Home Improvement

So, over the last few weeks Ryan has been busy with A LOT of home improvement projects. Sadly most of the work we can't really show off because it's behind the scenes.

1. The sewer line:

We've had several sewer problems since moving into the new house. One of which left us without a toilet for a day and a half. Turns out we have TONS of roots in our sewer line. Ryan decided to fix the problem once and for all, the less expensive way.

He dug the sewer line up himself, had the plumber come put in new pipe, and then covered it back up.

Saved us thousands of dollars in plumbing bills and made for one sore Ryan.

2. The attic insulation:

After observing that on cold days every other house in the neighborhood had frost on the roof but ours we decided to stop paying to heat the outside and put more insulation in our attic. It was a cold raining day and while Cassia was taking a nap I went in the shed to "feed" the insulation machine and Ryan went into the attic to blow the insulation. I WISH I would've got pictures of this. Ryan and I were both covered from head to toe in this gray dust of insulation. The worst was it getting into your eyes and mouth. Yuck! Ryan and I got most of it done that afternoon and then the next day the missionaries came and helped Ryan finish the rest.

3. The Range Hood:

Before: You'll notice in this picture there is a small fan that acts as the range hood. Most likely this thing is 50+ years old, so we decided it was time for an upgrade.

After: It took some sawing and rewiring and we have this new range hood. Sadly, the design in the kitchen makes it so the range hood and the oven are slightly off from each other. Hopefully it's only something I notice.

4. The shower:

Ryan worked on this project while I was in Virginia. He spent 2 1/2 evenings working on it before he flew out to join us in Virginia and then 2 more evenings once we got back. Let me just say, I am thankful for showers. Baths are really not my thing.

Before: Notice that green thing off to the side, yeah, that's our old shower wall. Composed of ugly green plastic tiles, some of which would fall off randomly. Something had to be done.

After: A new shower wall. We still need to do a little work to get it looking super nice, but it's much improved from the green.

Thanks Ryan for all your hard work to get this old house in better shape, and thank you Housing Tax Refund for financing it all. Our next big adventure: upgrading windows.