Merry Christmas!

We are just about two days out from Christmas, and while we are all looking forward to having some fun and merriment with family and friends, we are also busy working on the flip house. As it has been almost a month since my last post (sorry everyone!), I have a lot of updating to do. As I can't remember the details of every day spent at the house, I will do mostly picture posting...which is what I think everyone likes the best anyway! :)

Since the last post, Dad, Cory, and Chad have finished up the siding and landscaping. The three boys worked together to get this accomplished before the winter weather settled in for good! However, as the weather was getting a bit colder, they needed to move the siding into the house in an attempt to keep it warm and more flexible. They did have a heck of a time working around some of the piping and things on the house, but they endured and did a great job getting the outside work finished!

The back of the house pre-siding...

Dad also worked his magic building a little roof over our bow window! We love how it adds some character to the front of the house, and we are now able to really see the color of the shingles!

The guys "love" it when I get all snap happy with the camera, so I would like to take a moment to post some of the random shots I took on "siding completion day"...:)

Now this looks like the way it should be...hehehe...

Chad. What can I say?

Cory and Chad trying to figure out how to get the siding to go around the pipe. This was a major project, believe it or not. I think Dad enjoyed standing on the sidelines and instructing the boys how to do it...:)

  



Haha Cory...I still got you in the picture!

Chad working on cleaning up the meter... When the previous owners painted the house, they were kind enough to tape off the meter. However, they forgot to take the tape off when they were finished. Hmm...

The back of the house post-siding...

Once all the siding was finished, we had Gutter Express come and install seamless gutters along the house and the garage. We opted to go with white gutters, as we weren't able to get a color that matched the siding on the house. We ended up liking the choice of white gutters in the end, as it seems to help "frame" the house and blend with the white trim around the windows.

The landscaping was a very large project. We dug out all the bushes/plants around the house, as they were in tough shape and just not pretty anymore. We also pulled up all the old weed barrier and shoveled the old rock out in multiple loads of the wheelbarrow. Once we had the areas around the house prepped, Chad laid down new weed barrier. We purchased dirt from a local company, and we ordered too much. As we had no one with an immediate need for dirt, and we had a pressing need to get it out of the driveway before it froze, we ended up just having to toss it out into a field in the country. We also had the same problem with the landscaping rock. We provided the square footage of the area we were working with, and the receptionist at the local stone company told us how much tonage we were going to need. It was WAY too much. We were not too keen on throwing out good landscaping rock like we did the dirt, but we were also in a pressing need to get rid of it, so we decided to donate it to Habitat for Humanity instead. We discovered then that they would have most likely taken the dirt as well, so now we know for next time!

The finished product looks great! Since it was so late in the year when we got to this point, we opted not to plant any new shrubs or bushes. We also figured this would be a fun project for the new homeowners next spring. They will be able to plant the things they like best and really make the house their own.

After the siding and landscaping were finished, I decided to take some pictures from a distance one day when I was leaving. I parked the Jeep across the street and took a similar shot of a previous picture of the house before we bought it. For a reminder of how hard we have all worked and how far the flip house has come, take a look below!



Stay tuned for more updates. I am going to try really hard to keep this updated more frequently! Thank you to everyone who has put in so much time and effort helping us get this project off the ground. We appreciate you so much - much more than you will ever know! A huge thank you also to those who have been reading the blog and encouraging us as we go, and also for remembering us in your thoughts and prayers. A very Merry Christmas wish to all of you from Cardinal Homes!

Finally an Update!

It has been a long while since the last flip house update, so I have a lot of catching up to do!

In early November, Dad and Kyle finished up with the new exterior doors, as well as wrapping up a few other odds and ends around the house. We opted for a door without a window in the kitchen, and we like the privacy it gives. I heard that the wall of the house was not square when they put the door in, so they also had to fix the wall to get it right. Dad and Kyle did a great job!

Cory also began working on the beginning of the siding on the house. This was something we knew would be a huge improvement once finished, so we were very anxious to get it going and completed. We also wanted to get done with the siding before it got too cold outside, as the siding is not nearly as flexible once it gets cold. Cory had a heck of a time getting the first row of siding on, as he had to cut around water spigots and dryer vents and things. But his tenacity paid off, and he got the job done!

Kyle had worked with Dad all day, and it was time to go home, but he discovered a tail light out on his car. So he needed to work on that before he could leave, so of course I snapped pictures...:)

That same night, I decided it would be a good time to get the frame of the new front door painted, so to work I went. I am the painter of the crew...I don't mind actually. It's kind of relaxing to turn on some tunes and get into my zone. It was also kind of funny because it got dark before I was finished, and the neighbor down the street decided to mow his lawn with a flashlight. I was already kind of chuckling, and then his little daughter came outside and started throwing sticks around, and I laughed pretty good when I heard him tell her, "Do I need to have Mom come out here!?" And the little girl's immediate response was, "No!" You can see who wears the pants in that household! :)

Chad and Cory worked on getting some doors removed from the house and filling up the dumpster so it could be picked up full. They also did a wonderful job getting the new door knob and dead bolt put in.

The next big project was proceeding with siding the rest of the house. We first needed to tear off the old siding, which the girls stepped up to the plate and did. We ended up needing some help from Chad, and he impressed us with his quick siding removal skills. I guess we girls are still nice and delicate with the old siding, whereas the guys work with a mission in mind. We could take a lesson from them...hehe... However, we did work very hard getting that removed, nails pulled out, and debris picked up and dumped in the dumpster. So we did a good job... Pat on the back, girls!

While the girls worked on the west side of the house getting the old siding off, Dad and Cory started siding the east side of the house, while Chad worked on getting the stumps of the old bushes dug up and removed from the landscaping, and then he hopped on the pump jacks on the south side of the house and began removing siding along with Mom.

Everyone works very hard while they are at the flip house, so once in awhile we allow them all to take a quick break.

After a long day of work, the entire east side of the house and most of the north end are sided! Wow...what a difference!!!

Before we allowed Steph to quit for the day, though, she had to rake the backyard. Here she is...hard at work!

It was a great day full of much progress. After cleaning up the equipment, we took a moment to decide on dinner plans, and then we all headed to Boston's for a fun supper together!

I would also like to end with a disclaimer: I work very hard too. Even though you seldom see me in the pictures, don't be fooled. I am taking a quick photo opportunity so I can add some color to this blog. (In fact, I think I outwork all of them put together). Stay tuned for more updates to come! :)