Chimney Decision, Electricity, and More Subfloors

First things first...we have decided that we are NOT going to be taking out the chimney. Which means I can stop having nightmares at night about chimney removal. I figured that if my mom and grandpa were so set on taking it out, I'd better do some research on how to get it done. The more research I did on-line, the more I was sure that this was not a job we wanted to tackle, nor did we have the skills to tackle it. It would require tools we don't have, skills we don't have, lots of manual labor we don't have, lots of dirt and soot, and time, time, time. After my grandpa slept on the idea for a night, he decided, as I did, that we probably didn't want to pick a fight with a chimney if we didn't have to (which we don't). He then convinced my mom. I had no sway with my mom, but my grandpa did!? Oh, how I love him! So, the perfectly good chimney is staying. And while the house won't be getting 20 square feet larger, I'm pretty sure no one will even notice.

Would you like to climb on that scary, steep roof and remove even the top of that chimney, let alone 2.5 stories of it?? Yeah, me neither!

This week has been very productive. First, we have a new water line. The old one's shut-off valve was broken at the street, meaning that water to the house couldn't be turned off...ever!? So the city came in and fixed things up. Now we have a new shut-off valve, clean new pipes, and normal water pressure...all for a bill of around $500 plus some landscaping work.

The electrician, Sam, has been hard at work the past two weekends. The upstairs is almost completely done being rewired and it is SOOO exciting! I never thought yellow wire could invoke such happiness in me, but it sure does. And boy is Sam a trooper, as re-wiring a remodel looks to be incredibly messy, dirty and complicated...but I guess that's why he's getting paid the big bucks to figure it all out!?

Also, my grandpa made a really good suggestion to remove a nook in the bathroom to make the master bedroom bigger. The bathroom used to have a small little nook that claimed the window on the right below. We removed that small nook and built a new wall (which includes a door into the bathroom) and walah, we have master that feels so much bigger and brighter. The bathroom now has no window, which was sad for me as I love having natural light everwhere, but most bathrooms don't have windows anyway so I don't think it will be a deal breaker for anyone.

Here are some pretty terrible pictures of the master bedroom...the left side of the room and the new right side of the room. It's still a pretty small room for a master, but now it could conceivably fit a king bed if needed without filling up the ENTIRE room.

This weekend I was only in Cokeville on Friday night and Saturday, so it felt like a slow weekend as far as work getting done, but we still managed to be quite productive. On Friday evening I put the third coat of epoxy in the downstairs bathroom's tub enclosure. It now officially looks amazing!? And it only cost us $150 in epoxy paint. That price sounds a little steep to me for just a little paint, but it sure beat removing all that tile and starting over. Totally worth it! Here is the before and after for your veiwing pleasure... 

On Saturday morning my mom and I continued our subflooring venture. We laid subfloor in the back porch  area...

And in the laundry room area...

And in the downstairs bathroom...

And in the half-bath off the kitchen...

And my grannie scraped, sanded, and caulked ALL these window sills so that we can prime and paint them. Oh how I love her!

And that was about it for this weekend. The windows have arrived and should start to be put it any day, and the roofer should be arriving any week now!? We did have a change of contractors with our plumber, but we are back on track and the plumbing should be done by the end of October. And Sam, our electrician, said that he would be done by the first week in November. And this last week I ordered our kitchen cabinets...pictures of the kitchen design coming soon! Things are rolling right along.

And now to end, I will leave you with a picture of the completely completed paint job.

Before...

And after...