It's Official!

Jessie jots...

Seventy-seven is now officially our home!! The property is now under our names and we finally got the keys to our new home! YEY tehehehe When we got the keys, the first thing we did was we brought Pip to Seventy-Seven. She wasn't as excited as us. She walked with her body low to the ground and her tail tucked in between her butt and walked around cautiously after I 'poured' her out from the carrier. It was very funny but I think she was still brave enough to walk in the new house with us despite being exposed to a new environment. Funny that sometimes Pip can act like a dog.

Immediately after the news, Hushby made an order on a distressed hardwood floor that we are going to install ourselves. The wood, however, will only be available on May 15, which is not so great for us but if we have this much time on hand, we might as well use the time to prep all we want like ripping the carpet off, break the tiles and possibly paint the walls.

And we do just that on Sunday. Home Depot was our first go-to place for real manly hardware tools, and below is some our purchase. There's more to that actually, and the sum is not exactly cheap but believe it or not, we save more than 50% from hiring independent contractors.

Oh! Thanks so much to Tracey, our agent! For our first housewarming gift, she gave us a $100 gift card to the best restaurant in town. Amazing, amazing gift. I'm so flattered. Thanks!

As one can tell, no good can come from these tools! haha.

I don't know how Hushby and I had the understanding that the carpet has to go. We both just knew, even if the carpet was to steam and wash, and steam and wash, none of us is going to like it. Our immediate thought was always, hardwood floor first. So instantly, with just a few guidelines in our mind, the carpet is cut and ripped apart. During the process, we can hear Moms' voices in distress "Aiyah, what are you doing to the new house??". It's OK Moms, we will find solutions to the problems we encounter. :)

Don't you think the living room is screaming for some warm-tone floors? Here's the before:

We cut the carpet in pieces and roll them up. After that is done, we found a sponge-like layer underneath the carpet. So we ripped that too. That was fun and easy. Then the more challenging part came - chiseling the thin strips wood that was nailed on the concrete floor and which were there to hold the carpet in place. There were tiny nails on the strips, but thanks to thick masculine latex glove (not even a Small size can fit me), my delicate hands is protected. haha

Here's the sponge layer:

Hushby unhooked the nails from the concrete after I peeled the strips with a screwdriver and a mallet:

Concrete floor exposed! State of mind: Confident and accomplish. And here's the after:

Concrete floor says "FAN".

Then we move to the other side of the first floor that is all tiled where the kitchen, the bathroom and the dining area is. To our surprise, it looked like the previous owner had the tiles cemented on plasticky linoleum floor... which is weird, I don't know why he/she would do that. Usually people lay tiles on a concrete floor which is sturdier and stronger. However, good for us, taking the linoleum off can be easier than having to scrape uneven surfaces resulted from the grouts/cement.

So the knocking began on a Sunday afternoon. We certainly hope none of our new neighbors were annoyed by the sharp noise knocking on a chisel tool. We took turns to go down on our hands and knees, and knock those ceramic tiles.

Three hours later, this is what we have done. We only knocked off about 8 pieces of tiles and our knees are hurting already. 60 more to go!

And the distress voices are still ringing in my ears.

Day 1 complete. Does anyone think we are crazy to do this ourselves? I admit I do think Yew Wai and I are taking such a big risk solving major house renovations on our own. But we're going to look back and feel so accomplish when it is done, right? Or regret it? haha I don't know. Right now though, I look forward to Day 2. Ganbate!