Memoirs of a Martin: Home Sweet Home Reno: Month Three

November 21st made 3 months of being home reno-ers. Also, coincidentally, 3 months of my wishing that Joanna Gaines and I were BFF. Okay, let's be honest- it's been longer than that.

So the main theme this month was making dust. A lot of dust. I'm not even kidding. Black pants that cross the threshold will leave gray pants. I am fairly certain some of the floor removal carried over into this month. Mostly pulling up the wood floors that were in the study and dining room. Our GC hired an employee to assist in this endeavor. More on that below.

So here's a summary of the month if you're just looking for that without all my babbling-

Accomplishments:

Removal of wallpaper in kitchen, dining room, master bath & Brynn's bath
Removal of wall o' mirrors in the dining room
Demo of previous toilet area in master bath
Widened opening of master bath
Demo of master bath vanities
Kitchen preparation for new beam
Welding & installation of new beam
Removal of old garage entrance door to kitchen
Installation of new garage entrance door to laundry room
Installation of pocket door from laundry room to kitchen
Demo of fireplace surround
Start of column removal
Listed current house
Sold current house

Purchases:

Pendant lights for kitchen
Chandelier for foyer
Chandelier for breakfast room
Chandelier for dining room
Fixtures for the girls' bathrooms
Approximately 1,076 paint samples

In the Pipeline:

Still paint colors
Finding an Electrician
Finding a Plumber
Finding a Sheetrocker
Finding a Money Tree

As I've mentioned a zillion times, I've really got to start documenting this stuff more timely. Otherwise I forget the exact order of operations. What I mainly remember about this month is the day that I called our GC on the way home from work, as I often do, to see how his day went. He informed me that it went well and that he had hired an employee. When asked how he found said employee he let me know that he'd found him at Home Depot. An arduous interview process was conducted of the gentlemen outside looking for short term work and Mario won the job. Anyone who knows my Dad is laughing right now.

Mario assisted in lots of things through out the course of the month and we were very thankful for his help. I know the GC appreciated having someone to help with the demo-related tasks so that he could focus on planning and purchasing as needed. I appreciated the stories and watching their working relationship. Super Mario has since completed his assignment.

The most notable accomplishment of the month was the installation of the steel beam where the wall came down between the kitchen and living room. If you're thinking that you mis-read that and/or that I had a typo, you are incorrect. The beam is, in fact, steel. It was hand-welded with love by our GC. Also probably where we will go if a hurricane ever comes because it's not going anywhere.

I jest, of course, because that's what I always do. In reality it's actually incredibly impressive. He constructed and installed the entire thing himself. When I asked how he installed it he chuckled and said "it's proprietary," and when pressed he started explaining laws of physics and I zoned out. Suffice it to say though that it's amazing. In case I wasn't sold on the awesome factor by myself, every sub-contractor that we have interviewed has commented on it.

Two other exciting discoveries were made this month. Who says that renovations are all bad news? (Can you hear me knocking on wood from there?) The first was that our GC did some calculations (more physics) and determined that for a fairly minimal cost we could remove the column that separated the dining room from a pseudo hallway to the half bath. The second was that underneath the barrage of sheet rock and mirrors- our fireplace was made of... wait for it... BRICK! Brick fireplaces are probably part of my love language.

That's essentially this month in a nutshell. We are clearly in the thick of the renovation madness. Stay tuned for what month 4 held!

This column is gone now but I was doing a little paint color sampling. This is SW Dovetail. Which I actually am not using but is a beautiful color. This is an excellent representation of what the house looks like though- nearly every open expanse of sheet rock has at least one paint sample on it.

The GC and his hard-working inspector in the zone. (This is pre-beam)

This is allegedly what our kitchen will look like. Some day.

Some people receive pictures of their children while they're at work. I receive pictures of shoring up for beam installation.

3 out of 6 of the shoring thingies. (Don't google it. That is the technical term.)

This is the entrance to the master bath from the master bedroom. We widened it a foot or so. We plan to one day install barn doors.

A picture of the beam in position.

Ta-da! Beam in, shoring out. You like that ducting? We're going for a rustic feel.

Ryan's project for a day off was demo-ing the fireplace. I was pretty pumped to receive this text. She's not much to look at now, but hopefully we can get her cleaned up and whitewashed to perfection.