Day 55: March 11, 2011

Big day. Mark's father, brother and friend stopped by to help. We got a lot done.

The south bedroom closet now has new drywall, except on the outside walls. It also has a working switch, light and outlet.

The west bedroom is also ready to mud, except the outside wall.

The bathroom is now cleaned up and ready to be renovated. Mark seems to have settled on a plan that will keep the plumbing in virtually the same place, making that part of the job easier.

The basement is now clear of debris, which makes it a lot nicer to navigate.

The biggest change, though, is in the dining room. Mark's father and brother widened the doorway in both directions. The difference is striking. It makes the flow much more natural between the two rooms. One pleasant surprise was how much light now comes into the kitchen from the south windows. The feel of the both rooms has completely changed.

Mark and Jessica now have the bank's pre-approval in hand, so we can set up a meeting to formalize our sales agreement next week.

Mark and I have discussed several trade-offs. In exchange for my finishing off the wider dining room doorway, Mark will fix the stucco on the outside foundation. In exchange for my framing in and drywalling an extension of the downstairs closet (for eventual use as a bathroom), Mark will install the walk-in door in the garage.

Day 54: March 10, 2011

I got the circuit for the west bedroom hooked up, so there is power and light in the room. Mark and I finished drywalling the bedroom (except for the outside wall). There's also now a working light and switch in the south bedroom closet.

I took down the trim around the doorway between the kitchen and dining room. In exchange for Mark taking on the responsibility of fixing the foundation stucco and the side door awning, I said I'd widen the kitchen doorway. Now is the time to do it: when Martha is a mess and the walls are receiving new skins.

Day 52: March 8, 2011

Mark and I finished drywalling the ceiling in the west bedroom. Later I got some wiring done and filled the dumpsters for Thursday pick up. (I'm working in Indianapolis tomorrow.)

Day 51: March 7, 2011

I did some electrical work and marked the ceiling for receiving drywall in the west bedroom.

Mark and I put up drywall in the south bedroom closet and the first two big pieces of the west bedroom.

In the afternoon, I got the south bedroom electrical circuit hooked up. There's now light and power upstairs!

Day 47: March 3, 2011

I just realized that if Martha's renovation is really a 90-day project, then we've passed the half-way point. Lot of work still to be done . . .

Mark and I installed drywall on the south bedroom walls. The only wall left bare was the outside wall, which will receive blown-in insulation before it's zipped up.

Because the walls are so thick with plaster, lathe and now drywall, conventional remodeling electrical boxes won't work, so I have to buy some extra-long screws. Once I do, then I can get the south bedroom circuit hooked up, and we'll have our first working electrical outlets and lights upstairs.

I insulated the south bedroom closet ceiling, so it is now ready for drywall.

I'm out of town on Friday, so that's it for posts this week.

Day 45: March 1, 2011

We found a realtor to create our official sales agreement: Leslie Remenschneider. She gave both Dave, Betsy and I and Mark and Jessica a couple of small steps to take care of, then we'll meet with her at her Fort Wayne office.

Day 44: Feb. 28, 2011

I rewired the west bedroom today.

While up in the attic, I noticed that there's a nice new fan for venting the attic on hot days. Right now, it's hooked up to a switch that is located inside the funny half-closet in the bathroom. While at Menards, I got a temperature-sensitive switch made specifically for these fans. I'll install it in the attic and set it so that the fan kicks on whenever the temperature gets above 100 degrees.

Venting the attic reduces cooling costs and makes the roof last longer.