Weekend Update

When people ask me house the house is coming, it's hard to give an answer.  Everyday when I leave from working on it, I feel like I accomplished SO much!  Then I look at the big picture of the house and feel like it will still be months before we can move in.  I know it's a process, but I'll be excited when large items start to get installed.  You know, like a tub or shower, maybe a toilet or cabinets.  Right now, it's just gutted...

To be honest, we didn't work on the house hard core this weekend.  There are a few things we are still waiting on in order to get everything moving.  The main thing we're waiting on right now is the inspector to approve our footing holes before we can pour the concrete.  They're ready for inspection, we've just had a hard time getting a hold of him.

The footing ready for concrete :)  Mike was really proud of his rebar bending abilities...

The other side... again, Mike is hailed as the rebar master :)

Aside from getting the footings totally ready, we cut a hole in the ceiling of the hall for an attic access.  We also bought a bunch of 1/2 inch ply board to put up there for storage.  I was tasked with cutting it into smaller pieces.  

Just call me carpenter girl.

We also removed the old laundry room door and replaced it with a new one that actually closes all the way!

We removed the old door and busted up the concrete and tile underneath it.

Mike, preparing the entry.

No door.

Open door.

New, closed door.  I painted the trim and it should go up today.

The last thing we worked on this weekend was the downstairs bath and getting the floor cleared.  Using the chipping gun is hard work!  First, I attempted to use the scraper, but to no avail.  I used the gun for a whole ten minutes, then put Mike on it...  I'm not looking forward to the larger tiled area in the living room/kitchen.

The rubbish we needed to clean up.

I HATED scraping!

The chipping gun was better than scraping, but it is a full body workout!

Here it is semi-cleared, but it's hard to see texture in a picture.

Just another day in paradise...

Well, we spent another late night at the house again.  Mike almost got epoxy in his eye, and I nicked my leg with the shovel.  The sun going down is our cue to leave, but sometimes we just don't take the hint.

The yard is coming along; slow, but steady.  Here are a few before and current pictures.  We have a long way to go... but hey, it's a start!

May 2012:  Grass totally dead (when we first looked at the house)

June 2013:  Grass coming back!  (house is ours, but we're not moved in yet)

May 2012:  dead grass and no pool

June 2013:  grass is coming in and we have a working POOL!

The start of my oasis... a girl's gotta start somewhere :)

My Plumeria is blooming!

So purdy :)

The footings are almost ready for inspection.  Mike spent most of the day yesterday drilling the holes for the rebar and prepping the footing for cement.  He set up a nice hanging contraption that he's pretty proud of :)

Mike hanging rebar and epoxying it into the existing slab.

Look at my handsome hardworking hunk :)
[My English students would have appreciated the alliteration...]

Another little thing I'm working on is the back corner.  This is more than just weeding, folks!  I had to dig out the roots of this awful plant.  I was getting very angry; hence, the attack of the shovel on my leg.  I found a few treasures in the process though:  an extension cord, and an 8 plug outlet timer. 

My nemesis.

I still have to do the finishing touches of course, but this shot was literally taken in the dark.

Let's rewind a bit.  Before all the house work, I actually had an eventful morning.  I think I drove yesterday more than I have in a while on this island.  I went hiking with my friend, Emily, so I picked her up from Mililani (stop 1).  We then drove to St. Louis Heights for a little hiking excursion (stop 2).  We didn't do anything extreme, but it was so nice to be up in the mountains in the brisk air.  It was a nice ridge hike [Wa'ahila].  Emily and I decided to head to Kahala for lunch at The Counter, a build-your-own-burger place (stop 3).  I dropped her back off in Mililani (stop 4), and met Mike in Waikele (stop 5).  We left for the house but forgot the keys, so had to go back to Waikele (stop 6).  We made it to the house and switched vehicles to take a load to the dump.  We finally got rid of the jet tub!  After leaving the landfill (stop 7), we headed to Home Depot/Target/Costco (stop 8).  Back at the house, Mike realized he got the wrong bit to drill a hole in the concrete.  So, back to Home Depot (stop 9).  After working way too long, we finally drove back to Waikele to crash (stop 10)!

Emily, queen of the ridge :)

Beautiful view of town...

Gettin' my hike on.

Another lovely shot of the valley and town.

Hikers.

Until next time...

Footings and Fences

It's cool and overcast outside, I have coffee in arm's reach, and it's a beautiful day for blogging.  We are so blessed to be able to stay with friends in such comfortable conditions.

I'll start with Sunday's progress on the house.  Our friend James came over to help Mike cut the concrete where the posts for the beam will sit.  His son wasn't feeling well, so he cruised by the pool.  I arrived after most of the cutting was finished.

There were two things I didn't realize about this project:

1. The concrete saw is extremely loud, so both Mike and James wore ear muffs.
2. You have to use water when you cut, so it's also extremely messy.  

They cut the footings in a little under two hours and the rest of the slab will be excavated via chipping gun.

  

Slab is cut.

James getting the job done.

Wyatt hanging out by the pool.

Once the concrete was cut, I used the shop vac to get all the sludge from the floor.  Meanwhile, he starting chipping away at the outer wall.  Specs say we have to go 12 inches deep with the footing in order to attach re-bar to the existing slab.  

Self-pic vacuuming up the sludge.

Thankfully we didn't have to remove the outside wall.  We just cut a foot on each side of the house.

Mike chipping away at the inside.

We call this the back-eotemy.  You'll need one after digging at this angle. (Outside of the house).

On Sunday, Mike worked well after dark and came home a few hours after I did.  After wearing safety goggles all day, during his last ten minutes at the house, he managed to get cement in his eye.  He didn't sleep well that night, so after a midnight trip to Walmart Pharmacy he decided to stay home from work on Monday.  I took him to Kaiser and the doc said it's just extremely irritated, but nothing else was in the eye.  He gave him some eye drops, we went to see Star Trek, and then we headed back up to the job site :)

I worked on removing all the chicken wire from the back and trimming the California grass encroaching on our fence from the empty lot behind us.  Now my wrist is sore from all the twisting!

This was a process, but I'm glad it's done.  Someone literally went nutso with the staple gun!

I have experience with California grass from my many island hikes.

Chicken wire = gone.  It's the little things...

I also removed the lattice and wire from the back.  It was just worn and junky.

BEFORE:  closed off and cramped.

AFTER:  opened up.  Once I get in here with the pressure washer it will look awesome!

Happy Father's Day

SUNDAY:  I'm celebrating another Father's Day in Hawaii away from my daddy.  I just called to wish him a wonderful day, but talking on the phone just isn't the same as giving him a great big hug in person.  I was so happy my family was able to come out for our wedding.  The week of the wedding was so PERFECT!  I just can't believe it's been over a year and a half ago already...  I LOVE YOU, DAD!

The relationship I'm most thankful for on this day is the one with my Heavenly Father.  You love unconditionally and provide for all my needs.  I pray that I am constantly reminded of your generosity and unfailing love.  I am overwhelmed that you have saved me from my sin and an eternity without you.  God forbid that I make light of your name and forget your sovereignty.  These Point of Grace lyrics just popped into my head from a song I used to sing back in middle school:

God forbid that I find You so familiarThat I think of You as less than who You areGod forbid, that I should speak of You at allWithout a humble reverence in my heart, God forbid

Well, we've had an exciting weekend so far.  On Friday, the beast beam was delivered by Honsador Lumber.  Drew, Frank and Mike moved it into the house all by themselves!  Casey was babysitting some friends' kids and we enjoyed the pool while the boys did the heavy lifting.
FRIDAY:

The Beast Beam...

20 feet long, over 400 pounds :)

Casey, Tavian, and Tasia enjoying the pool and some snacks :)

After Frank and Casey left, Mike and I went to work on framing out the temporary walls.  Each side had to be about two feet from the center load-bearing wall in order to take the pressure of the middle wall.  

Framing... ain't no thang.

The start of our temporary wall (right); load-bearing wall with small beam (left)

Mike and I put up the entire right wall Friday evening by ourselves; we worked until dark.  We traded off and used Mike's new DeWalt impact driver.  That was well and good until we bought the nail gun Saturday morning.  The nail gun was crazy fast!  Mitchell, Luke and Brooke came over to help out yesterday (Sat).  

SATURDAY:  The boys went to work on finishing the temporary walls and taking out the center wall with the small beam.  The beast beam will go in sometime next week/weekend.  

Framing.  Luke looks professional.

Mitchell inspecting the progress.

The current load-bearing beam coming out.

Temporary walls up and the current beam coming out.

Bye bye baby beam.

Two temporary walls with the middle wall completely OUT = success.

While the boys worked on that, Brooke and I got the upstairs rooms ready for texture and paint.  We sanded all the ceilings (after previously removing popcorn), we applied putty to any holes or rough looking areas, we removed fixtures and outlet covers, then we took a break by the pool!

Putty Queen.

Sanding extraordinaire.

Grrrr.

Brooke fighting with the blinds hardware.

A hard day's work.

After Mitchell left, the Naks stayed for a while longer and Luke was able to frame out the medicine cabinet in the master bath.  We cleaned and worked on little things here and there.  Finally, we ordered Thai food and picked it up on the way back to Waikele to enjoy a wonderful meal with good friends.  Thanks, Luke and Brooke.  You guys rock!  We are so blessed to have so many good friends who are willing to give up their time to help us out... Thank you all.