A new deck

Friday I went to Banff with 3 of my girlfriends, Dee, Paula and Kristina. We spent the day the spa and then went out for dinner. It was so much fun. I think it will be an annual event.

When I got home on Sat, I discovered that Brent and Jim had started taking apart the old deck and building a new one. Now at least we will have somewhere nice to sit for dinner! They did a great job. Today we will put another coat of stain on, and then all that is left is the railing. (and hopefully the rain holds off until this evening)

The old deck was cut off about 3/4 of the way, to make room for a new brick patio. The original deck was nice and big, but we want to have more yard space.

It's amazing how much work gets done when Brent's dad helps us. THANKS JIM!!!

The ceiling guy came today, and is giving us a quote on Tuesday. It sounds like a nasty job. I'm glad we are hiring it out. He is working on another house in the area, so it's perfect because he can come and mud in the morning, then go work on the other house while it dries.

I couldn't find a before picture. But you can see the deck in this video of our crazy dogs. Check out the wicked astro turf!



Old planks removed:


Chopping off part of the deck:


New planks going in:


Almost done:


First coat of stain (it makes the house look really bad, can't wait to get it painted):

Electrician anyone?

We had an excellent long weekend. All of the subfloor went in, except a tiny little bit because we ran out of plywood. It's so nice not to be able to see into the basement. We have decided we are going to go for the rustic look and just leave the plywood down. (yeah right, I think we are just getting lazy)

Also we found a potential contractor to fix our ceilings. Most people I have called have said that it is too small of a job for them. He is coming this week to take a look so keep your fingers crossed that he will do the job! Also, we hired painters to paint the exterior of the house in July. We got the kitchen countertop quotes back, and picked one. We decided to go with the company that will do the countertops in 2-4 weeks rather than the ones that take 6-8 weeks. The carpet has finally arrived (it was ordered March 7th) , and they called today to schedule an installation date.

Voila:




An example of the work the original electrician did:


And an example of Brent's ultra professional electrical work! :


The make-shift kitchen in the basement:


A funny pic of Paul. He sleeps making this face:

Parlez-vous francais?

The lovley new French doors to the deck!! They are so much better than the old sliding door. They just need to be painted, but I'll wait until we are done drywalling that room. The old door had no lock on it, just our duct tape holding the security bar in place. Here is a before photo:



On Wed night I met the girls for Vietnamese food. Our new monthly favorite place. We usually meet for Breakfast or now, Vietnamese. 3 of the girls are pregnant. Dee is expecting her 2nd baby in August, Kristina her first in August, and Ang her first in Oct (Sorry Ang if that is wrong, I know its Oct or Nov...Math was not my best subject) Lisa and I got to be the skinny ones in the photo! Hmm...I have no idea why this one is showing up fuzzy. I blame it on the photographer.

Phase 1...check.

Yay! We passed the structural inspection by the city. Now we can start patching up these unslightly holes in our ceiling:



The subfloor has started going down. It seems so luxurious compared to the ship lapping :


I turned 29 on Sunday. My last year in the 20's. I can't believe it. Nancy had a Taurus birthday bbq on Sat for myself, Burdine and Brian. It was nice to see everyone! It has been a while.



It was a nice mothers day too. Mom, Jacqueline, Ellen and I went for Ice Cream at My favorite Ice Cream Shoppe. I think the ice cream flavor you choose says a lot about a person. Ellen chose black licorice (she is into black everything these days), Mom chose Mango (very fitting). Jacquelne got Mr.Big but regretted not getting Nanaimo bar. I'm a mint chocolate chip gal.

Some pics from the weekend at the Taurus Birthday party:

Tanya and Cassie (she's soooo darn cute):


What are you looking at:


Dolly snuggling with Paul:


The Master Chefs:

Who is this person?

Brent came back from Edmonton with a beard. I've never seen him with one before! He shaved it off right away but I took a picture.

Surprise!

So, Brent was in Edmonton this week. The garage door people called on Wednesday and installed our new door on Thursday. Thus, I did manage to get something done on the house while he was away! Ok, so I didn't really do much, but I'm still taking the credit. I can't wait for him to come home and see the surprise.


Before:


After (The trim on the house will eventually be the same color as the garage):


My compromise windows (see...they were so worth it!):

April snow brings May flowers??

It looks like the old saying is true since there are a lot of flowers popping up in our back yard. I may just be the worlds worst gardener. I can't think of a single plant I have been able to keep alive. I sure am going to try my best though!

To any gardeners out there, let me know if you can identify any of these:

Pink flowering bush/tree:


Close up of the flowers growing on it:


Pretty purple flowers (or a weed..I wouldn't know the difference):


Red things starting to emerge:


Not sure:


Not sure about these either:


The world's scariest bush/plant. It is climbing up a lattice on the side of our house. This is what it looks like dead, but there are some green things starting to grow on the ends of it:

Gotta love weekends...

Wow, it's amazing how much work can be done in 2 days. It feels like things are going so slowly when we only have the evenings to work on the house. Plus, usually we are pretty tired after a few nights of reno's after our day jobs. It felt really good to have a whole weekend to spend on the house.

I think I made no less than 6 trips to Rona/Home Depot this weekend. They are going to know me by name soon.

Brent has been working on the electrical circuits and potlights in the ceiling. He has installed the elecrical boxes for 2 sconces in the dining room, and has started on the pot lights. He has to climb up into the attic in order to install them all. Now that is a job I couldn't do. I am way too clausterphobic for that. Plus it's so hot and itchy up there!! (the insulation is 1 layer of wood chips, then a layer of regular insulation on top) I really do appreciate the fact that he is doing it all himself. I wish I could help more, but I know I would just get in the way.

Here is Brent in the attic...waaayyyyy in the tight corner. I could barely find him to take the photo! :



The old pot light holes (we are putting in smaller ones):


After emerging from the attic:


The pile of electrial stuff:


My project this weekend was to paint the front door. I must say, it looks pretty darn good!

Before:


After (with the new light, mailbox and house number):




Brent also ripped off the hideous green faux turf that was on our deck and also the wood under it. He found about a thousand nails in the original deck. Brent is away this week in Edmonton for training. At least I have a boobie trap set up for anyone who tries to break in to the sliding doors: