The Wall is Coming Down!

So, here is a shot of the new 9 foot opening in the wall! I am so excited! Thank goodness my darling BF took this big task on for me. Yeah!!!

So, he has some electrical wires that we have to move over a few inches and then it is hanging drywall, tape, texture, paint and then I get my floors put in! I already bought the new laminate flooring and it is just sitting in a corner looking pretty. I can't wait to see it laid down. I tore the carpet out of my bedroom yesterday (all by myself!) and we will take the laminate from the living room, in the front entry and down the hallway and into my bedroom. I am thinking about putting it down in my office too because that is on the other side of the house from the bedrooms and I thought it might tie everything in nicely.

Well, just thought I would share that I was expecting my deposit back from the rental house I was in and opened a letter a couple days ago, expecting it to contain my check and I found a bill for more than $1000!!!! I must have had steam coming from my ears! So, they decided to replace the carpets and decided to charge me for that. When I moved in the carpets had bleach stains in two living spaces and dark black areas in the master bedroom. It was nearing the end of it's life when I moved in. It was time to replace the carpets and with all the bleach and black stains there were pre-existing, they did replace the carpet and sent me the bill. The property managers were also my realtors who just sold me my new home. I felt so betrayed and so hurt that they would try to make me pay for an expense that they have in their line of work, completely unrelated to me. The carpets were clean when I left them, there were no visible stains other than the ones already noted when I moved in. When I called, she said that there were pet stains all over under the carpet. I just about wanted to jump out of my skin! My dog doesn't have problems going to the bathroom in the house! She would be mortified (and me too!) if she ever did anything like that. Clearly that carpet had seen many, many other renters before me. I had heard that the previous renters had at least one dog. They can't send me the bill for carpet that had seen its' final days. I am so furious...and hurt...and disappointed in the integrity of the world.

I haven't posted since...

Well, it appears I haven't posted since I got the keys to my new house. For good reason, I think. This has been such a tough move. I didn't really quite understand what moving into a fixer-upper really meant till we got in. The carpet had been soiled so terrible by pets previous to us that one of the first things we did (after getting the essentials working) was tear out that nasty carpet and padding. We have been preparing the floors for laminate flooring, removing staples and such, so it is smooth and then I put a layer of Kilz down. We still have to tear out the carpet in the three bedrooms but we started in the living room, entry and down the hallway because we knew that was going to be laminate flooring. We painted the ceilings, kitchen, living room, entry and hallway walls. That helps to make it look a little better - it's amazing what a little bit of paint can do. And it also helps so that when we get the flooring in, we won't have to worry about doing a bunch of painting with the new floors down.

We went around and around about another project and eventually Jose decided that it was important to me enough that he would take it on. There was a wall (notice I said "was") between the living room and kitchen. It was a perfect situation to take the wall out to open up the two rooms. He wasn't a fan of the idea because he likes to keep rooms separated. He says "the kitchen is the kitchen and the living room is the living room". But, you know that is the popular thing to do to create a more open feel is to have the kitchen open up to the living room so you can have a conversation and interact with guests and family while you are in the kitchen. I am thankful he took this on. It is turning out beautifully. Because the wall is a weightbearing wall, we didn't take the whole wall out but created a 9 foot opening in the wall. To me, it is perfect! We had to move electrical outlets and put a beam up to support it all. I learned alot through this whole project. We are getting close to being able to put the drywall back up and then we will be able to prepare it and paint it and then put the flooring in. Oh, I forgot! There is another wall that joins with that one that runs along the entry and then into the kitchen that is a half-wall. I think we will do the same thing with that one to open up the living room. But it doesn't appear to be a weightbearing wall and the half-wall looks like someone added it years ago.

I also took the drywall off of another wall in the kitchen where a little wood burning stove sets in the corner. It had these wood pieces on the wall and we hated it. We will do all the drywall, tape and texture at the same time on all the walls.

I have purchased the laminate flooring already. It is just sitting there waiting to be put in. I can't wait! Here's a few pictures so you can see what I have been busy doing...

This is the wall in the corner of the kitchen that we removed the wood pieces from to reveal this...
I tore this drywall off yesterday. It is now ready for new drywall, tape and texture.

This is the wall that we pulled paneling off of to reveal more of those wood pieces and under that was the drywall. Oh my! So, this is the wall that also came out. You can see the halfwall to Jose's right. That one is coming out too (I believe).

I have more pictures but haven't uploaded them yet. Will share more later.