RENOVATION IS IN FULL SWING

Week of April 29 – RV makes for good replacement bathroom during construction! With Paul remodeling the bathroom we need a place to take our showers. The 5^th wheel fits the bill to a tee.

We are doing the remodel in a couple stages so we are not entirely without use of the toilet and sink. As a matter of fact, we are moving the toilet location so the new toilet will be installed before the old one is removed.....that's a relief.

Before the remodeling.

So with the bathroom facilities covered, Paul began removing the handicap shower. He first shut off the water to the control valve, cut the supply lines, removed the drain lines, and began tearing down the walls. He will be removing everything back to the stud walls.

The handicap shower was installed by a local bathroom remodeling company and it looked quite nice with a professional looking finish. Underneath the finish, Paul did not find any glaring examples of poor workmanship. All-in-all it was a pretty good remodeling job.

One thing he did find that was disappointing was no insulation in the walls. He'll take care of that before drywalling. They did install a vapor barrier but it would have made sense to install insulation in this cold climate.

With everything stripped down to the bare studs (boy, the room sure looks bigger!), Paul patched the floor, screwed the floor to the joists to eliminate some squeaks, checked everything for plumb and level, and began framing the walls for the bathtub surround.

Paul only has to build two walls for the bathtub but they must be plumb and meet the requirements illustrated in the installation manual. Not much room for an error in this construction project.

Once the framing was complete, Paul tackled the copper supply lines and the waste lines. Again, this must be installed to the exact requirements of the installation manual. Nothing too tricky here but it's been awhile since Paul did any copper line installation.

Paul then insulated the wall behind the tub/shower for some soundproofing benefits since the back wall of the bathroom is a common wall with the living room. Should help keep it warm in the bathroom too.

While Paul is busy inside, Marsha is busy outside. She cleaned 3,737 pine needles. Now, multiple that by 3 and she now has 11,211 needles to add to her collection. She is going to dye the majority of them.

This is what 11,211 needles look like.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

WEEK TWO IN OHIO

Week of April 22 – Since we arrived back in Canton, Ohio, last Monday, the weather has been fantastic. But, all good things must come to an end.

It is way too early to think that the white stuff is a thing of the past. Monday morning proved this to be true. YUCK!

 

Bella is trying to tell us it is cold by warming herself on our DVR.

Paul's been keeping himself fairly busy around the house and keeping himself out of trouble. One of the priorities is to remodel the bathroom, so he got started on that project.

In order to get started on the bathroom, he had to first move the washer and dryer. They were the stackable type located in a linen closet off the bathroom.

They were just too small and inefficient for Marsha, so we purchased replacements off Craigslist and installed them in the basement. Of course that meant putting in necessary plumbing and electrical hookups.

The gentleman we bought the washer and dryer from delivered them and helped Paul carry them to the basement.

Paul installing the 20 amp breaker for the dryer.

Once that was completed Paul was able to start destruction of the bathroom. He tore out a bathroom storage closet, the previously mentioned linen closet, and tons of old plaster and drywall. Boy, what a mess!

Before destruction

Washer and dryer are history.

Bathroom closet…gone. Hall closet…gone.

Sight from the hallway looking through where the two closets used to be. Now what?

Next on the list is removing the handicap shower. Many friends think we're nuts to remove this walk-in shower, but Marsha sure misses soaking in a tub, so out it goes! We'll hope to keep fit and active so the handicap shower won't be missed.

Question for all you animal lovers out there. Does your dog/cat/fish/snake whatever snore? Bella is the loudest snorer ever or loudest deep breather. She is so loud sometimes we just sit and laugh.

One of her sleeping positions for snoring.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

FIRST WEEK IN OHIO

Friday, April 19 – We left Georgia early Sunday morning. We drove to Ripley, WV. Anyone that travels I-77 from the South knows there are very few convenient campgrounds along that route. We spent the night at the Walmart in Ripley. It is a very easy on and off location.

We arrived at our new home around 10:30 on Monday morning.



Very different from Texas.

We've been “busy little Weavers” our first week back at our home base in Canton, Ohio. Marsha made 32 trips (she made tic marks each time she came in the house) moving things from the trailer to the house and reorganizing her closets and kitchen cabinets. Why do women like to reorganize storage areas???

While Marsha was moving stuff into the house, she yelled, "Paul come here." Of course Paul thought the house was on fire. She said, "Look!" For those who regularly read our blog, you know very well what Marsha wanted to do first in the kitchen. Get rid of that paper!

Here is what all the yelling was about.

She found out that Kelly and Dave came over last weekend and tore it all off as a welcome-home gift. Thanks so much kids. She loves it without that paper. Now the painting begins. Not Paul's favorite job to do.

Paul has started on his l-o-n-g list of jobs to do this summer around the house. His first undertaking was backing the 5^th wheel into the narrow driveway from a narrow street. This is on the list of “prime” jobs to take care of.....widening the driveway apron to the street.

He then dove into some of the much need yard work. The first mowing was done, leaves cleaned up, bamboo grasses cut down, and over-grown brush along the entire rear property line was cut and will be hauled to the recycle center.

Just about done.

We like trees, but this one was so over grown and awful looking, it had to go.

We are also looking into bathroom renovation. The price for having this done by bathroom renovators was way expensive. Paul has done considerable construction projects and will tackle this himself. So much for enjoying the easy life of retirement.

Bella has certainly enjoyed lounging around outdoors. Fortunately, the weather has been wonderful, although a cold front is expected to blow through this weekend bringing rain and colder temperatures.

Marsha wants everyone to know that she is working her buns off. Since she is the photographer, Paul appears in most of the pictures working his tail off. Guess he needs to pause and take some Marsha “working” photos.

Now that we are in our "summer" home, we won't be posting quite so often. We will still be reading our regular blogs but only will post when we have something to share with family and friends.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day.