HARDWOOD FLOOOOOOOOR

Today was very productive!!!!We got started right away putting in board down the hallway. Amanda's dad worked one end by the master bedroom and I worked from the kitchen.

Not long after, Jay and Erin showed up to lend a hand. Jay and I got busy right away with Tom putting in more boards.
Erin got to work finishing up the closet doors.

After looking at the bathroom now and seeing everything else soo nicely painted, Amanda decided to paint the cabinets and give the bathroom a fresh coat of paint!!!!

The men continued with the floors. We finished the hallway and the corner for the fridge. that was the main priority for me today. The fridge is being delivered tomorrow and it needed to be done. I looks great with the molding up!!! Thanks Ruth for getting all the molding painted today, even though we think she caught amanda's cold (see begining of painting).

I only had 2 mishaps, well not really mishaps and not really injuries. But the hammer met my finger twice, and not different fingers, THE SAME FINGER, OUCHHHH!!! Smashing your finger with a hammer hurts, if you didn't know that.


As you can see, we got alot of work done today and it really looks great. Looking forward to tomorrow and Craigs help once again to finish the hardwood floor in the master bedroom and hopefully we can get our furniture in a little early!!!






Thats all for now, need to go relax and rest my back/legs/arms/FINGER so we can have a productive day tomorrow. Might be abel to use the snow thrower again soon, snow in the forcast!

Dining room DONE

Craig came by tonight, (thanks ash for letting come over), got everything nailed in in the dining room. We had everything lined up just had to nail it in. We only had to make a few special cuts.

As you can see, we were able to make some nice cuts around the baseboard heater. We were lucky enough to be able to put the last board in and not need to rip down another board, as it fit like a glove!!!


We started into the kitchen, but we have to finish the "first" board along the front entryway at the top of the stairs. We were able to nail in a the first few rows but we had to stop and wait to finish on saturday. We need to finish the kitchen saturday so we can have the FRIDGE DELIVERED and we can have a regular size fridge, we have been using the small dorm fridge amanda had at school.

Thats all for now, I'll be back satuday night with some more exciting news and pictures!!!

Updated to do list! State Of The House

Here is an updated list of things to do! Might be missing some things

-Finish Hardwood in kitchen, hallway and bedrooms
-paint and mount the molding
-paint the coat closet
-design and create bar area
-appliance delivery
-furniture delivery
-install TV - (including services)
-install light fixtures
-unpack boxes
-finish painting doors
-finish odds and ends (baseboards - handrails- kickboards on stairs)
-get rid of the rest of the trash
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-MOVE
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After move in
-Landscaping
-Remove ugly fence
-fix up playset/swing/slide
-build a vegetable garden
-continue work in the bar area
-build a firepit



and i'm sure there is lots more for both sections. if anyone wants to help on any of those items, you are more than welcome to!!!

I will be at the house later to work on #1 - floor installation

Important Lesson Within!!

This evening was very productive. I got to the house and Tom had stopped by after work to check the compressor, which is all fixed.

Speaking of that, here is your lesson of the day:
If you are using a compressor and it was working when you plug it directly into an outlet great. If the next day you move the compressor and use an extension cord - not great, and it wont work. So the lesson for the day is don't use an extension cord with a compressor!

Craig and Jay stopped by to lend a hand. Jay was busy trimming all of the door molding. This is a very difficult job and Jay made it look easy. thanks for the help!!

Craig helped me with the floor in the dinning room. We nailed in most of the rows, including going around the doorway. We got as far as the nail gun would nail and then we racked the rest. I am gonna go back thursday and nail them in.








Thats all for now folks!!

Trash Day

Just a short entry today. Stopped by the house today after work to move in some more things, check the mail and take out the trash. Tuesday is trash day now!! WAHOOO!! I will be at the house tomorrow night with Jay again while the wives are at class. We are going to get some work done on the floor so we can move right along.

Thats all for now, more to come tomorrow!!

Very Productive Day!!!!

Hello all, I am back tonight. Today was very productive and we had some nice visitors stopping by and helping out. After a quick breakfast, Amanda and I got to work, cleanin the kitchen and laying out tar paper. Soon after, the Lacouture Crew showed up and we were back at the floor.

Amanda and her mother Ruth were back to the painting and FINALLY the "blue room" and the "Red Room" are no longer and are now the Office and Guest room with neutral colors!!!!!

We had some help today from my parents, they showed up with tools and work clothes, ready to help out. We had an important job for my dad, the shower doors. We HATED these shower doors, they were ugly and i felt made it feel claustrophobic in the shower, (not that I've showered there, but i went in to test it out. After the doors came out, he installed a new curved shower rod, which will be sooo nice!!!


My mom was very busy painting the closet doors. We have lots of doors so this was a big help! She brought us some traditions for a new home, something Sweet/Sugar (Wicked good cake, salt, and bread.

We were also delighted to have a gift from my grandparents, two mezuzahs. Mezuzahs are nailed to the door frames. (click the link to learn more!!)


After a tasty lunch and yummy cake, we were back to work. While I'm on the subject of lunch, a little history. See the first day we lived in Blackstone and I was installing some AC's I was hungry and needed a quick bite to eat, I ventured to "downtown blackstone" and found TKO Pizza and had a chicken finger meal. MmM TASTY!! This has become our favorite pizza place and I have become good friends with the owner. Now that we were moving I got sad that we would be leaving TKO behind, but not to worry!!!! When I told the owner where we were moving he said, "Not a problem!!! My brother in law owns a pizza place right down the street, Niko's Pizza" So, now we have been saved and have a new pizza place, keepin it in the family.

So back to the floor we went we got quite far, even some boards into the kitchen We made some great progress!!

We had some visitors stop by throughout the day, The Rankins family and Jill and Travis. But we quickly learned the house right now is not "Kid Friendly" Many things to get into, lots of loud noises and tons of sharp tools to play with.






My dad installed a light fixture in the office, and after trying a few wires, he found the right one that worked with the light switch!





At the end of the day, we admired our work. Thanks to everyone who help or stopped by, Tom, Ruth, the Levy's the Rankins, Rob and my Parents.




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on a side note, after working all day, we met up with my parents once again, along with eric & Connie and Connie's Mother and Sister at a nice chinese restaurant on Federal Hill in Providence. The food was great and they also made little birds out of carrots and potatos as decoration for the dishes!!
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IMPORTANT SCEDULING NOTICE

Now that vacation week has Ended for Amanda and her dad, work won't be going as fast as it had been. We will be going to the house when we can and posting on the blog as things progressl.

Stay tuned!!!

Guest Blogger - Amanda

Today's blog will be written by our most favorite guest blogger - Amanda!!

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Hi everyone! I am so honored to be the guest blogger tonight. I know that you all were holding your breath in suspense and have been checking the blog religiously to see who the "mystery person" was. HaHa.

Anyway, today was another productive day at the house (but what day this week hasn't been productive?). I got to the house early, even before Dad and began fixing the walls in the master bedroom where I missed a few spots yesterday due to my exhaustion. Dad arrived about 8am with his buddy Bob to get started on the floors. I swear Dad and Bob were like two little boys laughing and teasing each other all day. I felt like I was back at work!

Through of the all the giggles and stabs at each other they did a great job. They got into the groove and started moving along quite fast. When I finished the master, I began working on getting some paint in the other two bedrooms. Mom arrived about noon with lunch from Annie's Market, THANKS MOM! Then she and I finished painting what we refer to as "the red room" which will soon be our office. It's going to need another coat, but it was a start.

Mom and I then tackled the stove/oven. It was DISGUSTING. I still sometimes look at what was a pretty dirty house to my standards and think "people actually live like this?" Thank goodness for Lysol cleaning products!

About 3pm Dad and Bob finished the flooring in the living room and we all decided to call it a day. The living room looks great. From ugly green rugs to beautiful hardwood in one week ... we are making progress.

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Now for the highlight of my night ...

Sean and I ventured out for some dinner at Restaurant 45, one of my favorites and then headed out to Lowe's. Sean and I decided it was time to buy what appliances we needed. We got a new fridge and ... a Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer. We saw this on a recent episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8 and I fell in love! After talking with the nice man, Joe, in appliances he educated us enough to know that we definitely wanted front load washer and dryer so the Duet it was. The fridge and washer/dryer will be delivered next Sunday! I can't wait to move in and do some laundry (who would have that I would ever say THAT!)

Tomorrow we will be continuing with the floors and painting the other two bedrooms. We are also expecting lots of visitors throughout the day so we look forward to seeing you all.

Until next time ....

p.s. Be sure to leave us some comments. We have heard many of you are following our progress and we are curious to see who you are ...

FLOOR DAY!!!

Got to the house early today, took a day off from work, to well...work. But this is a different type of work. When I arrived, I noticed a much deeper snow accumulation than at our apartment in Blackstone, so I decided it was a perfect time to test out the snowthrower!! There was just about enough snow to use it, and it worked quite well. We also received our trash bins and recycling bins today.

Amanda was hard at work painting the master bedroom. Now Amanda had been suffering from a slight cold and hasn't felt quite 100% all week. With that being said, she has work very hard and has been determined to not let it stop her. So now that it is Thursday, a week from the closing and lots of work, her body was catching up to her. She was getting tired and she was allowed to. And, unfortunately it showed a little in her painting. She got the master bedroom done, but.....it needs a little touch up towards the end of her painting today. At around lunch time, she called it a day and headed home to let Tom and I work. She headed home for so much need relaxation and rest.

In the meantime, Tom and I trimmed the molding in the living room, notched out the first few board to fit around the baseboard heaters. We top nailed the first few boards in place and then it was home free from there. We lined them up, tapped them in and brought out what I like to call, "The Monster" gun. One tap of this pneumatic device and the nail went in, luckily it hasn't gone through my boots yet.

I did have one slight mishap today while putting down the floor. I noticed after a while that the boards just didn't feel right and things were wobbly and not staying in place. What I did not realize was, I did not have an endless supply of nails in the gun, I HAD "NAILED" 3 ROWS WITH NO NAILS.....arrgh So after realizing this, we had to go back, pull up those rows and re-nail them all into place. Oh well, now we know to check and make sure we have enough nails (well actually they are huge staples) in the gun


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On a side note, It is nice to see that people are actually reading this blog and I hope I bring some enjoyment into your lives and you enjoy seeing our progress. Please feel free to comment and leave your words of wisdom.

And to jsut think, one week ago to was the closing and we stopped by the house where there was....Ugly green carpeting all upstairs, holes in the wall, ugly eggshell molding and doors, dark red and dark blue walls, linoleum in the kitchen, faucets that leaked. Alot has been done in the past week and Amanda and I want to be sure to thank everyone that has helped us so far.

We look forward to 4th of July at the house with all of our friends and family. Mark the calendars, if you are reading this, you are invited (well unless you came accross this blog randomly and you have no idea who I am)

have a good night. Tomorrow we will have a mystery guest blogger to fill you in on the details of the day since I will be at work all day!

Goodnight!!

MORE PAINT

Today was spent painting, mostly by Amanda and her dad. They finished the kitchen and hallway and prepped the master for paint tomorrow.

I arrived in the afternoon, after picking out our entertainment console and stopping to see my mom to pick up our final wedding DVD and wish her a Happy Anniversary (31 years).

I spent some time marking the floors so that we know where to put the nails when we put down the floor. Speaking of floor, tomorrow begins what we have all been waiting for,.......FLOOR DAY!!! I cleaned the living room and vacuumed up all the little pieces so we can begin putting down the flooring. I helped amanda with some trim paint at the end of the afternoon. And no, that picture isnt upside down, she took this from up above in the living room.




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This section is specifically for unscientific measurement purposes only...We have figured out that the space between the countertops and the ceiling is "1 Amanda" because of this non-scientific measurement, it was concluded that she was the best person to complete the task of painting above the cabinets.

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and on another side note, we saw the first snowfall at the new house this evening.-----------------

until next time, when we have floors........

painting day

I was at work most of the day today but came to the house later on and worked into the night. Tom, Ruth and Amanda spent most of the day painting the kitchen, some more ceilings, edging around the stairs and the hallway. There would be more pictures but Amanda didnt take any even though i made sure she had the camera. If you want more pics, email her amandamatthews28@gmail.com :)

So when I got there today, Ruth was cleanin up the place, us men make messes. I finished painting the stairwell to the basement. I also pulled the rest of the nails from the molding and touched up the trim in the bedrooms.

Jay came over and had some dinner, amanda so nicely cooked a meal and left it in the mini fridge and heated them up in the oven. We enjoyed it with some cold Aruban Beer - Balashi (was thinkin bout you craig)

Jay painted the ceiling in the "red room" while i primed the "blue room" and we also primed the red room. We also brought up some of the boxes of wood from the basement to the dining room so that on thursday, the nails start flying and hardwood floor is goin in.

So all in all a very productive day. more painting tomorow.

I'm off.....

Lots of Painting

Paint crew showed up this morning early and got hard at work. Amanda and her dad painted most of the day - dining room done, most of the trim work, doors, and ceilings. I showed up at around 2:00 with the snow thrower (thanks to our landlord lucien) after working the morning at work.

We had some help from Brandon (smitty) and Alicia. Brandon helped pull rugs and paint ceilings. Alicia pulled the rest of the staples and has a nice blister to prove it!!!

We'll be back at it tomorrow with more painting, but it is nice to know all the carpet is GONE, no more ugly green carpet!!!!!! We need to paint the molding and finish prepping the floors for the hardwood. Cant wait to see the finished product!!!
Meanwhile, the trash mountain on the back deck is growing, good thing trash day is soon!!!

until next time........

Flooring delivered and PAINT

So today was very productive. We started out the day meeting the delivery guy from lumber liquidators and unloaded the flooring into the basement. Tom helped the boxes off the truck and me and the delivery guy brought them in the house. 48 - 6 ft boxes 960 square feet


We then had some help arrive, Rob (amanda's brother), Lisa (his wife) and ciarra (the niece). All were a great big help. Rob helped fix a few small leaks and replace some sink fixtures. Lisa was busy doing some work in the kitchen and bathrooms and Ciarra was very busy helping amanda pull staples and wash walls. She was a big help today!!!!

Pizza came at lunch time and painting began. Today we were able to paint the ceiling in the dining room, living room, stairwell and hallway. We also painted the walls in the living room and stairwell.


We pulled the carpet out of the master bedroom and got all the staples pulled. We also decided to pull the linoleum in the kitchen since it was not glued down. That was easy and it will make things easier when installing the floor.

Tomorrow Amanda will meet her dad at the house and work throughout the day. I am going to go into work early to get things done and leave work around mid day to be able to get more work done at the house.

More to come tomorrow.