Knocking Down the Wall…

…separating the kitchen and the family room turned out to be quite the task!  We knew the wall was load-bearing and that we would therefore have to reinforce things with a beam.  We originally hired someone to do this job for us… but as mentioned in my last post, our contractor bailed on us and Craig (a mechanical engineer by day) decided that we could just do the job ourselves. 

The plan was to install two 2 x 12 beams in the attic to reinforce the ceiling joists. The beams would be connected to the ceiling joists and would rest on wall studs to carry the load. Easy, right?  Craig thought so.  He pulled out his old college text books and did some homework load equations to make sure that his plan for reinforcing the beam would work… according to his calculations it absolutely would. 

I was a little very skeptical, but decided to step out there in faith and let the hubby do his thing (You go Craig!  Show us what Georgia Tech engineers are made of!). 

The first step in removing the old wall was building a temporary wall out of 2 x 4’s to support the ceiling. 

Then Craig had to cut back the ceiling joists in the attic in order to make room for the beams.  Once the joists were cut, the only thing preventing the ceiling from coming down was our temporary wall.  Thankfully it held up!

Next we installed the first and then the second beam.  We attached them to the ceiling joists with joist hangers and nailed them in place.  Once everything was secured we were left with a super strong beam to distribute the load in the ceiling.  Nicely done!

After things in the attic were reinforced came the fun part… removing the old wall separating the kitchen and the family room!  We used a combination of cuts with the reciprocating saw and whacks with a sledge hammer to get the job done.

This left us with just our temporary wall which we could now take down.

We then had to do a little bit of framing to build the wall where our new built-in bookcases will go.  I got to use the framing nailer, which was pretty awesome!

When we were done we were left with a nice, big, open view from the family room into the kitchen

Kitchen Renovation Day 1

Today was D – Day (demolition day) in the Leonberg house!  The kitchen renovation has been officially kicked off.  Craig and I are both taking vacation time off from work next week to get the project underway.  Bailey has been shipped off to S.C. with the grand mothers and my dad will be here through Wednesday to help us work.  We are going to be doing about 85% of the work ourselves… I know, completely crazy! 

In our defense though… this was not our original plan.  We had every intention of hiring a contractor.  In fact, we interviewed 4 contractors.  We picked the one that appeared to be the best man for the job.  About 2 weeks before beginning the project Craig called the guy to confirm the start date and finalize the details.  To our surprise, the contractor informed us that he had gotten a full time job and that he had signed a contract stating that he wouldn’t take on other jobs on the side.  What the crap!?!  And then, to make matters worse, Craig decided that we didn’t really “need” a contractor and that we could do it all (knock down the load bearing wall, reinforce the beam in the attic, build a new half wall, etc.) ourselves.  You gotta be kidding me!  So after throwing a brief hissy fit I calmed down and decided to have faith in my husband (although I did tell him that I would reserve the right to say “I told you so” if necessary later on in the project).  Wasn’t that so good of me?  I think so!

Anyway… today was the day!  Our plan for today was to get all of the demolition items on the to-do list (except for removing the old carpet) done.  Talk about setting the bar high.  But we got right down to work and got most of our goals for the day accomplished!

Here are a few before and after pictures to show you what we accomplished:

The family room (view looking from family room towards the kitchen) BEFORE…

The family room at the END OF DAY 1…

As you can see, in the family room all of the moldings and trims were taken out, the built in book shelves and desk were ripped out, and the paneling was removed.

The kitchen BEFORE (view looking from front of kitchen to back)…

(view from back of kitchen to front)

(view of wall separating kitchen from family room)

And the kitchen at the END OF DAY 1…

And in the kitchen we took off all of the moldings and trims, ripped out the paneling, got rid of the old appliances (bye bye avocado green!), ripped out all of the cabinets (hooray!), removed the countertops, and attempted (but failed miserably) to take up the old parquet hardwood floors.  We didn’t quite get the wall separating the kitchen and the family room removed.  Since the wall is load-bearing we have to take extra care when removing it.  Unfortunately we ran into a few road bumps which slowed down the process of reinforcing the beams in the attic.  But this job will definitely be done early tomorrow!  I’ll keep you all posted on the progress!

So, as you can see we’re definitely on our way to having a new “kitchen of our dreams”! 

What a difference a days makes!

Guess Who…

…is already 15 months old!  This sweet girl here is!

And boy do we love her… crazy ponytail and all!

What Do You Guys Think… Again?!?

This isn’t the first time we’ve been told that Craig looks like someone famous.  In fact, strangely, it’s happened several times.  I’ve even blogged in the past about a suggested resemblance to Josh Turner, asking for your opinions on the matter.

