702 McKinley - A Remodeling Journey

A Visit from the Electric Company

This won't be an exciting post with tons of pictures on our progress, but instead a funny little story to let you know about the non-progress we've made on the house since the drywall party.

Thursday morning my boss & I had volunteered our time to work at the Shelby Soil & Water Conservation District's Conservation Camp. This year the camp took place at the Shelby County Fairgrounds which happens to be located directly across the street from 702 McKinley! After we got set up at our location, we realized the view of 702 was perfect. Ellen (my boss) and I stood there talking about the drastic changes to the house, both inside and out. A few minutes later, we see an electric company truck pull up in front of the house and sit there. It was slightly strange, but the truck pulled away. Within less than a minute, the truck had pulled around the block and had come through the alley and stopped by the house. A man got out of the truck, walked to the back of the house where the electric box is and was there for a little bit. I figured he was reading our meter, but Ellen reminded me that the meter-reading guy typically walks from house to house and doesn't usually have the big official work truck. Curiosity killed the cat and I ended up texting Sean to be sure he had paid our bill...and that they weren't turning off our electric because of it! Sean has kept up with the bills, so it definitely wasn't that, but curiosity took hold of him too, so he called the electric company.

Turns out, DP&L (the electric company) noticed a huge drop in our usage...to the point where no electricity had been used in the month of June and wanted to be sure we were still connected and hadn't bypassed them somehow!

Moral of the story...we haven't worked on the house in over a month...and I'm not the only one noticing this!

I will say, a couple of things have been done since the drywall party...1- the grass has been mowed a number of times by me. If you've seen me out mowing the hill, you've probably had a good laugh! 2- Sean (with no thanks to me) finished the downstairs bathroom and laundry room. We have a working sink and toilet, the flooring in throughout the two rooms, the tub surround tiled, the walls painted and the ceilings stomped! 

I would imagine in the coming weeks we'll be trying to get our butts in gear to get some more work done! A few pieces of drywall have to be removed and rehung before we can get it inspected. Once that's done, then Sean & Doug (Sean's dad) can start finishing the drywall. AND, once that's done, the Wood women and friends can get their paint brushes and rollers wet!

Here's hoping we're in by September! (the official one year mark is September 29)

Kitchen Before

Sean closed Tuesday, September 29th and took immediate possession. I stopped over on my lunch break to go through the house with him again. Though we looked at everything again, our focus was on the kitchen, laundry room and 1/2 bath (which is connected to the laundry room).

PHASE 1 - Before/Demolition

Both Sean & I have learned very quickly that in a DIY whole house renovation/remodel, it's good to focus on a room or two at a time so as to not overwhelm yourself or have too many balls in the air. On the downstairs level, these three rooms are the ones that require the most attention and, in effect, time. PLUS, in order to live in this space, we need a place to cook, do laundry and bathe. Bathe? But, Tiff, I thought you said it was a 1/2 bath. How do you bathe in a 1/2 bath? The 1/2 bath will be turned into a full bath with a smaller tub. Tub, and not stand-up shower, because the full bath upstairs is going to have a nice walk-in shower (similar to the ones Doug, Sean's father, and Sean put in their D&S homes). In talking with the realtor prior to the closing, we discussed leaving the 1/2 bath just a 1/2 and putting in a walk-in shower. She suggested for resale purposes that a bathtub be put in somewhere in the house and since the basement's a dungeon, the 1/2 bath was our only option!

The current set-up of these rooms is this:

(By the way, I'm no architect...I design logos, paint, take photos, etc...this is my "free hand" illustration done in Adobe Illustrator. By no means is it drawn to perfect scale!)

Up at the top is the back porch (which is the laundry room and half bath. Then you walk through the door into the kitchen. The little notches I've drawn on the exterior walls are windows. If you notice on the wall that the laundry room and kitchen share, there are those same little notches. There's an opening there that looks through to the laundry room. That window is going bye-bye! It's one of the many bizarre design features this old house has.

So that's the plan. Wednesday evening  (one day after Sean's closing) I took my mom up to see the house. We walk in and low & behold, Sean was already working hard taking out cabinets! I, of course, was glad I remembered to take pictures of the kitchen the night before!

Before:

Lackluster & Fancy-free!

* Tomboy Tools represent!  Gloves, Hammer & Knee Pads! (I also used my mini crowbar & Sean used my screwdriver)

FYI, if you wondering why my hair looks a little dull and maybe slightly gray, it's because I just can't wash my hair 5 times in one shower in order to get all of the plaster dust out...my limit is 4 washes!

Needless to say, for the past two (nearly 3 days), Sean, friends, family and I have been busy demolishing the kitchen, laundry and 1/2 bath...Post to follow! I promise...I have half of it done! If only Sean would give me a night off, maybe I could update you on the process....and put up some before & demo photos!

No rest for the weary! Sean's a slave driver...at least he provides beer and let's us take breaks!

The hardworking crew of Thursday night!
Clockwise from top left: Chad Geuy, Ross Miller, Me (double masking it!) Sean, & Mitch Rank (*not pictured is my dear mother...she was a huge help too!)

By the way, I'm going to start working on a design to make a mask without bands that go around the whole head...that mushroom head thing I've got going on with my hair is NOT attractive! 

So much love for those who have volunteered/continue to volunteer their evenings to helping Sean & I! THANK YOU!