Sunday, July 31, 2016

House Renovation Week 7: Prep for Attic/Roof

This week the prep work was done to add the attic floor and roof. They also built the interior walls on the second floor. Before too long all the bones of our new house will be up.


MONDAY


Monday they were working on building the interior walls on the second floor and the supports for the attic floor on the exterior walls. No pictures from inside yet, because there is no stair case, just a ladder.


TUESDAY



Tuesday saw more of the interior walls built and the attic floor joists installed. This was the day that my Dad convinced me to go up the ladder and take a picture of the interior of the second floor. I'm afraid of heights so, this was a little tough for me, I took one picture through the opening of one of the back windows and then I was ready to get down. Looking forward to stairs.


WEDNESDAY


They have now finished the interior walls and the attic floor. 

THURSDAY - Got busy and didn't take any pictures

FRIDAY



I thought that it was interesting to see how they got all their supplies up to the third level, using this ladder with a pulley. By the end of the week they were prepping for the third level. I can't get a good shot of it since I do not have a drone. 

SATURDAY



On Saturday, my uncle came back, now that the bulkhead hole was filled and finished off the cement work on the bulkhead. 


Stay tuned and check out more from previous weeks below:


Tuesday, July 26, 2016

DIY Fairy Houses with 5 Year Olds

We've been so busy with the house renovation that I keep forgetting to post about the diy fairy houses that my daughter (who is five) and her friend (also five) made about a month ago. This project and things like this project have been all over Pinterest for a while now. Basically, you create fairy houses or villages for your backyard using recycled items, juice containers, bark, moss, bottle caps, etc...


My Mom had been gathering the supplies for this for a few weeks before the craft.


First thing that we learned is that we should have pre-cut and cleaned the cartons before having the girls start the craft. I think having to wait for us to cut them used up some of their attention for the craft.


The other things we learned were to have more items that covered a large space, make the houses smaller and have more items that they could peel and stick. Also, make sure that the two year old has something else to do, instead of dumping buttons into the grass. They did have fun creating these fairy houses.




Sunday, July 24, 2016

House Renovation Week 6: Up Go The Walls

This was a really exciting week. This week we got to see the walls go up, to create the second floor. We have officially moved from the demolition phase to the construction phase. 


MONDAY


On Monday, my dad and uncle put the bulkhead doors on to finish off that project. The worked continued on the roof to prep for the walls to go up.


TUESDAY


More lumber delivered.


WEDNESDAY

The work continued...


THURSDAY



The first wall is up!!!!! This is so exciting.

FRIDAY





They had framed the whole second floor by the end of Friday. Starting to see what the house is really going to look like.


Stay tuned for more and check out previous weeks below.

House Renovation Week 5: Bulkhead
House Renovation Week 4: More Prep Work
House Renovation Week 3: Rain Rain Go Away

Sumpri Ice Mold & Large Ice Cube Tray Review


I was recently sent more ice molds to test out, this time by a different company called Sumpri. I was excited to test these out because the last ones that I tested were so great. This time around the company sent me a mold for ice balls, an extra large square ice cube tray and an ebook that gave you a variety of ideas.


 First I'll show you the ice ball mold. This ice mold makes 6 balls.




The way that the directions in the ebook tell you to create the ice balls is to fill up the base of the mold to 3/4 full. Then you place the top part of the mold onto the base and push down to secure. There are holes at the top for the excess water to exit the mold.



This process seemed to work pretty well. You do have extra ice around the balls, so I would recommend removing them by a sink. They are very easy to remove due to the silicone material.


Next up is the extra large square ice tray. This one we filled with pink lemonade, so my daughters could have a treat.



My two girls really liked having these lemonade squares in their drinks to keep their lemonade extra cold, for longer. I would recommend these to anyone who wants to keep their drinks colder for longer during this hot summer.

If you are interested in purchasing these they are available on Amazon. I have provided an affiliate link below. I do receive a small commission through this link, this never affects my reviews all my thoughts and opinions are honest and unbiased.





Disclaimer - I received these products free of charge in exchange for a honest and unbiased review.

Monday, July 18, 2016

House Renovation Week 5: Bulkhead

This week there was more prep done for the framing to start and the bulkhead was created. 


MONDAY & TUESDAY - I got busy and did not take any photos.


WEDNESDAY 



By Wednesday they had started stripping the shingles off the house and the rest of the old flooring was removed. My Mom and I also went over in the morning and pruned back all the large bushes and trees so that they could get the excavator out of the back yard easier.


THURSDAY


The supplies for the bulkhead were delivered. 


FRIDAY


They dug the hole for the bulkhead and dug the holes for the deck footings in the backyard. They also finished stripping most of the old shingles.


SATURDAY


My Uncle who is a mason came to help my husband, my dad and a friend of my husband's, put in the bulkhead and start the drain for the sump pump in the basement. It was very hot and they worked very hard.


SUNDAY






By the end of the weekend they had almost finished the bulkhead and finished jack hammering the trench around the entire basement for the sump pump. They were all very tired, but they got lots done.


Stay tuned for more and check out previous weeks below.







Monday, July 11, 2016

House Renovation Week 4: More Prep Work

Another week of the renovation is over. This week was more prep work, leveling the structure so that they can put up the second floor correctly. No real change to the outside from last week. Still trying to keep the rain out so we can save our kitchen cabinets. They did put in a couple of support beams. 

MONDAY - 4TH OF JULY - NO WORK


TUESDAY







WEDNESDAY - GOT BUSY DID NOT GO OVER


THURSDAY




FRIDAY




My daughter tried to get into the last picture. Now the 1st floor feels really wide open.


Previous Weeks: