#BathroomRenovation Part 1: #Unboxing and #DemoDay

We have been planning on renovating our bathrooms upstairs for a long time now. We upgraded the powder room in the main floor 4 years ago and has been dreading to do the other bathrooms as it involve intensive work and more expenses. So glad we have started to do it this year, it's time! Happy to see the colored toilets gone in the bathrooms. Everything in this house was still original when we bought it so we still have a lot to do.

So far, these are the projects we have undertaken since we bought this house over the course of four years.

• Refinished all the wooden floors in May 2016 before we moved in
• Painted all the walls in June 2016
• Replaced all linoleum flooring
• Installed New Mailbox in September 2016
• I did all the landscaping in our garden
• Installed some storage in the basement and in the garage
• Upgraded the Powder Room in November 2016
• Installed New Windows in January 2017
• Built a fence around our backyard in August 2017
• Installed a new front door in November 2017

We ordered the vanities at Lowe's online because we couldn't find one that we like at our local store. When it arrived, we unboxed it to make sure that nothing is damaged. Everything were in great condition which we are very glad. These vanities are heavy as heck, I felt bad for the guys who delivered it as they had to carry them upstairs which is not easy.

Our old bathroom's last look, I wouldn't miss this one bit lol. It took us four years before we get to tackle this project. If only the cost of labor in our area is not so dang expensive, I would hire a pro to do it but it cost an arm and a leg to hire one so we are sucking it up and doing it ourselves. 

I have to admit, doing renovations is very exhausting but it's satisfying at the same time. We make a lot of mistakes but we learn from it. Even my kids are learning about home renovations and

We started the demolition on Mother's Day. Dust and piles of tools are everywhere in our bedroom. We had to bust the cast iron tub which was the hardest part of the whole demo project. My husband almost broke one of his ankle when the mallet he was using bounce back. Glad he was okay and din't break a bone, only a bad big bruise.

Right now the side of our yard is full of construction debris which we won't be able to dispose until trash pick up day in the Fall.

Looking at the cast iron tub that we had, it made us realized that US made a lot of products back in the day. I hope that the US can slowly get back to producing our own again.

This image reminds me that even though we have some many crazy things going on in America right now, there's still beauty around us. Just like this pile of debris, its surroundings is till pretty. I hope and pray that this rioting and the pandemic should soon stop. It's a crazy world we live in today.

As I mentioned earlier, we started this project on Mother's Day weekend and then the following week, my husband got furloughed which was perfect . The timeline of our project went as follows.

• 1st day - we removed the flooring
• 2nd day - busted the tub, this was hard. The tub is heavy as heck.
• 3rd day - shopped for faucet and shower fixture
• 4th day - Hubby started attaching the backer board on the wall and on the floor.

Someone refused to leave, he wanted to help as well.

Doing the project ourselves is cost effective but it takes a good amount of time to finish because we have to watch a lot of videos to make sure that we are doing it right.

Plumbing is not something my husband is comfortable of doing especially when it involves major piping issue. In order to get the plate secured under the shower pan, we hired a pro to do it. This is the part right here where hubby wanted a professional plumber to do, the drain where the shower plate is going to rest.

The first company we called was Mr. Rooter, we waited 4 days before someone could come to our house. The company sent a young guy, he came up and looked at it and said it's something he can't do but he charged us $105.66 for a consultation fee that wasn't even helpful. He gave us a quote of more than 13 hundred and my husband thought, it was way over priced. We paid the guy for his visit, I felt robbed since he didn't do anything but to look at it and say he couldn't do it.

We called another local plumbing business and this time, the guy was realistic, it cost us $192.60 for the whole service and the consultation was free! So I'd like to give Gurrera Plumbing a shout out for doing a great job and for accommodating us in their busy schedule. Four guys showed up to do it and it cost under two hundred bucks. Mr. Rooter is absolutely a ripoff! From now on, we will call Gurrera Plumbing with all our plumbing needs, they're awesome.

The Children's Garden at Hershey's

Wow, it's been five years since we went to Hershey, Pennsylvania.  One of our favorite ones that we did explore was the Children's Garden.

I still can't believe how much my kids have grown in five years.  They were still little in these photos.

The Children's  Graden at Hershey has a lot of cool features that surely  catches any kid's attention.

Here's these Hershey kisses that spits out water mist.

 

All of their display are beautiful and artistic.

Although it was hot that day when we visited, the plants and all the displays around them compensates the hot temperature.  

All parts of the Hershey Garden are all beautiful in my opinion.  Seeing the different  kinds of roses in the Rose Garden and  the different  kinds of butterflies in the Butterfly House was a once in a lifetime experience for my whole family.

Hershey Gardens: The Beautiful Place We Explored in 2015

One of the most memorable place we  explored during our  summer road trip in Hershey PA was the beautiful Hershey Gardens.  According to the history of this garden, Milton Hershey  requested to  create a nice garden of roses which led to its opening in 1937.  Over the  years, the small rose garden has blossomed into 23 acres of botanical beauty that offers the  visitors  a very  satisfying experience.

 I can remember how hot it was when we  spent our last day of vacation at this garden but it was relaxing at the same time.  Hershey Gardens features a breathtaking assortment of flowers and shrubs, a stately collection of rare, signature trees, and various programs designed to delight visitors of all ages.

 You will sure feel  indulgent as   your senses explore the different  colors and variety of their  brilliant seasonal displays.  I love the  themed gardens which includes the indoor, tropical Butterfly Atrium and the  the hands-on Children’s Garden.

 I love gardening so I could never get enough  looking at each  flowers and plants that they have there. 

 The Children's garden has a lot of  beautiful displays.

 The garden of roses smells so good and it was beautiful as every rose were in full bloom.

 The water fountain in the middle of the garden is a great feature too.

 I also love that  when they cut this tree, they did not dig out the roots but used it instead as a planter.

I enjoy our time in the gardens more than  the time we spent in the Hershey Park.  I thought it was the great way to end our short weekend getaway in Hershey, PA.