WEEK 6: Let there be (artificial) light!

Week 6 seemed monumentous in progress. Our greatest acheivement was passing our electrical inspection (props to our electrican from Diamond Electric for getting us there!). Meanwhile, the electric-meter fairy dropped off a power meter and M. had the honor of hitting the switch and TA-DAH...lights came on! A ceiling fan started swirling and we were in complete awe! Five weeks without power will do strange things to you... Of course, we are not living at the house/construction site, but the inability to turn on a light restricted our work there to only daylight hours. Now, we can work on projects well past sundown and into the night. Yippee/Boo!

• LABOR: M. continues to work on the sink-side of our kitchen cabinetry and he re-used a scrap of drywall to patch the cut-out left after the flood; M. has started to prep the guest bath for primer/paint; our contractor continued to install and frame in windows are our sliding patio doors (American Craftsman 5700 series Energy Star).
• MAJOR PURCHASES: two doors rescued from the Habitat Re-store to be re-purposed for our bathroom doors

WEEK 5: Window to the world

It's been just over a month now and progress slogs on. The lack of power has delayed our contractor from doing much more than installing a few windows. Given that several windows were previously just a tacked-up piece of plywood, we are actually quite excited about the availability of natural light! This was the last weekend that I had to help with the house for a while. Next weekend, I'll be in Vermont and M. will be on his own with the renovations. I made a big push to purchase materials so that M. can keep the momentum of projects going in my absence. The week ended with the excitement and detriment of the flood experience. Amazingly, there was no permanent damage except our damaged ego...we hope that things will go more smoothly from now on.

• DECISIONS: Selected interior door style for bedrooms, closets and bathrooms and agreed to look into glass pane inserts for the bathroom doors to allow light to pass through. We are stalking some at the Habitat re-store. Conducted price comparision on green countertops and have narrowed options to Paperstone and Avonite with 40% recycled content.
• LABOR: M. completed the installation of the stove-side cabinetry; he has moved on to the sink-side cabinetry...yay! As soon as all the base cabinets are in, we can be measured for countertops! Woo-hoo! Our contractor has started installing our new windows. Hooray! Our electrician came back to the house to finish the last tasks necessary to request an electrical inspection. Our electrical engineer came out to the house, inspected the electrical work and signed off on a "rough inspection"...Yippee!
• MAJOR PURCHASES: Energy Star Windows (with Low-E glass) and exterior doors from Home Depot; master bath and guest bath light fixtures; guest bath hardware; kitchen faucet

ENERGY-STAR-struck: I (heart) my fridge

Our appliances arrived! Since Pacha Mama house was mid-renovation when we bought her, the old appliances were long gone and we never knew them. M. and I are proud to say we were able to meet our goal: all new energy-star kitchen and laundry appliances on a tight budget. How did we do it? Careful research, planning, and smart shopping…we were even able to splurge on nicer models and extra features. Is it possible to love a fridge?
To save time and gas, we started with online research of several big box store websites (Home Depot, Lowes, Sears, Best Buy, etc.). We made a list of the best price for the appliances that met our criteria (ie. Energystar rated). Next we visited a local appliance retailer known for having the best prices in town. We walked in to that store ready to wheel-and-deal! Here are some of our savviest shopping tips:

• Pre-shopping, discuss and agree upon appliance finish: stainless, black, white, or bisque (we considered our white cabinets and went for a seamless look with white appliances)
• Come up with a strict budget cap for the total package and agree to stick to it.
• If you plan on keeping your existing cabinetry and layout, shop with kitchen measurements to make sure that oversized fridge will really fit!
• Resist upselling – this is part of a salesperson’s job, but don’t buy more features than you will use. (we didn’t really need an LCD TV screen built into our fridge)
• For deep discounts, ask to see the following: scratch-n-dent, open-box items, floor models and discontinued styles. (this is how we found our dishwasher!).
• Ask stores to honor their expired sale prices (in our case, they honored their own sale price from the last holiday-weekend-sale)
• Ask them to price match against their competitors (we went in with a print-out from big box websites showing a more competitive price on our stove)
• If buying more than one item, ask for an additional discount or incentive (we got free delivery)
• If a salesperson doesn't seem eager to give you a good deal, find one that does...

WEEK 2: Phew! This is hard...

Week 2 was even harder than week 1 (and I'm just putting up this post on TUE instead of Sun since I went to my hometown DC to party). But we are learning...always learning...yup, going to keep telling myself that! Week 2 Progress:

• DECISIONS: Picked a local contractor (rated "A" on Angie's list) to help us with some of the major projects; researched and picked a "Bee Removal Specialist" who does a non-cruelty, non-toxic, live bee removal (more on that later...).


• LABOR: (1) M. has completed further lawn maintenance (see separate post); (2) M. has started sorting and assembling the upper kitchen cabinets (a separate kitchen post will go up soon!). (3) Skylighters roofing company ("A" rated on Angie's list) did our roof in one day! They installed our new white asphalt shingle roof - white is the only color that is Energy Star - which will be reflecting more sunlight than any other roof color and be keeping the house cooler and not having to run the A/C as much. Also, they installed our Sola-tube, which is a tubular skylight that appears as a bubble on top of your roof. These are leak-proof and also Energy Star rated because they allow spaces to be filled with natural daylight/moonlight, thus eliminating the need for turning on a lightswitch most of the time. Let there be light...in the guest bath!

WEEK 1: READY, SET, GREENOVATE!

It has been a loooong week! We are both so proud of what we accomplished and yet there is still more we wanted to get done by the end of this first week. Week 1 accomplishments:

• DECISIONS: signed contract with roofers for Energy Star white shingle roof and an Energy Star "Solatube" (tubular skylight)


• LABOR: M. mowed our front lawn (which featured 3 ft tall blades of grass)


• MAJOR PURCHASES: kitchen cabinetry (IKEA STAT), reel lawn mower, security mailbox, house numbers (retro brushed nickel), front door lockset (brushed nickel)