The construction site is slowly turning into a home
It’s been over a month since my miscarriage and overall, I’m doing well. The overwhelming sadness is gone, but I think part of me will forever mourn the child we lost and feel millions of “what ifs” for the rest of my life. No final decisions made on whether or not to have another child. Thanks to everyone for privately checking in and sending your love.
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It’s been 2.5 months and we’re about 2/3 of the way through our kitchen/hallway/bathroom remodel.
We started with this – my grandparents’ kitchen.
Wallpaper removed (before we decided to gut the entire thing).
We bought the house (instead of renting) and decided to go big, removing the wall (and everything else) separating the kitchen from the rest of the house. We started in late January.
No more walls! This was a huge step, as the wall between the kitchen and dining room/living room area was a load bearing wall filled with heating ducts and electrical wires. Not to mention that the plaster on all the walls, all of which had to be removed, was over an inch thick. Getting to this point took a huge amount of work. Joey and his cousins took down the wall and replaced it with that enormous LVL beam to support the second floor. That beam weights hundreds of pounds. Please also notice that the sink has been removed – which means there’s no running water on the first floor. I’ve been washing dishes and filling water bottles in the basement sink for weeks.
Drywall! We debated hanging the drywall ourselves, and I’m so glad we didn’t. The guys we hired had it up in 4 hours and taped and mudded in no time. It would’ve taken us weeks and probably turned out like crap.
Paint and hardwood floors! I thought installing hardwood floors was way beyond our DIY abilities. I got quotes to have them installed and pleaded with Joey not to attempt it. He was dead set on us doing it. And we did it. It was a painstaking process because of all the cuts we had to make to get the floors flush around doorways and stairs, but I think we did well for our first time. We also saved $600.
Cabinets, appliances and countertops come next, along with getting to move food and pots and pans back into the kitchen, having running water again and eating at an actual table. I cannot wait.
In my book, you two are heros.
Love,
Dad
Thanks, Dad! It’s definitely taken heroic effort!