100th Blog Entry!

I’ve typed 100 of these! And at least one person, meaning me, has read every single one of them. Thank you for reading and offering advice and words of encouragement – I really appreciate it. Here’s a recap, starting with Day One, of my remodeling adventure and a few of my favorite posts:

Sunday, August 12, 2007
This is What I Live In (a.k.a My First Post)

This is a small example of the “remodeling” we’ve been doing to our house. By “remodeling” I mean tearing apart 90% of our house all at the same time while trying to live in it. After 5 months of taking it apart, we have yet to start the “put it back together” phase of the project. But we’re really close…

Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Sometimes It’s Fun


In one of my last posts I complained about the time and money it took to add sister joists to all the original joists in the attic. I thought I would share some photos of it since I whined about it so much. They capture the fact that even though this project has been a nightmare at times, it’s also been a lot of fun…at times. With a lot of not fun stuff in between.

Saturday, October 20, 2007
“We’ll Work on the House”

It’s Saturday night. A few years ago, a Saturday night would’ve involved me spending almost 2 hours doing my hair and makeup, putting on my cutest new outfit and heading out on the town with my friends. In the life I am living right now, it means that I ditch the halter top for my grubbiest clothes, throw my hair in a pony tail, surround myself with tools and spend quality time installing insulation. At least, that’s what was supposed to happen tonight.

Monday, November 5, 2007
Where’s Liz?


Joey and I decided to trade the indoor projects for an outdoor activity before it becomes unbearable to be outside in Wisconsin. Of course, an outside activity for us doesn’t involve hiking, a trip to the farmer’s market or a drive through the country. It means building railings for the steps on our front porch.

January 7, 2008
Tool Review: Senco Screwgun

Any guesses what this tool is? Let’s take note of a few features to help us figure it out. First, there are screws with it, which suggests that it’s some kind of device for screwing things in. Second, there is a trigger on it, much like a gun would have. Let’s add it up. Screws + gun…screws + gun…it’s a screwgun!

February 12, 2008
Totally Worth Saving

See this wall? It’s in my house. And I’m keeping it.

Wondering why I would save something that looks like it might collapse by the time you finish reading this? Yeah, I am too. Here’s the thing – over 60 percent of my house is in various stages of being drywalled or mudded, and knowing there’s one less wall to deal with does amazing things for my mental and emotional state. I appreciate this wall. I love this wall.

Friday, March 28, 2008
My Life in a Picture
This picture is a description of my life. See the heels on top of the makeshift plastic closet, the tools in the background and the fine layer of dirt that seems to have settled on…everything? This is my world – one that combines the elements of a regular woman’s life with the chaos and grime of a construction worker’s dream job.

Tuesday, May 6
Grout is to Tile as Highlights are to Hair
Seriously. Grout is amazing. I did not know of its wonders until just a few days ago. Much like the time when I first highlighted my hair, transforming it from a shade my hairdresser called “Dishwater Blond,” to “Yes, My Hair Naturally Looks like Spun Gold,” grout turns “pretty nice tile” into “Holy crap, that tile is awesome!”

Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Tool Review: Husky Wet Saw & Other Tiling Tools

This is our wet saw. It’s the Husky THD 950L 7″ Tile/Stone Wet Saw to be exact, and it cost about $300. If we only had one bathroom to tile, we wouldn’t have spent that much money on a wet saw. But, we have two bathrooms to tile and my parents also have two bathrooms to tile, so we split the cost and now have a family wet saw that will be passed down for generations to come.

Overall, we really like this saw and I would recommend buying one if you have quite a bit of tiling in your future. It’s easy to use, rotates to a 45 degree angle to cut mitered corners in your tile and holds up well to lots and lots of cutting.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Remodeling Has Destroyed My Looks
Although my looks can be described as ‘The Girl Next Door’ type, remodeling has turned me into ‘The Haggard, Somewhat Deranged-looking Girl Next Door.’ I’m about to give you a sneak peak into the dirty realities of living through a whole-house remodel. Please don’t judge me. Instead, make a few remodeling confessions of your own.