So here I am again, writing to get your opinions.  This time, however, we have a new celebrity comparison.  And this time it’s a celebrity that we had both at least heard of… and one that I personally love! 

Here’s a hint… this person has starred in many movies, including American History X, Primal Fear, Fight Club, The Italian Job, Red Dragon, and more recently The Incredible Hulk.  (Okay, for most people this is probably a pretty easy clue).

That’s right folks… apparently I’m married to an Edward Norton look-alike!  I know… lucky me!

Anyway, on to the reason for the post.  Our friend Misty (who claims Craig is, in fact, Edward Norton’s life twin… which, coincidentally makes him the Hulk) did an independent survey of people one day to see what the opinion on the street was.  While the exact responses varied, the overwhelming opinion was that, yes, Craig does look like Edward Norton.

Just for fun I thought I’d open it up to the rest of you.  Here’s a side-by-side for you to compare.

    

So what do you guys think? Does Craig look like Edward Norton? Should his new nickname be the Hulk?  Does this make Bailey 1/2 super hero/monster?

 

Just remember to choose your responses carefully.  Craig will probably read them.  And you don’t want to make him angry… you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry!

Alabama Bound!

We packed up the family and headed down to Huntsville, Alabama to visit with our friends Jared and Melanie.  Our friend Brett also joined us for the weekend.  As usual when this group gets together, there was plenty of fun and misadventure to go around!

We started our Saturday off at Big Spring Park where Bailey got to feed the fish and ducks (probably her favorite part of the entire weekend!).

Then we headed over to the Flying Monkey Arts Center and checked out some of the local art scene.  This was our second visit to the Flying Monkey and it was definitely as cool and interesting as the first time.

Next we went for a little hike.  Even though the trip to the top was more strenuous than we were expecting (thanks again Jared) we survived and were able to enjoy some amazing views of Huntsville from the clearing at the top of the mountain.

And as if that wasn’t enough to squeeze into one day, we rounded off our evening with a hockey game.  Go Havoc!

It was a short, yet busy weekend… but there was definitely fun had by all!  Can’t wait to see everyone again!

They’re Here!

That’s right folks… our new cabinets were delivered today!

Can’t wait to get them out of the boxes and up on the walls!

Unfortunately there’s still a lot of things to check off the ole’ listeroo before we can get to that job.  In the mean time, they’ll just be making themselves at home in our back room along with our new appliances, tools, kayaks, dog crate, and a few other odds and ends!  Oh, the anticipation is killing me!  Come on March 26th!  Let’s get this kitchen renovation party started!

Art That’s Close to Home!

Since we’ve lived in Tennessee for about 5 years now, Craig and I thought it was high time to have some art in the house that reflects our new home state.  We thought that a cool map or some funky folk art might fit the bill.  So, we began scouring the internet for potential ideas.  We stumbled across this blog post and decided that we had to track down a Tennessee Chuckle Map of our own.

So we did!  We looked for a while and found a map collector who had one for sale!  And best of all… it was on sale for just $12!  So needless to say we ordered it and had it shipped to us right away! 

I can’t tell you how excited I was when the map arrived in the mail a few days later!  I was like a kid on Christmas morning!  I opened it up and combed through the whimsical caricatures and fell in love with the Chuckle Map all over again.  Every time I look at the map it puts a smile on my face… I most definitely understand why it’s called a “Chuckle Map”!  I just love it!!!

So what’s all the fuss about?  Well take a closer look at the whimsical caricatures and comedic landmarks for yourself and surely you’ll see the appeal!  After all, the front of the map doesn’t read “Tennessee… The Nation’s Most Interesting State” for no reason.

Here’s the Tri-Cities region… our neck of the Tennessee woods.  We’re in Kingsport (a.k.a. the “Model Industrial City” as shown on the map).

And here are some of the many fascinating sights to see and other happenings from across the state as depicted in the map…

Don’t you just love it?  I know we do!  And since we love it we took extra care when having it frame.  We decided not to have it spray mounted to foam board (which would have removed the wrinkles from the folds in the map) and instead opted to leave it au naturel (so that the integrity of the map wouldn’t be ruined).  I mean the map is almost 70 years old for cryin’ out loud!  Despite what the blogger listed above wrote the dealer we bought the map from (and a few other articles we read online) claimed it was in fact from the 1940’s.   And since maps are what he (the dealer) does for a living who were we to argue?  Ain’t it purdy?  Can’t wait to display it in the family room once the big renovation is completed!