Day Three--Sloooooooooow Goin'...

The goal for today was the same as it was for Day One:  Turn on the Water!

And Day Two:  Turn on the Water!!!

I was hoping that I could get the water turned on before I left for a few days.  The trip started out with the now-routine trip to Menard's.  I picked up some water lines for below the sink (replacing the older, cheaper lines with braided) and some right-sized chrome covers for the toilet lines.  I also picked up some cabinet hardware to hopefully tranform my kitchen on the cheap.  Frugal flipping!!!  :)

I grabbed my necessary cup of coffee and headed to the house to meet with my brother who was off.  I started a little later than I wanted (10:35 A.M.), but I knew I was going to be staying late to help Dad with the electrical.

First things first:  I replaced the toilet line covers with new.  It's amazing what such a small change can do.  These are about 75 cents but make such a big difference.  My toilet lines are now ready to go!  Quarter-turn shut-off valves, and no more rust!  This only took about 10 minutes.

Before and After.  A simple 75 cents to make a HUGE difference in appearance!

Before...the old rusty valve which broke off when I tried to remove it.

And After!  A new 1/4-turn valve, new wall supply line, and new chrome cover!

Next on the list was the kitchen sink.  I had purchased the wrong lines yesterday, so I installed the two new lines.  Easy work!  I love when threads go on easily.  Maybe 30 minutes or so.  My brother and I then decided to tackle the over-the-range hood.  I had already removed the old brown hood, and I was hoping this was going to be easy swap.  False.  I quickly learned that the old wire was cut to run to the left side of the old hood.  The new wiring is on the right side of the new hood.  I was a foot short!!!

The old supply lines.  I changed these over to new braided lines.

The tiles behind the old vent hood!  GROSS!  Also note that the wiring needed to be about three tiles to the right for the new hood!  We had to create a junction box in the wall and extend it.  Thanks, Dad and Kirk!

The tiles all cleaned up.

After talking it over with Dad, we realized we had to make a junction box and then run more wire to the range.  My brother worked on that while I tackled the dishwasher.  Dad showed up shortly thereafter, and Chea 10 minutes after that, so Dad and Kirk worked on the hood, while Chea feverishly change out cabinet knobs.  The kitchen was busy!!!

The new knob compared to three old ones!  It's the small things that make the biggest difference sometimes!

Problem:  The hinges are off by 1/4 of a hole.  :(  Hopefully I can find a perfect match as the knobs don't match the hinges!

My sister-in-law and nephew showed up later, and we had a packed house.  Frankly, the projects weren't going great.  The new dishwasher wasn't getting flush with the cabinets, and I quickly realized why the previous owners had removed two knobs (the door hit the knobs when opened!).  I was also having a difficult time getting the water lines connected below the unit.  Dad was having some frustrations with the wiring, Chea ran into some hinge problems (they were 1/4-hole off), and I wasn't getting anywhere!!!

That's what happens when you flip a house.  Things do NOT go as planned.  I could tell the overall mood in the house was a bit...well, not great, too.  I LOVE the help I am receiving from others.  Having my brother, dad, Chea, nephew, and sister-in-law all show up with support is amazing.  Yet when projects stall...or that feel-good attitude from them completing a project is missed out on...it hurts the overall attitude of all.  It was just one of those days.

Chea left to start getting ready for bed, my brother left from spending an entire day at the house, and Dad started a new circuit only to find out that he had no idea where the first outlet was located.  He was frustrated.  He soon thereafter went home.  I decided to stay around and clean up for awhile.  Storms were coming in, and I needed GOOD rest before my job stint on the road tomorrow, but I wanted to clean up the house.

But even with all of the frustrations, progress was made.  The toilet supply lines are completed and look great.  AND they hold the water from coming out!  The brown stove hood is now clean and white!  Another circuit is wired for GFCI!  The cabinet knobs are replaced!

 

Before:  The old range hood.

And After!  Great work, guys!

Before:  Old and dated.

After:  Shiny and new!!!

The 17-year-old dishwasher.

 

Behind the dishwasher was a mess of old tiles, black and white mold, and general gross-ness.

I cleaned it up and added a new vinyl layer!  So much more clean!

The new dishwasher.  As you can tell, it's not 100% complete as it's not mounted or wired yet!

So another few items can be checked off the list.  It's not exactly the day I had planned, but one good thing came as a result of the hard work today, and I'm very happy about it:

THE WATER IS TURNED ON!!!  And no leaks.  :)