The Living Room Has a Floor!

This weekend we installed the flooring back in the living room!  It had been bare concrete with carpet remnants for the past 6 weeks, but now it is beautiful again.




Our handyman Ramon was key to getting this done in one day.  Daniel took off work to work with him, and the two men knocked it out in about 8 hours.

The type of flooring is Kensington Manor 12mm Rio Grande Valley Oak Laminate, and we got it at Lumber Liquidators a couple months ago when we realized the foundation work would necessitate new flooring in most of the house.  The plumbing work will destroy the tile in all the bathrooms and the kitchen, so we'll have to replace that at some point, too--but... one day at a time.  We are still working on securing the financing to go ahead with the plumbing work, so it's not scheduled yet.



Anyways, it's a relief to have the living room floor done well before Elliot gets here.  And what a huge relief it was to have such great help from Ramon, who has installed many, many more floors than Daniel or I and who had some excellent ideas to help speed up the process and make more efficient use of the flooring.



I was only slightly less pregnant with Lucy when we installed her wood floors in her nursery, and oh my goodness--it was difficult.



The final before-and-after.  What do you think?!

Bad News And Good News

Bad news - almost every plumbed fixture in our house has a drain pipe that is leaking under the house.  That would be 3 out of 4 sinks, 1 out of 2 showers, 2 out of 3 toilets, and the A/C condensate drain.
 

Good news - umm... the house doesn't smell like sewage.  I've heard that's often how people find out about these types of leaks.

 

Bad news - it's gonna take a lot of money to fix these leaks.  A lot.


 
Good news - it's only money, and God will provide what we need when we need it.

 

Bad news - Lucy got this awful eyelid infection this week. 

 

Poor thing.

 

Good news - it's gotten much better these last few days.  Thank you, Garland Pediatrics-After-Hours and Vigamox.  You are amazing.



Bad news - baby Elliot is due in 8 weeks, and I've yet to start on his nursery.



Good news - we get to meet baby Elliot in only 8 weeks!  And all we really need at the beginning is milk (check), blankets (check), and diapers.  I don't have the newborn diapers yet, but it takes 20 minutes to run to the store and get some, and since labor will most definitely take longer than 20 minutes, we'll definitely have diapers by the time he gets here.  Actually, my mom got some newborn diapers at Sam's the other day, so we're golden.  

OH MY GOSH OUR HOUSE!!!

So... we got back from Colorado the other night.  And this was what we came home to.



The foundation repair company we entrusted did indeed right most of the foundation-type wrongs in the house.



They moved the necessary furniture and finished removing the flooring from the living room.



They drilled 16 holes throughout the house and around it, and they installed the corresponding 16 piers to help lift the house.



Apparently our house was built with no interior beams (or else the beams that are there are too thin to be structurally significant), so the company installed steal plates to help distribute the load on the piers.



When they did leak testing after they installed the piers, it became apparent that we do, indeed, have a big leak (or multiple leaks) in the drain pipes under our house.



That was probably the reason for so much shifting and extensive foundation problems.



We'll get the plumbing company to actually do the testing to determine where the leaks are in about 2 weeks, and we can't replace the flooring until then--since it's likely the plumbing company will have to drill back down through the concrete to replace the leaking pipes.



Living with bare concrete in the living room for 2 weeks with a toddler was a non-starter for me, so Ginnie and I went to find a cheap carpet remnant.



We've swept, vacuumed, and mopped most of the house at least once, and I'm glad to say it's pretty liveable now.  It'll do for the next 2 weeks, anyways.

I'm nervous to hear what the plumbing company says, because the last 2 estimates we've gotten have been rather pricey.  If they have to replace all the drain pipes under our house, I'll be so sad.  It'll mean a significant change in our car-purchasing plans for the near future.  But I am also so thankful to God for the ability to fix what's wrong with our house, and for the relative non-seriousness of this problem, compared to so many others we could be facing.



My list of things I'm grateful for today: carpet remnants, vacuum cleaners, and mops.  Lucy, Daniel, and our families.  Air conditioning.