Construction Zone

Well, we've been here for a few weeks and are sort of settled in.  Because we are making some improvements, our house is basically a construction zone.  We are living in our master bedroom like a hotel suite...lol!  Luckily our master is a good size, 16 x 20, so there's plenty of room to live, even though there are still boxes everywhere.  Because of all the construction dust, we're even eating our meals on the card table in our room.



Master from East to West

Master from West to East (we moved the TV)

We had such a solid plan for renovations and moving into the house, but plans do not always work the way you plan them.  We closed on the house the end of January and planned to have renovations completed BEFORE we moved in March 1st.

This has been in our living room since we moved in

Tile removed from Kitchen and
 Kitchen Dining area

Laminate removed from Dining room




Bare subfloor

Underlayment

We removed and sold the carpet in most of the house, but we still had to deal with the tile in the kitchen and kitchen dining area, shown in picture titled underlayment and the laminate in the dining room.  We salvaged as much of the material as we could and sold it on craigslist.  Yes, as unbelieveable as it may seem craigslist even works out here in the middle of nowhere!

Larry chatting with the Bagster guy from WM

Since there is so much construction debris, we thought we needed a dumpster.  If you've ever priced dumpster rental, you know that it is super expensive. In our area, it costs about $800!!  Luckily, we found out about a service offered by Waste Management called BAGSTER that offered quite a savings.  You only pay for the debris you remove.  Basically, you buy the large bags at Home Depot or Lowes for about $30 each.  We needed two of them. Once they're full, you call Waste Management and they come pick up the bags.  It was $129 for the first bag and $109 for each additional bag.  With the $5 off coupon we found, it was $233...much better than $800!!



WM picks up the giant bag with their crane

Then the bag is placed  into the truck

Lid is opened and closed over the truck
to avoid flying debris

 We were quite amazed at how quick and easy the Bagster service was. I highly recommend it to anyone that has a landscaping or home improvement project.  If you under estimate the amount of debris you have (which is quite easy!) you can always go pick up an extra bag.

Max enjoying the glorious weather

Meanwhile, Max is settling in quite nicely.  He really likes his new school, and after 7 days, is on a well deserved 2 week spring vacation!

Stay tuned for further updates.  Once the kitchen and floors are complete, I'll do a comprehensive before and after post on the transformation.  So far, I must say, we are thrilled with the progress.

Cheers for now~
Marti

Boy, Do We Have A Lot of Stuff

So, if you've just joined us from my San Diego blog, you saw this photo of our little trailer driving off into the sunset!  When you've lived someplace for over 8 years, you accumulate a lot of stuff!  No matter how much planning and pre-packing you do, you cannot truely be preparred for the horror that is moving all of your stuff!

Headed out of San Diego with Max's Playstructure in Tow

We moved last week and it took a crew of 4 men with 2 trucks from 7:30am to 3:30am to move our belongings from San Diego to our new place in the West Antelope Valley.  That's not 8 hours...that's 20 hours!  If you ever need a mover in the San Diego or Orange County area, I highly recommend All Star Move!  The owner, Daniel is knowledgable, professional and most importantly available to speak to you.  His movers were careful, courtesouy and respectful of our belongings. 

Office

 

 

Laundry-Utility Room

Garage

Since we clearly under estimated the amount of time renovations take, we still are living in a state of chaos.  We have floors in the bedrooms, but our flooring is still being installed ijn the main living areas of the house.  Our kitchen is also under construction.  Therefore, we have boxes stacked in several areas...and a complete disaster in the garage.

On the positive side...we LOVE our house.  It has such a zen feeling.  It's a happy place to be. The views are amazing and the spaces are wide open.  Stay tuned for more detailed info on our renovations.

For now....Cheers!