up early today and decided I was going to figure out my kitchen tile dilemma if it killed me. And yes I got it. The issue goes like this; the accent tiles are 14” and the field tiles are 16x16’s so trying to make a rectangle with the accent tiles with the field tiles in the center was trying, but I after several math problems written on the walls and a few sample lay outs I got it just the way I wanted. AUG 18TH I added a picture.
P.S. see the second picture? The missing tiles were discovered a few days later. They are glued down now.
I glued down the shower liner to the drain and tomorrow I will staple the liner to the side walls and do the second layer of cement.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 6/9/2007
Gary finished the Hardiplank siding and started on the trim. They want to leave on Monday, so I hope he gets the trim around the house finished.
With Dianna’s help I put the first layer of cement on the floor of the shower in the hall bath. We have to wait 24 hours before we put the liner on then the last layer of cement then another 24 hours and finally the mastic and tile. Since we had to wait we decided to lay out the showers tile. After we laid out each wall we looked at it for a while to decide if we liked the way it looked. Then we numbered them and re-boxed them. I really wanted to start hanging the tile, but since we need to start at the bottom we must wait.
Craig was filling up the water tank for the trailer and the weld spots holding the tank in place busted and the tank fell to the ground. It sure is a good thing Bryan loves us.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 6/8/2007
June 5th
Gary and Craig moved the scaffolding to the north side of the house so Gary could start on that gable. Dianna sprayed textured the ceilings in the hall bath and master bedroom. They look soooo good. I can’t wait until the whole house is done.
June 6th
Well today was the last day of school, it was really sad to see the kids go. It is the hard part about being a teacher.
Gary has the North side gable almost completely finished. He wanted to get the siding done in two weeks and he is at 3 now and still has a few more days to go.
June 7th
A lot happened today!!! The electricians were out today four all together; the owner Berrie, his son Anthony, and two other workers. The light in the master closet finally got moved. The worker that installed the wiring wasn’t paying attention and put the light box right next to the pull down attic ladder, even though he was showed exactly where the ladder would be installed. As I walked though the house with my sister today I had to wonder why we have so many plugs in the kitchen. I also noticed that one of the boxes will be behind the appliance garage. No appliance garage for me.
The phone company guy came and hooked up the phone, so we could use the house phone if we had phone jacks.
Damon and Jaime dug the trench for the LP gas line.
June 8th
Gary finished putting up the Hardiplank on the north gable and it looks great. He still has to finish a few top pieces, caulking and trim. I am sure he can’t wait to go home.
Dianna spray textured the master bedroom walls. So, I can prime them then paint.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 6/4/2007
Craig called Whitten’s Electric and asked about getting some of the lights on. The box doesn't even have all the wires hooked up yet, so, better safe then sorry. Gary finished up the south gable with siding.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 6/3/2007
Craig has guard drill this weekend, so he will be gone during the day.
Sierra Pacific Power showed up today ”Happy Birthday To Me”. Mark said “when I leave here you will have power”. Since not all the outlets in the house are wired we couldn’t flip the switch to see light.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 5/31/2007
Craig went to HD and rented another set of scaffolding so Gary could make a plank to walk while installing the Hardiplank. The scaffolding is costing a pretty penny.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 5/28/2007
Britney has been packing for days so getting most of the stuff moved to the storage unit was not difficult. We are out at the property now living in a camper. Craig’s friend Bryan bought it a few months ago. It is really nice to be living out here, but we can’t get the water heater to work or the oven, so I have to boil water or go into town and shower at the old house.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 5/27/2007
Gary is installing the siding as he waits for Dianna to finish her drywall job. It is going pretty well for him and it is looking great
Since we didn't finish the house in a year we have interest payments so we decided to move out of the house in town to save money. Some of Damon's friends will be living there.
A friend of Damon’s helped us with the packing. It was really nice of him and his wife to take time away from their day.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 4/14/2007
Well after several conversations with Jackie at IHE we finally got the cabinets ordered. We went with KraftMaid. We upgraded the cabinets with easy slide drawers; added two angle Lazy Susan’s, two trash bins (one for trash the other for pet food), plus the manufacturer had a deal that ended the day we paid for the cabinets, (free hardware). We weren’t going to get hardware, but since it was free we got it anyway.
We picked natural oak arched doors. I wanted something knotty, but just couldn’t afford it with all the cabinets we needed.
I designed the kitchen so the area where the freezer and frig are they pop up to the ceiling and so does the area in the corner down from the sink.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 4/12/2007
It is finally finished. I didn't think those holes were ever going to be filled. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest. Craig rented the backhoe for a week just to make sure the holes would be complete. Nation Rent, now Sunbelt Rental gave us a great deal. Not sure if it was because we are return customers, but we aren't complaining. We also rented a dumpster and the guys got the place cleaned up. It looks good. Dianna and Gary had to go home we will miss them. They were great help, enjoy the pictures.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 4/10/2007
Dianna and Gary finished the drywall in the house. Inspector said it needed to be done on all garage walls that are connected to house, so Craig will be doing that since Gary needed to get back home.
It all looks good feels more closed in now. I think I liked it better when the ceiling had no drywall, since I could see more.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 3/24/2007
Dianna and Gary hung all the drywall in the kitchen and the living room, but around the fireplace and called Butch to get an inspection to get the ok to start taping those two area. He said yes we could start taping only in those two rooms.
Saturday Craig and I worked on installing the attic ladder and those of you who know Craig, know he really isn't into reading directions, so this picture is for you.
On Friday Craig got the pressure tank installed and it looks good.
Thanks to all our loyal readers.
Lori
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 3/19/2007
Called for inspection last night and Butch came out and signed us off so we could start drywalling.
Dianna and I bought a dry wall hoist at a rental company. If we had rented it, we would have paid the same price as buying it. So, that was a no-brainer for us. I can let our friends who are building use it then sell it.
Gary is glad that we bought the lift it had made the job so much easier. Here are some pictures - hope you enjoy them.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 3/17/2007
Since John didn't come back out Friday we just had his list and hanging insulation to do Saturday. Craig, Scotty, Ashley, Dianna, Gary, Summer, and myself spent the day out there and we had a bar-b-q for dinner. Summer wasn't much help, but she is just turned one. We got the list finished up except for the water heater venting. We haven't even bought the heater or vent yet. We had a good time this weekend.
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Posted to toolehouse by Lori in Sparks, NV
on 3/16/2007
We called for an inspection last night because we thought we would be able to get it done before 2pm, but Butch was off so our old inspector John had to come out and he only does morning inspections, so we weren't ready. Plus when he got there he had a whole new list of things that needed to be done.
Off to HD we went to try and buy an item we had never heard about (baffle).
Here is the list of this inspector request.
- The plumber forgot the tack down the gas hose.
- The electrician didn't tack down all the wires.
- We hadn't poked the bathroom fans through the roof yet.
- We didn't have a fire block above the self contained fireplace.
- We also had to nail 2x6 blocking around the bottom of the shower stalls.
- He also wanted to see the venting for the tankless water heater, (which by the way Craig was pulling away from because of the vent pricing approx $25 a foot).
- Last those stupid baffles.
When John walked around he said I know you want to start dry walling this weekend, so if I can get back out here later today I will, but this was originally my day off to watch the UNR basketball game. Well he never came back out and I think UNR lost, so I guess we were safer that way.
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