Roof, AT&T, & Floors

It's been a few days since my last update but several big projects have been completed and more are on the way.

First, the last two days a crew from State Contractors LLC was at the house stripping the old roof and putting a brand new roof on with 30 year shingles. I had no idea how many different colors of shingles there are to choose from and ended up going with a color called "Weathered Wood" which I think looks okay. It's a neutral color and should work well if I end up doing a different color on the exterior of the house. I also ended up doing the radiant barrier which is the silver material that replaces the black felt between the plywood decking and new shingles. It's supposed to save about 15% of my energy bill so hopefully it will pay for itself in 4-5 years. The crew from State Contractors did a heck of a job in two days, were professional, left my entire yard spotless, and I would highly recommend their work. Pictures below of the new roof in progress:

From 2009-12-19

From 2009-12-19

Second, I had AT&T out to install their Uverse system which includes internet, television, and phone. It was this vs cable in my neighborhood and AT&T was significantly cheaper so I decided to give them a shot. The tech came out and everything was going fine until we realized where I wanted to install the tv, internet, and phones there was either no outlet nearby or the existing outlet was not working. We did get the system setup, albeit it not in an ideal location and I'm running a long cable to where my tv will be. In the mean time, I'm enjoying AT&T Uverse on this fantastic 13 inch LCD TV.

From 2009-12-19

Finally, a few hours were spent today removing all the old carpet that was covering up original cork and hardwood floors. Prior to buying the house, I had only seen small pieces of the flooring looking under corners of the carpet. I was anxious to see the condition of the flooring and how much it was still in usable condition. For the most part, I was pleasantly surprised and pictures are below:

From 2009-12-19

Family Room: The cork floor in here will be replaced, the tack strips for the carpet ripped decent size holes in the cork in various places. However, the floor is certainly in fine shape and livable for the time being. I like this picture a lot since it shows off the great cove lighting at dusk.

From 2009-12-19

From 2009-12-19

Formal Living Room & Guest Bedroom: I was amazed at how great the hardwood floors looked after nearly 60 years. A little elbow grease on Sunday and a quick wipe down with some Murphy's Oil Soap and these floors should be gleaming.

From 2009-12-19

Master Bedroom: As you can see I removed the twin bed frames that used to be in the master and left the great built in along the brick wall. The hardwood floors in this room will need some work, they've got lots of grime and the wood under the original bed frames was not stained. In addition, I'm not sure what to do with original built in cabinets. That will is the logical place to put a bed and am playing with the idea of building a king size platform frame into the built-in. Any thoughts?

The last big item on the agenda is replacing the fence so Buddy, my dog, does not get out of the backyard and end up who knows where. I have selected a contractor and the fence should be done by Christmas and will move in before the new year. I will end up doing a basic cedar fence and will probably paint it to match the house. Eventually landscaping will probably cover the whole thing up but painting it, should give the fence / house a cohesive feel I was looking for.

Finally, I wanted to share a picture of the original blueprints for the house. For those of you reading this blog and following my progress, hopefully this gives you a decent idea of how the house is laid out and a visual of how things look as someone walks through.

From 2009-12-19