Bath Remodel and house hunting

Last week the house emptied out after New Year’s Day. Kera and family and Miranda and family went home on New Year’s Day. Deborah and family left early on Friday. We got to keep Samantha and Steven while the rest of the family went to Springdale to close on their house.

We kept them until Sunday when we drove to Springdale (after church and tithing settlement) and got there about 8:30. Steven looked at the clock after we told him we’d get there at 8:30. He subtracted the time in his mind and we got a running tally. “ Two hours and 33 minutes…  Now it’s two hours and 31 minutes…. We have two hours and 29 minutes…”  After about five minutes of that, we suggested he just tell us every 15 minutes. But what a smart 6 year old to be able to figure out time like that.

Deborah and Ian signed papers for the house on Friday and got all the utilities transferred that day. The ward moved all their belongings from the storage unit into the house and garage on Saturday… amidst a misting rain. By Sunday they had beds set up and the essentials in place.

Monday Tom hooked up the washer and dryer and then began the bathroom demolition. It had only a bath and Deborah wanted a bath/shower combination. The days run together. I think it was Monday that Deborah and I went tile shopping. She found some tiles she really liked at the Restore—from Habitat for Humanity. They have bits and pieces of things from furniture to fittings, vanities, blinds, counter tops, etc. We also found a nice vanity top for the bathroom. They didn’t have all the tiles we wanted, but we thought there were enough for the tub surround and one side of the wall.

 We bought one and then looked for floor tile to match and bought a sample of that. We went home and got an agreement it would blend with the paint and other fixtures. We also chose picked up a tub and managed to get it into the back of the van!

Tuesday, Tom put in drywall and greenboard, and we went back to Home Depot and the Restore to get the tile.

The plumbers came at noon and set the new tub and also moved some of the plumbing to fit a center sink instead of a on-the-left-side sink.

As soon as they were done we started tiling the floor. Since the floor was cement under the linoleum, we were able to put the floor tile right on that. Deborah chose long wood-looking tiles and they were very attractive. Then we had to stay off the floor in order for them to dry.

 Wednesday, Tom started tiling the front of the tub surround. I also grouted the floor and they moved the vanity base into the bathroom. Then Deborah and I went to ½ of ½ to buy long sleeved clothes and pants for some of the children. They had a nice variety as Wednesday is the first day of mark-downs.

We discovered that we’d bought a 47” vanity top to fit on an 48” vanity. BUMMER!  It was Corian and very nice, too. So we figured a way to off-set it just a little and build a tile shelf on the wall end that matched the height of the backsplash. That first day of tiling seemed to go slow.  I know that laying the first level line is the hardest. But we had to start at the tub front top. Then when we got to the tub edge, we had to tile down to the floor and include a trim piece of the flooring as a baseboard. We didn’t know how big to make that until we saw where the whole tile pieces on the wall came down to. So it was sort of create-as-you-go. But Tom did a great job.

Thursday was more tiling. Oh!  I forgot to mention that it was freezing outside- literally 11 to 25 degrees outside. There were ice cycles dangling off the tile cutter. Tom kept having to boil water to pour into the reservoir used to cool the blade to keep the water in the pump from freezing.

 This was the bathroom, pre-grouting.  Tom got further than this-- back and back side half way up,before he stopped on Saturday.  The window needs to come out and an new window put in.

 Thursday evening Tom and I went out to dinner at Five Guys as he drove me to Neosha, MO to meet up with Kristy to do some more house shopping. She had seen one house on her way down, and then got a hotel there. Friday early, we started looking at houses. I think we saw 5-6 that day. Some of them were nearly an hour apart. The Amish house that I thought I’d love, I really didn’t. One in Bolivar I though met all Kristy’s criteria, but somehow didn’t give either of us the “I have arrived” feeling. One in Walnut Grove Kristy really liked. And we both liked the Victorian house in Mt. Vernon.

We had a whole next day of properties scheduled to look at on Saturday. But all of them would require building or extensive renovations. And none were as good a value as the three favorites. So she called Jonathan to see if he could come down and look at the three houses.

Kristy and I stayed at a hotel in Springfield and Jonathan got up early, loaded all the kids in the car, and made the trip down. Kristy and I looked at one house in Nixa—close by—but it was very dated. And when you looked at the value for price, the others were much better buys.

So we drove to Bolivar with the realtor and his wife and  met Jonathan and kids there. This house was occupied, so the kids had to be circumspect. As Jonathan and Kristy drove over the land, the kids and I explored the pond and spring. It was fun land for kids, and the house was nicely built. I liked it.

Then we went on to the Walnut Ridge house with its huge rooms and 12’ ceilings. It had a wonderful kitchen/family area and good view of nice land… but it was too ostentatious for me. On second viewing, Kristy agreed.

The final house was the Victorian one. It was my favorite, and in the number evaluation Kristy did, it came out on top there, too. It had a great kitchen/family area. The bedrooms for the kids were all circled around a fun play area and they looked like princess bedrooms with bay window and turret ceilings in some of the rooms. It had the woven fencing they were looking for and a barn close to the house with three stalls and a workshop.

Oh, it also had 40 acres, a playground, a play house and a pool. Plus 5 bedrooms and an office for Jonathan and a room that could be made into a movie room... and places for food storage.

Tom spent Saturday tiling some more, than drove up to Mt. Vernon to pick me up. He was late… but we were late getting there, too. He had a chance to run through the house before we all went our separate ways. Jonathan and Kristy decided to spend the night there and go to church at the ward this house was in.

We drove home—stopping at Aldi’s for food and Pizza Hut for dinner. We got home close to 10pm. We had to unload all the tools, food, and luggage from the truck. Then we glanced at the mail, lit a fire in the fireplace to warm the house, started a load of laundry, and crawled into bed.

They predicted ice on Sunday. There was some on the roads. Our ward only had sacrament meeting and there were 51 who attended; people were encouraged to use good judgment on whether they could get there or not.

Jonathan and Kristy found their church canceled. But they were able to meet the bishop and visit for a time with a high council member who had lived in the area a long time. He was able to talk about the “personality” of the different locations where they had looked at houses. He raises cattle and gave them some very good tips on hay and forage.

They are thinking about offering for the Victorian house. I think it’s a great family house and they will enjoy living there. It’s about 3 hours from us. So much closer than the current 8-9 hours. Hooray!