Ooh, have you been waiting to see what we've been up to at the Pope Residence, making it ready to hold our offices? Here's an update!
Scraping
Kathleen and her daughter, Nicole, spent all last weekend scraping away many layers of paint from the trim around the doors to our offices. They found many colors of paint, including blue and green. Even if we don't keep the woodwork bare, at least the lovely trim features will show once we paint it.
And speaking of scraping, Randy is still scraping the brick walls and fixing any issues that come up. The end of that project is in sight!
Leveling
Much of the weekend, Chris and Easton worked to level the back of the house, which was an addition. I have to say I was amazed at how well they did what seems really complicated and scary to me. They needed to get everything ready for when the renovated bathroom is installed and the stairs go up. The stairs must be well supported!
Once everything was level, they created a new wall where the laundry room was. The window that had been in there got re-installed where the former laundry-room door is. We had to use a small window, because the fancy new electrical panel will go next to it.
Building
What's really cool is that they were able to use a lot of the original siding from the back of the house, so it will look like the new wall was original. Chris had to buy some new wood, but not too much. We are trying to re-use as much material as we can.
The area that will be the second downstairs has gotten framed in, and we can now see how high the ceiling will be (the landing for the stairs is above it). It won't be bad, at all!
In preparation for the stairs going up, we had to move the back door. That was a fun job, I'm sure. Right now it opens the wrong way, but we're replacing that door, anyway. Now we can have a nice, long stairway that doesn't stop until it's 7 feet!
Plumbing
Today plumbers arrived and began getting all the pipes and such ready for the house. They replaced some old pipe running from the house to the street, and repaired another area. It hasn't been too hard for them to do the installation, since we completely demolished the bathrooms (other than upstairs, ick).
Lighting
We should be getting our new electrical box today or tomorrow, so we will be able to put up some temporary lighting in the house. We have plenty of "nipple lights" and other extras from previous projects, so we won't have to put up the good stuff until the ceilings are in.
Ordering and Buying
This was the fun part for me and Kathleen. We figured out what we want for all the interior lighting and got it ordered. Trying to find things we liked AND were in stock was challenging. We think it's going to look fine.
We also got faucets and such for the bathrooms (except for the big tub). We still have a sink to get for the "break room" area, a refrigerator, and such. There will always be something else!
Whew. Things are just jetting along so quickly it makes our heads spin. But, that means we will be in our new headquarters SOON!
Meanwhile, We're Serving Our Clients
Of course, we are still serving our clients. Thanks to everyone who has called us and scheduled time to talk to us about how we can help. We are only a phone call away: 254-627-1200.