HB House Project

Cabinet Doors

2009-04-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

We finally have our cabinet doors on under our new kitchen sink! See for yourself.

Pictures for Joan

2009-03-10T18:24:00.001-07:00

Railings

2009-03-10T18:19:00.001-07:00

This is the molding that Keith put under each light box. The detail looks great.

Lighting and glass

2009-03-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

The glass over the lights look great. We added dimmer switches that provide just the right amount of light.

More on the Sink - the faucet

2009-02-26T16:30:00.001-08:00

We went through a few faucets before finally deciding on this enormous creature.

At first it looks huge, but in a large kitchen we think the size fits well.

It also ties in the industrial look of the sink, and the finished look of the kitchen.

The Front Door

2009-02-26T08:42:00.000-08:00

Now we just have to put the door handles back on.

The Sink

2009-02-26T08:28:00.000-08:00

Before.
During.
During.

New Sink! Will be installed today.

More on Base Boards and Window Trim

2009-02-26T08:08:00.001-08:00

Raw Wood.

Mill the wood.
Stain and Varnish.
Dry.
Go to Home Depot.
Install around a window.
Down a hallway.

and around a bay window.

The End.

more pictures of the kitchen

2009-02-23T17:13:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow I can post some pictures of the kitchen all put back together. Today I have just a few pictures of the raspberry truffle paint on the walls in the kitchen. These pictures are after one coat of tinted primer, and 2 coats of the paint. As I write this the paint is still wet, and we have not moved things back into the kitchen.

The bright white spot is my flash.

This is just to the left of the sink.

Above the cabinets.

More to come tomorrow.

The Kitchen

2009-02-23T08:40:00.001-08:00

This was the color of the kitchen on Friday. Again, we used the tinted primer to let the red cover better on the wall.

This is this about 5 minutes ago.

Saturday Night Fire

2009-02-23T07:51:00.001-08:00

We had a fire Saturday night. It was Lori's last night in CA.

Here we are trying out the strike anywhere matches we just bought. Just to see if they really do strike anywhere.

They strike on the table.

And they strike on Keith's jeans.

Taking a picture from the balcony was not my idea. It came from Keith. I think he is really getting into the photography/blog thing. Although I don't think he would admit it.

Decorating

2009-02-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

As I said before, I have no decorating skills. My mom is a bit better, but to decorate well, you have to be a good shopper, which neither of us are. My mom and I will walk into a store, there will be 3 people in line, we will look at each other and walk out. If we have to shop AND stand in a line it is just too much.

So, when you have just painted your walls, you realize that some things just can't go back on the same wall or in the same way. The color does not work, the size is no longer right. My mom and my aunts have been going out shopping the last few days. What they have bought really ties the rooms together.

We have been arranging the furniture different also. Will post more pictures later on today.

Joan

2009-02-20T21:10:00.001-08:00

This is Joan. She is my moms sister and they speak the same language. Joan will start a sentence and my mom will finish it. They both laugh at the same things, usually each other, and they work really well together.

Joan and my mom painted the entire living room by themselves. They are painting maniacs.

Joan also stains.

And paints some more.

This is Joan's water bottle. A few times a day I hear her say, "Has anyone seen my pink water bottle?" Joan loves her water.

It seems like Joan never stops painting. She can keep going and going and going.

And at the end of a long day she is great to sit and talk with.

Thanks again Joan for all you have done this last week. We love you.

deja vu

2009-02-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

I had this feeling like I had just been working with Joan, Lori and my mom recently. Which is unusual as Lori hails from Minnesota and Joan currently lived in Lancaster, CA. Then I remembered, they were both here last October.

So I went looking for pictures of what we did when they here. This is what I found.

They helped us beautify the outside of our house with plants galore. We dug a few holes. Planted a few plants and did some watering. Also a few trips to the garden center at Loews. Now replace plants with wood and that is what you have with this trip for Lori and Joan. If we keep putting everyone who shows up to work we won't have any friends left.

The good news is that Lori and Joan made a few friends while they were here.

Thanks Joan and Lori for all your work. We truly appreciate it.

Don't do this.

2009-02-19T20:17:00.001-08:00

When you are painting almost every room in you house. Watch where you lay your sweatshirt.

Gabriel

2009-02-19T20:04:00.001-08:00

This is my cousin Gabriel.

He says I take too many pictures of him.

What do you think?

The front door

2009-02-19T19:29:00.001-08:00

What the front door looked like yesterday.

Early this morning Keith took off the door knobs.

Gabe sanded the doors.

