David's thoughts...remodeling

Remodeling Achievements...

My nephew-in-law, Kean, and I started remodeling our Alaska home at the end of May, 2014.  We tore out walls, lots of sheetrock, and totally gutted the kitchen.

We knew from the time we started it was going to be a monumental undertaking. We were able to put in about two weeks time before I was scheduled to fly back home. It all sounded good.  Hey, they remodel homes in an hour on HGTV every day.

The plan was…we would pick up our stuff on Cherokee Rd.  Sign the papers on our house, and be eating steak with Kean and Rylee in Alaska on the 4^th of July.  Then with a couple more weeks worth of work, we would be ready to move into the "new" home well before Shawna had to start work at her  counseling job in Glennallen.

As is well chronicled in Shawna’s earlier posts, the move was much more epic than anticipated, but God was in constant control. Eventually, it worked out and we were breaking into our “new” home late one night in the latter half of July.  I knew from the moment Shawna stepped through the window into our front room, (by the look on her face and the not-so-kind words coming out of her mouth)that I had been looking at the house through rose colored glasses. 

Our earlier thoughts were... get to Alaska, work on the house, and spend a day here and there fishing or gold panning or exploring.  The midnight stop at the house changed everything.  Basically, besides a couple of partial days to clean salmon, I rolled up my sleeves and did not come out for about 2 months.

As we were rolling through September, Kean stopped by after work one evening to check out my progress.  We were out in the yard talking when he said, “You might have a week, you might have a month, but once the snow starts falling you won’t see anything laying in your yard for the next seven months.”  The yard was full of stuff the former tenants left, my stuff, and deconstruction piles.  Coming from Kansas, I hadn’t given any thought to the fact that snow doesn’t melt up here until spring.  Oh Brother!

Yard work…

By the end of September, the snow was falling.  The kitchen and downstairs bathroom were operable. All the 1950’s wiring and plumbing had been replaced and the water tank had been installed in the crawl space. The worst windows had been torn out, boxed in and replaced, and the new wood stove was heating the house.  We were ready to move in. However, summer was over. Shawna and I hadn’t taken the time to have fun.

The next big thing was getting a spare bedroom ready.  My mother-in-law, Janet, was flying up to spend a few days and we needed that room. Sheetrock work, wiring, and paint and the job was done.  I was on to the next project. 

It was finally during this time that I decided to start looking through my boxes and doing a few things to would make life more enjoyable. Plus, I decided to start reading again.  Reading really helped occupy my mind and help me get through some of the loneliness I was experiencing.

Over Thanksgiving, my brother and sister-in-law came up for a few days.  He is not able to be still, so we launched a couple of new projects.  We started remodeling the master bathroom and my man-cave-corner-gun-reloading workspace.  We got a good start, and then I finished up the bathroom and refinishing the walls and floors after he left.

By the end of December, we were ready to fly home and see friends and family.  It was a great trip, but my mind was often on my home in Alaska and tasks that I was ready to have completed.  The trip left little doubt in my mind, we were in the right place.

January was filled with little jobs and babysitting.  Kean and Rylee’s baby sitter got a new job and I had to fill in some gaps here and there to get them through until the birth of their fourth child and maternity leave.

By the end of January, I could no longer avoid the one task I had been putting off for months… refinishing the oak living room floor.  It is just not feasible to rent a big floor sander in Anchorage, so I had to figure out how to do the job with smaller sanders and minimal mess.  I divided the floor into two sections, then moved the furniture to the smaller section.

Next, I built a large plastic tent to contain the dust and started sanding with a nice belt sander my landlord found at a garage sale. The sanding was difficult because the bottom of the belt sander was worn out and it didn’t want to sand evenly. Eventually it bit the dust, and I had to get online and purchase parts. I was able to finish the job with a sander attachment for my hand drill and a small orbital sander, which made the final work much better. 

The finished result of the first part of the floor was so exciting, I immediately launched into the second part.  With the new parts on the sander, I was able to get much more pleasing results in much less time. 

My next job is finishing the second guest bedroom and putting some built-in shelves and counter space in our work areas upstairs. As the weather warms, we will work on the greenhouse room and eventually paint the exterior of the house.

We are excited for visitors in the spring, so we can share our little piece of Alaska.

P.S.  I know many people are wanting to hear about Shawna’s experiences.  However, between work and the college classes she must take for her Alaska teaching certificate, she is very busy.  Until her life slows down, I hope you can enjoy my occasional ramblings.