Bathroom Demolition: LEAKAGE!

After finding water in the wall below the master bath Mark immediately called the contractor (after turning off the water to the house, of course). Within 10 minutes, a superindendant was on site, and within 15 minutes of his arrival, a plumber was here. They were able to locate the leak fairly quickly and cap it to prevent any additional damage. Here's the bad news:





The good news is that our contractor has liability insurance and will cover all the cost of the repairs which he estimates to be around $10,000...most of which will cover replacing the wood floors. It looks like a very small spot, but since mom installed them 2ish years ago, they have discontinued this style of parquet...sooo, they're now going to have to replace the entire hall, dining room, living room and Ashley's room, which is a VERY large amount of wood flooring. We're pretty bummed about having to rip up the floors that mom worked so hard on, but we're also trying to look on the bright side. Our old water line was weak, and according to the plumber, could have broke on its own anytime now. I can't imagine having to foot this bill right now! We are so, so fortunate!

Bathroom: Demolition, Day 1

One day late, but finally, the bathroom remodel has begun! Before we let the workers attack, we had to get some fun in first. What could be more entertaining than watching a couple of kids draw on the walls and carpet...watching them hammer walls out, that's what!






And finally, it's all GONE!!! We have a looong way to go, but we're on our way!





We interupt this post *literally* for a bit of a problem. As I'm uploading pictures Mark informs me that we have a BIG problem. Looks like something happened during the demolition and water has been leaking in to the wall below the shower for the past 24 hours. The wall is dripping, paint is sagging, parquet floors are buckling...and there's still the basement that we can't even see because it's filled to the brim with my brothers stuff. Big problems. Huge problems.

I will update as this progresses.

New Toilet!

Another update on the bathroom remodel that I forgot to mention. A new potty! It does seem a little silly to be excited about a new toilet, but once again, I'm not sure if it's the thrill of a deal or the actual toilet itself. So here she is, the Toto Carrollton. Mark is excited about the flushing action (25 golf balls...not sure why that's necessary, but you know boys and their toys..??), I'm loving the skirted sides and soft closing seat, but even more so, the price tag. List price: $582.00, display markdown at Apex: $230.00. Savings: $352.00.

Savings to date: $1,392

Jacuzzi anyone?

Well, today Mark and I made our first big purchase for the bathroom remodel and I am beyond excited. I still haven't decided if I'm more excited about the sweet whirlpool tub, or the amazing deal we scored. Anyway, Mark and I decided on a corner tub, and had a budget of $1000.00. We wanted jets, and room for two. We had one picked out at Lowes for $999.99, but today I found an excellent deal for a brand new Jacuzzi tub on Craigslist. After doing some research on it, we discovered what an amazing deal we had stumbled upon. This is a Jacuzzi Cappella tub retails at a whopping $2,189 starting price. (Although I did find it on bizrate for $1,600). So here's the tub we picked up today: Stock image



Oh, did I mention the price??? This puppy was on Craigslist for a whopping $700, and Mark ended up talking him down to $650. And it's NEW!

Ashley's surprise room makeover

Mark and I decided to take full advantage of the kids being gone all week and we completely redid Ashley's room. Our house was built in the 80's, so there's a LOT of dark wood in the house. While we really do appreciate the quality of all the wood work, we really wanted to brighten up Ashley's room a little. We put a LOT of time in to this project. We painted all the baseboards, trim, window frame, cabinetry, her desk, drawers and three of the four doors in her room. (Yes, she has FOUR doors in her room!!) We replaced her old mini blinds with new plantation blinds, we spray painted her brass hardware black, added new white shelves to her cabinetry, painted her walls a light greenish color...(half price oops rack!), Mark replaced all of her outlets and light switches with brand new white covers and outlets, and we've ordered a very large piece of glass to cover the entire 9 foot length of her built-in desk, and a new desk chair. She has a new comforter, pillows, curtains, and butterfly chair. Oh, and I can't forget her new 17" widescreen monitor, compliments of Nana. These pictures are awful, and I didn't think to take them until I'd already began painting the bookshelf. The bedding is the "Gold" set from the MTV Cribs Collection. You can't see the detail in the picture, but it's very cute with subtle patterns and the curtains behind her bed are a sheer zebra print tied with the matching pink ribbons. These pictures really don't do the room justice, the colors are totally off, but you can get the general idea.




