More deals

We've really been blessed with good deals lately! In addition to the toilets...

12x12 marble tiles, regular price $4.87, bought for $1 each (these will be backsplash around the tub and maybe a bathroom countertop)
bathroom vanity/cabinet, regular price $79, bought for $39
outdoor light fixtures, regular price $10, bought for $2.50

and I never did mention the Trex decking, but we really wanted to use Trex on the decks outside of each exterior door but the cost is so much higher than wood. Frugaldad was in Home Depot one day last fall and found a discontinued color marked down more than 60%. So he bought enough for both decks.

He also found some PVC trim marked down 90% to trim the basement windows on the exterior.

When you are doing a project the way we're doing it (long and slow), you can often postpone purchases until you find a sale or a clearance special. As long as you know what you're looking for, and what you need, you can buy and save a ton of money. Just don't buy something just because it's cheap, buy it only if you love it.

potty talk

We're getting close to the end, and that means fixtures. We've been shopping for the prefect toilet (who knew there were so many options?) and had decided on the brand and model. One day Frugaldad was walking through Home Depot and came across some toilet bowls, almost the exact model we had already decided on, with one of the features missing (if you're really curious, we were going for the "right height" model and this one wasn't) and it was marked down on clearance from over $80 to $13.80. It seems they are changing only the model name, nothing about the toilet bowl itself. So he bought two, one for the addition and one to replace one of the old toilets in the original house.

Now that's what I call frugal renovation.

My Christmas gift to you

an update!

We decided to hire out the tape and mud portion of the drywall.

Wait, did I even tell you we were already to drywall?

During September Frugaldad hung the drywall on the ceiling with his friend Jack.

In October we hung the drywall on the walls together. I put the first two screws in most of the sheets while he held them up. Also in October we moved, widened, and heightened the opening from the main house into the addition.

Then we had a baby! He built decks outside each door and started on the stair railing. We decided that it was worth it to hire out the tape and mud and texture, so the crew started work this past Monday and will finish up next week. We spent the weekend cleaning up tools and drywall scraps getting everything clean for them.

A peek at the progress. More pictures in my Flickr Addition Set.

From sill plates to sheetrock--a year of construction

We have a posterboard on our kitchen wall on which we write down the major milestones in the construction of the addition. For my own curiosity, on Monday, which was September 1, I looked back a year to see what we'd been working on. On September 1, 2007, we installed the sill plates. (yes, we're cheap. look who we hire for labor)



And on September 1, 2008, Frugaldad finished putting drywall up on the ceilings and started on the walls.



(this is the last piece of ceiling to get sheetrock. Tune in soon for the explanation of how one man and a very pregnant lady got drywall on the ceiling of a stairwell all by themselves without too much work.

Getting pregnant and breaking my ankle at the same time really derailed me from regular updates on this blog. Sorry. Baby is due in 6 weeks so I will try and get the rest of the photos in Flickr at least.

We PASSED!

Our electrical inspection, that is. On the first try! Think of it like this--the electrical code is a huge college textbook that is updated every three years and you walk in and pass the final without ever going to class or meeting the professor, who can change or enforce the details of the code at will. Go Frugaldad!



And what a pretty, neatly wired sub-panel!


We also passed our structural (framing) inspection on the first try as well!

Ahhhhhh.......

You might remember that we broke ground for the addition back in July 2007. That was almost 11 months ago! Since the old air conditioning unit was in the path of destruction, we bought a little window a/c unit. Combining the little window unit with about 5 strategically placed fans, we were able to bear the summer heat until the weather cooled.

We've been lucky enough so far this year that until the 2nd week of June, the temperatures stayed below 70. Not so good for my garden, but great when you don't have any air conditioning. Until now. We're now the proud owners of a shiny new heat pump and air handler and I don't even feel that guilty when I turn the thermostat down to 75 so the kids can get some sleep without sweating.

There's still a lot of work to be done, but every little thing is one step closer to completion!

Siding

After we did the blue foam insulation on the outside of the building, we hired someone we know to come put the siding up. I just realized I don't have any finished pictures, so this one will have to do! It is currently raining or else I'd go snap some.