What did we get into?!

     Ah home renovations!  What a wonderful way for one to test your mental stability.  Kelli and I have known since the day we moved into this house that there was going to need to be some updating done to it.  It was in good shape and the previous owner had done some nice things to it, like refinish the hardwood floors, but he also did some not so nice things to it, like the tile in the kitchen!  We also knew that the water heater that was installed two year before Kelli was born would probably have to be replaced:)

     So as we've been making this house out own, room by room, we've completed painting the living room, hallway, and entryway.  We updated the fireplace with new tile on the floor, painting the brick face and old brass doors, and I built a new mantle for it.

     All of these little projects went smooth and our next big move was being narrowed down to three things, kitchen floor, water heater, and new interior doors because the existing ones have been painted so many times they don't open or shut right.  Kelli quickly prioritized the water heater as taking a nice hot shower is one of life's luxuries he simply can't go without, and she said she was getting pretty tired of setting a new land speed record for shaving each time:)

     So we bought a new water heater as well as about 30' of PEX pipe so I could relocate the water heater from the middle of nowhere to next to the furnace.  This project went really well, probably because it was not the first water heater I've replaced:), so we got a little eager and decided to jump into the kitchen floor last night!

     The tile in the kitchen is the one thing the former owner of this house did that is my biggest pet peeve!  It looks like he didn't use any spacers cause the grout lines are all different, and the tiles are all even and comin loose in certain spots.  Since my office is in the small room of the kitchen that has the same tile i look at it every day and want to tear it out every day!

     So last night we started tearing it up with the intentions of hopefully revealing more hardwoods, and if not then just retiling it the right way.  The good news is we found hardwoods, the bad news is its underneath asphalt based tiles!  After hours of contemplation of wether to retile over the asphalt tiles or remove all of it and refinish the hardwoods, we decided to reveal the wood!  

     The only big problem will be the amount of time and work involved with removing the old flooring, I know it won't be very fun but I have to keep reminding myself that it will be worth it when were done!  Isn't that the words many of us live by half way through our home reno's?  I know nice said them many times before!  If not those words I know we've all uttered "what did we get ourselves into" in the middle of a home repair that has gone wrong!  Most times I feel like there should be cameras following us around for a reality show!  But all we can do is keep rolling with the punches and keep our eyes on the finish line.  Just try not to loose sight of that line:)

Remember, sometimes trial and error is the only option you have:)