NEW CARPET - stairs, hall, bedrooms

The house was ready

 just in the nick of time

for the

NEW CARPET!

JUNE 19

And we were ready too !

The bedrooms, the hall and the stairs all received fresh new carpet.

And, what a difference it makes.

The job was finished by 3:00pm. 

And then..

...you guess it...

...we began the process of returning all the furniture

back to the rooms.

As my Grandpa would say...

"Oh, My Aching Back!"

Next up:  Installation of the new balusters, rails and newel posts. 

Happy Weekend!  

DIY Stair Treads

 Measure, Cut, Adjust, Finish, Install, Repeat

Our current DIY Home Update continues with our focus now on stairs.

Out with the old and in with the new!

May 17

June 10

Mr. Wonderful had to cut the treads to fit the stairs so he made templates to get the angles accurate and try to avoid mistakes that can waste time and money.

June 14

He also needed to place the newel posts which required a hole in two of the treads. Careful measurements were key.

June 14

All the old balisters were removed at this point to make way for the new ones. 

June 14

The finished treads were placed in order along the wall. 

June 14

Old treads were removed.

June 15

The new treads are installed and attached to the risers. Adjustments are made as needed. 

June 16

To install the Newel Post a hole was carefully cut in two of the new treads. Once it was just the right height and snug in the hole it was screwed into the stair stringers.

June 16

Once the newel posts were secure the remaining stair treads were installed. 

June 17

June 17

It looked great and the plan was coming together. In fact, we were so excited we could hardly wait to get the hand rail installed however there was still quite a bit to do before the carpet arrived so we put the temporary one back up to keep the workers safe. 

June 17

On June 18 the two of us moved all of the upstairs furniture to the hubs Office, my Sewing/Craft Room and our Master Bathroom. We were exhausted however we completed the task. The next morning we moved the bed just before the crew arrived. We love when a plan comes together!

June 19 ~ Carpet Installation!

Stay Tuned for more about our 2024 Home Improvement Project!

Have a Fun Friday!

Steppin' Up the Stairs - DIY Home Improvement Project 2024

Our trusty old stairs served our family of 6 (and our yellow lab) very well for 37 years, however it was time for an update and some fresh new carpet. 

April 24

Little did I know, how much preparation takes place long before the stairs actually get replaced.  

April 24

The moving of the vent was one of the many projects. 

And more wiring. And lots of it!

April 29

The walls have to be patched and painted.

April 29

Both upstairs....

April 29

....and downstairs.

May 4

Lots of decisions to be made!

May 4

May 8 

Lots of sheetrock and mud. 

May 8 

May 8

The old treads are taken off and put back on many times. 

May 8

Begin replacing the old with the new.

May 8

Measuring and cutting new stairs.

May10

May 14

May 17

And finally....New Treads are here! Mr. Wonderful had to be very precise on his measurements as he began fitting the new treads to the risers. Once they are fitted they need to be finished so in the meantime the old treads go back on, however, sometimes we just used the risers to get up and down. That was risky as we did not want to lose our balance and put our foot through the sheetrock below. We did not need to add projects to the already long list so we were extremely careful. However, the most challenging step in the project was still ahead.

But first, we had something much more important to do! 

May 18

Early the next morning we "got out of Dodge" and headed to our youngest son and his fiancés commencement ceremony in Yakima. We were so looking forward to this special day!  

Our hotel was along the Yakima river.

So naturally we couldn't resist taking walks along these well maintain paths... 

...that paralleled the river and just seemed to go on forever. It was just beautiful and so peaceful.  

The Commencement Ceremony was held in Yakima's

Historic Capitol Theatre which is such a classic venue. 

The next day the kids met us at the Main Stop for brunch. 

It is such a cute place. 

And great food and coffee!

It is right next to the train tracks so you could hear and feel the trains rumble by and see them through the big windows.

We would definitely go back. 

May was a busy month, for sure! Our getaway for commencement was so special and lots of fun. It was good to getaway, however, the project was waiting for us when we returned. So, I will be posting more about that very soon.

Happy Thursday!

New Interior Doors and DIY Wainscoting

We finally BID ADIEU to all of our

Hollow Core doors!

And changed to solid core paneled doors.

Our garage has been chock-full of doors, panels and all sorts of supplies. 

And, since space is limited, it takes some forward thinking and a lot of spatial awareness and planning to execute projects in a well thought out order. Mr. Wonderful's DIY "pop-up" paint room helps keep the paint contained while other parts of the project are staged around the garage. While he has doors drying he works on the DIY wainscoting and molding. The wainscoting in the hall is pretty straight forward however the angles the staircase presents are a little more fussy or maybe that is just how I see it. Haha! Needless to say there are a lot of angles to consider along the stairs. The panels are coming along and some have been put in place and just need trimming. 

It is amazing how much difference the new doors and paint make. Not only in looks but the solid doors provide a better sound barrier as well.

His plan and timeline are essential to keeping things moving along. Veering off the road map takes up more time, although, life happens and other things do come up, so flexibility comes into play as well. This isn’t our first Rodeo so our mistakes and experience along the way have helped to make this process go a bit more smoothly. I will be back tomorrow with an update on our DIY Staircase Project.  

Have a Great Wednesday!