Then we started priming the doors for paint. We debated for a long time about stripping and staining the door or painting the door. In the end we decided that the door was just too far gone to try and stain it again.

So a lot of painting was done. My mom and Gabe did most of it.

This is after one coat of primer.

More pictures tomorrow.

Lori

2009-02-19T18:54:00.000-08:00

This is Lori. She is married to Keith. They live in Minnesota.

One of the things I like about Lori is that she can roll with the punches. She also gets my sarcastic sense of humor and is very easy to be around.

Take this workcation she is taking here in California. Lori has lots of friends and family. Lots of people she could be taking time off with and going to Mexico or Tahiti or the Grand Canyon (you should hear her cell phone ring off the hook). She could have gone anywhere you don't have to stain, varnish, and clean up all day long.

Instead Lori decided to take time off and come be with us.

She makes trips to the Home Depot fun. She can whip up blueberry muffins from scratch before I have even had my first cup of coffee in the morning. She has made everything run around here this week and for that we can't thank her enough.

Lori is special. We are lucky to have her in the family.

With our crazy family, I am just glad she likes us.

Thanks Lori!!

Wednesday Night Fire

2009-02-18T21:36:00.001-08:00

Tonight we had a fire with all the scrap wood we cut up over the last few days.

I had some fun playing around with my camera.

And I took these creepy pictures of Gabe.

Goodnight.

More photos of the living room

2009-02-18T07:57:00.001-08:00

This was the inspiration for our red wall.

We (and by we I mean my aunts and my mom since I have no decorating ability whatsoever) are just starting to decorate around the new red (Raspberry Truffle) wall.

We also have 2 red (raspberry truffle) alcoves to decorate.

Also a new set up behind our couch. We got rid of the shelf system and are keeping just a low table behind the couch. I think the girls are going out shopping today. More pictures to come.

Wax on the wall fix

2009-02-18T07:35:00.000-08:00

How to remove candle wax from a wall.

To get the wax off the wall, first we (and by we I mean Lori) used a hair dryer to melt the wax, then when it was in liquid form we (Lori) wiped the wax off the wall.

Then we (Lori) used a cleaner to get the oil off the wall.

Then we (my mom) repainted the wall. It was an easy fix (for me since I didn't do anything). I think we (me) will be on the look out for a candle snuffer to avoid future problems.

Are crooked fingers genitic?

2009-02-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

My sister brought my nephew Isaiah over tonight for dinner and to play games. It was also his 8th birthday last Friday!

Isaiah and Keith have something in common. They both have crooked fingers. Is this genetic? Anyone else in the family have crooked fingers?

The Girls and Big Gabie

2009-02-15T16:31:00.000-08:00

My brother brought down his two youngest girls for the 10 days he is working here at the house. Everyone thought that Kristen deserved a mini vacation also. You can check out what Kristen is doing with all her free time of being minus two kids here.

In the meantime, the girls have been staying most of the time with Kristen's parents, Grammy and Grampy, down in Mission Viejo. We have had the girls just a few evenings but we are enjoying every minute.

Especially my cousin Gabriel. He has a special bond with Isabel and Mara. He really loves spending time with those girls. Mara and Isabel's brother is also named Gabriel. So the girls call my cousin Big Gabie.

If he does mind being called big Gabie, it doesn't show.

How to fix an on the job wound

2009-02-14T15:51:00.001-08:00

Here is how to fix an on the job wound.

First, get your band-aid and Neosporin.

Next, make your cousin squeeze his finger to show blood for the picture. When it does not work, take a really bad picture of the cut.

After placing Neosporin on the cut, put a Dora band aid on so he is the envy of the girls in the house who also want a Dora band-da h.

Take a weird picture of your cousin with his Dora band aid.

How to paint a wall Red

2009-02-14T14:34:00.000-08:00

Start by painting it a dark gray.

Red is a hard color to cover on a white wall. Our paint guy, Greg from Carrolls Paint in Westminster, recommended that we tint our primer and make it dark gray. Red will cover better with a dark background.

This is today after 2 coats of Raspberry Truffle.

Visible Progress

2009-02-14T12:57:00.001-08:00

This week most of our work has been getting the wood ready for this. The top I-Beam is what we have had as a banister for several years now. The one below is what they will both look like over the next few days. That is the wood that we stained and varnished over the last few days.

Check back later to see how many we (and by we I mean Keith) get up today!

Revolt

2009-02-14T12:41:00.000-08:00

We had a problem on our hands today. Our main painters decided to revolt.

After negotiations they they decided to keep painting. Details of the contract will remain confidential.

