"...how much more shall the Heavenly Father give to them that ask."

Luke 11:1-13 "...how much more shall the Heavenly Father give to them that ask."

Sunday, September 30, 2012

The Stairs Story and Hardwood Floors Begin

So after the drywall was installed and the painting was mostly finished, the deal with the stair guy from Colorado went through... of course it did... I serve a God who cares about the little things. 



Here's the story, so I have always known the type of stairs that I wanted for this house from the first day I purchased it... spiral.  And having looked at hundreds of log cabins over the years, I knew the type of spiral staircase that I wanted... logs.  Duh! :)  So after many, many, many phone calls to companies all over the US, I realized that this would be a very expensive set of stairs and way out of my budget.  But one of the last phone calls I made to StairMeister Stairs gave me some hope.  After talking to Bill Schwartz, one of the owners, and his announcement that these stairs start at $12K, I informed him that this was way out of my budget.  However his response was, "well, I might have something that will work out in the shop."  ...music to my ears!  He proceeded to tell me that he had a set of stairs that he'd had for a while and that he would not sell them because they did not meet his standard of quality.  He said he would sell them to me at less than his cost if I was interested.  Of course I was and he said that he would send me a picture to see if I was ok with the "flaws."  Upon seeing the picture and not even being able to see a flaw, I called him back and said yes, I was interested.  So the next BIG problem... would it fit???  You see, this set of stairs was custom made for an entirely different house with different dimensions.  The floor to floor height, the turn of the spiral (direction), the number of treads, and the size of the spindles, all had to work in my opening, something that could not be changed. 

These three pics are what Bill sent to me to show me the "flaws."
And wouldn't you know it, it fit perfectly!  How do you explain this??  I have a way.  G-O-D.  Oh yeah, and I didn't tell you about the price... all for under $5K.  So I ordered the stairs and had them shipped from Colorado.

But before the stairs could be installed, I had to get the hardwood floor finished in the living room.  So here are pics of that project.
My neighbor's son, Scott, helped me get the floor started.  What a blessing!
 



Katie was trying not to freeze while overseeing my work... ha ha!

BTW... it was COOOLD while I was laying these floors.  My little heater warmed me up for a minute at a time :)
The final piece of the front room!




Thursday, September 20, 2012

An Update

So, this is the first post I've had in a looooong time, let me explain...

I moved out of my apartment February 2, one week after I had to put my cherished dog of 13 years, Ty, down.  After this, I realized two things: 1) living in that apartment which I HATED without my companion would be miserable, and 2) I didn't want to keep paying rent when I had a house that I could live in and save some money.  So, I finished packing up everything that I had actually unpacked (which wasn't much) and moved it into the house.  I threw a mattress on the floor in my loft, bought a heated blanket, and started camping out in my house.

Ahhh, camping... so I had two extension cords strung from a temporary power pole that supplied the only electric in the house, this allowed me to run my blanket at night to stay warm and I had a port-a-john for bathroom... oh yeah, I didn't have the plumbing on yet.  I am blessed to be in a profession that relies on locker rooms, so that's where I took showers mostly.  My colleague and friend, Sara, invited me over quite frequently for supper and a hot shower too... what a blessing she and her husband Shawn have been!!!

So without power, there is no computer or Internet, and hence, there have not been any blog posts for several months.  But the good news is that I have power and plumbing, and yes, the Internet now.  Most of you know that the house has passed the final inspection, however, I want to continue updating the blog in the order in which the construction took place.  So I am going to continue posting as my time permits to show you the construction phases and projects until I have my open house (sometime soon, I hope).

I hope you are all well,
In Him,
Shonna

 

Sunday, December 25, 2011

here's what happens in a month...

So, since last you heard from me the drywall has been hung and finished, a new roof has been put on, the siding is done, and painting is75% finished... hopefully that will be finished in the next day... and then we begin laying the hardwood floors.  My goal to be in by Jan 1 probably will not be met, but I won't be too far off.  I ask that you continue to pray for safety for me and my helpers, that the insurance company will come through on the roof claim... that has put me way behind budget, and that the guy in Colorado who has a set of scratch and dent stairs will be able to get them here within my budget.  Thanks in advance for all of you who have been praying for this project.  God continues to bless me in ways and with things that I have no other explanation for, except He loves me and people are praying for me.  

septic pipe before...

finally got my tractor from Ohio!!


septic pipe after...

drywall truck arrived... now to get it in the house.



now that's what I'm talking about... I need a crane!





about a half day into it, half of the house has drywall up



starting the finish mudding

oops... a pipe that didn't get framed in... so now I get to drywall too!

another oops... a bathroom closet that got closed in... more drywall for me.

closet with drywall removed

headed to the dump with the scraps


a dump trailer is the best!!


ok, this is not my best drywall hang ever, but I was piecing it together with scraps... you'll see the finished product eventually :)

framing and drywalling the pipe


and two spots upstairs that didn't get drywall... not sure what these were meant to be... but I framed them in and will finish.

but I couldn't forget a very important thing... my gun safe!!!



the message.... don't walk in uninvited if you expect to walk out!


taking off the old ridge vent

people were worried about GREEN...




I'll put some finished pics of the roof on my next blog...

and the painting begins... this is primer.


Katie... Patrick's girlfriend... came out for a night... lots of fun!


I get to do the fun stuff! :)

Patrick is telling you how high it is... he's not daring it, he's afraid of heights (although I have pushed him out of that comfort zone a bit... he he!)




hanging on while Patrick moves the whole scaffolding... see next


this is as high as Patrick gets... and this is pushing it!  He's telling me I'm CRAZY!



Daniel, from Romania and owner of Carolina Wood Flooring (I recommend), wrapping the first bundle of hardwood because it is pouring down rain... nice!





you get a better deal with cash... and yes, this project costs money... LOTS of it!

after 10,000 pounds... yes, I said 10,000... of hardwood floor over two trips, two days, 70 pound box at a time... WE ARE BEAT!!!


Patrick wanted to see what it felt like with his shoes off... not quite the same as it will be when its out of the boxes and nailed down... ha ha!

hat's coming off, hands are shot, forearms like rubber... I need a break... you can't see the other half of the boxes that are in the back of the house. 
MORE TO COME IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS!!