CONFESSION 1:
Recently, I wore the same crappy work clothes for four days in a row. By the end of those four days, my clothing was decorated with mud, drywall dust, caulk, paint and texture. What’s even more disturbing is that I went to Home Depot on day three of wearing that clothing. And ya know what? I didn’t think twice about it. Where else can a girl who looks like she rolled around in a construction site fit right in and even get knowing glances from other customers? They felt my pain, I could tell. Those people are my hommies, my brethren, my peeps…just like you guys are.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
One of Us
No one knows the highs and lows of home remodeling like other home remodelers. So, when I learned that my office mate, Cheri, had survived her own home improvement experiment, I officially decided that she was my soul mate. I mean, the girl shows up here with a copy of Monster Ballads for us to listen to and then starts talking about demo and drywall – how could I not instantly become her friend? Anyways, I invited her to be a guest blogger so she could share her incredible Before and After photos. Her response was “I am deeply honored by your invitation and will keep the goal of making you proud at the forefront of my blogging.” No, she didn’t say that at all. But she did write a great post. Enjoy!

Monday, July 7, 2008
E! and The Shower
I have an awkward and embarrassing statement I need to make. That beautiful shower Joey and I worked our butts off to use…the one with shiny new tiles and not one but TWO showerheads…the one that stares quietly back at us whispering “WTF? I don’t get you people” because we HAVE NOT YET USED IT!

I don’t know why, you guys. I don’t know why we can’t do it. Okay, okay I do know why. It’s because we’re chickens. We’re the wusses of the home remodeling world and the shower is the friendly, yet unapproachable, beautiful girl in high school you always wanted to ask out, but were too afraid to talk to – too scared that your hopes of love would come crashing down when she looks at you and says “Really? You think YOU can build a shower that actually works?” and then trots off looking for Blake, the quarterback of the plumbing team, who builds the most pimped out showers in school. Damn you, Blake.

Friday, July 11, 2008
Mullet for Life
I’d like to pause from the home remodeling jibber jabber to share a little known fact about mullets. One that only a small handful of people know about. Until now. Ready?

I had a mullet.

Yes, that’s me in that picture in all my 3rd grade mullet glory. And yes, I do look like a boy. And yes, I do have a childhood memory where some addressed me as ‘Sonny boy.’ And yes, I was devastated.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Shower: Moment of Truth
I have breaking news to report!

Small Town, Wisconsin. After spending approximately one year building a master bathroom and two weeks staring at the completed project, Joe and Liz from “A Constructed Life” finally summoned the courage to stand in their brand new shower and…use it!

“It was a wonderful experience,” said Liz, her voice shaking with excitement. “When I turned the handle, water actually came out of the shower head! And it kept running until I turned it off!”

“This is such an importance day for us,” said Joe. “I’m just thrilled the shower didn’t crash through the floor, leaving me flailing naked on the ground below it.”

The couple, who gutted two bedrooms to create their master suite with master bath, put their shower to the test when they allowed their friends Brad and Chris to try it just moments later.

“We were staying with Liz and Joe for the weekend, helping them destroy the other 30 percent of their home that has to be remodeled,” explained Brad, a long-time friend of The Constructed Lifers. “We were filthy. And they let us clean up in the shower. They are the greatest people I will ever know.”

Chris, who has known Joe since first grade, helped build the master suite. “I put in a lot of hours on that bathroom. I would’ve been upset if it didn’t work. But I also would have laughed and pointed at Joe a lot, too, and that would make me feel better” he said.

Thursday, July 31, 2008
A Dramatic Change of Scenery
How life can change in just one week…

In just 5 days, we went from feeling the sand and ocean on our feet and the Mexican sun beating down on our backs…

To feeling plaster, lath and nails under our work shoes and the sweat from hours of hard labor drenching our clothes:

Thursday, July 31, 2008
Our Electrician is a Right Good Chap
Do you know who I love? Our electrician, Steve, who I refer to as ‘Cheerio Steve’ because he’s British and British people are always ‘Cheerio’ this and ‘Bloody Hell’ that and then they order crumpets and tea and go visit their mum or the Queen. Such a gross generalization might make me look like an arse, but I’ll take my chances. Anyways, my point is…

I love our electrician because he turned this 1900s knob-and-tube wiring mess/fire hazard…

…into an example of streamlined, modern wiring.

Stevie-Poo, thank you for being a good guy, a great electrician, and for simply doing what you said you would. Please have a conversation with our Drywaller, Jeff, who I refer to as ‘Douchebag Jeff’ for reasons I will share in an upcoming post.

Well, cheerio! I’m off to the pub now with some chums for bangers and a pint. Blimey, that’s actually a load of malarkey. Oh, crikey! What rubbish. Have you seen my knickers, you cheeky monkey? Blast, can I borrow a quid? I must look like such a wanker. Okay, that’s pretty much all the British slang words I know.

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