New floors are in

Tony's been working like a fiend. He stripped out all the marble off the floor, installed the new hardiback floor boards in anticipation of putting down the marble on the floor. I came home and found the floors completely stripped down and the new floor in place. Amazing.

Chugging Along

Home renovations never go the way you want it. We found this floor when we removed the tub. Tony groaned and knew what work was in store for him. He's on vacation to work on this renovation project. He's also got Matthew as his companion. Let me restate. He's got Matthew in the house...who helps...when he wants...but mostly spends time in front of XBox or the television.

He got Matthew to help rip out the rotted wood and help him replace it with the new wood. Not bad but there is a ton of work ahead. The floors have to be completely stripped down and then the new floors go in. Hopefully the sheetrock will be hung and we can install the new bathtub in by the weekend so Tony can start installing the marble tiles on the wall. I realize that this is a hard for a one man contractor but I am optimistic that he can get this project completed before he heads back to the office.

Bathroom Renovations

Ina's gone, time to get to work. The dumpster was delivered yesterday and we spent the day moving things around. Tony and I have moved out of the master bedroom and have taken residence in the guest room on the other side of the house. Amazing how much stuff can be stored in the bathroom cabinets.
We roped our friend Al into coming over to help us move the bathroom vanity and he stays to help with the removal of the debris. Tony starts to demolish the marble on the floor and the walls and starts to fill the tub with all the debris. May and the kids come by to see the demolition in progress and they get roped into helping out as well. I love child labor. Nothing like making the little kiddies work for their keep. You walk into this house during a demolition, you will be fed but you also have to work for your meal.

Several hours later, this is what the bathroom looked like. Completely stripped of the original marble, walls and cabinetry. I thought Tony was going to start crying. He has truly hit the point of no return. He can't leave it this way, he has got to go on. When we removed the bathtub, we found the flooring underneath to be completely rotted. How the original tub never fell through is an actual miracle. The flooring had completely disintegrated and it was only a matter of time before the tub would have actually fallen through. It was actually a godsend that we decided to embark on this project. OK- let me rephrase that. It was a godsend that I wanted this project done, he's not too thrilled with the damage that we actually found. He's going to spend the next couple of days removing the old floor and prep the new floor with cement hardiback board. Not to mention, he'll have to put up all new mold and mildew resistant sheetrock.

We'll keep you posted on the progress of the bathroom as we move along. Oh yeah, that is the royal we.....since he's the one that is doing all the work and I'm the one who is the job foreman.

Ina's Visit

We've rolled out the red carpet for our visitors. It started with Linda and now we have Ina for the weekend. For those who follow the blog, you know who Ina is. If you haven't read our past entries, Ina is Tony's colleague from Shanghai. They worked at ATC together and many times, we would spend our holidays together exploring the different parts of China. It's been two years since we've seen each other and she's here in the US for business. Meetings concluded, she hopped the Amtrak train down from Boston to spend the weekend with us before she had to return to China. Picking Ina up at the Stamford Train Station was pretty surreal.

Tony and Ina had a great reunion in our driveway. We spent some time catching up on the news from China and then we headed to Downtown Stamford to grab a bite to eat. During dinner, we spent the entire time reminiscing about our various trips in China. Of course, no meal is complete without a mandatory trip to Dairy Queen. We introduced Ina to the Blizzard when we were in Hangzhou, China. We could hardly finish the Blizzards but we had to for old times sake.

We stayed up to chit chat on the deck, fed the mosquitos and then worked our way to our respective rooms to get some sleep. I realized when I woke up at about 5:30 a.m. that the dumpster was going to be delivered. I was told that it would arrive anytime between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. I figured, it wasn't possible it would show up at 7, let alone early. Boy was I wrong. I heard the truck backing up the driveway at 6:40 a.m. A huge truck with a 12 yard dumpster, complete with a diesel running engine. Did I mention that the night was beautiful and the windows were open? Well, the dumpster was delivered right underneath Ina's window. Tony and I looked up and there she was looking out the window. So much for sleeping in.

Tony prepared a fabulous breakfast and we spent the last hours together chatting. Ina had to leave for her flight back to Shanghai. She promises to be back and we'll have the room ready and waiting again. I promise, no dumpster deliveries next time!