Kids Space Part 1

So originally, we hoped to get the kid’s rooms completed by the beginning of the school year.  Well that was wishful thinking, we will be lucky if we get them in by Christmas time.  The biggest issue has simply been time.  We dedicate a lot of time to projects, but we are only two people.  And we are two people with brand new jobs.  We agreed to take the month of September off, to give us time to adjust to our new jobs, schools and life.  I’d like to say we are adjusted, but like everything in life, that is also a work in progress.  But we are getting back to work, so hopefully we will make some headway soon.

The first step was removing the drop ceiling.  It was disgusting work. We took down the ceiling tiles, removed the insulation, and took down sections of old HVAC.  It was not fun, but it made a huge difference, and really allowed us to get a better idea of the space.  Since then, I have been working on pulling up the old carpet, more disgusting and unfun work. I’m not sure if the carpet was glued down, or if it has just become stuck through the decades it has been there, but it is not easy to pull up.  I have taken to using a wallpaper scraper and a crow bar, working in small sections. After weeks of work, I have removed the carpet from both future bedrooms.  I was thinking that I would also pull up the carpet from the hallway and rec space, but am now thinking I might try and just paint it. I know that painting carpet sounds ridiculous, but so do the hours and hours of work it is still going to take to get the floors functional.  I have stripped the carpet, but now it is time for sanding, and I already know that isn’t going to be easy.  The carpet is an industrial low pile carpet, so it might actually look okay once painted, and I figure if it looks like crap, I can always rip it up.

In addition to pulling up the carpet in the kids rooms, I also pulled the carpet up from the stairs.  This carpet was easier to pull up, but there is residue from a previous carpet that will need to be scraped and sanded off.  So lots more disgusting work ahead.  So the theme of the last few weeks has been dirty disgusting work.  But oddly satisfying.  I am hoping that I am able to see more payoff in the near future.  It helps with motivation.

The next step besides continuing to work on the floors, is to figure out electrical.  We signed up for an online class, so that we can do it ourselves.  All the major work, we will farm out, but much of the rewiring can be done ourselves.  The other big task is the ceilings.  They are covered in asbestos tile, so we will need to do something to cover them up.  This job is one we know that we will need help on.  So we will be parting with some of our hard earned money, to make sure that the job gets done correctly and safely.  So now we just need to find a contractor.  It is a lot of work and takes a lot of time, but soon we will get to do the fun stuff: Design!