Nighthawk - Interior Updates

Things are changing every time we go over to the Nighthawk house.  Sometimes it's just something small, but other times an entire wall is gone and it's amazing.  We were hoping to have been much farther along by now, but we just couldn't decide on a General Contractor.  Let me rephrase that, we had three GCs in mind, we were just waiting for one of them to come down to our budget price.  And finally, one did.  Rupp Family Construction - and they been so helpful already.

Demo started a few weeks ago.  I had Habitat For Humanity/ReStore come in and do the demo so that the materials weren't just being wasted.  They were able to take 30+ doors, all trim, kitchen & bathroom cupboards, wood flooring, carpet, lights, toilets, sinks, etc.  And we heard that things were selling right away, and the money is used to help build new, affordable homes in our area.

 

Demo also wasn't moving as quickly as we liked, so Jamie and I did some of it ourselves to prepare for new items to arrive.  Also, Habitat doesn't take anything they can't sell, so we had to take some items to the dump.  The below photo shows trim in barrels waiting to be taken, and the new hardwood flooring that arrived.

We're removing these small walls to create a more open space and better flow to the kitchen.

 

Jamie wanted to keep some of the cupboards to use in the garage, so we pulled out what we wanted to save.

Then things really started to look different.

Here we've removed the 5' tub/shower in Makena's/the guest bathroom and made room for 6' soaking tub/ shower.

And small walls were removed in the master closet to make more usable space.

And the master bathroom is getting redone to become a relaxing retreat.

 

Without all of that ugly wallpaper and carpet!  (I can't wait for all of the wallpaper in the house to be gone.)

The shower and tub are going to be wider and a hutch will be built in at the end of the tub for a tv.

We're adding french doors here for an entrance to a new deck in the master bedroom.

And we're adding a door from the garage to the basement level here.

 

The access panel that is here is being moved to a small closet farther down the hall (next picture down).  That way, we can put tile in this room and create a cleaner look.  Jamie and I removed the water heaters (that was fun...) and are replacing them with one, more energy efficient model.  The furnace will also be replaced.

A new linen closet has been added to the basement hallway.

And this tub has been removed (the only piece we couldn't salvage because it didn't fit out the door) and a new steam shower has been framed in.

 

This wall was removed to create a bigger game room area.

 

 

And, of course, more damage has been found throughout the house that need repaired.

 

But, the new tubs and fixtures are arriving now and are ready to be installed.

 

And all of the tile came in too.

To 'stick to the budget', we opted not to rent a Honey Bucket but to just leave a toilet in one of the bathrooms.  But then Habitat came in and removed all of the doors, creating a not-so-private space.  So Carlos, our fabulous builder, took the only door left in the house (from the small closet pictured above) and secured it to the wall.  Because it didn't exactly fit, he then taped some cardboard to the sides.  Still not-so-private, but it works!  (I try very hard not to use the facilities at the Nighthawk house.)

I received a call from Carlos this morning and they are already framing in the new shower and tub for the master bath.  Jamie and I have some more work to do over there this weekend, so I should have more pictures to share then.

Nighthawk - Exterior Updates

Still catching up on the blog...

Things were quiet at the Nighthawk house for a couple of weeks, and then things started to change quickly.  Jamie and I finally decided on and hired a general contractor to do most of the interior remodeling. But because we are on a tight budget (Jamie is fighting to stick to his budget), we opted to do some of the work ourselves and also hire other people for some interior work that Jamie felt the contractor was high on. 

As far as the exterior of the house, we started with getting a fence in the backyard.  We have a couple of landscapers bidding on the remaining work, but that price is very high right now and may  have to wait to "fit" in to Jamie's budget.  (In case you're wondering, I now hate the word budget.  It should be a four-letter-word.)

Because we weren't in a rush to get the fence done, it took the guys a couple of weeks to finish everything.  But today, it was done and paid for.

 

 

 

Even though it wasn't what we originally wanted, we decided not to argue with the HOA and just install the fence type that they required.  (This one fit better in the budget anyways.) And, I have to say, we're very happy with how it turned out.

Bark For Life of Hillsboro

I have obviously gotten behind on my blog again...{sigh...}

I was looking back through some photos and realized that I forgot to post about Bark For Life of Hillsboro from April.  Bark For Life is an event that is part of the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life, but it's an event for dogs.  This was the first year that Hillsboro was able to have a Bark event, and we can't wait for next year!  A good friend, Nikki, did such a great job organizing the event and I can only see things growing.

 As with Relay, Survivors kicked off the event.

 There was a K9 Unit from Hillsboro.

 A costume contest.

There was also an eating contest and a 'who looks like their owner' contest.  Moxie and Jamie entered that one, but Jamie had shaved that morning and no longer had the match grey hair.

 

  

Moxie, Maddie, Jamie and I walked our mile around the park before the event was over.

 

 And then we enjoyed watching other dogs play before heading home.

Mother's Day 2012

As we often do, we spent Mother's Day in Garibaldi with Momma and Gram.  There aren't many other places I'd rather be. It was such a gorgeous day too!  My mom has such a nice backyard to relax and enjoy, but it can become quite windy at the coast.  Well that was not the case this day.  Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen!

The dogs love to run around and play with Packer while we are visiting.  Maddie slowly makes her way to other members of the family throughout the day.

 Aunt Kim came to spend a week with Gram during this time, so we got to visit with her as well.

Makena bought me the perfect gift again.  She found a painted pig picture that I can't wait to hang up in my craft room in the new/older house.   The colors are perfect.  I forgot to take a picture of it before packing it up, so hopefully I'll remember to once we get moved in.  (Hopefully sooner than later...)