Reel Renos: June 2006

And the Golden Shovel goes to...

Mike "Goon Spoon" Kelly...wow...what a digger extraordinaire...and super hard worker. Because of Mike's skill and determination, we were able to have a working toilet the day we moved in. For some of you that might not seem like much. For me, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you!

Mike in the trenches...

We're finally in!

We're not done yet...but after nearly 4 months of hard work...we are finally in. Jay pulled off a working toliet at 2 am on Friday night (well, technically Saturday morning). We've moved in some furniture, appliances have been delivered (the beer will now be cold!), and we are in the midst of putting together our new Ikea kitchen cabinets. It feels so nice to have our things again...and to sleep in our own bed!

I'll keep updating with pics as we move along. It's really starting to look like a house vs. construction site ;)

The kitchen...

The living room...

The bathroom ...

Bathroom vanity...

Finally...a good sleep in our own bed...

This will be the colour of the cabinet doors (hoping to install tonight!)...

Maggie is adjusting fairly well to her new digs...but the old girl clearly doesn't like change! She's sticking close by to us until she's used to the new pad. So close by that she actually crawled underneath our bed on Sunday morning...and got stuck! She's not as slim as she used to be!

T-2 days...we hate tiling!

T-2 days until we move in. I'm sure there are some bets going around that it's not actually going to happen (and given our track record, the odds are in your favor), I'm happy to say that it looks like we're going to make it.

Last night we finished grouting the bathroom...and while I must say...we have both developed a very strong dislike for tiling...the end product looks fantastic! I'm very proud of this one and I can't wait to get to use it soon!

Here are the pics...

Jay was happy to be taking action shots...

Just look at how straight those grout lines are... ;)

Jay is officially a plumber...

I had made a promise yesterday of adding more pics today. It was a busy work night last night...so I only have two...but I think you'll like them. More to follow tomorrow...

CORRECTION NOTICE: Mike Kenney (Mr. Holmes for those of you that read the comments on the blog) was instrumental this past weekend in the 'shoveling of the poo' as he liked to call it. My apologies for not highlighting that...I'm sorry...Jay left that part out. He shouldn't make you shovel poo...that would have never happened if I was there...you deserve the golden shovel...

I'm going to give you both the password to the blog so you can update as you wish and make sure the facts are straight. Enjoy everyone...Reelrenos has two new editors.

Here are the pics from last night...

This is Jay working on connecting our plumbing to the street...

Jay is officially a plumber...I'm lucky ;)

The race is on...T-4 days until we need to move...

Now the excitement/panic begins...we need to move out of our current furnished rental by Friday morning by 10 am. It scares me a little that I'm including the 10 am part, but I have a feeling it's going to be that close. Any wagers? The good news is that so much work has been done...and we really are getting there.

Since our last update, the shower has been tiled, bathroom, hallway, and kitchen floors have been tiled, the hardwood is refinished, and with a very special thanks to Mike 'goon spoon' Kelly(Jay had me add in the goon spoon part), there has been some serious digging action going on in the basement and it looks like we are ready to tie in the plumbing.

I'm hoping to take more pictures tonight, but I'll leave you with this pic of Jay, showing off the new tile floor that Joe & Mike helped him with this weekend.

We promise all of our great friends that have helped so much a really great party! Soon...soon.

The home of our new kitchen...

The ball just keeps on rolling...

It's hard to believe the progress over the last 10 days, walls are up, painting is done, hardwood floors have been refinished (with the exception of one final coat that will go on two days before we move in)...there is no stopping us now!

This weekend is tile laying weekend. Jay will be on a house boat for the boys stag...so we'll just have to see how well I do without his handiness ;) Our good friend Joe is hoping to be on hand to help - here's hoping you come back next week to see pics of completed flooring!

As you can tell from the pics below - we haven't had an opportunity to discuss landscaping yet ;)

Kenney - my apologies for the lack of updates...your 'updates,updates, updates' email clearly should have started a fire under me...and yes, Mr. Holmes is the hardest, strongest and savviest of Foreman Jay's crew. He also likes to be called his 'first mate' but that is an entirely different story...