One Year in the House

The other day marked the one year anniversary of when we bought our house.

This past year has marked a lot of trails, victories, setbacks, learning, joy, exhaustion, satisfaction, fear, creativity, and confidence.

Here is a pretty comprehensive list of the things we've done since getting the house (original condition):

1. Replaced the roof (before, during, after)
   
2. Removed fake shutters, screen doors, house numbers (that banged my head), cheap hose reel, over-sized gutter (after)
   
3. Replaced locks
   
4. Repaired the foundation (before and after)
   
5. Tore out a wall (before, during, after)
   
6. Redid majority of the sheetrock
7. Rerouted lighting/ducts
8. Installed radiant barrier
9. Added supports in rafters
10. Created new washer/dryer area
11. Installed new electrical service (old)
    
12. Got new (safe) wiring to kitchen/bath
13. Complete gut & remodel of the bathroom (before, during, after)
    
14. Entirely new plumbing for all incoming lines
15. Installed tankless water heater
16. Refinished floors (before)
    
17. Painted interior rooms
18. Fixed all windows so that they are now double-hung
19. Replaced, repaired, or added fascia boards around entire house
20. Created support for sophet
21. Removed all boards that were touching the ground (aka termite highway)
22. Replaced back door
23. Replaced door to garage
24. Installed Crestview door kit (before, during, after)
    
25. Painted entry doors (before, after)
    
26. Replaced dozens of rotted/rotting siding boards
27. Added new corners for add-on section
28. Installed metal lathe and supports for skirting
29. Created a garden
30. Sanded entire house to bare wood
31. Used 33 tubes of caulk to seal up the house
32. Bondo'd cracks and divets
33. Cut down 1 tree
34. Trimmed all trees in backyard, including Ash (before, round 1, round 2)
    
35. Cabled the ash tree
36. Installed gutters & gutter screens
37. Painted exterior (before, during, almost there, after)
    
38. Removed scraggly bushes from front of house (before, after)
    
39. Dug pit for grounding plate
40. Undid jerry-rigged setup for fan in bedroom
41. Added setup for fan in livingroom
42. Created a bar between kitchen and livingroom
43. Added GFCI circuits where needed
44. Removed old waterheater closet
45. Removed mercury lamp on corner
46. All new exterior lighting
47. Insulated plumbing
48. Put up barriers in all rat-entry points
49. Added piping to divert water away from the foundation (before)
    
50. And fell through ceiling

I think 50 is enough for now. What I love though is how much we were able to get done while still traveling, working full-time, finding new eateries, playing in parks with the dog, brewing beers, seeing family, running, biking, watching BSG (hey, that's a huge time commitment), having friends over and just...living!

But, I think really the best thing is to look where we were a year ago:

And then look where we are today:

Big thanks go out to all the friends, family and contractors that helped us.
Family:
  Greg, Debby, Hannah, and Regina
Friends:
  Brian, Amy, Jeremy & Jess, Whitney, Rachel & Andrew, David, Kelly, Stephen, Pam & Don, Val & Paweena, Kasandra, Kristy, Heidi, Britney, and Danielle & Justin
Contractors:
  Bobby Platte, Bob Jahnke, ABC Handyman, Longhorn Roofing, Chango's Tree Service, Austin Gutter King, Mullen Electric, and all the illegals we unwittingly employed.

But most importantly to the Wife, for putting up with everything and being a good sport when things went wrong.