House Renovation Update

I mentioned in an earlier post that Patrick's house flooded, and there's been some progress on the renovations. Especially for our parents, I wanted to give an update with a couple pictures.

First though, let's go back... September 17th, 2011, 5:30pm.

Taken about an hour into our progress

After a great day of jet skiing with some friends at Bartlett Lake, Patrick/Chance/Belle/I planned on quickly stopping by his house to get a change of clothes before heading to the Mercury playoff game. We were stopped in our tracks by a couple inches of water throughout his entire house.

We kicked into 'emergency mode' and immediately got to work making phone calls to insurance & Servicemaster and then started getting the water out of the house.

Three hours later, we finally had most of the water out and were EXHAUSTED. Servicemaster wound up coming the next day and set up 3 dehumidifiers and over 20 fans throughout the house. Those ran for over 5-6 days and finally dried out the walls... but it left his house unlivable because of the 110 degree inside temperature.

By the time everything was dry, there were a few areas with significant damage:
   ●  The baseboards (shown in the picture to the right) took in water and expanded so they no longer matched up at the corners. They had to be taken off, and while doing that, paint peeled both off the walls and the floors.
   ●  Since the water was pouring out the cabinet under the kitchen sink for hours, the water damaged some of the cabinets, and the kickboards of the cabinets had to be taken off to make sure water wasn't trapped underneath (resulting in mold/mildew).
   ●  As one of the exit points for the water, the frame of the front door became warped - you can see light coming in when you have the front door closed.

Here's the progress so far:
   ●   The baseboards have been replaced and painted white. The entire house has been repainted to touch up anywhere that the paint peeled (each wall was repainted, not just the area that needed it). Since it would be happening anyway, Patrick's room no longer has the orange accent wall (he's a little sad about this); the accent wall is now a navy/cornflower-ish blue color, and the other three walls are a light gray. The gray looks kind of similar to a baby blue, but as we put things up on the walls, it's looking more and more gray.

Upside-down broken countertop

   ●   The countertop had to be taken off to repair the cabinets. Although it didn't break as they were removing it, it broke in their process of putting it back on. We're now officially getting new countertops!! They put in a couple new cabinets and matched the stain so it matches up. Some retouches need to be done, but the cabinets are just about finished.
   ●   A new front door is leaning up against the living room wall - just waiting to be installed. Instead of the lovely gold-trimmed window in the door & gold hardware, we'll have a dark brown, fiberglass door with brushed nickel hardware.
   ●   We've chosen the type of carpet we want and are going to get a 2nd quote this week in order to get the best possible pricing.

Patrick and I have also made some upgrades/additions of our own. We:

   ●  ...bought a new stainless under-mount sink for the kitchen. With the new granite countertops, we figured it was worth it to make the investment in a new sink since he currently has a top-mount, off-white, porcelain sink. It's not very attractive. ;)
   ●  ...moved the ceiling fan/light from his bedroom to the dining area; now the fans in the living room and dining area match when you look through the room.
   ●  ...installed a new ceiling fan/light in Patrick's bedroom that ties in the dark wood of the headboard and base of the bed.
   ●  ...installed a new light above the island in the kitchen and were even able to position it so it's centered over the island (as compared to being directly over the walkway between the island and refrigerator).

   ●  ...bought a new big clock for the living room.
   ●  ...decided to get rid of the reverse osmosis system - No need to risk having another flood! To replace that, we got a new water dispenser that puts out either hot or cold water, and the 5-gallon jug is hidden inside.
   ● ...installed a motion-detection light in the guest bathroom since the lightswitch is in an awkward spot and guests never know where the light is located.

Even though it seems like it's been a slow process, the house is actually coming together!

-Lisa