THE ADVENTURES OF PLATY AND THE GANG Virginia House 2011

(click on pictures for a larger view)

We arrived at the Virginia house on 3/22.  The weather had been spring like for a few weeks so we thought we safe to get an early start on our remodeling projects.  The house was exactly as we left it in the fall.  The walls and floors were prime painted,  there was 2 of 3 toilets operational, no vanities, no kitchen and no hot water heater. 
Our first job was painting everything.  I sprayed the ceilings and Judy painted all the trim.  Next was painting the walls.  It took over 20 gallons of paint.
Lowes had a sale on the lawn tractor I wanted so we actually ordered it before we left Florida.  They were giving free delivery and a free trailer so I couldn't pass it up.
But, alas, grass mowing would have to wait.  Less than a week after we arrived the temperature dropped to the mid 20's overnight and we had 4" of snow.  Judy didn't have a ice scraper so she used a spatula from the kitchen.

The next project was installing the tile floors in the kitchen, laundry and 3 bathrooms.  Judy spent a lot of time touching up spots that kept appearing in the paint.  She also painted the baseboards prior to installation.
Five days after the snow guess what happened again....It snowed again!
Our neighbors from up the hill couldn't drive up so they parked their car in our yard for the day.  All wheel drive didn't help.
After the tile was complete the next priority was operational toilets.  When we removed the 2 for the tile install we found that one of them was cracked so it was 2 new and one rebuild.  Vanities and all the trimmings were next. 
This is the downstairs bath with cabinets and counters to match the kitchen.
Meanwhile the kitchen cabinets and the appliances were delivered.
Installation took a few days including the wiring changes needed for the new stove, microwave  and lights.  We chose a gas range never thinking it would need an electrical outlet.  The old one didn't but with the new controls and gadgets the new one did.
The completed kitchen looks a lot different than what it looked like when we bought the house!!!

After the hot water heater and the washer and dryer were installed,  we could actually wash clothes and take a shower.
We originally planned to have carpet installed in the living and dining rooms but changed our minds and decided on antique hickory flooring instead.  This is our "professional" installer Judy at work.  It took 3 days but turned out very nice.
The interior is now complete except for carpeting on the second floor.  We will order that when we return from our trip to New York.
When we bought the house the stairs from the front porch down to the deck were a real safety hazard.  Then went sideways and if you walked straight from the porch without stepping to the left there was a 4' drop.  One of the first things I did was to remove them and install a temporary railing.  Now that the interior was done and the weather was nicer I installed a new set of stairs.
The stairs from the deck down to the yard were broken and sagging so I rebuilt them also.
In the mean time we had a contractor install gutters and downspouts.  This is a job I definitely wasn't going to do myself.  As you can see it took 3 guys on 40' ladders to do it.
So, after a final mowing and trimming of the grass we were ready for our hiking trip to New York. 
We did leave our resident groundhog Gerard in charge.

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