Wallboard piles

2009-02-14T08:42:00.001-08:00

My father and I had to break apart wall board so they would fit in the trash can. Can you guess which pile was mine? If you can't I am sure my dad will tell you.

New Shoes?

2009-02-14T08:39:00.001-08:00

Who thinks Aaron needs new shoes? Anyone?

The sink - part 2

2009-02-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

We have made a little progress on the sink. We now have running water in the kitchen. Here my cousin is nailing in some screws into the back board of the sink area. Getting it ready for our temporary sink.

This is the new sink area all painted nice and fresh.

This is Sean. He is our sink guy. Here he is installing our temporary sink. He also took the measurements for the new sink that he is fabricating for us. It will be a stainless steel farmers sink.

Sean was at our house until 6:30 on Friday night installing this sink so we would have some running water in the kitchen. We all like Sean around here.

Now our kitchen can stop looking like this.

We like running water. And clean dishes.

Home Improvement Tip #2 - Don't do this

2009-02-14T08:09:00.000-08:00

A casualty of the remodel.

Aaron wounded on the job

2009-02-12T13:23:00.000-08:00

I have edited the content of this picture to make it suitable for all ages.
Let's hope he recovers.

Before Lunch

2009-02-12T12:05:00.001-08:00

Today we continued working on the kitchen sink.

Grandma Fran, I took this picture just for you. Where are you when we need you?? What a mess. Hopefully it will get better.

"Things have to get worse before they get better" that is SO true for us this week.

Here we are ready to start the day with staining and varnishing.

Here is my uncle telling us how to stain the boards. I can't remember what he said. I was busy.

My cousin kept staining, and sanding.

All our boards, most have just one coat on so far...

Now its time for lunch.

Random photos from yesterday

2009-02-12T07:43:00.001-08:00

We have 4 guys working around the house this week. This weekend the girls will bring the count even, but today I am all by myself. When I try and take their photograph to chronicle this adventure, this is what I get.

Most of the time, they don't even look at me. It is like they have something more important to do, like work.

Then when they do look at me it goes something like this.

But then on a rare occasion, I get this.

We do have some fun around here.

Mountain Dew

2009-02-11T21:15:00.001-08:00

My brother really likes Mountain Dew. I really like my brother. Mountain Dew makes him happy. I like him more when he is happy. I bought a case of Mountain Dew.

Goofing around on the job

2009-02-11T21:10:00.001-08:00

How to make homemade base boards

2009-02-11T15:36:00.000-08:00

Today we made things out of the wood we purchased yesterday.

Here is how we made baseboards. Step by Step.

First, we use a Laguna Tools combination machine and we run the wood through it. Don't ask me how. I just watched.

Then you have your uncle, wearing a weird painter hat, mix the stain -- or is that the varnish, I really don't know the difference.

Then you have your cousin stain and varnish the wood you just sent through the table saw (by the way ladies, he's single). If you don't have a cousin you can substitute a nephew, or even a friend.

This is what they looked like after one coat of stain.

And here is the base board finished. 2 coats of stain and 2 coats of varnish.

Finally, you have to wash the sawdust out of your shoes...another great day.

I don't think I left anything out. Let me know if you have any questions.

Keith

2009-02-11T12:29:00.000-08:00

This is my uncle Keith. I was teasing before, he knows exactly what he is doing around here. Here are just a few of the things he has done over the last few weeks.

Painting.

Patching.

Milling wood.
Milling more wood.
Home Depot trips.

Explaining how to stain and varnish.

Fixing the sink.

And, he can be a bit silly at times too.

Thanks Keith, we could not have done any of this without you!

Wood Delivery

2009-02-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had some wood delivered. Here are the series of events as told by me.

Wood delivered on a big truck very early, before coffee.

My uncle, brother, and father discussing what we should do with the wood. It seems serious.My uncle is measuring the wood. I told him we probably should have ordered specific sizes of wood, instead of getting the variety package. But no one listens to me.

In the end we decided to move the wood from the driveway to the lawn.And then inside the house.

It was a hard days work.
But everyone seems happy.

The kitchen sink

2009-02-10T19:54:00.000-08:00

Our kitchen sink (among other areas of the house) has a problem. It cracked on the front and back of the granite surrounding the sink.

So today we did this.

No sink tonight. This is what we had for dinner.

Home Improvement Tip #1 - Don't do this.

2009-02-10T19:38:00.000-08:00

When you spend a weekend painting your entry way hall for a party you are having, don't put two long stemmed candles on the hall table and then blow the wax all over your freshly painted wall. It will bum you out.

Anyone know how to get wax off Edgecomb Grey paint? Any tips would be appreciated.