Remodeling

Our weekend was filled with more than the Easter bunny and candy. We started a major renovation of our laundry room and pantry, later to continue on into our kitchen and hopefully make it more functional. We have spent the last four days removing, tearing down and re-plumbing. As all remodeling projects go it took longer than we had expected. The people that lived here prior to us were self re-modelers themselves and anything they build we have found is a pain to remove. If 4 nails are sufficient to hold a board to the wall, they would use 12 extra long nails along with 6 or 7 screws. We did manage to remove all the walls and floor with the help of lots of pry bars, brute force and a chainsaw.

We were without water for a few days and had to borrow our neighbors shower, washing machine and water to drink. But Mike was able to successfully reroute the plumbing and hook up the washing machine and dryer in their new location and restore our water. Very impressive I say since he had never done it before and was able to complete it with a few small leaks that he soon fixed.

Me modeling the shelves before we destroyed them.

The hole we created by removing the shelves.

Yes, thats a chainsaw he is using! Quite a handy tool in our remodeling project.

Removing the floor boards and paneling

Now we just have to decide how we want to start on the kitchen and start picking out new cabinets, flooring and tile. I'm such a bad decision maker it may take awhile for me to decide and so we may be working on this project for years. Anyone want to help me make a few decisions and help speed up the process?

While removing the flooring and walls this weekend Mike and I received a few bumps and bruises, not anything too serious. Unfortunately Natalya wasn't so lucky, while playing outside she fell down the front steps landing on her face.

While we were remodeling the girls spent a lot of time outside and playing with each other. They enjoyed the warm weather, swimming in the pool and having lunch outside. Here is a picture of them just out of the pool eating lunch while drying off.