Before:


After:


Before



After:

Barrel o' water

Well, we finally did it! This weekend Mark installed our first Rain Barrel! I have been researching this project for over a year now, so to finally have it complete is just so exciting for us. I could not have done this without my sweet husband. And the icing on the cake was watching the enjoyment he got out of building it. He had so much fun, and THAT, made it even more rewarding than ever.
After all the scattered information I found on the internet, I decided that I would document the process in hopes that someone else might try to create their own water storage system. If just one person read this and created their own and then passed on their knowledge to the next and so on, just imagine all the water we could save together. And imagine how happy our plants and our water bills will be! Pass it on!

The first thing you need to do is find a barrel. Now, there are several options for a collection container. They're all over the internet, and if you have the right connections, you might even be able to bum one off a manufacturing facility of some sort for free. If you want one with a spigot already installed your price will definitely go up, but if you're like me, and just don't want to deal with it, you'll spend the extra $25-$30 for the pre-made barrel. I did some reasearch and found some onCraigslist and Ebay. I chose to buy mine from Ecowise. I appreciate that their barrels are rescued from their journey to the dump and recycled, instead of being manufactured for the sole purpose of profit. Their price was one of the cheapest I found too. About $55.00. If you live in Austin (or even some MUD's) you can get a discounted Rainbarrel, or a partial refund. For more info. see the City of Austin website.

So now that you have your rain barrel, you need to find a location that will work for you. For me, I needed to a spot that somewhat inconspicuous since we do have a neighborhood association, and as silly as it seems, I would probably get a complaint for my "unsightly" barrel. We found the perfect spot right next to the down spout for the rain gutters that's hidden from the street by a red tip bush. This also happens to be a high spot on our lot, which will help gravity do it's thing.

Next, Mark leveled out the ground for a good sturdy foundation. He used rocks and square pavers to do this. He decided to have a slight slope to further aid in the draining of the barrel.

After he had the perfect spot created, Mark got to work building the stand. The higher you go, the better flow you'll get. I'm not even going to attempt dimensions right now, but I think each project will be different depending on the size of the barrel and the space you have to work with. If you want specific dimensions, feel free to email me and I'll get the measuring tape out there. Our barrel is 55 gallons, so we needed to create a structure that could hold up to 500 pounds. You will need to make sure your structure is sturdy enough for YOUR barrel. A gallon of water weighs approximately 8.34 pounds. Oh and FYI before your shopping trip, Mark ended up using about a pound of screws.



After the stand is complete, you can start working on the diverter. There are a few pre-fab diverters that I've seen online, like this one at composters.com
Or, you can go to a home improvement store and create your own, as Mark did.




















The top of the rain barrel is solid, so you'll need to measure and cut a hole for your tubing. Another important step you can't forget is to install either a screen or a trap that keeps debris from getting in to your barrel. HD sells a trap that fits in to the tubing perfectly, or you can install a screen before the entrance to the barrel.





This project took about 4 hours to complete, but a majority of that time was spent just figuring it all out with trial and error. If he had to do it over again, he could probably do it in half the time with the above information.

Now how crazy is this, within an hour or so of completion we got our first down pour. And 24 hours later, our barrel was FULL. Someday, I'd like to have the ability to store 500+ gallons of water. :)

Here are some more resources for Rainwater Harvesting:

Rain Barrel Suppliers

Garden Water Saver

Eagle Peak Containers

Global Issues

Texas Rain Water Harvesting Manual

Our next project is a compost barrel! Fun, fun!

Dads Retirement Party

I have been so anxious to post about the party, but held off in fear that dad might actually read my blog. Ruthie did such a good job of keeping it a secret that dad never even suspected it. Everyone arrived around 1:00, and at about 2:00 Ruthie gathered everyone around to say a few words of about all that we are thankful for, and announce the "real" reason for the party. Dad was definitely surprised. I think it took a while for it to acutally sink in. Poor dad. He told Ruthie long ago that there would be NO PARTY. Ruthie announced that "she" was not having a retirement party, but that "he" was. Dad responded with "no we're not, it's a Christmas Party" Haha! Of course, dad is dad, and his response was to be expected. It was a wonderful party full of people that my dad has probably spent most of his life with. I wasn't surprised to see that he was well liked by his coworkers, some of which probably know him better than I do. I'm so thankful that we were able to show him that his dedication and hard work has really made a difference in so many lives. His work ethic has been a major influence in my life, and it will pass on to my children and become a defining part of our family values indefinitely. It was a beautiful day for us all.

Here are some pictures of the cake I made for dad: