October 17, 2020
A stained glass window, which will reside at the top of our stairs. While a lot of our work this years has been focused on the first floor, we’re trying to push that work up into the second floor. Getting this up there will really make it feel like we’ve turned a corner, progressing the work on the house up another level. Literally.
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October 16, 2020
I’m not sure if it’s got anything to do with the fact that I inhabit essentially the same two rooms for 90% of my days. But I’ll wake up some mornings, and this song is instantly playing in my head. AS in: I barely have both feet on the ground and this song is already starting up.
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October 15, 2020
The rockers came during the week, while Liz and I both were upstairs working. I got to see some of the early work, but on walking down as they were packing up… the whole area looked completely different.
The main hall felt like a room again, and not a bunch of exposed studs. It was a very shocking thing to see.
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October 14, 2020
Rockers are coming tomorrow, and tonight we had some last-minute prep work to do. Put up the remaining backer boards, and move all the drywall so it’s accessible (the ceiling drywall is tucked away in the kitchen).
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October 13, 2020
I’d seen a similar machine a few times along 53rd street (but that one was almost customized with White Sox branding), also filling up at a fire hydrant. I walked by, but after a few feet… turned around. I missed my chance to ask questions with the White Sox sweeper, and didn’t want to pass up this opportunity.
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October 12, 2020
But those stressors aside, the fact that we have our flooring physically here? The fact that we’re at this phase in the process, aiming to get actual new floors down… it’s really remarkable. It’s a tremendous milestone for us. And amidst the whirl and bustle of everything that has happened (and has yet to happen), it’s easy to lose track of that.
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October 11, 2020
One of the strong arguments against renovating your home while living inside it: the lack of available space. We’ve gotten used to shuffling things around, but things on the first floor are starting to get a bit cramped.
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October 10, 2020
After putting up these signs, did the people who found the missing pet come back to remove the signs? Did the original owners get in contact with them? Did anyone ever get in contact with them? Is the found pet now a new family pet?
So many questions. So little closure.
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October 9, 2020
Rough night tonight.
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October 8, 2020
“The helicopters you are hearing are from a police manhunt. A high speed chase ended at 55th and blackstone and is now a foot chase. 3 are in custody, 1 is at large, hiding in people’s backyards, and considered armed.
Stay inside and stay safe!”
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October 7, 2020
We were much faster tonight, having shaken off the cobwebs last night. We were moving a bit faster, and covered a decent amount of ground.
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October 6, 2020
It’s been a while since Liz and I tackled prepping and installing backer board. The process isn’t too bad overall, but we were slowly remembering the process and steps.
The reason for this particular work: on Bob’s suggestion, installing backer board along the base of all the walls saves time during the trim installation period. No need to hunt and hope for a stud – because you can nail in anywhere at all. Because the backer board is everywhere.
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October 5, 2020
After a few nights working solo, I was fortunate to have Liz help with getting the remaining drywall patches up on the ceiling. She’s been super busy with work work lately, and tonight was a moment when she pulled away to help out.
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October 4, 2020
Around 5:45 PM, I set up this area for us downstairs to sit and plan out the next few weeks. There’s a lot of things Bob is working on, all of which needs to happen prior the drywall guys coming. And then the taper coming after that. And then Nick/Milton to do the actual, final floor install.
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October 3, 2020
A lot of the afternoon was me figuring out just how to go about cutting material to fit. I needed to add one layer of 1/2″ plywood, and then another 3/8″ lawyer of drywall on top of that.
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